A new day, same old problems

For those of you who don't know me, I am, at my heart, a problem solver. At the core of this is identifying problems and I can assure you there are certainly a myriad of problems in society today that need solving. Which is why this blog is going to be both challenging and rewarding for me this week. I've debated whether I should try to run a coherent theme throughout all the posts you will see from me this week or simply address whatever issues seem prominent in my mind that particular day. I've decided to split the difference, everything you'll see from me will be consistently critical of society, the campus, or individuals however otherwise unrelated.

Today I turn my focus to society as a whole:

Prior to the untimely and regrettable interruption of the VA Tech massacre, the most prevalent news story was not the war in Iraq, nor was it the brutal suppression of a pro-democratic rally in Russia, not even the political battle being waged between congress and the president over countless issues. What issue was so important as to overrun these stories?

"That's some nappy-headed hos right there I'll tell you what"

Such a benign statement to the naked eye, however when over-sensitive, self-righteous, so-called activists like Al Sharpton get ahold of statements like this, all hell breaks loose. I can understand that some people might be offended by a statement like this, but then again everything could be offensive to someone, does that mean that broadcasters must remain silent in all matters for fear of offending some group? Perhaps the best solution is to simply abbreviate the questionable word. That really O's me.

First of all can I just say that I know plenty of B-people who have referred to manly girls as N-headed N's and those N's stand for two very different words. Why is it okay for a B person to say N-headed N but its not okay for a W person to say it? Why is there this double standard between B's and W's?

But even this racist double standard isn't at the core of the problem, the list of words that can't be said on the radio is nearly as long as the list of words you can. In day to day life any American will hear "What the F," "F you," "Put that S down," "What a B," "I hate F-ing C's" and so on and so forth. Yet the FCC insists that these things are not allowed, it is the responsibility of the media to reflect the reality of the world, with these regulations how can the media fulfill its responsibilities?

In recent memory I can remember one occurrence where the FCC allowed the media to accurately reflect the real world: the presentation of the 9-11 documentary on CBS. As the event unfolded on that day the camera caught numerous people shouting obscenities, and in the interest of proper reporting these obscenities were aired. However even in the VA Tech massacre there was censorship, one of the trademark images of the tragedy was a male victim being carried out of one of the buildings by two , and in the melee the young man's genitals had been exposed. Despite the gruesome image of bloody dead bodies being dragged out of buildings, it was deemed indecent and offensive to allow the image of the genitals to be broadcast and it was thenceforth pixelated.

So the offices regulating our media outlets are sending mixed messages, if you want to show gruesome and horrific images of bloody bodies, corpses, rotting flesh, and deadly explosions its more than okay, in fact its encouraged. However if you decide to show nudity, curse, or express any opinion that might offend someone, they'll take your job.

The bottom line is people need to wake up and realize that the world isn't an ideal perfect place, things exist that we don't necessarily want to see or talk about. But what one person might be offended by might be of vital importance to another, and as a matter of personal opinion I'm offended when people try not to offend people. So I say if you want to bring on the F's, S's, B's, N's, W's, C's, and N-headed H's, and if you don't want to hear it, see it, or read it, then don't. If you really want something to disappear stop consuming it, if enough people agree, they'll pull it anyway, and if people are still watching, reading, and listening, then you must simply be happy that its no longer in your home, and let me be happy that its in mine.

-Jonathan Simon

CONGRATULATIONS!

In my last post, I would like to congratulate the many honors students who were recognized last night at the Accolades and 34th Annual Awards Ceremony. This star studded evening began with a wonderful speech by our very own Ms. Angela Follina, who last night received her certificate for completing Leadership Academy.
Following a dinner and awards presentation at the Accolades, the Annual Awards Ceremony began at the Cole Center. Awards were presented for outstanding leadership, academics, and embodiment of values cherished by individual majors and fields of study. I am proud to say that in many of the department based awards, the recipients were Honors Students. Also, in the Student Life Presentation, several Honors Students were recipients of Leadership and Advanced Leadership certification. Such leadership likely contributed to the awards the Honors Mellowship received-
LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE STUDENT ORGANIZATION OF THE YEAR!
Congratulations to the Mellowship, who was also a finalist for Student Organization of the Year! Realizing this is only our second year in existence, we have made a tremendous stride towards becoming one of the best, most active and recognized student organizations.

Once again, I would like to congratulate all the recipients on their tremendous accomplishments.

Finals, and the point is....?

I must be missing the point when it comes to finals and midterms. Why would our education system design a standard examination process that involved being simultaneously tested in every course a student is involved in? Not only that, often times these tests are meant to be comprehensive examinations on material that has been taught over a 16-Week time frame. I don't know about everybody else (and hopefully people's comments will enlighten me), but I find this system to be rather flawed.

As finals approach, tension seems to rise and the stress levels become very clear in students. I have never heard of a student who relished the opportunity to take multiple exams, covering all the material learned in the semester, all at the same time. I also think that the increase in stress can have negative effects on our ability to test. Many individuals already develop test anxiety from the normal levels of stress associated with Exams and GPA maintenance. Having a finals week seems to multiply this effect exponentially.

These are my personal thoughts on the topic of Finals- I would like to hear what other students have to say on this topic, and the topic of testing in general.

With that said, Good Luck to everybody on their Finals next week :-)

Elections Week

VOTE VOTE VOTE

Tomorrow will be the last day of Student Government Elections, an important process for students and organizations in deciding who are leaders will be in the upcoming year. This is particularly important for Honors Students- we've been on SGA since the year the program started!!!

Each year, more and more honors students are filling seats in SGA's senate, while this year we even have some campaigning for positions on the Executive Board (GO HEATHER!!!) SGA is an integral part of the university, they are the keepers of the general fee dollars that are to be provided to student organizations. They are also the communication channel between the student body and administration, and are supposed to voice our concerns in their various committees.

I have served on Judicial Board, which is a related entity of SGA, for the past 2 years. My freshman year I was the Chair, and conducted over 80 hearings. Judicial Board is a wonderful experience, and has had multiple honors students involved in the past 2 years. It is also a very serious responsibility, as we are at times faced with very difficult decisions we must make regarding violations of the student code of conduct. None-the-less, I would encourage everybody to try running for a position at some point in time, for the experience if nothing else.


In closing, I have two issues I would REALLY LIKE COMMENTS ON!!!!
First of all, What are peoples thoughts of SGA?
Secondly, the topic of an HONORS RETREAT has been passed around over the past 2 years. Now that we have the Honors Mellowship, we can easily request money from Student Government for such a purpose. Seeing as how we are welcoming our 4th class, meaning that we have 4 years of students in the program, I am wondering if anybody is interested in actively pursing the planning and coordination of an Honors Retreat. Our first resource would be to immediately request funding from SGA in the Fall, and then possibly move to the Honors Program for other assistance.

All those in Favor, drop a comment!

A Busy Saturday

Saturday, April 21st, was a day full of campus events. Admissions hosted Spring Visit Day, and I assisted with speaking to prospective students about the benefits of the honors program. The attendance level was drastically lower than expected, due to several factors. It is the common opinion that due to a recent threat to the University, many people were deterred from coming. I did not realize that this threat was receiving such widespread attention in the local news.
Realistically, I doubt in that in the history of any major threat occurrences, the first move taken was to scribble a warning in the stall of a bathroom. Unfortunately, we must take every threat seriously, and I feel that the President is doing everything possible to protect the safety of his students.

Saturday evening, I attended the Graduation Ceremony for Honors Students. First of all, the food was Excellent! Compared to a recent dining experience, I was impressed with the quality of the food and the overall experience.
3 students spoke to the guests at this ceremony, all of whom had very touching stories to tell. Not a single person left the podium without thanking Ronnette, Dr. Margolius and Lillian, for all that they have done for us. It was rather emotional, for me at least, and I wish all of our graduates the very best in their futures.

To Ambassidate

Ambissidate is not actually a word, having checked dictionary.com for a definition. It is something that came up as a verbal description of the act of serving as an ambassador, hence ambassidate.

I ambassidated this morning, at the Board of Directors/CSU Foundation Meeting. This required me being at the Wolstein Center at 7 a.m., and greeting several individuals upon their entry. Although the actual task I completed may not have held an immense amount of value, participating in the event provides knowledge and insight that is not found elsewhere. I met with a lady from University Advancement, who described the different areas of her department. They work with Marketing for the university, and particularly with funding areas. Funding is then broken down into endowments, pledges, large accounts ($25,000+), faculty/staff appeal, etc. Not so long ago, they secured the funding to place the large signs on the Wolstein center that clearly identify it, and bring credit to some of its primary donors. This department also is critical to us as honors students; although a great deal of the programs funding has been said to have resulted from a settlement Cleveland State received a few years ago, the continued donations play a large part of the funding in our scholarships I believe.
I also learned that the Board of directors and CSU Foundation consists of many individuals who are graduates and alumni, who come back and participate in the planning of the university. Planning encompasses a variety of aspects, from funding to the creation of the campus plan.

Serving as an ambassador has been a very enlightening experience, and has placed me in contact with many key individuals. I am delighted to say that this fall, several honors students will join the organization, and will share in my wonderful experiences.

In closing- I will respond via comment to any questions about the CSU Ambassadors.

-S. Andraos

P.S. In researching the definition, I learned that the term "Ambassade" is the actual definition of the quarters/home in which an ambassador resides. I suppose that makes Viking Hall my ambassade?

Success!

Having completed the Vista Launch Event, I must say that it was quite a successful event! There were more than 80 people in attendance, including students, faculty and administrators. I gave away several t-shirts, prizes, and 5 copies of Vista as well as Microsoft Office 2007!

I attribute the success to several people. First of all, to Erin, who supports me so much in all of my activities. This event would have gone terribly without her. Then, to Vishnu, Rohit and Carol, who are my co-workers in the CIS department. They all came down, took time off work and helped things go great. I really have such a wonderful group of people in my office, they are like family. Lastly, I think the many honors students who participated in the event. I hope that you all were able to get a prize package.

In closing this entry, I would only like to restate my thanks to the people who take such very good care of me, and support me through all of my endeavors.