The Gettysburgian Online

Spongebob Squarepants dampens child cognition

thegettysburgian — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:02:31 +0000

In 2005, James Dobson, head of the Christian Right group Focus on the Family, said “Spongebob Squarepants” was code for homosexual propaganda.

In August, Steve Doocy and Gretchen Carlson of Fox News, and the United States Department of Education, attacked the show for allegedly promoting global-warming science.

Now, the American Academy of Pediatrics journal, Pediatrics, says that just a few minutes of watching “Spongebob Squarepants” negatively affects young children.

“The Immediate Impact of Different Types of Television on Young Children’s Executive Function,” from Monday, found that brief exposure of the Nickelodeon series might actually hinder or impair the cognition and social development of preschool-aged children.

Two psychologists from the University of Virginia divided 60 four-year-olds into three groups: one group watched nine minutes of the fast-paced animation “Spongebob Squarepants,” one watched nine minutes of a slower-paced PBS program “Caillou” and the third group was asked to draw with markers and crayons. They were all then tested on cognition and attention.

The study demonstrated that children who watched fast-paced television (where scenes changed every 11 seconds on average) did worse than both those who watched the slower show (where scenes changed every 34 seconds on average) and those who were drawing.

Only 15 percent passed the problem-solving task, for example, compared with 35 percent of “Caillou” viewers and 70 percent of those drawing.

But at an interview with CNN, Nickelodeon said, “Having 60 non-diverse kids, who are not part of the show’s targeted demo, watch nine minutes of programming is questionable methodology and could not possibly provide the basis for any valid findings that parents could trust.”

Despite the argument, critics say that the study must be taken seriously.

“Connecting fast-paced television viewing to deficits in executive function…has profound impacts for children’s cognitive and social development that need to be considered and reacted to,” wrote University of Washington pediatrics professor Dr. Dimitri A. Christakis, an authority on children and the media, in an editorial accompanying the study.

-AnnaMarie Houlis

“Moneyball” homeruns are easy

thegettysburgian — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:59:47 +0000

“Moneyball” tells the true story of Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), general manager for the Oakland A’s who, in the 2001 season, took the nation’s lowest salaried baseball team to the world series, and lost. Between then and the start of the 2002 season his three best players were hired away by other, richer, teams offering higher salaries. Faced with the daunting task of rebuilding the team on a shoe string budget, Beane is persuaded by Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a recent Yale graduate with a major in economics, that he should hire players based on performance statistics that point to undervalued players. The team’s scouts, and manager (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), think differently. Brand has developed complex mathematical models to identify the statistics that really matter when it comes to winning baseball games. Brand’s statistics are new, different and challenge the conventional wisdom of the old school, tradition rich baseball orthodoxy. For Brand on base percentage is more valuable than batting average, runs scored are just as valuable as runs batted in, and walks and hits per inning pitched mean more than earned run average. Convincing “baseball people” like scouts and managers to ignore pretty much everything they know about the measure of a good baseball player and trust the geek from Yale is no easy task.

Performance wise the film is carried by Pitt, who, as Beane, oozes confidence at the ballpark, ably dealing with the players, while keeping himself at an emotional distance lest he reveal years of bitterness and self-pity over his own, failed, major league career. Jonah Hill, usually so over the top, shows surprising restraint as Brand, while Hoffman is effective, but sadly isn’t given enough to do to make a real impression.

-David King

Opinions editor to be

thegettysburgian — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 23:13:16 +0000

Hey guys, as Kaitlin mentioned last week in her blog, I will be taking over as editor of the opinions section for next year. I am currently, and have been since my freshman year, a sports writer for the paper. Although I am coming from a different section I am extremely excited to take on something new. The opinions section of any media source is always one of the most exciting and potentially controversial sections and I plan on fully embracing both those characteristics for next year. If you are reading this and are interested in writing for the opinions section or any Gettysburian section at all please do not hesitate to ask myself or Kaitlin about it. Thanks so much!

Changes to the Opinions section

thegettysburgian — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:57:08 +0000

This week in Opinions, Ted Kerr responds to Robert Miller’s piece on how we define and judge art while Brad Smith takes a look at just how divided America has become politically. Welcome to all of the perspective future students and future members of the Gettysburgian, as well as their families, who will be coming to campus this weekend as part of Get Acquainted Day (GAD). It’s hard to believe but there are only two more issues left before the semester comes to an end! We won’t be printing next week due to Easter Break.

After two years as the Gettysburgian‘s Opinions editor, I am preparing to hand over the reins. I will be graduating this Spring and Kerry Cunningham will be taking my place. I think this is what has finally made graduation become real to me, training my replacement and realizing that in a few months someone else will be doing “my” jobs on campus and I will no longer be responsible for these various entities of life at Gettysburg College. Kerry has been gradually transitioning into my role. Starting next week, Kerry will be the one editing articles on Tuesday night and Kerry will be the one putting layout together. As graduation draws closer I’m definitely becoming more nostalgic. I know that Kerry will do a great job, but that’s MY section and letting go is hard to do.

Kaitlin Molloy

Outgoing Opinions Editor

Springfest Band Announced at Student Senate Meeting

thegettysburgian — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 03:10:50 +0000

At tonight’s Student Senate meeting, the theme of Springfest was announced as “safari” and Saturday’s band as Black Violin a classical-pop group that has performed with a range of stars, including: Alicia Keyes, Fort Minor, P.Diddy, Kanye West, Fifty Cent, Aerosmith, Tom Petty, Aretha Franklin, and the Eagles. This will actually be Black Violin’s second performance at Gettysburg College. They came to campus a few years ago and apparently were quite popular. Check them out here on their website: http://www.blackviolin.net/index.html or on YouTube. They don’t appear to have a YouTube page but there are a ton of videos of them out there. Here are two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfYkq0-h7Yw&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af_Xcelwv-A.

Easter Break Open Forum raises questions, both old and new

thegettysburgian — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 04:04:23 +0000

Unfortunately, this article comes with a possible air of frustration that may make this more of an Opinions piece than a News one, but, as usual, I will try to keep any personal feelings out of a very basic statement of the facts.

At 8 p.m. tonight, the Student Senate held an Open Forum regarding Easter Break. The forum, held in Mara auditorium, was notably less crowded than its oft-compared forum on the removal of ESPN. In fact, not only did very few students turn up at the forum, but many senators themselves were noticeably missing during the usual Senate roll call.

Professor Buzz Myers was also absent from the meeting, along with any other member of the Faculty Governance Committee, which, as we were reminded, creates the academic calendar. This left Senate President Andrew Ferreira to present a PowerPoint of the rationales behind removing Easter break. These rationales, originally presented in a Gettysburgian Opinions piece by Professor Myers last year, included:

(please note that these are paraphrased as I do not have access to the full PowerPoint)

Rationale 1: Easter Break privileges Christianity, taking away from the global perspective of the College

Rationale 2: Easter Break creates a problem for constructing classes in the spring because it is a moveable feast and can occur anywhere from one to five weeks following Spring Break

Rationale 3: Easter Break interrupts momentum because of its possible proximity to Spring Break

Rationale 4: The elimination of Easter Break would not eliminate worship opportunities as students and faculty would be encouraged to worship on campus or in town

Rationale 5: Faculty can choose to cancel class or allow students with religious obligations to miss class without penalty (the reverse of this, of course is that faculty may also choose not to)

Rationale 6: The elimination of Easter Break would align us with a majority of other institutions we compare ourselves to

Jack Ryan, vice provost, assumed the podium for the remainder of the forum. He heard questions regarding the impact of a vote, explaining that there would be no impact on 2011-2012, but that the 2012-2013 calendar remains open. Other questions included whether or not Dining, DPS, and other departments were consulted about this change, whether the fact that 74% of campus are Christian made any impact, and what effect large numbers of students missing classes would have on the “flow” of the semester.

I myself asked why we were coming back on January 23 next year instead of reallocating those days to the end of the semester in order to allow more time for students to have summer jobs, internships, etc., and having us return on January 16. Professor Ryan stated that January 16 is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. However, in the two previous years we have returned to campus on the Wednesday before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and have held classes that day.

Students continued to discuss the issue of missing classes and perhaps creating an overarching policy that allows students to miss classes for religious reasons, something that would create a fair college atmosphere for all religions.

In general, similar concerns were raised as every other meeting on this subject in the last few weeks (all of which has been covered in the Gettysburgian). However, this forum also brought up the issue of the Senate’s method of handling the issue last year. Members of the executive board last year, namely Vice President Nick Redman and Treasurer Alex Ferraro, explained that Myers had contacted the College Life Advisory Committee (CLAC) and the executive board regarding the possibility of break removal. These groups then presented information to the Senate body.

Parliamentarian Richard Aime stated that Senate minutes from last year only report that Kevin Schmitt, chair of CLAC, made a note to reference the article in the Gettysburgian (presumably the article written by Myers as Myers had refused to comment in any article written in the News section in fear of being misrepresented). Aime also asked why the executive board had not considered the 50-person poll in the Gettysburgian as a sign of student interest, to which Ferraro replied that he had not been aware of this poll.

At the end of the discussion, Ferreira held a straw poll of the attendees. The question: Do you agree with the faculty’s plan to reallocate the Easter Holiday? Eighteen attendees agreed, 33 disagreed.

What will come of these results is still unknown, and while senators complained of poor student attendance and students equally complained of poor Senate representation, what has truly been called into question is the relationship between the Senate and the remainder of the student body. If you are interested in becoming more involved in Senate, would like to attend meetings, or have an issue you would like to address, please visit the Senate’s website at http://www.gettysburg.edu/about/offices/college_life/osa/student_senate/. The next Senate meeting will be Monday, March 21, at 7 p.m. in CUB 260.

By Arielle Distasio, News Editor

Use Spring Cleaning to Help Others: Bring Clothing Donations Home from Break

thegettysburgian — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 03:32:51 +0000

Courtesy of Kerri Dinneny (This Week in Greek)

Gamma Phi Beta Sorority will be holding their second annual clothing drive after Spring Break this year.

Malisa Moody, Gamma Phi Beta, states that the point of the drive is to give immediate opportunities back to the surrounding community, “The donated clothes go to the Gettysburg Homeless Shelter which is located at 102 N Stratton Street. We chose this shelter to receive our donations because our chapter wants to give back in a way that directly benefits our local community. Seeing as this homeless shelter is about 500 feet from our chapter, we could not think of a better place to receive our donations.”

Bins for donations will be located in first-year residence halls, fraternity houses, Musselman library, upperclassman housing, and the College Union Building.

Placement of the clothing drive into the spring schedule also has excellent timing. With break coming up, go home and find some old clothes that can be put to better use than the bottom of your shelf or the back of your closet.

So, when packing to come back to campus from Spring Break REMEMBER YOUR CLOTHING DONATIONS!

Opinions rage over Easter Recess removal

thegettysburgian — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 22:35:38 +0000

As news has spread about the administration’s decision to remove Easter Break and the Senate’s decision to not oppose the administration’s decision or have a referendum to allow the entire student body whether or not to approve Senate’s decision not to oppose the administration’s decision has spread, students have become increasingly vocal on the issue. As the news reached abroad, columnist Andrew Mearns submitted an op-ed all the way from Brisbane, Australia, opposing the change. A little closer to home, Senator Taylor Plank wrote a response to Senator DeBor’s op-ed from last week, explaining her logic and defending her decision to vote against opposing the administration’s decision.

Somewhat stressed Junior Brad Smith decided to steer clear of the issue, instead focusing on the immense pressure many Juniors feel to find internships and build their resumes.

Opinions section against change

thegettysburgian — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 22:20:44 +0000

This week Class of 2013 Senator Dave DeBor has contributed his opinion that his fellow Senators failed their constituents in approving the proposal to eliminate Easter Break from the Gettysburg College calendar.

Alyssa Oursler offers her argument on why the NCAA should not change the format of the March Madness Tournament. She feels that the number of teams admitted to the tournament should be kept where it is, instead of expanded.

The only column in favor of change is Going Global which reports on China’s quashing of attempted protests in favor of change and reform. Could this be the sign of a shift and possibly more open future for China?

Kaitlin Molloy

Opinions Editor

Anyone interested in submitting an editorial on the removal of Easter Break, this is the week to do it! Please e-mail all submissions to mollka02@gettysburg.edu by 9 pm Tuesday evening. Thank you!

Easter Break removal sparks debate

thegettysburgian — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 12:56:56 +0000

This Monday’s weekly Senate meeting featured Chair of the Religion Department and Professor Charles ‘Buz’ Myers’s address to the Senate body about recent calendar changes and proposals that have sparked hot debate among faculty and students alike in the past year.

Before Myers’s presentation, AnnMarie Strange was appointed as class of 2012 senator, filling the space left vacant by now-Treasurer Alex Ferraro.

Professor Myers, using a PowerPoint presentation similar to that which he used at the December 5, 2009 faculty meeting, first introduced the Senate body to the purpose of the Faculty Governance Committee (FGC), of which he is the chair. Also on the FGC are Steve Gimbel, Julie Chen, and Martin Kley.

One role of the FGC, according to Myers’ presentation and to the Faculty Handbook located on the College’s website, is “to create the academic calendar for the College taking into consideration concerns of various constituencies on campus, such as Student Senate, College Life, and the Center for Public Service.”

In this role, the FGC needs to create a calendar of two 14-week semesters, each including an equal number of each day of the week. This requirement is necessitated by labs and other courses which only meet on one day each week.

The existence of Easter break has been a constant complication to this schedule. Not having classes on Good Friday and Easter Monday has forced semester break to end on a Wednesday instead of a Monday. The Thursday gained from semester break is then turned into a Monday schedule somewhere during the semester. Because of these complications, the FGC proposed the removal of Easter break at last year’s faculty meeting.

Myers’ presentation included many reasons for this removal, including reducing scheduling complications, increasing diversity on campus, reducing student disinterest and distraction with so many breaks, and matching peer institutions. Myers provided a list of multiple peer institutions, including F&M, Dickinson, and Swarthmore, which do not have an Easter break.

However, as mentioned during the faculty meeting discussion last year and raised by students after the Senate meeting, colleges such as Muhlenberg College, St. Olaf College, Susquehanna University, and Wagner College do have an Easter break or recess in their schedules. These colleges are also part of the 40 Lutheran colleges and university represented by the Lutheran Educational Conference of North America, alongside Gettysburg. Historically Lutheran-associated, Gettysburg’s faculty pledge was also mentioned during the meeting last year. This pledge reportedly includes a pledge to uphold and respect the Lutheran history of the college.

Despite the debate at last year’s faculty meeting, Myers reported the surprisingly uniform results of the survey taken at the end of that meeting. Faculty were asked to vote on two proposals: the first was to “Remove from the academic calendar the Easter Recess, which includes Good Friday and the Monday following Easter, beginning with the 2011-2012 academic year.” Faculty were asked to vote to a) support this proposal, b) object this proposal, or c) have no preference.

According to Myers’ results 76% (86 members) voted to support the proposal, 20% (23 members) objected, and 4% (4 members) had no preference.

Though Myers did not report statistical results from the second proposal, faculty had also been asked to vote for 3 options for reallocating the two days gained by removing Easter break. Option A would move the two days to the end of semester break, Option B would use those days for Celebration and an “Advising Day,” and Option C would use a Thursday for Celebration and an additional Friday Reading Day before Spring finals.

Next year’s calendar, already posted on the College website, has classes starting on Jan. 23 (over a month after the December 17 last possible Fall final) and the last Spring finals being held on May 12. Easter Break has been removed once in the past, in 1992, but was reinstated the following year.

Myers also presented the proposal brought to the FGC by the Faculty Council proposing to reallocate the mid-week Wednesday Reading Day during finals. A vote was held by faculty in early December 2010 on the three possible options: retaining the mid-week Reading Day for Sunday through Saturday final exams, reallocating Reading Day to Sunday for Monday through Saturday final exams, or effectively removing Reading Day to create Sunday through Friday final exams. A reported 38% (51 members) of the faculty voted to retain the mid-week Reading Day, 24% (32 members) to reallocate to Sunday and 38% (52 members) to remote Reading Day.

After this tight vote, Professor DeNicola, from the Philosophy Department, informed Myers that mid-week Reading Day had first been instituted because Student Senate had proposed the idea. So, Myers decided to take the issue to the Student Senate.

Few questions were asked of Myers, and President Andrew Ferreira dismissed him from the podium. Most questions asked pertained to the reason for moving Reading Day. Myers explained that final grades are due by noon Monday and therefore final exams ending around 4:30 p.m. Saturday leave professors less than 48 hours to grade final exams and submit grades.

Once Myers left the meeting, the students went on to discuss the matters he presented. Parliamentarian Richard Aime also informed the Senate body that two resolutions would be proposed later on, addressing Senate’s support of the calendar decisions and proposals.

Senators seemed unanimous in their support of retaining mid-week Reading Day. Members commented that the day allows time to study, especially with study groups since there are fewer conflictions; reduces back-to-back finals and allows professors to offer final exams on Reading Day as an alternative to late exams or multiple tests in one day; gives a chance for Centennial Conference Championship spring sport members to study and catch up; and generally improves morale during an otherwise stressful week.

Sure enough, as Aime presented Senate Resolution 007A to support the retention of mid-week Reading Day, no roll call vote was necessary as the senate body unanimously voted in favor of the resolution.

A roll call vote was needed, however, after an intense debate about Resolution 006A, opposing the removal of Easter Break.

Senate members raised various concerns about the process by which the FGC approved this calendar change. Senator Kevin Schmitt explained that Myers presented this proposal for possibly eliminated Easter break to College Life Advisory Committee as well as, Redman confirmed, the Executive Board, each of which reportedly announced this information to the Senate. Myers did not, however, speak to the entire Senate body or poll the entire campus community. An informal Gettysburgian poll held online last year returned 50 votes: 48 for keeping Easter break and 2 for removing it.

Aime suggested the idea of a referendum to the entire student body via CNAV, especially since the topic raised such controversy among Senate members along, and because Senate members should be sure to represent their constituents. Many Senate members opposed this idea.

“I don’t think we can bring every single issue to the student body,” said Vice President Nick Redman, stressing the importance of a representative government.

Senator Caroline Dooley and Secretary Matthew Kirincic verbally agree with Redman, alluding to, and directly stating, the possible inability of the student body to make a fully informed decision on the matter.

Senators continued to weigh the pros and cons of the break removal, mentioning, in particular, the Lutheran ties of the school, the much-needed short break the recess provides to catch up on work, and the religious and personal values of being home over an important holiday. Students also mentioned the usefulness of a “warm-up lap” that the mid-week start from semester break provides, as well as the pointlessness of such a late semester start date.

Though Myers was not present at this point in the meeting, faculty members had expressed similar concerns last year. In response to their comments about student desire to visit family over the holiday, Myers had responded, “They had an entire week before to spend with their families, but Daytona Beach was more important.”

Around 8 p.m. the Senate finally decided to hold a roll call vote on Senate Resolution 6A. Voting for or against the removal of Easter Break, 16 senators and Executive Board members voted in support the removal and 15 voted against it. A similar vote on Resolution 6B to support the removal of Easter Break resulted in the same vote. Members who voted for the removal of Easter break were Vice President Nicholas Redman, Treasurer Alex Ferraro, Class of 2011 Senator Charles Meehan, Class of 2011 Senator Kevin Schmitt, Class of 2011 Senator Ellen Shupe, Class of 2011 Senator William Smith, Class of 2012 Senator Taylor Plank, Class of 2013 President and Senator Sarah Fodero, Class of 2013 Senator Kevin Lugo, Class of 2013 Senator Shruti Naik, Class of 2013 Senator Abdur Rehman, Class of 2014 Senator from Patrick Hall Patrick Hill, Class of 2014 Senator from Paul Hall Mariah Johnson, Class of 2014 Senator from Rice Hall Anthony McComiskey, Class of 2014 Senator from Huber Hall Sean Moran, and Class of 2014 Senator from Stine Hall John Price. Those who voted to keep Easter Break in the schedule were Secretary Matt Kirincic, Class of 2011 Senator Laura Block, Class of 2011 Senator Carolyn Dooley, Class of 2011 Senator Katherine Garvey-Hall, Class of 2011 Senator Victoria Shepard, Class of 2012 Senator Robert Egan, Class of 2012 Senator Caroline Nathan, Class of 2012 Senator AnnMarie Strange, Class of 2012 Senator William Weiss, Class of 2012 Senator Ryan Woodward, Class of 2013 Senator Gerard Caswell, Class of 2013 Senator David DeBor, Class of 2013 Senator Candice Lopez, Class of 2014 President and Senator Malcolm Perry, and Class of 2014 Senator from Hanson Hall Brett Stewart.

President Andrew Ferreira is not able to vote and did not veto the results of the Monday vote, but did state Wednesday, “My personal opinion is that more students should be consulted since this issue affects all students, not only one group or organization, and personally wish that Easter break be restored to the calendar for next year. Easter is not just a break; it is also a time for you to spend with family and participate in religious traditions in an atmosphere that is unique to home: something you cannot replicate at the College.”

The Senate Resolution will be sent to President Riggs, the President’s Council, Professor Myers, and Professor Jean Fletcher of Economics. The President’s Council still needs to approve the calendar before it is official.

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