The Waltonian

Eastern University has a thriving community of clubs and groups, with 20+ clubs being mentioned on the Eastern University website. We are lucky enough to have everything from Ultimate Frisbee to the Multicultural Awareness Advisory Committee (MAAC). There really is something for everyone when it comes to club shopping. Clubs provide many benefits to student life over the four years most people spend at Eastern. Clubs are a great outlet for making friends, support systems and community. Most people have at least one friend that is in a club or made that friend through a club. Spending time doing something that you all collectively love means almost guaranteed friendship. It was most certainly a lifeline for me the beginning of my freshman year, when I knew absolutely no one. Clubs gave me a sense that I could belong at Eastern during the time I felt the most alone and isolated. This sentiment extended past freshmen year, and still applies in my life today.

Sometimes the idea of having a club to go to and people to talk to after a long day of work and classes feels like a reward and relief. Every student should feel like they get a mini vacation in the middle of the week, and clubs are the perfect way to have that on campus. The hour of time spent at a club is time to stop worrying about all of your responsibilities, classes, work, etc. All of this can be put on the back burner for a second, and be replaced with stress relief. Can you imagine the drudgery of just doing work day in and day out? It would be like finals week all the time. That would be the sad social waste land of many if there were no clubs at Eastern.

The clubs at Eastern help to create the strong sense of community that we know and love. It allows us to try new things, and understand the experiences and interests of those around us. Clubs help to spread messages and understanding, especially when it comes to learning about new cultures and ways of life. Over the past year, several great events have been put on by cultural clubs like Lantinos Unidos, Heart of Africa and Caribbean Student Organization. Clubs raise up important issues and dialogue within our community, such as Refuge’s solidarity stand and MAAC having a discussion on Race relations in America. The clubs at Eastern do so much for us as students and a community, they deserve this positive spotlight.

Clubs are a great outlet for making friends, support systems and community. Most people have at least one friend that is in a club or made that friend through a club. Spending time doing something that you all collectively love means almost guaranteed friendship. It was most certainly a lifeline for me the beginning of my freshman year, when I knew absolutely no one. Clubs gave me a sense that I could belong at Eastern during the time I felt the most alone and isolated. This sentiment extended past freshmen year, and still applies in my life today.

Sometimes the idea of having a club to go to and people to talk to after a long day of work and classes feels like a reward and relief. Every student should feel like they get a mini vacation in the middle of the week, and clubs are the perfect way to have that on campus. The hour of time spent at a club is time to stop worrying about all of your responsibilities,classes,work etc. All of this can be put on the back burner for a second, and be replaced with stress relief. Can you you imagine the drudgery of just doing work day in and day out? It would be like finals week all the time. That would be the sad social waste land of many if there were no clubs at Eastern.

The clubs at Eastern help to create the strong sense of community that we know and love. It allows us to try new things, and understand the experiences and interests of those around us. Clubs help to spread messages and understanding, especially when it comes to learning about new cultures, and ways of life. Over the past year several great events have been put on by cultural clubs like Lantios Unidos, Heart of Africa and Caribbean Student Organization. Clubs raise up important issues and dialogue within our community, such as Refuge’s solidarity stand and MAAC having discussion on Race relations in America.The clubs at Eastern do so much for us as students and a community, they deserve this positive spotlight.

Lizzy Parker is a senior graduating this May, but will be back in the Fall for student teaching and starting Eastern’s TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language) grad program. Parker as three majors: Early Childhood Education, Middle-Level Education for math and social studies and Spanish. She also has the coolest minor on campus: Gender studies.

In addition to all her academic work, Parker is very involved in advocacy. She is the president of Refuge and an officer for SAGE.

Parker was kind enough to answer some questions for the Waltonion. The first being, “what drew you to Eastern?” Her answer seems to ring true to a lot of students who have decided to make Eastern their home.

“I first visited Eastern in the Spring of my first year of college, and I knew before I left campus that this was the place for me. I decided to transfer to Eastern after a year at another small Christian school. I was looking for a place where I could explore questions surrounding my faith in a community that had a wide variety of perspectives represented. I also wanted to go to a school with opportunities to engage with social justice issues in a tangible way. Plus, I wanted to go to a school that was in an interesting location. Being near Philly and not far from other cities is super fun, especially for someone who is not from the East Coast. I feel that I have found all of these things here, as well as many amazing connections with professors and the friends I have made.”

All of these things are what helps make Parker so invested in Eastern.

“I feel very invested in Eastern’s community, and it’s because of the people I have met here. I love that Eastern is a small school because I never walk across campus without running into people I know, and at the same time, I am always meeting new people. I have had the opportunity to learn from so many excellent professors and speakers here, and I have made such a great group of friends. I am also invested in Eastern as an institution. I am so thankful for all of the opportunities to learn and grow that I have been offered here, and I want Eastern to continue to learn and grow, as well. I hope that I am able to stay connected to Eastern even after graduation,” Parker said.

She is clearly a pillar of Eastern life, which will continue as she continues her graduate studies.

Guffin was built on campus in the early 50s and got its start as a men’s only dorm during its early history. It even shows the expansion of Kea having been added as Eastern started to grow as a college. That being said, the rooms and halls of Guffin have not seen much change since it was first constructed. For those of you who may say, “but wait, they redid the Breezeway and lounges, so Guffin cannot be that bad.”

Despite those changes, none of these improvements were for full-time residents of Guffin who currently have problems on their hall. The bathrooms on Guffin second are in what can only be described as a shabby state. The first thing you notice when you walk in is the paint peeling inside the bathroom. That, and what appears to be mold on the ceilings and walls. The question is, why has this gotten to this point?

If there is a problem with moisture build up and vents in these bathrooms, there has to be a way to prevent the mold at least. Maybe require the window be slightly open in the bathroom when taking hot showers. The school could provide a dehumidifier in the bathroom or hall like they do to control the humidity in Eagle Hall.

Another concern about these conditions is that for those who have allergies or upper respiratory problems, mold of any kind can affect people’s health in such enclosed spaces. These issues should be taken care of by the school, which should be offering solutions. It should not be the burden of students to have to address the conditions of our living spaces, as we have many other pressures and responsibilities to focus on.

No one wants to point fingers at who should have done what. At this point students would just like the bathroom to be free of mold. Maybe have someone come in to clean the mold and spray a preventive on the walls. Then, during the summer months, address the real issue of ventilation and humidity.

Top all that off with a new, fresh coat of paint and I think the student population in the hall would really appreciate the effort and having their voices heard. The situation can be addressed in steps, but any show of progress would benefit every party involved.

Students would get the quality housing they pay for and Eastern University will be known for addressing problems instead of sweeping them under the rug or pretending not to notice. At the end of the day, we need facilities that function properly and improve student life.

For those of you who are about to read this article please be aware that it contains information about sexual assault and sexual offenders, and may be triggering to some people.

The CBC news in Canada has been researching a disturbing trend with youth sports over the past 20 years in Canada. A staggering amount of youth coaches from 1998 to 2018 have been convicted or involved in sexual offenses. The current estimated number at this time is 222 coaches, the majority being men making up 213 of the convictions. Only 9 convictions are related to female coaches so far. The current estimated number of victims is a heartbreaking 600 or more.

The problem is so widespread throughout the entire system as well with convictions coming from every type of sport. The highest amount of convictions come from hockey with 59 convictions and over 80 charges. Soccer has the second highest conviction rate with 27 convictions and 40 charges. This problem, however, goes past the more popular sports, with even sports like badminton and archery having charges reported. The range of sports is everything from bowling, weightlifting, to sailing.

The types of charges these coaches are involved with have the same amount of variety, everything from sexual assault, child luring, sexual exploitation and more.

This problem has clearly been building for many years within the sports system. According to Sandra Kirby, Olympic rower and University of Winnipeg sociology professor, “sexual abuse is a very under-reported crime,” and she estimates there could be thousands of other cases where no one has come forward. Sport organizations across Canada can’t ignore these findings, and there needs to be “massive reform across the sport system” to ensure every child who participates in sports has a safe experience.

“There are people who, even with all of the information out in the press now, simply don’t get it. They don’t get the magnitude of the problem,” Kirby said.

The questions is what does Canada do now to protect their youth? Canada is currently working on new protocol and training within its sports system. Many people within the system are calling for transparency on investigations, and of coaches conduct in general, calling for individual sports organizations to post all information on websites. A meeting is scheduled to be held between the Canadian Olympic, Paralympics committees and the minister of sports in the hopes that they will start to rectify this dire problem.

During the week of January 28, Eastern’s International Justice Mission (IJM) chapter hosted a Human Trafficking Awareness Week. According to Homeland security, Human Trafficking is defined as “modern-day slavery and involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.”

Those trafficked into the United States is in the millions every year. This industry, fueled by human suffering, also makes profit margins into the billions and is only second to that of drug trafficking. The target of this crime spreads across all demographics. It hits all genders and age groups not just young children and women.

The International Justice Mission’s purpose is to spread an understanding of this issue and how people can combat it in America. During the week, IJM hosted several events. On Monday, they held a meeting allowing students to gain more information on the problem of human trafficking and its many facets in America.

There was supposed to be a training session presented by Delaware County Anti-Trafficking Coalition, however, due to inclimate weather that night, the event was postponed. IJM has not yet released a new date for the event. The hope is that later this semester the training will be rescheduled.

On Wednesday night, IJM also made a special appearance at Wednesday Night Worship where two members of the club spoke several encouraging verses over everyone and also spoke a bit on the purpose of IJM. On Thursday, IJM held a letter writing campaign event. IJM had a table stationed in the Jammin Java which had information on which large companies help contribute to the problem of human trafficking.

Many of these companies are quite large and well known. The companies on the list are guilty of sex exploitation and feeding into the business of human trafficking. Companies such as Snapchat, Amazon, Stream and Youtube have contributed to the spread of human trafficking in varying degrees across the world.

Present at the event was co-leader Caroline Campbell who shared her personal story and the message of IJM. Campbell shared how she personally first heard and became concerned about human trafficking.

“I knew that human trafficking was going on internationally, from missions works. I did not realize it was such a problem in the United States until my senior year of high school” Campbell said.

Her personal story shows that it is never too late to learn about a cause and start investing in it. Campbell also explained the transition from Students Against Human Trafficking (SAHT) to IJM. The transition to IJM means that Eastern’s IJM chapter is now part of a network of different chapters from UC Berkeley to New York University.

There are two important messages and take-aways that IJM wants Eastern students to know,“The biggest thing is modern slavery exists, that women, children and men are still being used for sex work and labour. IJM tries to use education, and field offices located in Asia and Africa. Companies still expolit people everyday, and we want Eastern students to be aware of this problem.”

If this message speaks to you, IJM meets Tuesdays at 6:30pm in the KAGE. They are currently doing a series focusing on cultures from different field offices across the world. IJM also welcomes any questions you may have and can be reached at ijm@eastern.edu.

Has anyone else been getting the sneaky suspicion that Christmas is running a holiday takeover campaign? Have you ever been to the mall and wondered what Holiday Is really coming next, to find out that christmas is the only one people care about this year? I am a firm believer that every holiday has its importance and thus deserves at least more than the 10 minutes allotted for it this year.

Christmas has been a big holiday in the Us for several generations. The lights, the decorations, the presents, and the family. It is a time that people come together at a specific time of year and celebrate the birth of Jesus, or, if one is not Christian, having the joy of family or those they have chosen to be family. This day is the same day every year, December 25.

People always look forward to the end of the year being when the holiday comes about. It signifies the end of the year and another year to come. Unfortunately, as the years go by, Christmas seems to come earlier and earlier. This year, I noticed decorations up around town even before Halloween, this year they were quite prevalent at our local consumer mecca, aka the mall. Last year they had decorations up after Halloween, but before Thanksgiving which was already erasing a very important event for the holiday season.

Doing this takes away from the fundamental point of what Christmas was supposed to be about. The more that consumerism decides to try and make Christmas about commercialism and less about the joy and love of the year then the more the newer generation loses the importance of the holiday. I firmly believe that Christmas should be during December and celebrated on December 25, not the day after Thanksgiving when I am just processing how much stuffing I had to eat in one sitting and even before. It needs to become less about the super early Black Friday sales, and Christmas merchandise. Imagine if all that time and energy was spent on creating something like memories that would last?

This question is not one that people consider anymore. As the years have gone by these things have become less important. Perhaps this year people should take a moment and consider what Christmas means to them and how they can change their mindset for the better. I believe that the true purpose for Christmas would be rejuvenated. I know this year I’m going to let my Christmas be more about celebrating memories.

I think we have all heard about the recent round of layoffs that occurred this summer as soon as we set foot on campus. For seniors, this is just a case of deja vu, the layoffs harking back to our own days as freshmen when we saw many professors leave before we really knew them. This time however we have seen whole departments cut and long time faculty leave. The largest and probably most well known cuts comes with the total disbandment of student advisors. Now I know what most people are thinking, “ I never used my student advisor, I just had my department chair or professor approve my classes.” To those of you who expressed this, I completely understand.

It is unfortunate that so many lost their jobs, but Eastern can not afford extra expenses for services that students do not utilize. It might not sit well with people, but it is far easier to rationalize those layoffs than that of professors and staff, such as IT or adjuncts. As a senior it is always very hard to hear when a well known or loved professor is let go or to see departments struggle due to being understaffed, especially when you know that this is not the first time the University has had to make cuts “for the greater good.” It also does not instill a sense of confidence in the health of Eastern University and does cause some confusion of what the path will be in the future for Eastern when it comes to budget and focus.

Students are not the only ones that have questions and concerns about the way layoffs were handled this go around. I interviewed an anonymous faculty member to try and better understand the whole situation and help form my own opinion. The first thing that interested me was the nature and timing of the layoffs, naturally I assumed that people were getting notices that Eastern was thinking of restructuring departments long before people were being dismissed. According to the faculty member this seemed to no be the case: “There was no official statement before President Matthews emails, and by then people were already leaving” This honestly caught me off guard for the scale of the lay offs that people were not warned so that they could possibly explore their options before other schools also started their academic year.

The timing of the lay offs are also very much an extra strain on the University and staff. “There was more of a panic trying to figure out classes and schedules, having to do many months of work in very little time left,” the faculty expressed. They also feel like as a whole the University has not had enough time to process such large losses. Another factor that was brought up during this interview, just the loss of experienced staff can have a toll on the community. The faculty expressed, “a lot of professors were popular and have taught here for several years, people like Margaret Peterson are irreplaceable.” This made me realize how important relationships between students and faculty are, and even just faculty and the Eastern Community as a whole.

These relations take years to properly form, and really are priceless. No amount of training is going to be able to provide what experience working at Eastern gives. To me this is the biggest loss that comes from these layoffs, the loss of strong bonds that have taken years to form, and skilled professionals that know how to navigate Easterns complex community with all its quirks.