The Waltonian

Eastern University is celebrating its 100 year anniversary! Woohoo! As a former Cabrini University student myself, my favorite thing about Eastern is that it mirrors, and expands upon, the sense of community that I started to feel when I began my college experience. I am excited that I have been welcomed to an ever-growing community and can partake in the celebration of a monumental occasion: Eastern’s Centennial!

To put this into perspective, here are a few things Eastern is older than: the internet, the Eagles, the microwave, Citizen Kane, Cabrini University and so much more.

100 years is a long time. Tens of thousands of people have been influenced in some way or another by Eastern. I personally found myself falling in love with this institution very quickly, despite my prior reluctance to believe I ever would.

What is there to love about Eastern? This question seems simple, but could have so many different answers. So I walked around and asked as many people as I could, interrupting meals and people doing homework in the library.

While I did not get 100 unique responses, I found it interesting which aspects of Eastern were cited as the most lovable. So, in the words of Steve Harvey, “let’s see what the survey said!”

One aspect, which I was not surprised to see came up so much, was the beauty of the campus. People love to walk around campus, seeing the leaves change colors in the fall semester. The way the snow falls, leaving blankets of soft white across the ground. While walking across the bridges, students will sometimes see turtles and ducks in the little creeks. Or deer running just off the path. Of course, the famous water wheel, and all the ponds, came up too.

Another popular pick for the most lovable aspect of Eastern was the community. The diversity of people—from different races, hometowns and experiences—was mentioned. The friendliness of others, especially when you’re new to the school, and the smiley faces are what a lot of people love. Having small, personal classes and being able to really connect with peers and professors came up a lot.

This love for the community extended to special kudos to a long list of specific people. These people are: Dr. Rea, Dr. Huddell, Sabrina Severe, Dr. Burnette-Bletsch, Dr. Boyer, Dr. Moteiro, Dr. Bittenbender, Dr. Mtika, Sharina Hudson, Dr. Ford, Rev. Perry Brisbon, Eunice Jeon, Sally Kapner, Joe Modica, Dr. Bradstreet, John Doyle, Ranger, Dr. Rasmussen and Sandy (the very extroverted lady who works at Eagle’s Nest).

Similarly, people explained that certain majors and programs made them choose to come to Eastern in the first place. The biology, chemistry, music, social work, business and nursing majors attracted a lot of incoming students. The Templeton Honors College, and the crazy stories they have about the camping trips, were also something people touted as something to love.

Eastern’s Theater Department offers a lot to love. From shows, like the recent production of Noises Off in the fall, to the classes, like Unarmed Combat for the Actor, the Theater department has generated a lot of adoration from actors and audiences alike.

People also love the insight they can about transitioning into the professional world. One student explained he feels much better about graduating and moving on from college after speaking with a few business professors and learning valuable career advice. In a similar vein, visiting the Center for Career Development also quelled much of the worries people had about

adulting. Needless to say, the snacks offered at the Center for Career Development were highlighted by a few people.

There are plenty of eclectic parts of Eastern that have garnered a fondness. A few people brought up the old ID cards (the ones with the well-loved water wheel). President Matthew’s stylish red glasses—and his wacky statement suits—were cited as an endearing part of Eastern’s identity. The Eastern meme instagram account came up too.

Connecting back to the community aspect, there is a lot to say about the sports side of Eastern. Being teammates brought along some of the tightest friendships found at Eastern. I can personally attest to this being true. I am an RA in Sparrowk with a hallway full of baseball, soccer and golf guys. They are always chilling in each other’s rooms and travel in a giant pack.

More general sports related lovable moments include the newer additions to Eastern. This includes the football team and the currently still under construction baseball field. Beaker, cheer and dance teams and an immense amount of school spirit are also endearing parts of Eastern’s culture.

Continuing the idea of innovations at Eastern, the major changes to the communication department have gotten people excited. The new hands-on experiences, such as operating cameras, learning to edit, and producing student-made media, are making students eager for the future.

Last but certainly not least, people love the faith felt on campus. Chapel on Wednesdays are a great way to step away from weekly responsibilities to create fellowship with each other. Wednesday Night Worship fulfills a similar role, but in a much more casual and music-centered way. Someone mentioned Eastern Dance Ministry, which is a way to worship God through the art of dance.

There are so many things to love about Eastern that trying to collect and write about 100 of them here would not be enough. If I spoke to 100 different people, I know I would have gotten another 100 different things to talk about.

Oh Eastern, what a lovely place you are!

William Howard Doane was born on February 3, 1832 and lived to become a forgotten innovator and musical prodigy. In his 83 years on Earth, more than 70 patents have been registered in his name regarding woodworking equipment. He also managed to compose and contribute to over 2,000 hymns, including “I Am Thine” and “More Love to Thee.”

Despite his name and influence, William Howard Doane had no impact on Eastern University’s legacy, nor the residence hall that resembles his namesake. Instead, the credit goes to his daughter, Marguerite Treat Doane.

In the 1950s, Ms. Doane was a major benefactor for the Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, which was renamed to Palmer Seminary in 2005. In 1952, she contributed $100,000 to the purchase of the “Bonalton Estate,” a portion of the original Walton estate built for the eldest son of Charles S. Walton. This new part of the campus was originally named Fairview Dormitory, but was renamed to Doane Hall in 1957.

Doane continued to contribute to Eastern Baptist College, including donating a portion of her father’s music collection after his passing. While there were plenty of music sheets that were placed in a safe, one impressive 14-paged manuscript was hidden away as well.

It took 33 years until Judith DiBona, an accounting manager at the time, randomly came across the original manuscript of “Fantasia in C Minor” and the “Sonata in C Minor” by Mozart while searching through old financial records.

The manuscript was authenticated, and was quickly taken to be sold at an auction in London. It, along with a few other manuscripts from Haydn, Strauss, Meyerbeer and Spohr, sold for $1,576,000 to a Mozart museum in Salzburg, Austria.

This enormous sum of money was used to reignite the music department, which had slowly died out in the 1970’s. In addition to revitalizing the department, the Mozart Scholarship was created to encourage musically inclined people to come to enroll at Eastern University.

2005 saw an echo of the “Mozart Miracle” when an 80 page manuscript of Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge was found by Heather Carbo, a Palmer Seminary librarian. This manuscript, another part of Doane’s original collection, was authenticated and sold for $1,720,000. This money further strengthened the music department.

Who knows, maybe there are more compositions from Doane’s collection waiting to be discovered!

Newsflash: Cabrini is closed. Along with the dozens of students, Eastern has also absorbed faculty. The new faculty members have subsequently brought over additions to the curriculum of a few majors. One department that will be going through a lot of changes is communication studies.

Dawn Francis and John Doyle are two incredibly talented professors who lived and breathed Cabrini. They were both students who graduated but eventually returned to their Alma Mater to educate up-and-coming communication studies students.

The Cabrini comm department was focused on production and practical experience. It was home to a few media agencies where students were given hands-on experiences. The Loquitur, Cabrini’s award-winning newspaper, let students get experience working in journalism. Social Nexus was the student-run social media agency. House 67 was for anyone seeking experience with video production. Last but not least, Cavalier Radio allowed students to be DJs on the college radio station. When Cabrini closed, Eastern threw a life tube to stranded students but pulled some of the Cabrini spirit in too.

Julie Morgan, the department chair of communication studies, had been looking to expand the department’s media production side.

“This institution is healthy economically and academically, and the department was interested in expanding,” Doyle, a new lecturer of communication studies, said. “We’re hybridizing the program. We’re taking what we did at Cabrini and melding it with what was here,” Doyle added.

Cabrini focused on the production side of the world. Eastern focused on the strategic side of media. Doyle explained, “Eastern has a foundation in theory and interpersonal practice for students going into media. The media practice we bring will serve as a structure for the students,” Doyle said.

So, when Cabrini was closing, it created an opportunity to shift the media production elements that existed at Cabrini to Eastern’s curriculum. These will serve as a practice for courses that form the department. At the same time, the students who are more interested in media production will take courses that establish the underlying ideas of how each outlet works. “We’re creating a hybrid program that provides students the ability to choose the path they want to pursue in the major. We’re going to see what works best,” Doyle said.

With this shift, it is important to note that the existing courses are not being replaced. “There are classes that existed here that are remaining. Some of those classes have been augmented by production things [Cabrini] brought over,” Doyle said. A great example of this would be the new version of The Art of Film. The bare bones of the course are the same, but Doyle has added his personal brand of teaching. He also swapped the film used to demonstrate the feminist lens from “Clueless” to “10 Things I Hate About You.”

“We’re also bringing the concepts of agencies with us,” Doyle said. One such agency is a brand-new radio station. “It’s gonna be good to play music, and it’ll be good to get that identity out in the community,” Doyle, said.

The yet-to-be-named radio station will be a physical manifestation of the hybridization of the two departments. It will serve as a hands-on experience for students interested in production; and will create opportunities for interpersonal growth. The radio station will require students to learn how to operate it on a technical level but also challenge them to conduct interviews or market activities and events.

The station will be an online stream, allowing students who are studying abroad and alumni to listen in. It will be a worldwide 24/7 operation that will automate itself when no student is there to operate it, but students will impart their personalities through speaking and music selection while on air.

“These [media] agencies become a way for students to practice the skills they’re learning in whichever section of communication they’re studying,” Doyle, said.

One of the largest barriers to creating these agencies is having a student staff. “Capacity matters,” Doyle, said. “There’s only a small group right now.” With the radio station still early in development, only a few students have committed to joining. The station will also be open to anyone interested in operating the station, not just comm majors.

Do you want a chance to learn the technical side of production? Do you want to grow your skills in building relationships and interviewing people? Or are you interested in hosting your own radio show and playing whatever music you like? Be on the lookout for more information on how to get involved with the Eastern comm department!

This is a topic that feels like it’s cut and dry. If you’re a pacifist, like Mahatma Gandhi, this is an easy question to answer. You should love your enemy because everyone’s life is infinitely valuable. On the other hand, people who relate to Roddy Piper might say somehting about being all out of bubblegum and having to kick… well you know the rest of that line.

But for those in the middle, let’s walk through some ideas to help this question percolate in your mind.

Proverbs 25:21 states, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.” This tells us that showing compassion to our enemies is far more important than trying to enact vengeance upon them, or leaving them to suffer.

Matthew 5:43-44 states, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” This excerpt reverses the concept of “loving your neighbors and hating your enemy,” that was prevalent in Jesus’ day, and is still common in modern times. Jesus even commands us to view our enemies as our neighbors in Luke 10:25-37, since Jewish people viewed Samaritans as tainted and actively chose to disassociate from them.

With that being said, there is another aspect of enemies that I want to bring to the table: Hating someone is an intimate act.

I know that sounds kind of backwards, but I promise this makes sense. Society uses hate too loosely these days. After someone breathes too loudly, doesn’t hold the door open, or has a weird laugh, it is not uncommon to say something like “I hate that person,” later while complaining to friends.

However, that is technically not the correct way to use the word hate. Hate, according to Merriam-Webster, means “extreme dislike or disgust.” There is no reason to hate someone for not holding the door open. That transgression will be forgotten at the end of the day. A better way to describe it is that you were inconvenienced.

To hate something is to extraordinarily dislike something. The distaste has to stand out from the ordinary day-to-day thoughts. You can’t hate something and then forget about it because you moved on. That hatred has to burn inside your brain so brightly that you can’t ignore it. If you hate someone, you constantly think about them. Sounds pretty intimate to me.

If I haven’t lost you yet, buckle up because the English major is about to nerd out about imagery.

Fire, in all its glory and destruction, is an image that is firmly embedded within the human psyche. Taming the flames allowed our ancestors to cook food. According to primatologist Richard Wrangham, cooking is a key factor in human evolution. With cooked food, ancient humanoids were able to start to consume calories more efficiently. Cooked food is also softer than raw food, which meant jaw muscles did not have to be so bulky and powerful in order to survive. As jaw muscles became smaller, the skull was granted more room to allow brain development to flourish.
Fire is a primal factor of humanity, which makes sense that it is often used to symbolize two of the most powerful—and human—emotions.

Hatred is often characterized as a powerful, raging inferno. There is the cliché of hating someone with a “burning passion.” Using the word “burning” implies there is a latent hurting present in the hatred.

On the contrary, love is often equated to a warm, tender and illuminating flame. Pablo Neruda, a Chilean poet-diplomat who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature, stated, “To feel the love of people whom we love is a fire that feeds our life.”

The fire within us that fuels hatred hurts ourselves and those around us, while the fire that fuels our ability to love does the opposite. However, I would like to assert the idea that these are not separate flames.

Hate and love are the same fire, a dynamic that ebbs and flows. The sparks of love can erupt into a vortex of flames, the same way the blaze can die down to be soothing embers to stave off the cold.

There’s a reason enemies to lovers is such a common trope. The blaze softens to a warm light. It’s endearing when Elizabeth Bennet starts to understand and eventually marry Mr. Darcy.

The aforementioned love does not have to be romantic, it can be respect or friendship. The reversal of the enemies to lovers trope is commonly demonstrated with the latter forms of love, like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.

Taking the idea of enemies showing great respect for each other, some of the most impactful parts of a fight are the ones that showcase that exact concept. John Donahue, stage combat coordinator and professor of Eastern’s course titled “Unarmed Combat for the Actor,” always tells us to look into our partner’s eyes during class. It’s more impactful, it shows the seriousness of the fight by cementing the fighters in the battle against each other. Like a master assassin watching the life drain out of his target’s eyes as he sinks the blade deeper into the heart, it’s more intimate that way.

If you disagree with any of my reasoning then I raise you the ultimate explanation—You should love your enemy because God said so.

When I was a sophomore in high school my English teacher, Ms. Brooks, gave us a small list of questions that pertained to “To Kill a Mockingbird”, our assigned reading at that time. They were discussion questions for which we had to write notes to prepare for class the next day. I don’t remember what the questions were, but I remember writing a lot of notes since “To Kill a Mockingbird” was one of the books I most enjoyed reading for that class.

When we entered the classroom the next day, Ms. Brooks had us rearrange the classroom so the desks formed two circles in the middle of the room. Ms. Brooks explained the format of the discussion: a Socratic seminar. I was horrified. I knew, no matter what the topic of discussion was, there would be a smug dude (probably wearing a navy blazer and khakis; you know the type) sitting next to me anxiously waiting for a lull in the conversation so he could mutter the fateful words, “I respect your point, buuuuut just to play devil’s advocate here . . .”

Thankfully, my experiences with in-class discussions at college are very different. When someone brings up a different viewpoint of the matter at hand, it comes from a place of having a different understanding, and not from the desire to sound cool because they’re bringing up the opposite point of view.

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with having a different perspective than the people around you. I love Shonen anime like “One Piece” and “Hunter x Hunter”. My girlfriend vehemently hates them. But we have learned to live with those differences. I don’t try to force her to watch anime with me, and she does not try to stop me from watching them. She does, however, cut me off when I start to mansplain the power systems and the overarching meanings behind fights and how Zoro could beat Sanji in a fight.

Having differing opinions is normal. But going out of your way to have different opinions is something else: contrarianism.

Being a contrarian means challenging common ideas. In order to be a contrarian, you have to eat, sleep and breathe having the opposite mindset to mainstream people. Unlike playing devil’s advocate, contrarianism isn’t a way to think about the current topic of discussion. It’s a way to think about every topic of discussion. It’s a lifestyle.

The power of contrarianism comes when challenging commonly accepted ideas. Flat-Earthers, people who believe the moon landing was a hoax, and anyone who wholeheartedly believes something that can be described as a conspiracy theory, all fall into this category.

Contrarianism, in this form, can be dangerous. While challenging the status quo is beneficial, which we will go into more detail later, following narratives that are based solely on believing an alternative to the norm is harmful.

Another example of this, although to a lesser degree, would be hot takes. A hot take is when someone makes a quick, provocative and often shallow comment about something that the majority of people agree upon.

Bringing anime back into the mix, there are plenty of hot takes to go around. Most are aimed to elicit a strong reaction—scrutinizing small details or plot holes and using that as evidence to say something like, “Naruto is bad and overrated.”

Hot takes that are designed like this can be classified as ragebait. Ragebait is a form of content that is meant to create a high amount of engagement. This is common on social media, but can also be found in tabloids. If the title, caption, or headline, makes you think something like “huh that makes no sense, let me comment to tell them they’re wrong,” then a contrarian has successfully used ragebait to manipulate you.

Contrarianism can lead to positive outcomes though. During World War II, Abraham Wald, a Hungarian statistician, was part of a team tasked with figuring out the best way to reinforce U.S. bomber planes to minimize losses. After missions, a large number of planes would not return, and the ones that did were riddled with bullet holes.

Most of the team figured reinforcing planes based on the bullet hole patterns on the ones that came back would lead to a higher rate of planes returning after each mission. Wald figured the contrary. The planes that did not come back were shot in the vital spots. Therefore, the spots that had no bullet holes on the planes that returned were the spots where the other planes were shot and could not return. Due to considering the contrary, Wald deduced the situation as an example of survivorship bias, where using the surviving planes as a model was not effective in reinforcing future planes.

So with all that said, contrarianism as a theory is great! But the way people put that theory into practice can be dangerous. Uncontrolled contrarianism can lead to a lot of conflict around politics, society, or anime. So don’t be the person that thinks they’re a great debater because they’re the smug fella that says, “Great point you have there Colin. However, I’m gonna play devil’s advocate . . .”

I adore my family. I really do. No matter how much I might complain—mostly about my sister and how she irks my soul—I do love all my family members.

Sometimes I’ll hear stories from other Eastern students where it sounds like their families are the most supportive—drop everything at a moment’s notice to help with even the smallest things—people. I can’t say my family wouldn’t help out if I really needed it, but it’s typically a more involved process than just asking. Asking would always lead to convincing. Convincing involves negotiating and negotiating only works half the time.

My family is a lot to deal with sometimes, outside of a reluctance to offer assistance. You know that cliché of “if someone is mean to you, it means they like you?” Take that idea, and evolve it. Take the type of puppy love felt by children, and turn it into a love that holds a family together. That’s exactly how my family works.

My stepfather is a great example of what I mean. I know that if I go back to the house, it’s only a matter of time before my stepfather walks up to me saying, “Wanna see something funny?” Then he’ll say something controversial loudly enough for my sister to hear. Somehow he always knows what to say that will get a reaction out of her. She always walks into the room, yelling and trying to explain to both of us that whatever comment we made wasn’t funny. I don’t always participate, but sometimes I’ll play along. Either way, I was roped into my sister’s wrath.

My extended family operates similarly. So when my mom told me she was going to invite all of my aunts, uncles and cousins to my 21^st birthday party, I knew it would not be boring. I asked my mom if I could invite some of my friends too, but she said, “If you think they can handle it.” I thought of the people I would have invited. A few of my lifelong friends came to mind, but then I remembered memories of them getting upset after my grandfather commented on them at the last party they came to. It wasn’t a malicious comment. He said, “What are you, Colin’s shadow?” and subsequently referred to them as “shadow” for the rest of the day. That upset my friends, so I decided not to invite them this time. They understood.

My 21^stbirthday party started great. My stepfather got me a slushie that contained some sort of alcohol. As people showed up, each and every one of them held a bottle and said, “Happy birthday! I bought something for us!” I taste-tested a little bit of everything that people brought, so when 6 pm rolled around I was already a little tipsy. I was standing outside, trying to explain the book I read for my Memoir class to one of my uncles, when I saw a friend from work walking up the driveway.

I didn’t know how to feel when I saw Joey. I was excited to see him. I was worried what would happen when he met my family. He knew my mom and sister, but had not met my drunk extended family. But I had faith in Joey. Working with him was similar to being with my family. Joey was witty, and that was going to help him survive.

We walked into the house. I got everyone’s attention and announced, “Everyone, this is Joey from work!” My family uninterestedly mumbled greetings back, but when Joey spoke everyone perked up. “Ello everyone,” Joey said with his British accent.

Joey quickly grew accustomed to interacting with my family. After my aunts poured shots of Screwball for everyone, they set a little game. The game involved dice and money. Each person rolled the dice and the money moved around the table based on what the result was. It was a gambling game. A gambling game played by a few drunk people, some of my younger cousins, and a British man.

I was originally worried that the introduction of alcohol would make my family meaner. I could not have been more wrong. They still made snide remarks, but Joey was able to take it and dish them back. In fact, he was able to do it better. I only remember bits and pieces of when we played the game, but I definitely remember the entire erupting in laughter after Joey said something really funny. It’s a shame I can’t remember what it was.

Now that I’m done rambling, let me answer the question in the title. I believe we should make fun of each other, but after major consideration, I have come up with two rules: Making fun of someone you don’t know is mean. Making fun of someone you’re close to is fun as long as they are also having fun. A phrase my mom likes to say a lot is: “Laughing at someone is different then laughing with someone.”

So go out there and have fun, just make sure the other people around you are enjoying themselves too!