The Waltonian

Mary Lauer is a Senior at Eastern who is studying Environmental Science. She grew up in Morgantown, PA and is the youngest of six kids. She was homeschooled and played the piano, along with participating in a local school band where she played the flute. She also danced, her favorite style being ballet, and acted in plays within her homeschoolers group. Her favorite role in highschool was Meg in Little Women.

Lauer chose Eastern because she wanted to get to know her professors well instead of attending large classes. She thought the campus was beautiful and that it was not too far away from home. In addition, she wanted to attend school with her sister, who also goes to Eastern. While at Eastern, Dr. Hays has made the largest impact on her.

“I would like to thank Dr. Rebecca Hays for teaching me how to care for the environment, while also making all the classes enjoyable. She also formed a personal relationship with me which I have been grateful for over the years” Lauer stated. She also wanted to give a shout out to Dr. Julie Morgan, who taught a communication class Lauer took.

“It was one of the best classes I ever took and she cared about me even though I wasn’t a Communication major, although I should have been” said Lauer.

Lauer studied abroad during her Junior year, in Kaikoura, New Zealand, in a program focused on environmental care. She stayed in an old hostel building with six other girls and the staff. The town was located right on the beach and the mountains nearby. Her favorite part of the program was researching marine mammals while on a boat. While in New Zealand, Lauer got to visit Hobbiton, hot springs, rainforests, glaciers, glowworm caves, and National Park Able Tasman. Before and after the program, she got to travel in Australia where she visited friends and her brother.

Outside of school, some of her interests include gardening, bird watching, fostering kittens, baking, and playing Mario Party. She enjoys spending time with her friends and family, especially when they go out to eat, play board games, go to amusement parks, and the beach.

Lauer has no set plans after graduation but hopes to work in animal conservation or environmental education. She would also like to live abroad and travel more, specifically to Italy, Greece, and Ireland. Eventually, she hopes to settle down in the Philadelphia area where she can be close to her family.

A Trip to Florida

In 2015, my brother was a senior in college and over his Spring break, my sister and I went on a road trip with him down to Florida. It was the first time we ever drove straight through Florida and back, which I thought was a lot of fun. We visited my cousins, aunt and uncle who live down there and I had a great time.

While I have been in college, I have never done anything very exciting over Spring break. Usually, it is a week at home where I relax and spend time with friends and family. However, this year, my senior year, our family is taking another trip down to Florida. My mom and dad are flying down and meeting us there. Most of my siblings, my boyfriend and I are driving down to Naples, Florida, to spend a week with my aunt and uncle. Originally, we were all going to fly, but to save some money, and in my opinion, have more fun, the “kids” are driving. I love spending time with my siblings and I know we will all make jokes and tell stories along the way. We might make a stop along the way to visit my cousins in Tampa, but most of the week will be spent with my aunt and uncle.

I am excited because I have not seen them much since 2015, except for two days when we went to Florida for my cousin’s wedding, the summer of 2018. It will be nice to spend time with them, especially because my uncle had been really sick. My aunt wasn’t sure if he could be treated, but he is doing better now and is looking forward to spending time with us.

While there, we do not have any set plans yet. However, we are planning on going to the beach and I am hoping to go to my favorite store, Papaya, which I have only found down south. Honestly, no matter what we end up doing, I will have a great time with my family and I am excited to spend Spring break away from home.

by: Maggie Lauer

A Trip to Paris

I’m being a tourist over spring break. I’m going to Paris, France, with two of my friends, and yes, we are going to do all of the cliche things. Is that a bad thing? Modern travel gurus always urge people to go somewhere different, to do all the things that no one else is doing, and yet, isn’t there some value in doing what has been done?

Yes, we’re going to the Eiffel Tower. We’re going to go up to the very top (don’t worry, we’ve already bought tickets, otherwise we’d never get up there) and then in the evening we’re going to have a picnic in front of the Tower’s lights. And we will do that with other tourists who are just as enchanted by it as we are, dozens of other people who are experiencing a shared sense of wonder at seeing the thing that has haunted our books and movies and the odd spaces between our synapses.

There is a good argument for doing different things, admittedly. With air travel becoming more and more affordable for people all over the world, the classic haunts like Paris and Venice have become difficult for residents to survive in, and old monuments are deteriorating faster than ever because of the heavy traffic that flows by them every day. If someone doesn’t really want to see Paris all that much, and they’d much rather see the capital city of Kazakhstan (which, by the way, looks pretty cool), then yes, by all means, go somewhere new. Stray from the beaten path.

But it seems sometimes as though the insatiable appetite for originality has infiltrated even travel. We must be different from everyone else, all the time, otherwise we are thought of as stale, boring, a pack-animal and a rule-follower.

There is also an argument for doing what has been done before. For seeing the things that people have seen for hundreds of years, because there is something exquisitely beautiful about them and because they may be lost without warning. I cannot help but think of Notre Dame, now, as I visit Paris too late to see it whole and beautiful. So yes, I want to see all the glory of Versailles, smear butter and jam on a baguette, cram into the Louvre with a thousand other people just to gawp at the tiny Mona Lisa. If I don’t do it now, I may never get the chance.

by: Megan Mahoney

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Anti Ban

In December 2019, a new law in the United States went into effect stating that anyone under the age of 21 could no longer buy products that contained tobacco or nicotine. There has been a large amount of controversy regarding this law, not only for people who are under 21 but also those who exceed that age limit. Personally, I believe the law should have never been passed due to a few different reasons.

My main problem with the law is based on what else 18-year-olds are able or encouraged to do in life. Once someone turns eighteen, they are able to enlist into the military. They are honored and condemned for this sacrifice, yet many people do not think about what actually goes into it. Here is someone who just graduated from high school and can enter into a war at the risk of their lives and others. This decision to join the military affects the person for the rest of their life, even if they never make it to the battleground. People come home with mental health issues and scars from what they experienced, making them a completely different person than who they were in high school. Yet, here these 18-year-olds are encouraged to go and told risking their life is a decision they are eligible to make.

The tobacco law now makes it that 18-year-olds can harm their body with harsh chemicals and addictive substances found in things like cigarettes, vapes, and chewing tobacco. It may be true that 18-year-olds are too young to be able to decide what is good or bad for their bodies, and at 21 they will better be able to make this decision. However, these policies about age should be consistent across all life-threatening decisions.

Another thing that 18-year-olds are encouraged to do is to go to college right out of high school and pick their career path for the rest of their life. Not just that, they are spending thousands of dollars to get this degree, before they ever worked full-time jobs to save money. While I believe college helps people grow and mature, but at the same time, do people at eighteen really know what they want to do for the rest of their life? These life-altering decisions are pushed on people at this same age of maturity, et they are still too young to make the decision to start smoking.

If the United States wants to protect young people from harming themselves, they should reconsider the age that people are allowed to enter the military. They should encourage and make it easier for young people to work for a few years after high school before making a decision about college that will affect them for the rest of their life. After all, if they can do these things at age eighteen, the government should let them choose if they want to use tobacco or not,and start evaluating more important issues to our country.

by: Maggie Lauer

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Pro Ban

Last year alone, almost half a million people lost their lives to tobacco related illnesses. This number is average. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people meet their deathbeds due to years of smoking or some other form of tobacco consumption. Many of those who die due to tobacco-related illnesses started smoking as young teenagers.

Recently, 19 US states decided to increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21. This means that it would be illegal for 18-year-olds to buy tobacco now even though two months ago they were allowed. Even though I see and understand that people who smoke and use tobacco products are at more of a risk for various health issues, when asked about whether I agree or do not agree with the age to purchase tobacco products increased from 18 to 21, I really could not come to a firm decision.

I think about my relatives who have had lung cancer scares and family friends who struggle with persistent coughs. Although alcohol consumption has been more of a concern in my immediate family, I still saw how smoking impacted the health of those around me.

However, even though I am for tobacco bans in general due to the risks of the person partaking in the action and their community through secondhand smoking, there are some things I just cannot get behind when it comes to this ban.

The United States has this weird idea that if you ban something, everything associated with it will magically disappear. Will it? No, probably not. When increasing the age from 18 to 21 for purchasing tobacco products does not put in place what the country needs to do to assist those who are between 18-20 that will, all of the sudden, need to break an addictive habit.

What this increase in age needs is a system in place that helps those who may struggle with a tobacco addiction. I feel as though I want to get behind a rule that tries to eliminate something toxic from people, but instead, I cannot help but think who, in turn, would be vulnerable to the law change.

by: Kelsey Fiander-Carr

Sources: LA Times, https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0313-males-teen-smoking-20160313-story.html

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Eastern University defines itself as a liberal arts school, but there is some controversy among students if they should be able to stick with this title. Students, and presumably faculty members, have noticed that Eastern does not live up to the title of liberal arts, due to their lack of classes in the “arts” category.

Before discussing this topic further, I believe it is important to define what liberal arts actually means. According to Dictionary.com, a liberal arts college is “the academic course of instruction at a college intended to provide general knowledge and comprising the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, as opposed to professional or technical subjects.” When I hear people talking about Eastern as a liberal arts school, they tend to only focus on the “arts” category but I think it is important to keep the other categories in mind.

Personally, I notice the fact that arts are a part of the definition where Eastern is lacking, but there are also other important aspects that the school focuses on. I admire Eastern for being a liberal arts school because we are not confined to one category of classes. Instead, we are required to take several General Education classes which help to expand each student’s knowledge and interests. I believe Eastern can fairly call themselves a liberal arts school because they have these options for us to choose from.

That being said, I also believe they need to expand and make funding their art programs more of a priority. To my knowledge, the only art classes/majors Eastern University offers at the St. Davids location are music and dance, which is not enough. I remember when I first got to Eastern and heard they did not have any art classes. I was shocked. I knew other students going to liberal arts schools with drawing, painting, and ceramics classes. I was not planning on majoring or minoring in art, but I would have enjoyed access to art classes while at college. In my opinion, that is where Eastern is lacking the most in their liberal arts title.

Although they have music and dance majors, the vocations are underfunded and frequently threatened with discontinuation. At one point, dance was cut out as a major completely. Students were left with the option of a dance minor and subsequently limited funding.

My freshman year (2016) was the first year students had no option of a dance major, although some existing dance majors were grandfathered into the degree. Last year, the final dance majors graduated that were left at Eastern. This was a sad time for dance lovers and those minoring who had intended to complete a major. However, this Fall, the dance department was able to bring the major back, which was exciting news for all.

Though I believe that Eastern lives up to the term “liberal arts college” due to the variety of classes and majors they have to offer, Eastern needs to maintain an equal focus for all departments, not just a select few. It would be great to expand existing departments and create additional ones, but until then, Eastern needs to focus on the departments they have and not let them slip away like they almost did with the dance major.

To my professor,

Since the first class I had with you during my sophomore year, you have stood out to me as a professor. You are continuously pouring your heart out to your students in ways that many professors do not. You’re not only there for us on an academic basis, but also on a personal level.

I feels as though I can go to you about anything in my life and you will listen without judging. I know this because you have been vulnerable with us. You share your ups and downs in life and are not afraid to tell us when you are having a bad day, bad week, or bad month. Yet, you remain positive and energetic. I strive to be like that in my life.

You have made my Communication classes enjoyable and personal, which has helped me gain more skills during my time at Eastern. You have given your students multiple chances to apply what we have learned to our own life, which helps me to really understand the information. It has helped me understand myself more and better my relationships in life.

I want to thank you for being the person you are and for the ways you treat those around you. It is obvious that you care deeply for those in your life, whether they be your students, faculty members, or your personal relationships.

You do not let a bad day stop you from loving those around you or teaching your class material in a way that students can engage in deeply.

You have made my time beneficial, not only in a classroom setting but as a friend and someone I strive to be like in my life. I will miss you greatly when I graduate in May, but I know it will not be the end. You have taught me so much and I will forever remember the things I have learned from you.

Do not stop being who you are, because I see you as a great and wonderful person, as I know others around you do as well. I look forward to these last few months at Eastern with you as my professor. I want to say thank you for everything you have done for me over the last four years.

Love,

A Communication Senior

Eastern has made several adjustments to help preserve the earth over the years. The most impactful thing they have done has been their implementation of wind energy. Our campus is solely run on wind energy, which helps to protect the earth from harmful pollution. However, there are some things that Eastern is not doing so well on, specifically recycling.

There are many students, staff and faculty members who are concerned with Eastern’s lack of recycling. Throughout campus, you will only notice recycling bins in a few areas. Yes, they are in Jammin’ Java and Breezeway, where much of our waste comes from. However, Eagle is the only dorm to have any form of recycling, and many students wonder if these bins actually get recycled. There have been instances where all the recycling in a bin, is placed into the same bag as the garbage. It defeats the purpose of actually having recycling bins on campus. To prevent these issues, Eastern could implement more recycling bins throughout campus. Wherever there is a trash can, there should be a recycling bin, too. Also, when it comes to the dumpsters, there should be recycling dumpsters as well.

Another concern is Sodexo’s use of plastic. Students and faculty definitely like the convenience of Jammin’ Java and the new To-Go system in the dining commons. However, due to the lack of recycling bins, most of the plastic that is used for food and drinks end up in the garbage. One idea would be to promote more often and more efficiently, the discount people get when bringing their own reusable cups to Jammin’ Java. As for the To-Go containers, I have seen other colleges where they use reusable containers that students must clean and return before receiving another To-Go meal. These ways would cut down on the plastic that is being thrown out daily on our campus.

Lastly, recycling comes down to the students, staff and faculty. If there are more recycling bins around campus, it is our duty to use them correctly. In the few recycling containers we have, there is often trash mixed in with the recycling, which defeats the purpose altogether. People need to be cautious about where they are throwing away their waste and where it belongs. We must pay attention to the material of our trash and decide which bin it belongs in. It is a simple task, that many people avoid and care little about. However, we were created to preserve God’s earth, and this is one simple way that makes a huge difference.

Throughout history, there have been many incidents that involved sexual assault against children. Within the last several years, more people are starting to share their experiences and are trying to fight against these tragedies to prevent them from happening again. In the news, we are seeing sexual assault taking place within churches, especially the Catholic church. The information being spread about churches are that church leaders, specifically priests, are sexually assaulting children.

Recently, Pope Francis made a statement regarding these sexual assaults. As the head of the Catholic church, his statement is meaningful and powerful to many people. He promised that abusers would be brought to justice, by revealing their cover-ups and making the victims the priority. “To those who abuse minors, I would say this: convert and hand yourself over to human justice, and prepare for divine justice,” stated Francis.

His focus during the speech was for abusers to turn themselves in and that these acts against children, especially in churches, were morally wrong. Although he made statements about helping the victims, critiques say that he has not done enough since being elected as Pope in 2013. Some people believe that he needs to do more to stop these abusers, instead of just asking them to turn themselves in.

In my opinion, there is only so much he can do to prevent abusers from acting violently towards children. He is a public figure for many people, and his job is to encourage people to speak up and against these horrific acts. He needs to influence people to see the problem for what it is, and to know that it cannot be stopped without the help of others.

Although, as some people say, the abusers are unlikely to turn themselves in just because the Pope demanded it, there may be more to the message. I believe that the people listening to him will feel encouraged by these words. They will feel a sense of peace, knowing that someone who is in charge of their church, is trying to end sexual assault.

They too will be encouraged to help end these crimes and be more willing to speak up about it after hearing the Pope do it himself. These kinds of crimes are not an easy fix. However, I believe that the only way to make progress is to get more people on board to help stop the issue. The Pope did just that by allowing others to hear what he had to say about the sexual assaults happening in his churches across the world.

Sources: BBC, Washington Post

A Letter to Dr. Hatch:

How this professor impacted an Eastern student.

Dear Dr. Hatch,

To begin, I just wanted to say thank you for being my professor. Each time I take one of your classes, I look forward to learning more from you and hearing the jokes you make. Since my first semester in INST 150 and COMM 104, you have been a welcoming presence for me and have made me feel important, inside and outside of the classroom. Not only are you my professor, but you are also my advisor. With your help, I was able to know which Communication classes to take when so that they would align in my schedule and help me to graduate on time. You have always been easy to get in contact with and have quickly approved my classes. Even when my study abroad plans fell through last minute, you helped me to get classes approved before it was too late to register for the semester.

Eastern has been a great experience for me so far, and part of that is because of you. You have helped me to embrace my leadership skills, by asking me to TA for your INST 150 class two years in a row. One of the highlights of having you as a professor is the way you incorporate problems of our world into the classroom. It makes the discussions and content meaningful to me because I am able to learn while connecting it to something I know and care about. So again, thank you for being the professor you are and for making it possible for me to learn well. I look forward to the next year of learning more from you and hearing stories about your dog.

Love, Maggie

Do you enjoy reading The Waltonian? Are you a passionate writer? Do you like working with people and getting information out to the public? If so, maybe you want to consider working for The Waltonian! There are two ways you could be a part of The Waltonian. The first option is being a writer, where you get to choose your own commitment level and how often you want to write articles.

Every issue of the newspaper has different stories, and your role is to choose a story you are interested in. This could be done for every issue, or only one or two out of a semester. The second option is being an editor, where you commit for one school year. As an editor, you are in charge of coming up with story ideas for the section you are assigned at the beginning of the year.

Writers, which can include other editors, sign up to write your stories, and you are in charge of giving them all the information to succeed. Once they finish the article, the editor makes edits to the story and places it in the newspaper layout.

As a writer, it is all done on a volunteer basis. Being a writer allows you to gain experience writing news-related articles, as well as allowing you to express your creativity through writing. There are a variety of story topics to choose from and most people will always find something they are interested in writing. Besides attending one meeting and writing a story, there is not much of a commitment level to being a writer. However, if you want to become more involved there are always opportunities to write for every issue.

As an editor, there is more of a commitment level. Every year, The Waltonian staff hires editors to work for the following school year. When being hired, they look for people who are passionate about Eastern’s community, are talented writers and are dedicated to working with a team. When you are hired, you sign a contract saying you commit to one school year and will receive either credits or money towards your tuition.

Sometimes, editors enjoy their experience and return for a following year or two. Once you are hired as an editor, you are assigned a section of the paper and are in charge of that for the school year. Editors are required to work as a team and need to be dedicated to getting work done in a timely matter. Every week you attend a meeting to assign story ideas or talk about improvements for future papers.

Once the writers are assigned to stories, the editors must stay in contact with them throughout the week. This is to ensure that both the editor and writer are on the same page. Finally, every two weeks after the stories are written, editors must place the stories into the newspaper layout.

When I became an editor, I was nervous because I did not have any experience working with a computer program to layout the stories, nor had I ever done any writing besides for classes. However, at the beginning of the Fall semester, I was in a training session with other editors where they taught us the best ways to accomplish our tasks as editors.

As the semester went on, there were always people to help me if I needed it, because several people had previously been an editor for The Waltonian. That being said, if you are interested in being an editor or a writer for The Waltonian, do not be afraid to reach out. There will be people to guide you along the way and in the end, it will better your abilities as a writer.

This semester, The Waltonian meetings are every Monday at 10 a.m. in McInnis 109. For more information, please contact The Waltonian Editor-in-Chief, junior Kelsey Fiander-Carr.

When I was a kid, our family had a few au pairs, or nannies from another country that stayed with us for a year. Two of them were from Australia, and I became especially close to them. Over Christmas break, I had the opportunity to go visit them in Australia with my sister. We left on December, 16, 2018 and arrived in Sydney, Australia on the 18th. We met up with the au pair that we had when I was four years old, and stayed at her house for a few days. We were able to spend time with her and her family while also exploring Sydney.

While in Sydney, my sister and I went to the city multiple times and explored different areas. Our favorite thing that we saw was the St. Mary’s Cathedral and the Eye Tower. The Eye Tower was a large and tall building with a mall on the first few floors. There was a restaurant area that we went that revolved around itself. It had large windows so that we could look outside at the view of the city. It was fun to look around and see some sites while also eating a delicious meal. There were also a couple days where we went to beaches and enjoyed the warm sun. The water was not as warm as I expected, but it was nice to relax and see the clear, blue water.

After a few days in Sydney and a short stop in Melbourne, we met up with our brother who had been living in New Zealand for the past year. The three of us flew to Hobart, Tasmania and met up with our other au pair who we had when I was two years old. There, we spent time with and her parents. We went to a Taste of Tasmania festival where we got to try all kinds of different foods and drinks. Another day, we went to a wildlife park where we saw a Tasmanian Devil and fed Kangaroos. We were in Tasmania for a shorter amount of time, because we were also visiting Queenstown, New Zealand.

In Queenstown, we celebrated New Years by viewing fireworks over a lake. We also explored the town, saw landscapes, and had a few adventures. My favorite things that we did was the Shotover Jet and the Luge. The jet, was a boat that held about fifteen people and sped through canals, did 360’s and weaved in and out of rocks. The Luge was like go-karting, with a large track that had hills and turns that we went down on our own individual cars. Overall, I had a great time “down under” and would recommend it to anyone who is thinking of a trip to another country. I hope to return one day and see Hobbiton in New Zealand, which is north of Queenstown.

Because of certain family dynamics, Christmas has become a stressful event in itself. I like Christmas a lot despite my parents being divorced, forcing some festivities to be celebrated in multiple homes. My favorite part about Christmas, besides the Roman history and holiday music that plays on the radio, is watching Christmas movies. Two of my favorite Christmas movies have to be National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and The Polar Express. The first one I adore because of all the crass and crude humor. The second one, The Polar Express, I love because I saw it when the movie premiered back in 2004, when my parents were still together. The movie fills you with a warm fuzzy feeling upon viewing and puts you into the holiday spirit, especially the song “Believe” by Josh Gordon.