Page 2 – The Waltonian

Disney World, not to be confused with Disneyland, is located in Orlando Florida, and its property covers over nearly 25,000 acres of land. Disney World consists of four major theme parks, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. It also has two water parks, Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon.

This trip was with my family and was primarily for my younger sister. We had the opportunity to go three of the four major theme parks, each being distinctively different. To talk about Disney World, you really have to break it up by individual parks. Magic Kingdom is the most popular park at Disney and features a wide assortment of rides and other attractions, including the famous Cinderella’s Castle.

For me and I think for most college students, the most enjoyment to be found in Disney World is to be found here. It has plenty of rides aimed at young adults, and there are plenty of attractions suitable for people of all ages.

Epcot was the second theme park built after Magic Kingdom and boasts an acreage of more than twice the size of the Magic Kingdom park. Epcot is primarily focused on technological innovation and international cultures. Its iconic attraction is that of the Spaceship Earth, which is a large sphere located inside the park. I did not mind this park and it was definitely interesting to see a lot of the things that Epcot had to offer. It is akin to a cultural fair almost and my parents seemed to enjoy themselves immensely here.

The last park that I had the opportunity to go to was Animal Kingdom and for me was the most underwhelming. True to its name, it features an expansive array of animals and the park icon is the Tree of Life, which is a 145 foot tall baobab tree. I am personally not a huge fan of zoological theme parks, but those who love animals would also love Animal Kingdom.

The amusement parks themselves are all unique and variably enjoyable, but are eclipsed by their startlingly high costs and bustling crowds. Almost every attraction was accompanied by a 90 minute wait, making the decision of which ones to ride paramount. Most of your time in the parks will be standing in lines in not the most pleasant weather. The food was markedly overpriced, with water bottles being $5 and a pretzel $7. While this sort of practice is not uncommon, it was never really worth eating in the park. Disney World’s overwhelming popularity leads to inevitability of lower customer satisfaction, to no fault of its own.

Vinyl listening, a once thriving form of music appreciation has been eclipsed by the rising acceleration of technology and the introduction of digital music. Despite this, the benefits of vinyl over digital are not to be scoffed at. There is still a market for vinyl, and there is good reason for this. Vinyl sounds better; music when stored and compressed into MP3 format often loses some sort of detail and quality. Music is also a great outlet for a unique social experience, and vinyl listening accentuates this experience.

Music Guild, which is a derivative of the Music department we have here at Eastern, hosts Vinyl Listening Sessions precisely as an illuminating social experience dedicated to bringing people closer together through music. The genesis of this idea was to raise money for the Music Guild, but digressed into being a time for relaxation and enjoyment among friends. The Eastern community is heralded as being a close-knit and amicable one.

“I think that listening to music together in a novel way really complements the atmosphere featured at Eastern,” said Olivia Ruth, a member of the Music Guild.

The regular Music Guild meetings occur every week on Fridays at 4 PM in Workman 101. However, the vinyl listening sessions only occur on the first Friday of each month. Food, including cookies and tea, are available and comes at the cost of only two dollars. All of the proceeds go towards Eastern’s Music department. Workman 101 is a quaint and lofty room and provides a perfect haven for these vinyl listening sessions. It facilitates connection and closeness with one another. Students are encouraged to bring pillows and blankets to these meetings. The first meeting featured the Walt Disney Mary Poppins Vinyl, the second the Sound of Music, and the third The Julie Andrews Christmas Spectacular. The choices of vinyl are selected from the vinyl collection in Workman, but there is an adherence to an underlying Julie Andrews theme.

As college students, it is hard to find a lapse in our busy schedules. We are often bogged down by stress and rigorous activity. Nevertheless, the Music Guild Listening Sessions serves as rejuvenating, friendly place for Eastern students to de-stress and get together with friends.

Figure skating is a sport where ice skaters, perform freestyle aerobic movements. Movements can include but are not limited to spins, lifts, and footwork. It combines ice skating with the process of drawing “figures.” Various events and deviations have arisen from figure skating. In the Olympics, each category of skating changes the technique necessitated. There are many aspects of figure skating and it is a deeply complex sport. The genesis of figure skating can be traced back to 1772, in a treatise by Robert Jones. Despite this, figure skating did not first appear on the scene of the Olympics until 1908 as part of the Summer Olympics. It since then has changed to be a hallmark event of the Winter Olympic Games.

Skaters wear leather boots which are reinforced with thick padding to prevent injury. They are specially crafted to provide the skater with exquisite control and freedom. Equipped underneath the boot is the blade which is the essential piece of the skate. The front of the blade, the toe pick, contains serrations that provide the skater with a grip on the ice and allows the skater to perform more complicated movements. “Figures” are done in curves and turns which are generally performed in order to form connected circles. These figures vary drastically in skill and feature concepts such as balance, turning skill, as well as skate control. There are dozens of different figures and there are often rigorous tests in order to qualify for competition.

There is a multitude of different styles of figure skating. Freestyle is a category of figure skating that features intricate footwork and focuses on the aesthetic appeal of skating. Skaters interpret music and perform advanced moves based on the song they are performing to. Freestyle is often said to be where a skater can really push his or her creative interpretation to the max. The next category of skating, jumps is one of the most popular figure skating events. Jumps in figure skating is one of the most complicated endeavors one can undertake. They are also quite dangerous, as a faulty landing can result in debilitating injury. Spins, the next category is again self-explained in its namesake. Spins are done either sitting down or standing upright. Skaters can also change positions even during a spin.

Figure skating is not just a solo sport and there is certainly room for interdependence in the sport. One clear digression of figure skating is pair figure skating, which is characterized by both a man and a woman skating at the same time. It combines aspects of jumps and spins. It can often be extremely complicated due to the necessitation of good teamwork and parallel movement while skating. It is one thing to skate gracefully by oneself, but it is another to be in sync with someone and to show coordination and congruency with them. Lifts which is a derivative of pair skating is the concept of lifting often the female while skating. There are many different types of lifts each requiring various intricate movement. One of these lifts is called the “star” lift where the man raises the woman by her hip and she extends her legs, and arms into a “star” position. The woman then spins while being held up.

As seen, figure skating is a complex sport that has been around for a long time. It has gone through a great evolution and is now one of the most heralded sports at the Olympic Winter Games. Many of us can appreciate the aesthetic appeal of watching figure skating, but many of us do not know the rigorous mechanics behind figure skating.

Sources: Olympics, ESPN

Cody Fox first heard of Eastern University from a now retired admissions counselor, Paul Charles. After hearing about the illustrious Summer Scholars Program featured at Eastern, Cody embarked on the 2000-mile journey all the way from Arizona to be a part of the program in 2015. Taking a gap year after that summer, Cody was invigorated by his love for discussion and philosophy, which made him decide to join us at Eastern as a member of the Cohort of 2017.

Cody comes from Chandler, Arizona and leaves behind a family of six, a loving mother, hopeful father, three younger sisters, as well as his pet coyote, Cicero. In Arizona, Cody graduated from the Chandler Preparatory Academy, a charter school specializing in a liberal arts education. During his time at Chandler Prep, he was a prolific member of the debate team, the hide and seek club, and the German club. He won a 1st place at the Lincoln Douglass Debate State tournament in 2015. He also achieved 2nd place on the National German Exam in 2014.

In his spare time, Cody likes listening to music from artists such as EDEN, Stevie Wonder and Panic at the Disco. He also enjoys spelunking, fletching, and photography. Cody is a second-year philosophy major who intends to attend graduate school after his time at Eastern. He hopes one day become a college professor at a small foreign university.

Cody really enjoys the small class sizes here at Eastern as it helps him grow closer to his peers and his professors. The socratic style of learning that is featured in the Templeton Honors College has really made an impression on him. When asked, what is the most memorable experience you have had at Eastern so far, his reply was, “I have had a myriad of memorable experiences and it is quite hard to choose just one, but one underlying similarity in all those experiences is the great friends that I have shared those memories with.”

The “best” is something that is quite difficult to gauge and is usually a resultant of a myriad of factors. Residence life is a pivotal aspect of college life and is something that will make or break one’s experience in college. Choosing carefully whether to be in a community, suite/apartment, or single room is an important part of residence life. Let’s break down the differences between each hall style.

Most community style halls have a larger number of people which creates more opportunities to meet a greater number of people and to make new friends. Bathrooms are cleaned by staff usually per day. There are a large number of showers and stalls usually and conversation frequents the bathroom. Just by leaving your door open, you are most likely going to be given the opportunity to meet a large multitude of people. A community hall is by far one of the easiest ways to make new friends. A community hall room also allows you to save a healthy chunk of money.

In suite style dorms, suites typically connect to each other and share a bathroom. There is more privacy and seclusion. You may have more of an intimate atmosphere with your suite-mates. It is most likely easier to get along with them in a smaller setting. A more closed-off atmosphere may also create a more private and domestic lifestyle. Rather than feeling like a dorm, a suite paves the way for a dorm to feel like a home. Megan, a sophomore in Eagle Hall, says “, When I was in a community style bathroom, I really got to know everyone on my hall since I would see them all the time. Since my hall is now private, I’m very close to my suite-mates, but I have no clue about anyone else on my hall.”

Then there are some halls that are entirely comprised of single rooms. These halls have a small community bathroom and fewer rooms. There are four halls just like this in Hainer which are connected by two lounges. Gaelan, a senior and RA in Hainer’s singles, explains how these halls provide a more “cozy atmosphere.” He states, “I spent most of my time at Eastern with roommates and suite-mates, but this more private environment is fitting for life as an upperclassman. As an RA, I try to keep my door open when I do homework to make sure my residents know that our hall is still welcome to community.”

Furthermore, new developments, such as the close-door policy in Eagle hall provide even more variables to the mix. How that affects community at Eastern in the long run remains to be seen.

Each experience carries with it different advantages and disadvantages, and that’s not even getting into apartments or off-campus options like commuting. When looking towards whether the community hall, or the suite style calls to you, it really depends on your personal preference. The choice of housing is a blessing and one should think about how much privacy they’d like, as well as their own sociability. While it is highly likely that a community hall shall bring about a more robust hall experience, it can lead to a dorm feeling more like a summer camp rather than a home.

Visitation hours? Door open with women in the room? That’s ridiculous!” After explaining some of the rules we have here at Eastern I was met with shocked faces from many of my friends at home who went to large state schools. When one chooses to go to Eastern, they are of course choosing to go to a school that upholds Christian values and principles. Eastern is part of the Christian College Consortium and thus it follows its rules and guidelines. It’s no shock that the visitation rules here at Eastern clash with the increasingly sexualized and secular culture that we young adults now live in.

Eagle Hall in the 2018 Fall semester has instituted a new pilot program where residents are given the ability to have members of the opposite sex in their room without the door being open. Visitation hours still remain and there is a zero-tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol, but this new freedom may open the door to a plethora of opportunities in the future. Students have polarizing opinions on the matter. Megan Van Emden, a sophomore residing in Eagle Hall, soundly supports the new pilot program.

“I feel like as an adult, we have to be given the opportunity to make good choices,” Van Emden says, “I think that we should be given the chance to hold ourselves accountable for our actions.” A junior residing in Eagle Hall who wishes to remain anonymous says, “I chose Eastern because it reflected the values that I have upheld throughout my life; if we choose to abolish one rule, how many other rules will follow?” Noah Westbrook, an RA, says, “I think that the new policy may make an RA’s job more difficult but may allow for a friendlier dynamic between RA and student.”

While there is definitely an argument for the visitation rules that Eastern currently upholds, one important rebuttal can be observed. When such restriction is placed on liberty, there comes a price. In this case that price is the virtue of temperance. Temperance can be defined as “moderation in action, thought or feeling,” by the Merriam Webster dictionary. When one isn’t faced with sexual or alcoholic pressures, how can they learn to cope with these pressures as an adult? There are no visitation rules or hours outside of Eastern University; there will be a point in time in our lives where we will have to inevitably face sexual, alcoholic and other “adult” pressures. If college is supposed to usher us into our adult lives, shouldn’t we learn how to deal with adult issues?

All in all, the new visitation policy’s success will be hard to gauge without the sort of empirical evidence that can only come with time. The new pilot program is a big step for Eastern University students and staff. Whether it is a step forwards or backwards remains to be seen.