International Peace Day Celebrated at Gordon College

Each day we learn about more acts of terrorism, slavery, or violence in our world. This knowledge ignites a desire for peace. Gordon College has decided to "equip students in any major to prevent, resolve and transform conflict in all areas of their lives", Professor Oleson, Department of Sociology and Social Work says, by releasing a new minor in Peace and Conflict Transformation. In conjuncture with the release, Gordon has organized several events to celebrate the International Day of Peace. The events include a lecture entitled "Discipleship in an Insecure World", given by Dr. David Steele, a reconciliation facilitator who works around the globe promoting peace and conflict resolution. There will also be a viewing of "Little Town of Bethlehem", a film following three people of different races and religious backgrounds looking to solve conflict in our world.

Good Night, and Good Luck

Luke Miller Finds New Opportunites at Gordon

Luke Miller, 18, didn’t think about traveling outside of Pennsylvania for college until he faced hospitalization.  “The summer between my junior and senior year I was hospitalized. I had ulcerative colitis. After I got out, my dad took me to a concert; it was kind of a ‘Luke’s better’ celebration.”

At the concert, “they had a college tent. When I went into the tent, I saw a big spread of Gordon’s campus. It was really pretty, and it caught my eye”. Miller, from Coopersburg, PA,  remembers what really stood out to him about the campus was “the woods, and I could see the lake in the picture, it was really awesome to see, so I got my name on a mailing list.”

Once accepted, Miller decided to go to Accepted Students weekend, which is what really solidified his choice. “When I came to visit, the people here were welcoming and really nice – the guy that I stayed with was amazing, and all the guys on his floor were really great. I felt wanted here – all the other colleges just treated me like a number.” He adds that a professor in the Theatre Department, Norm Jones “flat out said ‘We would love to have you here.’ I felt like Gordon wanted me, not just my money.”

The other colleges he was considering were DeSales University and Messiah College, both in Pennsylvania. However, he felt that at DeSales, located about 10 minutes from his house, he “wouldn’t have had the opportunities there that I have here.” Messiah, a college where some of his cousins and friends attend, “is falling away from God. But I have professors here that pray before class, and I have discussions with people about God.  I’m happier about my decision everyday.”

Miller also adds that “The friends I’ve made – the freshman, and also upperclassmen -  I feel like I’ve been friends with them for a really long time, when in reality I’ve only known them for a few weeks.” He smiles thinking about those friends and adds, “I already feel God working in my life here.”

Professional Gives Advice to Journalism Students

Jody Hassett Sanchez, a news and documentary producer, came to Gordon College last week to speak about her career. She offered advice to students and reminded them that “you have to do the time – you're credibility comes from keeping your nose down and doing a good job, to earn a place at the table”. This is not a career where things happen overnight. When it comes to writing documentaries she says her “definition of storytelling doesn't include putting the storyteller in the film” - in her recent documentary, Sold, a story that revolves around three people of varying religions working to fight against modern slavery, she does not appear in the film, except, of course, in the credits. In order to keep the audience engaged she suggests the writer remembers that “we are not the judges – we have to have compassion for the people in our stories”. Ultimately whether it is a journalist writing an article or a documentary she says the main question to keep in mind is “does this go anywhere beyond the small story?”

Classic Book on Writing Remains Relevant for Modern Writers

When Rachel Strasner, 21, was required to read On Writing Well for class, she never thought she would actually enjoy it. “Something that I really liked about the book is how it brings us back to writing as a discipline. It’s something you have to work at – not everyone is a natural writer.”

“If your job is to write every day, you learn to do it like any other job” Zinsser writes. This is comforting to any writer who has had the feeling of writer’s block. The reader is reminded that it’s not always easy but “you learn to write by writing”.

Zinsser says “the most important sentence in any article is the first one.” He begins the book with an anecdote that immediately engages the reader. It’s a story about him being on a panel for “a day devoted to the arts” at a school in Connecticut and the interesting responses he gives to the students. Immediately the reader wants to hear more of Zinsser’s advice. Luckily for them, following the anecdote is a whole book of it.

Another student, Heidi Shannon, 21, says even though “we have so many different forms of communication, like email and facebook – we’re still using the written word.” In her opinion, the book remains relevant because “the written word doesn’t change; you still need to be a good writer, clear, and concise – that’s not going to change because we have faster ways of getting our words to many people – you still have to write well.”

Strasner agrees. She feels the book “goes back to a more disciplined nature of writing. We live in age where anyone can be a writer; people blog, people write journals, people get published and you think ‘I could’ve written that’.”
The main thing Strasner respects about the book is the idea that “there’s a lot of study that goes into becoming a writer” – it’s not just something that someone can simply do. It must be worked at it.

On Writing Well is filled with constant reminders that writing is hard work, but to remember to “sell yourself, and your subject will exert its own appeal.” And as always, that “good writing has an aliveness that keeps the reader reading.”

Gordon Community Desires More Resources for News

When Carissa Gerber entered Gordon she was used to reading the news every day – her sources included newspapers, internet, and TV. She went to a public high school in Chicago where in order to interact with the students and teachers she needed to be informed. However, since being at Gordon her desire to be in touch with the news has been stifled by unreliable resources, such as the college’s internet, or other students who would rather watch “MTV in the lounge instead of the nightly news”. She says she receives most of her news at Gordon from word of mouth. The problem with this method, she thinks, is that “the things that feel relevant to Christians are more specific to social injustice or they have slightly political opinions…not that that’s bad… but I’m not going to be getting as much news about the immigration issues going on in Arizona or gay rights issues because they aren’t great topics of conversation for Christians“.

Another student, Rachel Strasner, who lives off campus, was also used to checking the news daily on the internet - she used both CNN and Fox News online. Because she lives off campus and does not pay for internet this is no longer a viable option. “At school I feel pretty cut off from news, unless I’m in Lane and the news is on, or it comes up on the Go Site.”

Bill Kovach says in his book The Elements of Journalism, that “people crave news out of basic instinct – what we call the Awareness Instinct. They need to know what is going on over the next hill, to be aware of events beyond direct experience.” The question we should be asking ourselves is if news is so important to us as humans, why is it not easily accessible to students? Many of the students offered suggestions on what Gordon can do to help this issue. Rachel thought “that Gordon should have a radio station to discuss daily news or political happenings.” This would make it easier for her to hear news relevant to the students on her way to school. She also says, “If there are big events going on in America or there is an international crisis it would be a lot more effective if they used the TV’s in Ken Olsen or designated a TV on campus where students could watch.” A professor Jeff Miller says, “I wish I had a “dumping” place where I could link interesting articles and reviews and invite casual commentary from those interested. My guess is that such a platform exists, probably in Blackboard.” Another suggestion would be making it widely known that if students could afford it, they could purchase subscriptions to different newspapers and have them delivered to the student mailboxes. The assumption, however, that a college student can afford to spend money on “extras” such as a newspaper subscription when they’re worried about paying off large students loans, seems unfair.

While Gordon students are interested in the news, they are finding it difficult to access it on campus. It is the duty of the students to ask for more resources from the college so that they can be informed.

Why Blog?

This blog is for my Journalism class. Every week we have to write an article under a time crunch (to prepare us for real-world writing) and post them here. Most of these posts will (hopefully) resemble an article you'd read in a newspaper or magazine. Please feel free to leave any thoughts or advice!