R.I.P., Prince Omar

My cat, Prince Omar, was hit and killed by an inattentive driver midday last Tuesday, July 15. Although I am well aware that all pet owners say this, Prince Omar truly was one-of-a-kind.

He was the unofficial mascot of Manchester College; there was even a feature article written about him in the MC newspaper that can be seen at: http://www.manchester.edu/OSD/OakLeaves/archives/Issue_15/
NomadiccatbecomesanunofficialMCmascot.htm.

He touched many lives, and was loved by countless people. Whether following around groups of visitors to the campus; frolicking and visiting with students, faculty, staff AND their dogs during campus events on the mall; or terrorizing the local squirrel population, he was always making an impact on the lives of those who he came into contact with.

Please, I beg of each of you, drive attentively. Omar's death was untimely, and could have been prevented.

Ropewalk Writers' Retreat 2008

Last week, from June 14th-21st, I attended the 20th annual Ropewalk Writers' Retreat as one of 12 participants in Brigit Pegeen Kelly's poetry workshop. Brigit Pegeen Kelly's workshop was one of three poetry workshops; the other poetry staff members were Dave Smith and Steven Dobyns. Workshops were also held for fiction (led by Lee Martin and Elizabeth Stuckey-French) and creative nonfiction writers (led by Susan Neville).




The workshop was held in New Harmony, Indiana, which had recently been flooded; during the first half of the week, members of the National Guard kept us company while they measured the receding water levels.






New Harmony, referred to by residents and visitors as "Utopia," is spackled with various statues, artworks, and signs that included excerpts from poems and quotations from religious figures. I was impressed with the import that such a small town had placed upon aethetics and literature.










There were also several off-the-beaten-path walking trails that winded their ways to different points of interest: these trails provided workshop participants with front-row viewing of the local flora and fauna.







In addition to the scheduled workshops, craft lectures, round-table discussions, and readings throughout the days and evenings, we all managed to find time to relax at the local tavern to discuss important literary matters, as well as to engage in shenanigans and goings-on.

Vesak: A Celebration of the Buddha's Birth

Photographs of the Vesak Parade:














































Photographs of the Buddha Bazaar: Fun and Games for the Whole Sangha































Photographs taken at Chapin Mill Retreat Center:

End of the 2007-2008 Collegiate School Year

Although the end of the 2007-2008 collegiate school year does mean the end of issues of The Oak Leaves until September, it does not mean that the posts on Collocations will be left to stagnate. I will continue to post updates on my adventures and publications that occur over the summer; readers can expect a new post approximately every one to two weeks.

Senior Spotlight: Aaron Hostetler Looks back on His Time at MC

This May marks the close of a chapter of senior Aaron Hostetler’s connection to MC.

Like many students here, Hostetler had experience with Manchester’s college and community before he enrolled; his grandfather, great uncle, great aunt, uncle, parents and older brother all attended MC. “I didn’t have to go here, of course,” he said, “but it was a school of higher learning that was always there in my thoughts as a possibility.”

Hostetler’s involvement in the social life of MC began during his junior year of high school, while his brother was a student here; it was largely his impressions of the community here that led to his enrollment. “Had it not been for his [Aaron’s brother’s] close group of friends who saw my need for an enclave of acceptant people and who wanted to see me grow, I might not have chosen to come here,” Hostetler said. “But with their influence, I was sole on the idea of attending MC.”

Aaron is majoring in sociology, with a minor in Spanish. Nevertheless, his time here as a student has involved much more than his academic goals.

He has either acted in or directed the dramatic productions of Alpha Psi Omega during all four years, was active in Amnesty International during his freshman and sophomore years, served as the group facilitator for United Sexualities during the 2005-06 school year and during the fall semester of 2006, and was involved with the college’s theatre productions every year except for his junior year, when he spent the spring semester studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain.

He also spent a summer in Tacoma, WA, working in inner-city organic gardens and green spaces that were created to provide community shared agriculture and sustainable revenue for a Catholic Workers’ House.

Although he is glad that he attended MC, he has noticed a shift in the campus community that he finds troubling. “My perception of Manchester has changed a lot through my continuing involvement in MC’s social culture,” he said.

As an example, he recounted how during his brother’s time as a student here (c. 2003-2004), there was a campus-wide gathering on the mall of students and faculty who were making a stand against hatred of any kind. The stance was initiated by the United Sexualities group, in response to threats made against the safety of a few of MC’s students.

Not only did this represent a coming together of the MC students for a common cause; even the administration offered support. “Parker Marden [former MC president] was really effective at providing a sense of safety for students who felt threatened,” Hostetler said. “He even visited a student’s room when they felt threatened, in order to provide support and reassurance.

“What’s been troubling me recently is that I haven’t recently seen that sense of coming together as a community, even in light of recent date rapes, peeping toms’ intrusions and sexual assaults on female MC students,” he said. “Why aren’t we seeing a campus-wide response from the MC community, working to educate people regarding what’s going on and eliminating the problem?”

This lack of coming together, regardless of individual and group identities, could pose a threat to the friendly environment offered by MC. “A community is defined as a group of people working together for a common goal—anything else is just groups of people who feel they fit together because of their similar backgrounds,” Hostetler said. “Although MC is in many ways still a community, I have begun to question the efficacy of MC’s work towards attaining a common goal.”

Hostetler hopes that the split between MC students of different backgrounds will heal. “This is such a small school,” he said. “There is such a potential for a strengthening of the feeling of togetherness here.”

Although his plans following graduation are not yet solidified, he hopes that more travel abroad is in his future. “I’ve been bitten by the international bug,” he said. “I don’t think that one semester abroad was enough for me.”

MC students receive Fulbright grant to study in Asia

Following their graduation this May, MC seniors Tim Polakowski and Andrew Haff will be getting ready for a year abroad. They have each been awarded a Fulbright grant for 2008-2009.

Polakowski will be heading to South Korea, while Haff will be going to Vietnam.

The esteemed Fulbright scholarships are awarded to seniors who are graduating from a U.S. college for a year abroad. Applicants either propose a research topic to concentrate on during their time overseas, or else focus on teaching ESL classes while engaging in independent study on a suggested topic.

Including Polakowski and Haff, 25 MC students have received Fulbright scholarships since 1996, and three were named alternates. Several more won related grants. This is higher per capita than any other college or university in the state of Indiana.

Polakowski majored in social work and Spanish, with a minor in gerontology. He will be teaching ESL and studying the universal health care system of South Korea, in order to gain a more international perspective regarding medical care.

Haff is a history major. He will be part of the Fulbright’s first year sponsoring a program in Vietnam. He will be teaching English at the college level, rather than at area public schools (as would be typical in most other Fulbright programs).

This is not either of their first experience with travelling and living overseas. Polakowski spent both semesters of his sophomore year in Barcelona, Spain as part of the BCA program. During his junior year, he spent Jan-term in Mexico, whereas he travelled to Nicaragua during the most recent Jan-term.

Haff, meanwhile, accompanied Dr. Angelos on his Jan-term Comparative Civilizations trips for each of the last three years; in 2006, he toured around a variety of countries in Europe; in 2007, he travelled to Spain; and in 2008, he went to the British Isles. “I think I’ve been to almost every country in western Europe,” he said.

However, it will be their first time in Asia. “It still doesn’t seem quite right that I’m actually going to South Korea,” Polakowski said. “I’m really nervous about learning the language; all of my experiences abroad have been in Spanish-speaking countries. This will be my first time going to another country without at least some understanding of the native language.”

Nevertheless, he is looking forward to the process of learning, especially since he will be living with a host family. “I stayed with host families in Spain and in Mexico,” Polakowski said. “It really allows you to learn about the culture so much more thoroughly and deeply.”

Although this will not be Haff’s first time in a country with a language that is unfamiliar with him, this will be his first time abroad alone, without a group of his fellow students. Furthermore, he does not yet know what his living situation will be. “It’s up to the local institution regarding whether I’ll be living with a host family or in a college residence hall or apartment.”

Tim made the decision to apply as a Fulbright scholar to Korea partly because it is in the most need of teachers, and thereby provides the best chance of being awarded a grant. He encourages students who may be considering applying for a Fulbright to consider the acceptance rates of different countries, and to plan accordingly.

Polakowski’s back-up plan, in case he didn’t get the grant, was to join the Peace Corps.

Haff’s was to either take a job working with computers with a company that was seeking college graduates or to work as a substitute teacher.

Although Haff had gotten excited over the prospects offered by his back-up plans, he received encouragement from several people to accept the Fulbright grant. “Dr. Song [an MC history professor] talked with me about the importance of taking chances at this stage of my life,” he said, “and Clayton Pendergast [the acting spiritual leader of the Miami Indians in Indiana] stressed to me the importance of sharing one’s gifts with the world.”

Polakowski also emphasized the importance of the application essay. “Preparing the essay is the most grueling part of the application process,” he said. “However, through the writing, rewriting and editing of your essay, you will learn a lot about yourself and discover more about what you want to do with your time and energy.”

Although he misses people back in the states when he is travelling, Polakowski finds the rewards of living in different countries to be far greater than the difficulties. “Christmas is hard, but other than that it doesn’t really bother me,” he said. “After all, it’s temporary, and the experience is so worth it.”

Prison Abolition: Not Only Does It Matter, It Makes Sense

When I tell people that I am an abolitionist, they tend to get a bit confused. After all, slavery was abolished with the ratification of the 13th Amendment, way back in 1865, right? Then I provide clarification... I believe in the abolition of the prison system.

In 2007, the Bureau of Justice Statistics released figures that confirmed that the United States incarcerated 751 of every 100,000 residents; this is more people per capita than any other of the countries that were studied.

This rate is even higher than in countries with struggling political systems and poor human rights histories, such as Iran (212:100,000), Libya (217:100,000) and China (119:100,000).

This situation is made even more unsettling by the fact that the prison system is filled with people who have either plea-bargained or been convicted within the structures of the U. S. justice system, a system which is to this day steeped in racial and economic biases.

For example, a study conducted by the National Council on Crime and Juvenile Delinquency in 2000 revealed that “minority youth are treated much more harshly than white youth at each stage of the
U. S. criminal justice system....When minority and white youth were charged with the same offenses, black youth who had no prior arrest record were six times more likely to be incarcerated than white youth with similar backgrounds. Hispanic youth were three times more likely to be incarcerated....”

Another study, issued by the Washington D. C. Leadership Conference on Civil Rights revealed that “black youth were 100 times more likely to be arrested for selling drugs than white youth, although drug use rates among black youth appear to be about equal those of white youth,” and noted that “blacks who killed whites were sentenced to death 22 times more frequently than blacks who killed blacks and seven times more frequently than whites who killed blacks.”

These facts reveal a chilling secret: the U. S. justice system continues to perpetuate the long-standing myth that America was built upon, that white people’s lives are worth more than the lives of blacks and other minorities. And this is the so-called “justice” system that determines who will make up the population of U. S. prisons.

The Human Rights Watch points out the consequences of this state of affairs in its report “Incarcerated America.” “The high and disproportionate rate of minority incarceration… exposes and deepens the racial fault lines that weaken the country; contradicts principles of justice and equal protection of the laws; and undermines faith among all races in the fairness and efficacy of the criminal justice system.”

Furthermore, the justice system is undeniably biased towards those who can afford more experienced and effective legal council. Many impoverished and innocent individuals elect to plea-bargain for a reduced sentence due to their fear of what effective council could cost or because of their correctly-placed cynicism regarding their chance for a truly fair and impartial trial.

The prison system thereby becomes a holding-cell for those who have experienced American injustice the most intimately, keeping them disenfranchised and denied of many of the rights of democracy. In such a case, it is ethically questionable to assert that the ends justify the means.

Furthermore, the ends of this situation cannot even be described as effective. Although prisons are ostensibly “correctional facilities,” they fail miserably in providing corrective measures that would allow for the healing and rehabilitation of convicted criminals.

Calvin Malone, a prisoner in Washington state, has written several books about his experiences in state penitentiaries. He tells about trying to find peace amongst his fellow prisoners, many of whom are “notorious for sexually and physically assaulting the vulnerable.”

In fact, the Bureau of Justice Statistics has determined that in the course of one calendar year, more than 70,000 U. S. prisoners were sexually abused by either their fellow inmates or by the prison staff.

In Connecticut, prison staff are allowed to use dogs “to terrify and attack and bite prisoners to force them to leave their cells when they won’t do so voluntarily,” according to Human Rights Watch and an article published in the New Haven Register.

The American Civil Liberties Union has documented numerous cases of girls in the New York juvenile detention centers being sexually abused and harassed by the staff of the prisons.

That is hardly the sort of environment that would enable those amongst us who have fallen into realms of violence and fear to correct themselves. One of the reasons prison recidivism is so high is that many individuals convicted of non-violent offenses are eventually released after having endured months or years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, angrier and more damaged than when they went in.

Another source of prison recidivism is found amongst those whose original conviction was the result of illegal activities motivated by the need to survive while immersed in poverty– namely, petty theft and prostitution. If they are not provided with the tools of correction such as counseling and education, they will experience even greater difficulty in finding gainful employment as a result of their conviction, and the cycle will continue.

In fact, despite increasing prison populations, crime has not dropped over time. Is it possible that, by subjecting violent individuals to sustained levels of further abuse, we are creating a self-defeating downward spiral towards an ever more fearful and violent society?



Angela Davis, one of the pioneers of the prison abolition movement, emphasizes that that the abolition of prison is a long-term goal that will involve a massive amount of social reform along the way, including a basic restructuring of how we as a culture perceive crime.“In order to imagine a world without prisons... a new popular vocabulary will have to replace the current language, which articulates crime and punishment in such a way that we cannot think about a society without crime except as a society in which all the criminals are imprisoned,” Davis said. “Thus, one of the first challenges is to be able to talk about the many ways in which punishment is linked to poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia and other modes of dominance.”

Such a reframe, which acknowledges and takes responsibility for the social causes of crime, would lead to a re-chanelling of the billions of dollars that currently go into the prison system into community-based economic resources, educational services, community forums for dispute resolution, medical and mental health care, rehabilitation systems and community services for adults and children– a conglomeration of services that would deserve the term “correctional facilities” in a way that prisons never will.

Quite frankly, I am not comfortable with the fact that the society to which I belong condones an industry that promotes and spreads suffering.

Whether it be by becoming involved with a prison pen-pal program, writing to your elected representatives, volunteering for a community-based outreach program or rehabilitation center, educating people about the realities of the prison system (which, incidentally, we condone and fund with our tax dollars), or any number of other ways, I encourage all to speak up for those who have had their voices silenced.


(this article appeared in the April 25, 2008 edition of the Oak Leaves)

Indecision Day 2008: An Opportunity for MC's Prospective Students

On Friday, April 4, MC offered a new way for prospective students to experience what the campus has to offer, “Indecision Day.”

Indecision Day was designed for prospective students who are unsure about what area of study they want to focus on during their collegiate career. It combined a typical campus visit with career testing and a department fair that showcased the different areas of study available at MC.

Indecision Day was largely conceived of and promoted by senior Tish Bitner. Bitner, who formerly worked within the admissions department, is a psychology major who now has an internship with the career services department.
She came up with the idea along with Rusty Coulter-Kern, a faculty member in the psychology department. “The idea for Indecision Day made a lot of sense for me,” Bitner said. “It is a program that brings together my experience in admissions with my work in career services and within my major.”

The first activity of the day was SDS, a “self-directed search” examination that is an abbreviated version of what career services offers to currently enrolled students. The prospective students also completed values sheets.

Concurrent activities were offered to the parents of the prospective students. Parents could attend either a workshop on how to support a child who is undecided, a panel discussion that offered parents a chance to ask questions to representatives of different college departments (such as security, residential life and athletics), or a session led by Leonard Williams on collegiate academics.

The benefit of separating the parents and their children at this point was that it provided the students with a situation in which they could explore and think on their own, at their own pace.

After the testing, students and their parents took a tour of campus and had lunch, during which conversations with athletic coaches were an option for interested persons.

The afternoon began with individual feedback sessions between the prospective students and current psychology students before taking part in a group activity designed to help them learn more regarding how their profiles from the student directed testing apply to them at this point in their education.
The last major activity of Indecision Day was the department fair. At the fair, there were student representatives from most of MC’s academic departments.

Prospective students were able to move around the room at will, asking questions of the current MC students and gathering pamphlets and information.
Parents were also present, and of course were likewise able to ask questions of the current MC students.

The MC students were all majoring in the area of study that they were representing. “We presented the idea at a department chair meeting and to staff members,” Bitner said. “All of the students who presented at the fair were nominated in some form by either staff or faculty members.”

The feedback that has been received so far has all been positive. “One prospective student said that it was the best visit day he had been on,” Bitner said, “because he left having learned more than just basic information about the school.”

Bitner also emphasized that the benefits of Indecision Day extended beyond those offered to prospective students. “Admissions was able to provide an experience that will help them get students to attend MC,” she said. “Furthermore, the psychology students who participated were given a chance to actually practice some degree of counseling, rather than just discussing the issues with their peers.”

Although there are plans to have more Indecision Days in the future, the date is not yet set for the next one. “We are discussing the merits of holding it in the fall or winter,” Bitner said. “This would hopefully allow us to get more prospective students to participate, but it would also help the high school students as well.

Not only would they have more time for gathering information; it could also help bring them to an earlier acceptance of their indecisiveness at such an early point in their college career.”


(this article appeared in the April 11 edition of the Oak Leaves)

Outdoors in Indiana: Chain O' Lakes State Park: How to Plan Your Perfect Adventure

My outdoor excursion this past weekend was a canoeing trip at Chain O’Lakes State Park with my friend Ally.

Those of you who have followed this series from its beginning will know that Chain O’Lakes was the first place that I wrote about, way back in the fall. So, this is not going to be yet another write-up of the benefits and beauties of the park itself: anyone who is interested in reading about that can refer to the September 14, 2007 edition of the “Oak Leaves,” or check it out in my blog’s archives.

Instead, this is going to be an exploration of some different approaches to outdoor adventures in hopes that it will help people to plan an outdoor adventure most suitable to them. Alone or with a friend? Overnight or a day trip? On or off the water? It’s all up to you, and there are benefits and complications to each option.

You see, for almost all of my trips during the fall semester, I travelled solo. I like being alone in the wilderness. It’s simple that way… I eat when I’m hungry; I sleep when I’m tired; I hike when it’s sunny; I read in my tent when it drizzles; I listen to the critters when they chirp, scurry and howl; I write when I’m inspired. Everything is at its most basic.

And, if you haven’t figured this out on your own, reading is not the same when you do it alone in the forest as it is when you do it inside the library or your dorm. Different things in the writings seem important; you will notice beautiful words and interesting ideas that you hadn’t before; you will like things that hadn’t previously made sense.

But there are a few things you can’t do when you’re alone. It’s hard to tell jokes to the forest, at least not if you expect to get a laugh. I have never yet managed to play a guitar duet while sitting alone by the campfire. And it’s easiest to canoe if you have two people; when alone, a kayak is the way to go.

I also tend to prefer overnight trips to daytrips, except that it’s hard to find the time for them during the middle of a semester. In fact, lack of time is about the only thing that will keep me from an overnight camping trip on the weekends.

However, even those lucky individuals who have way too much time on their hands should consider a few points before finding a campground.

You should either have proper gear (don’t forget a decent sleeping bag!) or enough knowledge of knots and survival skills to be alright without them. You should be willing to go without creature comforts, such as temperature control, mattresses and indoor plumbing. And you will have to have a plan for all of the meals you will need during the duration of your trip.

If you are lacking in any of these categories, this does not mean that you should waste away indoors; get out anyways! Exploration and exercise are great, even without a forest sleepover.

I am also unequivocally in favor of taking trips on canoes and kayaks whenever possible. For instance, on the canoe ride that Ally and I took this week, we saw the forest from a perspective that otherwise would have been impossible. We spotted over a dozen turtles who were sunning themselves on branches and rocks in the river, and literally dozens of couples of Canada geese bathing themselves and building their nests. These are sights that would have been denied to us if we had stayed on dry land.

Nevertheless, it is of some import that Ally and I are both good swimmers with experience on the water. We had a map of the lakes with us in the canoe, and lifejackets along in case of difficulty. I would discourage poor swimmers and people who are unfamiliar with the local waterways from heading off down a river or lake without gathering further knowledge about these two critical aspects of boating.

This is by no means to insult the great activity of hiking. Hiking offers new and constantly shifting perspectives due to changing elevation and terrain. And, because there are so incredibly many hiking trails at the parks of Indiana, there is always an element of feeling like an intrepid explorer, bravely seeing what will come next on the long and winding trail.

So, there are many ways to do the great-outdoors adventure thing. The specifics aren’t the important part; the important part is simply the doing. After all, the world is right outside the door. Let’s go!

(this article appeared in the April 25 edition of The Oak Leaves)

ICPA Awards Given to Five Members of the Staff of MC's "Oak Leaves"

The awards and judges' comments--

1st place:

Laura McSpadden, Best News or Feature Series, for "Outdoors in Indiana": "Useful series focuses on outdoor adventures just minutes from campus. The writer is a brave soul who blazes the path."

2nd place:

Matthew Penner, Best Opinion Column, for "The Problem with Styrofoam": "Well-researched column that alerts the campus to environmental hypocrisy. Writer offers a solution, though perhaps an expensive one."

Jessica Hickerson and Adam King, Best Stand-alone/Pullout Section, for "Literary Journalism" : "Refreshing writing examples. Effective use of literary techniques to convey journalistic message."

3rd place:

Adam King, Best Sports News Story, for "Spartan Football Beats Hiram": "Clever lead, good use of sports jargon. Effective support from quotes."

Adam King, Best Sports Column, for "Is MVP A-Rod worth the money?": "Clever play on words (Pay-Rod) and lively writing makes for an entertaining read."

Adam King, Best Entertainment Column, for "Heartbreak Kid": "Reviewed points out the films many flaws, but still finds it entertaining at times. Knowledge of similar films provides a useful contrast."

Jessica Hickerson, Best Opinion Column, for "Support Our Troops, Not War": "Good job of relating personal experience to issues of national concern. Writer acknowledges value of conflicting opinions."

Alina BigJohny, Best Sports Feature Story, for "Hall Director Marinello Made into a Runner": "Charming story with lots of detail. Not the traditional 'make-over' plot."