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By Andi Enns
Feature Editor

    How well can you read the signals of the opposite sex? This was answered for about 20 students at Sex Signals: Real Life Funny Sort-Of-Improv Show About Sex And Stuff sponsored by Campus Activities Board. The presenters, Sharyon Culberson and Eric "Pogi" Sumangil, set up situations and used audience input to create the scenes. Each audience member was given a slip of paper with big red letters reading “STOP”.

    “When you feel uncomfortable, or feel like we’re uncomfortable, I want you to hold up your STOP sign, okay?” said Culberson.

    Culberson and Sumangil ran through various party scenarios, varying whether the male or female was the aggressor. In one scene where each played the stereotypical gender role described by the audience, Sumangil continued to hit on Culberson long after every STOP sign in the room was held up high.

    “Want to know the truth?” said Sumangil. “We never intended on stopping that scene just because you all were uncomfortable. It’s a scene you see at every party you go to, isn’t it? And how often do you stop it?”

    “And none of you all got up and shouted stop,” said Culberson. “None of you interfered in the scene. So how badly could you have wanted it to stop if you stayed silent?”

    When the presenters switched roles and Culberson played the aggressively sexual character, only a few of the men, and none of the women, held up their STOP signs. The scene continued as Culberson jumped on Sumangil’s lap, threw her legs around his neck, and shouted about her desire. Finally, they ended the scene amidst audience laughter, and thanked the few men in the audience who were holding up their signs.

    The show took a more serious turn as Culberson and Sumangil played out a scenario taking place in a dorm room. Sumangil was the strapping young man with a backpack full of textbooks and a case of beer, going to hang out with the comely Culberson. They studied while drinking and eating pizza, and eventually got to tickling and making out. Culberson said ‘stop’ several times, and each time Sumangil stopped. After a while, she would initiate more contact. Eventually, they had sexual intercourse, where Culberson quietly said “stop” one time, but did not otherwise fight back. Afterward, she called Sumangil a rapist.

    The presenters asked the audience who thought it was a rape. Most of the audience said the scenario “definitely” depicted a rape, and the remaining said it was “maybe” a rape. None of the audience said it was not. They asked the audience to question Sumangil’s character about his actions.

    “She didn’t seem that drunk, I thought she could still make decisions,” said Sumangil when questioned about Culberson’s ability to consent after drinking.

    “Would you have let her drive?” asked Lily Dixon, director of Campus Activities Board.

    Sumangil and Culberson said Dixon’s point was on the nose, as someone who is too drunk to drive is also too drunk to consent.

    Culberson challenged the audience to get verbal consent before taking any action that would affect another person, for an entire day. Anything from taking a sip of your friend’s water to eating a handful of your roommate’s chips to having sex with your partner would count in the challenge.

    “It’s a lot harder than it sounds,” said Culberson. “But if you do it, you know that you’re in the clear every time.”

    Students who are or know victims of sexual assault are urged to report the incidents to local authorities, as well as seek counseling from qualified professionals. The campus counseling center offers confidential services for free for any student, and can be reached at counselingappointments@park.edu. Any individual who feels unsafe at any time on campus is encouraged to call Campus Safety at 816-584-6444.

Published in The Stylus Newspaper, 3 December 2010.
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     Sixty students attended Student Senate’s Town Hall November 5 to discuss parking, food, green initiatives, financial aid, and program elimination with a panel of administrators.

    “We’re in the second year of a two-year strategic plan,” said Dr. Michael Droge, president of Park University. “We’re hoping to have our 5-year plan in place by 2012. Basically, the plan determines what Park wants to be when Park grows up, over the next few years at least.”

    The strategic plan includes optimizing the physical resources of each campus.

    “The Master Plan committee will deal with modifying existing buildings and whether we need new facilities,” said Thimios Zaharopoulos, interim provost and vice president of academic affairs. “It deals with parking, classrooms, and unused and underused halls like Hawley Hall and Herr House.”

    Zaharopoulos said each of the strategic planning committees will have student representation, most likely from Student Senate.

     “Those committees aren’t going into a room and cooking up a plan and that’s it,” said Dr. Droge. “It will be interactive, with web and Senate and surveys. Students will be involved.”

    Besides investigating physical campus improvements, the strategic plan deals with improving curriculum to insure each student graduates with a global perspective, as well as streamlining the offered programs.

    “It’s a state initiative to examine under performing degree programs,” said Dr. Droge. “At Park, it’s our initiative to do reviews of every program. Does anyone enroll in it? Do they graduate? What is the cost-benefit ratio?”

    One recently reviewed program that won’t be cut is the legal studies major. Dr. Droge said the major won’t be cut because it has been helpful for pre-law students and doesn’t cost the school anything. However, Park also will not be investing additional resources and marketing into the program, as it is not a required prerequisite for law school. A less fortunate degree was the recently eliminated theater major.

    “The major only existed for a couple years,” Zaharopoulos said. “Now it’s a minor again. We only had 11 students in the major, so the faculty asked that we cut it to a minor. We plan to help the program as a minor, especially as the BA now requires one. Theater teaches a number of skills, and we intend for it to compliment an education.”

    Other recently eliminated degrees include bachelor of arts degrees in the science department, which have been replaced by bachelor of science degrees. According to Dr. Droge, proposed additions to the degree offerings include a bachelor of arts in nursing and a liberal studies major called university interdisciplinary studies, intended as a secondary major for transfer students with too many electives from other institutions.

    It’s not just the academic departments that have money worries, however. Students have filed more than twice as many special circumstances aid requests as last year, according to Carla Boren, director of student financial services,

    “We do have a healthy endowment and we have been working on developing an internal fund,” said Boren. “There is an application website open. Donors have all sorts of requests as far as major, ethnicity, and geographics. We have to be good stewards and balance what we’re giving. You as students should also be looking for outside resources.”

    Dr. Droge said most students have an average of a 37% reduction on tuition because of scholarships.
    Boren said about 3-5% of Park’s endowment is spent on scholarships each year, in order to let the majority of the funds continue to earn interest and fund the next year’s scholarships. The endowment is made up of donations to the university. The office of university advancement is fundraising donations from alumni to expand the endowment.
    “I went to school on need-based scholarships, so I understand,” said Dr. Droge. “Students are the best ambassadors for the university. There will be opportunities for students to tell their stories so donors understand the benefits we’ll get from those donations.”
    Dr. Droge advised any students who wish to help with fundraising efforts to contact the office of university advancement.
     Boren said the financial aid department is doing what it can to support students who don’t qualify for need-based aid but whose parents aren’t paying either. She encouraged students to visit the financial aid office to ask for help when they need it.
    “Unfortunately, until you are 24, an orphan or veteran, or have been abused as verified by a third party, you’re a dependent student,” said Boren. “We can’t make a parent pay a bill. We do have to have the data. That’s where you come in and tell us what your needs are. We want you to be here!”
   Student senators noted that the rising cost of room and board, as well as the mandatory meal plan for residential students, has resulted in many more commuter students than in the past.
    Zaharopoulos agreed that student opinions would be listened to for cafeteria and meal plan improvement.
    “The issue is more complex than it seems,” said Zaharopoulos. “It’s an issue that affects staff and faculty, too. But it sounds like we’re losing students and we will be following up on that.”
    The room and board rates are not yet decided on for next year, nor are tuition rates. Dr. Droge said the rates will raise, but he doesn’t expect it to be a huge impact on students. He will be at the Student Senate meeting on Friday, November 19 at 12:30pm in the Louise Morden Board Room to hear student opinions before making a final decision.
   
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       Park Student Government Association is hosting their third biannual Town Hall meeting today at 12:30 p.m. in the McCoy Meeting House. The Town Hall meeting is an open forum event where students can address questions and concerns to a variety of Park University administrators, including representatives from Student Life, Residential Life, Dining Services, Campus Safety, and Financial Aid. Dr. Michael Droge will be presenting the opening remarks, as well as sitting on the panel.

      Korell said Senate anticipates parking, smoking policy, and campus sustainability to be the big issues at this meeting. Students who wish for their question to be addressed can e-mail them to studenttownhall@park.edu. Korell said the inbox will be checked throughout the meeting to assure that online audience members can participate.

     “According to the Senate constitution [Article III, Segment D], it’s our purpose to act as a liaison between students and the administration,” said Jordan E. Korell, sophomore and president of PSGA. “This Town Hall meeting is just one way of fulfilling that promise to the students.”

     Students from all campuses are invited to attend either in person or on the web at http://www.park.edu/townhall . Korell emphasized that any issue on any Park campus – not just issues solvable by Senate on the Parkville campus – will be considered at the meeting.

     “If we don’t have an immediate answer or solution to your concern, in my opinion the best way to handle that is for us to help you get to the department that can help,” said Korell. “Your concern will be evaluated and change will be brought about. This is why we’re having Town Hall – not only so students can ask questions but it’s beneficial for faculty and administration to get feedback from the students about the work done every day and how it can be improved.”

     Korell said the questions will be considered for Senate action, when applicable. She said one past action taken by Senate after a public event was installing lights near the Chestnut dormitory.

     “I think it’s important for students to know that this event is where your voice will be heard louder than ever,” said Korell. “You’ll be face to face with important administrators that deal with the important matters in your daily college life. I think it’s important to stress that if you have a question or concern, you’re probably not the only one who feels that way.”

     After the event, students will have the opportunity to voice their opinion on the event and PSGA in an online survey.

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Picture
Photo by Joshua D. Evans
   According to American biologist Alfred Kinsey, approximately one in every 10 Americans is gay. Others estimate the figure is closer to one in five. Even using Kinsey’s more conservative estimate, 1,300 gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) students may be spread across Park University’s 43 campuses, and two GLBT students may be in every Parkville daytime classroom.

    “People need to be aware of their peers,” says Ashley Allee, freshman in liberal studies and vice-president of Connection at Park, the organization for issues relating to students of all sexual and gender identities.  “You can look at someone and see what race they are and make your judgment. Sexual orientation is hidden. When people discriminate against GLBT people, they may not know they’re discriminating against someone sitting next to them.”

    Allee has been called a poster child for GLBT issues in her schools. At her high school, she started the gay-straight alliance (GSA). It took two years of working with the administration there to get the club approved and active.
    “The fliers were really friendly; they just said ‘everyone welcome,’” says Allee. “But people were so threatened. They ripped the fliers up, threw the bits at people. They were threatening to bomb the meeting, or bring a gun to it. People were legitimately scared to be a part of the club.”

    Even then, Allee says she didn’t back down.

    “I was scared, because I was spearheading the whole thing,” says Allee. “And there were all these younger kids looking up to me to protect them.”

    The meeting wasn’t bombed, and no one was killed. However, Allee says the harassment didn’t stop there.

    “I had about a week left before graduation when I heard about this kid talking to his friends,” says Allee. “He said, ‘if it wasn’t illegal, I’d tie Ashley Allee to a stick and burn her alive.’ That kind of thing would never be tolerated if someone was standing up for racial rights instead of gay rights.”

    When Allee came to Park University, she wasn’t threatened with death or dismemberment when she joined Connection at Park. But she says Park still has a long way to go to be GLBT-friendly.

    “People use the term ‘that’s so gay’ even though they know it can hurtful,” says Allee. “They take a word that the dictionary says means ‘happy’ to mean ‘stupid’. It makes them sound like they think gay people are stupid.”

    As an elected senator in the Park Student Government Association, Allee says she works hard to represent the interests of all the students, which includes GLBT students.

    “There have been some negative comments about the gay community there,” says Allee. “I brought it up in Senate and we addressed it. We haven’t had a lot of time to discuss these issues, because we’ve been focusing on club allocations.”

    Having a passion for spreading awareness about unconscious bullying is why Allee was recently awarded a year-long internship at The Trevor Project, a national suicide prevention organization focused on GLBT youth. Local GLBT activists report it’s hard to get a position with the organization.

    Her internship requires her to spearhead projects and events in the Midwestern region to raise awareness about topics like depression, harassment, gender identity, and other issues. Allee says she is focusing her Trevor Project endeavors through Connection At Park. Connection has begun awareness projects such as the You Are Loved sidewalk chalk project in September, and the upcoming If You Really Knew Me project inspired by Post Secret.

    “We’ve already done a lot of the things we hoped to do this semester,” says Allee. “I don’t think any of us knew what kind of response we were going to get… It’s been really amazing.”

    Along with those projects, Connection At Park is planning a Safe Space Workshop for the spring to educate the community on how to facilitate accepting spaces for GLBT students. Smaller events include the monthly movie night, showing documentaries and films about GLBT life, love, and issues.

    “Connection at Park really is about connecting,” says Allee. “It’s about bringing people together. No movement can be successful with just the people being targeted. You need allies. It can’t just be GLBT people. You need the full circle to bring about change.”
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       Park University does not have a philosophy major or minor. All Park University students have bright futures. Therefore, philosophy majors do not have bright futures. This kind of equation statement is called logic, a passion of new full-time philosophy professor Adam Potthast.

     Kind of like math, Potthast’s philosophy is based around argument. It’s a far cry from the stoner-kid philosophy concepts seen in every college movie ever.

     “Substances actually make you worse at philosophy,” says Potthast. “There are the crazies that want to argue about the existence of chairs when you’re not looking at them… I’m pretty sure chairs exist, and the more important issues are about right and wrong.”

     More important than logic – which is more than common sense or trying to repudiate faith – is the study of ethics. Ethics is defined as a set of personal principles that determine what is right and wrong. Potthast, author of Ethics for Dummies, believes ethics affects all college students.

    “There’s the easy ethical stuff like plagiarism and honesty,” says Potthast.  “But there’s also creating your own identity as an adult when life is demanding so much.”

     He defines personal identity as being the set of characteristics that are the same from year to year from personality to ethics. Personal identity involves the choices one makes as a central pillar in whom someone is.

     Potthast became interested in philosophy as an undergrad, when he saw a classmate drawing a logic proof in her notebook during class. A logic proof looks something like algebra formulas using ancient symbols instead of numbers. He asked what it was, and became hooked. He changed his major and it set the path for the rest of his life.

     He says every student should be required to take an ethics class, currently only required for business and political science students at Park.

     “Everyone has to deal with ethical issues,” says Potthast. “It’s a pressing need in today’s society. If I could show ethics in every discipline, it would really raise consciousness.”

     One of the dreams Potthast expresses includes a competitive “Ethics Bowl”, where students would debate on difficult contemporary issues like online privacy. This is under the realm of the brand-new Philosophy Club, advised by Potthast and headed by junior English major Cody Croan. The Philosophy Club is just one step toward establishing philosophy as a course of study at Park.

    “I want to stress that people shouldn’t be afraid of philosophy because it sounds like something deep and esoteric,” says Potthast. “It’s actually a practical skill that will make you better at other things, too. It’s critical thinking.”

     One of Potthast’s loves is bioethics. He recently presented a paper over bioethics in the health care reform movement at the Society for Ethics Across Curriculum conference. In his paper, he argues that bioethics needs to be a part of the discussion when passing legislation about health care.

     After a long hard day of arguing theoretical statements, Potthast says he wants something concrete. For those moments, he pulls out a calculus textbook from the overloaded bookshelf in his dark office in the library.

     “Sometimes, it helps to have a solid answer,” says Potthast. “You don’t always get that from philosophy, but you always do from math!”

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Aired on the Northland News, 1 October 2010.
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Public service announcement for Radio Production class.

Featuring the voice talents of Andi Enns and Ashley Allee.
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    The primal beat of tribal drums set the pace of the urgent screaming of the 800-strong crowd in Greene Stadium at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. Park Pirates faced off against their arch-rivals last Sunday featuring both Lady’s and Men’s Soccer. Despite the losses suffered by the Pirates, Park students cheered until their throats were raw.

     “It was exciting and intense,” said Reisha Fregoe, sophomore mathematics major. “I think they performed really well.”

     Lady Pirates were in the lead through most of the second half, but a pair of late goals by the Cardinals toppled the Pirates.

     “We just went down to their level,” said Ashley Maxwell, junior liberal studies major and Lady Pirates forward. “Everyone was really nervous in the locker room, and we just didn’t give it our everything.”

     Dozens of Park students travelled to the away game, and enthusiasm didn’t seem dampened by the loss.

     “I love the Painted Pirates,” said Chelsie Shepard, junior business major and Lady Pirates midfielder. “We just need to step in. We were waiting and they were cutting.”

     The men’s face-off against the Cardinals started strong, with a goal almost immediately. However, the Pirates lost the lead by the thirteenth minutes and never got it back.

     “It just wasn’t us,” said Reece Harris, freshman athletic training major and goalkeeper. “It wasn’t our style at all. We pass, we work the ball, we work our talent. They [Jewell] just play fast. We don’t play with that kind of speed, so I think we should’ve slowed it down.”

     The energy was palpable during the second half of the game as the fans on both sides cheered and jeered against each other. The Cardinal’s “USA! USA! USA!” chant riled up the Park students, who seemed to take it as a personal offense and responded with a chant calling the Jewell fans racist.

     “We should just chant ‘THE REST OF THE WORLD! THE REST OF THE WORLD!’,” one student remarked.

     The spirit bus back to Parkville was hushed. But even after watching two losses, students still expressed interest in another spirit bus to the next rivalry game.

Published in The Stylus Newspaper, 17 September 2010.
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      When Decius A. Sanders was a little boy, he dreamed of being a real-life GI Joe.

      “I think every kid is like that,” Sanders says. “Every kid wants to see the world. Every kid wants to play war and be a soldier. You end up learning stuff you’d never imagine.”

      The sandy-haired junior broadcasting major was well on his way to being a living action figure in his fourth year as an ROTC cadet, when everything he worked so hard for was jeopardized by his own body.

     It was a normal June day in Kansas City – sweltering and muggy. Twenty-eight-year-old Sanders had never felt better. He was in great shape and stronger than ever. Heading to his three-times-a-week physical training session, Sanders was feeling excellent while doing bench presses.

     And as good as he had felt, he was equally as terrible just moments later. His bulky arms became weaker and weaker as he struggled to finish his exercises. Suddenly, he felt “an explosion” and heard a pop in his shoulder. Searing pain followed.

     “I was trying to be the best I could be,” says Sanders. “So I haven’t caught a lot of flack. Injuries are pretty common, so people understand. But so much of our training involves heavy lifting, it’s very hands-on. I can’t even lift a weapon right now.”

     After a few weeks of resting with no relief, Sanders decided to seek medical help. He discovered that he needed surgery to repair his rotator cuff.

     With his training halted, getting scheduled for surgery just a month later was a godsend. Sanders needed as much time as possible to recuperate so he could begin training for next summer’s Leadership Development and Assessment Course (LDAC), a month-long training session that determines the graduating ROTC soldier’s rank in the military.

      “It takes a whole year of intense training before you go,” says Sanders. “I’m on a strict timeline to get healthy or I’ll have to wait until 2012.”

      The horizon wasn’t brightening yet, however. Merely twelve hours before the surgery, Sanders answered the phone to hear that his surgeon had suddenly quit the business.

      “I was speechless,” says Sanders, shaking his head. “I was so angry… ‘Sorry’ just wasn’t cutting it. It’s just really scary when you are in a situation where your success is based on your physical health and performance.”

       He had already missed a physical training test, where he was expected to have a better score than an active-duty Army soldier. This is because he’s expected to be a leader, he explained, and his future platoon would expect him to be the strongest of the pack.

      “It’s also because my future platoon could be out there right now, sleeping with their heads on the sand,” Sanders says, his moss green eyes open wide. “I need to be in top shape or they won’t respect me as top dog.”

      With emotions running high, Sanders started his junior year at Park University, with no guarantees except an office visit to check up on his shoulder in September. He hopes to be back on track as soon as possible.

      “The training for LDAC is the most uncomfortable and awkward training you have as an ROTC soldier,” says Sanders. “I really don’t want to have to go through it twice, but I’ll have to if I don’t get back to training soon.”

      After graduating college, Sanders dreams of being an officer in the Reserves until he can retire with benefits.

      “I want to serve when I’m needed most,” Sanders says. “I don’t want to serve just for the hell of it.” 

Published in The Stylus Newspaper, 17 September 2010.

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As aired on Northland News TV.
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