Thursday, December 19

Opinion

We Told You This Was Melodrama
Entertainment, Opinion

We Told You This Was Melodrama

By Victoria Sananikone, Contributive Writer Screams and cheers from hundreds of people engulfed my ears and prompted my voice to join. The bellowing thud of the bass was a behemoth that vibrated up my legs and into my chest. From the stage, vibrant lights blasted their rays throughout the sea of fans hungry for music and the presence of the artist who concert tickets were so expensive, they sold their soul for them. For a split second I was blinded by the intense lights that suddenly disappeared to reveal a stage masked in smoke. Plainly dressed dancers creeped through the smoke’s embrace, performing an intricate dance of slowly swaying arms and twisting bodies that was mesmerizing to the eye. A familiar melody began to play, triggering the audience to simply go mad with excitement, myself...
Stronger than Wonder Woman
Advice, Campus Events, Campus News, Opinion

Stronger than Wonder Woman

Editorial by Magdalena Knapp When I was younger, my mom used to read fairy tales to me before bedtime. Almost every story was about a young, beautiful girl who needed to be saved by a strong prince. These damsels in distress have been role models have been promoted to little girls for centuries: the idea that a woman needs a strong man to take care of her or to save her. Really? God, no! Every woman is strong enough to make it on her own, she does not need someone to take care of her. The focus of this editorial, strong women, is also what the first keynote panel of McKendree's 2018 Global Awareness Week was all about. Global Awareness Week is an annual collaboration by faculty, staff and students on our campus to promote more awareness for cultural diversity and global issues. Women in...
Changing Perspective
Entertainment, Opinion

Changing Perspective

By Nathan Ploense, Contributing Writer Driving through Lebanon on a late fall afternoon usually yields little to no excitement. During summer the brick-laid road can feature fairs, car shows or families heading to Dr. Jazz or the surrounding stores, but a street which usually has vibrant colors and an essence of life becomes grey-washed as winter sets in and the temperatures drop. There is not much to see during these days except maybe a stray cat or someone contemplating donning a jacket to compensate for the wind-chill. With a passing glance while I drove the bland roads one day, a man appeared on a street corner, standing with a full canvas and easel, painting in the transitioning season, morning through the afternoon, wearing a ushanka hat and covered with oil paints. As 2017 wore ...
Dr. Mario Livio – The man that gives curiosity a face
Campus Events, Campus News, Local News, News, Opinion, Profiles

Dr. Mario Livio – The man that gives curiosity a face

By Magdalena Knapp, Editor “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.” (Kate Chopin - "Story of an Hour") - You can hardly introduce a short story with a better sentence than this, in my opinion. This sentence makes you curious, wants you to continue reading and to discover more about Mrs. Mallard, the death of her husband and how she is going to live with it. Curiosity - this has been Dr. Mario Livio’s field of interest for the last five years. Dr. Livio shook my hand with the heartwarming words “La vita è dura” (Italian for “Life is hard”) and introduced himself to me before his big speech. “I’m not actually Italian,” he says, “but people think it because of my name, so I mi...
For the Love of God, Legalize It!
Advice, Entertainment, Opinion

For the Love of God, Legalize It!

By Andrew Gardewine, Contributive Writer The United States houses over 20% of the world's prisoners. According to the FBI, there are an estimated 1,488,707 people imprisoned for drug related crimes annually. And of those arrests, 52% are marijuana related. Of this 750,000, 38% are based on possession of small amounts of marijuana (usually under an ounce) rather than the actual usage or trafficking. In contrast, there were an estimated 1,089,171 arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol, something that is demonstrably dangerous, yet the possession and consumption of alcohol is not illegal. In 2015 over 10,000 people died due to people driving over the legal limit of alcohol consumption and there were approximately 88,000 deaths caused by alcohol in general. On the other hand, ther...
Sometimes, Politics Should End a Friendship
Opinion

Sometimes, Politics Should End a Friendship

By Sophie Jeffery, Editor Thomas Jefferson famously wrote in a letter to William Hamilton, “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.”  I saw this quote plenty of times over the course of the 2016 election, shared by well-intentioned friends and family on social media.  Here’s the question though: Is there a point when politics SHOULD end a friendship?  Or is Jefferson correct in believing a person’s political beliefs should be excluded as a limiting factor of a friendship? The 2016 election season was a mess.  I don’t know how else to describe it, and unfortunately, we’re not doing much better as we approach the end of President Trump’s first year in office.    The President's approval rating is consisten...
Unpaid Internships
Campus News, Entertainment, Opinion

Unpaid Internships

By Elexis Baltimore, Editor Intern...what? Although internships have been an ongoing opportunity for students to gain first-hand experience, the issues regarding pay have become discussed more often in recent years. The stigma regarding internships has for years leaned towards the issue (and fear) of running errands and getting cups of coffee for your new bosses and, in the end, being no more qualified for that industry than when you began. As the access to education becomes more available, employers have started looking for ways to distinguish between the “go-getter” and the “just get it done” candidates. So how do they do this? According to a survey by The Chronicle of Higher Ed, when evaluating college graduates internships and employment are two of the highest-ranking qualities emp...
Allora McCullough: Uncomfortability, Sculpture, and Accessibility
Opinion

Allora McCullough: Uncomfortability, Sculpture, and Accessibility

By Brent Nicholson, Contributive Writer (All pictures by Allora McCullough) “The honest truth,” Allora McCullough reveals, “is that I had transferred four times and McKendree was the fastest way to graduate.” Allora McCullough graduated from McKendree, but she attended Belmont University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and St Louis University prior to settling into the Economics and Finance program at McKendree. Along the way, a dual program in arts and business condensed down to the business half. She remembers sitting in the admission office at McKendree feeling burned out and ready to graduate. As a result, she finished at McKendree only a few classes short of a minor in an art program. But McCullough's interest in art did not stop in that admissions office. Her degree p...