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(10/26/13 3:21am)
I attended the football game against Valparaiso Saturday, Oct. 12, and got to sit behind the wonderful Mercer Maniacs. This student organization works hard to fill the stadium with energetic students to cheer on our football team. They drove around on a golf cart giving out tickets to any student they passed on Friday to promote attendance. They also maintain the widespread college tradition of painting up to add visual support for the players. I have always loved the idea of painting up. The quirkiness of spelling out cheers on people’s stomachs, and the metaphor for individuals bonding together to form a complete sentence is too gimmicky to resist. That is why most universities have a group of students that paint up at sporting events. I wanted to join in on this amusing experience, and asked if I could paint up with the Maniacs.
However, I was told that I could not paint up because I am a girl, and a girl painting up would be considered immodest and trashy. This shocked me. Obviously, according to today’s social standards, a female would have to wear a sports bra when painting up. She would automatically be wearing more clothing than a male, who only has to wear shorts, and can expose the entirety of his chest. These boys are not considered immodest. Immodesty, therefore, cannot be defined by the amount of skin showing, or else the boys would be considered even less modest than girls if they painted up.
At first I thought it might have been a university-imposed stipulation on the Maniacs, but found out it was not. Then I thought about the dance and cheer teams, though, which perform on the field and rotate throughout the stadium. The cheerleaders wear white tank tops and skirts, which show the majority of their arms and legs. The dance team’s new uniforms include an orange sports bra with either pants or a skirt. These team outfits are functional and stylish, not trashy. There would be no difference between a dance team member and a crowd member wearing a sports bra and pants, other than that the dancer would show support through movement while the crowd member would show support through paint.
The greatest irony in all of this was that the Maniacs had painted up pink to promote breast cancer awareness. Both males and females are affected by breast cancer, but women have a far greater chance of developing the disease than men. Yet I, as a woman, was not allowed to assist in an awareness campaign about this disease, which affects primarily women, because I am a woman. Discriminating against a female by preventing her from painting up is wrong, as is shaming a female who decides to paint up to show her support for her team. The Mercer Maniacs need to at least discuss inclusion of women in this activity. I am sure that Tot would love the female support.
(10/13/13 11:02pm)
In 2007, as the College Hill report explains, a Mercer student began the College Hill project to develop the area between Mercer and downtown Macon. The initiative received over $5 million in grants and awards with a mission to revitalize residential, business, community and historic characters of the Corridor area through development of commercial and residential real estate. It claims to a safe environment with affordable living for people of all backgrounds and futures.
Mercer greatly supports this movement. Its College Hill Alliance, created in joint by Mercer and Macon, helps keep up the goals of the project. The Alliance has done a wonderful job so far, as confirmed by President Underwood in the College Hill Report to the Community. The project has attracted multi-millions in investment funds, and reports to foster a friendly atmosphere for walking and biking, which Mercer promotes in regards to parking.
Why am I not allowed to live there, then? Mercer has required the freshman class of 2012 and on to live on-campus through its junior year at least. I can understand requiring campus housing for freshman, since these students need to focus on adjusting to independent living, and on-campus residence eases this transition. As a sophomore, though, I’m prepared enough to live off-campus; had I been given that option, I would have chosen to. Mercer instead restrained my living to its own housing options, few of which give an adequate parking lot or an adequate kitchen. How can I contribute to Macon’s economy if I cannot get off-campus to dine at local restaurants or buy food to cook at my home?
If Mercer supports the College Hill Corridor initiative, why is it stunting its development by preventing the majority of its students, who constitute a huge chunk of potential residents, from living there? Many students would gladly buy or rent houses or apartments in this area, since they are so new and so close to campus. The Corridor offers more job opportunities for those students looking for work, and a degree of independence while maintaining the Mercer community spirit. Off-campus living fosters awareness in and of the Macon community, developing students as active Macon members which in turn would aid in Mercer’s community service missions.
I love Mercer. I want to love Macon. Loving a community from within its boundaries differs from loving a community from afar. Mercer’s service, duty and respect for Macon changes when its students become not only Mercerians, but Maconites. If Mercer wishes to teach students the value of community, as it obviously does since Integrative Program 201 class is literally called “Building Communities,” then it should allow its students to join the Macon community. I love Mercer, let me love Macon.
Note: This headline, printed in the Oct. 9, 2013 issue of The Cluster, contained an error. It has been corrected here.
(09/13/13 3:59am)
Recent advancement in medicine has produced a society in which many individuals regularly take easily obtainable prescription drugs, from birth control, to Adderall, to depression and anxiety medication. All of these examples prove especially important in a college setting. Birth control helps keep a female student on a regular and manageable cycle, removing an extra burden from her mind. Adderall helps keep an ADHD student in a focused mindset, aiding him in completing the task at hand. Depression and anxiety medication help balance students transitioning into an adult life laden with responsibilities. These medicines are important in maintaining a physically and mentally healthy life in college, and need to be readily available to those students who have prescriptions.
Many other Georgia colleges do offer on campus pharmacies just for this reason. According to their university websites, the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech both offer on-campus pharmacies which carry both prescription and over-the-counter medications, and work to keep the cost at or below competitive prices. In the instance that a student needs a medicine which is not readily available, the pharmacy can order any prescriptions to be delivered to the site. Georgia Southern University offers a bit more restrained access to medication. Their website states that its Health Services Pharmacy can fill out generic and affordable prescriptions written by their approved Health Services providers. Mercer, though it has its own pharmacy school, does not provide an on-campus pharmacy to its students. Its Health Services website explains that it only can receive deliveries from four local pharmacies, and graciously points students in the direction of the closest CVS and Kroger on Pio Nono Avenue. These options, while possible if not greatly inconvenient, prove less viable for students without vehicles. They would either need to hassle with the trolley, or hope a non-judgmental friend would take them without questioning. These inconveniences prevent many students from continuing their prescriptions, which could lead to serious problems.
Easier access to medication is a necessity which would improve the overall health and well-being of Mercer’s students, and therefore its whole campus. Establishing a Macon campus pharmacy would accomplish not only this, but would also procure more jobs for Mercer’s own pharmacy school graduates, and open up more proximal shadowing opportunities for pre-pharmacy undergraduates. Expanding the Health Center to include a pharmacy would benefit the university in many aspects, and needs to be considered. I urge Mercer to seriously consider this plan and to act swiftly in its implementation.