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(10/20/14 9:28pm)
Ebola is a pretty hot topic right now. It’s deadly, it’s fairly recent, and it’s scary. Honestly, however, it is also a non-factor for most Americans. With only three people in America having been diagnosed with Ebola at this point, many of the corresponding freakouts from people within the United States prove illogical.
Don’t get me wrong; in West Africa, the threat of Ebola is extremely horrifying. The heartbreak that it brings to those who contract it as well as to their family members is significant and deserves attention. Thousands have already died, and thousands more will if containment efforts continue to prove futile.
Still, only three in America have been diagnosed, and only two of those three were even infected in the United States. Ebola is a threat, but it is not the biggest threat that we as Americans face.
The CDC reports that over 596,000 people in the United States die of heart disease yearly. Further, over 53,000 die of the flu and pneumonia. One has died from Ebola this year.
Media is a huge propagator of the trendy new Ebola fear. Online magazines, talk show hosts and even that classmate with the good follower-to-following ratio on Twitter are not exactly helping ease the public. The American epidemic, it seems, is not actually Ebola but the irrational fear of contracting it.
However, on the other side of the spectrum, we do have some less than brilliant people who may undersell the danger of Ebola. Although it is not epidemic-level in the United States, common sense dictates that we do our best to take preventative measures anyway… not just for Ebola but for all other viral and bacterial threats.
Governor Nathan Deal has famously given awful advice, allegedly relaying it from Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, Georgia’s commissioner of the Department of Public Health: “water kills the Ebola virus… wash your hands.”
Of course, washing one’s hands kills germs, but perhaps the more responsible thing for Deal to do would have been to give more pragmatic information, such as the fact that bleach more can successfully kill Ebola viruses.
Even with Deal’s slip-up, the people whom we more often hear complaining are those who actually have access to clean water, to the Internet and to other resources that make living without Ebola a much easier possibility.
The truth is not the same for many people in nations such as Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. They should be the ones for whom people are worried.
President Barack Obama has chosen an Ebola czar, former Chief of Staff Ron Klain, to address the issue of Ebola not only in the United States but also in West Africa. With Ebola’s African epidemic having begun back in December 2013, why is the United States just now putting in an effort to combat it internationally? Only when an extremely small number of Americans are affected does our nation put up the affront that we suddenly care about treatment for everyone.
Meanwhile, the death count in West Africa is over 4,500 documented lives lost.
Regarding Ebola, don’t fear for your own life; fear for the lives of those who actually have to face it.
(10/02/14 5:36pm)
When ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” premiered in 2011, it was an instant hit. With ABC’s gradual decline over the past few years, “Once” was poised to become the network’s new “Lost,” an interesting comparison considering that the creators of "Once" were executive producers on the show that essentially saved ABC in 2004 (along with “Desperate Housewives”).
Perhaps the fairy tale charm has worn off for some, as viewership for “Once” has fallen to nearly half of its initial audience. The series premiered to nearly 13 million viewers, but last season’s finale did not even manage to reach 7 million.
While such a drastic drop surely would have cancelled a drama series a decade ago, TV renewal has drastically changed. In the past, 100 episodes was the magic number because it was more appealing for off-network channels who were seeking syndicated shows to rerun. That number is now closer to 88, which makes up four seasons of the average network drama with 22 episodes each season.
Because of this fact, when “Once” was renewed for its third season, it was basically guaranteed a fourth season. Its chances for renewal beyond this point, however, are a bit murkier. More episodes means more money for ABC… but only if the show does well enough in the ratings to attract advertisers who are willing to pay top dollar for commercial spots.
That is where the “Frozen” stunt comes in for “Once.” With such a well known franchise joining the storylines of Storybrooke, the fourth season of “Once” has increased its chances for success. Even though its spinoff, “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland,” immensely flopped, the original show has made a strong, smart move in appealing to such a wide fanbase, the lovers of “Frozen.”
In the season premiere, the show quickly addressed the cliffhanger that stunned viewers last season. Within the last few seconds of the most recent season finale, viewers saw a mysterious blue liquid transform into Elsa, “Frozen”’s misguided queen.
Connecting with that storyline immediately, “Once” in its typical flashback fashion takes viewers to the shipwreck that took the lives of Elsa and her sister Anna’s parents. This half-season’s intrigue is successfully established when the mother writes a message in a bottle and says, “The must know…”
The show flashes forward to present day, showing Elsa mysteriously strut through Storybrooke. Meanwhile, former Evil Queen Regina argues with protagonist Emma, who has unknowingly brought Regina’s boyfriend’s (Robin Hood) wife Marian back to life from the past. Marian originally died at Regina’s command, so she naturally holds a bit of a grudge.
Loyal viewers know that Regina has experienced a fluctuating transformation over the past three seasons, one that could snap back to evil if given the right prod. This sentiment is mirrored in her adopted son Henry’s statement: “You don’t think she’ll become evil again… She can’t! She’s come too far…”
In a flashback, viewers are tuned in to the fact that the “Frozen” storyline in “Once” occurs after the events of the film but are very faithful to the story that “Frozen” presents. This is in contrast to many of “Once”’s other storylines, which have been known to change the events of history drastically. Such a choice is probably not to alienate viewers who love “Frozen” the way it is.
The flashback also reveals that Anna and Elsa find their mother’s dress and journal, the latter of which reveals a dark truth about the voyage that their parents were taking when they died: that they were not going to a diplomatic mission after all. Elsa storms out, saying, “Our parents’ death… it’s all my fault.”
In the present, Rumpelstiltskin visits the grave of his recently killed son, Neal, stating that he killed the last half-season’s villain, the Wicked Witch of the West, as an act of revenge. He also vows to be honest with his new wife, Belle.
When Robin Hood effectively breaks up with Regina, she summons the man from her magic mirror, Sidney (played by Giancarlo Esposito), for help. It is actually really convenient that Esposito’s show “Revolution” was cancelled so that his schedule could be free for a visit back to Storybrooke.
Also convenient is that Belle notices a house in which nobody lives, claiming it as her and Rumpel’s honeymoon spot. Rumpel discovers an unexplained mysterious magical box. Rumpel then suggests a dance, playing the song “Beauty and the Beast” and transforming their attire to a dress and a suit based on the clothing from film’s own famous dance sequence. Personally, I this moment mostly made me miss Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts.
As Captain Hook and Emma talk about their in-flux relationship, Sleepy and Grumpy tell them about the being who froze their car. Hook and Emma follow Elsa’s ice trail, but she creates a giant snow monster similar to Marshmallow from “Frozen.”
In yet another flashback, Elsa runs away to the forest with Anna in pursuit. Elsa reveals that her mother wrote, “What we’ve seen from Elsa is terrifying, and it has to be stopped,” and blames herself for their shipwreck. Anna consoles her, and they go to Anna’s future in-laws: the trolls. There, Grand Pabbie via classic cheesy “Once” computer-generated animation says that he does not know what Anna and Elsa’s parents were doing but where they were going: a place called Misthaven.
Back to the future we go! Elsa sees in the newspaper that Belle and Rumpel have gotten married. Nothing else could be front-page news, I guess. Additionally, Regina tells Sidney that she has brought him back to tell her when she arrested Marian so that she can go back to that moment and kill her before Emma saves her. She locks Sidney back in the mirror and learns that Marian was protecting Snow White - Emma’s mother.
On the other side of town, the creepy snow giant monster thing is still terrorizing people, and close watchers may notice that Tiny (Hurley from “Lost”) makes another brief cameo. The monster knocks our heroes out and is about to kill Marian when Regina appears. Regina ultimately destroys the monster, saving Marian but leaving before Emma has a chance to speak with her.
After that climactic battle, Emma utters to Hook the best line of the entire episode: “Wanna go home and see what’s on Netflix?” Emma also finally admits that she has been avoiding Hook because she feels guilty that Regina has lost someone she cares for because of her rescuing Marian.
Back at her house, Regina realizes that the people around her are not necessarily the problem. Instead, the problem lies in the magic unchangeable storybook. Speaking to Sidney, she vows to find the book’s author and force him to change her story: “It’s time for villains to get their happy endings.”
The second moment of major intrigue is that Rumpel returns to the box that he found earlier. Waving his magic dagger over it, Rumpel transforms the box into what appears to be Mickey Mouse’s legendary sorcerer hat from “Fantasia.” Given that Rumpel is also the beast from “Beauty and the Beast” and the crocodile from “Peter Pan,” could Rumpel be “Fantasia”’s sorcerer?
In the final few minutes of the episode, Elsa breaks into Rumpel’s pawn shop and sees the snowflake necklace that belongs to Anna. In the newspaper’s wedding announcement, the necklace is featured in the foreground of Belle and Rumpel’s picture. Viewers learn that Anna ventured to Misthaven alone and that she is missing. Elsa is in Storybrooke because Misthaven is another name for the Enchanted Forest, the land from which all of Storybrooke’s characters come.
Ultimately, this premiere was strong. Its “Frozen”-ladencontent proved mainstream enough to attract a wide audience of 9.34 million viewers - the highest viewership since season six of season two (10.15 million) - but unique enough to the series to create audience interest in what is to come. Surprisingly, although Regina’s storyline had less screentime than the “Frozen” storyline, its intrigue overshadowed Elsa’s mission. Regina’s decision to seek out the story book’s author brings the story full circle, playing into an established “Once” pattern in an innovative way. Instead of just referring to the book for answers, Regina seeks to change the book itself radically, a fact that I anticipate will permeate the series more than “Frozen.”
(09/26/14 5:31pm)
On Sept. 12, Mercer University’s Tift College of Education provided a screening of the documentary “Race to Nowhere,” which Associate Professor of Education and Chair of Teacher Education Kelly Reffitt introduced as a film that “challenges our current thinking about how we educate our children.”
The film showing was part of the first fall forum presented by Tift, showcasing a sometimes underestimated part of learning: student stress.
Following the film presentation was a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Joseph Jones, assistant professor at Mercer. The panel included Dr. Quinton Green, principal at Ingram-Pye Elementary School; Dr. Stephanie McClure, associate professor of sociology at Georgia College; Amanda Miliner, 2015 Georgia Teacher of the Year; Ms. Tammy Strickland, veteran math teacher from Houston County; and Dr. Sharon Augustine, assistant professor of education and director of doctoral studies in curriculum and education at Mercer.
The first question from the audience concerned why math is the cornerstone stress indicator. Miliner said that math teachers generally teach from the standards as a checklist instead of teaching problem-solving skills. She said, “We should teach them how to think, not how to do things,” adding that differentiated instruction in the classroom as of late is helping to solve that problem.
When asked of their overall impressions of the film, the panelists’ aggregate response was that they agreed with much, if not most, of it.
Another audience member asked what role class structure plays in teacher and parent choices, and McClure said that social influence takes control even when people cognitively know better. Augustine said, “People tend to pretend that class distinction and its effects don’t exist,” and that people want to maintain or ascend a comfortable middle class life, making whatever choices they feel will lead them there.
Between questions, Miliner suggested that the medical field needs to take more of a role in child development as well. She said that, while pediatricians emphasize physical development, perhaps they need to inform parents on what children are, on average, able to accomplish academically at a given age.
One member of the audience, a parent, said that she puts her children in many activities in order to keep them off the street and asked how, if student workloads are lessened, they will grow up to be prepared for the real world.
McClure said that the film only reflects middle and upper-middle class parents and children and that their situations are not exactly applicable on a broader scale.
She added, however, that sometimes play time can be work time and that adding too many procedural assignments and allotting less time for play is not beneficial: “We’ve unnecessarily dichotomized those two things, work and play.”
Another student expressed disapproval with much of the movie, specifying that it made it seem as though teachers were responsible for too much in the students’ lives. She added that “teachers’ hands are tied” in most cases, when districts and school boards dictate that certain concepts should be taught.
Strickland responded, “Yes, we’re handcuffed, but … I have to know everyday that I have taught my best.” She also advised pre-service teachers just to serve their purpose to the best of their ability.
The final question of the night came from an audience member who wanted to know what works to help schools if money does not. McClure quickly said, “Smaller classes and smaller schools.”
To close the night, Jones returned to the microphone and said, “We love the students and what we do. Embrace them and their journey.”
(09/13/14 5:05pm)
As college students, we generally seek out the best deals that we can get on products that we regularly buy: snack food, grooming supplies and clothing, for example.
Traditional purchase patterns require that we go to the supermarket or mall to pick up these items, but our busy schedules can sometimes hinder us from allotting enough time to make these trips as often as we may want to.
Fortunately, a recent trend has been that of subscription boxes, monthly or otherwise regular deliveries right to our doorstep (or to Auxiliary Services). Spanning a wide variety of products, subscription boxes may prove beneficial to busy, on-the-go college students looking for more convenience in their purchases.
Dollar Shave Club
Gillette and Schick are a couple of the leading brands for men’s razor blades, but Dollar Shave Club offers a nice, less expensive alternative for those seeking regular razor blade purchases.
Dollar Shave Club’s main product, razors, come in three options: The Humble Twin, five two-bladed razors for $1 plus $2 shipping, The 4X, four four-bladed razors for $6 with no shipping fee, and The Executive, four six-bladed razors for $9 with no shipping fee.
Dollar Shave Club also offers other products, including shave butter, post-shave moisturizer, and bathroom wipes. After the first month of receiving a razor handle and set of four blades, subscribers have the option to receive additional blades on a monthly or bimonthly basis.
The handle for The Humble Twin, whose cost is $1, is primarily plastic whereas the handles for the other razors are a stronger, more durable metal, so interested parties may need to look past the $1 deal and move toward The 4X or The Executive, still great buys. Consumers may visit https://www.dollarshaveclub.com for more information.
Julep
Julep offers women a choice among fingernail polish and other beauty products delivered to them for about $20 a month.
Julep Mavens, subscribers to Julep, have a choice of many themed boxes, preset packagings with themes like It Girl and BoHo Glam that include a total of three products.
The drawback of these pre-chosen sets is that Mavens may not change individual nail polishes within a set; that is, if one set offers a nice red polish, but a Maven also likes the green polish in another set, she would either have to purchase both sets or buy one set and one polish individually.
Themed sets are designed to correspond, but some consumers may find that they like a little more freedom in their choice. Potential Mavens may visit http://www.julep.com/ for more information.
Graze
Healthy snacks at a low price are what Graze boasts. With 90 different snack options, Graze offers four snacks for $6.49 per month. The price is relatively low, so potential customers should expect corresponding small portion sizes for each snack.
If a customer does not like one snack, he or she can easily give it a low rating on his or her profile, ensuring that the snack does not return in a future delivery.
While the low price may be appealing for college students, one major question is whether the small snack sizes merit only one delivery a month.
Because the snack options are so varied, anyone looking to subscribe to this service may want to pair it with another product instead of relying solely on Graze. For more information, consumers may visit https://www.graze.com/us.
Elizabeth & Clarke
This site specializes in women’s shirts, delivering seasonally rather than monthly. Every three months, subscribers to this service have the option to receive one, two, or three shirts at $30, $25, or $20 per shirt, respectively.
The very fashion-conscious options at Elizabeth & Clarke are perfect for those who may not like the hustle and bustle of in-store shopping, but the price may prove bleak for those who like to browse the sale rack instead.
More casual shoppers who do not dress exclusively for the season may find less interest in this service, but trendier consumers may appreciate the value in this website more. Interested parties may find more information at https://www.elizabethandclarke.com/.
Disney Movie Club
The appeal of the Disney Movie Club is not only that it offers new Disney releases and classic favorites every month but also that it offers a discounted store for its members.
Monthly featured titles are offered to subscribers, who may accept or decline the purchase. Part of the convenience of the Disney Movie Club is that it does not require its subscribers to participate every month.
Additionally, upon joining the Disney Movie Club, members may buy four Disney movies at the cumulative price of $1.
Members must also adhere to Disney Movie Club’s terms of agreement, which state that customers must purchase five regularly priced DVDs or Blu-Rays within two years of signing up. These titles are typically $19.95 for DVDs or $29.95 for Blu-Rays.
Upon fulfilling this commitment, subscribers are upgraded to VIP status and are offered even more discounts and specials throughout the year.
Additionally, other discounts (buy one at regular price, get anything else at 40 percent off) exist regularly, allowing users to buy Disney DVDs at a moderate price. Potential customers should remember that Marvel Studios and ABC Studios fall under Disney’s umbrella. For more information, visit https://disneymovieclub.go.com/.
(08/22/14 6:24pm)
Several long months of road work on and around College Street culminated in the opening of the College Street and Oglethorpe Street roundabout, the first ever in Macon, allowing traffic once again to flow - more smoothly than before, for most.
When construction on College and Oglethorpe streets began in the semester, students and community members alike found that they had to take alternate paths to reach their destinations. Particularly troublesome may have been the travel patterns of those headed to Alexander II Magnet School.
On this revamped traffic pattern and the roundabout, Alex II principal Bertha Caldwell said, “The roundabout itself is beautiful, and the changes to the neighborhood are good, but the impact has been difficult for us as a school because we don’t have buses, so all of our students ride by car or walk to the school. Right now, the problem that is still happening is for the parents who walk across the street to pick up students. The work has left them crossing illegally; I’m concerned with all of the cars that an accident may occur. If we could get a crosswalk where traffic could stop for parents and children crossing, that might help.”
Caldwell clarified that safety for walkers may not have been considered when all of the focus lied on travel by car: “They moved the parking lot that parents are using, and it’s now further back. Parents say that it’s inconvenient. It will get better because they will get used to it, but sometimes it’s hard to break old habits. It’s just human behavior to do what we’ve always done.”
She ensured that, in terms of driving, the work on the roundabout and on College Street has been very efficient. “The traffic flow is going fairly well, however, because we have made that only one way in and one way out. That has helped the flow of carpool traffic; both car traffic and walking traffic have gone faster and better than expected, but the only inconsideration has been for walking parents.” Whereas parents used to park in the Tattnall Square Park tennis court parking lot and merely walk across the street, they must now walk across a large area of the park just to reach the street.
In addition to the roundabout, construction on College Street also included parallel parking spots for Alex II, Phase III of the Lofts at Mercer, and Tattnall Square Park. When asked about the transformation with respect to the park, Friends of Tattnall Square Park chair Andrew Silver stated, “The perimeters of a park are its best advertisements. I asked my students last semester to describe in one word their first impressions of the park. All of them first saw the park from College Street… The most common description? ‘Sketch’ or ‘sketchy.’ Now we’ve got a beautiful landscape that gives the message that we are a progressive, safe, walkable urban community—the kind of place where you want to live and play.”
Silver says that the work is not completed yet. Although “the ‘road diet’ is important for students and pedestrians crossing College Street by bike or by foot, and the pedestrian scale lighting has already made College Street a favorite walking space near dusk,” Silver said that the organization hopes “to complete the perimeter sidewalk this semester, along with additional sidewalks within the park, so we hope this will become the jogging track for Macon and Mercer.”
Mercer University Chief of Staff Larry Brumley mirrors Silver’s sentiment, explaining that the park “is heavily used by Mercer students, faculty and staff” and that work on the park came about as a result of the roundabout project. He continued, “Completion of the city’s first roundabout and other College Street improvements not only provide for a more beautiful gateway to the Mercer campus from downtown, they also enhance safety for vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles by calming the traffic along that block.”
Caldwell, Silver and Brumley were all present for the August 15 grand opening, which was also attended by other Mercer faculty, staff and students as well as Macon denizens, including classes from Alex II and representatives from the College Hill Alliance.
At the opening, Bibb County School System Superintendent Steve Smith, Mercer President Bill Underwood, SPLOST Advisory Chairman Jeffery Monroe, and Mayor Robert Reichert took the inaugural lap around the roundabout, with Underwood in a vintage orange Mercer-decaled truck sporting a large flag of Mercer pride. Following these leaders were students from an Alex II class.
That same weekend, however, the roundabout evidently proved too complicated for one driver, who drove straight through it rather than following its rules. This driver cut through the middle of the roundabout, leaving tire tracks on the grassy center.
Although some drivers may need to accustom themselves to this new traffic piece, Brumley believes that traffic will calm down because of the roundabout: “That is particularly important with the opening of the new student loft apartments on College Street and with completion of the Tattnall Square Center for the Arts, which will be the new home of Mercer Theatre beginning in January.”
(08/18/14 2:10am)
On Sunday, Aug. 17, Mercer University students gathered at Jesse Mercer Plaza to commemorate the life of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African-American shot by Officer Darren Wilson of the Ferguson, Mo. police department.
While details of the shooting have been largely withheld by the Ferguson police department, of note is that Brown was unarmed and, according to eyewitness reports, holding his hands up in an act of surrender. Wilson proceeded to shoot Brown multiple times.
This incident has sparked national media coverage, linking the incident to the recent deaths of Eric Garner, John Crawford, and Ezell Ford as well. All were African-American men killed by white police officers, inciting comments not only on racial profiling but also police brutality.
The National Moment of Silence 2014 campaign supported syndicated events nationwide on Thursday, Aug. 14. Most Mercer students, however, had not yet moved to the Macon campus at the time of these memorials, leading students Ryan Jones and Brandon Harris-Williams to organize their own event on Sunday.
Jones said this event allows students to “feel like we’re connected to the movement while still having our own individual moment for Mike Brown. … It’s a way to be there without actually being there.” He also feels that most media outlets paint one side of the incident while this event is intended to create a fuller picture of what has happened in the past few months with regards to police killings of people of color.
Mercer’s moment of silence began with an introduction and a brief recap of recent events by Jones and Harris-Williams. On the importance of these memorials, Harris-Williams said, “We’re doing this to show that this is bigger than just St. Louis and Ferguson.”
“Twitter activism” has played an integral role in allowing people from across the country to communicate with each other, with users tagging their tweets with #Ferguson and #NMOS2014 among others. Jones said Twitter provides a forum for discussion and that the Mercer moment of silence is intended “to give people a place where they can air out their feelings on what’s going on and what’s happening—not so much a forum as it is a place to show solidarity.”
Following the recap of recent events, Jones and Harris-Williams opened the floor to anyone in the crowd who was willing to share their own negative experiences with police officers. One speaker, D.J. Eackles, said, “I shouldn’t feel like a target for the police.” After four testimonies, Jones recited his original work, “A Poem for Trayvon,” opining that the well known Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman altercation holds many parallels to events of late.
Harris-Williams and Jones then led the moment of silence, suggesting that members of the crowd reflect on those who died at the hands of police officers and pay their respects to all affected by these events. The two closed the memorial by asking participants to take a picture with their hands up, imitating the pose that Brown held moments before his death.
Jones reiterated, “This event is about the importance of black lives, people of color’s lives, and lives in general.”