Online Journalism Today

Designed by Katie Stout

The Safe Haven Of Safe Harvest

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Each year, Hood College hosts Safe Harvest, an annual autumnal celebration that occurs around Halloween, providing local children in Fredrick, MD, with a safe haven to trick or treat.
Hosted by Hood’s Mortar Board Society, Safe Harvest “provides children ages 12 and under the opportunity to enjoy a safe and fun-filled evening of games, arts and crafts, and trick or treating on Hood’s campus,” according to its public relations chairwoman Sienna Bronson.
The Mortar Board Society organizes the event, but the whole Hood College community comes together to make it happen. Students are encouraged to buy candy for the event to either donate or hand out to kids when they walk around the college’s five dorms.
While many students come out and show their support, not all Hoodlums are enthusiastic about this event. In fact, many students are confused as to why Safe Harvest exists.
Micaela McCarthy, Hood College Junior, says she would rather have her kids go house-to-house trick or treating than go to a college campus, if she had kids. Though she sees the point of Safe Harvest, she has never heard of trick or treating being dangerous at all.
“I have never had any bad experiences with trick or treating, and I have never heard of people poisoning kids candy,” she says, until she came to Frederick.
However, in many cities like Frederick, trick or treating is illegal. There are many places with age restrictions, but in Frederick trick or treating is banned.
RA Alex Connor, Hood College Junior, explains that “without Safe Harvest, the local children of Frederick would have no where to trick or treat,” because going door to door asking for candy is illegal in Frederick.
“There has always been that fear of razor blades, poison, or anything strange showing up in kids Halloween candy, but the strangest thing I’ve ever gotten is an apple,” says Connor. “But really how many times has there actually been incidents of little kids dying because of a faceless stranger giving them poisoned candy?”
There have been little to no accounts of children’s candy being poisoned or tampered with. In all of history there have only been a few kids dying from their Halloween candy, but not from random strangers, just relatives they know.
Timothy Marc O’Bryan died on Halloween in 1974, because his father laced a Pixie Stix with cyanide. In 1970, five-year-old Kevin Toston died of a heroin overdose because of his Uncle.

However, that isn’t to say that a stranger won’t ever poison Halloween candy and hand it out to little kids. Parents have no need to worry about poisoned candy at Safe Harvest, all the candy is checked and re-checked. Only candy that is entirely sealed can be handed out. There is always the fear of children, or anyone actually, being assaulted on Halloween. You are going up to a strangers door anyway, and that does bring some risk.
Single parent Cathy Woodward says, “It is a strange concept of having your kids go door to door asking for candy. The concept is quite strange because you do feel like you are putting your kids lives in the hands of a stranger a bit.”
Woodward, single mother of two, goes on to say that it “is a risk, not just the candy, but what if the stranger is a pedophile or a kidnapper? I do not allow my children to trick or treat, so Safe Harvest is the perfect place to take my kids.”
Woodward shares the concern of many parents. In all due respect to parents though, why would a child be any more at risk for pedophiles or kidnapping on Halloween than any other night of the year?
Pedophiles and kidnappers don’t just spring up out of the ground like the dead awakening and then retire when the night is over. According to Discovery news, kidnappers and pedophiles are more likely to be someone you know, instead of a faceless stranger. Therefore, it is unlikely that something terrible is going to happen to your child on Halloween.
That being said, Safe Harvest is the perfect place to take your kids if you’re living in the Frederick area. Trick or treating is banned from the city, and Safe Harvest provides a safe place for families to take their kids for a bit of fun.
This years Safe Harvest is held on Thursday, Oct 29, at five to eight p.m. in Whitaker Campus Center. For further information on this event contact Sienna Bronson at sab27@hood.edu.

Commuters hate snow days

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Photo credit: Meg DePanise. Hood campus covered in snow.

BY HEIDI MARINO // This winter Hood College students admitted they are tired of the snow – especially the commuters.
According to College Board, 56 percent of Hood College undergraduates live in on campus housing, leaving a significant portion of the remaining students as commuters. These students were forced to take risks this winter by traveling on snowy roads and through unplowed areas in hopes that they’d make it to class.
Student Emily Singleton, 21, was upset about her commute from Pasadena, Md., to Hood College. Singleton explained that the hour drive is a struggle even when snow isn’t an issue. She was disappointed that when Hood canceled classes – her workload didn’t lessen, leaving her with assignments she didn’t understand how to complete.
On days when Hood was open and the snow was still an issue, Singleton had difficultly parking on campus.
“With the snow, parking has been atrocious,” Singleton said. “The other day I couldn’t see the parking lines and sometimes the snow blocks the parking spots.”
The campus delays also caused Singleton problems.

“A lot of the time, I have to leave about an hour to an hour and a half earlier than my classes start, and sometimes I’ve already left before they changed the status of opening/delaying/closing Hood,” Singleton said. “Time and gas wasted.”

Unlike Singleton, Dominque Quesada, 21, lives in Frederick, but she said the weather still caused her problems.
As a commuter, Quesada drives 10 minutes through town to get to Hood. Before she leaves her house she has to remove the snow off and around her car, which often makes her late for school.

“When Hood had a delay, but the roads in town had not been plowed, it took me twice the time to get to school,” Quesda said. “The main intersection near Hood was having trouble and the lights were out of order which made the busy intersection dangerous. Also, even though Hood had a delayed opening, I had a night class and by night the roads were frozen, making me skid at every stop.”

Commuter, Briana Greer, 21, said when snow affected her school schedule she was unsure if her teachers would postpone assignments. Like other students, she also had difficulty parking.

“If more snow comes they better do a better job at plowing for parking,” Greer said.

Hood College staff were also frustrated with the winter weather.

Director of campus safety and security Daniel P. Spedden said that when the state and federal government shut down public transportation and government offices, Hood College emulates their decision. When the outcome of a winter storm is hard to predict Spedden bases his decision whether to close, delay or open school based on the track of the storm, conditions of the road, duration of the storm and from the opinion of a road supervisor.

“This is my first winter on the job. My colleagues tell me that this winter is not representative,” said Spedden. “The timing of this winter storms has disrupted campus activity more than usual and has caused much inconvenience.”

Another commuter student Helena Hammond-DoDoo, 21, is involved in the school clubs The Movement, STARS and Tele Team. She also has an internship in Frederick which requires a minimum of 120 hours and a full schedule of classes.
Admitting that she has a hard course load, Hammond-DoDoo also says that she’s a French minor and taking a phonetics and diction course.

“It’s only three times a week for 50 minutes,” Hammond-DoDoo said. “That time alone is not enough, but add in some missed class time and that just complicates everything.”

The snow has also complicated her internship hours.

“Now I have to figure out how to re-work my schedule in order to reach my required credit hours,” Hammond-DoDoo said. “I am NOT a fan of snow days in the slightest.”

These students each said they hoped for no more snow.

“Snow days were fun in high school,” Hammond-DoDoo said. “But as a commuter and a junior in college I am no longer seeing the fun in them.”

College holds just one Admitted Students Day

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Photo credit: Katie Misuraca

BY KATIE MISURACA // Every year, Hood College hosts multiple events for prospective students who are looking into Hood.
However, this semester Hood will be only hosting one Admitted Students Day, raising concerns of students and faculty.

Terry Whittum, vice president for Enrollment Management at Hood College, made the decision to host only one Admitted Student Day due to his experience stating, “Quality is better than quantity.”

Admitted Students Day gives students who have been accepted into Hood the opportunity to learn more about what it means to be a part of the Hood tradition. During this event, students will have an opportunity to attend two classes, attend a showcase of student clubs and organizations, take an inside look at the campus and residence halls and meet with faculty members.

“One large program, perhaps with as many 700 total visitors, will generate a level of excitement that will appeal to prospective student, Whittum said. “Students visit that day and see over 300 other students and their parents on campus they will have validation that their decision to attend Hood College was the right decision,” Whittum continued.

Lydia Emory, sophomore at Hood College, is a Star who is student ambassador who offer daily campus tours and help incoming students understand Hood better. “This is the first time that Hood is having one Admitted Students Day, in previous years there have been two. We [Hood] will be expecting a lot of students and as a Star it will be a very busy day,” Emory stated.

Many faculty members seem to be worried that Hood isn’t going to get enough incoming freshman this upcoming school year. However, Whittum believes this single event will be one of the most significant things that Hood can do to improve the percentage
of admitted students who enrolled. “Rather than a smaller class, all indicators are that we will enroll a larger class, over 300 new freshmen, and that the academic profile of this class will improve,” Whittum said.

Coleen Yazurlo, assistant director of Admission at Hood, says that most schools only have one Admitted Students Day. The reason why Hood only has had two in the past is because of space issues.  “However, with the new gym, we have come to realize that there is space on campus for larger gatherings,” she said. “We have also re-worked the ASD event to make it more of a this is how life will be once you are a student at Hood type of event, which we think will aid students in making their college decision,” Yazurlo said.

Even though Hood is changing how it does events, there will be one new event: an Admitted Students Reception off campus.  This event will allow students and their families a chance to meet with Hood students, faculty, and alumni in a location that is closer to their home. “This will be helpful for students who cannot make it to campus as easily as others,” Yazurlo said.
In addition to this event, Admissions will be offering daily tours as well as tours and information sessions every other Saturday.  “In addition to campus tours, students can also participate in a “Blazer for a Day” visits, where students have the opportunity to sit it on a class and eat lunch in the dining hall.  While students are in their class, their parents can meet with financial aid and/or the career center.  There are also overnight visits to campus Monday through Thursday,” Yazurlo stated.

The Admissions offices at Hood are trying to make a greater impact for incoming and currents students. They are trying to “start over” with trying to start traditions and even change current traditions Hood already has.

Students complain of schedule changes

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Photo credit: Hood Student Power

BY GENEVA DENNEY // Academic schedule changes, effective fall 2014, have been
the talk of the Hood College community for weeks now.

Many rumors are flying about what is and isn’t changing next year and these changes have caused
major uproar with students and staff. Some are embracing the changes, and others are opposed to them.

Next year, the time slots for classes will be extended with the earliest class starting at 8 a.m. This was done to accommodate more classes throughout the day and to eliminate overlapping schedule conflicts, Katherine Conway-Turner the provost and vice president of academic affairs said.

She mentioned moving common hour from 12-2 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday, to having it on Wednesdays from 2-5 p.m. This was done to allow more classes during the day, Conway-Turner said.

Hood is also trying to hold fewer undergraduate classes at night. By doing so, the college will allow fewer overlaps of graduate and undergraduate classes.

Conway-Turner proposed and took action to implement the changes. “These changes are all about the students. There will be less conflicts and it’s allowing students to have easier schedules so they can get in and completed in four years.”

There were three public forums held over the past winter to address the issues with students.
However, not many attended. Some of the major topics of interest included sports conflicts and dining hall conflicts.

“We want to character build and educate, as well as account for sports and academic breaks,” Conway-Turner said. “I’m eager for our students to really understand what the changes are and how it will help them in the long run. We want students to move through the program successfully without glitches—the problems they think will occur are unlikely.”

Hood Student Power is an organization that pulls together the voice of the student body and has been the face of opposing the current schedule changes.  Grant Gallagher, 18, a freshman, has actively been a part of Hood Power since entering the school.

“Hood Power is more of a movement than an organization and it grew out of a lot of dedicated people’s ideas,” Gallagher said. “We’re all here because we see these schedule changes as problematic and think that since we’re paying for this education, we ought to be part of the process.”

“No one can defend the process and secrecy behind these decisions,” Gallagher said. “Most students wouldn’t have known
about them if members of the faculty hadn’t stood up for us and told their classes. As for the changes themselves, they’re a disaster for students. It’s going to make a lot of students have to choose between their right to work and the classes they need to graduate in four years.”

Hood Power currently has a petition running that’s surpassing expectations, Gallagher said. The group has also made a dominant effort on Facebook to make other students aware of what’s happening.

“Once we deliver our petition there are a lot of potential next steps, but what we do depends on how responsive administrators are to what students want,” Gallagher said. “We’re demanding that these schedule changes not be implemented in their current form. If changes happen in the future they need to come from administrators, faculty, and students working together. We need a democratic
and student-first process, one that builds our voice into the system.”

Justin Callas, 19, a sophomore, has been at Hood for two years now and has acclimated to the current schedule. His attitude toward the change reflects that of many students on campus.

“With the amount of students complaining about the change, why would they do it?” Callas said. “But, it really shouldn’t bother anyone, if students don’t want to take classes during the new time slots, then they should pick a different class.”

 

Students worry about power outages

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Photo Credit:  Wallis Shamieh. Students seek light in the darkness.

BY WALLIS SHANIEH // Recent power outages, across Hood College’s campus,
have left several students fearful of a reoccurrence of a serious outage that occurred in the 2010-2011 academic year. Monday morning, the entire college campus lost power for a little under an hour causing several classes to be cancelled and interrupting daily morning events.

Students living in off-campus housing at Sunset Apartments lost power for about six hours on Monday evening, and left residents unsure of where they would sleep that night. Low temperatures outside and no heat in the apartments left students looking for other places to stay.

The cause of the outages on campus and at Sunset Apartments was unknown, but could potentially be related to the
recent ice and snow that have been causing outages to homes in Frederick and the surrounding area. The streets directly next to campus had lost power for several days during an ice storm the same week.

“I was surprised that we lost power and concerned about heating and the electricity for cooking meals,” said David
Guwani, a student at Hood College who lost power to his off-campus apartment. He still had access to tap water and bottled water that he kept stored in his apartment, but lost heat during the cold winter day.

Housing arrangements were made for students to stay in school-provided housing, on-campus, which had power
returned earlier in the day.

“Apart from taking time to pack and move on campus, the outage did not disrupt my day. All my work was complete so
it gave me an excuse to go and hang out with my friends,” Guwani, said. Not every student was concerned with the loss of power to their homes, as Guwani found a bright side to the outage.

“It wasn’t that big of a deal. I think Hood and the people around me freaked out a bit too much,” said Taylor
Anderson, a student at Hood College who lives in an off-campus apartment. “I stayed at my apartment and just watched movies on my laptop until it came back on around 10:30 after being out for about 6 hours.”

Dan Bryant, a student at Hood College experienced a significant outage to the college’s campus in the winter of the 2010-2011 academic year, due to a water main break. The recent outage had him fearful of a repeat of the event.

“My apartment lost power and another meeting was held to see where we would stay. The only thing that was going through
my mind was a hotel room,” Bryant said.

The 2010-2011 outage caused classes to be cancelled and students had to be removed from the dormitories since there was
no water being supplied to them. They were given the option to return home, stay with friends who had power, or to be moved to a hotel until the power was restored.

“There was no water to take showers, no power to do anything. The power was out all day and my roommate and I had nothing
to do and nowhere to go, along with every other student,” said Bryant.

Many other students who experienced the 2010-2011 outage were afraid that their schedules would be interrupted, and
would have to move once again.

Fortunately, on Monday, the power returned to Sunset Apartments before the end of the night, allowing students to return
to their homes and dismissing their fears.

 

Hood celebrates Civil Rights Act

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Photo credit: Hood College

BY TAYLOR ANDERSON // Hood College is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights
Act with a series of movies, lectures, music and other events.

On the new civil rights page, on Hood’s website, Provost Kate Conway-Turner states: “Hood College will devote the year 2014 to openly reflecting upon the past, considering the present, and encouraging our community to seek a future where all citizens are afforded complete and unequivocal civil rights.”

Events have been set up to allow students to participate in this message. Some upcoming events are, an afternoon with Natasha Trethewey a United States poet, on March, 2, Wil Haygood, author of the Butler on
March, 19, and documentary screening of The Loving Story on March, 20.

David Guwani said, “I think that these events are a great opportunity. I have enjoyed the evens I have been to so far.”

Professor Liz Atwood stated that The March on Frederick event, “might be one of the most exciting.”
While walking around Frederick students, staff and the community will be able to commemorate the anniversary, by learning about and seeing important local civil right landmarks.

A Civil Rights essay contest will be held as well. Hood College undergraduate and graduate students are invited to write a 1,000 to
5,000-word essay reflecting on the status of the civil rights today and what challenges remain to fulfilling the aspirations of the civil rights movement. Prizes will be awarded to the winners. For undergraduate students first place will receive $500, second place will receive $250 and third place will receive $100. For graduate students, there is only one prize of $500. Submissions are
due by 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31.

Along with these events and essay contest, the civil rights page states that, “Hood College will enhance our service commitment by giving back at least 15,000 hours to our communities.” As of right now, Hood has a long way to go; only 491 hours of community service have been logged as of now.

Students perform ‘A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer’

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photo credit: Grace Cassutto

Photo credit: Grace Cassutto. Courtney Lapsley performing “Maurice”

BY GRACE CASSUTTO // A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer was performed by a group of 11 Hood College
students this Friday February 21 and Saturday February 22.

The performance was sponsored by the college’s Equal Sex organization as a part of  its  V-Day events. According to the show’s program, “V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions.”

Laura Hanna, a junior and a V-Day coordinator, explained “Equal Sex does a production every year – last year was The Vagina Monologues.” Hanna lamented over the cancellation of the V-Day event that was meant to take place on February 14 saying, “I’m disappointed that we couldn’t have V-Day because of the snow, but I’m excited for people to see [A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer]. Some of the monologues are really powerful.”

The show was comprised of 11 performances by Hood students, covering a range of topics including rape, sexual assault, familial relationships, self-image, and intersectionality. Some monologues, such as “Rescue,” performed by sophomore Joe Denicola, were heavy pieces that brought a hush over the audience.

“My baby sister, Belle, in hysterics at 10, crying to me that the neighbor whose child she babysat had been touching her in the bad place, wrong, and me confronting him (age 13) with a barbecue skewer on his patio!” Denicola cried out, collapsing into his hands,
in makeup and costume that gave him the appearance of a middle-aged man.

“Joe’s [monologue] always gets me,” said Hanna, adding, “If any of them would make you cry, it would be his.”

The night was not without light moments, however. The audience was full of peals of laughter as sophomore Courtney Lapsley delivered her monologue, titled “Maurice,” about a “fat, frizzy-haired” tenth grader and her experiences with Maurice De Mayo in
his uncle’s dry cleaning van.

“We walked in (well, my boobs walked in first),” Lapsley says, knowing just when to pause for the audience to dissolve into laughter.

Lapsley said the experience of being involved in the show “brought me a lot closer to people. It was very inspirational, and really opened me up to how domestic violence hasn’t gone away.”

Lapsley is right. According to the One Billion Rising website, one in three women globally will experience violence in their lifetime. That means that over one billion women will be a victim or survivor of violence. It is these statistics that gave rise to the V-Day campaign One Billion Rising for Justice, started in 2013.

According to the official website, the campaign “is a global call to women survivors of violence and those who love them to gather safely in community outside places where they are entitled to justice…places where women deserve to feel safe but too often
do not.”

With this mission in mind, Equal Sex President Amanda Shaffery explained to the audience that proceeds from the show would be donated to the V-Day Organization as well as The Heartly House Foundation, an organization which “serves Frederick County residents who have been impacted by domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse.”

Seussical is coming to Hood

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Photo credit: Maggie McGill

BY MAGGIE MCGILL // Hood students are rehearsing for Seussical the Musical, a Tony award winning production that will hit campus in late March.

The musical, a combination of Dr. Seuss books and stories, will be student organization Hood College Student Musical Theater’s seventh production.

“It’s a very good mix of children’s humor and adult themes,” Travis Gilbert, the director of the show, said

Students have been rehearsing since the start of the Spring semester in January to prepare for the production.  Those involved dedicate four days out of the week for vocal and dance training.

The cast is excited about performing such a quirky and powerful show that combines different styles of song and dance that match the time periods during which each Seuss book was written.

Seussical the Musical follows Horton, who finds a tiny village on a speck of dust and his neighbor Gertrude, who only wants to be noticed. It also follows Jojo, a boy living on the speck of dust, and his antics with the Cat in the Hat who encourages him to use his imagination.

Lew Dean, who plays Horton in the show, identifies with the characters as they journey through the show. He said, “The characters go through a lot of hardship but come out better for it in the end.”

The students plan to interpret the show as a biographical piece of Dr. Seuss, using a fresh, hardworking cast and crew. They hope to combine childhood nostalgia with a new art form so that members of the audience will be forced to think about the show on many different levels.

Gabe Cassutto, who plays the role of the Cat in the Hat, is making his Hood theater debut. He said, “It’s about acceptance, self-worth, the powers, of imagination, and how one person can make a difference.”

HCSMT was founded in 2010 by now-alumni Billy Lewis and Ashley Birdsell. It is a student run organization, which sets it apart from other clubs on campus. Their past shows include 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Avenue Q.

This year, Hood College Student Musical Theater is reaching out via social media to connect with students and members of the community using its Facebook page and newly founded blog. The blog can be used to track progress and keep up with performance dates.

The show’s blog, Seussically Inclined, and their information page can be found here. Seussical the Musical can be seen on campus from March 27-30.

 

For Dickmans coaching is a family affair

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Photo credit: Jamone Davis. Tom and Chad Dickman at basketball game.

BY JAMONE DAVIS // It is one thing to play  for your father, but it’s another to get the opportunity to coach beside him.
Hood College is one of many colleges/universities to have a father and son duo coaching the same men’s basketball team. Those two men are Tom Dickman who has coached here at Hood for over 11 years and his son Chad Dickman. Now of course
one may think they are not the only father and son to ever coach on the same team. There was also Richard Pitino and Rick Pitino, but there are far more teams where the son just played for their father.

Here at Hood, Tom Dickman has ran a critical program in regards to what direction he wants to take the team. Based on Tom’s coaching, it’s obvious he’s more into a slow pace and plays to his players’ strength. He would rather slow the game down and run set plays, rather than just playing fast and unbalanced. He went from being a high school basketball coach for 29
years at Governor Thomas Jefferson, winning seven state championships to being a college basketball program college all using the same strategy. When Tom accepted the position of athletic director, a job opening became available for him to have assistant. That’s when Chad came to mind.

“I know his basketball background in recruiting and I can’t hire people exactly like me,” stated Tom
Dickman in regards to his son. He said this because he knew that Chad could bring some new ideas and talent to the program. “I trust him to do the work I do not have time to do. He’s a smart guy, well-organized, and does his research,” he added.

Tom said he feels that Chad has a lot to bring to the organization and wants to take advantage of his previous experience as an assistant head coach. Now Chad was amazed at the opportunity to work with his father. He was the associate head coach of Wheeling Jesuit University for the past nine years in West Virginia. When he heard his father had an opening for an assistant coach, he saw an opportunity to return to Frederick and wanted to challenge himself with the basketball program here at Hood.

“A pro about working with my father is that he gives me the freedom to speak my mind and put in offenses and defenses allowing the players to have suggestions on how to make the team better,” Chad said.

The Dickmans’ have some similarities in regards to identifying player’s talents, but have different mind sets on the overall game. Chad’s coaching strategy is faster paced than his fathers which is an example on how Chad is a risk taker. Chad enjoys an upbeat tempo where the players run a quick offense and take
what’s available.

Tom on the other hand has the slow-paced strategy down pact. He hates letting the other team score easy baskets. He stresses tough defense and when it comes to being on offense, he wants his player’s to run the play he gives them. Everyone knows the red face Tom makes when the team lets an easy layup or open shot happen, but Chad could live with layups. He favors a zone defense over his
father’s preference of man to man.

Coaching his first year at Hood, Chad’s main focus right now is to help the program get better every day. Chad enjoys working with his
father and stated, “I don’t think either of us would argue about more time away, but he trusts me to do my thing. He does not look over my shoulder so; we really do not see each other most of the day due to his new position as athletic director. Mainly see one another during practices and games.”

“The transition to Hood was made a lot easier because my father has been good with opening up to new input and ideas,” Chad said. They combine the best views and ideas for the best outcome for the team.

According to Cameron Cook, senior guard for men’s team, the system Chad has brought is new and improved with results of the best record since he’s been here. This system is similar to what is known as “run and gun” where players will score whether the original play falls together. He feels as though everything is paying off and they would not have the current record of 17-10 if Chad had not
input his game plan. Cook is leading the conference in three-point shots and points scored averaging almost 16 points per game. “I been leading scorer here, but it would’ve been best to play my part in the offense and help out in anyone possible,” he said when asked about his role on the team.

The team went to the semi-finals and fell short against Stevenson. Though the team did not make the tournament this year, both coaches are proud of the team’s performance and look forward to next season.

 

Students complain about lack of democracy

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Photo credit: Zari Demesme. Student looking sassy and loving it!

BY ZARI DEMESME // Hood College’s small campus has a lot of events that go on throughout the entire school year. The “D” in hood stands for democracy, but a survey says that to some stu-dents, it doesn’t “feel” like a democracy because “its feels as though we can’t get any-thing we ask for,” said a sophomore. According to some of the current seniors who would like to remain nameless at this time, they said during their freshman year there was a dance/party almost every month and that they were sad to see things like that slowly, but surely stop happening.

Although Hood does have plenty of monthly events, I have heard all around cam-pus that students want more dances or night time events on the weekends because they get bored. Maya Jacksona junior, said that dances every month seems like a lot, but it would be fun for the students and would help relive some stress. She also said that instead of just having Whitaker Wednesdays, have like Whitaker Weekends (meaning wednesday through friday). Angela Moore ,also a junior, said maybe having a suggestion box for the Campus Activities Board might help with fun ways to keep students busy on the weekends. She also said, “I appreciate the movie nights that CAB hosts on the weekends. They are fun nights where my friends and I can just have like a girls night out without leaving the campus and spending money.”

More students had suggestions for events on campus and they came to a consensus of having a suggestion box for CAB so that the students can voice their opinion for ac-tivities on the weekends. Having a lot to say and not knowing who to approach about it without getting shut down is hard. Don Miller, who is in charge of CAB, said that “hav-ing suggestion boxes never work successfully.” But he would like to hear suggestions face to face to talk about them so that the suggester can fully explain their vision. But before the most effective way to get as far as having a one on one with Don you must first send him an email in order to set up a time to meet; sometimes he’s a little hard to get a hold of if there are currently a lot of campus activities currently going on or approaching.

It may seem as though we as student don’t have any type of input when it comes to campus activities, but we do have some say when it comes to music selections and the choice of movies that are to be played friday and saturday nights. If there isn’t enough student input for a change, then nothing that is being suggested will be considered for the future events. As the saying goes: “If you didn’t get up and go vote in the election do not b*tch and moan how about how much you dislike your congressman because you could have made a difference but you didn’t”

Thank you for reading.