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What Science can tell us about the Meaning of Life

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Breann Harwood

The meaning of life is something that almost anyone, but especially college students, tends to struggle with. Between making major life choices, deciding on a major and where they will go after graduation, college students face many pressing questions about what to do with their lives.
Around 100 students, faculty, and community members joined Hood College on Tuesday, Oct. 20, as they welcomed social psychologist Laura King. King’s lecture was about “what science can tell us about the meaning of life.” This lecture was in conjunction with the inauguration festivities of Hood’s new president, President Andrea Chapdelaine.
King started out her lecture by paying honor to Chapdelaine, who coincidentally majored in social psychology, and told the audience that they were lucky to have a social psychologist as a president because she can change the campus and the world. She then explored how happiness is equivalent to the experience of meaning, which means, happy people naturally rate higher when rating their meaning of life. However, she emphasized how she was not a positive psychologist, and in fact, found many things skewed with that philosophy. According to positivepsychology.org, positive psychology is the study of “the strengths that enable individuals and communities to thrive.”
King explained that there are many people who have “pretty good lives” and it’s these “pretty good lives” that are full of meaning.
“We see the good life all the time,” King said. “We just need to notice it.”
Scientifically, King asserts, noticing may be even more important than inventing. Certainly, she explains that there is value to both, but a person wouldn’t need an invention if they noticed something new about something that already existed.
The meaning of life, to King, is a paradox.
“The meaning of life happens even if we don’t want it to. There are signs everywhere and we can’t just turn the meaning on or off,” King said.
She then shared with the audience one of her studies about parents who have children with Down syndrome. She asked a variety of these people about their experiences and their rate of how meaningful their life is. Almost all of them rated around 5 out of 7, which is significantly higher than the average “meaningful life” at 3.8.
Other populations that hold a higher meaning of life include those who live in poorer nations. King said that this is overwhelmingly due to the fact they have a stronger religious foundation.
King assured the audience that every one of them already had a meaningful life because they all had the integral parts to what is “meaningful.” Every single person already lives in a world that makes sense and that thrives off of habit and routine; the cornerstone to homeostasis.
King said that one of the strongest correlations in rating a positive meaning in life is helping others. Helping people and volunteering creates a direct connection to a higher rate of meaning, so much so that King suggests there may not truly be such a thing as altruism.
She then concluded her lecture by asking the audience, “What are you going to do with your one extraordinarily meaningful life?”
Senior Aleyna Fitz, a psychology major and current Hood student attended the event for extra credit in one of her classes. She ended up feeling inspired and a little more meaningful after the lecture.

“The biggest thing that I took away from Dr. King’s lecture is that everyone has meaning in their life, even though it’s sometimes hard to see, and that the biggest problem isn’t that we think our lives have too much meaning, but that our lives have no meaning,” Fitz said.
Junior Naila Stocks attended the event because it caught her attention and sounded like something she might enjoy.
“I like how she said that everyone’s life has meaning and that is one of us wasn’t here, right now, we would notice,” Stocks said. “We all matter; we all are the meaning of life.”

Hood College Hosts “Blockbuster Movie Showcase” series

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(Hodson Auditorium, photos by Hamby)

(Hodson Auditorium, photos by Hamby)

Chris Hamby

The flickering image on the silver screen. Being immersed in breathtaking surround sound. “Let’s all go to the lobby to get ourselves a treat.”
Nothing beats going to the movies and watching the latest feature films on the big screen.
At Hood College, students and faculty will take a break from the ongoing chaos of schoolwork to attend the college’s “Blockbuster Movie Showcase” series; which will mark its eighth year on campus.
Every semester, members of the Campus Activities Board screen a monthly series of popular second-run major feature films, along with select cult favorites.
Films are screened at Hodson Auditorium, located inside Rosenstock Hall on campus. Select movies are also projected on an inflatable, oversized screen at the softball field during the spring and fall seasons.
Recent screenings have included the fourth film in the Jurassic Park franchise, “Jurassic World,” the 1993 Disney comedy “Hocus Pocus,” and the 1975 cult favorite, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” to mark the 40th anniversary of the film. These movies have been popular with most Hood students.
“I definitely liked ‘Hocus Pocus,’ but I didn’t get to see ‘Rocky Horror’,” said Alex Elliott, a freshman student majoring in economics at Hood.
Axelle Blaise, a sophomore student majoring in psychology at Hood, enjoyed the goody bags that were passed out during the screening of “Rocky Horror.”
“It’s cute,” Blaise said.
Christiana Morris, a sophomore student majoring in secondary education at Hood, only attends if the film holds high entertainment value.
“It depends on the movie,” Morris said. “I haven’t been to any of them this semester.”
Gretchen Nonemaker, director of student engagement at Hood College, is one of the people responsible for the campus movie series. She explained how the campus acquired the nontheatrical rights to screen popular motion pictures for the monthly series on campus from two different distributors.

(Interior of the projection booth, inside Hodson Auditorium, located at Rosenstock Hall at Hood College.)

(Projector used for outdoor “Blockbuster Movie” screening at the Hood softball field.)

Swank Motion Pictures is one of the nation’s oldest family-owned nontheatrical motion picture distribution companies. The firm represents the nontheatrical accounts for major studios, including The Walt Disney Co., Lionsgate, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Bros. and affiliated companies.
Criterion Pictures U.S.A., a competitor to Swan, represents the accounts of Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox and affiliated subsidiaries. This company is not related to “The Criterion Collection,” a high-profile home entertainment label.
“We license movies from both distributors,” Nonemaker said.
She said that the cost of licensing films from Swank and Criterion are determined by the title of the film from the distributors, including the length of the movie rental.
The average cost for a typical nontheatrical film release from Swank or Criterion range from $600 to $1,200. The costs are paid by the campus organizations directly involved in supporting films that are shown on campus.
Today, going to the movies at the first-run cinema can be expensive. The college’s “blockbuster” movie screenings are entirely free to all attendees.

Travis Eichelberger, Hood assistant director of student engagement, filling up one of the popcorn machines before the screening of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" inside Hodson Auditorium)

Travis Eichelberger, Hood assistant director of student engagement, filling up one of the popcorn machines before the screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” inside Hodson Auditorium)

According to the Los Angeles Times, the motion picture industry discontinued sending physical film prints to theaters in recent years. Films are now delivered via an encrypted file on hard drive-based storage, or via satellite. Nontheatrical features are delivered to Hood for screening on a specialized DVD-Video disc.
The discs that arrive from Swank and Criterion are not ordinary DVD discs; the projectionist in charge has to access a specialized PIN code provided by the distributor, in order for the disc to play.
Along with the cost of licensing films from Swank and Criterion, the sponsoring organizations have also paid for the cost of snacks, soft drinks and goody bags served at the campus movie screenings.
Nonemaker said that the organization is open to other suggested films from campus groups, including classic and independent features.
Katherine Orloff, an assistant professor of journalism at Hood, said that students should not miss out on seeing free screenings of movies on campus.
“I think it’s a great thing for everybody to watch movies on a big screen,” Orloff said.
Donna Bertazzoni, professor of journalism at Hood, said that the movie series is a great way for students to relax from the daily grind.
“At the end of a long week, it’s a great opportunity to relax,” Bertazzoni said.

Hood’s Witch Trial Reenactment Highlights Continuing Issues

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Cameron Rogers

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(Jennifer Forester, photos by Rogers)

As part of the Halloween season, Hood College’s English 259 course held a reenactment of a Medieval European witch trial on Oct. 27.
The course, which is entitled “Medieval Magic and Mysticism,” studies literature involving witchcraft and the growing fear of it between the years 400-1800 C.E. The class prepared for the reenactment throughout the month of October.
The reenactment lasted from 1 to 2 p.m. in room 131 of Hodson Science and Technology Center.
“Finding the time and space to do it was kind of a challenge,” Dr. Heather Mitchell-Buck, the instructor of the course, said.
According to Mitchell-Buck, she did not act as a gatekeeper for the reenactment’s content. “I helped facilitate some discussions in the creation of the project. But, I was there not to make suggestions, but mostly just to keep the conversation going and keep it productive.”
The reenactment will serve two purposes according to the class – to demonstrate to Hood students everything they learned over the first half of the semester, and to highlight the continued existence of one-sided “witch trials” today.
Mitchell-Buck said that she believed the historical witch trials still had relevance today. “Think about any time you see people accused of something without sufficient evidence in support of that, or you see a community looking to blame someone who is different from themselves for something that they don’t entirely understand.”

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Peter Routson, Kassandra Stout, and Grant Kane

Logan Samuels, a student in the course, agreed with Mitchell-Buck’s sentiments. “I think it can play into today,” she said. “I would like to say we don’t slip up as much as we do, but there are definitely some biases when it comes to trials with celebrities and politicians.”
Samuels’ role in the reenactment was to decide each sentence for the “accused” individuals.
Samuels compared the sentencing of witch trials to court cases today, where the wealthy and powerful would often go free with little to no punishment. In keeping with the references to modernity, she said that modern humor would be written into the script.
In contrast, Ashley Trovato, another student in ENGL 259, did not hold the same views on modern relevance. “The scare isn’t even relevant at all,” she said. She pointed towards the modern focus on science and acceptance of customs that would have been mistaken for witchcraft as signs of societal progress.
Trovato, who designed the propaganda and handout flyers for the reenactment, said she hoped people would still take the event seriously.
The reenactment itself carried on the theme of false accusations and distrust of outsiders. Of the three people accused (a priest, a noblewoman, and an old midwife), only the latter was convicted and executed, while the former two received light sentences.
The audience received verdicts of their own on cards handed out before the show began. Opening them after the Q&A panel revealed a unique accusation and verdict based on hearsay, with punishments ranging from fasting to being set on fire.

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It was not the first time Mitchell-Buck’s class held a witch trial reenactment. In 2013, her Magic and Mysticism class reenacted both a pre-Protestant Reformation and post-Protestant Reformation trial.
The class was overall excited for the production on Tuesday.
“I hope it’s a good Halloween event,” Samuels said. “I think it’s just going to really be unique, and I’m excited to see what happens.”
Likewise, Mitchell-Buck expressed her enthusiasm for the efforts of her students. “It is going to be awesome,” she said. “I think there’s all kind of social relevance to this today.”
Ultimately, she said that she hoped the audience would understand where the fear and prejudice of the time period came from. “I hope that they get a little nuanced sense of what went into this than what we get from Monty Python,” she said.

Inauguration of President Chapdelaine

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By: Carly Berkowitz
Students, staff, and esteemed guests alike stood in honor and applauded as Dr. Andrea Chapdelaine took the stage to officially become the 11th president of Hood College.
The ceremony started at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17 in the Hodson Outdoor Theater on campus. The autumn wind was cold against hands and faces, but hearts were still warm as the long-awaited ceremony began.

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Chapdelaine officially began her work as president back in July, but now, with great celebration, pomp, and circumstance, it becomes official.
“I’m very passionate about small liberal arts colleges,” Chapdelaine said in an interview prior to the event. She expressed her interest in the challenges and opportunities Hood presents, as well as the Hood community. “I want us to continue to be a strong institution so I will be working on continuing to gather resources, with primary interest in improving the academic experience of the students.”
The inauguration boasted many esteemed visitors and guest speakers, including Dr. Lex O. McMillan III, president of Albright College; Dr. Jennie C. Hunter-Cevera, the secretary for the Maryland Higher Education Commission; Bud Otis, president of the Frederick County Council; Col. Robert A. O’Brien IV, Commander for the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort Detrick; MaryAnn Baenninger, President of Drew University and board member of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities; Tina Bjarekull, president of the Maryland Independent College and University Association; along with Hood alumnae and faculty alike.

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The week leading up to the ceremony, Hood hosted many events to build excitement for the coming inauguration. Students could watch inauguration improvisation, take part in a scavenger hunt, or help their community through civic engagement awareness week, among others gatherings, assemblies, and lectures.
Chapdelaine herself came up with the idea for civic engagement awareness week, explaining that it serves as a celebration of Hood and all it brings to the surrounding community. “I had certain goals for the inauguration, one is that the students have fun and feel engaged and part of it – that was my primary goal,” Chapdelaine explained. “The second was that it showcase not just me but all of the things that we should be proud of in terms of what Hood is – how much Hood does for the community – the civic engagement week really came out of that.” Chapdelaine also expressed her hope that civic engagement awareness week become an annual event.
Immediately following the inauguration, students, staff, faculty and guests were welcome to enjoy light refreshments in front of the Coblentz dining hall and each others’ company. The air was one of celebration, as all looked forward to the future of Hood.
“I think the inauguration was a great celebration and I look forward to her [President Chapdelaine’s] time as president with a great deal of hope and promise,” said Dr. Katherine Orloff, assistant professor of journalism at Hood. “I think she is a kind heart with a genuine interest in improving our college, and my general feeling is that the faculty is pretty united in doing whatever we can to support her.”
Other Hood faculty shared a very similar opinion. “Overall I thought the inauguration was quite delightful, a lot of fun,” said Dr. Donna Bertazonni, professor of journalism and director of the Communication Arts program at Hood. “It’s been very enjoyable – I thought that the ceremony was quite nice – I really liked what President Chapdelaine said, but I also really liked what the president of Albright said. I thought that was very, very nice, bringing her and all of her accomplishments to light for the rest of us.”
“I think it’ll be a good future, I’m looking forward to it,” added Dr. Heather Mitchell-Buck, assistant professor of English.
A video of the inauguration was posted to the Hood College website shortly after the event. There is also a webpage posted for anyone wanting to bid good luck and best wishes to President Chapdelaine for the future.

Hood’s Witch Trial Reenactment Highlights Continuing Issues

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By Cameron Rogers

As part of the Halloween season, Hood College’s ENGL 259 course held a reenactment of a Medieval European witch trial on Oct. 27.

The course, which is entitled “Medieval Magic and Mysticism,” studies literature involving witchcraft and the growing fear of it between the years 400-1300 C.E. The class prepared for the reenactment throughout the month of October.

The reenactment lasted from 1 to 2 p.m. in room 131 of Hodson Science and Technology Center.
“Finding the time and space to do it was kind of a challenge,” Dr. Heather Mitchell-Buck, the instructor of ENGL 259, said.

According to Mitchell-Buck, she did not act as a gatekeeper for the reenactment’s content. “I helped facilitate some discussions in the creation of the project. But, I was there not to make suggestions, but mostly just to keep the conversation going and keep it productive.”

The reenactment will serve two purposes according to the class – to demonstrate to Hood students everything they learned over the first half of the semester, and to highlight the continued existence of one-sided “witch trials” today.

When asked if the historical witch trials were still relevant today, Mitchell-Buck said, “Absolutely. Think about any time you see people accused of something without sufficient evidence in support of that, or you see a community looking to blame someone who is different from themselves for something that they don’t entirely understand.”

Logan Samuels, a student in ENGL 259 who runs the conclusion group, agreed with Mitchell-Buck’s sentiments. “I think it can play into today,” she said. “I would like to say we don’t slip up as much as we do, but there are definitely some biases when it comes to trials with celebrities and politicians.”
Samuels compared the sentencing of witch trials to court cases today, where the wealthy and powerful would often go free with little to no punishment. In keeping with the references to modernity, she said that modern humor would be written into the script.

In contrast, Ashley Trovato, another student in ENGL 259, did not hold the same views on modern relevance. “The scare isn’t even relevant at all,” she said. She pointed towards the modern focus on science and acceptance of customs that would have been mistaken for witchcraft as signs of societal progress.

Trovato, who designed the propaganda and handout flyers for the reenactment, said she hoped people would still take the event seriously.

It was not the first time Mitchell-Buck’s class held a witch trial reenactment. In 2013, her ENGL 259 class reenacted both a pre-reformation and post-reformation trial.

The class was overall excited for the production on Tuesday.

“I hope it’s a good Halloween event,” Samuels said. “I think it’s just going to really be unique, and I’m excited to see what happens.”

Likewise, Mitchell-Buck expressed her enthusiasm for the efforts of her students. “It is going to be awesome,” she said. “I think there’s all kind of social relevance to this today.”

Ultimately, she said that she hoped the audience would understand where the fear and prejudice of the time period came from. “I hope that they get a little nuanced sense of what went into this than what we get from Monty Python,” she said.

Breast Cancer Awareness at Hood College

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Amy Madert October 26, 2015

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“About 1 in 8 U.S. women will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime,” according to U.S. Breast Cancer Statistics. In 2015, The American Cancer Society estimates that 231,840 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in the United States.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which acts as an annual campaign to help fundraise, increase awareness, and support the people who have been affected by this disease.

For years, Hood College Athletics has held games to honor, raise money for, and bring awareness to, Breast Cancer. Year after year these games have shown to bring large crowds and a good amount of fundraising.

This year, field hockey and volleyball held pink games.

“Our Breast Cancer games are always the games we look forward to,” Alysa Billeter, senior captain on the Women’s Feld Hockey team, said. “These games bring the most fans and not only do the players love being a part of these games, but I truly believe these are the games the parents look forward to most.”

Volleyball “dug pink” by wearing pink shirts, pink headbands, and pink shoelaces to show support.

“All of the girls love having these games and more fans seem to come out and support the team and the cause,” Lauren Cline, Assistant Coach for the Women’s Volleyball team, said. “However, I think the meaning has been lost for many years now. Teams are more excited to wear pink than support the cause or promote awareness.”

From fundraising, selling t-shirts, having bake sales, and collecting donations at the games, theirs no denying that the Hood community isn’t hesitant when it comes to supporting a good cause.

Cline said money was raised at the door through generous donations from families, students, and staff.

“The team raised money through a pink bake sale that we held at our game,” Billeter said. “We also raised money through Play4TheCure, which we marketed through our social media pages, word of mouth, and in any other way we could.”

In the past, Hood College’s Women’s Soccer has hosted pink games in honor of Breast Cancer, but the past two years the team has chosen to host a teal game during the month of September to raise awareness for Ovarian Cancer.

“One of our teammates has an aunt who was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer and our Head Coach, KristaLee Mellott, had a coach who passed away from the disease,” Sarah Marcello, a senior on the team, said. “Hosting a teal game had a more personal meaning to us the past few years and we were all glad to show our support.”

The players were all responsible for selling shirts to raise money and donations were collected at the game; part of these profits went to the local ovarian and cervical cancer coalition.

“Even though we didn’t have a specific pink game a lot of the team shows their support during our games in October by wearing pink headbands,” Marcello said.

Whatever the school is decked out in pink or teal, the Hood community is brought together by these different causes.

Field hockey hosts picnics (or tailgates) after home games and welcomes anyone. Billeter noted that the breast cancer games have always resulted in the bigger tailgates and “everyone has fun eating, hanging out, and spending time with friends, teammates, and family,” she said.

“It was the biggest crowd we’ve had this year,” Marcello proudly said. “Everyone was wearing their teal shirts in the crowd and cheering us on during the close game.”

Other organizations, schools, and sports teams, hold awareness games. “It isn’t hard to get the word out there, so why not help as much as possible,” Billeter said. “We’re just one team at one school, but if enough teams and schools get involved who says we can’t make an impact.”

This year, field hockey team got to participate in another institutions pink game where a player’s mother was honored. Hood got to wear their pink jerseys and show their respect and support.

Billeter and Marcello both are glad that Hood College supports the athletic teams in their efforts and hopes the awareness continues for years to come.

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.

Thank you for reading.