Online Journalism Today

Designed by Katie Stout

Freshmen Show their Pride in Policies for Dollars

by

 

(Residents of Coblentz Hall winning the pink spoon, photos by Chloe Scott)

(Residents of Coblentz Hall winning the pink spoon, photos by Chloe Scott)

Chloe Scott

As an annual tradition, Hood College hosts “Policies for Dollars,” for freshman to show their pride and fierce competition among the residence halls. On the evening of Oct. 26, campus residents initiated the nights’ festivities with a battle on the quad.
The event entails residence halls participating in a competition for extra House Council money and the Pink Spoon. The main events for the evening included an obstacle course, chants, skits and jeopardy. With the assistance of House Council Officers, first-year students, who served as representatives, were tasked with the main duty of planning and coordination for the four main events. Each event can help the hall gain points to win.

(Hood College Freshmen with the pink spoon, photos by Chloe Scott)

(Hood College Freshmen with the pink spoon)

When seeing all the excitement, and hearing the chants from students on the quad proceed through Whitaker Campus Commons, Senior Maya Gonzalez recalled her experience with “Policies for Dollars”. She was sad to say that the tradition of the event is slowly dying. “Students are losing interest, especially upperclassman who had their first experience three years ago. I don’t know why it’s dying out, but if we could revamp ‘Policies for Dollars’ for better understanding of it, we could possibly strengthen it for future first-year students,” Gonzalez said.
Director of Residence Life and Student Conduct, Matt Troutman is a newcomer to the event this year. “My first impression of ‘Policies for Dollars’ was that it sounded like an amazing student-driven program,” Troutman said. “My first couple of weeks at Hood, the students told me it was their favorite memory and tradition.” Having worked at other institutions, he commented that it is a rare blessing when students are so excited about an event, especially one affiliated with residence life and dealing with campus policies. Troutman advises House Forum, which is a group of representatives from each of the House Councils. House Forum helps to plan the program by making some decisions and communicating back with the House Councils. Before the event Troutman stated “I am looking forward to the event. I will be assisting with certain aspects such as running the Jeopardy game. I also am looking forward to observing with an eye of how we can make improvements next year, as well as just being entertained (especially with the skits).” Other faculty in attendance included President Andrea Chapdelaine, Dean Olivia White, and Chief Thurmond Maynard as judges for the event.

(Students of Memorial Hall)

(Students of Memorial Hall)

Although the skits provide entertainment to students, they are also meant to be a further learning experience of campus policies. The skit and jeopardy portion of Policies for Dollars, held in the Hodson Auditorium, showcases each hall’s knowledge of policies and questions pertaining to Hood College. One of the residence halls, Shriner Hall, skits consisted of a storyline with Alice and Wonderland characters. The Madhatter and Alice were roommates and he broke a lot of policies and made poor decision making. Examples of jeopardy questions include when Hood College was founded and what the myth of the Pergola is.
Shriner Hall resident Shelby Alcorn commented that “Policies for Dollars” brings everyone together. “Bringing people together is a part of what Hood is good at. I love the experience,” Alcorn said. Senior Carmelita Ugarte enjoyed watching the skits for the evening. “I usually buy a shirt to support the first-year students for Policies for Dollars,” Ugarte said. The team to take the win for the evening was Coblentz Hall.

Vegan Friendly Options at Hood College

by

 

food2

(Hood College Dining Hall, photos by Woodward Becerra)

Paul Woodward Becerra

In the wake of Meatless Mondays, a growing vegan movement, and a public investment in health and environmental consciousness, the number of people adopting a vegan diet has grown dramatically in the last decade.
Now, over 16 million people in the U.S. identify as vegan or vegetarian and countless others strive to reduce their meat consumption, placing a mounting pressure on our institutions of higher education to consistently serve quality plant-based foods.
How does Hood College stack up in providing vegan options? The popular “PETA College Report Card”, a system of rating colleges based on their vegan menu offerings, hasn’t been completed for the small school.
For any campus, having multiple food outlets makes the task of assigning ratings difficult — Hood’s campus has the Dining Hall, Grilleworks, and Peet’s Coffee, all offering different menus, and with them, varying levels of food-friendliness.

food3
Hood’s Coblentz Dining Hall has a staff and menu managed by Aramark, the Philadelphia food-service company that handles feeding everyone from Wal-Mart’s employees to people at the ball game. Just this year, they’ve introduced over 500 new vegan options to colleges and, amazingly, managed to breach the often meat-centric world of sports with vegetarian and vegan baseball concessions.
Highlights of the Dining Hall are a Silk soymilk dispenser, an always-available vegan entrée (usually with two vegan side dishes), and a dedicated mini-fridge with vegan condiments like parmesan, butter, cream cheese, and mayonnaise. Along with a good selection of fresh fruits and vegetables at the salad bar, anyone eating vegan can get a healthy meal when they want to.
At the entrance of the Dining Hall, an Aramark-supplied placard sits, hidden behind waffle irons. It reads “Our Commitments,” listing the ethos of the company. A graphic of peas peeks out from the top, set next to the text “We provide a vegetarian friendly environment with a variety of vegetarian or vegan choices.”

(Hood College Dining

For Jen Clark, the head of Dining Services at Hood College, finding the demographic is hard. “One thing we like to know is the amount of people that we’re catering to . . . I don’t know how many vegans are on Hood’s campus.” However, this doesn’t stop her from doing her best.

“I am trying to make sure that for every meal, we have options,” she stated proudly, noting that some of the larger clients for Aramark’s dining services have their own vegan facilities.
Since she came into service as the director Hood’s Dining Services, Jen has implemented landmark changes. She’s instituted Aramark policies such as Meatless Mondays, and desserts free of animal products. Even better, she’s putting in the legwork to create her own programs to make sure students are represented.

food4

Starting this year, Jen started “Dine with the Director”, a monthly meeting where students can provide criticism and feedback about on-campus food to Jen, which she uses to make changes in their interest. This came when she learned about the overwhelming number students who shared their feelings about on-food campus on social media: she wanted to close the open feedback loop that didn’t include the party that counted most. The program is having some trouble getting traction, but she’s not deterred.
All in all, the dining experience is steadily improving for vegans on campus at Hood College. Even when addressing the many areas that need improvement, Jen gave a smile and said “I’m working on it.”

Apple Distinguished School, Hood College, Integrates iPads into the Classroom

by

By: Rebecca DeLauter

In 2014, Hood College was recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for its plan to use iPad technology as a teaching tool. The program, initially aided by an anonymous alumni donor, caused controversy on whether giving students iPads would really enhance their education. Hood initially geared the pilot program toward moving away from physical textbooks to e-books.

ipad1

(Photos by Rebecca DeLauter)

The school began this process in 2011. Four years later, student and faculty opinions still vary on whether Hood’s mission to further education through the iPads is successful.
Many students agree that the root of the controversy lies in the faculty. They say some of their professors don’t allow the iPads, while others encourage use of them, as well as make them a part of lesson plans.
“About half of my teachers allow them, and half of them forbid them, “Ariana LeBlanc, a junior, said. “I never know what to expect.”
LeBlanc, a biology major, also said that she mainly uses her iPad for social media and entertainment purposes. She said that the iPad does help her escape from the stresses of school. When she needs to take a break from school work, she watches Netflix and plays on the iPad.
Two freshmen, Tyler Heffner and Ryan Atkinson said they don’t use their iPads for much.
“I’m really excited to have the iPad, but I kind of see it as a waste of money,” Atkinson said.
And Heffner agreed that the iPads are “pointless” when using them for school.

Chris Hamby

(Chris Hamby)

But some upperclassmen said that they began using their iPads more as they began taking higher-level classes. One senior, Kristine Johnson said that she thinks it’s because of experience—professors think students aren’t going to get as distracted later in their college careers. After Johnson transferred to Hood from Frederick Community College, she majored in biology and received her iPad.
“Most of my classes now only have juniors and seniors,” she said. “Professors trust us more.”
Senior Tiffany Kiang agrees, but she thinks that it also depends on which major you choose. Kiang is an English major and pursuing a secondary education certification as well.
She said: “Since there’s such an emphasis placed on education in technology these days, my education professors are starting to use the iPads now, and my English classes are the same. But if I was a bio major, I don’t think I’d use it as often because biology is more hands-on.”
Kiang did say she sees more professors using them each year—and not just for textbooks, but for valid teaching tools as well.
One professor at Hood works hard to promote the use of iPads in the classroom, and makes having an iPad a requirement in her classes. Heather Mitchell-Buck, a professor of English at Hood, integrates iPads into her curriculum.
Mitchell-Buck believes that the role of a teacher is less about giving information, but about giving the tools to learn how to get it. She likes the “size and portability” of the iPads, and said that iPads break a barrier that laptops can create in the classroom.

Kristine Johnson

(Kristine Johnson)

Recently, Mitchell-Buck became an Apple distinguished educator, which recognizes teachers and professors around the world for use of Apple technology in the classroom.
On her website, she admits on the home page that she is “unabashedly addicted” to her iPad. She also describes her vision for using the iPad, and why she uses it in the classroom.
“The more hands-on you can be when learning, the more those lessons stick with you,” she said.
Mitchell-Buck works as a sort of advocate for using Apple technology in the classroom. She said that she doesn’t think forcing faculty to use them will work at all. Instead she relies on having informal conversations with her coworkers.
She is also on the advisory committee for Hood’s Center for Teaching and Learning, which holds workshops for professors on how to better implement iPad technology into the classroom.
She said that this semester, students in her classes will be required to submit final projects created entirely through iPad technology. One app she likes to use is called NearPod, which is a teaching tool she uses to create interactive lessons for students. Instead of using a traditional slideshow to teach key points in her literature classes, she uploads one to NearPod so students can have a hand-held version of her lesson.
Mitchell-Buck said she realizes the use of iPads holds much controversy in the education world, but she believes that people should look at what’s practical.
“People expect you to know how to use technology when getting a job,” she said. “It’s a good edge for people.”
She described using iPads as the “low diving board” for students—a “low stakes” way of getting people to try something new.

Hood’s Witch Trial Reenactment Highlights Continuing Issues

by

Cameron Rogers

CR3

(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.”

CR4

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.

CR5

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.

The Safe Haven of Safe Harvest

by

By: Katie Stout

Each year, Hood College hosts Safe Harvest, an annual autumnal celebration that occurs around Halloween, providing local children in Fredrick, 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 the society’s public relations chairwoman, Sienna Bronson.

This year’s annual Safe Harvest was on Oct. 28th. 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 to either donate or hand out to kids when they walk around the college’s five dorms.
“This year there were so many Hood College organizations involved. We had booths for Archaeology club, FSU, Least Squares Math club, Hood Improv Troupe, CKI club, the BrotherHood, SEA, Belly Dance Club, SGA, Cab, and ALD,” Bronson says.

Dana Lewis, Chloe Jackson, Micaela McCarthy, and Tori Gomez

(Dana Lewis, Chloe Jackson, Micaela McCarthy, and Tori Gomez)

While many students come out and show their support, not all Hood students are enthusiastic about this event. In fact, many students are confused as to why Safe Harvest exists.
Micaela McCarthy, a 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, and asks “is it really necessary?”
While she was a freshman at Hood, Bronson was told that “trick or treating is illegal in downtown Frederick since it is a historic district.” However, she was recently informed that trick or treating is not illegal in Frederick, and that this is simply a rumor.
“Everyone at Hood says Safe Harvest started because trick or treating is illegal, because someone tried to poison kids candy one Halloween. But nobody seems to know exactly what happened,” says Alex Connor, Hood College junior.

kt

(Frederick Residents at Safe Harvest, photos by Stout)

“How and when Safe Harvest began is a bit foggy,” Bronson says. “It was already going in 2003 when Dr. Flora first got here, but I think it has been going on for a while.”
Bronson says, “regardless of why it started, Safe Harvest is a great way for children to experience a myriad of fall and Halloween related activities in a safe place with others around the same age.”

“Current faculty and staff are always in attendance, and alumni who are in Frederick continue to return,” Bronson says. The event is so widely popular because they “open the event to the public, and that draws people in. There are some nearby places where trick or treating is not allowed for various reasons, and lots of people come most likely because of word of mouth.”
Cathy Woodward, Frederick resident, says Safe Harvest is the perfect place for her kids to celebrate Halloween.
Woodward, single mother of two, 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 strangers for a bit.”
Woodward goes on to say that trick or treating “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.”
Bronson says her favorite part of Safe Harvest is seeing the parents and children having a great time in a safe environment. She says it gives “everyone a chance to come together to celebrate Halloween in a shorter span of time with a defined environment.”
“Safe Harvest has been one of my favorite events every year since my first year at Hood,” Bronson says. “The main thing I get out of it is a fun experience that comes with the benefit of doing something good for the community.”

 

Thank you for reading.