Our Own True "Fighting Scot"

By Ricky Marte

The dream of any parent is to provide the best living situation for their child. For Adam Campbell’s parents, that was the whole idea of making the move from Scotland. “My parents wanted to leave Scotland since I was born,” said Campbell. “They wanted to seek a better life as the area I grew up in was not the nicest. There was a high rate of alcohol use and drug use and gang culture, believe it or not. My parents wanted out. My dad was offered a job in Burlington MA as well as in Dublin, Ireland and Singapore. He chose the US, as he had already worked here on business before I was born.”

Adam Campbell, a junior linguistics major currently residing in Brookline, New Hampshire, is from Scotland. His family immigrated to the United States in March of 2001. Campbell was eleven when his family came to the United States, by way of France. This made his transition a bit easier.

Although the transition was easy, it was still a transition, and there were many different things about our culture. Once arriving in the United States, he experienced culture shock. There were a few things that came to mind immediately when I asked about what it’s like to live here. “The US is so much bigger than Scotland,” said Campbell. He also added that in his home country it takes much less time to get around than it does here.

As with any foreign student, Campbell faced some stereotypes here. He often gets asked if he grew up in the highlands. He didn’t. He often gets asked if he likes haggis. (a dish composed of a sheep stomach stuffed with offal and spices.) Truth is, he first tried it when he got here. He does own a kilt, but he has only worn it twice. One of the things that Adam noticed early on was that Americans appreciate foreign accents. “When I first arrived, I realized that Americans tend to appreciate foreign accents, and though it has never “gotten the girls” as I was told in 6^th grade when I first came here, it has turned out to be a fairly good conversation starter.”

There are more serious stereotypes that Campbell has faced. “The worst is people expecting me to fit stereotypes that I don’t. Because I spent my mental maturing age here (high school) I think like an American. Only recently did I realize this and have tried to regain an International ideology and not solely an American one.” Basically, Campbell is a Scottish immigrant who lives in the United States, and thinks like someone who was raised here in the United States

Campbell, being from Scotland, has some very strong opinions in regards to the issues in his home country. “As said before Scotland relies on the United Kingdom. The UK is made up of four equal constituent states (Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland). It therefore has no voice on the international stage and requires the British government to do its bidding,” says Campbell. “The UK and therefore Scotland run on Parliamentary systems. This means that at every election each of the 600 or so constituencies in the UK send one person as their representative to parliament. The political party with the majority of seats will put in place a government with the party head as the Prime Minister. Scotland, as well as sending representatives to London, also has its own parliament.” These facts about Scotland’s relationship with the larger countries that surround it are cause for some conflict. Campbell expressed a great amount of concern with the amount of power that the other countries have, and the lack of power that Scotland has. Basically, they don’t have a say. This causes various issues that led Campbell’s parents to believe that there was really no future for their family in Scotland, which caused them to immigrate abroad.

There are also differences in education when comparing Scotland to the United States. It seems that in the US it is the cultural norm to go to college,” says Campbell. “Not so in Scotland. More kids are likely to join technical training schools at age 16 and be out in the working world by age 17 or 18. It’s not looked sown upon if one doesn’t have a college education as I feel it is here. Education is essentially free through undergrad (possibly graduate) in Scotland.” Basically, students in Scotland start school a year earlier than students here as well.

Adam Campbell’s family was always Christian, although Campbell had never attended a Christian school while in Scotland. “I grew up in a Christian family, but had always attended public school, says Campbell. “I thought that freedom to express my Christianity while also meshing it with my academic pursuits would be healthy in the short run and a fun change. I’ve loved it here.”

One would think that the connection between Gordon having Scottish roots and Campbell being Scottish would have an interesting twist. However, it really doesn’t. “I tend to be a little more cynical with this, so please excuse the cynicism,” says Adam. “The only connection I see is the name of the mascot and the occasional bagpipes heard on campus. This is by and large an American school.”

Keeping Our Eyes on the Prize

By Ricky Marte

On Tuesday, our journalism class watched Eyes on the Prize, a film about the African-American civil rights movement. The most impressive part of this film is how historically accurate it is. Many historical films and documentaries feature "experts" and "historians" talking about the civil rights movements. Eyes on the Prize features mostly videos and commentary from people directly involved in the civil rights movement. It is an excellently made video, by people who did their research the right way. That however, is where my interest for this video ends.

I have always had a great awareness about the injustices that the African-American communities throughout the United States have suffered. Not only this, but I have done research on the Apartheid movement in South Africa, and even earlier in history the slave trade from Africa. Treating people differently in any circumstances is completely and utterly disgusting and unacceptable. So the fact the African-Americans and their African descendants suffered this revolting treatment during multiple times in history makes me sick.

Equality is a fundamental part of American history, and it is the reason that we are the powerhouse country that we are. No one deserves to be treated differently based on the color of their skin.

The white people that were against the equality of the colored people committed some acts that were just completely unacceptable. They let dogs loose on protesters. They opened fire extinguishers and sprayed protesters down with hoses. They didn't discriminate either. They went so low as to hit little boys and girls with the fire extinguishers. These people committed some atrocities. It makes me angry every time I think about it, or do research about it. It made me angry to watch an hour long video about it. This gross, dirty stain on American history should make anyone who knows about it angry too.

Freshman Comes Home

WENHAM, MA - When most think of college, they think about going away from home. Cole Pooler grew up in Southern California, as a member of a family that was firmly rooted in the East Coast. So instead of following the trend of going away from home, he decided the East Coast was calling him back.

For Cole Pooler, a freshman from Orange, CA, the college picking experience wasn't the most difficult. "I went online," said Pooler. "It was the first Christian college that came up on the list. I looked up more information about it, and loved it." After doing some legwork, he decided that he would come and visit. "I really liked what I saw. The people were nice and the campus was great," said Pooler.

Since being at Gordon, He has noticed some very positive things about the campus and the people in it. "I like how easy it is to make friends. People are so nice here," says Pooler, 18. "Back home things are different. It's a little hostile over there, and difficult to make friends."

There is only one thing that is very foreign to Pooler. "I'm a catholic kid, so all this Christian stuff is a little weird for me. It's not necessarily bad, but it is definitely going to take some time to get used to," says Pooler. "I've never really been involved with anything outside of Catholicism. We'll see how it works out."

Another thing that has been a little difficult for him is the workload. "The workload is pretty tough, but I'm getting used to it," said Pooler. This sentiment is not surprising, as his roommate agreed. "Everything that Cole is saying is true, especially the stuff about the workload," chuckled Freshman Tyler Ostrander. "The workload is definitely crazy."

Cole Pooler is also an athlete, and he will be playing baseball here at Gordon. He is an outfielder.

Filmmaker Makes More Than Just Film

By Ricky Marte

Wenham, MA - When it was announced that filmmaker Jody Hassett Sanchez was coming to speak at Gordon, at first it just seemed that we were getting another relatively well-known speaker who would come and preach to us about some cause that we were supposed to suddenly become interested about. I had my own expectations.

However, the second I met Hassett Sanchez, all of that went out the window. She was educated, and funny. She's a mom to one of the cutest baby boys I've ever seen. I was running sound in convocation that day, so I was one of the first to meet her that day. She has been all over the news and journalism business, working for CNN and ABC, so I was walking on coals for the first few minutes. I quickly realized how down to earth she was. She was very cooperative during the mic checks, and the following dialogue was very interesting and refreshing to hear, especially being a journalism student.

Jody Hassett Sanchez has so many great things to say during her dialogue with those who attended convocation last Friday. Most interesting to me was her mission to differentiate film making from making a documentary. There were a few things that she pointed out specifically. They were:

• the audience has to trust the filmmaker.
• the documentary must be real.
• that even while the director brings his/her own perspective, that he/she must be careful to check their own persepective as well.
• documentarists have to "draw line in sand."
• story must shed light on truth
• storytelling allows people to make own decisions in regards to subject matter
• that the main goal is to make a story that is well told and inspiring

It was very interesting to hear these things as a journalist. It has taught me to have diverse perspective on writing. After listening to Hassett Sanchez, what can be most easily and concretely taken away from this convocation, is that as a writer, you need to be real. No matter what the circumstance.

Classic Book on Writing Remains Relevant for Modern Writers

By Ricky Marte

Wenham, MA - During a time when it is so easy to just get lost in the world of instant messaging, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and blogging, and where it has become commonplace to replace phrases like "talk to you later" with "ttyl" and "laugh out loud" with "lol," it is increasingly difficult to make a case for the old fashioned. But take one step into the newsroom, and you'll see just the opposite.

William Zinsser, author of On Writing Well has a very profound influence on the writers of this generation. "I find Zinsser's book really helpful," says sophomore Amber Fiedler, 18. "It's simple and basic, which makes the text easy to understand. The book is a good turn to when trying to better one's writing skills." It is extremely vital in this society of "tweets" and "status updates" to remember how exactly to write correctly. Zinsser wrote On Writing Well over thirty years ago, but it remains completely relevant and timeless. The reason it will forever remain relevant is not necessarily anything that blows you away in the book. More so, it is that good writing is just that. The world will always need good writers, and Zinsser teaches how to write well.

"After reading Zinsser I feel like I am allowed to be myself more when I write," says Junior Jon Knudtson, 20. "This makes writing much easier in general and helps me stay more relaxed." As a writer it is important to be yourself and to add your own little flair to anything you write. Zinsser seems to agree. "Sell yourself, and your subject will exert its own appeal. Believe in your own identity and your own opinions." Zinsser really hammers the point that you should write for yourself and not for others. At the end of the day, it's really up to the writer what the want to write about. Zinsser says to "Decide what you want to do. Then decide to do it. Then do it."

Wenham’s Gordon Community Uses Web to find news

Wenham, MA – At a time where the use of the internet for everything is prevalent, it was an fascinating task to see where Gordon students, professors and faculty were getting their news. It was a fascinating mission to see whether people were using the internet for their news, or whether they were using print journalism to get their information.

Four members of the Gordon community were interviewed. Two current Gordon students, Junior Daniel Perednia and Senior German Disla had great opinions on news and where they get their news. Perednia, 20 of Granby, Connecticut admitted that he didn’t really check the news much, except for when he wanted to know more about sports. However, he did say that when he did happen to check news, he used CNN.com to get his news fix. However, Perednia spends most of his time getting sports news from ESPN.com.

Disla, a music major at Gordon, had a slightly different view on the news. He also loves sports, but he does try to make sure he stays up on the current news. He feels that it is very important, especially when you spend months in the bubble that is the Gordon community. Disla gets his news from Yahoo.com, Google.com, and surprisingly enough, his local print newspaper, when he can get his hands on it.

Also interviewed was a valued member of Gordon’s faculty, Chris Imming, 29, Director of Media Services. It was awesome to see the contrast between Imming and the students, as he got almost no sports news. When Imming needs news, he always visits drudgereport.com. Drudge Report is a very interesting news aggregator where headlines are collected and placed on this one page, with links to their creators. Imming stated that it is just plain easier to use Drudge report for his news.

Also interviewed was Dr. Michael Monroe, 47, Associate Professor of Music. Dr. Monroe only uses online news sources. He stated that he simply does not have time to find and read printed newspapers. Online news is easy and can be read on the fly using a cell phone or a laptop computer. Dr. Monroe gets most of his news from BostonGlobe.com, which is a local newspaper, and iGoogle.com.