Experience This!

            Internships are one of the many ways that students can learn a craft or a work effectively. However, what sets an internship apart from any other method is the level of experience that one acquires when completing an internship. A hands on learning experience is a strong introduction when learning how to do something new. It gives one the opportunity to understand a concept by trial and error versus gathering information that someone else put in a book or an instruction manual.  This creates a realistic perspective and it also gives a student the opportunity to really see if they are truly interested in the field or not.

Can't We Just Get Along

Classifying people by race, color, ethnicity or national origin does not benefit anyone.  It promotes bigotry and racism.  Looking back through history, the monstrous people who have sought to create a master race have caused such tragedy.  Hitler, who was a short, little man, sought to exterminate the Jews and create a master race of tall, blond people.  His stature did not meet his own requirements.  More recently, warring factions in such places as Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Iraq, have attempted to exterminate people of different tribes and religions. 

            If the human race is to ever overcome the bonds of hate, the policies that cause the sorting of people should never exist.  Everyone should just get over it but that is much too easy to say.  After centuries of class distinctions, religious differences and pernicious racism, changing the way people think will not happen overnight.  The government should stop asking the questions that pigeonhole people and that will be a step in getting peoples of all races, religions, colors, ethnicities and national origins to look at each other differently.  Actually, to look at each as the same instead of differently is the ultimate goal.  Our future depends on it.

--by Jane Adamson-Merrill


Celebrating Our Differences

     It would be lovely to live in an utopian society where everyone was created equal. However, we do not. In every part of the world people are being classified by race, color, ethnicity, and national origin. To be totally honest, I do not see the problem with this.
     First of all, while it is true that we are all human, we are very different. We should not be all clumped together in one category. The classifying of people is not wrong. Pretending that we are all the same is wrong. By pretending that everyone is the same, you are essentially ignoring the histories as well as the struggles and accomplishments of different groups of people. It is my belief that all people regardless of race, color, ethnicity, or national origin have contributed to society.
     Secondly, whether we use government policies to classify people or not, classification starts in the mind. We as humans tend to look for things that make us uniquely different. It is my belief that if we were all the same, we would find senseless, idiotic, trivial traits to seperate ourselves. That's who we are as a people.
     I'm not sure that I would be happy in a world where everyone was the same. I prefer to live in a society where the goverment recognizes all classes of people and chooses to celebrate our differences. I feel that this is how we will grow as a nation.
By: Tamika R. Huff    

Censorship of Middle School Literature

According to "Literature For Today's Young Adults" by Alleen Pace Nilsen and Kenneth L. Donelson, adolescent literature covers literature for ages ten to eighteen years old. This age span covers many different psychological stages. A ten year old should not be expected to be as mentally stable as an eighteen year old. This is to say that a ten year old in all probability will not be able to fully comprehend a book that was written with an eighteen year old in mind.
     Censorship can be defined as the practice of officially examining books and suppressing unacceptable parts. In the world in which we live, it is only appropriate to want to protect that age bracket in which children are most impressionable. Between the ages of ten and fourteen, chilren are still trying to find their own identities. The sex, drugs, and violence on television and in the media are already causing desensitization in our youth. The school should not only be a place of learning, but it should also be a safe haven from the grittiness of news, television, and even some of the music that they listen to.
     Now this is not to say that all literature books in middle school should be banned. I enjoyed reading classics such as  The Outsiders, Of Mice and Men, and Hamlet. However, I read these books when I was in high school, not middle school. There is a new core curriculum program being adopted in the school system. This program is designed to better prepare our students for college. One way of doing this is by introducing these aforementioned classics along with others just like them to middle school students. As I have mentioned earlier, this is the most impressionable age group that there is. The question that we have to ask ourselves is: Are we, as responsible adults, ready to put books with adult content in the hands of children who just left elementary school?    Tamika R. Huff





      The influence of a child does not solely come from a book that he or she reads regardless their age. Censorship of middle school books does not hinder a child from learning about controversial subjects. School is the perfect venue for students of all ages to be able to learn and discuss important and controversial topics. Children are exposed to many different things at early ages. Sometimes they are exposed to more than we know of. It should be every adults duty to advocate for quality education. Censoring content in the textbooks of middle school student limits that quality of education by limiting that the full level of  honesty within complex subjects.
     Limiting ideas and stopping the flow of information is so very foreign to me.  Every educated person understands the slippery slope that censorship creates, and the harm that it does to both individualism, and society as a whole.  The fact that some churches, such as Christ Community Church of Alamogordo, New Mexico, had an actual book burning in 2002 as a reaction to the release of a Harry Potter book may seem just weird to most people.  But for me the fact that anyone would even suggest such a thing in the 21st century in America is frightening and most alarming.  To know that people actually attended is numbing.


Ryan Gates

Change ...Good or Bad?

           I do not agree with Williams Deresiewcz's position in his article titled Faux Friendship. He brings up the idea that friendship in itself has changed over time. I agree with that idea. However, the author implies that somehow this change is a bad thing. One may ask themselves by reading this article if change is a good or bad thing. Change is neither a good or a bad thing.
            It is a known fact that in life things change, people change, and it is not a surprising factor that  we operate our friendships differently in today's society. In the article Deresiewicz states that the ancients friendships were rare, precious, and hard-won. Is he implying that since we have newer technology and different means of communicating that we no longer have rare, precious, and hard-won friendships? He also bring up the christian model of relationships. However, this has nothing to do with social networking.
            Social networking is designed to help people connect faster and more efficiently. This takes away from nothing being that we still have access to the previous models of communication that were exhibited prior to our current generation.

-Ryan Gates

Social Networking has good points and bad.  I can keep up with friends and family that live in other parts of the country.  I can comment on the accomplishments of friends’ children or make wisecracks about their comments.  It is a break in a monotonous day or a pick me up.  However, young people are losing an opportunity to get to know other people in a more personal way. Making a contact by reaching out and shaking hands or giving a hug is something special.  My 82 year old mother wanted to learn how to use email because the church newsletter is now sent by email.  The choir director had to call her to let her know what the choir would be doing for the month.  Her complaint was that she likes talking to people.  She wants the interaction she had with the church secretary and the choir director.  She misses the phone calls. Social networking is causing people to miss out on something very, very important… personal touch.

By Jane Adamson-Merrill

The Swans of CSU

When you think of Clayton State University (CSU), what visual images come to mind?  Students gathered in the quadrangle talking and laughing, the beautiful wooded campus, or the modern, brand-new buildings are just a few that popped into my thoughts.  CSU does not have the storied history of schools like William and Mary, Harvard or Notre Dame but the supporters of my soon to be alma mater are not to be out done.

 One of the memories that I will take with me are of the images of the swans silently paddling around Swan Lake.  There are photographs of these iconic birds all over campus.  In the halls of the buildings, large poster size photographs adorn the walls.  On the brochures advertising the many advantages of an education from CSU are tranquil pictures of the lake.  The S.W.A.N is the acronym for the Secure Web Access Network that the students and faculty use for access to the many computer based portals used on the campus.

The first swans were donated by a professor in 1995 and they were named Rhett and Scarlett.  Rhett was killed by a dog while defending the nest and since then there have been several replacements all with names from the book Gone With The Wind.[1]  It is a common sight to see photographers wandering around the lake snapping pictures of these magnificent birds.  The students will sit on the park benches to read or watch.  I have taken leisurely strolls around the lake snapping pictures and stopping to reflect on the time that I have spent at CSU.  As one of the swans glides elegantly by, I note that this will be the image I take with me.

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[1]  "Legends." 2012. Clayton State University. 21 January 2012 http://www.clayton.edu/about/university/legends.

A Recipe For Success

When I try to think of an image that properly represents what Clayton State University means to me, the first thing that comes to my mind is a huge pot. While the swans, the lakes, the blue and orange school colors, and the Laker mascot are all visual images that stand out, Clayton State is so much more. I guess to a young and eager freshman, all of these things do make up our school. However, I am not a traditional student, so my perspective is a little different.

When I first moved to Clayton county twenty-two years ago, Clayton State University was Clayton Community College. I was only sixteen at the time and was preparing to go off to college. Clayton Community College was not even on my short list of schools to attend. I wanted to experience dorm life and all of the other activities that a four year institution had to offer. Clayton Community College offered none of these things.

As the years passed, this little unknown community college changed. It became a full four year college. Clayton State University grew in leaps and bounds. All of a sudden, there were four year degree programs, sorrorities, fraternities, and even dorms. People from all over were choosing to make Clayton State University the college of their choice. Young people were excited by the thought of attending CLSU.

Because of the peaceful environment that CLSU is nestled in, it also appeals to many non-traditional students like myself. When I step into my classrooms here at CLSU, I find myself among all types of people. There are young and older people. There are students of all ethnic backgrounds. This is also true of the faculty here. This is why I think of a pot whenever I think about Clayton State University. Clayton State is a huge melting pot that contains many different ingredients. In the near future, I can see my school contending with the bigger universities because in our very diverse melting pot, we are cooking up one sweet recipe of success.

                                                                                                                      By: Tamika R. Huff