Tag: opinion

Letter from Lincoln Alpern, 1st Year Student

I think that getting the Trustees to agree to lift the suspension is a great victory, and one that should not be downplayed. True, it’s not over yet. Perhaps the best way to articulate our situation is that we’ve cleared the first hurdle. But it’s also the hurdle we had to clear before we can get to any of the other hurdles.
As for the future of the college? I don’t know. There are a lot of factors—such as recruitment (a word I detest for its military connotation, by the way), curriculum, financial exigency, and where the power will go when the College has it’s own board—that could still cause us serious trouble. As I see it, it all comes down to how the Board of Trustees intends to handle these issues.

“But I’m also an optimist. I think we’ll manage it, with the Trustees and despite them” Continue reading Letter from Lincoln Alpern, 1st Year Student

Patriarchy in a Post-9/11 world

Last Saturday,  professor of popular culture at Bowling Green State College and Antioch alumnus, Dan Shoemaker, presented his lecture, “Patriarchy and Post-9/11 Cinema” in McGregor 113. The presentation, slated to begin at 6 p.m., in typical Antiochian fashion, took half an hour and a series of phone calls before attendance was high enough to justify warming up the projector, but eventually the show attracted a crowd of over 30 students.

A graduate of the college with a BA Communication and Media Arts, Shoemaker started off the presentation by discussing his own opinions on modern cinema as a professor of popular culture. “Like most people,” Shoemaker said, “I go to the movies to be entertained and illuminated. Unlike most people, when I see something that bugs me, I write a paper about it.”

Questions of critical film viewing framed Shoemaker’s dissection of cinema and his final conclusions of conspiracy. “Whose fantasy is it? What version of happiness is endorsed? What logic makes it to make sense?” he pondered, while showing excerpts of movies like Million Dollar Baby, and Boondock Saints.
“In the wake of 9/11,” Shoemaker finally suggested, “American people needed assurance, and Hollywood stepped in to provide it.” To back up his claim, he cited examples of classic Hollywood responses to real-world crises; Invasion of the Body Snatchers, War of the Worlds, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. These examples today seem obvious illustrations of blatant propaganda. Shoemaker argued that current cinema is no less  propagandistic, if one only knew where to look.

Initially, Shoemaker’s claimed that Hollywood was deliberately putting subliminal, conservative messages into mainstream films were suspect and far-fetched. His specificity in particular was cause for skepticism; Rumsfeld’s reasoning behind the Iraq war promoted in Million Dollar Baby, specters of the Bush administration in The Boondock Saints, and so on. However, as Shoemaker screened a series of scenes from recent and not so recent films to illustrate his points, his theories became increasingly plausible. The promotion of patriarchy and family values can be easily seen in most modern films, but Shoemaker also pointed out examples of hegemony, anti-pacifism, gender role reinforcement, and religious fanaticism. Some of his points were still a stretch to see, but others came to life on the projection screen in McGregor and posed real cause for concern as to the state of cinema today, making Althusser’s  quote “The media reinforces dominant ideology,” once again tangible.

Obama Watcher

“I would say at this point that he still has that magic.” – Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL.)

Magic. Star power. Balls. Whatever one calls it, Barack’s got it. And yes, he is Black enough. But, alas, this champion of ethics reform (ethics? out of Chicago?), recently deemed a “rock star” by the unsurpassable political mind of George Clooney, still trails in the polls.
The latest Rasmussen Report shows Obama garnering 23% of the support for the Democratic nomination to the 39% of a certain “liberal” New York senator. For once, the Democratic Party is actually less divided than the GOP. Yet a question remains as to whether either of the forerunners will survive the primaries. The party as a whole finds both candidates unelectable; an astonishing 54% say that a Caucasian male, most likely John Edwards, being nominated is likely, if not inevitable. Is it possible, that in the year 2008, the country’s mainstream progressive party, faced with presidential hopefuls including a woman, the country’s only Senator of African descent, and a Latino governor (New Mexico’s Bill Richardson is of predominately Mexican heritage) with a résumé longer than H.E. Sheikha Haya Rashed al Khalifa’s monogram, would still choose the WASPy male personal injury attorney?
So, in these times of doom, gloom, and intimidating statistics, what is Barack up to? At the moment, the whole of his campaign workers is keeping busy with the “Countdown to Change”, organizing in the early primary states of Iowa, South Carolina, Nevada, and New Hampshire. Maintaining its grassroots philosophy, the campaign relies heavily on the contributions, both organizational and monetary, of individual volunteers around the country. Barack continues to sit down to quiet, official dinners periodically with members of his constituency, generally chosen from those who have made small contributions to the election effort.
Meanwhile, he’s been remaining highly present in the media, recently writing a hard-hitting article for the New York Daily News on his plans for Middle Eastern foreign policy, including the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act he introduced to Congress in May. The near-constant stream of debates has continued, including the AFL-CIO debate in my hometown of Chicago a few weeks past, during which Obama’s opponents continued to attempt to undermine his readiness for the presidency. Most arguments were easily deflected on his part with grace, although even his most die-hard supporters grow a bit weary of Barack reiterating the fact that he voted against the war, unlike his opponents. When the strong corporate and lobbyist ties of a certain “feminist” were mentioned, she attempted to avoid the subject by smiling at the audience and saying, “So if you want a winner who knows how to take them on, I’m your girl.” My girl? Really, Senator Clinton? I was under the impression that you’re 59? Isn’t that a little old to be making public statements befitting a 13 year old running for captain of the junior high cheerleading squad? Go red! Red white blue!

“The most important incoming class”

First-years explain why they decided to come in spite of it all

Ben Horlacher, First-Year, FL

I still remember my fingers trembling as I opened the envelope, I remember scanning the letter head to understand the gist of the words on the page. I remember screaming when I finally figured out the message the letter conveyed, I was necessarily excited about the next four years to be spent at Antioch.

I remember hearing the news from someone else, I remember thinking, “there is no way.” I remember reading every word on the web page, hoping that something somewhere would indicate that it wasn’t happening. I remember not wanting to talk about it.

When I first heard about Antioch, I felt myself drifting into its ephemeral attraction; I knew that somewhere out there was a place for me. I had spent a short lifetime searching for some place to embrace my weirdness in the way that Antioch already has. Having spent my high school years in the South, I was one of three openly gay men at my high school. So when I first visited Antioch I found something I had never known before, a place where I could speak my mind and people would respond not with jeers or cheers but equally informed, and passionately discussed ideas and opinions.

I was not looking for a liberal, or homosexual bastion, what I was looking for was a bastion for diversity. Where I felt my differences added to the community, not separated me from it. So when I heard it was closing, I was crestfallen. I knew that there may be other great schools, but nothing like Antioch. I felt like Adam leaving Eden, my sanctuary had been ripped out from under me like I was the glass of water on the table that had just had its table cloth ripped out so quickly it didn’t have time to fall.

Then the inevitable questions from friends and family: “Do you really want to go to a college that is closing?”, “Does it make any sense just to go there for one year?” In my mind there were no doubt; one year at Antioch was worth one-hundred years anywhere else. So it was odd when people asked me “Why Antioch?” To me Antioch was not the end of a question, but the answer to a question, “Why? Antioch.” The reason I would attend a college that was supposed to close was because it was Antioch.

Alex Borowicz, 1st Year, WI

On possibly the most beautiful day of  spring, I first stepped onto the Antioch campus. I was immediately struck by the old and wizened trees shading the campus grounds.

As I waited among the other prospective students collected within Weston Hall I tried to imagine the school covered with a fresh layer of winter snow.  The green trees overpowered the idea and I was brought back to the real world as Brad began his pep talk on the school.

Leaving the campus that evening after a dance concert, I remember talking excitedly to my sister about my day.  I told her of my time with the Order and Chaos class, the people I’d met, the campus and buildings.  The rough state of the buildings seemed nothing to me; I’d lived in places much worse in South America.  How could something like that hold me back from an education like this?

As the summer began, I first heard of the new fate of Antioch College.  I am not much of a sensationalist, and I took the hit stoically, but so many of the things I had come to Antioch to experience were slipping from my grasp!  I would never be able to go on a co-op, or participate in AEA… but I was sure there would still be something for me at Antioch.  I soon saw the outpouring of support for the college and I felt a surge of pride at the thought of attending an institution that was so loved, for it is only love that can drive students to follow a school to its death.
It is that sentiment that steadied my hand and signed the check for the tuition deposit.  How can one possibly know what this last year of Antioch will bring?  Whenever asked about my decision, all I can do is assure my friends that “it will be an interesting year.”  I have no doubt of this, and I can only hope that I take advantage of everything it offers me during the next 9 months.

Editorials – Jan. 26, 2007

To My Beloved Community,

Here at The Antioch Record we have all
worked through sleepless nights and blurry
days to produce an assortment of articles that
will hopefully encompass the values, concerns
and spirit of the community. But, to make this
truly a COMMUNITY publication we are in
need of input for the entire community (this
means you staff and faculty). There are a lot of
tough issues we are trying to sort out with sour
or minimal conversation between different
sections of campus. I propose that we utilize
The Record to voice our thoughts and opinions
in a transparent, positive forum to work towards
fi nding a middle ground. In order to have the
ideal Antioch Community we always speak
of, we must fi rst start acting like a community
in general, which means equal participation.
Seriously, do we all enjoy running around
being angry with each other all the time? I
hope not. If we cannot speak constructively of
these confl icts then we surly cannot solve them.
Lets all talk, learn from each other, and save
Antioch for the love of god!

Love & Respect,
Kari Thompson
Content Editor
Spring 2007

Yo, what up shadows? Fuck hats.
Fuck Hats

David Bishkoff
Layout Editor
Spring 2007