No Matter What The Letter... They're All Greek Together: Greek Week 2009

Everyday dozens of Albright students walk through campus proudly displaying clothing items, bags, key chains, etc. adorned with a variety of Greek letters. During the week of April 20 – April 25 the students involved in sororities and fraternities put aside the differences in their letters and joined together for the school’s annual Greek Week Celebration which was revamped this year to include five new elements.

Albright is currently home to six Greek organizations; Alpha Delta Pi, Phi Mu, and Sigma Kappa sororities as well as Alpha Sigma Phi, Pi Kappa Phi, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternities. In the past, each of these organizations would participate in a Greek God and Goddess competition, play bingo, attend a speaker, participate in an Airbands competition, and work together to do a campus clean-up. This year, the Greek Council, the group responsible for planning the week’s events, comprised of sophomores Kristine Maravel and Alan Vandegrift and senior Takuya Iwata, decided the Greek Week events needed some reworking.

The group began meeting back in March to plan the week. According to Alan, “last year was my first Greek Week and I thought it was going to be a lot bigger than it was. I expected more events and more enthusiasm that just wasn’t there, so I decided to do something about it when I was elected Sargeant of Arms”. Kristine Maravel had similar feelings stating, “When planning first started I spoke with a lot of upperclassmen Greeks about their past Greek Week experiences, and I got the vibe that people felt like there weren’t enough events, and that they were getting tired of doing the same things every year, that’s what gave me the idea to change some of the events.”

The group worked laboriously for over a month with various student organizations including Student Government Association, Albright Environmental Association, MEISA, Order of Omega, WXAC and AC2 to finalize all of their plans. Ultimately, five brand new elements were added to the Greek Week schedule; an academic Quiz Bowl, a Banner Competition, a comedian, an all Greek picnic, and Earth Ball, a dance in celebration of Earth Week which was coincidentally the same week as Greek Week.

Although five new things were added to the week’s activity list, two events from previous years; BINGO and the 1402 All Campus Mixer were not included in this year’s festivities. “Time and the school’s administration were our biggest problems. All of the 1402 mixers for the year were cancelled because of liability issues and we just didn’t have time for all of the events we wanted to have, something had to go and we figured BINGO would be the least missed event” said Iwata.

The group tried their best to include something for everyone, according to Kristine Maravel, “We dabbled with a little bit of everything to please people, we had something serious, something funny, something academic, something philanthropic, and something athletic. We even included Earth Ball to try to have something comparable to the 1402 mixers of previous years. We tried to cover all of our bases. You win some and you lose some, I can’t guarantee that everything was success, but we tried to change it up and we’ll take what we learned from this year to make next year even better.”

To find out more about all of the events of Greek Week and to learn about independent participation you can watch the video below or click the title of this post. Please note, if you click to listen to the audio component of this blog you must choose to download it to hear the content.

Step. Stomp. Dance. Feel: A Look Into Xion

Xion, the stepping and dancing team at Albright, has been making a name for itself on the Albright campus for a decade. While everyone looks forward to the two shows that the team annually performs, the group is much more than a bunch of dancers. The team's importance resonates not only through its members, but the Albright campus as a whole, as it undoubtedly diversifies the community. We take a closer look at the team, speaking with various members, Desiree Warren, Jonathan Little, and Laura Nwankwor, in the video portion, entitled "The Voices of Xion". We also spoke with Jassie Senwah, the 2008-2009 president, and Raquel Hamlett, the newly elected president, in the audio component, "Past, Present, & Future." Lastly, we spoke with members of the Albright community who attended Xion's spring 2009 show, Chelsey Miller and Jenae Philips, to get insight into how they liked the show, and what the they Xion means to the Albright community, in the written portion, "A Step Towards Diversity."


"A Step Towards Diversity"

Every year, the Xion Step Team hosts two shows, one each semester. Albright’s Dance Team, and its salsa dancing club, Tumbao, along with a host of other step and dance teams also performed. This year, Alvernia University, Penn State Berks, two Philadelphia based dance teams, X-Men and The Definition of Talent (TDT), and Albright’s Lion Records signed artist, D’Ray Sonshine took the stage to help Xion entertain the audience. The step show is usually held in the Wachovia Theater, however, this year it was held in the Chapel, which undoubtedly, created a different atmosphere for the show. Due to the differences in the sizes of the two rooms, the latter being larger, the teams had to have more energy than ever, yelling, clapping and dancing harder to compensate for the larger room, and thus, seemingly smaller crowd.
Each show has a designated theme, which all teams participating must follow; the theme must be reflected in not only the dancing and stepping, but also in the costumes. Every team, except Tumbao, had to adhere to the theme of “Past, Present and Future”, which featured music starting from 1980, to the future. Xion began the show with rap group Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock’s “It Takes Two”, with their party walk, the continuous and repetitive dance that the whole team performs at the start of the show, and never stopped with the high paced and energetic music. They performed various songs from the 80’s and 90’s like, MC Hammer’s “Can’t Touch This”, Janet Jackson’s “I Get So Lonely”, rapper Chubb Rock’s “Treat ‘Em Right”, and one current song, pop singer Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face”. There were songs from the past and present that, along with the costumes and dancing styles, were deemed to be 80’s or futuristic songs, like rapper Common’s “Universal Mind Control”, which is a song from 2008, but with the dancers dressed in track suits, and the help of various Albright students who can break dance, the song was transformed to have an 80’s vibe. A similar effect was used with R&B singers Ryan Leslie’s “Digital Girl”, and Miguel Jontel’s “Overload”, which were combined into a skit about robotic girls, who were a group of nerds’ (the boys of Xion) creation. With the help of their outfits, portraying every man’s perfect woman, and robotic dance moves and sound effects, these current songs were made to sound like they were made in 2020, rather than 2008. Along with the dances, Xion performed various steps, some of them created to sound like the beats of famous 90’s songs, notably, rapper Busta Rhymes’ “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See”, which was one of the most famous songs of that decade. The other teams also took the audience back into time, with a lot of break dancing and songs reflective of the 80’s and 90’s, sometimes using some of the same songs as Xion did. However, the dance team brought the crowd to its feet, with all of the current songs that are being played on the radio today, like “Purple Kisses” and “Rockin’ That Thang” by R&B singer, The Dream, “Move (If You Wanna)” by rapper MIMS, and the infectious dance song, “Stanky Legg” by rap group The G-Spot Boyz.

The show featured an interesting mixture of songs, which appealed to different members of the audience; the parents and family members of the performers could relate more to the older songs, while the younger members had that reaction to the more current ones. Junior Chelsey Miller noticed that too, “The show was really, really entertaining and incorporated different genres of dance, which was different from previous years. I have been in two other Xion shows, and I thought they were a little too provocative, but this year was a lot more for family and friends.” Sophomore Jenae Philips agreed with Miller, as well, “The spring ‘09 show was probably the second best Xion show I have been to. Most of the dances and steps matched the theme.” For these two girls, this show is one of many that they have seen at Albright, and each show offers a different aspect of the team for them than the previous one. “I have been to four Xion shows. The best show was my very first Xion show, which was in fall ‘07. The theme was movies, and it was very organized and everything went well with the theme. The spring ‘08 show was probably the worst I have been to. It was very short and some of the steps and dances looked a little sloppy. The fall ‘08 show was also very good and the steps and dances had a lot of energy and kept the crowd’s attention”, says Philips. Both she and Miller look forward to the same thing every year, seeing the teams’ hard work pay off, and the energy that they exude on the stage, “The energy in the dancing really gets my heart racing”, said Philips, while Miller added, “When you see them doing the steps, you can sense the energy and the fun that they are having on the stage.”

Although both girls enjoyed the show, they also noticed aspects of the performance that they didn’t like, both having different opinions. For Miller, it was the energy from the crowd, “I didn’t feel it was as hyped in the crowd as previous years. My freshman year was really, really fun and for some reason this wasn’t as hyped, and I’m not sure why.” Miller’s sentiments can be attributed to the location of the show, most people were scattered around the Chapel, whereas, in the theater, due to its limited size, people have to sit together. The more people together, the louder and more crowded the show seems. Philips’ thoughts were a little more mixed, “I didn’t really like X-men’s performance, and the show was so long, and ended so late. Another negative thing was that the show was a bit unorganized. There were long gaps between the next acts a couple of times, and it made it difficult for the show to have a flow.” Philips’ distaste for the organization of the show can be attributed it starting more than a half hour late, and certain songs weren’t cued on time, causing the DJ, and the dancers, to stop the show. In efforts to help the show move faster, some of the dances’ orders were switched around, which, of course, caused confusion and chaos behind the stage, amongst the singers.

Despite these complaints, there is the shared appreciation for an organization like Xion to be on the Albright Campus, and perform these shows for the community, and both Philips and Miller note that the team improves itself, and Albright College. “I think it diversifies our campus and opens us up to new and exciting sights and also gives people a different way to express themselves giving us a big campus feeling.” Philips adds, “I think the Albright community thinks that every black girl on this campus is on Xion. But its not about race at all, it is a means of entertainment for the whole Albright community, not just blacks or whites. It is for everyone, and that helps Albright to be better by having an organization like that.” As an organization, Xion has been a part of Albright’s community for a decade, meaning that the College has had ten years of these energetic shows, attempting to diversify its students and establishment as a whole. As Xion continues to improve and gain support from students of different races, gender, and classes, it can only become better and stronger, which can only reflect positively on Albright.

One beat at a time.

Food, Glorious Food!

I interviewed Steve Amore, Director of Dining Services to gain some insight into how the Dining Services Department is run. I also interviewed Julia Scheck, Dining Room Supervisor to see how some one who has worked at Albright for a long time thinks things have changed. Finally I interviewed Katie McFinn, a junior to see how the changes have affected the students. For more information on the Dining Services or to voice your opinion visit the Albright College website or email Steve Amore at samore@alb.edu.



Also make sure to check out the video and written portions of, Food, Glorious Food! for more information.

Food, Glorious Food!

When I first arrived at Albright college I was told to, “beware of the food, there’s laxatives in it.” As a freshman this comment both frightened and intrigued me. So when the opportunity came for me to dig a bit deeper into the dinning services at Albright I jumped at the chance. Probably the most confusing part as a freshman was figuring out the meal plan options.

Albright College requires all of its residential students, with the exception of those who live in the on campus Albright Woods Apartments, to participate in a meal plan. There are three meal plans that on-campus students can choose from. The Albright Gold 20 plan costs $3,800 per year and allows the student to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner six days a week and also includes brunch and dinner on Sundays. The Silver 14 Flex plan costs 3,350 per year and includes any 14 meals per week. The Bronze 10 Flex plan costs $2,600 per year and includes any 10 meals per week. There is also Apartment and Commuter Flex plan that costs $1,850 per year and include any seven meals per week, the Commuter and Apartment 5 plan which costs $1,200 per year and includes only five meals per week. I spoke to Steve Amore, Director of food services and asked about how Albright differs from other institutions when it comes to food services, “we self operated to maintain high quality and high standards.” Steve mentioned that the food service makes it a point to make sure that the food is fresh for students, “we provide fresh poultry that is brought from facilities 50 miles from the college.” Albright tries to offer its students with a variety of meal options and also provides them with fresh and healthy food options. Albright also has a special bonus dollars program that comes with each meal plan and varies in amount depending on the meal plan. Students can use this money in the dining hall, at Jakes Place, Jakes Java, or the Café at Schumo.
The dining hall offers students a wide range of food choices. There are many sections within the dining hall that students can choose from during breakfast, lunch and dinner. My favorite place is the salad bar. During lunch and dinner there is a full salad bar with different dressings and salad toppings. Included in the salad bar area there is also a large selection of fresh and organic fruits. In previous years the fruits were all mixed together in one tray, “we found out from one of the surveys that students wanted their fruit separate,” said Steve Amore about what led to the change in the fruit selection. Now the pineapples, cantaloupes and strawberries are kept in separate trays to be of more convenience to the students. Some of the other sections in the dining hall are, Aprons, which includes more home style cooking. Little slice of Italy, during lunch functions as a pizza bar and during dinner a pasta bar. The change of pace station changes every day during lunch and dinner. The sandwich bar contains all types of lunch meats and bread during lunch and strictly peanut butter and jelly during dinner. The newest spots in the dining hall, the vegetarian and the stir fry sections offer a new perspective on food.

Since my freshman year the quality, freshness and taste of the food in the dining hall has made a noticeable and dramatic change. So do not fall into the trap of the laxative rumor like I did freshman year, and feel free to enjoy the food in the dining hall like I and many other students do.


Also be sure to check out the audio podcast, Food, Glorious Food! which includes interviews with food service administrators, and an Albright student.

Stress, how do you cope?

It's that time again, the end of the semester is here, and Albright as a whole is feeling the toll. Both professor and student alike are putting their time in to get in work, and to get it done well with plenty of other responsibilites which also need taking care of. The time is winding down, and there are last projects to prepare, final exams to take, and presentations to make before the time is truly over, so of course there is a level of stress which comes along with all of these responsiblilities. But what is stress? What affects can it have on us? How can we handle it, and get our work done in a more peaceful manner?
Bad stress, or distress can occur from any long standing condition, intense trauma, or any series of events over time. How you cope with this will have either a negative or positive effect on you physical or psychological health.
The signs of stress are physical, emotional, behavioral, or cognitive. Fatigue, nausea, headaches, chills, muscle tremors, chest pain, or fainting are all physical reactions to stress. The emotional side gives off feelings of anxiety, denial, fear, shock, depression, guilt, severe panic, or intense anger. The cognitive aspect makes you blame others, make poor decisions, causes confusion, memory problem, poor attention, and poor concentration. Behavior is changed because of stress, there is a change in activity, emotional outbursts, antisocial acts, change in sexual functioning, alcohol consumption, pacing, and erratic movements.
"Stress starts acute, but if you don't handle the small things it can turn into more chronic problems," says Dr. Susan Hughes, a psychology professor here at Albright College, "Too much stress can mess with your immune system, which would make you more susceptible to getting sick, your mood can become more negative, your views on situations becomes more negative, and you become short-tempered with others."
Stress, however, can be dealt with. There is an extensive list with helpful tips on how one can deal with stress can be found on medicinenet.com/stress.
Taking care of yourself is a crucial component to managing stress, eating a well-balanced diet, getting plenty of rest, setting up stages of relaxation, and maintaining a regular schedule can decrease the amount of stress you feel. How you treat others can also affect how stressed you feel. Medicinenet encourages people who are dealing with stress to spend time with others, and to talk to people, forgetting your support group can add on to the feelings of stress.
Dr. Hughes has her own system to combat her stress, "Sleep," she says, "Don't sacrifice sleep, it will only contribute to your stress. Try putting things into perspective, realize who and what your stressors are and deal with them individually. Take time to do the things that you find relaxing, even if you feel like you don't have time to do it."
Keeping all these things in mind, it is very possible for Albright students, and professors to do the work required of them in a peaceful manner, and in order.

Why Heather Can Write: Literacy Media

The main argument of the chapter is that people are able to be involved in the storytelling process. They are unable to be controlled by corporations due the fact that people have “lovemarks.” The Media producers now have to find what the audience likes and appeal to them. The other argument that is present is what we are allowed to read and write.

The support shown that society is part of the story telling process is the Harry Potter books. The author appealed to the imagination of little children and even teenagers. J. K. Rowling found what society’s “lovemark” were and took advantage of young people’s imagination. The chapter goes on to talk about the Harry Potter books. There were two groups of people arguing over what should be done about the books. Either band them from shelves in various locations like schools and libraries or allow Warner Bros. to make a move out of the books. The chapter explains how children enjoy “participating in the imaginative world” and how this conflict between film and books makes a challenge for children’s “right to read” and “right to write.”


I do see the point of what Jenkins is discussing. I find it that people should be allowed to read whatever they find pleasing. Since we are talking about Harry Potter, I am guilty of not reading the books and only seeing clips of the movie, and they are very imaginative. I feel all the book can stimulate the mind to make a child or teenagers think and be creative. J.K. Rowling had an instinct to find a “lovemark” for that age group and in doing that Warner Bros. took advantage of Rowling’s wonderful work and made millions. I really do feel people want to control what society reads. We can control what we watch on television but books are still a free way to express ones opinion.

The Potters Wars are that are happening between teachers, librarians, book publishers and civil liberty groups against Warner Bros. The side with the teachers and librarian find it to be a religious right to have the book, Harry Potter, take off of shelves in bookstores, schools and libraries. On the other side, the Warner Bros. side, they find it that they should satisfy the fans and appeal to what they want. Warner Bros finds that making a move is still a way for children and teens to use their creative minds. They find that the Potter Wars are the “heart of the struggle over what rights we have to read and write about core culture myths.”

Literacy is in some ways related to social control. The thing about literacy is that it is hard to define who is in control. There was the historical literacy term of “universal literacy” while other societies have limited literacy to their preference. No the fight over literacy is makes me wonder who is in control over it. I do see literacy related to social control because the argument over the Harry Potter Wars is media literacy battle. The Daily Prophet was started by a girl named Heather Lawver. It is a web-based school newspaper; the writers are 102 children from all over the globe. A Daily Prophet Writer has some benefits to it the kids get to cover what they think is important to them in the Harry Potter series. The Daily Prophet allows for children to escape reality and create their one magical world and character. The group is filled with different racial, ethnic and national backgrounds.

Fan Fiction is when a story about setting or characters is written by fans of the original work. Due to fan fiction, fan writing has finally taken off. A great example of this is Zsenya, an adult who has a leading site for Harry Potter fan fiction, he explains who having a site like the Harry Potter one can make everyone feel equal because you cannot see the person you are talking to. You can also make that person you are talking to a character in your own mind. If someone wants to be in the convergence culture one must have an open mind to the really world and the imaginary. Society is changing and we need to understand that books are now movies or their on the Internet or even television. We have to descried what we should do with the media that we are given. Being educated is a privilege no matter how you learn, but along as you are learning something you cannot say that that form of media was wrong.

The relationship between fan writers and publishers is different. Fan writers have an exact purpose for writing, they was to support their cause. They are from an educational stand point just like a teacher and like to support the creative imagination of children. On the other hand there are people who did not like fan writers because they feel that they are copyrighting. Warner Bros, once they bought the movie privileges went thought the websites and tried shutting them down because of copy write or trademark phrases.
People fought hard to have Harry Potter removed from the shelves. People risked their jobs and reputations. A fundamentalist critic finds the lightning bolts on Harry’s forehead to be “marks of the beast.” They believe that children who want to understand the books more will be drawn to the pagan works. A Catholic writer explains that in the imaginary world there are classes being taught in the real world that relate to those classes; astrology and alchemy but still it is offensive to fundamentalists. There are fan-friendly churches that have discussions instead of beating them down. The Internet has been able to play a role is these discussions because it is the gateway to the real and imaginary. Anyone can read the Internet and right now to have your voice heard it is on the Internet. The Internet allows for both support of the Harry Potter books and anti-Harry Potter people to state their opinions.

Voting for Change with a Change in the Voting

The voting process for SGA officers saw a very interesting change this year. Normally the voting was done with traditional checkbox ballots that were filled out in the campus center by students who walk by. This change was described by one student as “convenient.” In the sense that it allows all students to go online and vote anytime they want within the two day voting period.

However, not all students are aware of the voting days and times. Many students simply did not vote due to a lack of knowing, and confrontation. In past years, the campus center was filled with a table, and all potential candidates swarming around for votes. This year, we saw a double-edged change.

Another advantage of Blackboard is the security of knowing that each student votes once, and only once. The election is not skewed one way or another as if a student were to choose to present his or herself as someone else. Unless people are giving passwords away, Blackboard is a great change in that sense.

Although, some students thinks this was a negative change. “More people are gonna vote when they are asked in the campus center,” one student said said.

Another student disagreed in a sense. “I think it’s very convenient,” the student said. “You can be home, it can be like 11:00 at night, and you realize you haven’t voted yet. So you go ahead and sign online, and make your vote. You don’t need to be anywhere special to do it.”

However, the same student also replied back with this: “Although it is a convenient change, the reality is I think only a quarter of the students, at most, casted a vote.”

So that is the lying question: Does convenience outweigh numbers? All students have the same chance to vote, putting them in the campus center makes them more inclined, putting it on blackboard makes it easier.

I e-mailed Director of Student Activities Sally Stetler. When asked about the voting numbers, her reply was “she did not have [this] information.” The reason for changing to Blackboard was “students can now vote 48 hours non-stop, as opposed to 8 hours.”

Sally Stetler, along with References worker Rosemary Deegan, tallies the votes. They are conducted as a test, and the highest percentage is the winning candidate. When I asked Sally what she would like to see changed in the system, she stated “a higher voting rate.”

So Albright has seen changes in how voting works. Senior officers are leaving, underclassmen are preparing to fill those voids, and this election saw what many students believe to be a lower voting rate. There are no numbers (as of yet), but if the common suspicion is true, we now have to ask ourselves, is the change being made the change that all students want?

I would like to thank Sally Stetler, Lauren Kittle, Sarah Bruno, and Adam Stamm for their time and contributions. Any concerns about this report can be e-mailed to Kevin.brogan11@albright.edu. Thank you

Why Heather Can Write: Media Literacy and the Harry Potter Wars

The main argument of this article was about how storytelling has created openings for consumer participation. Corporations think that they can control participation, but consumers are asserting the right to participate when and where they wish. The “Potter Wars” and fan fiction are perfect representations of this. There is a challenge to read and a challenge to write, and censorship and property rights are trying to prevent the ability to fully engage in the central cultural fantasy that is Harry Potter. There is a struggle with literacy and with who has the right to participate, and questions on how media literacy should be taught. No one knows how to live in the era of convergence culture and collective knowledge; it is all a learning process for everyone. The chapter talked about Warner Bros. and how they have tried to rein in fan appropriation of the Harry Potter books and the grounds that infringe on the studio’s intellectual property. The main focus was on a fan-made website called The Daily Prophet. An online newspaper that focused around the world of Hogwarts and Harry Potter, where any child can construct a persona and participate in the magical world and write his or her own stories. This has made learning and writing fun for children, as well making them feel as though they have a special place in the world. This role-playing is used as means of exploring a fictional realm and developing a richer understanding of yourself and the culture around you. However, there has been a literacy struggle over such fan sites by Warner Bros. because of their claims of copyrights and trademarked phrases. The fans fought back, saying that if their sites were shut down it was an infringement of free speech, expression, ideas, and fun in this magical book. I agree with the author and the fans; I think places like The Daily Prophet are wonderful opportunities for all children. It is a learning experience that takes place outside the classroom and without adult control, where they can feel a bond with each other. They are experiencing convergence and media literacy by using the Internet as a tool, and express themselves and share it with others. They are able to pool knowledge and collaborate with others, and I think they have every right to do so. After all, it is just fan fiction.

The Potter Wars are the struggle of teachers, librarians, publishers, and civil liberty groups, who stood by the religious right to have the Harry Potter books removed and banned from libraries and bookstores alike. It also involved the likes of Warner Bros. trying to stop things such as fan fiction, claiming copyright laws. Fan fiction is exactly what is happening at The Daily Prophet; children are creating their own characters and personas and putting them into the world of Harry Potter. They create their own stories, which often involve characters or places that were written about in the books. They are using their imagination to actively participate in literacy and further their writing skills. Literacy is often controlled in schools or by outside groups that try to have certain books banned, or by parents. There are also some things that may be deemed socially unacceptable to read, according to others. I think this is wrong; I believe anyone has the freedom to experience literacy in any way that he or she likes at any time. It is not something that can be controlled. Harry Potter is fiction, and the fans of this are aware of this fact; they simply enjoy escaping into a book for a while.

The Daily Prophet was created by a young girl named Heather, and the writers are 102 children across the world who bring literature to life and explore books and open their minds. Being a writer for the Daily Prophet opens whole new worlds and allows children to bond, help with gender roles, develop cultural literacy, and actively analyze and engage more deeply with popular culture. They are able to mix real-world stories with fantasy, contribute to their learning, express themselves, and learn about themselves. They are learning, creating, and enjoying in a friendly utopian society. There is a sense of real connection, acceptance of everyone, and a sense of safety. Children create their own personas, some saying that are related to Harry Potter or Hermione Granger, two of the central characters. They use their creative knowledge to create back-stories and interact with other personas that have been created by other writers. There was a section which focused on how, although Hermione Granger is often stereotyped as the typical girl, but the children on the website can fantasize about things that were never talked about in the books, giving her more of a personality. This fan writing allows them to delve into a book that they love even when the series may have come to an end. They get to use their imagination, and this is very appealing to young people; there are no restrictions on your their imagination. When you are a passionate fan of something, it is a great opportunity to be able to add your own personal touch to it.

Convergence culture literacy is what is happening now; books have found ways to be expressed on the Internet, on TV, in movies and in many other forms. It is not just printed material that matters, but what we can do with media and what we consume. Learning is celebrated, and so is expressing oneself. There are certain skills involved in participating in this kind of literacy, like the ability to pool knowledge with others in a collaborative enterprise, as in the article of Spoiling Survivor. One also must have the ability to share and compare value systems by evaluating ethical dramas, such as the gossip surrounding reality TV. One has to be able to make connections across scattered pieces of information, and express interpretations and feelings toward popular fictions through your own folk culture. It is also good to have the ability to circulate what you create via the Internet, so that it can be shared with others.

The relationship between publishers and fan writers is difficult to define. Some are supportive because fan writing has educational purposes, and storytelling encourages children to expand their imaginations; it empowers them to find voices as writers. J.K. Rowling, although not a publisher, is completely supportive of the fan fiction surrounding her books; she encourages it. Others feel very differently, however; they dislike it because they feel it is copyright infringement. Warner Bros. tried to, and successfully shut down several fan websites, but their only concern is money, not the benefits that children could be gaining from them.

When groups attempted to take away the right of readers to experience Harry Potter, they did not take it lying down. Teachers risked their jobs trying to keep Harry Potter on the shelves, because they knew it excited kids about learning and reading. One teacher in particular, Mary Dana, organized an opposition to superintendents who were trying to ban Harry Potter. She organized a group called Muggles for Harry Potter, which was then joined by eight other organizations; 18,000 people ended up joining. This was all thanks to the help of the Internet, and the name was later changed to kidSpeak. Anyone can write online, and people banded together in support of keeping Harry Potter on the shelves. Many religious groups claimed the books were anti-Christian, but certain Christian groups made videos and wrote online in support of HP, and used new media technologies to do so. Groups such as the Christian Gamers Guild were created, which did not want people to feel alone. There are fan-friendly churches, which explore the moral options of books instead of just disregarding them. They are asserting their rights through participation. Children can teach each other and adults can learn from this. Heather, of The Daily Prophet, led the fan community against Warner Bros. when they tried to shut down fan sites, and the fan community came to include lawyers and activists, who fought for free speech. Were it not for the Internet, these things would not have nearly as much support or widespread knowledge.

Greek Recruitment Still Important Issue

It may seem like Greek life here at Albright is the most prominent extra curricular activity on campus because you can always see Greek letters around campus. But in fact only about 30% of the student population is involved in Greek organizations. That is why rush and recruitment are important to all three sororities (Phi Mu, Alpha Delta Pi, and Sigma Kappa) and fraternities (Alpha Sigma Phi, Pi Kappa Phi, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon). Inner Fraternal Council Treasurer Dave Morano talks about how IFC regulates rush for all three fraternities and Panhell President Jessie Curcio talks about how Panhell does much the same thing for all three sororities. Freshman Steve Lamonaca talks about why he decided to rush Pi Kappa Phi and sophomore Amanda Schroeder talks about her decision to join Phi Mu.

Video by: Allyse Wolfinger and Kevin Ayala

We Stood Up for Love

For our last assignment, a fellow classmate, Talia Didomenica, did a video blog that informed us about how Judy Shephard would be visiting Albright on April 30th. As Talia explained, Judy is the mother of Matthew Shephard, the the Wyoming college boy who was beaten to death essentially for being homosexual, and on which the play The Laramie Project is based, which Albright will also be performing. Much of the campus, myself included, was very excited about these coming events. However, the excitement was somewhat put on hold when one night, a week prior to the event, it was discovered that Judy Shephard would not be the only visitor coming to Reading. The Westboro Baptist Church, an anti-homosexual, anti-American organization from Topeka, Kansas, was also planning on coming to Albright, or at least as close to it as they could get. It seemed they would come to protest not only Judy Shephard, but also the opening night of The Laramie Project, another common protest focus of theirs. The group was formed by Fred Phelps in 1955, and is now carried on by many of his own children. Phelps and the WBC picketed Matthew Shephard’s funeral and verbally harassed his parents and other attendees. The group mostly targets homosexuals, protesting at the funerals of AIDS victims, but also at the funerals of soldiers. They have now taken to following Judy Shephard around the country at the places where she speaks, and I was enraged when I heard they would be making an appearance at Albright; I was most definitely not alone. Within the hour, an event called “Stand Up for Love” had been made on Facebook, which turned out to be a very useful tool in this situation. By the second day of the event page being made, 250 members had volunteered to participate, students as well as non-students. Although many were infuriated by the prospect of the WBC coming to spread their hate, Albright students chose to go in a different direction, and spread their love.

The Westboro Baptist Church presents itself with hateful, cruel signs and vile words. Albright students chose to show how very different we are from them. As a demonstration to be against the WBC, students stood silently and peacefully with signs with quotes and proclamations of love such as “Hate is easy. Love takes courage.” Members of the demonstration wore white shirts with hearts on them and planned to stand united against the WBC’s hateful words that have hurt so many families and individuals. There is already too much hate and intolerance in the world, and so Albright students chose to oppose this in the most peaceful way possible. Louis Yurkovic, president of GSA, as well as Sarah Bruno, both met with Dean Crance, who was completely supportive of the idea, as long as we followed the proper procedures and promised to “keep it classy.” Members of The Laramie Project worried that this might add negative connotations to their performances, but if anything, it only increased campus and community support. Chaplain Paul Clark spoke inspirational words about the power of being silent: “It is not about having a voice, it is about controlling it. There is a beauty in being silent and drawing on every good thing that is in you. It sends out beautiful and power energy. Silence is about being free, silent presence is what matters.” There were also groups from the community, including one called Silent Witness, which participates in silent, peaceful demonstrations by holding up umbrellas in front of the demonstrators as a “spiritual shield from hate”. This can be seen in the video of the event. Albright College President, Lex McMillan, also sent a campus-wide e-mail showing his support and pride in Albright as an open campus. Public safety and Reading police were on hand to make sure that everything remained safe and non-violent. The WBC did not make their much-anticipated appearance, but the proclamation of love in the demonstration did exactly what it was supposed to do. Albright is not the first college to plan to demonstrate against the Westboro Baptist Church, and I am sure we will not be the last. Their hatred and intolerance is relentless, which is exactly why the love and acceptance of everyone else must be just as resilient.

There was a lot of organizational effort that led up to the actual demonstration, and there were a lot of people involved. My podcast consists of interviews with Public Safety Director, Robert Gerken, and audio from meetings that took place to help focus the event and to prevent from losing sight of the true cause, including the voice of Dean Crance. I also spoke with Kaitlyn “Fox” Smith ‘11, a participant and major contributor. The video took place on the days of the actual peace demonstration with footage of the students, Silent Witness, and non-students. I also interviewed Sarah Bruno ‘11, one of the students placed in charge, and Alanna Berger, Executive Director of Silent Witness. I was also excited to hear that when I was all done filming, Silent Witness would love to use my video and credit me for upcoming events that they participate in.

*** The reason for the change in quality during Kaitlyn Smith’s interview was due to camera troubles and having to re-record her interview from one camera to another.

*** I ask you: Please do not try to visit the actual website of Westboro Baptist Church as it is offensive and cruel I have been informed that every time it is visited, the WBC earns a profit.


Video, Editing, and Camera work by: Caitlin Sherman

Annual Fashion Show: Better Than Last Year?

“This year’s Albright Fashion Show “Peace, Love & Fashion” was the best fashion show that Albright has seen in the past three years,” says Doreen Burdalski. Doreen Burdalski is Department Chair and Advisor for the fashion program. She has been at Albright for three years and has been the woman behind the scenes for the past three shows. Her creativity with the help from Club Vogue really paid off.

Usually the show is ran by Albright seniors and the professors but this year the Albright fashion department decided to collaborate with Club Vogue, which is the Albright fashion Club. Club Vogue helped tremendously by electing senior Chelsey Gross to be head of the fashion showcase. Gross and Club Vogue marketed the show by hanging posters, making t-shirts, and word of mouth. They did an excellent job promoting the show and it was confirmed by looking into the audience to see the seats were filled and people were standing throughout the campus center. It was very clear that the audience had fashion students, parents, and non-fashion students that attended. “I came because my roommate is a fashion major and she told me about all the different and unique designs that were expected to be seen this year,” says junior Sam Kelly. It seemed that many students were curious on what their fellow students had to show. “I have never been to the annual showcase before, but I kept hearing so much about it on campus and decided to come check it out,” says senior Annie McMahon. “My favorite part of the show was Maria Valentine’s dog line, I thought all of the outfits were so cute,” says senior fashion student, Kelly Burn. Kelly has seen many different designs throughout her four years here at Albright, but she has never seen anything as exclusive and creative as “Stella”, the clothing line for dogs. In the fashion show there were about a dozen dogs wearing Maria Valentine’s designs. Maria and Doreen sent out a mass e-mail to the Reading community, asking them if they would allow for their dogs to be in the fashion show, within minutes there were over ninety responses. After talking to a number of people after the show it seemed that the dogs were the main attraction, but that did not hurt the audience from admiring all the different cloths and colors of the rest of the show. Sadly not everyone could attend the show “I really wanted to be there to see what all my friends designs and since I’m a fashion major I wanted to just get an idea of what to create for next year. I just couldn’t because I had to do a paper,” says Kassie Budzinski. It was very unfortunate that some students could not attend.

Over all the show was a hit from the concept to the final production, it was amazing. It would not have been as spectacular without the music, it really brought it together. Make sure you check out live footage of the fashion show for your own experience of “Peace, Love & Fashion.”

The Harry Potter Wars Critique

The main argument of this chapter is the representation of the Harry Potter Wars as the struggle between many different viewpoints regarding media literacy and how that should be taught to children who are developing their reading and writing skills. The author argues that children are developing a sense of media literacy by reading the Harry Potter books and then subsequently using the tools of the Internet to enhance their writing ability and ability to express their thoughts. The main support the author had was that of the Daily Prophet, a student newspaper that allows children to create their own stories about the happenings of the fictitious Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is a good example of children who have read the Harry Potter books using the tools of the Internet to enhance not only their writing skills but also their comprehension on how to use the media to their advantage. This shows that children are not only learning how to write more creatively while enhancing their skills, but also that they know they can use the tools of the Internet to their advantage. The controversy arises when organizations like Warner Brothers, who bought the rights to the Harry Potter franchise, try to shut down these creative forms of expression by children because they claim it is a copyright infringement. I agree with the author that children are developing a more defined notion of media literacy and that there are many people who are trying to damper that. I think it’s a great thing that children are becoming more media literate while at the same time enhancing their writing skills and showing their creativity. I also think it’s a shame that there are so many close minded people who think fantasy worlds are destroying young children or that they are so money hungry they would sue children over copyright infringement without realizing the benefits of their initiatives.

The Harry Potter Wars are those against the book itself for its fantasy world and those against the use of the Harry Potter characters in writing other than the actual books versus those who write the fantasy stories using the characters. Many religious groups and those against the teaching of wizardry have tried to ban the teaching of Harry Potter in schools because the fantasy world message destroys the idea of Christianity in those that are reading the books. In some cases their efforts have been successful making teachers angry because these books actively engage the young children readers in way other more traditional books can’t. Warner Brothers is trying to stop copyright infringement from those who write fantasy stories using the Harry Potter characters. Those who are writing the fantasy stories or those who write for the fictional Daily Prophet are writing fan fiction. Fan fiction stories are stories that fans of the Harry Potter series create using their own imaginations but use the characters and settings of the original work. The initiative to not only read the books themselves but to write stories expanding on the story one just read is expanding the notion of literacy. Not only are these people becoming literate from reading, but they are becoming literate through writing which is an equally important part of literacy. I don’t think literacy is something that should not be socially controlled. Everyone has the right to express themselves and I think the only reason Warner Brothers has a problem with it is because they want to make money off of a copyright infringement. Those from the religious groups are just closed-minded but what they fail to realize it that they are expressing their ideas freely in the same way that those who are writing about Harry Potter are.

The Daily Prophet is a fictional newspaper about life at Hogwarts that was established by a 15-year-old girl named Heather. All of the writers for the Daily Prophet are young fans of the Harry Potter books that have found the site on the Internet. These writers are able to express their imagination while showing their love for the Harry Potter books. They also are given the opportunity to enhance their writing by peer critiques and are able to socialize with fans from all over the world. In their stories the young writers create their own stories oftentimes using themselves or the issues they are facing in their real lives in the context of Hogwarts. One writer even went so far as to create a sister of Harry Potter who is attending the school also. The expression of their problems in this literary form lets them express their feeling and brings ideas from other readers as to how they can fix them. The Daily Prophet is not the only website that is devoted to fan writing. Many fan writing sites are beginning to develop and they are not all related to the Harry Potter books, although they are a large majority. Fans of many different things are beginning to see that the Internet is the perfect place to write about the stories they love while joining other fans that wish to do the same thing.

Convergence culture is the idea that one uses many different forms of media to get information on one or more specific issues or ideas. In order to be an active part of a convergent culture one must be able to use many different forms of the media to their advantage. An example of this is Heather the creator of the Daily Prophet. She is able to read the Harry Potter books and was able to use the tools of the Internet to create a website devoted to fictitious stories about the imaginary school. Not only was she able to read the books, but she was able to recognize that there are ways that she can further her involvement with the books in a different form of media. One of wishes to join the convergence culture of society today needs to possess those same skills.

The relationship between fan writers and publishers is a strained on. Many publishers dislike the idea of fan writers because they are infringing on a copyright. But this dislike is almost also solely about the monetary gain they would seem to gain if they could control fan writers. In the Harry Potter instance, author J.K. Rowling was in support of the fan writers and encouraged them to continue to writing and using their creative imaginations. Warner Brothers on the other hand sued many websites that used Harry Potter references in their addresses despite many of those sites being run by children. The children fought back and eventually Warner Brothers backed down from many of the suits they had filed.

Many religious groups have tried to ban Harry Potter from libraries and classrooms due to their supernatural elements. However, many people have fought back because this is a book that has actively engaged children in reading. Many traditional books fail to create the kind of enjoyment in reading for young children and teachers and parents do not want to take that away from a generation that in many ways are not interested in reading. The Internet has played a key role in this debate with fan writing websites and blogs. The Internet is a public forum in which there is no regulation of the content. Many fans of the Harry Potter books and those who believe in the idea of free speech in regards to the books are able to post their content on the Internet with no regulation from the religious groups who are trying to prohibit their reading of the books.