Every word of this story is true. Enjoy...
Pleasure Beach
It was the last day of spring break and I woke to a loud knock on my bedroom door. “Are you coming or not? We’re leaving soon,” Paul said. I knew what he was talking about, but I wasn’t sure how to answer. Relunctently, I got out of bed, put on my boots, two pairs of socks, my best blue jeans and several layers of shirts. I walked into the living room with my hatchet brandished on my shoulder and stated “Let’s kill some fuckin’ zombies.”
The destination was Pleasure Beach, a mile-long strip of beach off the coast of Birdgeport Connecticut separated from the mainland by the Long Island Sound. Pleasure Beach was formerly a vacation spot for people who can afford vacation spots. In 1993, “vandals” burnt down the bridge that connects the beach to the mainland. Rather than rebuild the bridge, government officials in Birdgeport gave citizens only a few weeks to evacuate and take with them what they could. Since then, it has been a haven for anarchists, junkies and “hooligans” to use drugs and smash things. This place is a ghost town… there isn’t a single window that isn’t shattered, there isn’t a single door that isn’t kicked in and there isn’t a single house that can be considered reparable. Understand why wanted to check it out?
Me, Paul, Jamie, and Eric packed up the beat up Accord and began our journey unsure of what we would encounter. The car ride was like all car rides: shitty music, cigarettes and body odor. After two hours and one bathroom break we were in Bridgeport. We drove around for about two hours trying to figure out how to get even remotely close to this place. Directly across from Pleasure Beach is a swamp and Paul was convinced that we could simply wade through the swamp until we found a land bridge. After about 50 wrong turns, we found a place to park and started our trek. We walked for two hours through this smelly death trap of a swamp. The phrase “land bridge” began to make me sick to my stomach… it doesn’t exist…
Finally we ran into two older gentlemen carrying cameras and what looked like surveyors equipment walking along a gravel path that lined the swamp. “Do you know how to get to Pleasure Beach?” I asked desperately. I was met with a statement that both thrilled me and disappointed me. “Oh sure… just drive past the airport on the main drag, park in the parking lot at the end of the road and hike along the beach for about a mile.”
… Fuck… two hours, precious energy, and perfectly good socks completely wasted.
We were down but certainly not out. We followed the gravel path that took us back to the car in about 20 minutes.
Let’s recap: It took us 2 hours to wade through the swamp and 20 minutes to walk the gravel path back to the car. Moving on…
We hopped back in the car and continued on. Luckily it took us almost no time to find the parking lot. We parked, suited up, and started walking towards Pleasure Beach which was now in plain sight. It was about 4pm on a March afternoon, so hiking along a beach was cold; cold but beautiful… Light waves crashed against white sand and pastel shells were stacked like staircases indicating tidal patterns. While observing the aesthetics, we almost forgot about the eyesore we were about to see. Before we knew it there it was: Pleasure Beach in all of its graffitied glory.
Without missing a beat we invited ourselves into the first house we saw. We gawked in disbelief as we stared at a sea of broken glass, pealing wallpaper and beds with questionably stained linens. We wandered through it taking in every aspect of destruction. Jamie was taking pictures to document the madness, Eric was looking for souvenirs and Paul was looking for things to break. I’ve never used the phrase “maybe you shouldn’t touch that” so much in my life. I meandered my way through the wreckage in complete disbelief. Why are there clothes in closets? Why is the furniture still in the living room? Why are there dishes still in the cabinets? Why did these people have to leave in such a hurry? Questions were floating around in my mind like driftwood in the Sound. Regardless of how bizarre the placement of inorganic matter was, I couldn’t stop asking myself what could be around the next corner. A junkie shooting up? A dead body? Maybe a psychotic squatter with more weapons than common sense… It didn’t matter. We were there and we had to take it all in.
We continued through a few more houses taking pictures and asking each other rhetorical questions. In one house the floor was scattered with markers, crayons and children’s games and toys. All I could think about was how I wish I could make more sense of it than a miniature zombie apocalypse. The fourth house was the last house we would see that day. Jamie and I were in the living room as Eric and Paul explored the second floor and back porch. Jamie heard a crash, which ended up being Eric in the other room trying to scare us. It worked… Jamie and I ran for the front door unwilling to seek out the origin of said disturbance. We were met at the door by a Glock-9 and an emphatic yell: “Get your fucking hands up.”
Without thinking I said “Shit!” and threw my hands in the air. It was the cops…
Apparently one of the houses had burnt down the day before and local Police Department had been combing the beach for arsonists. They patted us down and made snide remarks like “if something in your pocket sticks me you’re going to have a bad day.” I couldn’t help but think “if something in my pocket sticks you, you’re going to have a worse day…”
It wasn’t just one cop, it was four. And they didn’t just come in the front door they had us flanked from the back door too. They condescendingly interrogated us assuming that we read the Birdgeport Times. “Didn’t you hear about the place that burnt down yesterday?”
“What happens when a place like this catches on fire? How do you expect us to get a fire truck out here?”
“How would you like it if someone walked into your house and just started smashing shit?”
“Don’t you have things to take pictures of in New York?”
Apparently they were unable to see the appeal of a town that has been completely frozen in time. I’ve never gotten a gun pointed in my face before, so I was a bit frazzled and couldn’t come up with any intelligent answers to their questions. Paul, however, is very good at dealing with cops. He was honest, articulate, and respectful. More than I can say about myself. Ultimately we were never arrested and only giving $92 trespassing tickets and sent on our ways. Before walking away we heard one of the cops mutter “It looks like we have more work to do” as two other kids walked towards us from the horizon.
The walk back to the car was quiet. If anyone said anything it was either a profanity or something like “I can’t believe this.” I certainly couldn’t believe it. Never once did we pass a sign that said “no trespassing.” Never once did we have to hop a fence and never once did we think we were doing anything illegal. Even if we were to set one of those hellholes on fire, would it be awful? When I use the term “irreparable” I really mean it. Not a single pane of glass wasn’t shattered and the wood in the unkempt houses had been severely warped from a lack of maintenance. If visiting this place is so awful, why not put up a no trespassing sign? Why not build a fence? Why leave such a, as one of the cops said, “shithole” so easily accessible?
From this clusterfuck of events, I have reached one conclusion. It’s all a scam… God knows why they never rebuilt the bridge and shipped people out so fast, but I think I know why they don’t put up No Trespassing signs. It’s a step away from entrapment. Bridgeport is one of the most impoverished cities in Connecticut. What better way to gain revenue than leave an appealing eyesore in plain view and ticket everyone who sets foot on the property….
Fuck the Police.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
This is an essay I wrote about why The Wire is awesome. Enjoy.
The HBO original series The Wire has gained much acclaim since its premier in 2002. This police crime/drama chronicles the underground drug trade in Baltimore Maryland from the perspectives of drug dealers, police officers, and political figures. Journalists Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune and Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle agree that it was one of the best shows on television during its reign (2002 – 2008). They explain that The Wire earns its prowess from its dense storylines, literary writing styles, and relevant social criticism. All of these elements are prevalent in the second episode of season one entitled “You Cannot Lose if You Do Not Play.”
In this episode, the density of the show becomes apparent. In Goodman’s article, “Yes, HBO’s ‘Wire’ is Challenging. It’s Also a Masterpiece,” a “dense” television show is one that can be difficult to follow because of the intricacies associated with serial storylines. He claims that density is a good thing and that “expecting the series to be simple, easy or unchallenging is a ridiculous notion” (Goodman). “You Cannot Lose if You Do Not Play” picks up where the last episode left off with controversy surrounding a dead murder witness. The program’s density comes into play when storylines begin to overlap. The audience follows D’Angelo Barksdale, a street level drug dealer, as the police arrest him and coax him into writing an apology letter to the family of the dead witness. This occurrence implies that Barksdale might be affiliated with the murder. At the same time, viewers begin learning about how corrupt the narcotics unit really is: Crooked cops perform false arrests and drunken shakedowns. Finally, throughout the duration of the episode, Colonel Daniels complains to and bargains with superior officers in relation to the personnel in his narcotics unit.
These overlapping plots are not a bad thing, Goodman argues; television programs are more entertaining when they stimulate audience members’ minds. Goodman also discusses the pity he has for viewers that are too lazy to attempt to follow The Wire: “It's viewers who should worry that they are missing the absolute best of what television has to offer merely because it requires effort” (Goodman). Where he admits that The Wire can be difficult for new viewers to follow, Goodman believes that the show is not too complex for intelligent audience members to understand.
The main element that makes The Wire easier to follow is the literary style in which the show is written. In Ryan’s article, “Hooked by ‘The Wire’,” the storytelling is described as being “gripping” and the series is compared to a “meaty novel.” Goodman agrees by describing the plot of The Wire as one that “continues to move slowly, with intricate strands of story revealing themselves at a leisurely pace, like a good, well-crafted book. No, check that -- like a great novel.” (Goodman). In “You Cannot Lose if You Do Not Play,” literary styles become apparent throughout the episode.
A recurring literary theme in this episode and the entire series is a chant echoed by the low-level drug dealers. Whenever a street dealer sees a police officer they yell “5-0” which then gets echoed by every other dealer in the vicinity. The repetition of this phrase becomes expected by the audience and analogous with the camaraderie associated with the drug-dealing community. Foreshadowing is also present in “You Cannot Lose if You Do Not Play.” At one point, D’Angelo Barksdale visits his uncle, drug kingpin Avon Barksdale. D’Angelo hands his son over to Avon, at which point Avon refers to the child as his “little soldier.” The word “soldier,” as it’s used on the street, means drug dealer and/or gang member. Avon’s statement leads the viewers to believe that the family will be raising their children as drug-dealing gang-bangers.
The idea of breeding children for a life of crime also exemplifies the idea of social commentary contributing to the quality of The Wire. Again, Ryan and Goodman agree that the presence of social commentary is a defining element of the program. Ryan states that “The Wire steers clear of preaching, but it’s impossible not to see the graft and wheeling and dealing that goes on in the higher echelons of Baltimore’s power structure without also seeing parallels in the petty larceny on the street corners and the theft and betrayals among the city’s drug dealers” (Ryan). Goodman believes that The Wire does an exemplary job of explaining modern drug wars, racial issues, poverty, and political corruption. He goes on to illustrate that “Few series in the history of television have explored the plight of inner-city African Americans and none -- not one -- has done it as well” (Goodman).
“You Cannot Lose if You Do Not Play” is filled with socially critical elements that are both obvious and abstract. A less apparent socially relevant instance occurs towards the end of the episode. Officer McNulty is shown drinking beer in his car. He sees two men trying to break into a car. He tries to stop them, but instead he drunkenly stumbles down a hill. He couples his embarrassing spill with an open chuckle while looking at his police badge. This act leads viewers to imply that police officers are imperfect. They have problems, flaws, and do not always act as responsible authority figures.
Later in the episode, Officer Pryzbylewski pistol whips a young boy for leaning on his car. This obvious act of brutality leads to a formal complaint from the boy’s mother. In order to minimize damage, Colonel Daniels coaches Pryzbylewski on how to lie to Internal Affairs, should they contact him. When asked why Pryzbylewski struck the boy, he replies with “because he pissed me off.” Daniels then says “No, Pryzblewski, he did not piss you off. He made you fear for your safety and that of your fellow officers… Go practice…” The obvious social criticism implies that repercussions can be avoided if a crooked cop conducts himself in the right manner. It is made apparent that a police officer has more credibility than a young black boy from the Baltimore housing projects. This idea may be inherently unjust, but more often than not, it is true.
A television show should embody certain criteria to a quality program. The Wire is a dense show that combines literary storytelling and relevant social commentary to intrigue viewers. Journalists Maureen Ryan and Tim Goodman concur that the advent of these criteria helps illustrate why The Wire is a quality program. An episode called “You Cannot Lose if You Do Not Play” embodies density, literary storytelling and social commentary; therefore, this episode can be considered an exemplary installment of a complex and quality series
The HBO original series The Wire has gained much acclaim since its premier in 2002. This police crime/drama chronicles the underground drug trade in Baltimore Maryland from the perspectives of drug dealers, police officers, and political figures. Journalists Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune and Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle agree that it was one of the best shows on television during its reign (2002 – 2008). They explain that The Wire earns its prowess from its dense storylines, literary writing styles, and relevant social criticism. All of these elements are prevalent in the second episode of season one entitled “You Cannot Lose if You Do Not Play.”
In this episode, the density of the show becomes apparent. In Goodman’s article, “Yes, HBO’s ‘Wire’ is Challenging. It’s Also a Masterpiece,” a “dense” television show is one that can be difficult to follow because of the intricacies associated with serial storylines. He claims that density is a good thing and that “expecting the series to be simple, easy or unchallenging is a ridiculous notion” (Goodman). “You Cannot Lose if You Do Not Play” picks up where the last episode left off with controversy surrounding a dead murder witness. The program’s density comes into play when storylines begin to overlap. The audience follows D’Angelo Barksdale, a street level drug dealer, as the police arrest him and coax him into writing an apology letter to the family of the dead witness. This occurrence implies that Barksdale might be affiliated with the murder. At the same time, viewers begin learning about how corrupt the narcotics unit really is: Crooked cops perform false arrests and drunken shakedowns. Finally, throughout the duration of the episode, Colonel Daniels complains to and bargains with superior officers in relation to the personnel in his narcotics unit.
These overlapping plots are not a bad thing, Goodman argues; television programs are more entertaining when they stimulate audience members’ minds. Goodman also discusses the pity he has for viewers that are too lazy to attempt to follow The Wire: “It's viewers who should worry that they are missing the absolute best of what television has to offer merely because it requires effort” (Goodman). Where he admits that The Wire can be difficult for new viewers to follow, Goodman believes that the show is not too complex for intelligent audience members to understand.
The main element that makes The Wire easier to follow is the literary style in which the show is written. In Ryan’s article, “Hooked by ‘The Wire’,” the storytelling is described as being “gripping” and the series is compared to a “meaty novel.” Goodman agrees by describing the plot of The Wire as one that “continues to move slowly, with intricate strands of story revealing themselves at a leisurely pace, like a good, well-crafted book. No, check that -- like a great novel.” (Goodman). In “You Cannot Lose if You Do Not Play,” literary styles become apparent throughout the episode.
A recurring literary theme in this episode and the entire series is a chant echoed by the low-level drug dealers. Whenever a street dealer sees a police officer they yell “5-0” which then gets echoed by every other dealer in the vicinity. The repetition of this phrase becomes expected by the audience and analogous with the camaraderie associated with the drug-dealing community. Foreshadowing is also present in “You Cannot Lose if You Do Not Play.” At one point, D’Angelo Barksdale visits his uncle, drug kingpin Avon Barksdale. D’Angelo hands his son over to Avon, at which point Avon refers to the child as his “little soldier.” The word “soldier,” as it’s used on the street, means drug dealer and/or gang member. Avon’s statement leads the viewers to believe that the family will be raising their children as drug-dealing gang-bangers.
The idea of breeding children for a life of crime also exemplifies the idea of social commentary contributing to the quality of The Wire. Again, Ryan and Goodman agree that the presence of social commentary is a defining element of the program. Ryan states that “The Wire steers clear of preaching, but it’s impossible not to see the graft and wheeling and dealing that goes on in the higher echelons of Baltimore’s power structure without also seeing parallels in the petty larceny on the street corners and the theft and betrayals among the city’s drug dealers” (Ryan). Goodman believes that The Wire does an exemplary job of explaining modern drug wars, racial issues, poverty, and political corruption. He goes on to illustrate that “Few series in the history of television have explored the plight of inner-city African Americans and none -- not one -- has done it as well” (Goodman).
“You Cannot Lose if You Do Not Play” is filled with socially critical elements that are both obvious and abstract. A less apparent socially relevant instance occurs towards the end of the episode. Officer McNulty is shown drinking beer in his car. He sees two men trying to break into a car. He tries to stop them, but instead he drunkenly stumbles down a hill. He couples his embarrassing spill with an open chuckle while looking at his police badge. This act leads viewers to imply that police officers are imperfect. They have problems, flaws, and do not always act as responsible authority figures.
Later in the episode, Officer Pryzbylewski pistol whips a young boy for leaning on his car. This obvious act of brutality leads to a formal complaint from the boy’s mother. In order to minimize damage, Colonel Daniels coaches Pryzbylewski on how to lie to Internal Affairs, should they contact him. When asked why Pryzbylewski struck the boy, he replies with “because he pissed me off.” Daniels then says “No, Pryzblewski, he did not piss you off. He made you fear for your safety and that of your fellow officers… Go practice…” The obvious social criticism implies that repercussions can be avoided if a crooked cop conducts himself in the right manner. It is made apparent that a police officer has more credibility than a young black boy from the Baltimore housing projects. This idea may be inherently unjust, but more often than not, it is true.
A television show should embody certain criteria to a quality program. The Wire is a dense show that combines literary storytelling and relevant social commentary to intrigue viewers. Journalists Maureen Ryan and Tim Goodman concur that the advent of these criteria helps illustrate why The Wire is a quality program. An episode called “You Cannot Lose if You Do Not Play” embodies density, literary storytelling and social commentary; therefore, this episode can be considered an exemplary installment of a complex and quality series
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Darwin's 200th Birthday Week - 2/19/09
This was published on the font page of "The Gunk," an insert in my college newspaper, The Oracle.
Thursday February 19th, 2009.
Darwin's 200th Birthday Week
by Jesse Ordansky
Last week was “Darwin Week” at SUNY New Paltz. Students, faculty, and community members were invited to watch movies, attend lectures, and share in celebrating the 200th birthday of renowned scientist, Charles Darwin.
Although he passed over 100 years ago, “Darwin Week” emphasizes the importance of a theory that scientists still use as a building block of modern evolutionary theory.
Guest speakers came to New Paltz demonstrating applications of century-old ideas. On Monday, Gordon Gallup of Albany University lectured on the science of sex appeal. He focused specifically on how and why humans select their mates. Evidently, symmetry is the name of the game – the more symmetrical a face appears, the more attractive it is to the fairer gender.
Another guest lecturer, David Schmidt discussed his study, the International Sexual Description Project. He analyzed the likelihood of restrictive or unrestrictive mating practices in males and females. In other words, Schmidt tried to decipher whether men or woman are more selective in choosing mates. Based on factors such as culture and geography, Schmidt deduced that both men and woman are evolutionarily programmed to dissimilarly manifest both restricted and unrestricted mating tendencies.
Guest speakers illustrated how much has been learned since Darwin’s research career. Modern discoveries aside, Darwin’s findings are still relevant to scientists today. In order to understand the human being’s place in the world, analyzing natural selection and Darwinian evolution is almost necessary. As biology professor Denis Moran explains, every living thing is part of the evolutionary system. In terms of the necessity of understanding basic evolutionary theory, Dr. Moran said “Particularly, as a human being, you better understand your placement in the realm of all animals and plants and our interdependence.” Chair of the biology department and associate professor Thomas Nolan also described applications of Darwin’s selection theories.
“When you apply selection thinking or selectionist hypotheses you’re going right back to Darwin. He laid out a whole host of ways of proposing hypotheses to test questions about how adaptations and characteristics that are advantageous evolved and why certain things are not present, why things are selected against.”
Stemming from Darwinian theories of evolution and natural selection, sexual selection was discussed prominently throughout Darwin Week. Sexual selection, as third-year evolutionary studies student Jesse Siegel describes, is the processes by which humans choose a mating partner. Siegel continues to explain that humans want “to mate with someone with the best genes possible so [they] can produce the best offspring possible. Sexual selection considers the traits that are innately attractive to somebody else…” This simplified explanation of a complex theory endorses the notion that Darwin’s studies have influenced scientists and students greatly. Beyond suggesting the unifying mechanism of evolution, Darwin paved the way for theories that attempt to explain universal unknowns.
Although applicable in many disciplines, not everybody subscribes to evolutionary theory. Fourth-year psychology major, Adam Gordon believes that the origin of man was a divine endeavor rather than an evolutionary anomaly. Regardless of personal views, Gordon believes that evolutionary studies have a home in the science world.
“We need to have a mixture. We need to have a free-flowing ability to explain ideas and theories from all angles. We need to be able to approach different and more intelligent ideas of how things came to be,” Gordon said.
Gordon believes that Darwinian theories and creation can coexist in the science world. With this interpretation and the fact that most early scientists believed in a deity, it becomes possible to forge a middle ground. Scientists and students should consider all theories of creation before deciding on what they consider to be factual.
Although he is not the end-all be-all of evolutionary theory, Charles Darwin provided a concrete cornerstone for modern evolutionary theory. Darwin Week celebrated a founding father of modern evolutionary research.
Thursday February 19th, 2009.
Darwin's 200th Birthday Week
by Jesse Ordansky
Last week was “Darwin Week” at SUNY New Paltz. Students, faculty, and community members were invited to watch movies, attend lectures, and share in celebrating the 200th birthday of renowned scientist, Charles Darwin.
Although he passed over 100 years ago, “Darwin Week” emphasizes the importance of a theory that scientists still use as a building block of modern evolutionary theory.
Guest speakers came to New Paltz demonstrating applications of century-old ideas. On Monday, Gordon Gallup of Albany University lectured on the science of sex appeal. He focused specifically on how and why humans select their mates. Evidently, symmetry is the name of the game – the more symmetrical a face appears, the more attractive it is to the fairer gender.
Another guest lecturer, David Schmidt discussed his study, the International Sexual Description Project. He analyzed the likelihood of restrictive or unrestrictive mating practices in males and females. In other words, Schmidt tried to decipher whether men or woman are more selective in choosing mates. Based on factors such as culture and geography, Schmidt deduced that both men and woman are evolutionarily programmed to dissimilarly manifest both restricted and unrestricted mating tendencies.
Guest speakers illustrated how much has been learned since Darwin’s research career. Modern discoveries aside, Darwin’s findings are still relevant to scientists today. In order to understand the human being’s place in the world, analyzing natural selection and Darwinian evolution is almost necessary. As biology professor Denis Moran explains, every living thing is part of the evolutionary system. In terms of the necessity of understanding basic evolutionary theory, Dr. Moran said “Particularly, as a human being, you better understand your placement in the realm of all animals and plants and our interdependence.” Chair of the biology department and associate professor Thomas Nolan also described applications of Darwin’s selection theories.
“When you apply selection thinking or selectionist hypotheses you’re going right back to Darwin. He laid out a whole host of ways of proposing hypotheses to test questions about how adaptations and characteristics that are advantageous evolved and why certain things are not present, why things are selected against.”
Stemming from Darwinian theories of evolution and natural selection, sexual selection was discussed prominently throughout Darwin Week. Sexual selection, as third-year evolutionary studies student Jesse Siegel describes, is the processes by which humans choose a mating partner. Siegel continues to explain that humans want “to mate with someone with the best genes possible so [they] can produce the best offspring possible. Sexual selection considers the traits that are innately attractive to somebody else…” This simplified explanation of a complex theory endorses the notion that Darwin’s studies have influenced scientists and students greatly. Beyond suggesting the unifying mechanism of evolution, Darwin paved the way for theories that attempt to explain universal unknowns.
Although applicable in many disciplines, not everybody subscribes to evolutionary theory. Fourth-year psychology major, Adam Gordon believes that the origin of man was a divine endeavor rather than an evolutionary anomaly. Regardless of personal views, Gordon believes that evolutionary studies have a home in the science world.
“We need to have a mixture. We need to have a free-flowing ability to explain ideas and theories from all angles. We need to be able to approach different and more intelligent ideas of how things came to be,” Gordon said.
Gordon believes that Darwinian theories and creation can coexist in the science world. With this interpretation and the fact that most early scientists believed in a deity, it becomes possible to forge a middle ground. Scientists and students should consider all theories of creation before deciding on what they consider to be factual.
Although he is not the end-all be-all of evolutionary theory, Charles Darwin provided a concrete cornerstone for modern evolutionary theory. Darwin Week celebrated a founding father of modern evolutionary research.
Friday, February 13, 2009
I HAVE NO TIME TO WRITE! So read....
Considering the fact that I am a full-time journalism and communications student, I have very little time to write for myself. With this in mind, I've decided to start posting my television critiques and my material that has been/will be published in my college newspaper (The New Paltz Oracle). We'll start with an article I wrote about the Black Studies major at New Paltz (my editor writes my headlines). This article was published on Thursday, February 12th, 2009:
Black Studies Department Breaks Boundaries
by Jesse Ordansky
Students who value an open-minded collegiate experience might find their niche in the Department of Black Studies. Those who pursue this major can benefit from being surrounded by students and faculty who are devoted to academia and embracing unique social perspectives.
The amount of dedication shown in the Black Studies Department at SUNY New Paltz encourages the notion that the college students of today will be the open-minded scholars of tomorrow.
According to the SUNY New Paltz website, the mission of the Black Studies department is to analyze and define the African experience from an African-centered approach. Depending on the discipline, Black Studies classes explore issues through an African-based psychological, legal, political, or humanitarian lens. A lesson about African enslavement, for example, will focus on African perspectives as opposed Euro-centric ideas.
“There would be discussion of what it is that they’re having to give up, what the state of the slave ship was like, how many of them died on the ship, what the conditions were, how they felt... The Euro-centric perspective doesn’t give you any insight into the African mind,” Chair of the Black Studies Department Dr. Wade-Lewis said.
Like students of any discipline, prospective Black Studies majors may wonder: What can I do with this degree? The reality is that an undergraduate degree in Black Studies is just as versatile as any other liberal arts certification. When Black Studies professor Dr. Major Coleman was asked in which fields knowledge in Black Studies might be advantageous, he mentioned “business, which depends more and more on non-European and non-Western countries, social service agencies, the church particularly…” Dr. Coleman also added that in today’s competitive job market “a graduate degree is almost a requirement. “
Although focused and dedicated, the Black Studies Department is not without its problems. Due to its interdisciplinary nature, Black Studies require a broad range of courses. Most of these courses, according to senior and Black Studies major Kathryn Hall, cannot be offered every semester. If these classes were available more frequently, more instructors would be needed. More instructors mean more money and unfortunately, New Paltz does not seem able to employ enough professors to offer the 71 undergraduate courses and the six graduate courses within the Black Studies major.
In contrast, the current professors “really reach out to their students,” Hall said. “They’re very holistic and they understand that it’s not just whatever your academic self is.” Professors in the Department of Black Studies make a conscious effort to reach out to students on a personal level as well as an academic level. They understand that a student’s life can fall apart, or in ideal situations, become defined in their academia.
“The four years you spend at university are some of the most wonderful years of your life. Only a few people in the entire world get to spend four years of their life in their young adulthood simply to study and to learn,” said Dr. Coleman.
Since 1969 Black Studies students at New Paltz have been pursuing knowledge with regard to an African-centered perspective as opposed to learning from Euro-centric ideas. 21-year-old senior Jamiles Lartey describes the fundamental idea behind Black Studies courses: “You have to be willing to open your mind and look at things from a different perspective.”
Black Studies Department Breaks Boundaries
by Jesse Ordansky
Students who value an open-minded collegiate experience might find their niche in the Department of Black Studies. Those who pursue this major can benefit from being surrounded by students and faculty who are devoted to academia and embracing unique social perspectives.
The amount of dedication shown in the Black Studies Department at SUNY New Paltz encourages the notion that the college students of today will be the open-minded scholars of tomorrow.
According to the SUNY New Paltz website, the mission of the Black Studies department is to analyze and define the African experience from an African-centered approach. Depending on the discipline, Black Studies classes explore issues through an African-based psychological, legal, political, or humanitarian lens. A lesson about African enslavement, for example, will focus on African perspectives as opposed Euro-centric ideas.
“There would be discussion of what it is that they’re having to give up, what the state of the slave ship was like, how many of them died on the ship, what the conditions were, how they felt... The Euro-centric perspective doesn’t give you any insight into the African mind,” Chair of the Black Studies Department Dr. Wade-Lewis said.
Like students of any discipline, prospective Black Studies majors may wonder: What can I do with this degree? The reality is that an undergraduate degree in Black Studies is just as versatile as any other liberal arts certification. When Black Studies professor Dr. Major Coleman was asked in which fields knowledge in Black Studies might be advantageous, he mentioned “business, which depends more and more on non-European and non-Western countries, social service agencies, the church particularly…” Dr. Coleman also added that in today’s competitive job market “a graduate degree is almost a requirement. “
Although focused and dedicated, the Black Studies Department is not without its problems. Due to its interdisciplinary nature, Black Studies require a broad range of courses. Most of these courses, according to senior and Black Studies major Kathryn Hall, cannot be offered every semester. If these classes were available more frequently, more instructors would be needed. More instructors mean more money and unfortunately, New Paltz does not seem able to employ enough professors to offer the 71 undergraduate courses and the six graduate courses within the Black Studies major.
In contrast, the current professors “really reach out to their students,” Hall said. “They’re very holistic and they understand that it’s not just whatever your academic self is.” Professors in the Department of Black Studies make a conscious effort to reach out to students on a personal level as well as an academic level. They understand that a student’s life can fall apart, or in ideal situations, become defined in their academia.
“The four years you spend at university are some of the most wonderful years of your life. Only a few people in the entire world get to spend four years of their life in their young adulthood simply to study and to learn,” said Dr. Coleman.
Since 1969 Black Studies students at New Paltz have been pursuing knowledge with regard to an African-centered perspective as opposed to learning from Euro-centric ideas. 21-year-old senior Jamiles Lartey describes the fundamental idea behind Black Studies courses: “You have to be willing to open your mind and look at things from a different perspective.”
Friday, January 9, 2009
Don't Vote For Me
I've been thinking about race a lot lately. As a college student, I have heard plenty about the 2008 Presidential Election, but unlike many of my friends and acquaintances I am not jaded into thinking the world is going to "Change" on January 21st. Although I did not vote this past November (for a number of reasons - that's another blog...) I reserve the right to complain about the process in my own blog.
When looking at the candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, it was easy to delineate pure evil from just another politician. Upon analyzing platforms and issues John McCain appeared as a war-mongering George Bush Jr. with the personality of an arm-chair. Barack Obama seemed to base his campaign on idealistic reform and an unrealistic 6-month plan. They're both politicians, they both lie to our faces, they will both react to situations based on surrounding circumstances rather than campaign promises made 2 years prior.... whatever...
Barack Obama ran on a platform of "Change." This is a BRILLIANT move... with the amount of people upset about the way George W. Bush handled the last 8 years, young and old alike flock to this innocuous slang. But what is "Change"? Really... what is it? Is change bringing the troops home from Iraq? Fixing our doomed economy? Creating jobs? Or does Change mean that Barack Obama is black?
I am shocked at the amount of people I have met who voted for Barack Obama for the purposes of not voting for John McCain and "because he's black... and it's about time..." Voting for the president of the United States should be based on issues: Not the flaws in another's arguments, not to avoid "more of the same" and certainly not for the color of someone's skin. Regardless of how monumental this election was, voting for a candidate because of the color of his skin is a prejudice notion.
Is it about time America had a black president? I don't know... as far as I know, racism still exists and probably will for a while. What I find hard to wrap my mind around is that young adults are very adamant about getting involved in the process and being part of something special. Where that's wonderful, and certainly a step in the right direction, we need to be more focused: We need to not only be involved in the process - but we need to know WHY we are involved in the process. Are we involved because we are familiar with the candidates policies and understand what their plans for the future are? Or are we involved because we are idealistic and become aroused every time a buzz word is dropped?
Lobbying for a presidential candidate is productive and necessary, but the type of devotion shown by Obama supporters was not deserved based on his policies. One might infer that the historic implications of a black president influenced supporters that much more....
When looking at the candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, it was easy to delineate pure evil from just another politician. Upon analyzing platforms and issues John McCain appeared as a war-mongering George Bush Jr. with the personality of an arm-chair. Barack Obama seemed to base his campaign on idealistic reform and an unrealistic 6-month plan. They're both politicians, they both lie to our faces, they will both react to situations based on surrounding circumstances rather than campaign promises made 2 years prior.... whatever...
Barack Obama ran on a platform of "Change." This is a BRILLIANT move... with the amount of people upset about the way George W. Bush handled the last 8 years, young and old alike flock to this innocuous slang. But what is "Change"? Really... what is it? Is change bringing the troops home from Iraq? Fixing our doomed economy? Creating jobs? Or does Change mean that Barack Obama is black?
I am shocked at the amount of people I have met who voted for Barack Obama for the purposes of not voting for John McCain and "because he's black... and it's about time..." Voting for the president of the United States should be based on issues: Not the flaws in another's arguments, not to avoid "more of the same" and certainly not for the color of someone's skin. Regardless of how monumental this election was, voting for a candidate because of the color of his skin is a prejudice notion.
Is it about time America had a black president? I don't know... as far as I know, racism still exists and probably will for a while. What I find hard to wrap my mind around is that young adults are very adamant about getting involved in the process and being part of something special. Where that's wonderful, and certainly a step in the right direction, we need to be more focused: We need to not only be involved in the process - but we need to know WHY we are involved in the process. Are we involved because we are familiar with the candidates policies and understand what their plans for the future are? Or are we involved because we are idealistic and become aroused every time a buzz word is dropped?
Lobbying for a presidential candidate is productive and necessary, but the type of devotion shown by Obama supporters was not deserved based on his policies. One might infer that the historic implications of a black president influenced supporters that much more....
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