Moravian College Theater Company Presents "Good People"

I’m venturing out of the more academic side of Moravian to the creative. Moravian College's Theater Company, one of the best known of the many organized clubs on campus, has been doing a series of play readings on Friday nights. They had a play reading of “Good People” on Friday, Oct. 14. Going hand in hand with this year’s In Focus theme, Poverty and Inequality, the play took us to modern day Southside Boston and the plight of Margie. 

A “Southie” native, Margie is fired from her job at a dollar store due to her being constantly late. Her adult daughter, Joyce, is mentally retarded and cannot take care of herself, so she is constantly late because of her daughter’s fits. With no completed formal education, she has to struggle to find a job in a poor economy.

The play provides a look between the poor and those who are financially well off. It compares Margie to her old childhood friend Michael, who got out of Southside to become a doctor and now lives “comfortably”, as he calls it. 

For a two act play, it gives a really complex interaction between the characters, all who are struggling in their own way, and the lengths to which they’ll go to get by. Margie tries to trick Michael into thinking he is Joyce’s father so she could receive support. She also tries to manipulate her manager so she wouldn’t be fired. It’s essentially a play about survival, and raising questions about the lengths people will go to in order to survive.

It’s hard not to connect the play to the current “We are the 99 Percent” movement taking place right now, fueled by rising unemployment rates and a widening economic gap between the rich and poor. I think many in the audience, including myself, were reminded of someone as we watched the play, someone who was also desperate and struggling, like Margie.

My favorite part was at the end. After a failed confrontation with Michael, Margie is left with no job still and no money for rent. A check shows up containing enough money for one month’s rent. It turns out it came from the man who had to fire her. It wasn’t from Michael, who Margie always considered “good people” but from the man who had put her – however unwillingly – into her current situation, showing us just what really is “good people”. 

So, did anyone else see the play? What did you think?

Moravian's Safe Zone Training: Walking in Another's Shoes

You’ve probably seen the stickers around campus, either on someone’s dorm door or a professor’s office door. They’re the Safe Zone stickers, which indicate that the area they're posted on is a safe haven for homosexuals, and now I can say I’m a proud owner of one.

To get the sticker, you need to go to the Safe Zone Training. It’s run by the Office of Institutional Diversity but it’s closely linked to Spectrum, the resident Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transsexual (LGBT for short) support club on campus. 

I’d been meaning to go to one of these training sessions since sophomore year, but schedule conflicts always arose. I finally got to go this year and I have to say, wow.

A lot of it was sort of what I was expecting. In the latter half they talked about LGBT issues, like the rights homosexuals are restricted from having and what strides have been made to counteract homophobia and heterosexual privilege (which is what it sounds like: giving more rights and preference to heterosexual persons and couples over homosexuals).

It was the way the program started off, however, that surprised me.

We were each given a colored star. There were four colors: red, blue, green and yellow. Then Sharon Brown, Director of the Office of Institutional Diversity and the one running the training, had us write down something on each point of the star. We wrote down:

- Our best friend’s name

- The family member we're closest to

- Our dreams for the future

- Our career aspiration

- A group or community we’re associated with.

Then Brown read from a list of scenarios. For example, the first scenario was that each of us, pretending to have just come out of the closet as homosexuals, told our best friend about it. Some of us were lucky: if we had a blue or yellow star (I had blue), our best friend supported us. But the others’ weren’t so fortunate: their best friend rejected them, and they had to tear off that point of the star and let it fall to the floor.

It might have just been a piece of paper, but there was something excruciating about hearing that ripping sound and see the pieces fall. I was fortunate enough not to have to rip off any of my pieces, but someone people had all of theirs ripped off. 

The worst part? That’s what some people go through every day. There are people who are hated and turned against just because they have a different sexual preference. It was really an eye-opening experience.

If you want to go to one of these Safe Zone Training sessions, they’ll hold more next semester. Would anyone be interested in going?

Q&A: Meet a Moravian International Club Member

IMPACT might host a lot of activities and tout themselves to be multicultural, but if you really want to talk about a club that's diverse in the cultures department, it's International Club. Made up of students from Moravian and students from abroad, these guys focus on doing multicultural activities and celebrating cultures from outside the U.S. I got more involved with the club this year when I moved into the International Suite, and I'm glad I did. 

So I thought it was time I wrote about it, and I sat down and did a Q&A session with Rachel DeLucia, a sophomore and a member of the International Club. She lives in the International Suite and is the head of the suite (meaning she’s in charge of the suite, acting as a sort of RA and mediator). She’s been in International Club since her freshmen year, so she knows a thing or two about the club. Here’s what I found out from her:

Q: What is International Club?

A: International Club is a club on campus [whose] interest is based on students who...want to go abroad or who are studying abroad at Moravian. This year we have three French students, a German, two Chinese students, two Czech, one from Ghana and one from India. Some are here for a semester, some are here for a full year, and some are here for all four years.

Q: Who are the club officers and advisor(s)?

A: Our club officers are Will Brennan, Vineeth Maradana, Alana Persad, and Alex Irwin. Our advisors are Naomi Gal and Kerry Sethi. Will is the President, Vinnie is the VP, Alana is the Treasurer and Alex is the Secretary.

Q: What sort of events does the club host?

A: We host mixers for the college students to come interact with the international students as well as the club. They have great food [and] cultural experiences. Like tomorrow, a professor is coming to talk about Dia de la Muerte at the mixer. We had that international dinner [and] that welcome back mixer. We are celebrating Holi (an Indian festival of lights). We have invites to other events (like Holi) and co-host some. Lehigh sometimes hosts stuff and we’re invited. [There are also] cultural celebrations within the area we also try to get involved in. 

We do trips, too. We’ll do a sporting event, a Broadway play, and a little sight-seeing (like D.C, New York). 

Q: What do you have planned for this semester?

A: We have a mixer tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct. 25). We’re trying to get to some kind of sporting event. We usually go to NBA games but with the season [on strike] we’re going to have to cancel that. We might do soccer, football or something else. We’re definitely doing a Broadway play this fall as well as hosting one or two more mixers. And the Holi thing I mentioned before.

Q: What do you find the most appealing about the club?

A: I guess being able to be more culturally diverse. I like learning about other peoples’ cultures and experiencing why it’s so special to them. For me, it gives me insight for study abroad, because I’m working with a lot of people who’ve already gone abroad. 

Q: Is there anything else I missed?

A: We meet once a week, and they’re usually about a half hour to 45 minutes, just to keep in touch for upcoming events and planning other events and get interest in possible trips. We meet in PPHAC in the back room by the old lady portrait. Come check it out. It’s great to be in. 

We’re trying to make more cohesion with the other clubs like the Diversity Club. Spanish club is coming to the mixer tomorrow. IMPACT, USG, all have been really [helpful] with stuff, too. Like the trip to NYC, we want to co-sponsor it with IMPACT or someone like them to help get more money for the buses and more press. Stuff like that.

The Impact of Moravian College's IMPACT

They’re the organization you see everywhere on campus. IMPACT is always hosting some event or another, but just what exactly is IMPACT?

For starters, IMPACT stands for Innovative Multi-cultural Programming of Activities for Campus Togetherness. It’s a mouthful, which is likely why they stick to their better-known acronym, IMPACT.

The club is run by five chair members (or officers) who help organize and sponsor the events. Their advisor is Holly Nonnemacher, the Director of Student Activities. 

IMPACT is the sort of organization you either love or hate, depending on your view of school spirit. That’s what they primarily focus on: encouraging school spirit and sponsoring activities that involve the whole campus. 

They are best known for the Campus Wide Movie Nights. Each Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night they host a movie for the campus to see. They are typically popular or recently released movies like Transformers or Harry Potter (which I am personally looking forward to). They host a wide range of movies, from comedies to action thrillers. Sometime during the year, they will host a movie that you’re interested in. I can almost guarantee it.

IMPACT also hosts shopping trips to the Promenade or even to places farther away like New York City. Anyone who is a student or faculty knows this all too well, as emails are frequently sent out about these. 

A major part of IMPACT’s goal is to sponsor multi-cultural activities as well. They don’t just want to get the whole campus involved, they want to get the whole campus involved doing things they may have never done before. For example, they take weekly trips to the ArtsQuest Farmer’s Market along with booking trips to see comedians like Michael Dean Ester. They also host Bingo nights and had activities for Talk like a Pirate Day on Sept. 19. 

IMPACT is one of the busiest organizations on campus in terms of events. Every week they have something going on. The last major event they had was Spirit Week (aka Homecoming Week), which started Oct. 17. This is the part where you may dislike IMPACT, if you’re one of those grouches who resent school spirit of any kind. They hosted the Spirit Week events, which include the Pep Rally on Friday Oct. 21 and the Homecoming Parade on Saturday Oct. 22. 

If you’re interested in the club or their upcoming events, go over to their site at http://home.moravian.edu/students/org/impact/index.htm and check them out. The club accepts members at any point during the year.

Moravian College German Club Officers

I’ve written a fair amount about German Club events, but I realized I haven’t even profiled the club. 

As the title implies, the German Club is dedicated to promoting German culture on campus. Since the emphasis is on German culture as opposed to the German language, it is not a requirement for interested students to actually speak German. 

Each Wednesday the club has its weekly Kaffeeklatsch meetings at 4:30 p.m, where free coffee and cookies are served while the President runs the meeting.

Speaking of the President, here is a list of the club officers:

President – Gina Ambrosino: Gina is a senior and a Psychology major with German and History minors. She’s taken several semesters of German, and she even managed to take a German course taught by a person with a thick Irish accent (read as: she went to Ireland for a semester and took German there, too. Rather impressive).

Vice President – That’s me: I’m a senior and an English Writing Major. I also took a bunch of German in high school and a few courses at Moravian. I was in the German Club in high school as well, but the one here is way more fun and engaging.

Treasurer – Matt Scott: He’s a junior and an Environmental Science major. Matt’s also taken a fair amount of German in high school (I’m sensing a trend here…) but mostly spends his days in labs and making sure the United Student Government gives us money for all the free food at our events.

Secretary – Corey Creen: He’s also a junior and he’s a Math, Physics and German major. I personally think he’s rather crazy for taking on three majors, especially when he’s a club officer. However, he manages to get down the notes for every meeting and send out reminders to our club members.

Now you might be giving me a strange look through the computer monitor, since you can very clearly see we have only one German major. That’s okay though: it proves that we’re not a bunch of snooty German language academics. Rather, we’re a group who generally loves the German culture and wants everyone to enjoy it with us (and enjoy the yummy food).

So what do you guys think? Does it sound like anything you expected?

German Club Oktoberfest Draws Crowd of 53

The German Club's annual Oktoberfest had the best turnout that I’ve ever seen in my four years at Moravian.

The turnout varies each year, likely because of a combination of advertising, timing, and the weather. This year the weather wasn’t fantastic, but that didn’t stop the 53 people who came to Oktoberfest.

Yup, you read that right. 53 people. It might not sound like much, but considering Oktoberfest usually draws 25-30 people, we got almost double the usual turnout.

Of course, having more people turn up than you expected has its drawbacks. The German Club President and I were scrambling to keep cooking food for the guests. The bratwurst in particular was popular, and we went through all of what we bought. In the end we had to resort to making hot dogs.

The bratwurst was not the only smashing success. The other food items that did well included raspberry kuchen (basically a pastry with raspberry filling in the middle and topped with icing), apple strudel (a personal favorite), and spaezle (a kind of noodle that you can put salt, olive oil, or any other dressing on). They were all delicious and were gone in an hour and a half.

We also had sauerkraut to go along with the bratwurst, but not too many people ate that. I can’t blame them; I hate the smell of it, and it was hard cooking the bratwurst while I was inhaling ode de sauerkraut.

Interestingly enough, the usual chips and pretzels were hardly touched. Then again, the President and I forgot to bring them out until halfway through the party. Still, it was nice to see everyone enjoying the German-themed food.

As to the party itself, everyone seemed to be having a good time. We had background music playing while everyone was conversing (in English) and eating. It was a great chance for the officers to talk to the new members and for the German professors to talk to their students (there were some who came because they are taking German and heard about it) outside of class. It was also a chance to just sit back and relax a bit. Well, for everyone else. The President and I, not so much. But it’s a small price to pay for having such a good turnout.

The only notable thing that happened was the balloon fight. We had blown up some balloons and scattered them around the suite, along with some streamers we had put up. Some of the new members took the balloons and decided to start a volleyball-esque battle. Luckily it was contained in the living room and nothing was broken. It might have been slightly childish but it was fun to watch.

To anyone who attended, what did you think of Oktoberfest?

International Week Kicks Off

International Education Week, better known as just International Week, kicks off Oct 2 with a week of global-related activities.

If you’re a student interested in global topics, this is a great opportunity. This is also a chance for those interested in study abroad to get pertinent information and ask any questions at the study abroad seminar. I went abroad last semester to England and I attended a similar seminar in the previous fall; trust me, it helped quite a bit. Even though I went to a country where they (mainly) spoke the same language, it was still a new country and I could have easily gotten in over my head. These seminars are a great start to preparing yourself if you're going abroad.

The International Club and the Study Abroad office host this week-long event each year. The programs they host vary; many are unique to each year while a few are brought back each time.

So far they've had:

• An International Dinner with the Barynya Russian Dance Ensemble

• A talk on How to Travel Anywhere in the World on your Own
  

Coming up for the rest of the week:

Oct 4: Faculty Round Table: Blame Game and Xenophobia Under the Table at Global Crisis at 11:45 a.m in the UBC Room

Study Abroad Information Session at 4 p.m in the UBC Room

Film: To Feed A Girl (UNICEF) at 6:45 pm in Prosser Auditorium

In Honor of US Vets: Personal Experiences from Afghanistan and Iraq at 7 p.m in the UBC Room

Oct 5: Teach UNICEF at 11:15 a.m

Celebration of Cultures: Food and Music from Around the World at 7:30 p.m in the Pavilion

Oct 6: Study Abroad Information Session at 12 p.m

View of India Past and Present at 7 p.m

The list is all the confirmed programs and activities. There may be more contributed by the other clubs on campus. There is also a chance the times and locations of any of these events may be changed at the last minute. I will keep the blog updated if I hear of any changes. 

So, what do you guys think? Any of them sound like something you would go to?