As a result of a recent decision made by the Associated Students of Linfield College Cabinet, students working in more than one stipend-receiving position in campus media will only be allowed a stipend for one of the positions starting next year. This has been listed in ASLC’s Budgetary Policy for some time and has been enforced for ASLC Cabinet and LAB members. But ASLC has only now decided to enforce it among the student media organizations: TLR, KSLC 90.3 FM, Wildcat Productions and Camas Journal of Art & Literature.

Not only do we feel that applying this one-stipend policy to media is completely outrageous, we also feel that this is an utterly random, inappropriate time to begin to enforce this policy.

There are several students in student media who hold more than one stipend-receiving media position. Stipends for media positions amount to pennies compared to the hours these students work, but the stipends represent value and recognition to these students even if the amount is insubstantial.

This is also not the time for ASLC to begin enforcing this
policy. Hiring for stipend media positions began weeks ago, and the students who were doing the hiring and those who were hired were not aware of this rule’s existence. It cannot be found in the ASLC Employment Policy that students in these jobs are required to read and sign; rather, it’s written in the Budgetary Policy, which is not the appropriate document to address matters related to personnel and employment.

Students do take these positions for the learning experience, but allowing only one stipend will
likely prevent students from applying for more than one position. More and more, the skills and requirements of media professionals are crossing over medium to medium. If students in communications don’t apply for positions on multiple student media outlets, they may be missing important lessons.

We understand that ASLC has a responsibility to enforce pre-established policies. But, when such policies conflict as greatly with student interest as this one does, then ASLC should examine why the policy has not been applied to student media in the past and consider the many negative impacts that it will have on students seeking knowledge and experience in mass communication.

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The Review Editorial Board

College is a stressful time for almost every stu­dent. There are a lot of ups and downs when it comes to school work, athletics, friendships and relation­ships. When you live on a college campus, it can be easy to get sucked into a bubble and to forget that there are many new things to experience in life after you earn your degree. I think it’s important for students to remember that they are only in college for a short time and things that may seem like the end of the world now, prob­ably won’t matter five or 10 years down the road.

No one has a completely smooth ride during their years attending a residential college. There are bumps in the road and things happen that you can’t forsee. For example, you may have a difficult time in one of your classes and receive a grade that is less than desirable. If you are a college ath­lete it is possible that you will become injured and be forced to step off the court or field for a season or two. Also, you may find yourself in a position where you have to end a friendship or rela­tionship that you weren’t ready to let go of yet.

Even though it is inevi­table that college students are faced with difficult and stressful situations, it is up to you to determine how you will choose to deal with them. For example, instead of dwelling on something negative and upsetting that has happened, try to adopt a positive attitude rather than getting down on your self. If you didn’t play well in a game or did poorly on a test, make a commitment to improve, and then focus your energy on that com­mitment. Negativity only breeds more negativity, and it will not get you anywhere you want to go.

Also, try not to focus on situations that are out of your control. You will not always make the varsity team, get a perfect score on a test, or see eye to eye with your peers. Rather, try to be mindful about what is going well for you and place your energy on that aspect of your life.

College doesn’t last for­ever so try to enjoy it and make it the best experience possible. Don’t waste your time stessing over the small stuff that will be irrelevant when you step into the real world.

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Chelsea Bowen/Opinion editor
Chelsea Bowen can be reached at linfieldreviewopinion@gmail.com

In  the next two months, my life will change dramatically. Commencement is this month and my wedding is  July 4. People keep asking me how I feel, but the strange thing is that I don’t have time to feel anything
other than stress. I barely have enough time to go through my enormous to-do list, let alone process what’s happening or going to happen in my life.

I haven’t had time to live my precious last college moments with my friends. I’ve been too busy with my fiance and studies. I feel sick when I think about all of these things I am letting go of, all because I have to grow up. I’ve got a career set for after college, I know where I’m going to live and I’ll have a wonderful husband to support me. However, I feel that being prepared for the future is costing me valuable time with others that I love. People look at me like I have everything together, but I barely do.

I look at everyone who has time to go out with their friends, share a few drinks and vent about the stresses in their lives. I haven’t had time to have those moments, and I feel like the opportunities have already sailed.

I guess what I am getting at is that yes, your education is important, but be sure to spend time with your friends. Also, don’t be in a hurry to be in a relationship. As nice as it may seem to have a boyfriend or girlfriend, fiance or spouse, you have the rest of your life for that. You may never see some of your friends from college again. Luckily, things like Facebook can help folks stay in touch, but in the end, face-to-face interaction is the way to go.

Ever since I was a child, I just wanted to grow up and be an adult. Now that I have achieved the goals I set for my life, I don’t know what to do.

All I knew as a child was that I wanted to get good grades, go to college and get a good job.

Well, I’ve done that and now I don’t know what to do with myself.  I will never have the chance to live on my own in a small flat or apartment, go out with friends to pick up cute guys in the bar or travel the world alone. I’m settling down without a chance to spread my wings and fly on my own.

Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade what I have for anything in the world. I just don’t know what to do with a life running so perfectly and according to plan.

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Megan Myer/Online editor
Megan Myer can be reached at linfieldreviewonline@gmail.com.

I spent some time during Winter Break watching the Showtime series “The L Word.” I was intrigued  — finally a show about lesbians! The show portrayed many different women rather than the stereotypical lesbian. It was about things they had to deal with in their lives from a homosexual woman’s perspective. And, of course there was sex; it’s Showtime.

Further on in the series the sex became more frequent. I was disappointed to find that, like many “girl-on-girl” sexual relationships, the women were being portrayed as sex objects. Eventually, I felt like I was watching a show catered to men who wanted to watch two women get it on without actually watching porn. But, then again, why am I surprised about this?

The show also did not reference any safe sexual practices. Some women who watch this show who have realized their sexuality may use this as a guide. We already know that other people use media as a guideline for their lives.

There are many television shows that have homosexuals in them and they are mostly men. In fact, I can’t think of a popular show that has a regularly appearing lesbian in it. These male couples are portrayed as nice guys who care about shopping and looks and being a girl’s best friend.

Two shows that come to mind are “Will and Grace” and “Desperate Housewives.” I do not recall these men ever being portrayed the way that lesbians are. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.

There is also the difference in channels and the type of channels that these three shows are on. Even so, why can’t there be a show on ABC about lesbians that isn’t about women having tons of sex? Could we get something similar to “Will and Grace?”

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Bailey can be reached at linfieldreviewbailey@gmail.com.

I should hate a lot more people at this school. That is, I think there are a lot of students here who think I hate them, but I don’t. All thanks to the wonders of compartmentalizing.

One of the most beneficial skills I’ve acquired from being editor-in-chief of The Linfield Review is the ability to compartmentalize my emotions in terms of my professional (TLR) life and my personal (student) life. I’ve had many quarrels and have probably made many people upset because of various newspaper-related decisions, but I never let this unpleasantness cross over into my personal or social interaction.

For example, I always keep in mind that no matter how much I disagree with a policy enforced by ASLC and no matter how heated policy arguments become, I am working on a professional level with my peers. These are peers who I see everyday in class, across campus, at LAB events and at parties. These are people I want to be friends with.

The most prominent example of this, in my mind, involved the ASLC elections. The Review Editorial Board, which includes myself, elected
not to endorse Katie Patterson when she ran for vice president last year or president this year. Even though I did not vote for Patterson during the last two elections and even though there was some negativity between ASLC and the Review about these endorsements, I would vote “yes” every day for Patterson as a person. I had a class with her last semester, and I have never seen her without a contagious, beaming smile. Even though I have not always seen eye-to-eye with Patterson on a professional level, how could I not show anything but fondness for this fine young woman?

It’s easy for feelings and judgments developed on a professional level to bleed into our personal lives. But I think we should make a constant effort to realize that we may need to make professional choices that are not the most popular with our peers. We do not need to let these often-necessary decisions dampen our social relationships.

It takes a lot of negative energy and effort to harbor these unnecessary hatreds. It takes a lot of gratuitous work to avoid peers because of professional disputes, especially on such a small campus. It’s so much easier and more gratifying to forgive professional (and also political, religious, ideological, etc.) differences and wave “hello!”

We’re at a small college. You are likely to have class with a student leader who may make contentious decisions. Remember that someone has to deal with the touchy topics that face other students.

Even if you don’t agree with these decisions, agree that we are all students and peers who must deal with academic, extracurricular and life challenges. As a Linfield community, we will all be a lot happier if we can compartmentalize emotions to separate professional differences from our personal lives to foster a loving, accepting, positive student body.

To close, I ask that we all consider a quote from Martin Luther King Jr., whose quote relays my point more eloquently than I could: “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

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Kelley Hungerford/Editor-in-chief
Kelley Hungerford can be reached at linfieldrevieweditor@gmail.com.

I know, I know, you’ve already heard my spiel about how I am afraid to graduate, yet I am excited to see what awaits me in the real world. I have said it a couple of times, and if you have read my columns you are aware, but I can’t help but reiterate how exciting this time is for graduating seniors.

I have been at Linfield for my four college years. I cannot tell you enough how it has been the best experience of my life. As ironic as it sounds, I did not want to come to Linfield. It was my mother that pushed it. I wanted to go to Gonzaga University, but the massive amount of snow turned me off. As great as I would look as a little snow bunny, I wouldn’t be able to endure it. Kidding. But somehow in the chaos of figuring out college, I ended up choosing Linfield, and I could not be happier that I did.

I have not entered the real world yet, but I can say I believe that Linfield has prepared me. Linfield has readied me to walk across the  stage in two weeks to receive my bachelor’s degree in mass communication. Linfield has provided me with great professors who have taught me how to write. Linfield has prepared me by teaching me how to step out of the box. Linfield has taught me how to grow up.

I tell everyone this and am constantly saying how much I love it. That
especially includes athlete recruits. I would rant and rave to them about how great it is here. Honestly, I haven’t seen anyone I told that to around campus, so maybe I single-handedly scared them away from Linfield.

Although I love it here dearly, I am also ready to be done. I guess I won’t be able to see the recruits that ended up choosing Linfield next year, but I think I’m OK with that. I have had senioritis for quite a while. I thought senioritis was just a high school thing, but, oh boy, was I wrong.

College is an amazing experience, but I think we all know when we’re ready to move on. As you know, I have already written about all the great things to anticipate. First on my list is not taking any more classes — at least for awhile. I need a break and I’m sure many can agree with that. Other things to look forward to include traveling, moving out, getting a job and living the “American dream.”

As my last opinion, thank you for listening to me rant and rave about graduation and moving on with my life. I have greatly enjoyed writing about it, and I have had an even better time being a part of Linfield.

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Corrina Crocker/Sports editor
Corrina Crocker can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Dear American folks on the Internet: Please watch what you say, do or post online. You may have a right to say what you want, but that doesn’t mean it won’t come back and bite you in the ass.

It seems that people have recently been getting their anonymous online lives mixed up with their real ones. People don’t realize how easy it is for something you do online to come back and haunt you. Once things are there, they don’t go away. Even if deleted, things will pop up again elsewhere.

If you choose to contribute to this cesspool of information, don’t make a blog to whine about your students (with your real name posted), duN tAlK Lyk dis if U wAnT a JoB, don’t post your personal information and complain about others being able to see it, don’t upload a picture and wonder how it became a meme, don’t complain about your boss and job and then wonder why you got fired. The list goes on.

No matter how much time I spend on the Web or surfing the taint of the Internet, I find that people (mostly Americans) never cease to disappoint me. This especially came to my attention after the news about Osama bin Laden’s death.

Everywhere I turned, I saw ignorant and racist remarks (one comment I saw asked if Muslims were upset about losing their “leader”), reposted fake quotes (such as the bogus MLK Jr. quote against celebrating death), general stupidity and sickening hatred (such as “Osama down, Obama’s next”). I am used to the Internet being fairly heartless, but with what I’ve seen coming from people that I know in person, it would be easier to spend my time on shock sites.

I understand that people are just flexing their First Amendment rights, but I really hope that they are ready for any sort of consequences that might arise from their actions. The Internet has an uncanny ability to make anyone feel anonymous online, and yet everyone seems to try and take things personally. Even if you say something as a joke, it can be taken seriously. Consequences can come from stupid word choices, loose lips and trigger-happy cameras.

The online world is fairly unregulated, and people should at least be able to regulate themselves. However, I think I may also be asking too much from the world.

Megan Myer/Online editor
Megan Meyer can be reached at linfieldreviewonine@gmail.com.