Jillian Beaudry

Editor-in-Chief

Stacey Barchenger

Managing Editor

Burn Books of “Mean Girls” fame are hitting college campuses nationwide and are becoming increasingly popular in a mutant form: gossip Web sites.

The sites, which include www.gossipreport.com and
www.juicycampus.com, allow students to anonymously contribute to a specific campus’ online Burn Book.

Not only does the Internet facilitate student use of the pages, but it makes it easier for everyone to read often fictitious comments about other students. The Internet is easily accessible, a good feature for busy students. But in this case, easy Internet access is doing more harm than good.

An article in the April 14 issue of People Magazine highlights the story of one student at Duke University who dropped out of a class after finding anonymous posts on JuicyCampus that said she was ugly and suicidal.

The founder of JuicyCampus wrote in a letter users should “Remember that words can hurt, and the people you are talking about are real.” But if you think words can hurt, why create the site at all?

So far on GossipReport and JuicyCampus there are no
Linfield-related listings. Only four “G-strings,” or tagged gossip tidbits, were hit when searching for Oregon on www.gossipreport.com.

Let’s keep it that way. It seems outrageous that students would post mean comments on a site like either of these. You may not like someone, and you may need to complain to your roommates sometimes, but keep your gossip and complaints to someone you trust.

The pages seem to be Facebook and MySpace gone wild. Fighting on walls and through comments is bad enough; we do not see a need to take personal issues to the national scene.

GossipReport encourages users to “anonymously talk about anyone you want. Instead of creating a profile about yourself, you can create a profile about someone else. Get in the loop. Go Gossip!”

We encourage you to do anything but that.

What benefit is there in a site with such rampant malicious content? For the owners of the pages, the benefit from ad sales means more green for their wallets. For the college student who reads that he or she supposedly has this or has done that, there is no value. When people read the posts that may or may not be true, rumors will start spreading and reputations will be ruined.

The worst part is no legal action can be taken. According to the People article, in 1996 the U.S. Congress allowed Internet service providers immunity from libel prosecution when the defamation of character was done by a user. This legislation effectively eliminates any sort of restriction on who writes what.

First Amendment rights allow us to make fun and belittle who-ever we want in whatever form we want—it’s called free speech. The point is we shouldn’t be doing that. It’s a matter of human decency.

We encourage you to stay away from sites that encourage public gossiping. Take a lesson from “Mean Girls” and don’t use these Burn Books to hurt others. 

Jillian Beaudry

Editor in Chief

Stacey Barchenger

Managing Editor

We all deserve to know what we are eating.

New York City is getting it right by asking some chain restaurants to post the calorie content of their dishes on menus. However, some restaurants in the state are upset, claiming the new rule raises legal issues, even though U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell ruled the policy constitutional, according to an April 22 story in The New York Times. The judge decided in favor of the idea because it will work to actively reduce obesity in New York City.

As of now, if the designated restaurants do not have their calories posted after June 6, they will be fined. The story said the government is imposing its views on consumers and violating their First Amendment rights. They are also concerned that the regulation takes away the flexibility and the freedom of owners to post nutrition information how they see fit.

Pushing a cart through the grocery store, one can make decisions about the food he or she will consume because all of the nutrition information and ingredients are listed. There is no guessing.

If one doesn’t want to consume high fructose corn syrup or chicken fat flavoring, they don’t have to. They can choose the brand of cereal with fewer calories.

In restaurants, consumers are eating blindly. We have no idea where the ingredients in our food come from, how it is cooked or what the nutrition and calorie content is. All we know is the cost. We order whatever sounds good and get what is provided. This is not the way we should be making choices.

We should be able to have all the information about a dish beforehand to make the best choice for ourselves.

Those with dietary allergies would worry less about eating at restaurants if they knew exactly what was in each dish. The unassuming person with a deadly nut allergy will not land in the hospital because a cook decided to add a splash of peanut oil to a sauce.

As for violating First Amendment rights, the government will not be forcing consumers to eat certain foods if the calorie and nutrition information is posted. No one else has been standing up for the one’s power to decide what one consumes. It’s about time someone did.

The restaurant chains are throwing a hissy fit because they know when people see their popular creamy pasta dish contains 2,100 calories, sales will drop drastically. But isn’t it better to give consumers the power to make healthier decisions?

The Catty Shack on campus posts the calories in its smoothies on the overhead board and the nutrition information can be found on top of the glass case by the cash register. Students can easily decide which smoothie is healthiest for them and feel confident in what they are consuming.

It would be great if that information extended throughout campus dining services, such as at O’Riley’s, or even better, if it caught on around McMinnville.

Students are looking and feeling run down, especially as finals get closer. They aren’t eating right or exercising enough because they are studying so much.

Make a difference in student wellness and follow New York City’s efforts: Post more nutrition information and give us the power to decide what we consume.

Jillian Beaudry

Editor in Chief

Stacey Barchenger

Managing Editor

The average person might pass by the date April 22 as just another day. This year, it was a Tuesday, which means many students likely went about their daily routines without noticing two tiny words printed on their day planners:
Earth Day.

Earth Day began in 1970, and according to the Environmental Protection Agency Web site, was supported by over 20 million Americans that year. The purpose of establishing the day was to increase environmental awareness, but now it has grown to much more. 

It is not only a national awareness day; now it is also a global action day. Action can (and should) be taken on many different levels, by individuals, families, interest groups, businesses and local and national governments.

If Google can redecorate the logo on its Web site, completely eliminating its usual primary
colors in exchange for a nearly monochromatic green scene of rocks covered in thriving moss, a creek, a turtle and a Bonsai tree, a student can take five seconds and shut off the light in his or her room or apartment, right?

In nearly four decades, the EPA has sponsored bills and legislation that seek to improve the environment on a national level. But, as stressed by the Web site, much can be done at the individual and grassroots levels.

One of Linfield’s most prominent clubs, Greenfield, has been tabling around campus and sponsoring the Campus Climate
Challenge, a week-long contest aimed at making students more aware of their energy consumption. The winner of the challenge is the Residence Hall or suburb housing unit that decreases its energy consumption by the largest percentage.

Club President Duncan Reid said the club has increased its activities this week to change Earth Day into a sort of Earth Week.

Personally, Reid makes changes and stresses the importance of making environmentally conscious decisions. For example, he doesn’t use disposal drinking devices—think Styrofoam and plastic cups—to help the environment. The most important thing, he said, is to make conscious choices and be aware of the impacts of those choices.

If students aren’t ready to give up those red and white plastic beer pong cups, it’s OK. Re-use them; the game is dirty anyway.

Find other ways to reduce your environmental footprint, and maybe save the college some money.

Turn off the lights when you leave your room. Turn off your computer at night. And please, most importantly of all, recycle. With mixed recycling on campus, no one is eligible for the lazy excuse anymore.

It isn’t about numbers in the case of helping the environment, and the date shouldn’t matter. Students should consider how their daily decisions affect the
environment.

This is not a crusade to stop global warming. It is a call to action for all Linfield students to follow the lead of Greenfield to help the environment. Every day should be Earth Day.         

Jillian Beaudry

Stacey Barchenger

After the death of Linfield’s beloved Old Oak in January, the community will lose another campus icon this spring.

As you can read in our story on pages eight and nine of this issue, Linda Burris, Sodexho employee since 1989, is leaving to take better care of her husband. Burris has loved students over the years and taken care of us. We will all miss her dearly.

All good things come and go with time, but losing the Old Oak and Burris signify major changes occurring on campus, mainly the loss of tradition. The school desperately tried to keep the oak intact as long as it could, but a tree is a living thing and was meant to die someday. Burris needs to move to benefit herself and her husband.

What about the traditions and icons at Linfield that do not have a life span? Where have all of those traditions gone?

Linfield is a college founded on tradition. It’s rich history included May Day events, senior pranks, green beanie hats worn by freshman, attending Saturday football games and singing the alma mater at big gatherings. Now, there is no May Day celebration, no senior pranks and no beanie hats.

There has even been a decline in the number of students who show up to watch Wildcat football in the fall. Students used to bring couches and pile into stands in their Linfield gear. Now, many will not even venture out of their rooms to participate in one of the school’s most popular pastimes, especially if it is raining outside, because there is no covered seating for those without season tickets.

With the 150th anniversary of Linfield, some traditions are trying to make a comeback and some are being created. However, they probably will not continue through the years because students today are very different than those who participated in the traditions of the past. The Spring Song contest will be fun, but it is doubtful that it will draw enough excitement and participation that it will continue.

As difficult as it sounds, it is hard to start new traditions because students don’t feel the need to get involved as it isn’t a tradition. It is up to the organizer to come up with an event that students today will enjoy and want to make into an annual tradition.

Last weekend, Linfield Activities Board held a Spring Fling dance, trying to revive an old annual event. About 75 to 100 students showed up to dance the night away. With hope, it will be even more popular next year.

When the Review researched May Day last year, Dave Hansen, dean of students, said many traditions were done away in the 1960s when participating in traditional activities was unpopular because of the changing culture. We haven’t returned to the time prior.

Those in charge of campus activities should know students do want to hold on to traditional events on campus, but they should also be fun for us all today and be able to change and adapt with the times. Let’s see some new traditions on campus to make up for the icons lost this year.

Jillian Beaudry

Stacey Barchenger

With housing registration looming, continuing students must decide which on-campus housing option most suits their needs.

Linfield offers a variety of same sex living options, and students can choose arrangements as specialized as substance-free buildings, women-only and men-only floors or residence halls.

But something at Linfield is missing.

According to a March 23 story in the Statesman Journal,
Willamette University will offer
gender-neutral housing options to its students next fall.

The change is meant to accommodate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students who may feel uncomfortable living in a same-sex arrangement. Willamette’s Dean of Campus Life Robert Hawkinson told the newspaper the option is a matter of fairness and means to provide all students with a satisfying living environment.

The Review supports Willamette in its action. The program’s goal is innocent: to assist students and give them equal rights.

The gender-neutral program is not unusual; Oregon State University and Lewis & Clark College offer similar programs. Students who participate in the program at Willamette simply need to indicate interest and write the name of the roommate they choose on a separate housing form specific to the new program.

The Statesman story shows this option will undoubtedly create controversy among students. Parents of students will not be notified if their child chooses the new housing option.

Some may argue parents should be informed, but we ask if they really should. Students, most of who are over the age of 18, have the right to their privacy, and if they don’t want to share their sexual orientation and housing choice, so be it. People are always saying we are adults now, right?

Another potential problem of the program addressed by Willamette is whether or not romantic couples, including heterosexual and gay couples, will be allowed to live together. The dean said the program is not designed to allow two romantically linked people to live together, and Residence Life has the right to deny any gender-neutral application.

So far, the general idea at Willamette is if people do not abuse the system, things will work out fine. According to the story, Lewis & Clark has limited demand for this kind of housing option, and OSU, which allows students regardless of relationship status to room together in special housing, will expand the number of gender-mixed rooms available on campus.

Jeff Mackay, associate dean of students and director of residence life at Linfield, is quoted in the story as well. He said Linfield is looking into this option.

But what is happening now? How about we start a collegewide discussion to see what the students, those who would benefit most from the policy change, think?

The majority of the Review staff supports offering the gender-neutral option to students on campus, although we acknowledge there will be issues. Heterosexual couples may abuse the privilege, but overall, giving Residence Life the ultimate power to decide would keep things uncomplicated.

Think about it from a heterosexual perspective: If you are a man or woman and your same-sex roommate is bisexual or gay, you may feel uncomfortable. But, have you ever thought how they might feel? Gender-neutral housing seeks to eliminate uncomfortable and awkward housing arrangements for ALL students, no matter their sexual
orientation.

Jillian Beaudry

Stacey Barchenger

Here at the Review, we can be a pretty needy bunch of people. We constantly ask you all to suggest story ideas, visit our new Web site and give us your feedback. But, we have been away on Spring Break for two weeks and are ready to ask something new: Do you want to work for us?

Spring is an exciting time for our staff. We have gotten through most of the kinks of production night, and we work diligently to continue to bring new ideas and issues to you.

Also, spring is the season for hiring. Staff members are abuzz talking about what position they want, what pages they could design and what stories they could write.

It takes a lot to put this little
16-page wonder together every week, but production has improved drastically in the last two years. While editors once had to work until 6 a.m. each Friday morning to have the paper on newsstands by 2 p.m., we are now walking out at 1:50 a.m. on Friday. Many of us can actually stay awake in class and at our jobs
on Fridays now!

Is working for the Review a commitment? Absolutely. Just like any other sport or club, working for the newspaper takes time each week, but you always get to decide how much.

Simply being a staff writer means writing one story each week. A staff photographer will be assigned a campus event or two to shoot. Section editors work with writers throughout the week, write stories and work production night on Thursdays.

There are definitely perks that come with the job. We’re talking free Quizno’s and other food on Thursdays; a stipend to help you pay your bills; the chance to fly to newspaper conferences and meet other college journalists; the ability to compete in contests against other newspapers across the nation and in Oregon; and the satisfaction of seeing your name in print each week.

Usually, we receive applications for section editors only from mass communication students, which is pretty sad because we need a more diverse staff to best cover the news.

We are looking for students who are willing to learn, have a great attitude and will be dedicated. We do not require that you be a computer genius, design whiz or AP Style master to take on these positions. Of course, it always helps to have been on newspaper or yearbook staff in high school, but we train each other so well that those without experience pick it up quickly.

On Student News, we have posted an application to be editor in chief or managing editor of our beloved paper next year, and it is exciting. Those selected will begin hiring their new staff this month, as the editor and managing editor decision will be made April 24.

I hope this gives you all enough time to think about what you could do for our school and for yourself by working with the Review. You will have the chance to meet people in our community you never would have otherwise, know all of the real behind-the-scenes news before everyone else and become an expert on certain topics.

There are so many ways to get involved with the paper, and we need staff writers most of all. No need to apply for that position, simply e-mail review@linfield.edu to let us know you are interested and what section you would like to write for. We know there are many sports fanatics out there on campus, and we need you! If you know a lot about what’s going on in the art, theater or music departments, we especially need you to fill us in on what is happening on the arts scene.

Inquire at any time to be a staff writer or photographer and look for section editor applications as soon as possible after
April 24. We want students of all ages and majors. We want you to help our paper continue to improve and win bigger awards. How’s
that for neediness?