Transgender Awareness Week Vs. International Education Week: We sift through the events

November 16, 2009

Today

International Education:  According to the event schedule, “Cmdr. David Nystrom, deputy director of strategic communications for the Office of Naval Research, will speak Monday, Nov. 16, at 7:30 p.m. in Molnar Recital Hall in Wygal on “The Reconstruction Efforts for the Gold Dome Mosque in Samarra.” He will discuss the challenges facing the reconstruction efforts for this mosque in Iraq, one of Shi’ite Islam’s holiest shrines, which was heavily damaged in bombings by militants in 2006 and 2007.”

Transgender Awareness: According to the Facebook event schedule, a Transgender Workshop will be held at Hiner 207, starting at 7:00 p.m. “We will be discussing what it means to be transgender, who falls under the category of being transgender, and various other trans issues.”

Our Recommendation: Cmdr. David Nystrom, even though his lecture doesn’t appear to deal with education.

 

Tuesday, November 17th

International Education:  “Dr. Steven Isaac, associate professor of history, will speak Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 4 p.m. in the Virginia Room in Blackwell Hall on ‘Intruders and Entrails: Medieval Sieges, Longwood University and a Fulbright in France.’ Isaac, a specialist in medieval military culture, is going in the spring semester as a Fulbright Scholar to the University of Poitiers in France, where he will conduct research on military sieges in the 12th century and their impact on town dwellers. A reception will follow his talk.”

Trangender Awareness: Screening of the documentary “She’s a Boy I Once Knew” in Jeffer’s Auditorium, from 7:15-8:15 p.m.

Our Recommendation: Professor Isaacs’s reputation as an engaging lecturer should be enjoyed while we still have him at Longwood.   However, “She’s a Boy I Once Knew” has done well at film festivals.  Thus, we recommend both events, and would like to say that “Intruders and Entrails” could serve as a nice subtitle for a film about sex-change.

 

Wednesday, November 18th

International Education: “The World is Our Campus!”, a program put on by international students and Longwood students who have studied abroad, will be from 1 to 3 p.m. in Lankford Ballroom.

Trangender Awareness: “Safe Zone Ally Training,” a program where those in attendance will become “certified ‘safe zones’ for those of LGBTQ to turn when needed.”  12 p.m. to 2:30 in the C room of the Student Union.

Our Recommendation: Transgender Awareness wins.  We’ve got a good feeling about this one.

 

Thursday, November 19th

International Education: “Negotiating the Second Language Learner in the Classroom,” a program led by Longwood professor Don Butler and visiting professor Xiaohong (Julia) Zhu.  They will discuss “relationship dynamics and communication strategies in the multicultural classroom.”  This will  go down at the Prince Edward Room in Blackwell Hall at — ouch– 10 a.m.

Transgender Awareness: “A Day in the Life….” which is described as “[...] a Transgender open forum that will consist of a panel of four transgender [sic] indviduals,” will take place from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Molnar Recital Hall in Wygal.

Our Recommendation: Transgender Awarness wins for picking a reasonable hour of the day to hold an event.

Leave a Comment » | Groups, Professors | Permalink
Posted by thelongwoodhole

SGA jumps on the “hysterical townhall meeting” bandwagon

October 14, 2009

According to an email from Cam Patterson, tomorrow afternoon at six the SGA will host an extra special Student Services Open Forum in the Lankford Ballroom. 

Patterson wrote:

This will be a [sic] opportunity for students to share their thoughts/concerns on key areas of student life. The following offices will be represented at this forum

• Dr. Richard Chassey – Honor and Judicial Affairs
• Chief Bob Beach – Campus Police and Public Safety
• Doug Howell – Residential and Commuter Life
• Grant Avent – Dining Services
• Dr. Tim Pierson – Administration and Everything Else 

Sounds like something worth attending.  We’re already scribbling down a list of grievances. 

First on the list:  Bob Beach, why won’t you accept our friend request on Facebook?

Leave a Comment » | Awkward, Groups, Police, Politics, Professors | Permalink
Posted by thelongwoodhole

The Road to Oktoberfest, Day Three: A Most Exclusive Club

September 30, 2009

For this third day of Spirit Week, we’re examining a student organization…of sorts.  It has no annual fees or t-shirts.  It doesn’t have an official name.  There’s no Constitution, no banal assurances of acceptance and equal-oportunity membership.  Quite the opposite — each week, it’s members are reviewed by the group’s leader, who gleefully expunges one unworthy person from the roster. 

They are the Facebook friends of Longwood senior Michael Gills.  Here is their newsletter:    mike gills

 

 

mike 3

 

 

mike2

(photo credit: facebook.com)

 

Michael is a writer, a tennis enthusiast, a record-holding Tetris player and, for the time being, our friend on Facebook.  He answered some questions from The Longwood Hole about the finer points of winnowing his friend list, and how the Elite 40 originated.

The Longwood Hole:  How did the idea of the elite forty come about? What were your influences?

Michael:   The idea came from a lot of things, one being the home spam — what do I care if “Emily is soooo sleeepppy”? It’s crazy the things people post that they think we want to read about — when they’re tired, what they ate, how well they did on an exam, etc. It’s just a confession on how boring people’s lives really are. And I would still read it! I found myself clicking on people’s profiles and browsing these meaningless wall posts. I think there’s a real insanity about facebook people aren’t addressing.
 

TLH:  How many people, if any, have realized that they have been removed from your friend list? Did you let them back in? Is ejection permanent? 

Michael:  I get two or three requests a day, some know they’ve been booted, some think it was just a mistake. I think the latter category is more evidence of that facebook insanity…I mean these people have so many friends they’ve forgotten if I was ever a part of their list. As for reentries, well, don’t hold your breath.
 

TLH: Who would go first: a kind-hearted acquaintance you barely know, or a total asshole you know intimately? 
 

Michael: The kind-hearted schmuck, no doubt.

TLH:  When high noon arrives, do you already have an idea who will be let go? Or do you examine your list carefully, weighing each individual person? 

Michael: I often have a person lined up, but last minute acts of redemption are certainly possible. In terms of examining the list carefully, I do the weighing on a completely biased and partial scale. My justice has twelve eyes and x-ray vision.

TLH: How do you feel when you lighten your friend list? Is it cathartic? Addictive? 

Michael: I’m a big minimalist, and I seriously enjoy throwing things away. That includes friends. I would call the experience liberating.
 

TLH: Will it stop at forty, or will the purging continue? A sweet sixteen maybe? Will this continue until there is only one friend left?

Michael: Once I hit 40 I was thinking of letting new friends in — which would mean old friends would have to leave. Taking it down to one might seriously alienate me from people I care about. I mean, could I un-friend my own sister? Stop giving me ideas!

Leave a Comment » | Groups, Interviews, Oktoberfest, Things that are good | Permalink
Posted by thelongwoodhole

Thursday Miscellanea

September 24, 2009

The Other Acclaimed Horror Writer: Peter Straub, writer of seventeen horror novels including Ghost Story, will give a reading in the Molnar Recital Hall tonight at eight.  Straub was supposed to do this a year ago, but had to reschedule.  If you’re free tonight, go see it.  Horror writers in person > Thirsty Thursdays.

RIP Frog: For those who have been at Longwood for a while, a good friend recently passed away.  Will Pettus, an ’06 alumnus, died this week of a heart attack while in Cumberland Gap, Kentucky.  If you knew Will and would like to pay your respects, go here.  We’ll remember Will as an educator and an outdoorsman.  He smiled a lot, knew how to hang out, and he liked overalls.  There aren’t enough people like Will, and we’ll miss him.

HEADLINE HEADLINE HEADLINE: We would just like to say that we think it’s pretty awesome and quite fitting that the rugby headlines in the Rotunda ARE IN ALL CAPS RAHHHHHHHHHH.

Big. Ass. Website.: If you haven’t already noticed, you no longer have to include WordPress when typing in the name of this website.  Just type longwoodhole.com

ALSO:   We’re now accepting artwork submissions.  Photos, sketches, paintings, Paint and iPhone doodles, comic strips, etc.  Submissions do not have to pertain to Longwood.  It just needs to be weird, funny, interesting, or a combination of all of these characteristics.  A black and white photo of an old person’s wrinkled-ass hands does not, in our opinion, fit into those categories.  But if the wrinkled-ass hands are flicking us off, well, we would certainly publish that!

Send to longwoodhole@gmail.com

Leave a Comment » | Books, Groups, Happy trails, Miscellanea, Newspaper | Permalink
Posted by thelongwoodhole

Where’s Our Tacky McTacky?

September 22, 2009
ducky

(photo credit: The Longwood Hole)

As this weekend’s tragedy continues to garner attention from national news outlets, students are staying active on campus, doing such things as fighting for the return of the two-headed duck.

A Facebook group called “Where’s my Duck?” has earned one-hundred and twenty four members in less than forty-eight hours.

And they’re quite serious about its return.  The group provides a link to a website that offers Two-Headed Trojan Ducky for the low low price of $13,000.

We asked the group’s creator, Ashley Bowles, how she planned to come up with that much cheese.

“I would like to start a fundraiser,” she said. “Heck I’d love for the students to raise half and then have the university cover the remaining cost. But with the economy so [b]ad I doubt they are going to put in $6,500 for a sculpture so I doubt that will happen.”

Her group’s members have already been brainstorming.  One proposed that “if each person gave about 3 dollars there’d be enough money to get the duck back.”

You know, if every student threw in three dollars, we’d almost have enough money to buy back the Collegiate Readership Program.  Or a pony.

While we were never the duck thing’s biggest fans, we understand its importance for many students.  When asked why she was so attached to Ducky, Bowles said:

“When I started as a freshmen last year in the fall I couldn’t wait to show everyone who came to visit the two headed rubber ducky. It always cheered me up when the weather would stay cloudy for days or whenever I was having a bad day. I think it was the bright yellow. Personally I think the freshmen got gypped; they see it during orientation and then they come in expecting to see it and it’s not there. It’s quite depressing.”

We’ll look forward to the fundraising schemes of Bowle’s group.  If you get the money and Ducky is already purchased, don’t forget that there are always other positive investments to be made (read: pony!).

Leave a Comment » | Ducky, Groups, Money | Permalink
Posted by thelongwoodhole

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