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• Language: unknown
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Posi; Tive; Tundra
• Online Access: http://cdm16921.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16921coll4/id/6164

Mar. 12, 2014 • theconcordian.org 5 OPINION I did not get sunburnt in Hawaii. NOT AT ALL. There were plenty of op-portunities with incredibly hot weather and minimal shade, but I used protec-tion and my Irish skin re-mained pasty white. This incredible feat deserves separate recognition. Mo-ment of silence for Colin! The Burnless Part-Ginger Boy Wonder. While my skin was not red and irritated, my mo-rality was. The choir had several opportunities to hear rich and intricate his-tories of the islands spo-ken by Hawaiian natives. Hearing them recount the stories of their people, I realized how little I had known about Hawaii. Hawaii’s earliest settle-ments were Polynesian folks who rolled up on ca-noes. Before the arrival of British Captain James Cook in 1778, their Adam and Eve-style tropical para-dise was free from disease, including the common cold and was populated by over one million people. Seven years after Cook’s arrival, a French ship pass-ing through noted that the islanders all appeared to be very sick. By 1832, only 130,000 were left. Western influence did more than simply bring unknown disease to the is-lands. The Hawaiian king-dom was twice claimed by different nations that sought to civilize its inhab-itants. The native language was banned from being used. The Hawaiian Ro-man Family was stripped of their titles and absorbed into Democracy. We over-took an entire culture. Similar in lesson to the tales from various Native American tribes, the Ha-waiian narrative reminds us that living a life of privi-lege is something Ameri-cans do far too often and far too well. The Hawaiians have something to teach us, even as they stand in the rubble of a demolished kingdom. The people of these Islands have never lost their posi-tive dispositions and genu-ine resignation to the most laid-back way of life. The language is revitalized, utilizing infinitely more vowel sounds than English and a slower, easy-flow pac-ing. They eat white rice and Spam like it’s going out of style. They accept the “salad bowl” approach to diversity, and stigma re-garding race is practically non-existent. They walk at a glacial pace. Simply put, they’re perpetually re-laxed. While one does not often think of a vacation to Ha-waii as being one of edu-cation and self-discovery, it can be. Past the tourist attractions, high-priced beachfront property and $12 smoothies, you can find traces of the once-giant kingdom of people, free from worry and pessimism and filled with trust and feelings of content. When I waved goodbye to Maui, I reflected not on my remarkable lack of sunburn, but instead on my experiences in this his-torically rich environment. While I enjoyed time in the sun and my ability to relax, I worked hard not to take for granted the deep histo-ry of that place. Hawaii is a beachy, sunny, and snow-free reminder of how resil-ient a group of people can be, regardless of their op-pression. Allow Hawaii to stand as a constant remind-er that even those who have been beaten down have the capacity to live their lives in a constant state of peace. • There are very few things I am ready for Cobbers, but right now, spring is one of them, and it is at the top of my list. I cannot even begin to actually articulate the way I am feeling right now. I could cry expect-ant tears in hopes of grass, sun and weather that doesn’t hurt my face. Most of us are suffer-ing from what many call “spring fever.” We are at our wits end trying to remember what fall was like and how summer made us feel. Lucky for you, I am here to remind you. Remember what it felt like to bust out your American Eagle sandals? That feeling of freedom. I think we can all agree that winter feels like confinement. Winter is like that sweater you dig out once a year to wear for your grandmother at christmas time, too-tight, restricted and smells of damp wool, a.k.a. sad-ness. We live in a place where it is actually win-ter for half of the year, which means for half of the year we get to enjoy ourselves, and that’s it. Unless you are a hard-core outdoors enthusiast who enjoys freezing and shouting, “Any season is camping season if you try hard enough,” which is true, but for the rest of us, a little motivation through this last stretch of white-walker weather. Winter means no-shame indoor-days. We can close the blinds, have a drink and watch Fro-zen until our minds are etched with the words to “Let it Go.” We have no lack of pride in the deep internet spiral we fall in because hey, it was a snow day. Days where pants are optional, and so is motivation. Win-ter is a season where no one expects you to spend your days outside, no one gives you a side-eye when you say you spent your whole day indoors, be-cause hey, it’s cold. All of that being said, I want to be done with this god-forsaken tundra weather. In an open letter to spring, I beg it to come sooner, for it to visit us, those with blue lips and dead fingers. The fact that I have contemplated getting an extension cord to start melting the snow just to see grass is not a thing that should hap-pen. In a letter to winter I would say, yes, I like the cut of your jib, but please for the love of god, get the hell out. • Aloha to privilege Hawaii’s hidden history Goodbye winter, hello spring I have kept from hijacking this opin-ions section with my own ideas for an entire academic year, but I can’t be quiet anymore. I am scared. More than that, I am very, very frustrated. Maybe that frus-tration has something to do with senior slide, but more than that it has to do with a controversial idea that has been floating around campus. For those that haven’t heard, Concor-dia’s administration has been consider-ing a change to the academic calendar. The change, which would be implemented fall 2015, would have students take one class for September, three classes October through December, three classes Janu-ary through March, and one class during April. Because of this structure, the policy has been informally termed the “1-3-3-1” plan. The plan arises out of a desire — a need — to attract more students to campus. Implementing this kind of unique policy would allow Concordia to market itself as new and innovative, since there are hardly any other colleges that have this academic calendar. Another big reason for its con-sideration is a desire to get more students to study abroad. Instead of expensive May seminars, there would be one-month terms during September and April that would al-low people to apply their regular tuition payments to these one-month excursions. Tragically, the plan suffers from some damning drawbacks. First, chances are that the first — and only — class that freshmen would take on campus would be inquiry. Now, many people love their orientation groups, but without other classmates to help assimi-late into those first scary weeks of col-lege, seeing and meeting only your club-bies and floor mates for that whole first month would be a nightmare. Add to that the probability of not getting along with a roommate, not getting the desired dorm, or not liking that inquiry class, and this policy will almost definitely leave a notice-able stain on retention. Second, there hasn’t been nearly enough research, experimentation, or even logical thought that has gone into this policy. What made this particular approach attractive is its rarity, but that also means we have almost no empirical idea of how this will impact Concordia. Attempting the policy at this point would basically be going in blind. Last I checked, this isn’t the ideal strategy for policy im-plementation. Quite the contrary, it is an inarguably poor strategy. Third, far too many students get dealt a wretched hand with this policy. Imag-ine taking organic chemistry in a month. Some students take it during the sum-mer to make the miserable experience go quickly, but they can only do that because there aren’t clubs, sports, and meetings demanding their attention. Think about those week-long music tours. With this strategy, you could well miss 25 percent of class time just from going on tour. Re-covering academically from that would be near impossible. The best some students can say is that they don’t think this idea is that bad, that they might be open to it. After all, change is good, right? No. Good change is good. Misdirected and forced change fool-ish. Students and faculty are not in such an uproar for no reason. It would make their lives harder, and they know that the chances of it helping the college are spec-ulative and minimal. End this foolishness now, and then we can start thinking about more strategic and intelligent changes the college could make. • Not all change is good JACOB AMOS, OPINIONS EDITOR