Anna Rae Gwarjanski Portfolio |
A hopeful future for my South
Published in The Paris News
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
I read AL.com pretty regularly to keep up with the goings-on in my home state, and my favorite of their writers is John Archibald (I actually went to grad school with his son). He wrote a column on April 16, 2016, titled “I want my South back,” that has stuck with me. I enjoyed it because it reminded me of my childhood, rosier days when things were simpler, people seemed nicer and Mama always had a ham-and-mayonnaise sandwich waiting for me.
“You know the place,” Archibald writes. “It recognized the past, but didn’t wallow around in it. My South could laugh at itself, because it knew deep down it had it made. It had food to make you drool and music to make you feel, and it had the prettiest of people. It blushed at compliments and shook off insult, because the quirks other folks ridiculed were the wrinkles that gave it character.”
I grew up proud to be Southern. I loved telling people I was from Alabama. I liked that my calloused feet could run barefoot on gravel roads, that I had my own shotgun before I turned 12, that I knew how to fillet a fish I had caught in the creek. Even though we didn’t have a lot of money, my mom quit her job to raise my sisters and me. I thought that’s how things were for everyone — your parents get married and stay together, Pops works as much as he needs to make ends meet, and Mama stays home with the kids, making sure they are reared right. You go to church on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights and Wednesday nights. You may not have money for extras, but there’s always a surplus of food — and, by God, you better clean your plate.
But, I’m realizing while that might have been my experience growing up in rural Alabama, my South is not the same as everyone’s South. I was lucky enough to get a scholarship to a fancy private high school in Tennessee, and I met people from every part of the world, who were from all walks of life. It drastically changed my perspective. Being white, straight, Christian, middle class and educated, it made me realize that my South was gentler, more tempered than some of my peers. Some of my friends didn’t have two parents. Some of my friends did, but they had to work 24/7. Some of my friends had never been to church. Some of my friends grew up in mansions; some grew up in shacks.
At my school, everyone was treated equally. But, outside of school — at Wal-Mart or the mall, for example — I got to see how my friends who looked different than me were treated, and I was surprised at the distinct contrast in our encounters.
There shouldn’t be blame in having different experiences. But, at the same time, anecdotes are not always accurate — just because something is one way for me, doesn’t mean it’s that way for everyone else. So, what can we do? I can’t change my skin color or sexual orientation, but I can listen when people tell me what they’re going through. I can really hear them and not turn away.
The South I knew may be impossibly romanticized, but the simple act of listening without constantly preparing a counterargument is not. In this age of anger and divisiveness, that’s how we make things better, in my South.
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
I read AL.com pretty regularly to keep up with the goings-on in my home state, and my favorite of their writers is John Archibald (I actually went to grad school with his son). He wrote a column on April 16, 2016, titled “I want my South back,” that has stuck with me. I enjoyed it because it reminded me of my childhood, rosier days when things were simpler, people seemed nicer and Mama always had a ham-and-mayonnaise sandwich waiting for me.
“You know the place,” Archibald writes. “It recognized the past, but didn’t wallow around in it. My South could laugh at itself, because it knew deep down it had it made. It had food to make you drool and music to make you feel, and it had the prettiest of people. It blushed at compliments and shook off insult, because the quirks other folks ridiculed were the wrinkles that gave it character.”
I grew up proud to be Southern. I loved telling people I was from Alabama. I liked that my calloused feet could run barefoot on gravel roads, that I had my own shotgun before I turned 12, that I knew how to fillet a fish I had caught in the creek. Even though we didn’t have a lot of money, my mom quit her job to raise my sisters and me. I thought that’s how things were for everyone — your parents get married and stay together, Pops works as much as he needs to make ends meet, and Mama stays home with the kids, making sure they are reared right. You go to church on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights and Wednesday nights. You may not have money for extras, but there’s always a surplus of food — and, by God, you better clean your plate.
But, I’m realizing while that might have been my experience growing up in rural Alabama, my South is not the same as everyone’s South. I was lucky enough to get a scholarship to a fancy private high school in Tennessee, and I met people from every part of the world, who were from all walks of life. It drastically changed my perspective. Being white, straight, Christian, middle class and educated, it made me realize that my South was gentler, more tempered than some of my peers. Some of my friends didn’t have two parents. Some of my friends did, but they had to work 24/7. Some of my friends had never been to church. Some of my friends grew up in mansions; some grew up in shacks.
At my school, everyone was treated equally. But, outside of school — at Wal-Mart or the mall, for example — I got to see how my friends who looked different than me were treated, and I was surprised at the distinct contrast in our encounters.
There shouldn’t be blame in having different experiences. But, at the same time, anecdotes are not always accurate — just because something is one way for me, doesn’t mean it’s that way for everyone else. So, what can we do? I can’t change my skin color or sexual orientation, but I can listen when people tell me what they’re going through. I can really hear them and not turn away.
The South I knew may be impossibly romanticized, but the simple act of listening without constantly preparing a counterargument is not. In this age of anger and divisiveness, that’s how we make things better, in my South.
Help's close at hand
Published in The Paris News
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
Last night’s fire at Colonial Apartments brings back memories of this summer’s Garden Apartments fire. While firefighters were able to contain the fire to the northeast part of the building, some residents are still now homeless.
I’ve witnessed my fair share of natural disasters. Living in Tuscaloosa from 2010-16, I watched storms tear apart the city I loved and had grown to call home. In April 2011, tornadoes spanned Alabama, killing 243 people across the state, and 41 people in Tuscaloosa alone. In April 2014, storms again hit Tuscaloosa, and I lost one of my best friends after a retaining wall collapsed in the basement where he was taking shelter.
These tragedies are just that — tragic. I still have flashbacks to these traumatic events when I hear thunder or the wind picks up. But, despite the pain and devastation these storms wrought, the kindness of strangers at that time wasn’t lost on me then, and it’s not lost on me now. It never ceases to amaze me how communities come together in these hard times.
In 2011, I remember there being so many volunteers in Tuscaloosa a few days after the tornado that there weren’t even enough jobs for everyone. I stayed in town to help — I was a freshman at the university at the time, and my dorm wasn’t hit — and drove out with a church to some of the hardest hit areas. But, when we arrived, there were so many people already clearing fallen trees and clearing debris from ruined houses, all I could do was hand out water bottles. After the tornado in Tuscaloosa, like so many other communities throughout the country, residents from Joplin, Missouri, dispatched volunteers and relief goods. Then, when less than a month later, another E5 tornado decimated Joplin, Tuscaloosa returned the favor, delivering a truckload of water, diapers, baby food and other relief materials.
In 2014, for John’s funeral, my team and I traveled to his hometown, Tupelo, Mississippi. Tupelo was hit by the same storm that later traveled to Tuscaloosa and killed John, and John’s last Tweet said, “Keep Tupelo in your prayers.” In his honor, we wanted to help the town that was in his final thoughts. Although few of us had ever been to that part of Mississippi, the many volunteer groups welcomed us with open arms, directing us to the neighborhoods that needed the most help.
That same spirit permeated Paris after the Gardens Apartments fire. The community came together to buy school supplies for the displaced children. The churches opened their doors as emergency shelters. The Red Cross was overwhelmed with donated clothes and other items. Salvation Army officials said they had more than enough clothes, shoes and school supplies donations, and SA also raised funds to help displaced residents with housing.
I have no doubt the same thing is going to happen in the next week. Although it’s easy to drown in negative news and lose faith in humanity, there is still good in this world — it can be seen in the simple act helping another person.
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
Last night’s fire at Colonial Apartments brings back memories of this summer’s Garden Apartments fire. While firefighters were able to contain the fire to the northeast part of the building, some residents are still now homeless.
I’ve witnessed my fair share of natural disasters. Living in Tuscaloosa from 2010-16, I watched storms tear apart the city I loved and had grown to call home. In April 2011, tornadoes spanned Alabama, killing 243 people across the state, and 41 people in Tuscaloosa alone. In April 2014, storms again hit Tuscaloosa, and I lost one of my best friends after a retaining wall collapsed in the basement where he was taking shelter.
These tragedies are just that — tragic. I still have flashbacks to these traumatic events when I hear thunder or the wind picks up. But, despite the pain and devastation these storms wrought, the kindness of strangers at that time wasn’t lost on me then, and it’s not lost on me now. It never ceases to amaze me how communities come together in these hard times.
In 2011, I remember there being so many volunteers in Tuscaloosa a few days after the tornado that there weren’t even enough jobs for everyone. I stayed in town to help — I was a freshman at the university at the time, and my dorm wasn’t hit — and drove out with a church to some of the hardest hit areas. But, when we arrived, there were so many people already clearing fallen trees and clearing debris from ruined houses, all I could do was hand out water bottles. After the tornado in Tuscaloosa, like so many other communities throughout the country, residents from Joplin, Missouri, dispatched volunteers and relief goods. Then, when less than a month later, another E5 tornado decimated Joplin, Tuscaloosa returned the favor, delivering a truckload of water, diapers, baby food and other relief materials.
In 2014, for John’s funeral, my team and I traveled to his hometown, Tupelo, Mississippi. Tupelo was hit by the same storm that later traveled to Tuscaloosa and killed John, and John’s last Tweet said, “Keep Tupelo in your prayers.” In his honor, we wanted to help the town that was in his final thoughts. Although few of us had ever been to that part of Mississippi, the many volunteer groups welcomed us with open arms, directing us to the neighborhoods that needed the most help.
That same spirit permeated Paris after the Gardens Apartments fire. The community came together to buy school supplies for the displaced children. The churches opened their doors as emergency shelters. The Red Cross was overwhelmed with donated clothes and other items. Salvation Army officials said they had more than enough clothes, shoes and school supplies donations, and SA also raised funds to help displaced residents with housing.
I have no doubt the same thing is going to happen in the next week. Although it’s easy to drown in negative news and lose faith in humanity, there is still good in this world — it can be seen in the simple act helping another person.
Bathing suits for everyone
Published in The Paris News
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
It’s almost summer, which means I’ve been seeing a lot of “getting ready for bikini season!” posts on Facebook. As temperatures rise and layers are shed, men and women everywhere are feeling the pressure to slim down.
While the “who should be allowed to wear a bathing suit” debate is always a popular conversation topic this time of year, it’s especially pertinent right now. A swimwear designer recently critcized InStyle magazine for putting Amy Schumer, who was wearing a one-piece bathing suit, on the cover of its May beauty issue.
“Come on now!” Dana Duggan wrote under the account of her South Shore Swimwear brand. “You could not find anyone better for this cover? Not everyone should be in a swimsuit.”
For the record, Schumer wears a size 6-8, compared to my size 10-12. Also, for the record, the average American woman wears a size 14-16. Is Duggan saying the average American woman shouldn’t wear a bathing suit to the beach?
Well, to make everything simpler, I’ve got two easy steps to being beach-body ready:
1) Have a body.
2) Go to the beach.
I’m so tired of people being shamed for what they look like. To be honest, I feel sorry for this woman who bases people’s value on their size, who thinks that if someone doesn’t look a certain way they need to hide. I feel sorry for her because how she feels about other people is a reflection of how she feels about herself. And, I feel sorry for her because I used to feel that same way about myself, and I know how exhausting and damaging it is.
My body is nowhere near perfect, but I love it. I stand in awe of this mass of skin and bones and muscle that allows me to play the sport I love, to hike with my friends, to dance with my boyfriend, to run around with my young cousins. I recognize and honor how hard this physical vessel works to keep me alive. And, a lot of that self-love began when I stopped talking badly about myself and stopped allowing my friends to talk badly about themselves, at least in my presence.
So, men and women — live proudly in your skin. Wear what you feel comfortable in, and don’t let others tell you that’s unacceptable. I can’t say it any better than author Anne Lamott:
“Oh my God, what if you wake up some day, and you’re 65, or 75, and you never got your memoir or novel written; or you didn’t go swimming in warm pools and oceans all those years because your thighs were jiggly and you had a nice big comfortable tummy; or you were just so strung out on perfectionism and people-pleasing that you forgot to have a big juicy creative life, of imagination and radical silliness and staring off into space like when you were a kid? It’s going to break your heart. Don’t let this happen.”
As Tina Fey said, if you retain nothing else from this column, always remember the most important rule of beauty, which is: who cares?
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
It’s almost summer, which means I’ve been seeing a lot of “getting ready for bikini season!” posts on Facebook. As temperatures rise and layers are shed, men and women everywhere are feeling the pressure to slim down.
While the “who should be allowed to wear a bathing suit” debate is always a popular conversation topic this time of year, it’s especially pertinent right now. A swimwear designer recently critcized InStyle magazine for putting Amy Schumer, who was wearing a one-piece bathing suit, on the cover of its May beauty issue.
“Come on now!” Dana Duggan wrote under the account of her South Shore Swimwear brand. “You could not find anyone better for this cover? Not everyone should be in a swimsuit.”
For the record, Schumer wears a size 6-8, compared to my size 10-12. Also, for the record, the average American woman wears a size 14-16. Is Duggan saying the average American woman shouldn’t wear a bathing suit to the beach?
Well, to make everything simpler, I’ve got two easy steps to being beach-body ready:
1) Have a body.
2) Go to the beach.
I’m so tired of people being shamed for what they look like. To be honest, I feel sorry for this woman who bases people’s value on their size, who thinks that if someone doesn’t look a certain way they need to hide. I feel sorry for her because how she feels about other people is a reflection of how she feels about herself. And, I feel sorry for her because I used to feel that same way about myself, and I know how exhausting and damaging it is.
My body is nowhere near perfect, but I love it. I stand in awe of this mass of skin and bones and muscle that allows me to play the sport I love, to hike with my friends, to dance with my boyfriend, to run around with my young cousins. I recognize and honor how hard this physical vessel works to keep me alive. And, a lot of that self-love began when I stopped talking badly about myself and stopped allowing my friends to talk badly about themselves, at least in my presence.
So, men and women — live proudly in your skin. Wear what you feel comfortable in, and don’t let others tell you that’s unacceptable. I can’t say it any better than author Anne Lamott:
“Oh my God, what if you wake up some day, and you’re 65, or 75, and you never got your memoir or novel written; or you didn’t go swimming in warm pools and oceans all those years because your thighs were jiggly and you had a nice big comfortable tummy; or you were just so strung out on perfectionism and people-pleasing that you forgot to have a big juicy creative life, of imagination and radical silliness and staring off into space like when you were a kid? It’s going to break your heart. Don’t let this happen.”
As Tina Fey said, if you retain nothing else from this column, always remember the most important rule of beauty, which is: who cares?
Hit-and-run a coward’s way out
Published in The Paris News
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
When I was a sophomore in college, I was hit by a truck.
This is not the beginning of an expressive metaphor. I was literally hit by a pickup truck.
I still remember the morning vividly. I was riding my bicycle to my Greek mythology class and just about to arrive on campus. I was a bit of a hippie then — I still am — and I tried to bike whenever I could to reduce my carbon footprint (and save on gas money). However, Tuscaloosa’s roadways were less-than-stellar for cyclists, so the 20-minute ride from my apartment was always a bit of a nail-biter.
There was an intersection, Hackberry Lane and Paul W. Bryant Drive, at which I generally drew a sigh of relief; it signified I made it safely onto campus and away from the pothole-filled roads with speeding motorists. So, when I saw those street signs up ahead, I relaxed a little and checked my watch.
“Good,” I remember thinking. “I’ll still have a couple of minutes before class to study for my mythology test.”
The light was green for me as I approached the intersection, but a red truck — who had a red light — caught my eye. He seemed to be slowing down, but he wasn’t stopping. It looked like he was about to turn right without halting, directly in my path, even though I had the right-a-way.
The next few seconds, time seemed to stand still. I remember making eye contact with the driver and then the feeling of chrome colliding with my knee and elbow. I remember hitting the asphalt and lying there, feeling shocked and, oddly, embarrassed. The driver of the truck quickly threw it in reverse and drove away.
I was extremely lucky, considering I wasn’t wearing a helmet — stupid, I know. I walked away from that accident with a broken bike, but only a couple bone bruises and whiplash.
It takes a special kind of cowardice to be the instigator of a hit-and-run. It’s one thing to have a wreck. That happens to everyone, and while collisions can be tragic, they’re not necessarily malevolent.
It is an intentional, deplorable act to flee the scene after striking something or someone.
When I was 15 years old and learning how to drive, my dad told me that I always need to be extra careful around motorcycles. He said no matter who is at fault, if a car and a motorcycle “get into a tussle,” as he called it, the motorcycle loses, every time.
It’s the same way with cars and pedestrians/cyclists. No matter who is at fault in the collision, it’s always worse for the latter.
In my case, the truck driver was at fault, but many other accidents happen inadvertently. That’s why it’s so, so very important for drivers to always be aware of their surroundings. Yes, it’s not fair that you may have to take responsibility for people crossing the street at the wrong places or children playing in the street, but it’s part of the privilege of driving a vehicle.
And, for God’s sake, don’t run away if an accident does happen. It’s a coward’s way out, and those who make that choice deserve to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
When I was a sophomore in college, I was hit by a truck.
This is not the beginning of an expressive metaphor. I was literally hit by a pickup truck.
I still remember the morning vividly. I was riding my bicycle to my Greek mythology class and just about to arrive on campus. I was a bit of a hippie then — I still am — and I tried to bike whenever I could to reduce my carbon footprint (and save on gas money). However, Tuscaloosa’s roadways were less-than-stellar for cyclists, so the 20-minute ride from my apartment was always a bit of a nail-biter.
There was an intersection, Hackberry Lane and Paul W. Bryant Drive, at which I generally drew a sigh of relief; it signified I made it safely onto campus and away from the pothole-filled roads with speeding motorists. So, when I saw those street signs up ahead, I relaxed a little and checked my watch.
“Good,” I remember thinking. “I’ll still have a couple of minutes before class to study for my mythology test.”
The light was green for me as I approached the intersection, but a red truck — who had a red light — caught my eye. He seemed to be slowing down, but he wasn’t stopping. It looked like he was about to turn right without halting, directly in my path, even though I had the right-a-way.
The next few seconds, time seemed to stand still. I remember making eye contact with the driver and then the feeling of chrome colliding with my knee and elbow. I remember hitting the asphalt and lying there, feeling shocked and, oddly, embarrassed. The driver of the truck quickly threw it in reverse and drove away.
I was extremely lucky, considering I wasn’t wearing a helmet — stupid, I know. I walked away from that accident with a broken bike, but only a couple bone bruises and whiplash.
It takes a special kind of cowardice to be the instigator of a hit-and-run. It’s one thing to have a wreck. That happens to everyone, and while collisions can be tragic, they’re not necessarily malevolent.
It is an intentional, deplorable act to flee the scene after striking something or someone.
When I was 15 years old and learning how to drive, my dad told me that I always need to be extra careful around motorcycles. He said no matter who is at fault, if a car and a motorcycle “get into a tussle,” as he called it, the motorcycle loses, every time.
It’s the same way with cars and pedestrians/cyclists. No matter who is at fault in the collision, it’s always worse for the latter.
In my case, the truck driver was at fault, but many other accidents happen inadvertently. That’s why it’s so, so very important for drivers to always be aware of their surroundings. Yes, it’s not fair that you may have to take responsibility for people crossing the street at the wrong places or children playing in the street, but it’s part of the privilege of driving a vehicle.
And, for God’s sake, don’t run away if an accident does happen. It’s a coward’s way out, and those who make that choice deserve to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Parenting not for Everyone
Published in The Paris News
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
My boyfriend and I have been dating a little over a year, since January 2016. As our relationship progressed into the serious zone, we began to hear the same two questions, over and over: “When’s the wedding?” and, “When are y’all having kids?”
Wedding bells are probably in our future, but children are not. And, that’s OK.
I don’t have anything against children or people who decide to be parents. I love my younger cousins and my friends’ children. I taught swim lessons all through college and grad school, and I cared about those kids so much I thought my heart would burst whenever they accomplished something.
But, even as a child myself, I’ve never been interested in motherhood. And, I should add, my boyfriend has never been interested in fatherhood, so our decision to keep our little family just the two of us and our dogs is a mutual one.
For some reason, some people see this as a controversial decision. I can’t count how many times people have told me things like, “Why? You’d be a great mom!,” “Don’t your parents wants grandbabies?,” “Your life doesn’t really start until after you have children” and “You’ll change your mind when you find the right guy.” I’ve often been singled out for being selfish or not understanding what “real love” is.
These statements come from a well-meaning place most of the time, but they can be hurtful. I’ve tried to talk myself into wanting babies. I’ve wondered if it makes me heartless to hold someone’s child and not yearn for one of my own.
Yet, I know I’m going to be a kick-butt aunt. My younger sisters both want to be mothers eventually. Since they’re taking one for the team, my parents will get their grandchildren. I have a great job and amazing friends, and my life is pretty fulfilling. I’m in love with my soulmate, and we are very content with the life we’ve chosen.
There’s a bigger picture to this — this talk is reminiscent of the societal message that humans always need to reach one more standard before they’re enough. For example, you’re not pretty unless you’re thin. You’re not athletic unless you have visible abs. You’re not smart unless you have multiple degrees. You’re not successful unless you're wealthy.
And, you’re not a woman unless you have children.
All of that is wrong.
As Jennifer Anniston said, “We are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child. We get to decide for ourselves what is beautiful when it comes to our bodies. That decision is ours and ours alone… We get to determine our own ‘happily ever after’ for ourselves.”
For those whose “happily ever after” is motherhood, that’s awesome. For those who, like me, serenity lies elsewhere, that’s awesome, too. What’s important is that we respect each other’s decisions and realize not everyone needs to take the same journey in life to be happy.
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
My boyfriend and I have been dating a little over a year, since January 2016. As our relationship progressed into the serious zone, we began to hear the same two questions, over and over: “When’s the wedding?” and, “When are y’all having kids?”
Wedding bells are probably in our future, but children are not. And, that’s OK.
I don’t have anything against children or people who decide to be parents. I love my younger cousins and my friends’ children. I taught swim lessons all through college and grad school, and I cared about those kids so much I thought my heart would burst whenever they accomplished something.
But, even as a child myself, I’ve never been interested in motherhood. And, I should add, my boyfriend has never been interested in fatherhood, so our decision to keep our little family just the two of us and our dogs is a mutual one.
For some reason, some people see this as a controversial decision. I can’t count how many times people have told me things like, “Why? You’d be a great mom!,” “Don’t your parents wants grandbabies?,” “Your life doesn’t really start until after you have children” and “You’ll change your mind when you find the right guy.” I’ve often been singled out for being selfish or not understanding what “real love” is.
These statements come from a well-meaning place most of the time, but they can be hurtful. I’ve tried to talk myself into wanting babies. I’ve wondered if it makes me heartless to hold someone’s child and not yearn for one of my own.
Yet, I know I’m going to be a kick-butt aunt. My younger sisters both want to be mothers eventually. Since they’re taking one for the team, my parents will get their grandchildren. I have a great job and amazing friends, and my life is pretty fulfilling. I’m in love with my soulmate, and we are very content with the life we’ve chosen.
There’s a bigger picture to this — this talk is reminiscent of the societal message that humans always need to reach one more standard before they’re enough. For example, you’re not pretty unless you’re thin. You’re not athletic unless you have visible abs. You’re not smart unless you have multiple degrees. You’re not successful unless you're wealthy.
And, you’re not a woman unless you have children.
All of that is wrong.
As Jennifer Anniston said, “We are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child. We get to decide for ourselves what is beautiful when it comes to our bodies. That decision is ours and ours alone… We get to determine our own ‘happily ever after’ for ourselves.”
For those whose “happily ever after” is motherhood, that’s awesome. For those who, like me, serenity lies elsewhere, that’s awesome, too. What’s important is that we respect each other’s decisions and realize not everyone needs to take the same journey in life to be happy.
Debate represents other issues
Published in The Paris News
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
Yes, President-Elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated on Friday and his Cabinet picks are currently getting grilled by the Senate, but let’s talk about something that’s really important and abuzz in politics:
Who’s going to dress Melania Trump during her reign as the first lady?
No, seriously — it’s actually been a topic that’s drawn hot discussion this week. I admittedly rolled my eyes when I saw the headlines, but the more I read about it, the more I understood the controversy.
Over the past few months, a couple of high profile fashion designers have stepped out to say, due to their disagreements with President-Elect Trump’s political policies, they would refuse to dress Melania.
Naturally, in response, many other designers have declared it would be their pleasure.
“It is an honor to dress the first ladies of the country,” Caroline Herrera, who also dressed Michelle Obama, told USA Today. “It’s not for myself. It’s for the public.”
It made me think, how does one go about reconciling morals with doing business? Could this speak to a deeper concern?
There are certain stores that don’t get my business because I don’t agree with the way they do theirs. I believe in shopping local, so whenever possible, I try to get my food from farmer’s markets.
However, sometimes superstores are just plain cheaper. So, I admit, although I “talk the talk” about shopping local, I don’t always walk the walk.
As far as the Melania Trump-designer debate goes, I don’t know what I would do if I worked in fashion. I will never condemn a man for standing by his principles — for “walking the walk” — but, at the same time, I believe in giving everyone a chance. I don’t know that it’s fair to dismiss her before she even takes on the role of first lady.
Diane von Furstenberg told Women’s Wear Daily she would be open to have her designs associated with the Trumps. I admired the way she worded her answer:
“[Melania] deserves the respect of any first lady before her. Our role as part of the fashion industry is to promote beauty, inclusiveness, diversity. We should each be the best we can be and influence by our example.”
I think it’s important to have people who stand by their morals absolutely and have people willing to give others a chance. Furthermore, I believe this melting pot of world views is what balances things and keeps people accountable. While I admit I have my misgivings about the next four years, like President Barack Obama, I really do think we’ll be OK.
“I believe in this country. I believe in the American people. I believe that people are more good than bad,” Obama said in his final press conference. “This is not just a matter of ‘no-drama Obama,’ but this is truly what I believe. At my core, I think we’re going to be OK. We just have to work for it.”
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
Yes, President-Elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated on Friday and his Cabinet picks are currently getting grilled by the Senate, but let’s talk about something that’s really important and abuzz in politics:
Who’s going to dress Melania Trump during her reign as the first lady?
No, seriously — it’s actually been a topic that’s drawn hot discussion this week. I admittedly rolled my eyes when I saw the headlines, but the more I read about it, the more I understood the controversy.
Over the past few months, a couple of high profile fashion designers have stepped out to say, due to their disagreements with President-Elect Trump’s political policies, they would refuse to dress Melania.
Naturally, in response, many other designers have declared it would be their pleasure.
“It is an honor to dress the first ladies of the country,” Caroline Herrera, who also dressed Michelle Obama, told USA Today. “It’s not for myself. It’s for the public.”
It made me think, how does one go about reconciling morals with doing business? Could this speak to a deeper concern?
There are certain stores that don’t get my business because I don’t agree with the way they do theirs. I believe in shopping local, so whenever possible, I try to get my food from farmer’s markets.
However, sometimes superstores are just plain cheaper. So, I admit, although I “talk the talk” about shopping local, I don’t always walk the walk.
As far as the Melania Trump-designer debate goes, I don’t know what I would do if I worked in fashion. I will never condemn a man for standing by his principles — for “walking the walk” — but, at the same time, I believe in giving everyone a chance. I don’t know that it’s fair to dismiss her before she even takes on the role of first lady.
Diane von Furstenberg told Women’s Wear Daily she would be open to have her designs associated with the Trumps. I admired the way she worded her answer:
“[Melania] deserves the respect of any first lady before her. Our role as part of the fashion industry is to promote beauty, inclusiveness, diversity. We should each be the best we can be and influence by our example.”
I think it’s important to have people who stand by their morals absolutely and have people willing to give others a chance. Furthermore, I believe this melting pot of world views is what balances things and keeps people accountable. While I admit I have my misgivings about the next four years, like President Barack Obama, I really do think we’ll be OK.
“I believe in this country. I believe in the American people. I believe that people are more good than bad,” Obama said in his final press conference. “This is not just a matter of ‘no-drama Obama,’ but this is truly what I believe. At my core, I think we’re going to be OK. We just have to work for it.”
Death penalty too kind
Published in The Paris News
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
On Wednesday, federal prosecutors began their bid to persuade jurors that white supremacist Dylann Roof, the man accused of murdering nine people in a historic African American church in 2015, deserves the death penalty.
In a scathing column, Washington Post writer Kathleen Parker wrote Roof does not deserve the death penalty — he deserves worse.
“In a word, he’s a loser — as random and ordinary as the proverbial tree falling in a forest bereft of listeners,” Parker wrote. “… A living cliche of white rage, he posed in selfies with Nazi symbols and the Confederate battle flag and said he wanted to start a race war. But even a cursory review of his short résumé suggests what Roof really wanted was attention.”
By sentencing him to death, Parker argues the court would really be giving him a grand finale to his murderous saga. By his indifferent demeanor and insistence on representing himself during the trial, Roof is just daring jurors to execute him.
Instead, Parker said the harsher, more fitting punishment is “to deny him the false glory he seeks and make him live out his days in the knowledge of his insignificance.”
Personally, I’m conflicted on the death penalty. I believe the government’s role should be to administer justice, not to kill, but I also recognize some crimes are so heinous that only in execution does the punishment seem to fit the crime.
However, I’m not on the fence with how to treat mass murderers. In committing violent, abominable crimes like Roof’s, what many killers seek is glory. In journalism school, professors teach you to report these cases thoroughly, but give most of the spotlight to the victims. In the case of those killed at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, journalists should tell the stories of people like the Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45, a pastor, speech therapist and high school track and field coach who was described as a caring advocate for her students; of Tywanza Sanders, 26, who died while trying to protect his 87-year-old aunt, Susie Jackson, who was also killed; of the Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor, 49, whose family called her a “beautiful songbird;” and of the others who were taken much too soon.
“Racially motivated violence such as this is the original domestic terrorism,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in explaining why the death penalty is appropriate. I don’t disagree with her likening Roof’s crime to domestic terrorism, but I do disagree with executing him. To me, especially with young perpetrators, life in prison often seems to be a more severe penalty than death.
By reporting heavily on the killers, journalists give them what they seek — infamy. The death penalty would do the same. Roof, instead, deserves to live with the horror and — perhaps eventually — recognition of the pain he’s put others through for the rest of his disgraceful life.
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
On Wednesday, federal prosecutors began their bid to persuade jurors that white supremacist Dylann Roof, the man accused of murdering nine people in a historic African American church in 2015, deserves the death penalty.
In a scathing column, Washington Post writer Kathleen Parker wrote Roof does not deserve the death penalty — he deserves worse.
“In a word, he’s a loser — as random and ordinary as the proverbial tree falling in a forest bereft of listeners,” Parker wrote. “… A living cliche of white rage, he posed in selfies with Nazi symbols and the Confederate battle flag and said he wanted to start a race war. But even a cursory review of his short résumé suggests what Roof really wanted was attention.”
By sentencing him to death, Parker argues the court would really be giving him a grand finale to his murderous saga. By his indifferent demeanor and insistence on representing himself during the trial, Roof is just daring jurors to execute him.
Instead, Parker said the harsher, more fitting punishment is “to deny him the false glory he seeks and make him live out his days in the knowledge of his insignificance.”
Personally, I’m conflicted on the death penalty. I believe the government’s role should be to administer justice, not to kill, but I also recognize some crimes are so heinous that only in execution does the punishment seem to fit the crime.
However, I’m not on the fence with how to treat mass murderers. In committing violent, abominable crimes like Roof’s, what many killers seek is glory. In journalism school, professors teach you to report these cases thoroughly, but give most of the spotlight to the victims. In the case of those killed at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, journalists should tell the stories of people like the Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45, a pastor, speech therapist and high school track and field coach who was described as a caring advocate for her students; of Tywanza Sanders, 26, who died while trying to protect his 87-year-old aunt, Susie Jackson, who was also killed; of the Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor, 49, whose family called her a “beautiful songbird;” and of the others who were taken much too soon.
“Racially motivated violence such as this is the original domestic terrorism,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in explaining why the death penalty is appropriate. I don’t disagree with her likening Roof’s crime to domestic terrorism, but I do disagree with executing him. To me, especially with young perpetrators, life in prison often seems to be a more severe penalty than death.
By reporting heavily on the killers, journalists give them what they seek — infamy. The death penalty would do the same. Roof, instead, deserves to live with the horror and — perhaps eventually — recognition of the pain he’s put others through for the rest of his disgraceful life.
Honoring the helpers
Published in The Paris News
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
“Worst mass shooting in U.S. history, again”
“Waking to terror”
“Unimaginable”
“So much hate”
“Nobody stood a chance”
These are headlines from newspapers around the country after the Orlando mass shooting early Sunday morning. After tragedies like this, where so many human lives were lost in a senseless act of terror, how do we move forward? How do we not live in fear, afraid of our neighbors and what the future holds?
Sometimes, it feels like day after day, all the news tells us is the world is getting worse. With some of the most viewed stories in national papers being the Stanford sexual assault, the Orlando shooting and the toddler who was snatched from his father’s arms by an alligator at Disney World, it feels like this week has been a battering ram of bad news crashing over us again and again.
It is so easy to lose our way. It is so easy to let the darkness overwhelm us, to only focus on where the blame lies. Hate breeds hate, and overcoming that can be a superhuman act. But in times like these, a quote by Mr. Rogers comes to mind: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.”
In moving on from these tragedies, we remember the helpers, like the clubgoers who risked their own lives that awful night to help complete strangers get to safety. Or people like Mahmoud ElAwadi and hundreds of other fasting Muslims in Orlando who waited in line up to seven hours to donate blood in the wake of the attack. Or the Chik-fil-A employees who went to work on Sunday, a day they normally have off, to give free food to blood donors waiting in line, despite the company’s “anti-gay” reputation.
After the Paris, France, terrorist attacks, my favorite writer, Anne Lamott, wrote, “Where do we find grace and light? If you mean right now, the answer is Nowhere. It’s like after a child dies. Grace always does bat last, and the light always overcomes the darkness – always, historically. But not necessarily later the same day, or tomorrow, after lunch.”
There are no answers to why horrors like this happen. Nothing exists to nullify the grief and despair. So what do we do in the meantime until grace returns? We show up. We volunteer at soup kitchens. We say hello to strangers who seem lonely. We concentrate on mercy and forgiveness. We hug our friends and speak kind words. We help, because although we may feel paralyzed in times like these, we are not helpless.
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
“Worst mass shooting in U.S. history, again”
“Waking to terror”
“Unimaginable”
“So much hate”
“Nobody stood a chance”
These are headlines from newspapers around the country after the Orlando mass shooting early Sunday morning. After tragedies like this, where so many human lives were lost in a senseless act of terror, how do we move forward? How do we not live in fear, afraid of our neighbors and what the future holds?
Sometimes, it feels like day after day, all the news tells us is the world is getting worse. With some of the most viewed stories in national papers being the Stanford sexual assault, the Orlando shooting and the toddler who was snatched from his father’s arms by an alligator at Disney World, it feels like this week has been a battering ram of bad news crashing over us again and again.
It is so easy to lose our way. It is so easy to let the darkness overwhelm us, to only focus on where the blame lies. Hate breeds hate, and overcoming that can be a superhuman act. But in times like these, a quote by Mr. Rogers comes to mind: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.”
In moving on from these tragedies, we remember the helpers, like the clubgoers who risked their own lives that awful night to help complete strangers get to safety. Or people like Mahmoud ElAwadi and hundreds of other fasting Muslims in Orlando who waited in line up to seven hours to donate blood in the wake of the attack. Or the Chik-fil-A employees who went to work on Sunday, a day they normally have off, to give free food to blood donors waiting in line, despite the company’s “anti-gay” reputation.
After the Paris, France, terrorist attacks, my favorite writer, Anne Lamott, wrote, “Where do we find grace and light? If you mean right now, the answer is Nowhere. It’s like after a child dies. Grace always does bat last, and the light always overcomes the darkness – always, historically. But not necessarily later the same day, or tomorrow, after lunch.”
There are no answers to why horrors like this happen. Nothing exists to nullify the grief and despair. So what do we do in the meantime until grace returns? We show up. We volunteer at soup kitchens. We say hello to strangers who seem lonely. We concentrate on mercy and forgiveness. We hug our friends and speak kind words. We help, because although we may feel paralyzed in times like these, we are not helpless.
Space: It's what's next
Published in The Paris News
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
On Aug. 5, 2011, NASA launched a space probe deep into the universe. Its mission: to eventually orbit our solar system’s largest planet. On July 4, 2016, scientists received confirmation Juno had successfully entered Jupiter’s orbit, only one second off schedule.
I have an issue with punctuality; it’s one of my biggest flaws. Most of my friends know to tell me to be places 10 minutes earlier than I really have to so I’ll arrive promptly. So, to know a spacecraft traveled 1.7 billion miles, with NASA only having to fine-tune its trajectory once, and arrived almost exactly on time to the second blows my mind.
Some might say the knowledge gained from space exploration isn’t worth the price. NASA has been plagued by funding cuts over the last few years. At $19 billion, NASA’s 2017 budget proposal seems extravagant, but it’s $300 million less than 2016’s fiscal budget.
Juno’s primary goal is to analyze and understand Jupiter’s origin and evolution and, through that, how giant planets form and influence solar systems. Nevertheless, at a cost of $1.1 billion, was Juno’s price tag really worth the knowledge we might obtain? I say yes. I can’t think of anything more American than Juno’s Independence Day arrival. NASA administrator Charlie Bolden agrees:
“Independence Day always is something to celebrate, but today we can add to America’s birthday another reason to cheer – Juno is at Jupiter,” Bolden said on July 4. “And what is more American than a NASA mission going boldly where no spacecraft has gone before?”
The America I love has an attitude of “what’s next.” Space is the last wilderness we’ve yet to conquer, and the amount we can learn from it, both about its vastness and our own origins, is incredibly humbling. In expeditions of tremendous scope, there will always be failures, and NASA has certainly had its fair share. However, we shouldn’t use these mistakes as reasons to diminish or even discontinue NASA’s funding because sometimes, like this week, NASA succeeds. And when NASA succeeds, it provides a source of inspiration and pride for all mankind.
As The West Wing’s Sam Seaborn put it, there are a lot of people in the world who are living in poverty without basic needs like food or education, and none of them are hungrier, colder or poorer because we went to the Moon.
And we can’t stop with the Moon. Exploring our solar system and farther solar systems are vital, because it’s what’s next. Because, as Seaborn said, man came out of the cave and made fire, and then man crossed the ocean and pioneered the West, and then man looked up and took to the sky – “the history of man is hung on a timeline of exploration and this [space] is what’s next.”
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
On Aug. 5, 2011, NASA launched a space probe deep into the universe. Its mission: to eventually orbit our solar system’s largest planet. On July 4, 2016, scientists received confirmation Juno had successfully entered Jupiter’s orbit, only one second off schedule.
I have an issue with punctuality; it’s one of my biggest flaws. Most of my friends know to tell me to be places 10 minutes earlier than I really have to so I’ll arrive promptly. So, to know a spacecraft traveled 1.7 billion miles, with NASA only having to fine-tune its trajectory once, and arrived almost exactly on time to the second blows my mind.
Some might say the knowledge gained from space exploration isn’t worth the price. NASA has been plagued by funding cuts over the last few years. At $19 billion, NASA’s 2017 budget proposal seems extravagant, but it’s $300 million less than 2016’s fiscal budget.
Juno’s primary goal is to analyze and understand Jupiter’s origin and evolution and, through that, how giant planets form and influence solar systems. Nevertheless, at a cost of $1.1 billion, was Juno’s price tag really worth the knowledge we might obtain? I say yes. I can’t think of anything more American than Juno’s Independence Day arrival. NASA administrator Charlie Bolden agrees:
“Independence Day always is something to celebrate, but today we can add to America’s birthday another reason to cheer – Juno is at Jupiter,” Bolden said on July 4. “And what is more American than a NASA mission going boldly where no spacecraft has gone before?”
The America I love has an attitude of “what’s next.” Space is the last wilderness we’ve yet to conquer, and the amount we can learn from it, both about its vastness and our own origins, is incredibly humbling. In expeditions of tremendous scope, there will always be failures, and NASA has certainly had its fair share. However, we shouldn’t use these mistakes as reasons to diminish or even discontinue NASA’s funding because sometimes, like this week, NASA succeeds. And when NASA succeeds, it provides a source of inspiration and pride for all mankind.
As The West Wing’s Sam Seaborn put it, there are a lot of people in the world who are living in poverty without basic needs like food or education, and none of them are hungrier, colder or poorer because we went to the Moon.
And we can’t stop with the Moon. Exploring our solar system and farther solar systems are vital, because it’s what’s next. Because, as Seaborn said, man came out of the cave and made fire, and then man crossed the ocean and pioneered the West, and then man looked up and took to the sky – “the history of man is hung on a timeline of exploration and this [space] is what’s next.”
Problems are still with us
Published in The Paris News
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
Recently, I’ve been watching a show on Netflix where some of the episodes have been about tensions in the Middle East, strained relationships with Israel and Palestine, campaign donations reform and internet privacy.
The show I’m referring to is The West Wing, which premiered in 1999, almost 20 years ago.
Most of the time, I like watching The West Wing because, even though it’s fictional, it gives me hope in our government. I tend to be a little cynical when it comes to people who work in politics, but I love the way these characters are portrayed: as good, smart people who are genuinely trying to make the world a better place. The West Wing has an overarching sense of integrity, and I like to think at least a few of our real-life politicians are like that.
But, the other day, I was watching an episode that sounded eerily familiar, “The War at Home.” In it, President Bartlet criticizes the War on Drugs as costly and hypocritical, saying, “I’m not 100 percent sure who we’re fighting, but I know we’re not winning.”
Just this month, the White House called drug sentencing laws “outdated and unduly harsh.” In a speech last year, President Obama said “if you’re a low-level drug dealer, or you violate your parole, you owe some debt to society. You have to be held accountable and make amends — but you don’t owe 20 years. You don’t owe a life sentence. That’s disproportionate to the price that should be paid.”
It made me think, how is a topic in an episode that aired 15 years ago still a hot debate? I’m not saying the solution to America’s drug problem and mandatory minimums is a simple one. What I am saying is it is disheartening that we are still stuck on this issue, along with gay marriage rights, the marijuana legalization debate and gun control gridlock, all of which a show brought up in the late ’90s and early 2000s.
It’s sad, isn’t it? Maybe the show’s relevance merely speaks to the brilliance and prescience of Aaron Sorkin, but it seems to me that our country has been facing the same problems for almost two decades, and we have made little – if any – headway. Politicians today run on issues like border control and abortion, and have been as long as I’ve been alive. Men must stand by their morals, but an unwillingness to compromise from both Democrats and Republicans isn’t doing anyone any good.
Despite constant promises of change from politicians across both aisles, our country seems to be foundering in a stalemate, and our countrymen seem to be more split than ever.
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
Recently, I’ve been watching a show on Netflix where some of the episodes have been about tensions in the Middle East, strained relationships with Israel and Palestine, campaign donations reform and internet privacy.
The show I’m referring to is The West Wing, which premiered in 1999, almost 20 years ago.
Most of the time, I like watching The West Wing because, even though it’s fictional, it gives me hope in our government. I tend to be a little cynical when it comes to people who work in politics, but I love the way these characters are portrayed: as good, smart people who are genuinely trying to make the world a better place. The West Wing has an overarching sense of integrity, and I like to think at least a few of our real-life politicians are like that.
But, the other day, I was watching an episode that sounded eerily familiar, “The War at Home.” In it, President Bartlet criticizes the War on Drugs as costly and hypocritical, saying, “I’m not 100 percent sure who we’re fighting, but I know we’re not winning.”
Just this month, the White House called drug sentencing laws “outdated and unduly harsh.” In a speech last year, President Obama said “if you’re a low-level drug dealer, or you violate your parole, you owe some debt to society. You have to be held accountable and make amends — but you don’t owe 20 years. You don’t owe a life sentence. That’s disproportionate to the price that should be paid.”
It made me think, how is a topic in an episode that aired 15 years ago still a hot debate? I’m not saying the solution to America’s drug problem and mandatory minimums is a simple one. What I am saying is it is disheartening that we are still stuck on this issue, along with gay marriage rights, the marijuana legalization debate and gun control gridlock, all of which a show brought up in the late ’90s and early 2000s.
It’s sad, isn’t it? Maybe the show’s relevance merely speaks to the brilliance and prescience of Aaron Sorkin, but it seems to me that our country has been facing the same problems for almost two decades, and we have made little – if any – headway. Politicians today run on issues like border control and abortion, and have been as long as I’ve been alive. Men must stand by their morals, but an unwillingness to compromise from both Democrats and Republicans isn’t doing anyone any good.
Despite constant promises of change from politicians across both aisles, our country seems to be foundering in a stalemate, and our countrymen seem to be more split than ever.
Rape culture extensive
Published in The Paris News
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
As an NCAA “swammer” in a country where football runs the show, I’m normally happy when college swimming makes national headlines.
Not this week.
In case you missed it, former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner was convicted of felony rape and sentenced to only six months in jail after sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a Dumpster. There are so many angles from which to talk about this -- race, millennial entitlement and the privileges athletes receive are just a few. But I want to discuss perhaps the most basic issue, which is why sexual assault is a bigger problem than so many may think.
RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, states on its website that every 107 seconds, another American experiences sexual assault.
Another scary statistic: in her book Body Wars, Margo Maine cites a study saying 30 percent of college men surveyed said they would rape if they knew they’d get away with it. That number increased to 58 percent when the wording changed to “force women to have sex.”
This is not hyperbole: I don’t know a single woman, myself included, who hasn’t been unwantedly touched by a strange man. Slapping my hindquarters as I walk down the street is not a compliment, it’s harassment.
I am surrounded by great men -- my father, grandfather, uncles, cousins, many of my best friends. I know many parents who have raised kind, respectful, thoughtful sons. However, even I, with my privileged upbringing, was taught to never walk by myself after dusk, to grip my keys in a way they could be used as a weapon. I hurry through parking garages. I pay attention to the shadows around me and constantly look over my shoulder when I run in the mornings.
I am athletic and almost 6 feet tall, yet this fear of assault still pervades my life. This isn’t me being paranoid. From a young age, this is simply the way women are taught to live.
I didn’t even realize living like this should be a problem until I was in my 20s. Sexual harassment should not be normalized, as it was when Brock Turner’s father’s told the court his son should not have to go to prison for “20 minutes of action,” when the judge granted Turner leniency because of his positive character reference and lack of a past criminal record.
If you think the media has been beating you over the head with this story, good. The victim’s story of injustice deserves to be told and told again, if only because often the first question asked after a rape makes headlines is “had she been drinking?” or “what was she wearing?” It begs the question, “why am I more protected in bathrooms than behind a Dumpster?”
In case you were wondering, short skirts, alcohol, flirty behavior and walking alone are not causes of rape. Rapists are the cause of rape.
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
As an NCAA “swammer” in a country where football runs the show, I’m normally happy when college swimming makes national headlines.
Not this week.
In case you missed it, former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner was convicted of felony rape and sentenced to only six months in jail after sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a Dumpster. There are so many angles from which to talk about this -- race, millennial entitlement and the privileges athletes receive are just a few. But I want to discuss perhaps the most basic issue, which is why sexual assault is a bigger problem than so many may think.
RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, states on its website that every 107 seconds, another American experiences sexual assault.
Another scary statistic: in her book Body Wars, Margo Maine cites a study saying 30 percent of college men surveyed said they would rape if they knew they’d get away with it. That number increased to 58 percent when the wording changed to “force women to have sex.”
This is not hyperbole: I don’t know a single woman, myself included, who hasn’t been unwantedly touched by a strange man. Slapping my hindquarters as I walk down the street is not a compliment, it’s harassment.
I am surrounded by great men -- my father, grandfather, uncles, cousins, many of my best friends. I know many parents who have raised kind, respectful, thoughtful sons. However, even I, with my privileged upbringing, was taught to never walk by myself after dusk, to grip my keys in a way they could be used as a weapon. I hurry through parking garages. I pay attention to the shadows around me and constantly look over my shoulder when I run in the mornings.
I am athletic and almost 6 feet tall, yet this fear of assault still pervades my life. This isn’t me being paranoid. From a young age, this is simply the way women are taught to live.
I didn’t even realize living like this should be a problem until I was in my 20s. Sexual harassment should not be normalized, as it was when Brock Turner’s father’s told the court his son should not have to go to prison for “20 minutes of action,” when the judge granted Turner leniency because of his positive character reference and lack of a past criminal record.
If you think the media has been beating you over the head with this story, good. The victim’s story of injustice deserves to be told and told again, if only because often the first question asked after a rape makes headlines is “had she been drinking?” or “what was she wearing?” It begs the question, “why am I more protected in bathrooms than behind a Dumpster?”
In case you were wondering, short skirts, alcohol, flirty behavior and walking alone are not causes of rape. Rapists are the cause of rape.
Unity in the face of tragedy
Published in The Paris News
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
Former President George W. Bush and current President Barack Obama shared the floor Tuesday at the Dallas Memorial.
What an image, to see leaders of both parties, the pillars of modern republicanism and liberalism, stand together in the wake of such a tragedy.
This past month, violence has surrounded us. Loss of life, especially lives of the innocent, is always horrifying. It wrecks us, tears us apart, further widens the gap between “us” and “them.” After the Orlando mass shooting, after Philando Castile and Alton Sterling’s deaths, after the slaying of the five Dallas officers who were working overtime to make sure peaceful protestors could stay safe, I looked for someone to blame. In all of these instances, my first reaction was to think, “What could the victims have done differently? How are people intent on inflicting massive amounts of destruction allowed to have guns?” and so on, and so on.
But on occasion, like at the Dallas Memorial for the five fallen police officers, violence can bring us together.
In his speech, Bush said our nation, the melting pot of the world, has never been held together by blood. All of America’s citizens come from different backgrounds and cultures. But at our best, our empathy bridges this divide. At our best, our patriotism — our love of this country that was built on the freedom to be different — unites us.
It’s human nature to look for answers. And unfortunately, sometimes no answers exist. Sometimes bad things happen to good people because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. And this both infuriates me and exhausts me.
There is no one to blame in these situations. The only option is to keep moving forward, recognizing we are all brothers and sisters, as Bush said, “sharing the same brief moment on Earth and owing each other the loyalty of our shared humanity.”
Blame won’t keep guns out of the bad guys’ hands. Blame won’t make our children safer in our schools. Blame won’t ease the tension that has pervaded this country.
But compassion, empathy and working together will.
In times like these, we forget the progress we have made, and that’s a mistake. America has been a country for less than 300 years. Remembering how far we’ve come gives us hope in how far we can go.
But, it’s also important to remember how far we need to go in order to truly become the “United” States of America.
In that moment Bush and Obama put aside their difference and stood together to honor our fallen countrymen, they gave me hope that our fractured society can stand together as well.
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
Former President George W. Bush and current President Barack Obama shared the floor Tuesday at the Dallas Memorial.
What an image, to see leaders of both parties, the pillars of modern republicanism and liberalism, stand together in the wake of such a tragedy.
This past month, violence has surrounded us. Loss of life, especially lives of the innocent, is always horrifying. It wrecks us, tears us apart, further widens the gap between “us” and “them.” After the Orlando mass shooting, after Philando Castile and Alton Sterling’s deaths, after the slaying of the five Dallas officers who were working overtime to make sure peaceful protestors could stay safe, I looked for someone to blame. In all of these instances, my first reaction was to think, “What could the victims have done differently? How are people intent on inflicting massive amounts of destruction allowed to have guns?” and so on, and so on.
But on occasion, like at the Dallas Memorial for the five fallen police officers, violence can bring us together.
In his speech, Bush said our nation, the melting pot of the world, has never been held together by blood. All of America’s citizens come from different backgrounds and cultures. But at our best, our empathy bridges this divide. At our best, our patriotism — our love of this country that was built on the freedom to be different — unites us.
It’s human nature to look for answers. And unfortunately, sometimes no answers exist. Sometimes bad things happen to good people because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. And this both infuriates me and exhausts me.
There is no one to blame in these situations. The only option is to keep moving forward, recognizing we are all brothers and sisters, as Bush said, “sharing the same brief moment on Earth and owing each other the loyalty of our shared humanity.”
Blame won’t keep guns out of the bad guys’ hands. Blame won’t make our children safer in our schools. Blame won’t ease the tension that has pervaded this country.
But compassion, empathy and working together will.
In times like these, we forget the progress we have made, and that’s a mistake. America has been a country for less than 300 years. Remembering how far we’ve come gives us hope in how far we can go.
But, it’s also important to remember how far we need to go in order to truly become the “United” States of America.
In that moment Bush and Obama put aside their difference and stood together to honor our fallen countrymen, they gave me hope that our fractured society can stand together as well.
NPS celebrates milestone
Published in The Paris News
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
On Aug. 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed an act creating National Parks Service, which makes today its 100th birthday.
Via acts of Congress, the system now handles more than 400 areas, covering more than 84 million acres in all 50 states, Washington D.C., American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan and the Virgin Islands.
By my count, I’ve been to nine of the country’s 58 national parks and numerous national forests, preserves and monuments, and every single one of them has taken my breath away. My favorite has been Mount Rainier National Park, and I hope to eventually be able to retire somewhere in the mountain’s rainy shadow in Seattle. However, I also loved the remoteness of the Olympic Peninsula, the sheer vastness of the Grand Canyon, the dramatic, razor-sharp peaks of the Grand Tetons, the languid fog of the Smoky Mountains and the ebullient geysers of Yellowstone, the nation’s initial national park.
Parks are important. Green space is disappearing. The “Organic Act” Wilson signed states the NPS mission is to “conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild-life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as we will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of these future generations.”
Basically, Wilson wants us to give our children the same happiness clambering over rocks, climbing trees and wading through waterfalls gave us as youngsters.
And, to be honest, we’re not doing that great of a job.
Many of the parks, both at a national and state level, struggle with a lack of funds, neglect and abuse. National parks have been leased to oil and gas companies for drilling. There are uranium mines just six miles from the Grand Canyon’s South Rim. More locally, I visited Hugo Lake State Park a couple weeks ago, and I was taken aback at the beauty of the lake, yes, but also at the cracked roads and extensive potholes.
Due to funding services, NPS has a $12 billion backlog in deferred maintenance. While Congress did recently give NPS a little over $1 billion to address some critical issues, these deficits will continue to grow unless something greater is done to fix these concerns.
When I hiked through the Grand Canyon in January, I heard languages from around the globe. People from all corners of the earth had come to see one of our national treasures with their own eyes. We must recommit to protecting them, our American cathedrals.
Our national parks are the envy of the world. Let’s keep them that way.
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
On Aug. 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed an act creating National Parks Service, which makes today its 100th birthday.
Via acts of Congress, the system now handles more than 400 areas, covering more than 84 million acres in all 50 states, Washington D.C., American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan and the Virgin Islands.
By my count, I’ve been to nine of the country’s 58 national parks and numerous national forests, preserves and monuments, and every single one of them has taken my breath away. My favorite has been Mount Rainier National Park, and I hope to eventually be able to retire somewhere in the mountain’s rainy shadow in Seattle. However, I also loved the remoteness of the Olympic Peninsula, the sheer vastness of the Grand Canyon, the dramatic, razor-sharp peaks of the Grand Tetons, the languid fog of the Smoky Mountains and the ebullient geysers of Yellowstone, the nation’s initial national park.
Parks are important. Green space is disappearing. The “Organic Act” Wilson signed states the NPS mission is to “conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild-life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as we will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of these future generations.”
Basically, Wilson wants us to give our children the same happiness clambering over rocks, climbing trees and wading through waterfalls gave us as youngsters.
And, to be honest, we’re not doing that great of a job.
Many of the parks, both at a national and state level, struggle with a lack of funds, neglect and abuse. National parks have been leased to oil and gas companies for drilling. There are uranium mines just six miles from the Grand Canyon’s South Rim. More locally, I visited Hugo Lake State Park a couple weeks ago, and I was taken aback at the beauty of the lake, yes, but also at the cracked roads and extensive potholes.
Due to funding services, NPS has a $12 billion backlog in deferred maintenance. While Congress did recently give NPS a little over $1 billion to address some critical issues, these deficits will continue to grow unless something greater is done to fix these concerns.
When I hiked through the Grand Canyon in January, I heard languages from around the globe. People from all corners of the earth had come to see one of our national treasures with their own eyes. We must recommit to protecting them, our American cathedrals.
Our national parks are the envy of the world. Let’s keep them that way.
Embodying the 'olympic spirit'
Published in The Paris News
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
So many stories have come out of this Olympics.
Simone Manuel becoming the first black woman to win a gold medal in an Olympic swimming event. Michael Phelps’ tearful farewell. Katie Ledecky’s domination in the pool. Simone Biles’ domination on the mats. Ibtihaj Muhammad being the first person to compete in the Olympics in a hijab. Fiji men’s rugby winning their country’s first ever gold medal.
These are just a few of the many soon-to-be legendary moments, and I teared up at almost all of them. However, the biggest lump in my throat was put there by two runners, U.S.A.’s Abbey D’Agostino and New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin, in the 5,000 meters.
A little more than halfway through the race, D’Agostino was running behind Hamblin and accidentally clipped her. They both go down in a hard fall. D’Agostino gets up first and helps up Hamblin, encouraging her to continue. After they limp along for a few seconds, it’s clear that D’Agostino is seriously hurt. She falls again, face wrenched in anguish, telling Hamblin she can’t continue.
Yet, amazingly, they both end up making it to the finish line. They both qualified for the finals, although D’Agostino’s knee injury was later proven too severe for her to continue competing.
After she crossed the finish line, D’Agostino was taken off the track in a wheelchair, but Hamblin stopped to talk to reporters.
“I went down, and I was like, ‘What’s happening? Why am I on the ground?’” she said. “Then suddenly, there’s this hand on my shoulder [and D’Agostino saying], ‘Get up, get up, we have to finish this.’ And I’m like, ‘Yup, yup, you’re right. This is the Olympic Games. We have to finish this.’”
Maybe it’s because D’Agostino was later diagnosed with the same injury that took me out of rugby in December – completely torn ACL, partially torn MCL and completely torn meniscus, what physical therapists like to call the “unhappy triad” – but man, the video of this moment got to me. I have chills writing about it.
I understood D’Agostino’s pain and the mental fortitude it took for her to finish that race. I felt for both athletes as they fell, knowing that this moment they had worked toward their whole lives, competing on the world’s highest stage, might be at an end.
And I was humbled by their sportsmanship.
These women had never met. They weren’t teammates. It would have been so easy for Hamblin to lash out at D’Agostino for clipping her. It would have been so easy for D’Agostino to run on and leave Hamblin crying on the ground.
Instead, they encouraged each other.
People ask me why I still love the Olympics. Cynics tell me I’m too naive.
Next time they ask, I’m just going to tell them this story.
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
So many stories have come out of this Olympics.
Simone Manuel becoming the first black woman to win a gold medal in an Olympic swimming event. Michael Phelps’ tearful farewell. Katie Ledecky’s domination in the pool. Simone Biles’ domination on the mats. Ibtihaj Muhammad being the first person to compete in the Olympics in a hijab. Fiji men’s rugby winning their country’s first ever gold medal.
These are just a few of the many soon-to-be legendary moments, and I teared up at almost all of them. However, the biggest lump in my throat was put there by two runners, U.S.A.’s Abbey D’Agostino and New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin, in the 5,000 meters.
A little more than halfway through the race, D’Agostino was running behind Hamblin and accidentally clipped her. They both go down in a hard fall. D’Agostino gets up first and helps up Hamblin, encouraging her to continue. After they limp along for a few seconds, it’s clear that D’Agostino is seriously hurt. She falls again, face wrenched in anguish, telling Hamblin she can’t continue.
Yet, amazingly, they both end up making it to the finish line. They both qualified for the finals, although D’Agostino’s knee injury was later proven too severe for her to continue competing.
After she crossed the finish line, D’Agostino was taken off the track in a wheelchair, but Hamblin stopped to talk to reporters.
“I went down, and I was like, ‘What’s happening? Why am I on the ground?’” she said. “Then suddenly, there’s this hand on my shoulder [and D’Agostino saying], ‘Get up, get up, we have to finish this.’ And I’m like, ‘Yup, yup, you’re right. This is the Olympic Games. We have to finish this.’”
Maybe it’s because D’Agostino was later diagnosed with the same injury that took me out of rugby in December – completely torn ACL, partially torn MCL and completely torn meniscus, what physical therapists like to call the “unhappy triad” – but man, the video of this moment got to me. I have chills writing about it.
I understood D’Agostino’s pain and the mental fortitude it took for her to finish that race. I felt for both athletes as they fell, knowing that this moment they had worked toward their whole lives, competing on the world’s highest stage, might be at an end.
And I was humbled by their sportsmanship.
These women had never met. They weren’t teammates. It would have been so easy for Hamblin to lash out at D’Agostino for clipping her. It would have been so easy for D’Agostino to run on and leave Hamblin crying on the ground.
Instead, they encouraged each other.
People ask me why I still love the Olympics. Cynics tell me I’m too naive.
Next time they ask, I’m just going to tell them this story.
Health not the whole story
Published in The Paris News
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
Breaking news: Hillary Clinton is susceptible to germs.
There is a long history of presidential sickness and secrecy, and some of our best presidents fall into that. Franklin Roosevelt, probably the poster-boy for keeping a serious illness under wraps, dealt with polio throughout his presidency. Dwight Eisenhower suffered both a heart attack and stroke. Woodrow Wilson suffered from a stroke as well. Grover Cleveland had surgery to remove a cancerous mouth tumor. John F. Kennedy had Addison’s disease. William Howard Taft was morbidly obese. Journalists, historians and even a son have speculated Ronald Reagan showed signs of Alzheimer’s in his second term.
The list goes on.
The campaign trail is brutal. I have no doubt many presidential candidates, most of whom are well past middle age, fall ill during it, and the staff covers it up. Administrations certainly concealed illnesses during presidencies in the past (see the above substantial list).
So, yes. Hillary Clinton lied about having pneumonia, saying that she was simply overheated after stumbling while leaving a 9/11 memorial. Is this a cardinal sin? I don’t think so. While cover-ups almost never pan out, especially in this social media age, I think it was a natural reaction. I’m 24, and I’ve had pneumonia three times. Two of those incidences were in college, and both times, I played it down to my swim coaches so I could continue training and wouldn’t have to miss practices and/or meets. While I didn’t perform as well as I probably would have had I let my body rest, I don’t believe it affected the way I led my squad as the team captain.
What concerns me more than Clinton’s so-called “health problems” is Donald Trump’s supposed lack of them. Before his appearance on “Dr. Oz,” where he will release a one-page summary of a physical, Trump’s doctor wrote in a letter that Trump’s health was “astonishingly excellent.” Dr. Harold Bornstein went on to add Trump would be the healthiest individual ever elected. Dr. Bornstein said the letter, which consisted of four paragraphs, took him five minutes to write.
Don’t get me wrong – wellness is important, especially for the person voters choose to lead the country in such unstable times. A person suited to the rigors of the presidency must have a high level of stamina. But I think it is naïve of us to expect 68- and 70-year-old presidential candidates who are traveling, shaking hundreds of hands each day, and probably sleeping a maximum of four hours each night to be the picture of health.
That’s why I find the uproar about Clinton’s pneumonia ridiculous. I’m young, I exercise, I don’t smoke and I eat my vegetables, and I still fall ill multiple times a year. Many of the presidents who persevered through health issues made a positive difference in our country. While a candidate's health is certainly a factor in who gets my vote, it is not the most important one.
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
Breaking news: Hillary Clinton is susceptible to germs.
There is a long history of presidential sickness and secrecy, and some of our best presidents fall into that. Franklin Roosevelt, probably the poster-boy for keeping a serious illness under wraps, dealt with polio throughout his presidency. Dwight Eisenhower suffered both a heart attack and stroke. Woodrow Wilson suffered from a stroke as well. Grover Cleveland had surgery to remove a cancerous mouth tumor. John F. Kennedy had Addison’s disease. William Howard Taft was morbidly obese. Journalists, historians and even a son have speculated Ronald Reagan showed signs of Alzheimer’s in his second term.
The list goes on.
The campaign trail is brutal. I have no doubt many presidential candidates, most of whom are well past middle age, fall ill during it, and the staff covers it up. Administrations certainly concealed illnesses during presidencies in the past (see the above substantial list).
So, yes. Hillary Clinton lied about having pneumonia, saying that she was simply overheated after stumbling while leaving a 9/11 memorial. Is this a cardinal sin? I don’t think so. While cover-ups almost never pan out, especially in this social media age, I think it was a natural reaction. I’m 24, and I’ve had pneumonia three times. Two of those incidences were in college, and both times, I played it down to my swim coaches so I could continue training and wouldn’t have to miss practices and/or meets. While I didn’t perform as well as I probably would have had I let my body rest, I don’t believe it affected the way I led my squad as the team captain.
What concerns me more than Clinton’s so-called “health problems” is Donald Trump’s supposed lack of them. Before his appearance on “Dr. Oz,” where he will release a one-page summary of a physical, Trump’s doctor wrote in a letter that Trump’s health was “astonishingly excellent.” Dr. Harold Bornstein went on to add Trump would be the healthiest individual ever elected. Dr. Bornstein said the letter, which consisted of four paragraphs, took him five minutes to write.
Don’t get me wrong – wellness is important, especially for the person voters choose to lead the country in such unstable times. A person suited to the rigors of the presidency must have a high level of stamina. But I think it is naïve of us to expect 68- and 70-year-old presidential candidates who are traveling, shaking hundreds of hands each day, and probably sleeping a maximum of four hours each night to be the picture of health.
That’s why I find the uproar about Clinton’s pneumonia ridiculous. I’m young, I exercise, I don’t smoke and I eat my vegetables, and I still fall ill multiple times a year. Many of the presidents who persevered through health issues made a positive difference in our country. While a candidate's health is certainly a factor in who gets my vote, it is not the most important one.
Emotion over logic a mistake
Published in The Paris News
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
Families of those killed in the Sept. 11 attacks are now allowed to sue Saudi Arabia. This is an emotional issue, but in this case, we let our emotions get the better of our logic.
On Wednesday, the legislative branch challenged President Obama’s veto of Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which will allow U.S. Courts to hear terrorism cases against foreign countries.
Supporters of the bill say its passing will allow terrorism victims and their families their day in court, but Obama was right in vetoing it. Essentially, the bill creates a loophole in sovereign immunity, a customary international law that says a sovereign state cannot be sued before the courts of another sovereign state. This law protects foreign governments from particular lawsuits, just as it shields the U.S. from certain lawsuits in other countries.
An editorial in USA Today described the sovereign immunity veto as such: “In essence, such lawsuits put U.S. foreign policy in the hands of trial lawyers and their clients, instead of where it belongs, with the president and the secretary of state. Weakening sovereign immunity could invite retaliation, opening the military and other U.S. officials serving abroad to similar lawsuits from other countries filed in courts all over the world.”
We all want justice for the victims of 9/11. I was only 9 years old when our Twin Towers were destroyed, but the heartbreak and wave of patriotism that followed is seared in my mind. However, in all cases where emotions run high, it is easy to want to do everything we can for the victims without weighing future concerning consequences; anyone who opposed this bill was/is seen as abandoning those who lost their lives in the attacks.
Obama wrote an uncommon three-page veto message to Congress acknowledging that sentiment, but also stating why it was misplaced.
“I recognize that there is nothing that could ever erase the grief the 9/11 families have endured,” he wrote. “Enacting JASTA into law, however, would neither protect Americans from terrorist attacks nor improve the effectiveness of our response to such attacks.”
No American will ever forget 9/11, least of all those who were directly affected. However, JASTA seems like a quest for vengeance rather than justice. This measure invites retaliation against the U.S. without even any hard evidence linking the Saudi Arabian government to 9/11. Top officials at the Pentagon and within the White House warn JASTA could negatively affect trade and foreign relations – and current counterterrorism efforts.
I respect the grief and desire for justice victims of 9/11 have, but there has got to be a better way to honor their memories than by putting other Americans at risk.
Column by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
Families of those killed in the Sept. 11 attacks are now allowed to sue Saudi Arabia. This is an emotional issue, but in this case, we let our emotions get the better of our logic.
On Wednesday, the legislative branch challenged President Obama’s veto of Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which will allow U.S. Courts to hear terrorism cases against foreign countries.
Supporters of the bill say its passing will allow terrorism victims and their families their day in court, but Obama was right in vetoing it. Essentially, the bill creates a loophole in sovereign immunity, a customary international law that says a sovereign state cannot be sued before the courts of another sovereign state. This law protects foreign governments from particular lawsuits, just as it shields the U.S. from certain lawsuits in other countries.
An editorial in USA Today described the sovereign immunity veto as such: “In essence, such lawsuits put U.S. foreign policy in the hands of trial lawyers and their clients, instead of where it belongs, with the president and the secretary of state. Weakening sovereign immunity could invite retaliation, opening the military and other U.S. officials serving abroad to similar lawsuits from other countries filed in courts all over the world.”
We all want justice for the victims of 9/11. I was only 9 years old when our Twin Towers were destroyed, but the heartbreak and wave of patriotism that followed is seared in my mind. However, in all cases where emotions run high, it is easy to want to do everything we can for the victims without weighing future concerning consequences; anyone who opposed this bill was/is seen as abandoning those who lost their lives in the attacks.
Obama wrote an uncommon three-page veto message to Congress acknowledging that sentiment, but also stating why it was misplaced.
“I recognize that there is nothing that could ever erase the grief the 9/11 families have endured,” he wrote. “Enacting JASTA into law, however, would neither protect Americans from terrorist attacks nor improve the effectiveness of our response to such attacks.”
No American will ever forget 9/11, least of all those who were directly affected. However, JASTA seems like a quest for vengeance rather than justice. This measure invites retaliation against the U.S. without even any hard evidence linking the Saudi Arabian government to 9/11. Top officials at the Pentagon and within the White House warn JASTA could negatively affect trade and foreign relations – and current counterterrorism efforts.
I respect the grief and desire for justice victims of 9/11 have, but there has got to be a better way to honor their memories than by putting other Americans at risk.
Keeping Bullies at bay
Published in The Paris News
Story by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
Bullying has become a spotlight issue in the country over the past few years, and area schools are taking it seriously.
“Physical and emotional safety are our top two priorities,” said Gary Preston, Paris ISD director of student services. “If the students don’t feel safe, we can’t teach them algebra.”
Preston said Texas state law requires schools to have a local policy that prohibits bullying, harassment and making hit lists and ensures that district employees enforce those prohibitions. That policy should provide, as appropriate for students at each grade level, methods, including options, for managing students in the classroom and on school grounds; disciplining students; and preventing and intervening in student discipline problems, including bullying, harassment and making hit lists.
Paris ISD investigates every allegation of bullying, Preston said.
“We take it very seriously and look at it very seriously,” he said. “We have to measure the investigation against the legal definition of bullying, and if we find that something happened, the discipline can range from an in-school suspension to removing them [the perpetrator] to a state alternative school.”
“Student-on-student bullying is a prevalent problem in our nation’s schools today,” said Chisum High School Principal Clint Miller. “At Chisum High School, we take measures to educate and prepare our staff about what to look for and what to do if there are signs of bullying. During our staff meetings, we cover our district policies and procedures for building a safe school environment that is conducive to learning.”
Miller said when conducting training throughout the year, Chisum employees discuss the official definition of bullying (threat of physical harm, damaged property or reasonable fear) so teachers know what to look for; whether the conduct exploits an imbalance of power, and whether the conduct interferes with the educational process.
“We want our school to embody a culture of acceptance, tolerance and respect,” Miller said. “In the past, we have used class assemblies, programs and clubs and organizations to instill the importance of a positive learning environment… We speak to our kids about avoiding possible conflicts, how to surround yourself with positive friends and influences and especially how to make choices that will affect their future in a positive way. Kids are met with a lot of pressure today, both socially and emotionally, and the schools and parents will have to work together to reinforce positive social behaviors that will determine the environments that we are raising our children in.”
North Lamar ISD has a program called Zone 32, a student-led safe space facilitated by staff members.
“We try to help those who are being bullied as well as the people who might be doing the bullying,” said Wendy Bozarth, liaison for online learning and Zone 32 facilitator.
Bozarth said while there is always room for improvement, the program has made a difference.
“If a student comes out of counseling and needs extra help, we can also send them to an outside source, and Zone 32 has some funding to help with that,” she said.
She also added the entire staff recently had compliance training, and one of the components was what to do about bullying and how to look for it.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the second leading cause of death for teenagers, behind accidents, and bullying and suicide-related behaviors are closely related.
A report published in June in the journal “Pediatrics” encourages health officials to make screening teen patients for suicidal tendencies “a priority concern.”
“Bullying has always been a major issue for adolescents, but there is now greater recognition of the connection between bullying and suicide,” said child psychiatrist Benjamin Shain, the report’s lead author, in a New York Times article.
If you or someone you know is being bullied, stopbullying.gov encourages people to contact a teacher, school counselor or school principal. If you or anyone you know is considering suicide, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is always available at 1-800-273-8255, toll-free, with crisis workers to speak to.
Story by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
Bullying has become a spotlight issue in the country over the past few years, and area schools are taking it seriously.
“Physical and emotional safety are our top two priorities,” said Gary Preston, Paris ISD director of student services. “If the students don’t feel safe, we can’t teach them algebra.”
Preston said Texas state law requires schools to have a local policy that prohibits bullying, harassment and making hit lists and ensures that district employees enforce those prohibitions. That policy should provide, as appropriate for students at each grade level, methods, including options, for managing students in the classroom and on school grounds; disciplining students; and preventing and intervening in student discipline problems, including bullying, harassment and making hit lists.
Paris ISD investigates every allegation of bullying, Preston said.
“We take it very seriously and look at it very seriously,” he said. “We have to measure the investigation against the legal definition of bullying, and if we find that something happened, the discipline can range from an in-school suspension to removing them [the perpetrator] to a state alternative school.”
“Student-on-student bullying is a prevalent problem in our nation’s schools today,” said Chisum High School Principal Clint Miller. “At Chisum High School, we take measures to educate and prepare our staff about what to look for and what to do if there are signs of bullying. During our staff meetings, we cover our district policies and procedures for building a safe school environment that is conducive to learning.”
Miller said when conducting training throughout the year, Chisum employees discuss the official definition of bullying (threat of physical harm, damaged property or reasonable fear) so teachers know what to look for; whether the conduct exploits an imbalance of power, and whether the conduct interferes with the educational process.
“We want our school to embody a culture of acceptance, tolerance and respect,” Miller said. “In the past, we have used class assemblies, programs and clubs and organizations to instill the importance of a positive learning environment… We speak to our kids about avoiding possible conflicts, how to surround yourself with positive friends and influences and especially how to make choices that will affect their future in a positive way. Kids are met with a lot of pressure today, both socially and emotionally, and the schools and parents will have to work together to reinforce positive social behaviors that will determine the environments that we are raising our children in.”
North Lamar ISD has a program called Zone 32, a student-led safe space facilitated by staff members.
“We try to help those who are being bullied as well as the people who might be doing the bullying,” said Wendy Bozarth, liaison for online learning and Zone 32 facilitator.
Bozarth said while there is always room for improvement, the program has made a difference.
“If a student comes out of counseling and needs extra help, we can also send them to an outside source, and Zone 32 has some funding to help with that,” she said.
She also added the entire staff recently had compliance training, and one of the components was what to do about bullying and how to look for it.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the second leading cause of death for teenagers, behind accidents, and bullying and suicide-related behaviors are closely related.
A report published in June in the journal “Pediatrics” encourages health officials to make screening teen patients for suicidal tendencies “a priority concern.”
“Bullying has always been a major issue for adolescents, but there is now greater recognition of the connection between bullying and suicide,” said child psychiatrist Benjamin Shain, the report’s lead author, in a New York Times article.
If you or someone you know is being bullied, stopbullying.gov encourages people to contact a teacher, school counselor or school principal. If you or anyone you know is considering suicide, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is always available at 1-800-273-8255, toll-free, with crisis workers to speak to.
State vaccine exemptions on the rise
Published in The Paris News
Story by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
According to the Scientific American, overwhelming scientific evidence proves the negative side effects of vaccines are rare and minor. So why are more parents refusing to have their children vaccinated?
An Associated Press story published in August said state figures show the number of Texas parents refusing to have their children vaccinated for non-medical reasons rose nearly 9 percent last school year. The story reported that nearly 45,000 Texas children were not vaccinated due to “conscientious exemption.” That compares to about 3,000 children opting out in 2003, when Texas began allowing vaccination exemptions. Texas, with about 5.5 million schoolchildren, is among 18 states allowing waivers of vaccine requirements based on conscience or personal beliefs.
Gary Preston, Paris Independent School District director of student services, said almost 100 percent of PISD students are vaccinated. According to medical records, only 12 students are registered as having medical or conscientious exemptions to vaccines. Preston said with those students, there is a process that has to be followed, and that is the responsibility of the parents. For example, schools honor notarized exemptions only two years at a time, and if the state declares some sort of epidemic, students who aren’t vaccinated aren’t required to go to school.
Carla Coleman, North Lamar ISD’s public relations director, said they follow the Texas minimum state vaccine requirements. The Texas vaccine requirements list diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis, polio, measles/mumps/rubella, hepatitis B, varicella, meningicoccal and hepatitis A vaccines as essential. However, Texas law allows for physicians to write medical exemptions for students and parents to file for exemption because of “reasons of conscience.” Coleman said North Lamar campus nurses reported 19 total students who are exempt from vaccines.
According to the website stopmandatoryvaccination.com, vaccines have been under-researched and can cause serious illnesses, like autism, in infants and children. However, the above-mentioned Scientific American article said there has been only one scientific article that stated there is a link between vaccines and autism – and the findings of that study were retracted and its author banned from practicing medicine due to ethical lapses. On the contrary, more than a dozen studies have since been added to the body of evidence that this link does not exist.
The Center for Disease Control states if parents choose not to vaccinate their child, they must understand the risks and responsibilities. For example, if their child ever goes to the doctor, rides in an ambulance or visits an emergency room, parents must tell the medical staff what vaccines their child has not received. This is necessary because doctors must consider the possibility that the child has a vaccine-preventable disease. Medical personnel may also need to take precautions, like isolating the child, so the disease won’t spread to infants, who are too young to be vaccinated, or people with weaker immune systems. Parents also must inform their child’s school, childcare facility and other caregivers about your child’s vaccination status and be aware that the child can catch diseases from people who don’t have any symptoms. For a full list of necessary precautions, visit cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/vaccine-decision/no-vaccination.html.
“I think a lot of it has to do with education and the community working with doctors and pediatricians,” Preston said. “I think that is the key to healthy students at the schools.”
The Paris-Lamar County Health District offers low-cost vaccinations for children and adults. According to its website, the cost for immunizations is $14 per visit for children under 18; however, no child will be turned away for inability to pay for state supplied vaccines. Adult vaccines are $25 per shot except for TB and flu, which are $20. Vaccines may be paid for with cash or personal check. Debit and credit cards are also accepted.
Story by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
According to the Scientific American, overwhelming scientific evidence proves the negative side effects of vaccines are rare and minor. So why are more parents refusing to have their children vaccinated?
An Associated Press story published in August said state figures show the number of Texas parents refusing to have their children vaccinated for non-medical reasons rose nearly 9 percent last school year. The story reported that nearly 45,000 Texas children were not vaccinated due to “conscientious exemption.” That compares to about 3,000 children opting out in 2003, when Texas began allowing vaccination exemptions. Texas, with about 5.5 million schoolchildren, is among 18 states allowing waivers of vaccine requirements based on conscience or personal beliefs.
Gary Preston, Paris Independent School District director of student services, said almost 100 percent of PISD students are vaccinated. According to medical records, only 12 students are registered as having medical or conscientious exemptions to vaccines. Preston said with those students, there is a process that has to be followed, and that is the responsibility of the parents. For example, schools honor notarized exemptions only two years at a time, and if the state declares some sort of epidemic, students who aren’t vaccinated aren’t required to go to school.
Carla Coleman, North Lamar ISD’s public relations director, said they follow the Texas minimum state vaccine requirements. The Texas vaccine requirements list diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis, polio, measles/mumps/rubella, hepatitis B, varicella, meningicoccal and hepatitis A vaccines as essential. However, Texas law allows for physicians to write medical exemptions for students and parents to file for exemption because of “reasons of conscience.” Coleman said North Lamar campus nurses reported 19 total students who are exempt from vaccines.
According to the website stopmandatoryvaccination.com, vaccines have been under-researched and can cause serious illnesses, like autism, in infants and children. However, the above-mentioned Scientific American article said there has been only one scientific article that stated there is a link between vaccines and autism – and the findings of that study were retracted and its author banned from practicing medicine due to ethical lapses. On the contrary, more than a dozen studies have since been added to the body of evidence that this link does not exist.
The Center for Disease Control states if parents choose not to vaccinate their child, they must understand the risks and responsibilities. For example, if their child ever goes to the doctor, rides in an ambulance or visits an emergency room, parents must tell the medical staff what vaccines their child has not received. This is necessary because doctors must consider the possibility that the child has a vaccine-preventable disease. Medical personnel may also need to take precautions, like isolating the child, so the disease won’t spread to infants, who are too young to be vaccinated, or people with weaker immune systems. Parents also must inform their child’s school, childcare facility and other caregivers about your child’s vaccination status and be aware that the child can catch diseases from people who don’t have any symptoms. For a full list of necessary precautions, visit cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/vaccine-decision/no-vaccination.html.
“I think a lot of it has to do with education and the community working with doctors and pediatricians,” Preston said. “I think that is the key to healthy students at the schools.”
The Paris-Lamar County Health District offers low-cost vaccinations for children and adults. According to its website, the cost for immunizations is $14 per visit for children under 18; however, no child will be turned away for inability to pay for state supplied vaccines. Adult vaccines are $25 per shot except for TB and flu, which are $20. Vaccines may be paid for with cash or personal check. Debit and credit cards are also accepted.
Lights for Darlene
Published in The Paris News
Story by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
For the sixth year, a local man has spent hundreds of hours programming a light show in memory of his mother.
Since Oct. 1, Brad Ford, his girlfriend, Sharmin Powell, and his brother, Brent Ford, have worked to put up thousands of lights for a display that benefits cancer research. The show, at 250 Anderson Road in Reno, opened the day after Thanksgiving. When drivers tune to 92.3 FM, varied lights flash and a fountain jets water to the beat of Christmas carols. If they enjoy the spectacle, viewers can donate in the box beside the road.
“We donate all the proceeds to the American Cancer Society and Relay for Life in Mom’s name,” Brad said.
Driving around, looking at holiday lights is a tradition for many families. Brad said it was Christmas custom for his whole family, but he and his mother, Darlene Ford, especially treasured it.
“We always loved watching the Christmas lights every year,” he said. “My brother and dad liked them too, but it seemed like it was more mine and my mom’s thing.”
Brad began putting up lights when he was 12 or 13 years old, helping his dad.
“He’d always say, ‘you have no problem putting them up, but you never want to take them down,’” he chuckled.
In 2009, though, his passion really took off. That year, he saw a video of computerized lights. He said he got really interested in the programming and wanted to try it himself. However, the equipment was expensive, so it took a couple years to get it all together. When he told his mother about his plans to start the light show in 2011, she was just as enthusiastic.
“Mom was really excited to see it,” Brad said, “but she had cancer and passed away in June of that year. So, I do it in her memory.”
Brad said the show, which he calls Lights for Darlene, has grown every year.
“I always try to have more each year, and every other year I try to add something big,” Brad said.
It takes around two months to put all of the lights up, and around one month to take them down, Brad said. Brad, Brent and Powell estimate they put up around $25,000 worth of lights this year. Some of them Brad has purchased, while other lights have been donated.
“I love Christmas lights, always have, and I’ve always put up some kind of display,” Brad said. “It’s just all the lights I’ve collected over the years.”
Along with watching the show, viewers also have the chance to win a prize. Every year, Ford said, they have a contest where people can guess how many lights are twinkling. The number changes every year, and Ford said they’ll count up the lights and announce the winner tonight.
The prize is usually $100, Brad said, but with the help of Steven Fugett, that increased. This year, the closest guess will win $200, and, if it’s within 50 lights, that jackpot is boosted to $300.
Presently, dozens of cars drive by the display every day to see the thousands of lights dance to classic Christmas tunes. The show begins at 5:30 p.m. every day and goes off at 11 p.m. On Friday and Saturday, performances last until midnight. Dec. 31 is the last day of the show, but Brad said they will be filming video for a few days after that, so the lights will still be up.
For more information, go to the Facebook page “Lights for Darlene.”
Story by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
For the sixth year, a local man has spent hundreds of hours programming a light show in memory of his mother.
Since Oct. 1, Brad Ford, his girlfriend, Sharmin Powell, and his brother, Brent Ford, have worked to put up thousands of lights for a display that benefits cancer research. The show, at 250 Anderson Road in Reno, opened the day after Thanksgiving. When drivers tune to 92.3 FM, varied lights flash and a fountain jets water to the beat of Christmas carols. If they enjoy the spectacle, viewers can donate in the box beside the road.
“We donate all the proceeds to the American Cancer Society and Relay for Life in Mom’s name,” Brad said.
Driving around, looking at holiday lights is a tradition for many families. Brad said it was Christmas custom for his whole family, but he and his mother, Darlene Ford, especially treasured it.
“We always loved watching the Christmas lights every year,” he said. “My brother and dad liked them too, but it seemed like it was more mine and my mom’s thing.”
Brad began putting up lights when he was 12 or 13 years old, helping his dad.
“He’d always say, ‘you have no problem putting them up, but you never want to take them down,’” he chuckled.
In 2009, though, his passion really took off. That year, he saw a video of computerized lights. He said he got really interested in the programming and wanted to try it himself. However, the equipment was expensive, so it took a couple years to get it all together. When he told his mother about his plans to start the light show in 2011, she was just as enthusiastic.
“Mom was really excited to see it,” Brad said, “but she had cancer and passed away in June of that year. So, I do it in her memory.”
Brad said the show, which he calls Lights for Darlene, has grown every year.
“I always try to have more each year, and every other year I try to add something big,” Brad said.
It takes around two months to put all of the lights up, and around one month to take them down, Brad said. Brad, Brent and Powell estimate they put up around $25,000 worth of lights this year. Some of them Brad has purchased, while other lights have been donated.
“I love Christmas lights, always have, and I’ve always put up some kind of display,” Brad said. “It’s just all the lights I’ve collected over the years.”
Along with watching the show, viewers also have the chance to win a prize. Every year, Ford said, they have a contest where people can guess how many lights are twinkling. The number changes every year, and Ford said they’ll count up the lights and announce the winner tonight.
The prize is usually $100, Brad said, but with the help of Steven Fugett, that increased. This year, the closest guess will win $200, and, if it’s within 50 lights, that jackpot is boosted to $300.
Presently, dozens of cars drive by the display every day to see the thousands of lights dance to classic Christmas tunes. The show begins at 5:30 p.m. every day and goes off at 11 p.m. On Friday and Saturday, performances last until midnight. Dec. 31 is the last day of the show, but Brad said they will be filming video for a few days after that, so the lights will still be up.
For more information, go to the Facebook page “Lights for Darlene.”
Grateful Dead fan recalls seeing one of Jerry Garcia's last performances
Published on AL.com
Story by Anna Waters and Anna Rae Gwarjanski
John Bruckmeier was not a Deadhead. He never drove a Volkswagen microbus and always stayed in hotels, but he did follow the Grateful Dead on tour for more than 60 shows before the band lost its leader, Jerry Garcia, to a heart attack in August 1995.
After the loss of Garcia, it was the beginning of the end for the Dead's heyday, explained Bruckmeier, who now works for a Birmingham paper company.
"There had just been all sorts of negativity surrounding that particular tour," he said, recalling the way Jerry Garcia's bad health had begun to negatively influence his concert performances and how there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm impeding the whole band.
"I remember as we walked out the last night thinking, 'Well, this is probably the last summer tour show that we're going to see because some of these venues aren't going to have them back.' And we were right that we weren't going to see another summer tour."
He said the shows had become steadily more irregular as the summer progressed. Traffic, ticketless audience members and collapsed stage platforms caused problems, and Garcia "just didn't look good."
The music too was simply inconsistent with the band's performance history, Bruckmeier recalled.
"The shows on that summer run were just very uneven," he said. "They would be playing really well, and they'd just kind of slide out. They might slide back in, and they might not."
Although Bruckmeier said he enjoyed the two Grateful Dead shows he attended in April 1995 at the BJCC Arena in Birmingham, he acknowledged them in the context of that patchy summer tour that ended with Garcia's death.
"Things could just seem like they were about to fall apart," he said. "Sadly, some of it was Jerry. He just kind of checked out. I remember one show in that run in Atlanta that he just seemed like he really wasn't there. It's hard to explain. It's like he was physically on stage, but just mentally things weren't firing on all thrusters."
In a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, former Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann said the band died with Garcia, whose health had been visibly deteriorating over his last years. Kreutzmann left the band shortly after Garcia died.
"When Jerry left us in '95 - besides being totally hurt and forlorn, basically lonesome - I was lost in every direction," Kreutzmann told Rolling Stone. "I didn't know what to do... The Grateful Dead without Jerry Garcia was like the Miles Davis Band without Miles Davis."
Garcia's death marked the end of the Grateful Dead as many fans knew it, but Bruckmeier suggested that the remaining members of the band and subsequent reincarnations have developed their own authentic sound since 1995.
For the 50th anniversary reunion run this summer, dubbed the "Fare Thee Well" tour, Phish frontman Trey Anastasio is helping fill Garcia's hole.
"The original product is obviously done because [Garcia] was such an integral part of that original product, but this is a collection of very good musicians in their own right," Bruckmeier said. "But there's sort of an elephant in the room that Jerry's not there, and so there is a different sound and different vibe because it's just a different makeup."
Despite his "half‐hearted" attempts to procure tickets for this summer's Grateful Dead show at Soldier Field in Chicago, Bruckmeier said he would not be attending the reunion concert, although he had high hopes for the new reincarnated Dead.
"You've got good musicians who know what they're doing," he said. "I would expect them to turn out a very entertaining product."
Story by Anna Waters and Anna Rae Gwarjanski
John Bruckmeier was not a Deadhead. He never drove a Volkswagen microbus and always stayed in hotels, but he did follow the Grateful Dead on tour for more than 60 shows before the band lost its leader, Jerry Garcia, to a heart attack in August 1995.
After the loss of Garcia, it was the beginning of the end for the Dead's heyday, explained Bruckmeier, who now works for a Birmingham paper company.
"There had just been all sorts of negativity surrounding that particular tour," he said, recalling the way Jerry Garcia's bad health had begun to negatively influence his concert performances and how there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm impeding the whole band.
"I remember as we walked out the last night thinking, 'Well, this is probably the last summer tour show that we're going to see because some of these venues aren't going to have them back.' And we were right that we weren't going to see another summer tour."
He said the shows had become steadily more irregular as the summer progressed. Traffic, ticketless audience members and collapsed stage platforms caused problems, and Garcia "just didn't look good."
The music too was simply inconsistent with the band's performance history, Bruckmeier recalled.
"The shows on that summer run were just very uneven," he said. "They would be playing really well, and they'd just kind of slide out. They might slide back in, and they might not."
Although Bruckmeier said he enjoyed the two Grateful Dead shows he attended in April 1995 at the BJCC Arena in Birmingham, he acknowledged them in the context of that patchy summer tour that ended with Garcia's death.
"Things could just seem like they were about to fall apart," he said. "Sadly, some of it was Jerry. He just kind of checked out. I remember one show in that run in Atlanta that he just seemed like he really wasn't there. It's hard to explain. It's like he was physically on stage, but just mentally things weren't firing on all thrusters."
In a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, former Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann said the band died with Garcia, whose health had been visibly deteriorating over his last years. Kreutzmann left the band shortly after Garcia died.
"When Jerry left us in '95 - besides being totally hurt and forlorn, basically lonesome - I was lost in every direction," Kreutzmann told Rolling Stone. "I didn't know what to do... The Grateful Dead without Jerry Garcia was like the Miles Davis Band without Miles Davis."
Garcia's death marked the end of the Grateful Dead as many fans knew it, but Bruckmeier suggested that the remaining members of the band and subsequent reincarnations have developed their own authentic sound since 1995.
For the 50th anniversary reunion run this summer, dubbed the "Fare Thee Well" tour, Phish frontman Trey Anastasio is helping fill Garcia's hole.
"The original product is obviously done because [Garcia] was such an integral part of that original product, but this is a collection of very good musicians in their own right," Bruckmeier said. "But there's sort of an elephant in the room that Jerry's not there, and so there is a different sound and different vibe because it's just a different makeup."
Despite his "half‐hearted" attempts to procure tickets for this summer's Grateful Dead show at Soldier Field in Chicago, Bruckmeier said he would not be attending the reunion concert, although he had high hopes for the new reincarnated Dead.
"You've got good musicians who know what they're doing," he said. "I would expect them to turn out a very entertaining product."
What's the difference between old-school, modern Deadheads?
Published on AL.com
Modern: Hanna Curlette
Story by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
Hanna Curlette's parents were rock 'n' rollers. She grew up to the sounds of Led Zeppelin, KISS, AC/DC and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Curlette, however, has always preferred softer music. The Grateful Dead's "Sugar Magnolia" was her sister's ringback tone, and once she heard it, she was hooked.
"I just always loved the sweet sound of the melody mixed with the loving lyrics," Curlette said. "I am obsessed with jam bands. After I heard [the Dead for the first time], I just got lost in the music. Every song seemed to be my favorite song."
A student at The University of Alabama, Curlette, 20, is too young to have seen the Dead live. Still, she considers herself a true fan of the band - a Deadhead. She has immersed herself in the Grateful Dead for the past few years, watching documentaries, reading old articles and listening to as much music as she can.
Curlette also tries to emulate the fashion of the Grateful Dead's heyday, the 1970s, in her personal style.
"People on campus look at me [like I'm] crazy because I have dreads, which I guess is a stereotype of a Deadhead," she said. "I wear [tie-dyed] T-shirts sometimes - actually a lot of times - but my style is hard to describe. I guess it's a lot of mismatching - controlled chaos."
Curlette tried to get tickets for the Grateful Dead's upcoming summer 2015 reunion show, but they sold out in minutes.
"It actually hurts my soul that I won't be attending," she said. "In my opinion, a lot of the funk and soul died with Jerry [Garcia], but I am curious to hear the band's dynamic on stage all together."
Curlette attended the Lockn' Music Festival last year in Arrington, Va. The festival, which is known for showcasing jam bands, featured old and new artists in its 2014 lineup, such as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, String Cheese & the Gang, the Allman Brothers Band and Willie Nelson.
Curlette said the festival's audience skewed older, and she expects the same of the Grateful Dead 50th anniversary reunion.
"I told my dad he should have come with me because there were so many people his age," she said.
"Everyone was so respectful, friendly and happy. Judging by how expensive and fast the tickets went, I think that is how the [Grateful Dead] concert is going to be - a lot of middle-aged Deadheads reliving their childhood."
Old School: Rachel Finner
Story by Kirsten Fiscus
One day in February 1995, Rachel Finner received a call from her mother. Finner, a loyal 20-year-old Deadhead, wanted nothing more than to attend at least one of the two shows the Grateful Dead would play a couple of months later in Birmingham.
"Mom called me at work to let me know the tickets were going on sale," Finner said. "She asked me, 'How many do you want?' I said, 'Buy two, and I'll pay you back.'"
Thirty minutes later, her mother called back to tell her she had two tickets for the first night. Her mother offered to go with her, but Finner already had a date in mind for the second ticket.
"In retrospect, I wish I had taken my mom," Finner said.
Becoming a fan of the Dead seemed to be a natural progression for Finner. She grew up listening to music that most students at her school did not listen to. Her parents encouraged her to keep listening to the older bands she loved, and they often said she was born in the wrong musical era. However, it was not until high school that Finner became a Deadhead.
She said the atmosphere at her first Grateful Dead show was "filled with anticipation, excitement and wonder." Finner embraced the typical Deadhead style, wearing jeans, Smurf-blue Doc Martens and a blue tie-dyed Dead T-shirt.
Finner said that the blue shirt was one of her favorites. On the front were dancing bears in a woodland setting and text that read, "What do you do when you see a bear in the woods?" The back read, "PLAY DEAD."
"I really miss that shirt," Finner said.
Finner, now a medical assistant at Princeton Hospital in Birmingham, said she has a positive outlook on the Grateful Dead's newest upcoming reunion show at Soldier Field in Chicago.
"A music concert in a great venue is always a good idea," she said. "Honestly, I don't know the ticket cost. However, if you love the band and have the money for the tickets, I say go for it! We only live once, and this life is not a dress rehearsal."
Modern: Hanna Curlette
Story by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
Hanna Curlette's parents were rock 'n' rollers. She grew up to the sounds of Led Zeppelin, KISS, AC/DC and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Curlette, however, has always preferred softer music. The Grateful Dead's "Sugar Magnolia" was her sister's ringback tone, and once she heard it, she was hooked.
"I just always loved the sweet sound of the melody mixed with the loving lyrics," Curlette said. "I am obsessed with jam bands. After I heard [the Dead for the first time], I just got lost in the music. Every song seemed to be my favorite song."
A student at The University of Alabama, Curlette, 20, is too young to have seen the Dead live. Still, she considers herself a true fan of the band - a Deadhead. She has immersed herself in the Grateful Dead for the past few years, watching documentaries, reading old articles and listening to as much music as she can.
Curlette also tries to emulate the fashion of the Grateful Dead's heyday, the 1970s, in her personal style.
"People on campus look at me [like I'm] crazy because I have dreads, which I guess is a stereotype of a Deadhead," she said. "I wear [tie-dyed] T-shirts sometimes - actually a lot of times - but my style is hard to describe. I guess it's a lot of mismatching - controlled chaos."
Curlette tried to get tickets for the Grateful Dead's upcoming summer 2015 reunion show, but they sold out in minutes.
"It actually hurts my soul that I won't be attending," she said. "In my opinion, a lot of the funk and soul died with Jerry [Garcia], but I am curious to hear the band's dynamic on stage all together."
Curlette attended the Lockn' Music Festival last year in Arrington, Va. The festival, which is known for showcasing jam bands, featured old and new artists in its 2014 lineup, such as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, String Cheese & the Gang, the Allman Brothers Band and Willie Nelson.
Curlette said the festival's audience skewed older, and she expects the same of the Grateful Dead 50th anniversary reunion.
"I told my dad he should have come with me because there were so many people his age," she said.
"Everyone was so respectful, friendly and happy. Judging by how expensive and fast the tickets went, I think that is how the [Grateful Dead] concert is going to be - a lot of middle-aged Deadheads reliving their childhood."
Old School: Rachel Finner
Story by Kirsten Fiscus
One day in February 1995, Rachel Finner received a call from her mother. Finner, a loyal 20-year-old Deadhead, wanted nothing more than to attend at least one of the two shows the Grateful Dead would play a couple of months later in Birmingham.
"Mom called me at work to let me know the tickets were going on sale," Finner said. "She asked me, 'How many do you want?' I said, 'Buy two, and I'll pay you back.'"
Thirty minutes later, her mother called back to tell her she had two tickets for the first night. Her mother offered to go with her, but Finner already had a date in mind for the second ticket.
"In retrospect, I wish I had taken my mom," Finner said.
Becoming a fan of the Dead seemed to be a natural progression for Finner. She grew up listening to music that most students at her school did not listen to. Her parents encouraged her to keep listening to the older bands she loved, and they often said she was born in the wrong musical era. However, it was not until high school that Finner became a Deadhead.
She said the atmosphere at her first Grateful Dead show was "filled with anticipation, excitement and wonder." Finner embraced the typical Deadhead style, wearing jeans, Smurf-blue Doc Martens and a blue tie-dyed Dead T-shirt.
Finner said that the blue shirt was one of her favorites. On the front were dancing bears in a woodland setting and text that read, "What do you do when you see a bear in the woods?" The back read, "PLAY DEAD."
"I really miss that shirt," Finner said.
Finner, now a medical assistant at Princeton Hospital in Birmingham, said she has a positive outlook on the Grateful Dead's newest upcoming reunion show at Soldier Field in Chicago.
"A music concert in a great venue is always a good idea," she said. "Honestly, I don't know the ticket cost. However, if you love the band and have the money for the tickets, I say go for it! We only live once, and this life is not a dress rehearsal."
The Pride of Manchester
Published in Alpine Living Issue VI
Story by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
In light of Alabama's recent heated gay marriage struggle, Manchester shines like a beacon of progressive LGBT rights. However, it has not always been so, as the history of Canal Street proves.
Canal Street is aptly named because the district grew along the banks of the Rochdale Canal, which opened in 1804. However, as the cloth trade died in the early 20th century, Canal Street fell into disrepair and became known as a seedy section of town. Homosexuality was illegal in England at the time, and so the dark and silent streets became a discreet place for gay men to meet. Although the Sexual Offences Act of 1967, provided limited decriminalization of homosexuality, the police still patrolled Canal Street carefully, raiding clubs and making arrests.
Iain Scott, owner of Taurus, a bar on Canal Street, says the turning point came in 1993, when the bar Manto was built. Manto was a crisp, bright building that Scott calls a "trailblazer" because of its use of big glass windows. Before Manto, the pubs were dark and boarded up, hiding their customers from prying eyes. Manto's windows took away the feelings of shame previously associated with being in what it now called the Gay Village.
Today the Gay Village is an international tourist destination, as well as a popular spot among locals for occasions like bachelorette parties. The dynamic atmosphere attracts diversity like no other spot in Manchester says Scott, who has operated in the Gay Village for over 20 years. People from all walks of life are drawn to the Gay Village for its history and its accepting and warm ambience.
No one can argue that Canal Street's growth has not had a pivotal influence on Manchester. Because of the varied pilgrims—be it history buffs who want to quietly absorb the place over a cup of tea or 20-somethings looking for an upbeat night of dancing—the Gay Village brings in a significant amount of revenue for the city.
But while the Gay Village has had a prominent influence on the Manchester legislature, and legally the LGBT community has the same rights as heterosexuals, activists say the battle is not yet won.
"I don't fight to live in the LGBT community,” says Amelia Lee, strategic director for LGBT Youth Northwest. “I fight to live in the whole world."
Lee agrees with Scott that, in a time of severe discrimination, the Gay Village set stepping stones to a better future for those who were LGBT. However, she says the downside to the Village is that many people who identify as LGBT do not come to the corner of town because they feel they are being gawked at.
"Is it a devil or is it a god? I don't know, it could be both," Lee says.
However, she said overall the Gay Village has helped more people increase their pride and self-acceptance than it has hurt, which was the goal all along.
"It's not perfect," Scott says. "It's got a lot of history, but ultimately it's a positive space."
Story by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
In light of Alabama's recent heated gay marriage struggle, Manchester shines like a beacon of progressive LGBT rights. However, it has not always been so, as the history of Canal Street proves.
Canal Street is aptly named because the district grew along the banks of the Rochdale Canal, which opened in 1804. However, as the cloth trade died in the early 20th century, Canal Street fell into disrepair and became known as a seedy section of town. Homosexuality was illegal in England at the time, and so the dark and silent streets became a discreet place for gay men to meet. Although the Sexual Offences Act of 1967, provided limited decriminalization of homosexuality, the police still patrolled Canal Street carefully, raiding clubs and making arrests.
Iain Scott, owner of Taurus, a bar on Canal Street, says the turning point came in 1993, when the bar Manto was built. Manto was a crisp, bright building that Scott calls a "trailblazer" because of its use of big glass windows. Before Manto, the pubs were dark and boarded up, hiding their customers from prying eyes. Manto's windows took away the feelings of shame previously associated with being in what it now called the Gay Village.
Today the Gay Village is an international tourist destination, as well as a popular spot among locals for occasions like bachelorette parties. The dynamic atmosphere attracts diversity like no other spot in Manchester says Scott, who has operated in the Gay Village for over 20 years. People from all walks of life are drawn to the Gay Village for its history and its accepting and warm ambience.
No one can argue that Canal Street's growth has not had a pivotal influence on Manchester. Because of the varied pilgrims—be it history buffs who want to quietly absorb the place over a cup of tea or 20-somethings looking for an upbeat night of dancing—the Gay Village brings in a significant amount of revenue for the city.
But while the Gay Village has had a prominent influence on the Manchester legislature, and legally the LGBT community has the same rights as heterosexuals, activists say the battle is not yet won.
"I don't fight to live in the LGBT community,” says Amelia Lee, strategic director for LGBT Youth Northwest. “I fight to live in the whole world."
Lee agrees with Scott that, in a time of severe discrimination, the Gay Village set stepping stones to a better future for those who were LGBT. However, she says the downside to the Village is that many people who identify as LGBT do not come to the corner of town because they feel they are being gawked at.
"Is it a devil or is it a god? I don't know, it could be both," Lee says.
However, she said overall the Gay Village has helped more people increase their pride and self-acceptance than it has hurt, which was the goal all along.
"It's not perfect," Scott says. "It's got a lot of history, but ultimately it's a positive space."
Penderyn: Fine Welsh Whisky
Published in Alpine Living Issue VI
Story by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
For an area steeped in drinking traditions and lore, tourists might be surprised to learn that before Penderyn Distillery was launched in 2000, commercially produced Welsh single malt whisky had not been available for over 100 years.
"Wales has a history of distilling stretching back to the fourth century A.D.," says Laura Davies, a Penderyn distiller. "In the late 19th century, a malt whisky distillery briefly operated at Frongoch, near Bala in North Wales... The story goes that the distillery ceased production when its owner, after a few whiskies, fell under his own horse and was killed."
Davies says that the late 19th century temperance movement is most likely what led to the drastic decline in distilleries.
The whisky-distilling industry is a difficult one to enter. The award-winning Penderyn, picturesquely set in Brecon Beacons National Park, opened successfully thanks to generous investors and a focus on quality. Penderyn created vodka, gin and cream liqueur in order to introduce the brand and make money while the whisky aged.
"There is no ‘fast-track’ to making whisky, and certainly not premium whisky," Davies says.
The company's logo, a seam of Welsh gold, plays off of their top-shelf reputation. Gold, like Welsh whisky, is a rare and precious commodity. Penderyn tour guide Carys James says they only export 20–30 percent of their product. Much of their profits come from Welsh citizens celebrating their heritage with locally created spirits, choosing Penderyn's Merlyn cream liqueur over Bailey's, for instance, or their Five Vodka over vodkas like Grey Goose.
"It's a very niche market, so we don't have a need to expand," James says. "There's no need to try to compete with Scotland and Ireland."
Their Madeira-style whisky, with its delicate, fruity flavor and aroma of toffee, honey and raisins, is their best-selling bottle. All of Penderyn's products are individually nosed and put together by hand, cask by cask.
"In this way," Davies says, "we ensure that each and every batch that is bottled is of the highest quality and has the smoothness and complexity that our fans have come to enjoy."
Story by Anna Rae Gwarjanski
For an area steeped in drinking traditions and lore, tourists might be surprised to learn that before Penderyn Distillery was launched in 2000, commercially produced Welsh single malt whisky had not been available for over 100 years.
"Wales has a history of distilling stretching back to the fourth century A.D.," says Laura Davies, a Penderyn distiller. "In the late 19th century, a malt whisky distillery briefly operated at Frongoch, near Bala in North Wales... The story goes that the distillery ceased production when its owner, after a few whiskies, fell under his own horse and was killed."
Davies says that the late 19th century temperance movement is most likely what led to the drastic decline in distilleries.
The whisky-distilling industry is a difficult one to enter. The award-winning Penderyn, picturesquely set in Brecon Beacons National Park, opened successfully thanks to generous investors and a focus on quality. Penderyn created vodka, gin and cream liqueur in order to introduce the brand and make money while the whisky aged.
"There is no ‘fast-track’ to making whisky, and certainly not premium whisky," Davies says.
The company's logo, a seam of Welsh gold, plays off of their top-shelf reputation. Gold, like Welsh whisky, is a rare and precious commodity. Penderyn tour guide Carys James says they only export 20–30 percent of their product. Much of their profits come from Welsh citizens celebrating their heritage with locally created spirits, choosing Penderyn's Merlyn cream liqueur over Bailey's, for instance, or their Five Vodka over vodkas like Grey Goose.
"It's a very niche market, so we don't have a need to expand," James says. "There's no need to try to compete with Scotland and Ireland."
Their Madeira-style whisky, with its delicate, fruity flavor and aroma of toffee, honey and raisins, is their best-selling bottle. All of Penderyn's products are individually nosed and put together by hand, cask by cask.
"In this way," Davies says, "we ensure that each and every batch that is bottled is of the highest quality and has the smoothness and complexity that our fans have come to enjoy."