Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Are You a Puppet?

By Mike Peeters, senior English and Information Science & Technology major at SLC

With technology becoming ever-present in our day to day lives, it has become impossible for us to escape the barrage of information that we absorb throughout our days. From the constant vibrations from our phones to the ad banners present on and off the screen, we are pummeled with so much information and 'proven facts' that the average toddler can contemplate an argument as to why McDonald's is the best restaurant ever! And while this may seem like a silly example, in reality, the grown ups aren't all that much better. From Kony 2012 to the ALS Ice Bucket challenge, the average adult is on the same level as a toddler. That is, they're eager to jump on band wagons with prescribed facts as their voice and emotions as their driving force. While this may sound insulting, let me ask you a question about the latter since it's the freshest example in our minds: In regards to the ALS charity, how much of your donation is actually helping somebody and how much of your donation is going into somebody's paycheck?

It would not surprise me if you found yourself googling that very question. If you look them up on Charity Navigator, a watch dog group that evaluates charities and how they handle themselves, you'll find that the group has an excellent record in transparency and has a proficient record in regards to finances. So, this charity is actually a good charity as they dedicate $15.5 million towards their total $21 million budget for community services and research . However, what's to say that I didn't lie just now and what's to say that the motives behind the drive weren't lies from the start? How eager are we to accept the information that we're given as fact especially when those 'facts' are encouraging us to pursue something that's a 'good cause?'

Before I continue, I will say that the information that I gave is correct- at least, in regards to what Charity Navigator claims- a resource I've personally found to be trustworthy. However, the question I asked still stands- When we are presented with some cause that seems like a good cause, why are we so eager to accept the facts they give as facts? When asking this question, another movement comes to mind that became a hot topic issue in 2011: The Kony 2012 movement. This movement- which was pervasive in some areas and nearly absent in others, was a movement driven by social media. The purpose of this movement was to detain and prosecute Joseph Kony- a warlord from Uganda who's militia employed child soldiers who were taken, by force, from their homes and families and brainwashed to the point of where they would commit atrocities against anyone standing in the militia's path.

Most people, including myself, never heard of Kony until the organization, Invisible Children, released a video on Youtube that swept through Facebook. This video reiterated the points made in the previous paragraph while showing photographs and video footage of children suffering because of the actions of this militia. As the video propagated the masses, marches, campaigns and charity drives started up throughout the US. And thanks to my presence on a UW campus at the time, UW Platteville for those wondering, I found myself within a student body that was infuriated and ready to fight for change.

From the short-lived Kony 2012 club to the sidewalk markings scattered about telling when meeting times were to all those damn stickers scattered throughout the dorms and more importantly on my door... the campaign was in full swing. The slogans were all the same: Kony must be stopped; Kony must be caught; Kony must be prosecuted and then the occasional, behind the scenes sayings that called for a summary execution. Needless to say, there was an incredible amount of passion throughout the campus. However, did anyone know anything besides what that video (and later) what that organization claimed?
Image: www.mypercept.com
One piece of advice that was given by a former advisor of mine was to question everything while only accepting proven facts. With some loose knowledge revolving around Africa and the fact that the concept of a child soldier was common throughout the militias, I decided to confront the Resident Floor Assistant that I was under since his enthusiasm had lead to the plastering of stickers and posters on our floor. While playing dumb, I asked him what the movement was for. Who or what was Kony and why did it matter? He proceeded to answer me with claims made by the video. So then I took it a step further. I asked him why this one warlord mattered when there were many just like him throughout Africa- some worse; some better. The response he had was baseless and incredibly emotive- a response that basically amounted to, “Well, if we can get this one, then maybe the others will rethink what they're doing.” So, with one last step, I asked him how he knew the video was telling the truth.

At this point, all reasoning was gone and emotion took over- his face turned from pale white to beat red as he responded with questions like, “Why would someone lie about something like that?”

In reality, the footage within the video was over a decade old. Kony was a real person who committed atrocities against his own people and others. However, his peak was over a decade ago and at the time that this video was released, his militia was mostly non-existent. Furthermore, when the movement swept through the nation, several people from Uganda came forward and spoke the reality they knew: Kony was no longer relevant and worse, he was one of many- a group that they claimed included Uganda's leader. To add on to the complexity, many Ugandans (and westerners who had studied the culture) came out saying that the issue was even more complex than ever by showing that the region had been inhabited by two warring tribes who never got along. So what was really going on?

While being emotive when one is supposed to be objective is unacceptable, my R.A.'s question was legitimate: “Why do people lie about things like that?”

The answer is simple. People lie to get what they want--especially when they know that what they want cannot be obtained through legitimate means. This dark reality has always been present and within the realm of social media and popular culture, it has been destructive. Movements, like the anti-vaccine movement and homeopathy (the idea that water, with a lower dilution than if you were to take a bottle full of solute and place a drop in the ocean and that this diluted water can heal you because 'like cures like'), persevere throughout our culture even though there isn't a shred of proof in their favor. Yet people cling to them and as a result, everyone suffers. Ultimately, the Kony 2012 movement wasn't any different.

No one is completely sure of the overall impact this movement had. One of the higher ups within the organization was caught touching himself in public after temporarily losing his sanity. People kept on coming out with new information both for and against Invisible Children, the organization behind it. However, one thing that happened thanks to the marches nation wide was that of the President sending military advisors to Uganda to hunt down Kony, his group, and any other similar group. In other words, the president gave the screaming masses their cake- and after doing so, the movement faded away as the sense of victory swept through the followers. However, to the Council of Foreign affairs- an independent organization that many academic leaders and politicians are a part of--who evaluated the situation shortly after the advisors were sent, this was anything but a victory. In their eyes, Invisible Children manipulated information by “blowing up” Kony's impact on Africa.  Furthermore, the council noted how the organization ignored the atrocities committed by the local government and suggested that with the campaign being humanitarian in nature, it was a political benefit for those politicians who jumped on the band wagon.

With assertions like this, to say that the masses were given cake is an understatement. But even then, the truth still remains- the impact of our actions is unknown at this point. And we may never know what, if any impact, was made. It is for this reason then that we must reevaluate how we handle information. In college, we are told over and over again to use reputable sources- be they from books, journals or from the databases available. And for many, this requirement was present prior to college. So then, why are we so eager to accept the information we see posted throughout social media when, at the same time, we are incredibly selective to the information used in our academic lives? As mentioned before, some claimed that the region impacted was home to two warring tribes. What's to say that our advisors didn't give one tribe the upper hand needed to wipe out the other tribe? I guess all of this can boil down to a single question: is blind faith truly harmless after all?




Monday, September 29, 2014

The Novice: A Silver Lake Reflection


By Courtney Dekanich, junior English major at Silver Lake College



Another year at Silver Lake means another edition of The Novice! Formerly Silver Reflections, The Novice is Silver Lake’s own literary magazine, a celebration of the Silver Lake community’s original writing and artwork. For any writers interested in submitting work, send us your poetry and prose! For any artists interested, send us your photography or photographs of your sketches, paintings, or sculptures.

How does one go about submitting their work?

All you have to do is email your submission to thenovice.slc@gmail.com.

We’ll be accepting submissions until January 17, 2015.

After all selections have been made for the spring publication, recognition will be awarded for best poetry, prose, and visual art. All submissions will also be entered in a drawing for a $25 gift card.

While every edition of our campus literary magazine has been special, unique, this year’s is something of a milestone – this spring’s publication will be its 50th edition!

I’ve had the privilege of being a part of The Novice over the past few years, helping to go through the many submissions of writing and artwork that we receive each year, helping to make the difficult decision of which pieces are included in each final publication. In working on The Novice, I have come to realize that it’s so much more than just a literary magazine.

Our campus literary magazine has always been a reflection – as its previous title suggested – of the Silver Lake community, and recent years have proven no exception. The past few years have been times of great change for Silver Lake. We’ve gotten a new college president, seen the construction of a new music building. Even now, construction is underway on our new campus store and, of course, the much awaited Starbucks venue.

And, true to form, Silver Reflections has evolved to reflect these changes. Just last year, we took suggestions for a new name, finally settling on The Novice, revealing the new title at a reading at last year’s Spring Symposium.

For going on fifty years, The Novice has been a commemoration of this change through the talent and creativity of the members of this community. It can continue to do so as long as you, the readers, writers, and artists of the Silver Lake College community, keep on sending us your work.

Courtney Dekanich is a junior English major at Silver Lake College. She is the managing editor of The Novice, SLC's literary and visual arts journal.