4 l:i : iiii i : HE. VLADA GAISINA opinion@technewsiit.com TechNews I Tuesday, March 8, 2011 New tuition award Responseto “defining marriage" By Udayan Debasis Das STAFF WRITER I’ve met Hannah Rosenthal: She is a very pleasant pers on: All the more reason why I was surprised to see such an exclusionary article from her in last week’s TechNews: (I am guided here by the very end of the article, and wait to stand corrected if I have misunderstood the import of the words:) I think my gut reaction question on reading that article would be: Yes, I see what a Christian conception of marriage is; but in a secular society, how can the Chris7 tian conception be held to apply over all non7 Christians as well? If two non7Christian people wanted to get married, why would (should) what is written in the Bible apply? That would be my first question: I could, of course, draw deeper and try to ask a question on behalf of gay people who recognize themselves as Christian, but I have a feeling someone else might pick up on that; besides not being of any Christian denomina7 tion myself, I don’t feel qualified So back to my initial question In addition to what I have said already, let it also not be forgotten that as far as the state is concerned, there is no religious definition of “marriage," and a marriage is, in fact, a civil union. Noth7 ing more, nothingless: (I will, of course, return to the question of marriage vs: civil union in a second) Now, I would like to address a different part of the article from last week, where it says that committed heterosexual relationships have done much to merit our esteem: There can ac7 tually be no question about that: There is no question about that: After all, I am a child of parents who have been happily married for 35 years, and along with my sister, we constitute a very tight family unit: But this is beside the point: Including other people into the rights of marriage in no way undermines existing marriages If marriages are under threat now, it really has to do more with changing social norms and many other factors (probably should be the topic of another article; I direct people also to look up an article by Heather Selby in a 2005 TechNews issue about marriages’t): If anything, I think the push on the part ofa sector of society who are dying to get married should be welcomed by those who think that the institution of marriage needs defending: Since I mentioned civil unions, let me take a moment to address why, as things stand presently, a civil union (as recognized in some states) is not an acceptable alternative to mar7 riage: The reason is simple, because legally they are not the same thing: For example, on the death of a spouse, the survivor does not automatically become next of kin: Unless civil unions accord exactly the same rights as mar7 riage (bar the word) it would not be accept7 able as a compromise: Yes, you notice well: this naturally brings us conveniently back to the fact that a mar7 riage, after all, is a civil union in the eyes of the state: * Look up the TechNews archives at the Gaan Library: archives:iit:edu/technewsl: Bald is beautiful By Lisa Kwiatkowski TECHN EWS WRITER “Bald is beautiful" This statement is propa7 gated by balding men (and women), those with genetic hair loss, and the parents of children with cancer, just to name a few But does soci7 ety agree? We see female models, actresses, and singers with luscious long locks, and even the majority of male actors have some hair atop their head: Why, then, have 17 IIT students signed up to break this social norm in support of child7 hood cancer research? Since I was curious, I went ahead and asked: I received so many re7 sponses I could probably fill a whole page of this paper: The reasons are quite varied, and many of them may surprise you: Here are some selected “whys" My reason, though not the most exciting, interesting, or compelling by any means, is that I want to shave my head because I believed I could make a difference 7 I get the opportunity to help change the world by shaving my head for the St: Baldrick’s Foundation “When I was ten years old, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer: After a nine7 month battle through radiation and chemo, during which she also managed to work to7 ward a PhD in Education Administration, she bested her cancer and is now a ten7year survi7 vor: I could not be more proud of her, and this is my way of showing it: My mom has been an inspiration to me, and I hope that others can in turn be inspired by her: That’s why I’m par7 ticipating in St: Baldrick’s this year?’ 77 Tristan Larson “Currently, beauty is ill defined for us, es7 pecially for girls and women 7 the message is if you don’t have long, straight hair, you aren’t beautiful That needs to change: We need to change the messages that are sent to little girls about beauty We need to make it acceptable for girls to have short hair, long hair, whatever they want, and still know, still make them feel they are beautiful: That is why I’m doing this: For all the girls in the world who don’t have a choice; who are bald, or have short hair, I want to make this statement: Bald is beautiful" 77 Melanie Koto “The reason I decided to do St: Baldrick’s was that I had known a couple of my fraternity brothers had shaved their heads and raised a lot of money for childhood cancer research: I wanted to try and see how much I could help out kids by helping to fund research: I’ve put myself on the spot before with Queen of the Quad, so I figure that shaving my head is noth7 ing, if I can raise any money at all for cancer research, especially for children" 77 Alex Welk “I grew up in Billings, MT and up to the age of four I had two major issues, I slept a lot and did not always see things very clearly A few months after my 4th birthday, my par7 ents took me to an ophthalmologist 77 the last of many doctors that I went to for the above problems::: I had a tumor in my brain be7 tween the left optic nerve and the pituitary gland, consequently the left optic nerve is actually wired to the right eye: The next day he called my parents in early for a review of the MRI: The good news was that the tumor was benign and it seemed 77 and still seems 77 to have all been gotten out: The less than good news was that I would be legally blind in my right eye and need complete hormone replacemen 3' 77 Thomas Martin If the stories of your peers are not reason enough for you, I’d advise reading some of the stories of the St: Baldrick’s kids at wwwstbal7 dricks:org: Whether they are in treatment, re7 mission, cured, or angels, these kids possess a strength that frequently brings me to tears: It’s definitely a reality check: If you, too, want to make a difference in the lives of children battling cancer, it’s not too late to sign up to shave your head or donate on the heads of your peers: And don’t forget to come support your peers at the St: Baldrick’s head7shaving event in the Bog on March 11 at 8 pm: opportunity for undergrads By Jannelle Ruswick TECHN EWS WRITER Do your friends look to you for help on research papers? Know why Wikipedia is a lame source in your bibliography? Want to pay less tuition next year? If your answers are “yes," “duh" and “hell yes" then you must check out the new Undergraduate Research Specialists opportunity Galvin Library, in partnership with the Office of Undergradu7 ate Admissions and the Office of Financial Aid, is looking for outgoing students to be7 come Research Specialists for the 2011/2012 school year: Research Specialists would have two primary responsibilities: At night, they will help fellow students with their library7 related research questions for term papers, IPROs, or any other project that requires finding books, articles, web sites, etc: Dur7 ing the day, they will work with Instruction Coordinator Iannelle Ruswick to create an unprecedented “for undergrads, by under7 grads" library web site to make finding and understanding information faster and easier for undergrads: Students accepted into this program will need to meet rigorous requirements, such as submitting an example term paper and hav7 ing a minimum 30 GPA, but it’s worth it: Up to $400000 will be awarded to each Under7 graduate Research Specialist: This amount will not be paid in cash but will be a discount on the student’s tuition bill: The award will be divided equally between the Fall & Spring se7 mesters: During those two semesters, Research Specialists will need to work 10 hours a week to maintain the award: Tuition rates increase, so having this extra cushion could make a huge difference in your ability to pay the bills: In addition to the tuition, having the job ti7 tle “Research Specialist" on your resume would put you at the top of the pile on an employer’s desk The skills Research Specialists will devel7 op are not learned in class: For example, your future boss will want you to be able to find out, and do so right away, if someone else already has patents on an invention the company is working on: Finding patents could take hours if you don’t know how to do it; longer than the time frame your boss gives you: Jobs are also looking for new employees that can explain processes to others, and you will learn how to present information verbally in a logical and relatable manner as a Research Leader Finally, you will end the program with a tangible ob7 ject, a comprehensive functional web site that you can present as an example of your work Interested undergraduates need to have been at IIT for at least two semesters to apply For complete information on requirements and the application process, go to http://li7 braryiitIedu/jobs and check out the Under7 graduate Research Specialists link: TECHNEWS WANTS YOU TO WRITE . THAT IS ALL. IPRO 363 :This week's Language Link By Ian Hook TECHN EWS WRITER 'i 4: What’s your name? Iaeyoung Kim Where are you originally from? Daegu, South Korea What is your major and what year are you at IIT? Fifth year architecture What’s your native language? Korean is my native language: Do you speak any languages other than your native language and English? Yes, I also speak Japanese: Can you tell us how to say a few com- mon phrases in your native language? How areyou? ‘fl'fi 7 an nyung Where is the bathroom? fiXJ/E Oi 1’4 0i? 7 hwa jang shil uh di ya? Do you Weak English? 03 °l ‘3 § °l17l?7 yung uh hal jool ah ni? Are there any specific customs or tradi- tions relating to your culture that you’d like to share? Yes, in Korea we have a day called Chil7 dren’s Day which we celebrate on May 5th: On Children’s Day parents give their children presents and spend time with them: Children are often taken on excursions to zoos and mu7 seums: What brought you to join us here in Chi- cago, and why did you choose IIT? My uni7 versity in Korea has a special program with IIT called “dual degree?’ Do you like it here? Yeahl Interview conducted by Ian Hook of IPRO 363: Looking to find someone to learn a new language with? Keep your eyes open for Lan7 guage Link next semester, pioneered by IPRO 363: Email ipr0363@googlegroups:com for more information, but here’s a general round7 up: Language Link is a new IPRO that’s building a websitefor [IT that can work to match up stu7 dents according to their language learning needs, as they hope to be part ofHT’s up7and7coming foreign languageprogram. The website will work sort oflike a dating site 7 using a matching algo7 rithm to match up people according to various factors, such as language proficiency, classes, ex7 tracurricular interests, and languages ofinterest.