Category Archives: Opinions

Season of Sisterhood: Embracing Our Uniqueness

by Bama Porter

Judson College is primarily known for a sisterhood like no other with the student body being made up of only females. It is true that Judson ladies are able to step out of their shells and grow into women that positively represent the school and most importantly, Christ.

Sisterhood is spunk, spirit, and substance, and we need it today more than ever. The rite of sisterhood transcends blood, time, and circumstance. Sisterhood means finding friends in unlikely places and intuitively knowing we are united in our collective experiences. Freshman Rejeana Milligan states that sisterhood is “girls coming together and being friends for life.” Our sisters have our backs, and this form of friendship and solidarity is a testament to the bond between all women, for sisterhood has always been intersectional and independent of race, class, creed, or sexuality. Sisterhood is activism and love, and above all, it is for everyone. It is the boundless strength of sisterhood that makes it so empowering and allows us to be mighty in all our unique ways.

Of course, sisterhood is not inviolate, and it would be remiss of me to pretend that it is. Popular culture normalizes pettiness and rivalry among females. Mainstream social media perpetuates hypercritical body-shaming, which creates a climate of competitiveness rather than community. Rather than being covetous and petty, we must support each other and thrive together. We need to remember to lift other women as we climb, because empowered women empower women just as love begets love. Jr-Soph Savanah Townley adds to this in her statement that “Judson sisters you literally get to choose.” If we choose our sisters, that is all the more reason to lift up and empower each other.

However, cultivating sisterhood requires more than lip service. We must practice activism and understanding to bring sisterhood to fruition in our daily lives. Each of us has a voice, and it is our duty to use our voice to influence change. As for myself, I will speak up, and I will speak out and never again mince my words. I will fight for my sisters as fiercely as I fight for myself, because in a world without sisterhood, nobody wins. Sisterhood can weather wars and walls.

The infractions of our society cannot put our dreams in boxes or build walls around our futures. The future is in our hands, so be empowered and be hopeful. We are all sisters alike. Our sisters are our people, they’re the ones that accept us with all of our flaws, they’re the ones to turn to, they’re the ones that are going to be there for life. Senior Kate Wright sums it all up when she says, “Sisterhood helps us come together as a school because we have big and little classes that remind us to come together as a school instead of separating us.”

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Opinions•The Triangle

Welcome to Judson: Where We Care About Our Community

by Bama Porter

At the beginning of each school year at Judson, new students are shown exactly what makes Judson different from other colleges and universities. New students are required to participate in several activities (including the President’s Reception, Marion Matters, and Ivy Weaving) that help them to get accustomed to their new surroundings. This acclimation period ensures that Judson students get to know their professors and upperclassmen before being thrust into the classroom.

Students participate in volunteer opportunities during their first week at Judson. Some of the volunteer activities include helping the local librarian at the Bowling Library, cleaning the cemetery beside Judson College and helping the local high schools make new bulletin boards for their hallways.

New Student Welcome Week on August 19-22 is designed to welcome new students to the Judson family by introducing them to all that Judson offers. It is designed to show new freshwoman-and-transfer students all the places you can belong at Judson. From the moment new students set foot into their new residence halls on Move-In Day, to their first night on campus and to Marion Matters, Judson has designed a schedule full of events to highlight the special campus community.

The goal of these activities is to connect students with the people, places, and groups that will make sure their time at Judson is spectacular. This helps students discover opportunities to connect, learn, reflect, and grow through a plethora of programs that are planned just for them. Freshwoman Emma Veitch stated that Welcome Week helped her to “feel like you have someone to guide you to make the transition into college life easier.” Students will have the opportunity to meet other new, returning, or transfer students across a wide range of areas, learn about new organizations, and discover opportunities to connect with faculty in learning experiences ranging beyond the classroom.

Welcome Week is designed to deepen students’ understanding of what makes Judson unique—and to just have fun! This is a great opportunity to meet and get to know your classmates as well as the upperclassmen. Although some students show little enthusiasm in participating in these activities, others are more than thrilled to have the opportunity to help their new community. For first-year students, Welcome Week can be seen as hectic, while third-year students have come to accept the series of events following Move-In Day as a reprieve from the educational duties and responsibilities that began on Wednesday. Senior Arienne Borowski states, “I think that Welcome Week really works to brighten the new student’s first week away from their homes and their previously familiar surroundings. Welcome Week really tries to make new students feel at home at Judson, and it also allows the freshmen the opportunity to see Judson as a new and exciting place to be. I think that students would have a much harder time seeing the beauty of Judson without that first introduction.” Welcome Week also allows professors the opportunity to meet their new students first-hand before their first lecture.

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Opinions•The Triangle

President’s Reception: More Preparation Than Experience

by Bama Porter

Each fall the President’s Reception welcomes incoming and returning Judson girls to campus with a formal party. Here the new students are introduced to various faculty members in an assembly-line style of introduction by passing along the student through introduction to the next faculty member.

This year’s reception began at 7 p.m. on September 6. The new students eagerly prepared for it in their dorm rooms. Freshman Chastity Weaver states, “It was stressful to find a dress so late” because the hurricane stopped her mother from bringing her dress. Luckily, other freshmen had extra dresses and were more than happy to lend one to a fellow classmate.

The first floor students congregated in the lobby of Kirtley before being escorted by their Resident Assistant, Hannah Woods, to Jewett. Here, the students were individually introduced to the interim president, Scott Bullard, Ph.D. and passed along to the next faculty member.

The whole occasion took less than ten minutes to undergo, which surprised many freshman who had spent several hours getting ready. Many of them were taken aback because they were led to believe that President’s Reception was a special occasion that would have taken more than a few minutes to complete. Jr-Soph Hannah Johnson said “It was cool and fun to meet all the teachers and administrators.” She also said that “it was fun to dress up.” Although this may be true, the consensus is that the freshmen were happy that the occasion did not last too long, and they hope that next time they will be told exactly how much time would be spent at Attendance Expected Events so that they would spend the appropriate amount of time in preparation for the particular event.

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Opinions•The Triangle

Critical Thinking Panel Tackles Protestant Reformation

According to Christian tradition, on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the Wittenberg Castle Church, and sparked the Protestant Reformation. Five hundred years later, on October 31, 2017, Judson College hosted a panel to analyze the deeper meaning behind this act in celebration of Reformation Day.

The panel was moderated by Dr. Scott Bullard, academic dean at Judson. The four panelists included Dr. Coleman Fannin from Berry College, who spoke in chapel earlier that day. Also present was Judson’s own religion professor, Stephanie Peek, and Siloam Baptist’s pastor, the Reverend John Nicholson. Finally, Dr. Thomas Herwig was visiting from University of Alabama and First Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa.

These scholars discussed the complicated history of Luther and how he helped bring the church to where it is today. Early in the panel, Peek brought up how Luther’s theology was built on a new understanding of what the righteousness of God was—a gift reckoned unto the sinner, not a status earned. Nicholson followed up with an anecdote showing Luther’s early emphasis on holiness. When he was a monk, he would arrive at confession with a long list of minuscule sins, to the confusion of the confessor, who expected fewer and more grievous offenses. Upon study of Romans however, Luther began to focus on the righteousness of God imputed to the sinner, upon which the Protestant church bases its understanding of salvation.

Luther’s main conflict with the Church prompting his 95 theses was the sale of indulgences. As Herwig explained the, indulgences were documents that stated how many years the individual’s money had subtracted from time in purgatory on behalf of themselves or a dead relative. From Peek’s perspective, Luther was only partially concerned about the theological implications of this, and was more concerned about the corruption within the church that was leading to the profit of the clergy and poverty of their parishioners.

Panels members conferring — Panel members Rev. John Nicholson, Ms. Stephanie Peek, Dr. Coleman Fannin and Dr. Thomas Herwig lending their expertise.

Luther based his controversial decisions on sola scriptura—scripture alone. Nicholson brought up the interesting point that Luther somewhat opposed the inclusion of seven books of the Bible, including James, though he did not ultimately remove any. He still viewed the opinion of church officials as having value, but only as far as they lined up with scripture, not holding their own authority.

This shift away from the authority of man completely reshaped—reformed, if you will—how Protestants view the gospel. Assurance that one would make it into heaven was no longer based on the purchase of indulgences or the testimony of priests. As Herwig discussed, Protestants had to find a new source of assurance when the structure of the Catholic church was removed. He went on to point out a western theology of sorts became prominent at this time in which material blessings were viewed as heavenly favor reflective of one’s salvific status. However, as Nicholson pointed out, the Reformation also gave rise to a more biblical 1 John theology that recognized Jesus’ sacrifice as the assurance of our salvation.

This focus on the grace of God is what allows salvation to remain available to the Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, man and woman. Five hundred years later, that is where the focus remains—on what truly good news the gospel is.

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Faith•Opinions•The Triangle

In Remembrance

FullSizeRender — Original drawing of the American flag on Judson’s campus at half-staff by Nicole Stewart

We, as the Triangle Staff would like to make room to remember those who are no longer with us either by way of sudden illness, unexpected circumstances or gun violence. We send our condolences to the communities and loved ones affected. Thanks to Nicole Stewart for a lovely depiction of our Judson flag at half-staff.

“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” Psalm 91:4

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Opinions

Ways to Stay Warm (and ways not to)

by Jordan Ross

Editor’s Note:

Seeing as how I personally don’t enjoy the cold, I decided to refer to students, staff, and a ridiculous amount of online help articles to bring you the easiest ways to stay warm this winter. Stay warm!

take a sip

As it turns out, hot beverages such as tea or hot cocoa may not actually be as effective at warming you as say, adding an extra layer of clothing to your outfit would. Furthermore, studies show that the warm effect you feel after drinking your chai tea may actually be just a placebo effect. On the other hand, foods such as black coffee, ginger, cold water, brown rice, coconut oil, cayenne pepper and peanuts have proven to be surprisingly effective in keeping one warm.

source: tastemade.com

grab a hat

For some time people have believed that you need to wear a hat because, “You lose more heat through your head than the rest of your body.” Now, while it’s true that an exposed body part might cause one to feel cold, there is no actual evidence that supports the claim that an exposed noggin would give off the most the heat. As Beth Holloway from the University of Rochester stated, “There’s nothing special about your head.” With that in mind, go ahead and grab your toboggan because every little bit helps. (Also, sorry that we have literally been living a lie for about- our entire lives.) But yes, go ahead and grab a hat, it’ll help.

source: urmc.rochester.edu, thewashingtonpost.com

bake a cookie

Not only will taking the time to bake some cookies allow you to stop thinking about how Frosty has come to town but you’d be pleasantly surprised just how toasty and open oven can make a room (or a kitchen!). (Also, if you share your cookies a friend might provide you with a hug thus providing more warmth.)

source: mentalfloss.com

grab a hand

Unlike the other remedies, there’s no catch regarding the warming of hand warmers. This is a perfectly viable way to help yourself stay warm this winter. Since the outer extremities (hands, feet, head) are the first to lose heat you’ll find yourself a lot warmer if you go ahead and cover up your digits. Thanks to our own Dr. Olson, we’ve found that there are plenty of ways to create your own hand warmers with the help science (or rather a chemical reaction). Surprisingly you can find most of the ingredients among your common household items.

The ingredients are as follows:

White vinegar
Baking soda
Glass jar
Parchment paper
Clear vinyl
Alligator clip

*the full recipe can be found at popsci.com

Other remedies include:

Rubbing your hands together and hopping in place
Backing up to a heater or fireplace
Getting busy working on something (you’ll forget the cold)

source: Dr. Jeremy Olson & popsci.com

Thank you to Dr. Olson and Mrs. Drake for providing us with such interesting ways to stay warm.

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Opinions

Anne Curt-ly: Ghostly Glitches

Dear Anne Curt-ly,

I am a faculty member who teaches in the Lowder Science Building. During lectures, I will often have issues using powerpoint. The computer will go forwards or backwards through the slides on its own, without me touching the mouse or keyboard. This happens in every room in the building, at least once a week. I have excluded a technical explanation for this phenomenon, and have concluded that your ghost is responsible for this. This causes constant disruptions in my classes, which negatively impacts student learning. So, my question for you is: Why do you hate our students?

-Peeved at Lowder

Dear Peeved At Lowder-

While I am honored that you thought immediately of me after dealing with such malfunctions- I have a confession to make. You see, in the last edition of The Triangle, I had a similar question dealing with the ghosts in Tucker. The student wanted to know how best to deal with those ghoulish characters which inhabitant our lovely music building. In said article I was able to describe my favorite hiding places as well as frequent dwelling spaces… So, I suppose I cannot blame you for giving me, as someone would say, this badge of honor.

So, I will put this as kindly as I can.

Blame Barron.

You too can write to Anne Curt-ly for advice at any time night or day @ thetriangleonline@gmail.com.

Please feel free to send any questions and please note that your name will be changed for anonymities sake. Thank you to those who have provided such stimulating questions thus far. – The Staff

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Opinions

Anne Curt-ly: The Ghosts of Tucker

Q: What do you do about Tucker ghosts?

Anne! I may or may not have steered clear of practicing or doing homework at night especially in Tucker because of the ghosties that are roaming around. Can you help me appease them?

-Shocked and Startled

Dear Shocked and Startled,

First of all, I must recognize that I myself am considered a ghost and might I add that I have been falsely accused of many manifestations and ‘hauntings’ around campus. Also I believe that I have your classmates to thank for continually representing me in some way or another in this thing called Pageant throughout the years. Oh, you thought I didn’t know about that, did you? And this year? I’ve never felt more related to.

Before we discuss this topic any further there is something that needs to be recognized. The Administration isn’t very fond and doesn’t tolerate much talk about ghosts. I mean let us get real—have you ever seen me on an admission brochure?

So, with that said—I won’t tell you about ghost stories but instead I will tell you a little bit about some friends of mine and how to properly greet us. That way I won’t technically be accused of talking about ghosts but if I were to I’d tell you this…

The majority of ghosts—er, uhm—my friends are connected with Tucker-and it isn’t just one specific area in Tucker-it is Tucker. The stories that are attached to the ghosts found in Tucker have often been recalled orally and have never written down. Occasionally, the roster of each ghost is added to by someone who had first-hand experience with one or several of my friends.

And thus, the ghostly legacy goes on. Now you have a little history—let’s get down to how to deal with them—er, us.

First off, this isn’t some Moaning Myrtle malarkey, okay? We aren’t here to talk your ear off about boys. More often than not we just enjoy the sweet melodies that are rampant in Tucker. In fact, on any night you may feel or even see three figures (Milo, Julia and myself) sitting in the auditorium.

Secondly, be polite. If you see us walking down the hall please don’t run and scream–I mean, how would you like to be treated that way? Personally, I spend my days between Kirtley (as it is my namesake) and Tucker and the W elevator. Contrary to popular belief there is not a ghost on the Barron elevator—it’s just old.

The end.

Last but not least, let me shed a little light on one myth regarding Tucker and its inhabitants—you might just be cold because Tucker is admittedly the embodiment of Antarctica on our campus, not because we walked right through you. How daft do you think we are?

I hope that helps, thanks for writing in.

Now, get back to work!

The one and only,

Anne Curt-ly

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Opinions•The Triangle

South Snowed In: “Snowpocalypse” Report

As the predictions for the next big weather change in the South began to roll in, so did a slew of opinions and speculation. Upon recalling the event many observers speculate that the constant weather reports were to blame for the excitement and obsession on the incoming weather. Take Mrs. Polstra for example. Barbara D. Polstra on Facebook claimed, “Our tv stations just way overdo our forecast when it comes to snow.” She added that if the new stations would just warn us and “let it go” instead of going “on and on” the backfire would have been lessened. So essentially what one was a temperature change snowballed into the Blizzard of 2017 or as I know it, Snowpocalpyse.

Now, there were many different reactions to such a news story. According to various posts on social media and onlyinalabama.com, there were still some good-humored Southerners to be found who did not take this weather all too seriously. In fact, they would take the criticism from say, Northerners, on the chin by making such satirical posts, such as those found below. Meanwhile, the consensus of Northerners believed that the Southerners just needed to quit complaining. Wesley Smith reminded us that just two weeks ago, everyone was complaining since we skipped winter and now that we have it, we are complaining about the cold. He ended his statement with a firm, “It’s always something.” And some Southerners retorted, “It’s funny how Northerners make fun of us for cancelling classes for snow, but have you ever considered the fact that they cancel classes because it’s too hot?”

Now whether or not you as an individual can deal with the two-inch snow fall- you must understand this simple fact: The South is not equipped to handle snow and ice. As Diana L. Riggs so eloquently put it, “You may not have gotten much snow, but you do have ice.” She further explained that her fiances drives a truck for a living. Consequently, it took him a whole nine hours to drive eighty miles on I-20. “He has witnessed many accidents today, some silly, some tragic.” With that being said, here are Judson we were glad to have both Southerners with a sense of humor, and Northerners for the common sense about the cold. A prime example being the use of Leah Boyd’s ice scrapper upon Bethany William’s ice ridden windshield.

Meanwhile classes here at Judson were canceled after twelve on Friday. Honestly, that didn’t make much difference because there are no classes to be canceled after twelve on Friday but at any rate the sentiment of a ‘snow day’ was felt. Most students, including yours truly, were inclined to stay indoors with a hot cup of cocoa. Whilst others could be found (whether begrudgingly or per tradition I do not readily know) buying a loaf of bread along with a contained of milk. And still others were found making mock weather reports of the raging storm outside their homes. By the next day, the sun had taken care of what remnants of the snow day remained.

And thus ended the Snowpocalypse of 2017, January 7^th– the 9^th.

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Community•Opinions•Student Life

Student Living: New Year’s Resolutions

Trimming Down in 2017

So it’s New Year’s Eve, and you’re sitting comfortably at home amongst your friends and family. The Christmas dinner leftovers are a pleasant memory, and you are sleepy and defenseless, surrounded by friends and family, just waiting for midnight to arrive. While you are in this weakened state, someone suggests that you all make New Year’s resolutions. It’s now that you experience that same paralyzed feeling you got at Thanksgiving when someone asked what you were thankful for-any number of answers could work, but all you can think of in the moment is the obvious. At Thanksgiving, you are thankful for God, family and friends, and at New Year’s, you resolve to lose weight.

I’ll be perfectly candid: that resolution, flippantly made, may be carelessly broken within the first week, and no one will judge you for it. But if it is something that you truly wish to accomplish, here are some things that you should consider, Judson girl.

The gym is RIGHT THERE. This is the one time in your life that you will live on the same property as a gymnasium, and have a free membership that you can use any time of day or night (unless you’re a freshman-respect your curfew).
The gym has many resources to meet many needs. In case you don’t remember from Welcome Week, there are resistance machines, weights, stationary bikes, jump ropes and treadmills. There is a scale there to track your progress and a Bluetooth speaker you can connect your phone to for optimum workout tuneage. There is also a pool, but make sure you bring a buddy for safety.
The dining hall has lots of healthy options. When you live on your own, you will have to choose between cheap junk food and more expensive healthy options. Here, your meal plan is already paid for, and it is up to you what you consume. There are always vegetable and protein options, and there is salad, even on the weekends. The infused water is also great if you are trying to stay better hydrated, and you can fill up your water bottle any time, not just during meal hours.
Having a schedule will help you stay on track. Have a regular time each day, or every other day to go work out. You are more likely to follow through on working out if you have an alarm set for a certain time rather than hoping you get around to it.
You are surrounded by people who would probably like to get healthier, too. If you find one, you can work out together, or at least help keep each other accountable. This is the positive application of peer pressure.

Good luck, and congratulations on your resolution to become a healthier you!

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Opinions•The Triangle