The Time is NOW!

In high school, my English teacher had a clock in his classroom, like most classrooms. His was different, however. The clock didn’t display the time. It had a piece of looseleaf paper covering the face of the clock with “The Time is NOW” scribbled on it in black sharpie. He wanted us to be present, instead of wondering what the time was. He wanted us to act. On the Salem Sate campus, many students are feeling a similar sentiment. The time is NOW to act!

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We’ve been signing petitions emailed to us, checking validity of articles on Facebook and sharing them, cramping our hand over lengthy, passionate Facebook statuses, and gluing ourselves to the TV watching debate, inauguration and election coverage. It’s all been said, and is being done. The time to act is now.

Letting others know your side of the story is an important part of the activist and political process. It’s all talk, however, if nothing comes from it. We’ve talked, and now it’s time to act.

Here are a few examples of students taking acton:

Members of the Women’s Center marching in Boston on January 21.

On Saturday, January 21st student from Salem State University marched at the Boston Women’s March in solidarity with the march in Washington, D.C. They were a group out of the 150,00+ marchers there. Dominique Resendes, President of the Florence Luscomb Women’s Center, was quoted in the Salem News.

Dominique Resendes, 21, who participated in the march with a group of about 40 students and faculty from Salem State University, said Trump’s rhetoric has young people concerned.

“Students are really galvanized,” said Resendes, a political science major who heads the university’s women’s center. “For many of them, this is the first time they’re participating in a protest.”

 

Black, Brown and Proud speaking at the 2017 MLK convocation.

The Black Brown and Proud group on campus recently got recognized through an award at the 2017 MLK convocation for their hard work in bringing increased diversity and awareness to SSU. Member and junior student here at SSU Jesse Fermin said that the opportunity to speak at the convocation was an honor. Read more about them in our blog post from last year.

Now, more than ever is the time to be a social justice advocate about the things for which you feel passionately. Join many budding and established advocates at Salem State on “Advocacy Day” on Monday, February 27th. Hear from Keynote Speaker Nazda Alam, SSU alumna and immigration and voting rights activist. Enjoy lunch and an activist panel, then breakout sessions to follow.

Register here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RXX3TVS

Raising Awareness during#EnoughIsEnough week

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Picture from SAAM press kit.

This month is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This month is dedicated to raising awareness about relationship violence and sexual assault across the country and the global community. The movement began in the 1970’s when women started doing protests against the violence they experienced when walking through the streets at night. Throughout the  years, individuals have raised awareness during the month of April every year by providing education that anyone can help prevent sexual assault– by holding protests, providing resources, promoting respect to end sexual assault in the workplace, and more.

What has SSU done during this month in the past? Read last year’s blog post here, which was featured on the directory of how different campuses are recognizing this month.

 

What is SSU doing this current month? This past week, April 19 – 22 is #EnoughIsEnough week. Here are the events that occurred:

Monday: Vikings Give – Starbucks Cafe 7 – 10 PM

Tuesday : 1  – 5 PM NOH8 Photo Shoot, Alumni Plaza

Wednesday: Walk A Mile in her shoes – Marsh Quad 5 -7 PM
Thursday: Fashion Show with Sisters on the Runway. Okeefe Gym 5 – 8 pm
Friday: Clothesline Project, Library Quad 10 am – 12 pm
Friday: Vikings Take the Pledge Underground 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM

Why are SSU students taking a stand against relationship violence and sexual assault? It’s been a problem in society, and especially on college campuses for years- way before Sexual Assault Awareness month’s inception- and continues to be a problem. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC), there is still a lot of education needed on the fears, myths, and stereotypes around sexual violence and what/who it affects.

According to the NSVRC, in a nationally representative survey of adults, 37.4% of female rape victims were first raped between ages 18-24, which is college-age. 40% of colleges and universities reported not investigating a single sexual assault in the previous five years. 30 % of colleges and universities offered no training on sexual assault to students nor law enforcement officers, also according to the NSVRC. Ending sexual assault isn’t just up to the victim and the aggressor, it’s up to bystanders as well. That’s why SAAM is trying to educate as much as they can, not only during this month, but every day of the year.

“It’s especially important for these discussions to happen on college campuses because it is so common that in many cases it is overlooked or downplayed, by students and even staff.”

• Dominique Resendes, Vice President of the Florence Luscomb Women’s Center

Let’s see some pictures of SSU Students participating this week:

Students wearing their NOH8 paint to address domestic violence, sexual assault, and consent, and more. Photos courtesy of the Salem State University Alliance.

 

BBP Strives For More Diversity

Members of the Black, Brown, and Proud movement. Photo courtesy of Virginia Lyons. Picture by Andres Tejada. 2016.

“We can’t choose to be ignorant anymore. At the end of the day, we can’t turn our back.” In my interview with Black, Brown, and Proud movement member Virginia Lyons, my eyes were opened to many things that forced me to question just how diverse our university really is.

At the MLK Convocation, students in support of the Black, Brown, and Proud movement made their mission known to the campus community. Students in LASO, UAT, MSA, and other clubs in support were also in attendance to rally behind the mission.

The Black, Brown, and Proud (BBP) Movement on campus has been established for everyone. “Black, Brown and Proud means that we’re proud of our culture, and we want the University to be proud of our culture,” says Virginia Lyons. “It is a movement not only for students of color and Latino students, but one for students of every other race on this campus as well. Diversity affects everyone. You may not see it, but it does.”

LASO, MSA, BBP Members, and other student that support BBP fill Vets Hall for the MLK Convoction. Processed with VSCOcam with a6 preset. Photo courtesy of Virginia Lyons.  Picture by Andres Tejada. 2016.

So, how exactly does it affect everyone? One of the many ways that racism lives on and off campus is through microagressions. Microaggressions are hard to pinpoint, and even harder to educate about, because of their subtle danger. “I wasn’t even educated on what a microaggression was before; I could have been doing so many of them,” Lyons confessed.

Lyons went on to reiterate that just because it’s not outward, obvious racism, doesn’t mean that it’s not there and it doesn’t hurt. “[This issue] affects students of color every day. We feel this every day.”  Students of all races can take part in microaggressions such as:

Racial microaggression sample. Photo credit http://www.buzzfeed.com/hnigatu/racial-microagressions-you-hear-on-a-daily-basis

Also, there are institutionalized rules that must be updated in order to promote diversity on campus. One example of this is the core subjects learned within American History. “We don’t want our history to bean elective, we want it to be part of the core. When you make our history an elective…it devalues what we have done in our American society.”

Lyons then asked me how many professors of color I have had while attending Salem State. After quick reflection, I realized that I had none, and was taken aback. She also informed me that there is a high dropout rate for students of color after their sophomore year. The BBP does not want to threaten or hurt anyone through this movement. They simply want you to think and act to get to the root of these issues.

“We don’t want to adjust any more. We want to be accepted.”-

-Virginia Lyons

That is just one of many demands that the movement will bring to light once they have completed the construction of their list after conducting important research. They’ve recently had a meeting with the Board of Trustees to discuss their mission. For them, this is just the beginning.

To get involved in this movement, keep an eye out on campus and on social media for focal groups, meeting with University administration, and general body meetings. Contact either Jesse Fermin, Jehovanie Robert, Lucy Kamau, and Virginia Lyons with any questions or to join with them.

The LOG – For the Students, By the Students

Last semester, the student newspaper, the LOG, had a rebirth. The website now offers a multimedia experience with videos including student interviews and more. Not only does it offer news about local events such as the opening of Jimmy Johns, but there’s also opinions pieces about things on campus such as the food.

 

 

The streamlined design of the new website lets you easily navigate written or video stories, their Twitter, Facebook, and the latest weather. Topics covered by the log include news, features, sports, opinion, and more about life in and off of the Salem State University campus. We interviewed two representatives from the Log, Jane Regan and Leneai Stuart.

Leneai is the Editor-In-Chief. Jane Regan is an award-winning journalist and has been  has been working in multiple facets of the journalism field for 35 years. She’s worn the hats of camerawoman, reporter, video editor, researcher, and more. She claims her main focus to be “public interest journalism”. She has global training experience, but also has run three local newsrooms full of mostly volunteer reporters with “real life” gigs in Somerville, MA and in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Working with students and volunteers to do multimedia news work – producing text stories, taking photos, making little videos – is my passion. I love helping beginning journalists learn how to do great interviews, how to tell good stories, and how to create news content that matters and that can make a difference. – Log Faculty Advisor.

image credit: janevregan.org

SIA:  Tell us about all of the new updates implemented into the Log this year.

LOG: So far this year the Log has made some big changes. First and most importantly we have updated our website in many ways. With the changing of news and media outlets (and lack of students reading print lately) we knew that our website, as it was, needed to be redone to reel in all the readers we wanted and were trying to gain. We set a totally new overall theme and layout of our website to something more modern and aesthetically appealing as well as simple, easier to navigate, and more photo oriented. On the sidebar of the site social media links have been added so that more people know the accounts exists and use them to keep up with us.

In our print edition we have worked hard on mastering InDesign and making the paper look clean and professional. This has been a hard task but the Log staff has worked many hours to master this and continues to improve with each issue of the Log we put together. We have also added things to both print and online that are more appealing to our peers like a Netflix section where we put together a small list of movies and tv shows we have watched and loved! The Log has also added in comics, many more photos, and many great writers to our team.

SIA: How did your open house recently go?

LOG: Our open house went great! The people that came all brought a lot of great qualities we’ve been looking to add to the Log team. Sports writers, photographers, and even someone interested in making videos for the Log came and showed lots of enthusiasm for their skills and being able to use them to contribute to the Log’s growth.

SIA: What kind of articles do you supply our school with?

LOG: The Log supplies the school with school and community wide news and event coverage. We not only cover the issues on campus and our community but also the concerts, art shows, and so many other events that are constantly happening around us. We offer quality sports stories so those of us who can’t always make the games or just don’t necessarily know what’s going on with a team can check out our website or print edition and get the gist of what’s going on at our school. 

SIA: What inspired the transformation?

LOG: The transformation was inspired by the all new Log editorial board and our want to gain readership. Many people underestimate the power of journalism and we really want to show how much we can do with it for our school and community. We also saw the lack of enthusiasm for the school newspaper and how many people just disregarded it and considered it irrelevant. The school newspaper should be a go-to for campus wide news and also a trustworthy news outlet and place for students to write and share experiences, concerns, and opinions with the campus as a whole. We didn’t want to see the paper fail and we knew we had to do something about it.

SIA: What can we look forward to?

LOG: You can look forward to continued growth and development of our website and social media accounts. As well as more new content and of course, much of the wonderful articles by our current and new Log staff!

SIA: Where can we get the updates?

LOG:Keep an eye on our Twitter and Facebook for periodic updates and of course Salemstatelog.org where you will actually be able to witness the change and improvements the Log is still implementing.

Change is in OUR Hands!

There’s a different kind of climate change occurring in our world today, and it has nothing to do with the environment. The global climate has recently switched from steady to unruly. There have been 298 attacks before November 20 this year. We also can’t forget the attacks on campus as well, such as at the University of Missouri and Yale. These are including global terrorist groups and one-man attacks such a the Planned Parenthood attack in Colorado.

This post is not to recount the terrors of what’s happening globally. This post is to inspire us on the SSU campus to be agents of change. You may think, “I’m just a student, what can I do?” There are plenty of things you can do. You have more power than you think.

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These days, the battle to control the narrative happens in real time, and it involves anyone with a social media account.

– The L.A. Times

College students have done numerous campaigns to enact social change and combat this poisonous climate. What can you do as a student?  You can:

• Write to your elected officials
• Do a guerilla campaign on campus (think MASSPIRG’s chalk and signed sandwich)
• Host an event to discuss these issues
• Send money/help to refugees and victims

What will you do? Tweet @SSUECC what YOU can do to enact social activism on campus with the hashtag #SSU4Actvism.

The first step that you can take is attend the campus forum on the racial climate at SSU. Join the Diversity & Multicultural Affairs office along with SGA  to identify priorities,  create solutions, and move towards healing regarding the racial climate of the world and reduce racial tension.

The forum will be at Vets Hall at 3 p.m. on Monday, December 7.

Get Zombie-fied this Halloween!

What is it about Zombies that everyone loves so much. They’re all over the media in shows such as “The Walking Dead”, and movies such as “Warm Bodies”. They may be dead, however they’re rising up in the ranks quicker than some people that are alive. They’re definitely alive in the hearts of many fans of the Halloween season, and there are plenty of those around Salem. In the spirit of Halloween and for the love of all things Zombies, we’re curated a list of awesome zombie movies to watch to prepare for Halloween.

1. Night of the Living Dead (1968)

A group of people hide from bloodthirsty zombies in a farmhouse.

2. Dance of the Dead (2008)

A jewel among a wasteland of modern zombie dramas. A mix of high school and the undead.

3. Dead Snow (2009)

A thrilling combination of zombies and Nazis.

4. Warm Bodies

A zombie movie that reminds us that love can warm our hearts, and make us feel (become) alive.

5. Zombieland

Like Scott Pilgrim, this movie integrates video game motifs and themes into it. However, this is an awesome new brand of video game: a zombie-slaying one.

In the mood to fight the zombies now? Join Student Involvement at Connor’s Farm this Friday for Zombie Paintball! Tickets will be sold for $10 at the information desk of the Ellison Campus Center. The bus that will transport you to the event will leave the Okeefe parking lot at 6:30 p.m.

10 Reasons to Say “NO More” to Sexual Assault by the SSU Women’s Center

October is a month in celebration of many things including Sexual Assault Awareness.

Sexual assault is a huge issue that affects men and women, especially on college campuses. Every 107 seconds, another American is sexually assaulted, according to RAINN. Every year, there are 293 victims of sexual assault. “No More” is an organization that aims to stop domestic assault and violence, and raise awareness of it. They’re a “unifying symbol and campaign to raise public awareness and engage bystanders around ending domestic violence and sexual assault.” The SSU Florence Luscomb Women’s Center held a campaign on campus last week to aid No More’s advocacy. You may have seen them giving out purple ribbons and asking you if you’d like to take a picture of your reason why you say no more to sexual assault. Students came up with some awesome reasons why they say no more. Here are our top 10 favorites:

1. Because everyone deserves to feel safe

2. Because nobody should live in fear.

3. Because everyone is worth respect and love. 

4. Because people still think domestic violence and sexual assault is something to joke about.

5. Because nobody deserves to feel unloved.

6. Because everyone deserves to be safe at home.

7. Because too many people normalize these actions and think they are okay but THEY’RE NOT

8. Because not just women are victims.

9. Because who doesn’t?

 

10. Because we all may know someone who has been affected. 

Get connected with the SSU Women’s center!

Their blog: http://ssuwomenscenter.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SSUWomensCenter

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WomenOfSSU
Snapchat: @ssuwomenscenter

How To Have A Smooth Eboard Transition

It’s out with the old, and in with the new. It’s that time of year to pass the baton to a new executive board of your group/club.

First of all, congratulations on being a student leader! Leadership roles can help further any career path you choose to pursue. If you’re graduation, congratulations and good luck! If you’re stepping into a new position, we hope your new position is fun and challenging. However, the transition of leaving an old position and stepping into a new one can be a tough transition. Here are some tips to ensure that your successor can be just as successful as you were:

1. Map It Out For Them

Give the new officers a written-down guide of some sort, if you can. A face-to-face meeting is good if they take notes, however, it’s better for them to have a written resource for them to refer to, instead of them constantly asking you questions. If you can take the time to write a handbook for that position, that would be ideal. However, printing out a copy of your constitution with that includes position duties is also a way to do this.

2. Make Them Feel Welcome

A mixer event for the old and new e-board is a great way to break the ice. A group that knows each other better is more likely to be more productive. Get together with the new and old officers, whether it be a dinner, bowling, a movie, or just a get-together. Don’t have any talk of work, just have fun and get to know each other.

3. Tie Loose Ends

If there was a crisis in your club during the year, try your best to handle it before a fresh set of hands take over. It’s easier for a new e-board to be successful with a fresh start. If you can’t, maybe there’s a returning member on the e-board that knows how to handle it.

4. Be A Resource

Whether you’re graduating, or moving onto a new position or club, or just focusing on school, still be a resource to our successor. Let them know that they can contact you with any questions.

 Who’s excited for the next school year? It’s going to be a great year. What are some of your big plans?

Also, we want to hear your ideas for the new ellison campus center! Tweet us your ideas with the hashtag #ellisoncouldbe

SSU Groups Do More Than Get Social

Groups and Organizations did more than get social this year, they actively participated in social change! Social Activism was a major theme on campus this year for groups and clubs. Putting on fun events and parties are just one way that student organizations help out on campus. Giving back to the community is another! Who said living simply so others can enjoy the fun isn’t a party in itself?

According to ideas.ted.com – a blog supplement of TED talks that focuses on social change and ideas that need to be spread – we’re at a point of crisis in our country. Everyday citizens need to be more educated on the issues of today, and how to advocate for them. Those with “clout” a nowadays are the only ones that know how to do this. Basically, those with the power are making all the changes. However, Student Organizations this year worked on teaching the SSU student body about how to enact social change, by leading my example.

Student Orgs had no trouble defining social change, however here is a definition for us that need a little clarity:

Social change refers to any significant alteration over time in behavior patterns and cultural values and norms. By “significant” alteration, sociologists mean changes yielding profound social consequences.

Ideas.ted.com advises its readers to understand five simple concepts before they go about enacting social change. Our students groups and organizations this year sure did know these five concepts this year when they did their social activist projects. They seamlessly combined fun and social change. Our students groups and organizations mastered these five concepts: Understand the system, Identify your objective, sharpen your strategy, tell a story, and practice.

After our student leaders grasped those concepts, they were ready to enact social change. However, what is an example of social change? Here is what SSU and Student leaders were up to this year:

sources:

http://ideas.ted.com/5-basic-skills-of-power/

http://socialmarketing.blogs.com/r_craiig_lefebvres_social/2008/12/

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/sciences/sociology/social-change-and-movements/social-change-defined

Five Crazy Experiences You Could Have As A Student Leader #FindYourAdventure

We’ve ranted and raved about the multitude of benefits of being a student leader and/or getting involved in a student organization on this blog. However, in case you forgot, the leadership, team building, time management, event planning and creativity skills you gain from being in a student organization are not only great resume builder but they are ones you will carry with you long into your life after graduation. Not to mention all the friends you will meet. However, this blog post isn’t just to bore you with stuff you (hopefully) already know, it’s to show you all the fun you could be having!

Our student leaders have some pretty fun experiences they could only have as student leaders. Whether your cup of tea is political lobbying, campfires, or staying in swanky hotels, there’s something for everyone. Join a student organization not only to find professional experience and friends, but to find your adventure! Below are five awesome experiences you could have if you were a student leader.

SSU at State House Day

SGA Retreat

Women’s Center Young Feminist Leadership Conference in Washington, DC

PRSSA National Conference – Philadelphia, Washington DC, or Atlanta

Fun activities like becoming a hamster for a day!

Find your adventure with student involvement! Interested in being a student leader? Your favorite group or club should be running elections very soon. Contact them for more information. If you’re interested in getting involved in SGA, tweet them at @SGASSU!