The Transformative Power of Parks

Overpeck Park dock view    photo/Danielle Pedoto

By Danielle Pedoto

Have you ever taken the time to sit back at your favorite local park and appreciate the beautiful outdoors? If not, I believe this is something everyone should do. Growing up in a town where parks were filled with graffiti and vandalism, I never got to feel that connection to nature and connection to my community that people who have beautiful parks in their neighborhoods do. If you were lucky enough to grow up in a town that is filled with clean, beautiful parks, perhaps you never took the time to really enjoy it, and take advantage of the effects something like a simple walk in the park can have on your overall attitude towards life.

In 2010 I was lucky enough to have one of these clean, beautiful parks be built close to my home. What used to be a garbage dump and an environmental hazard was cleaned up and transformed into what is today called Overpeck County Park.  Overpeck is located on Challenger Boulevard in Ridgefield Park, NJ. It’s transformation took place over many years; however, it was well worth the wait.

Overpeck has become a huge part of my community and a huge part of my life. Overpeck has so much to offer. It has a children’s playground that is filled with unique playground toys, swings, and obstacles. It has five miles of paths that can be used for walking, running, bike riding, or my personal favorite, rollerblading. It also has an observation deck and nature overlook to enjoy the beautiful lake that the park surrounds And they now made it possible to rent canoes and kayaks to take into the lake and enjoy the water! For all the sports lovers, the park also offers a softball field, a baseball field, two turf soccer fields, and six tennis courts. The park is filled with activities for people of all ages, sizes, and interests. The park is always filled with great people that are there for the same reason as you and that is to simply enjoy the day and to enjoy life.

Besides all of these fantastic amenities, the park is also a gathering place for many cultures and community events. For example, on April 14th a walk to raise money for MS (Multiple Sclerosis) was held at Overpeck Park and was a big hit. This was one of the first times in my life where I saw people I knew from all the surrounding towns come together for a good cause. This was one of the first times that I was able to say that I felt like part of a community.  Overpeck is also the place where many other community events take place such as carnivals, wine testing, car shows, and even events that you can enjoy with your furry companion in an event called “bark in the park”!

This park has brought my community together and has brought out something in me that I never knew I had. I found my love for rollerblading and passion for the outdoors. The feeling that I get when I visit Overpeck with family, friends, or even alone is indescribable. I feel at home and at peace and it has ultimately helped me choose my major field of study, Therapeutic Recreation. This park has helped me figure out my calling in life because I was able to see firsthand the way nature, creativity, play, exercise and community have a great effect on people of all ages and more importantly the effect on elders and people with special needs.

Teresa Morgana, a town local, stated “I spend a lot of time with my little cousin who has autism, and have been taking him here once a week for a little over a year and I can honestly say since taking him here, I have seen him grow physically and psychologically; he overall is most happy when he is at this park.” This goes to show just how important parks are to not only communities but individuals and their personal lives.

 Overpeck Park lake view             photo/Danielle Pedoto

When you see such a beautiful place evolve from a landfill it really makes you believe that anything is possible. I firmly believe that every community should have a place like Overpeck to grow closer to their community and grow closer to themselves. I also believe that people that already have these beautiful parks should be sure to take advantage of them and to spend more time there. The transformation from landfill to Overpeck Park was truly the transformation that transformed my life.


Danielle Pedoto is a junior at Saint Thomas Aquinas College, majoring in Therapeutic Recreation. She is very artistic and loves to express herself through painting, coloring, and writing. She also loves to be outdoors. In her spare time, Danielle enjoys rollerblading and just being outside in nature. When it comes to future plans, Danielle wants to be a recreational therapist for children with special needs.

Fatal Shooting of Texas Student Raises Second Amendment Issues

By Carlos Garcia

Guns don’t kill people but people do. A 23-year-old student is dead after he was shot by a campus police officer during a traffic stop in San Antonio, Texas. Robert Cameron Redus was said to be a honor student at the University of the Incarnate Word and portrayed as a good kid. Redus was pulled over by Cpl. Christopher Carter of the campus police. Redus was said to be driving "erratically at a high rate of speed" near the campus late at night. He then had a struggle with the police officer, according to police, which lead to the shooting and his death. The college has suspended Cpl. Carter and taken away his gun. Just like any other police officer, he had to hand it in and await investigation and possible trial.

The student was shot multiple times. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A total of six shots were fired. The campus police commented that they do not know why there was a struggle or why six shots were needed to stop the victim. Currently Cpl. Carter is on temp leave and is being paid until further notice. This is a standard procedure in Texas. College officials commented that Carter has been with the school for seven years and has a strong background in law enforcement. This means that they are trying to say he would not fire without a reason.

Redus’ school friends and family described a very different kind of person. "Cameron was the sweetest, kindest, gentlest person," Redus' friend Annie Jones said. "So compassionate." Many have asked to keep Robert Cameron Redus in our prayers, that justice may be served. College officials commented they will not speak of the investigation until factual evidence is shown.

There is no allegation that the student was armed with a gun. A big question is whether the campus police officer should have been armed. In Texas the current gun laws allow you to purchase a firearm at the age of 18. A handgun purchaser must be 21 years old. This is something to be thinking about. “There is no legal statute specifically prohibiting the carry of a firearm other than a handgun, although there is debate as to whether doing so constitutes "disorderly conduct," notes an entry in Wikipedia on Texas gun laws. Many people do carry a firearm, and this should be regulated. If you have a concealed weapon you cannot enter the following: Federal buildings, schools, public sporting events, racetracks, correctional facilities such as jails, election places.

Our Second Amendment says we have the right to keep and the right to bear arms. This was created in a time where weapons were needed, due to people on call to fight for the country. This was colonial times where many would need to gather and fight for freedom. The Second Amendment was adopted on December 15, 1791. So I would say that these laws do not apply to our current day. In my own opinion, I don’t think we need guns for civilians. We as a people do not face struggles where we need firearms daily. I feel as if people are afraid of the government coming to take over or a murderer entering their homes. If we crack down on weapon violence, we can save innocent lives.

These days many things can spark debate about being banned, but firearms are at the top of the debate. President Obama at one point tried very hard to ban the purchasing of automatic weapons. In recent news there have been many school shootings and deaths related to sales of a gun to people not stopped in doing background searches. Also guns have been taken from others that were not placed in safe keeping. We need to examine our lives and think, do we really need a gun. Many will go as far as saying a car is a weapon, but a firearm is something that has a greater killing capability.


Carlos Garcia is a junior at St. Thomas Aquinas College. Carlos is 21 years old, first generation Cuban American. He is majoring in Communications with a minor in Marketing. Carlos currently is dorming at the school, but lives in New Jersey. He wishes to one day work for an advertising firm or in a job where he can be creative and have input.

Creativity Is Vital Element in Education

By Kiera Farley

An English educator maintains that creativity is as important as the pillars of public education. He argues that strictly left-brain thinking education systems suppress creativity in children. Children are born creative and education systems are brainwashing them with their strict learning structures.

Sir Kenneth Robinson is an English author, speaker, and educator. Robinson focuses on two main ideas; first, we’re all born with deep natural capacities for creativity and systems of mass education tend to suppress them. Second, it is important that we cultivate these capacities and rethink the dominant approaches to education. He demonstrated that children are our hope for the future, and they are born creative.

In a TED Conference talk that has drawn a large number of viewers on Youtube, he argued that society is "educating the creativity out of children." He said that students were rewarded for academic talents, but not for talents in more creative areas, such as music and arts. Intelligence isn't just being good at math and science; it's being able to use the dynamic ability of the entire mind, being creative and not just logical.  He goes on to give a few examples of how kids are not afraid of taking chances even if they are wrong. He says "if you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never be able to come up with anything original." By the time kids become adults, they lose that capacity. This is something that's bred in the corporate world and now taking form in educational systems.

"All kids have tremendous talents and we squander them pretty ruthlessly," says Robinson. The squandering comes from the hierarchy of our outdated education establishments worldwide with math and languages holding a spot at the top, followed by all humanistics, leaving the arts at the bottom. There is even a hierarchy among the arts, according to Robinson, music and painting are more valued than drama and dance in schools.

"Children are born artists"

Robinson uses a quote from Picasso who once said "All children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up"--which is to say, kids do not grow into creativity, but grow out of it, or rather are educated out of it. Robinson makes a point that our own creativity has no value - so it is tossed aside as we get older, so much that we grow out of it.

Robinson gives a great case in point by using Gillian Lynne as an example. Gillian Lynne is a choreographer best known for her work in Cats and Phantom of the Opera. During an interview with her, Robinson asked how she came to be a dancer. Lynne explained that as a child, her school believed she had a learning disorder because she couldn’t sit still, she was always fidgeting. So she was taken to the doctor and after hearing all of the problems she was having, the doctor took her mother outside the room and turned on the radio for Gillian as they left. After they left, Gillian began to dance and the doctor told her mother to look. The doctor explained, “Gillian isn’t sick, she’s a dancer, take her to a dancing school.” 

So Gillian was brought to a dancing school and felt so happy. She grew up to eventually own her own dance company, be responsible for some of the most successful musical productions in history, bring pleasure to millions, and become a multimillionaire, Robinson noted. Had she gone to a different doctor, he added, perhaps she might have been put on medication and told to calm down.

He finishes with saying “we need to rethink the fundamentals principles in which we’re educating our children.”

Industrial age schools outmoded

The United States ranked 17th in an assessment of education systems in 50 countries, according to a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The problem with American education systems is that they are an outdated relic of the early 20th century, where the object was to train a child to have a mindset and skills required to work in a factory job long hours of the day, as at that time when mandatory public schools were instituted, that was the main expectation of children. As the industrial age faded and the US entered the era of high tech private sector jobs, the education system failed to reflect that change, and they’re still training us to have the mindset for an industrial job, not a job in today’s job market. The education systems we have are essentially preparing our youth for jobs that do not exist anymore.

The methods that the US education systems use are detrimental to the education of our country’s youth. Children are brainwashed to believe that their intelligence is based on the scores they receive on standardized tests. Every individual learns in different ways; their abilities should not be determined solely on the marks they receive with testing. Because of this education system, students are more focused on receiving good grades than on discovery of new ways of thinking. Children are losing their creativity based on these education structures.

A 2002 study at Michigan University found that 80% of students surveyed based their self-worth on academic performance. This leaves students who are more creative in their learning techniques to believe that they are failures. It needs to be understood that some people are born with creativity as their most productive asset.  When schools take away opportunities to be creative, they are taking away a student’s opportunity to succeed.


For more information:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY


Kiera Farley is a junior at St. Thomas Aquinas College majoring in Communication Arts.

The Confessions of Joe Jonas

By Chelsea Broughton

Most people that have heard of the Jonas Brothers know that they have a squeaky clean image. The three brothers, Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas, grew up as the sons of a pastor in Wyckoff, New Jersey. Early this month, the middle brother, Joseph, released some intimate details of his and his brother’s lives to Vulture, an entertainment news website. In this article, which originally appeared in New York Magazine, Joe revealed that he might not be the “good boy” that the public knows him to be.

The Jonas Brothers started their band at a young age. Nick was 12, Joe was 15 and Kevin was 17. It began when Nick got his own record deal, but the family came up with the idea of the three brothers being in a band together. Their journey to the top was not easy. “Those early touring years were rough … It was always a struggle because every single night we were walking into hate. Sometimes people flipped us off, threw water bottles at us,” Joe recalled. This changed when the boys signed up with Disney.

It was never obvious to the public that the Jonas Brothers were unhappy with being a part of Disney. It was Disney that gave them the fame they eventually received, but being associated with that brand made them feel restricted. “Being a part of a company like that comes with certain expectations.” Joe describes the media train that they had to go though, which he hated. The boys were so afraid of making a mistake that they felt pressure to be these perfect teen idols. “We were just kids. That’s the reality. We were frightened little kids. So you got all this responsibility that’s foisted upon you and you’re expected to be perfect.”

In the media training the Jonas Brothers were taught not to answer any risqué questions and how to change the subject. They were each assigned to answer specific categories of questions. It was a routine for them.

Being a part of Disney meant getting their own television series. The show was called “Jonas” where the boys played a version of themselves where they were high-schoolers in a famous rock band. The series aired for two seasons and Joe exposes that he was not the biggest fan of the show. “But the thing about the show was that some of the writing on it was terrible. It just ended up being some weird slapstick humor that only a 10-year-old would laugh at.”

Joe also confesses his unhappiness with experiences he has had with fans. Since their primary fan base was mainly screaming teenage girls, they were put in situations that they weren’t always comfortable with. He describes how during their concerts they would be having an intimate moment with the crowd, but they would all be screaming, which Joe felt ruined the moment. He wished they would just calm down and enjoy the moment with them. The hysteria overwhelmed him as well. “It could get scary, too: We did a meet-and-greet in Spain, and like 100,000 people showed up and we ended up being chased through a shopping mall.”

One major aspect of the Jonas Brothers’ fame was their purity rings. Joe revealed that they got the rings when they were very young and they were supposed to symbolize their promise to God that they would remain virgins until marriage. The Jonas’ did not like talking about the rings in interviews and were very uncomfortable with it. They felt that the rings were the focus of many of their interviews, when they just wanted to talk about music. Many parents loved the fact that the band their daughters were obsessed with talked about abstinence, but that was not what the Jonas Brothers wanted to be known for. They did not want to influence their fans’ decisions about their sex lives.

The rings were restricting them from being able to write music the way they wanted to. Disney would not allow them to have lyrics that could be considered remotely sexual. “It felt like we couldn’t be creative, so we stopped listening to them and just started handing shit in.”

When the boys stopped wearing their rings in 2011, the media went crazy with rumors about the reason why. Joe clears it all up. “I lost my virginity when I was 20. I did other stuff before then, but I was sexually active at 20.”

Kevin had said in a previous interview that he did wait until marriage to lose his virginity and it is unknown whether or not Nick stuck to his purity promise.

Joe also opens up about his relationships. He says he does not have any negative feelings towards any of his exes, which he has a lot of. He talks about his most talked about relationship, which was with his friend Demi Lovato. After the two broke up in 2011, Demi revealed that she had been struggling with depression, drug abuse and an eating disorder. She ended up going to a rehabilitation center where she turned her life around. Joe’s relationship with Demi was during the height of Demi’s problems. They were on tour together and Demi was acting out. She ended up punching one of the dancers on tour in the face, which is when she went away to rehab, according to Joe's account in Vulture . This is also when their relationship ended.

Another shocking confession Jonas had was about his own drug and alcohol use. “The first time I smoked weed was with Demi and Miley. I must have been 17 or 18. They kept saying, ‘Try it! Try it!’ so I gave it a shot, and it was all right.” He then expressed that he still does partake in the use of marijuana occasionally, but not very often. Before Joe turned 21, he was in another country where it was legal to drink alcohol at 16 so he did so and it caused another media uproar. On his actual 21st birthday he reveals that he might have had a little too much fun.

“My 21st birthday, I fell down a flight of stairs. I was unconscious that time, and my whole team was scared to death that somebody was going to get a picture.” Luckily for Jonas, nothing about that incident was ever released until now.

The last thing that Joe touched upon was the recent breakup of the Jonas Brothers. “We hit a place where we just weren’t jelling on the same things, and we didn’t want to become a band that was worried about the fact that people didn’t understand how cool we were,” Jonas said. “The whole situation was breaking us up as a family, and we ultimately felt like we were holding each other back.”

Though they weren’t always truthful about their ideals and opinions, the Jonas’ did truly care about their family. Moving on from the group was a hard decision for the brothers, but they ultimately believed it was the right choice, Joe said. “Now that I’m 24 and have control of my life, I’m going back to the drawing board.”

All three Jonas brothers are hopeful for their future as they go down different paths to be the individuals they have always wanted to be.

For more information:
http://www.vulture.com/2013/11/joe-jonas-talks-jonas-brothers.html


Chelsea Broughton is a sophomore at St. Thomas Aquinas College studying communications arts.

Alex Rodriguez: Will He Lead the League in Suspensions?

By Doug Miller

New York Yankees Third Base Alex Rodriguez was suspended through the 2014 season and All-Stars Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta and Everth Cabrera were banned 50 games apiece. On Monday, the Major League Baseball organization disciplined 13 players over drug tests, the most players punished since the Black Sox scandal nearly a century ago.

The hardest penalty was reserved for Rodriguez, a three-time most valuable players and baseball’s highest-paid player. His suspension covers 211 games. Rodriguez has until Thursday to appeal his case. If he does, he will remain eligible to play until a decision by the arbitrator. Rodriguez admitted four years ago that he used performance-enhancing drugs while with the Texan Rangers from 2001 to 2003 but has repeatedly denied using then since. He was suspended under both the drug agreement and labor contract.

Major League Baseball said that the penalty for his drug use was performances-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone over the course of multiple years. His penalty under the labor contract was “for attempting to cover up his violations of the program by engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstructed and frustrate the office of the commissioner’s investigation.” The other 12 players have already agreed to their 50-games penalty.

The suspensions are thought to be the most at once for off-the-field conduct since 1921, when Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned eight Chicago White Sox players for life for throwing the 1919 World Series against Cincinnati. They had been suspended by the team the previous year and were penalized by baseball even though they had been acquitted of criminal charges.

Alex Rodriguez was the lone holdout. Baseball’s drug agreement says the appeal hearing shall start no later than 20 days after the filing of the grievance, and the arbitrator’s decision will be 25 days after the hearing starts. However, the schedule can be altered by agreement of management and the union.

Should Rodriguez take the deal or appeal his case to the Major League Baseball Board and the court? If he had taken the deal, would he be only suspended for 50 games rather than 211 games? If not, did the MLB make a good decision by suspended Rodriguez for 211 games?

After Alex Rodriguez gets his suspension, what are the Yankees going to do with him? Are the Yankees going to release him or keep him on the team? Another question for the Yankees is are they going to pay him while he is not playing? If the owners of the Yankees do not pay him, he, could sue the team for not paying him. The Yankees hope that they can work a deal with Rodriguez about the money.


Doug Miller is a junior at St. Thomas Aquinas College and I am on the STAC Track Team. My major is Communications Arts. When I am not at school or at track practice, I am hanging out with friends and play three other sports: basketball, baseball, and soccer.

Hayao Miyazaki's Legacy

By Alex Gilmartin
                       
In the world of animation, there are few who are as highly respected as renowned director Hayao Miyazaki. A Japanese director who makes animated films, Miyazaki is best known for films such as Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle. Considered the Japanese Walt Disney, Miyazaki’s films are among the most visually stunning any audience could experience.

Hayao Miyazaki first got his start in 1979, when he directed the film Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro. But his first major hit was his anti-war film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, which reflect his own pacifistic views. Miyazaki would go onto co-found Studio Ghibli, which is widely considered one of the best animation companies in all of Japan.

Like any director, Miyazaki has his own themes he conveys through his films; the most common of these themes being flight. Miyazaki believes, as humans, that flight is liberating. This theme appears in nearly all of his films, most notably in Kiki’s Delivery Service, which tells the story of a young girl who can fly. Another common theme of Miyazaki’s is childhood and children. Nearly all of Miyazaki’s protagonists are children or at the very least youths. Miyazaki believes that childhood is a time when "you're protected by your parents and unaware of the problems around you.”

In what is possibly his most iconic film, My Neighbor Totaro, the children are able to see a fantastical world while the adults are not. And Spirited Away deals with growing up in a world where good and evil are constantly battling. Miyazaki has expressed concern towards the children of today and their reliance on the virtual world and tends to model the children in his films after children near him who wish to understand the world.

His environmental nature is also reflected in many of his works. But unlike many other environmental message films, Miyazaki does not hammer in his messages, but rather lets the viewer see and feel nature through the eyes of the characters. In Princess Mononoke, the film tackles nature vs. man. But instead of villainizing man, Miyazaki weights the pros and cons of battling nature. Ultimately, the spirit of nature is destroyed and the humans must work to preserve what is left for the sake of the future.

But what may be Miyazaki’s most fascinating theme is good and evil. While Miyazaki’s early works have clear-cut villains in them, his later works have no true villain. While there are some antagonistic forces at play, they’re never evil. Spirited Away is a film about co-existing with good and evil as opposed to destroying evil. And Kiki’s Delivery Service has no antagonist at all. The film’s heroine is strong enough to engage viewers with her own journey to adulthood. Though Miyazaki is by no means an optimist, he prefers to show children a brighter side of the world.

Miyazaki is called a feminist by his coworkers. Many, if not all, of his films have female leads. Miyazaki’s female characters are not damsels in distress either. They are all strong, likeable, and fun characters that a viewer can like easily. In his films, there are workplaces filled with strong women doing all of the work, where normally one would assume the men would work. Miyazaki flips the tables on conventional gender roles common in Japanese culture and put women at the head.

Miyazaki has been directing for thirty four years and has announced that his latest film, The Wind Rises, will be his last, retiring at the age of seventy-two. Miyazaki believes it is time for him to step down and allow a new generation of talented animators to step up and make new films. He also finds that the work that goes into animation is quiet strenuous, especially for a man at his age. Though, fellow Studio Ghibli animator Isao Takahata has said that Miyazaki’s retirement may be non-permanent: "I think there is a decent chance that may change. I think so, since I've known him a long time. Don't be at all surprised if that happens."

Hayao Miyazaki is quite possibly the most famous animator since Walt Disney himself, and though his retirement saddens many of his loyal fans, they are grateful for a treasure trove of inspiring films.


Alex Gilmartin is a senior at St. Thomas Aquinas College studying to become a writer. He is a fan of animation in all forms and enjoys analyzing different shows and movies. He has an identical twin who shares his interest. In his spare time, Alex and his brother Ted make parodies on the Internet.

Christmas Spirit

By Jordan Klingler

As you know, Christmas is right around the corner.  That means most of us will be seeing our family members, eating a ton of food, and exchanging gifts with one another. A lot of stress is put on people this time of the year, whether it is because of finals in school or just worried about somebody not liking a gift you purchased for them. People get so stressed they sometimes forget to enjoy the holiday season.

They forget that there are so many different things they can go see; for example, the tree in Rockefeller Center  If you are feeling stressed, nothing will help you to better relax then getting into the Christmas spirit by seeing one of the biggest trees around.

While you are in NYC you might as well go see Macy’s Christmas windows and see what they have going on in the windows this year! If you are really feeling like getting into the spirit of Christmas you can even cut down your very own Christmas tree! While in the city you might as well go see the Rockettes at Rockefeller Center.  They are all about Christmas spirit, because they decorate everything they possibly can.

Another way to get into the Christmas spirit is to watch Christmas movies such as Elf or a classic like Home Alone. A tradition my family has is to watch the Christmas Story on Christmas Eve, because there is nothing like seeing Ralphie get his Red Ryder BB Gun!

Lastly, do some Christmas shopping. Buying gifts for people is another way to get into the Christmas spirit.  Christmas is all about giving and enjoying the time you have with your family. Also, seeing the joy people get from the gifts that are given to them and remembering why we are celebrating this special day is what Christmas is about.


Jordan Klingler is a junior at St. Thomas Aquinas College. He is majoring in Communications and minoring in Marketing. Klingler is hoping to land a job doing video editing or filming when he graduates in 2015.