The plan was to play “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” – one of the latest original offerings from Netflix – in the background while I wrote this piece so that it might have reminded me of things to talk about. What actually happened
was I ended up re-watching the whole series and upon finishing, realized my deadline was in three hours and I needed to write the review.
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” is an easy show to get lost in as it follows the trials and tribulations of Kimmy Schmidt (Ellie Kemper, “Bridesmaids”), a young woman trying to make it in New York after being saved from the underground bunker she was kept in as part of a doomsday cult. As the brainchild of one of the foremost comic geniuses of our time, Tina Fey (“30 Rock,” “Mean Girls”), the show is irreverent, hilarious, quotable and uplifting.
The ensemble cast is without a weak link. Kemper’s Kimmy Schmidt is undoubtedly the star of the show, and she plays the unbridled enthusiasm and adorable cluelessness of the character very well. But she is given a run for her money in every single scene she shares with any of her co-stars.
Tituss Burgess, who originated the role of Sebastian the Crab in “The Little Mermaid” on Broadway in 2008, plays Titus Andromedon, the gay, black, insecure struggling actor Kimmy rooms with upon her arrival in New York City. The chemistry between Kemper and Burgess makes the friendship of their characters a delight to watch (“read a nature video!”).
There is one actor who really does steal the show every time she appears, and that is the insanely talented Jane Krakowski (“30 Rock”). Krakowski plays Jacqueline Voorhees who is a rich New York wife, a constant slave to trends and her absentee husband, and Kimmy’s employer. If there is anything perfect about this show, it is Krakowski’s performance.
The humor in “Kimmy Schmidt” depends on fully embracing not only these strange, silly characters but also the pacing and proper delivery of the well-crafted dialogue, and no one in the cast is better at both of these than Jane Krakowski. It is truly a pleasure to see her rock it in every scene.
In addition to the regular cast members, there are many high-profile guest stars throughout the run of the show, which will be especially appreciated by fans of television. I found such great delight in their reveals, it seems a shame to spoil them, so I won’t.
I have nothing but good things to say about “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” It starts strong and just keeps going, like Kimmy herself. Beyond the pitch-perfect comedy, the show has an uplifting theme: the world is tough, and sometimes it seems like too much to handle, but if you believe in yourself and never stop moving forward, nothing can keep you down for long.
As brilliant-but-bleak shows like “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men” leave the air, perhaps “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” signals a shift toward brilliant-and-bubbly in the world of television. I’m excited to find out.
Western’s annual drag show, sponsored by the Triangle Alliance, is titled “Out of Pandora’s Box,” and coordinated by senior Joe Hahn, junior Gabbi Boyle, and senior Yumi Kong.
The theme was voted as the favorite out of five ideas created by Hahn, Boyle, and Kong.
The Greek mythology plot line follows Pandora, a creation of the Gods, and her box of evils. Pandora falls in love with Persephone and tells the story of coming into one’s sexuality. The show’s creators did plenty of research to make the gods in the show as accurate as possible, portraying memorable characters like Zeus, Poseidon, and Athena.
Kong, a criminal justice major and director of “Out of Pandora’s Box,” said the show addresses the question: “What happens when you open Pandora’s Box?” Choreographers were found through
friends, emails, and posts on Facebook. They were chosen after displaying creative dance ideas that could be used in the show.
The cast of over 60 performers underwet auditions determining their abilities to walk to beats and follow choreography.
Kong talked about what attendees can expect from the show: “It’s a lot of laughing and good dancing. We try to make the show has funny as possible.”
High anticipation for the production has resulted in tickets selling out by Thursday, April 2.
“I always hear the shows are funny, so I can’t wait to see what it will be like this year,” said junior Janessa Rook, a community health major.
The production takes place 7 p.m. Thursday, April 9 in Rice auditorium, with a dress rehearsal Wednesday, April 8.
The Freebie Friday on April 3 will feature a preview for the show in the Willamette room at 2 p.m.
Imagine being a member of a laid-back club in which watching and discussing coveted anime shows is a shared enthusiasm amongst members. That is the environment Western’s Anime Club has to offer.
Anime, according to www.merriam-webster.com, is “a style of animation originating in Japan that is characterized by stark, colorful graphics depicting vibrant characters in action-filled plots often with fantastic or futuristic themes.”
Meghan Laird, director of Western’s Anime Club, cultivated her passion at a young age. “I grew up watching ‘YuGI-Oh’ with my brother; it was one of the only shows that we both liked,” Laird said. “I also am a big Studio Ghibli/Hayao Miyazaki fan.”
In high school, Laird attended the Japanese Club for several years, which included watching anime
and learning about the Japanese culture. Her love for anime has led her to be a great fit as club leader.
Weekly meetings are flexible to students’ schedules to avoid difficulties in attending; they are subject to change if not all members are able to attend a certain week—allowing plenty of opportunities for students to meet people that share the same love for anime.
There is a Facebook page, titled “WOU Anime Club,” where members can further discuss and share links to their favorite episodes.
In previous years, the club has watched anime shows such as: “Gurren Lagann,” “Soul Eater,” “Code Geass,” “Trigun,” “Black Butler,” “Ghost Hunt,” and most recently, “The Irregular at Magic High School.”
“Each term, the club members vote at the first club meeting on one or two different anime shows to
watch,” Laird said. “We then show a few episodes of these shows each week until we get through the
season, or if it is a very long season, we watch as much as we can,” Laird added.
The Anime club focuses on showing a large variety of anime, not just the popular ones. During the club meetings, students can choose to watch samplers of other anime shows other than the ones chosen for that term.
They are also working on increasing activities each term and adding in fun facts about the various
topics seen in anime, such as: samurais, tea ceremonies, and origami. Another fun event the club hosts is the cosplay contests during Halloween.
“The biggest goal for this club is to be a safe social gathering for students who share a general love for anime,” Laird said.
For more information, contact the club at animeclub@wou.edu or Meghan Laird at mlaird11@wou.edu.
According to dictionary.com, a millennial is: “a person born in the 1980s or 1990s, especially in the U.S.” The generation of millennials seem to have a bad reputation; we are often regarded as lazy, entitled, and out of touch with the world, particularly the political world.
Articles like “Millennial Workers: Entitled, Needy, Self-Centered?” by Jada Graves and “Millennials Frustrate HR Execs,” by Sean Bisceglia look into the traits attributed to our generation. Companies say we have unrealistic expectations about what a job will be like once we are hired, with specific regard to promotions. We think we are owed the job for going to college.
The baby boomers look at us and say we are entitled and narcissistic, based on our greatest contribution to the world: the “selfie.” We are a joke to the older crowd, who
view us as a generation of young people removing themselves from the reality they created who don’t care what happens. They see people who are more interested in partying or tweeting and picking out a filter for their newest Instagram photo instead of voting.
But has anyone stopped to think about what we tweet? It’s not all about the Dress and Kim Kardashian.
According to Aaron Moy’s article “Four Insights about Millennials on Twitter,” 53 percent of millennials tweet about current events but only one in four will show up to
the voting booths to cast a ballot.
We may not participate with rallies or signs, but we are very much aware of the political climate around us. The problem is, we just don’t like what we see.
Personally, I dislike politics. I dislike the bias of the parties. I dislike the judgment and the bad mouthing that our political system has become, and I dislike the
fact I can’t really ever seem to get a straight answer on what a politician believes.
I would describe my party affiliation as a politically agnostic, which is defined by Urban Dictionary as “One who is a registered voter and politically informed, but is basically indifferent and non-committal toward the popular political parties (Democrat or Republican in the U.S.). [He/she] Probably believes that the political parties are so ideologically similar and so mired in their own bureaucracy that they have outlived their usefulness.”
I remove myself from the political process, but not because I don’t care what happens in our government or am too lazy or out of touch to know who or what I am voting
for. I believe that our system is fundamentally broken.
In her article “Why Millennials Don’t Vote,” Danielle Chilton explains, “Voting is all too often viewed as an ineffective form of expression by Millennials. In a sea of millions of votes, it’s hard to feel like your solitary ballot really means that your voice is heard.”
And I agree.
Each political party is too busy attacking the other to come up with any real solutions, and even when an answer presents itself, our represented officials seem more concerned with tearing down the other side of the political fence to support what could be a positive change for our country. I don’t see any politician or political party
that I can say, “yes, I feel represented here.”
Our country will be inherited by the millennials, not the older generations who are currently in office: a generation that doesn’t take me, as a young person, seriously.
A generation that has no politician whose values reflects my own. A generation that, frankly, is screwing me over.
It seems funny that the most credible source of news to me is “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and not MSNBC or the “Today” show. I enjoy that the news is delivered
in both a way that is interesting and informative. I enjoy that Stewart criticizes both parties.
When reading up on current events, more often than not I start with a Buzzfeed article or do more research into a hashtag rather than scanning OregonLive.
I have discussions with my peers about what they think and force myself to listen to opinions I disagree with rather than shoot them down. I play devil’s advocate on issues to see the legitimacy of all sides of an argument.
Organizations like Rock the Vote look at how millennials get involved and try to find ways to increase voter turnout. Ashley Spillane, president of Rock the Vote, explains that millennials are “looking to take problems in real time and fix them.”
Whether it be tweeting about their political views or work in their community with a local startup or volunteering, we millennials care about the issues that matter to us enough to go out and do something about it.
Our involvement may not look like what the baby boomers think it should, but I think that is probably a good thing. Our system needs a change and the only way to change it is for us to find a new way to approach it.
So maybe we millennials are a bunch of passive kids who have a short attention span and spend way too much time on our phones, destined to live in our parents’ basements. Or maybe we are waiting for a time when our voices and opinions are represented in politics, allowing us to make the change we wish to see in the world, one bill at a time.
Or maybe we are just waiting for our time to make the change we all need to see in the world.
The daily duties of a convenience store cashier are fairly straightforward. The customer ponders the multitude of preservative-laced delicacies and, upon deciding that four corndogs, a 44-ounce soda and nachos will hold them over for the evening, hands the items over to me to check out.
Nearly all customer-clerk encounters occur without protest, save for the occasional high price complaint (which is apparently my fault that something is priced 30 cents over his allotted junk-food budget), the always pleasant break-a-hundred-for-this-89-cent-purchase customer, and the person who feels they need to point out every flaw in the physical makeup and structure of the business.
Most of these instances trigger a reaction in me nothing more than a shake of the head and faint sigh. But, the one that tops the podium and makes me question my morals and my job duties is that of the pregnant smoker.
Cigarettes are one of the highest selling products in a convenience store. I am required to stock and count the cigarettes daily as well as record all sales. It is against the law to sell tobacco products to individuals under the age of 18 and I card everyone who looks under 30. Many of the customers that come in are regulars and I know what they want as they walk in the door.
Most of the time, customers ask for their particular brand of addiction-easers and I toss the pack(s) their way without so much as a shrug. They quietly thank me and go on about their business. However, there was one instance that made me question the written law as well as my own personal ethics.
Just like any other day, a woman came in to buy a pack of smokes. She was of legal age and I obliged to her request. No big deal, until I did a double-take as she left and saw the protruding baby bump I had failed to notice under her jacket when we were face-to-face.
What had I just done?
Generally, I am not a person who is quick to judge or make unfair assumptions about people, especially strangers. She could have simply been overweight or buying them for someone else. However, I was certain that she was pregnant, and they were for her; seeing her “pack” the box and slip one into her mouth on her way out only confirmed my suspicions.
I forced myself to stay put and resist the urge to confront her about her unquestionably irresponsible and unethical actions. Then, I had a similar train of thought about alcohol.
How many pregnant women had I sold beer or wine to?
How many women void of compassion for their unborn child had put me in the awkward and uncomfortable position of addiction supplier?
I have no interest in playing enabler, especially when the result is the harming of a human that is unable to defend itself from the barrage of carcinogens and immeasurable defects, stunted growth, facial abnormalities, central nervous system problems and mental retardation, to name a few.
I know that clerks at my store are allowed to refuse service if a customer is being unreasonably angry or rude, but I knew nothing about the policy on refusing to sell cigarettes and alcohol to an individual that meets the legal age requirements.
My manager was not present, so I decided instead to take a look at the legal side of the spectrum. I pulled out my phone and did a little research to find out if I was legally allowed to refuse service to a visibly pregnant woman attempting to purchase tobacco and/or alcohol products.
Sure enough, there are no laws that make it legal for a clerk to refuse to sell alcohol and/or tobacco to visibly pregnant women. The decision is left up to the business. If the business has a “We reserve the right to refuse service” sign, then the discretion is left up to the employee and would then have to be validated to the manager or owner.
However, I have read on several online forums, such as one on expertlaw.com, that refusing service to a pregnant woman could be seen as an act of discrimination, similar to declining service to someone because of sexual orientation or ethnicity, in which case the matter could end up in civil court.
Under ORS 471.551, all retail alcohol licenses require retailers to “post the pregnancy warning sign at the entrance to your business or at all points of sale.” The sign bears the message: “Pregnancy & Alcohol DO NOT MIX. Drinking alcoholic beverages, including wine, coolers, and beer during pregnancy can cause birth defects.”
There is no such sign, however, warning about the effects of tabacco. The warnings are placed on the packs themselves, that are hardly noticed as the pack is torn open in a frenzy.
Now, obviously I am not able to put myself in the exact mindset of a pregnant woman, but I like to think if I was caring for another human being growing inside of me that depended on everything I did and put into my body, I might be able to overcome my addiction. I know that the physical effects of addiction are strong and severe and difficult to overcome, but the well-being of an unborn child should always supersede one’s own selfish choices.
I realize it is not my place to judge others; my job is to shut up and give the customers what they want. However, it is my place to judge myself. I should have the choice to opt out of being in the situation of contributing to the harm of an unborn child. Unfortunately, I do not have the financial freedom to question the type of employment that I place myself in, but I should have the ethical freedom to question the types of customers that I do, or do not, serve.
There is one more piece of legislature which deserves some discussion: according to ORS 471.412, it is against the law to sell alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person, as he or she is not able to mentally make viable health decisions on their own behalf. The same could also be said of selling to pregnant women. If a woman is willing to drink or smoke while pregnant, it seems to me that they either don’t know about the inherent dangers on their unborn child, or they don’t care. Both cases provide an argument that she is not mentally able to make practical health decisions for her unborn child. A lack of education or empathy is, in my opinion, good cause to allow me to refuse service.
Three Wolves competed at the Indoor National Track meet in Birmingham, Alabama as Badane Sultessa raced towards becoming the third NCAA Division II Indoor All-American
in Western’s track and field history.
Sultessa finished the preliminary 800 meter as the top ranked runner finishing in 1 minute, 0.73 seconds Friday, March 13, setting himself up to join former Wolves Zeke Van Patten and Chris Olsen who became NCAA Division II All-Americans in the 800 in 2009 and 2013, respectively.
On Saturday, March 14, Sultessa finished fourth in 1:51.36, becoming an All-American and came within 0.66 seconds of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference record which he set during his preliminary performance, also a lifetime best in the event.
“It was a great experience and makes me want to work harder to become a better athlete,” Sultessa said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to race at the National meet, and I attribute hard work to my success.”
Brady Beagley ended his last season as a Wolf racing the mile at nationals. In the preliminaries, Beagley finished 12th overall in 4:14.84 during the first heat, finishing fourth in his heat.
“The indoor national meet was where my eyes have been set for the last eight months,” Beagley said. “It is the only reason I decided to extend my schooling another two terms. I wanted to end my career at Western with a nationals experience in all three of the sports I have competed in at least once and with this final indoor season I accomplished just that. I am very happy with my career as a Western Oregon student athlete, and cannot wait to use what I have learned from this institution in my future endeavors starting with the assistant cross country/track and field coaching position I have been appointed,” Beagley said.
Stephanie Stuckey competed for the women in the mile. Coming off a personal record to qualify for the national meet, Stuckey finished ninth in 4:54.79, another personal record, and qualified her for finals the following day. In the finals, she raced towards a 5:00.85 finish in her first ever appearance at nationals.
The outdoor track season wasted no time with four quick meets to start the season, the first three in Gresham and the Willamette Invitational hosted in Salem.
The Wolves brought home three individual titles the first meet, as Zach Holloway, Josh Hanna and Emmi Collier won their respective events.
Holloway won the steeplechase in 9 minutes, 32.71 seconds, edging the competition by over 30 seconds.
Hanna brought home the 800-meter title in 1:54.14, winning by 0.79 seconds.
Collier won the shot put with the fifth farthest toss in program history of 13.10 meters. She also placed second in the hammer throw in 42.88 meters.
The Wolves improved the following weekend, bringing home four individual titles from the Rose City Preview.
Cody Warner, David Ribich and Peter Zalk dominated their events. In the headwind, Warner raced to the 100 and 200 victories in 10.98 and 22.10, respectively. Ribich raced to
a time of 3:55.30, winning the 1,500 while Zalk cleared 4.05 meters in his first-ever pole vault performance for the Wolves, beating his competition by over four inches.
The women saw two second-place finishes when Bailey Beeson raced to a time of 2:15.84 in the 800 and Kylie Reinholdt finished behind an unattached competitor in the triple jump with 11.04 meters.
Sam Moore competed as the only Wolf at the Mt. Hood Multi-Events during the third weekend of the season. She finished with a total of 3,982 points in second place at her first-ever heptathlon.
The seven-event meet covered two days, leaving Moore 74 points ahead of second place after day one. The two days included the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, the 200, long jump, javelin and the 800.
Moore won Section 2 in the 100 hurdles in 16.23, and then earned a GNAC provisional mark in the high jump clearing 1.57 meters, placing second in that event.
“Multi-event athletes are so unique in the fact that they are so kind and “It was my first heptathlon and many of the girls helped me with my high jump steps or javelin, because I’ve literally never thrown it before. It’s like you’re surrounding by teammates and that’s a really unique experience,” Moore said.
During the Willamette Invitational, the Wolves finished with five individual titles. Rochelle Pappel, Badane Sultessa, Kaleb Dobson and Warner all took home title with Warner again sweeping in the 100 and 200.
Pappel won the 100 hurdles, beating five Alaska Anchorage runners in a time of 14.51. Dobson won his first-ever collegiate individual title in the 110 hurdles in 15.22 while Sultessa brought his success at Indoor Nationals to the outdoor track, winning the 800 in 1:52.65, the eighth fastest time in program history.
The Wolves will split up for their next meets on April 3-4 at four different locations along the West Coast including the Stanford Invite in Palo Alto, California, SF State Distance Carnival in San Francisco, Jenn Boyman Memorial Invitational in McMinnville and Spring Break Open in Portland.
