Veritas Ensis Noster.

May 9, 2012- Vol. 9, No. 7

rambler the

Sweet Goodbye

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFSavanna J. Buckner

BUSINESS MANAGEMENTConor O’Donnell; Olivia Seidl

LAYOUT EDITORAdele C. Smith

NEWS & OPINION EDITORDavid Frank

ARTS & CULTURE EDITORRebecca Willen

FAITH & REASON EDITORLauren Enk

FACULTY ADVISORDr. Patrick Keats

COPY EDITORMatthew A. La Fave

LAYOUT ASSISTANTSMatthew A. La Fave; Theresa Lamirande

CONTRIBUTORSMaria Bonvissuto; Paul Jalsevac; Dominic Krestyn; Jake Morgan

FRONT COVERMrawi-Chan | DeviantArt

News & Opinion

Faith & Reason

Newsflash: US Caught Partyingby Rebecca Deucher

Republican Insanityby Joe Walsh

Why Don’t I Have a Job Yet?by Paul Jalsevac

To ConTaCT The RambleR:134 Christendom DriveFront Royal, VA 22630

E-mail: rambler.editor@gmail.comWeb: www.therambleronline.org

ouR mission sTaTemenTThe Rambler and its staff are dedicated to

training the next generation of Catholic journalists and intellectuals. We prize the liberal arts education received from

Christendom College and write about the news, arts, culture, faith, and reason from this gained perspective. We believe we will

play an essential part in a renaissance of new leaders, journalists, and communicators for

the 21st century.

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Feature

the ramblerVeritas ensis noster

An Independent Student JournalChristendom College

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Out & Aboutby Rebecca Willen

A Peet At Peepsby Maria Bonvissuto

The Third Man, 1949 by Lauren Enk

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Saying Goodbyeby Adele C. Smith

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Cover Photo by Mrawi-Chan | dAThe Class of 2012 bids farewell to the rest of the Christendom community.

Rambler: Pronunciation: \ram-blər\Function: nounDate: c. 20021. A student organization determined to present truth and withhold nothing, discussing a variety of subjects such as administration, morality, literature, politics, and faith.

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The Last WordThe Rambler Goddessby The Editorial Staff

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In This Issue...

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8

13

9

14

Humor

So, Now What?by Dominic Krestyn

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Courage vs. “People-Phobia”by Jake Morgan

Arts & Culture

Dear Joeby Joe McGlynn

Reflection

Dear Readers,

This is it. Classes have concluded and the aptly named finals are finishing.It has truly been a joy to serve as editor-in-chief of The Rambler this semester. In particular, the staff mission this Spring has been to resurrect a more regular printing schedule and to pursue a more vigorous, diverse body of writers. I think you will agree that the mission has been accomplished.

I regret that I will not be continuing with The Rambler next fall, but I confidently turn it over to the leadership of Matthew Naham, ‘13, whose vision and editing skills will be a blessing to the magazine. Such being the case, I wish to thank the entire Rambler staff for their support and patient perseverance this semester. My heartfelt gratitude especially goes out to Adele C. Smith ’12, whose artistic talent and unmatchable devotion to The Rambler enabled it not just to survive but also to thrive during her time at Christendom.

There are things I will not miss about Christendom, but many that I will, and I believe that the wonderful experiences and friendships made here will endure. I am so grateful for the time spent with all of you the past two years, and I wish each of you the very best.

Editor ’s Corner

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In Jesu et Maria,

Savanna J. Buckner ‘14Editor-in-Chief

News Briefs

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Finals are done. Yay. Congratulations, everyone, and have a fun summer. We’ll see you in August! The Vatican has issued a call for the world’s foremost religions to unite

to take a stand against gay marriage. Archbishop Antonio Mennini, the Apostolic Nuncio, called for closer cooperation with other faiths as well as Christian denominations to put pressure on the British government over its plans to allow same-sex couples to marry.

A senior Obama campaign official believes Virginia will be the epicenter of presidential campaigning possibly for the next two decades. It’s been noted often of late that since 1960, no presidential candidate has won the White House without winning two of the following three – Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, which is why the race in Virginia could be pivotal.

On Wednesday, President Obama officially announced that he is in full support of same-sex marriage, placing him in direct odds with Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney. This is the first time that a sitting president has supported same-sex marriage.

Iran may be erasing evidence of nuclear weapons, according to recent satellite images. The US and the European Union are using economic sanctions to press Iran to abandon any military dimensions of its nuclear program, which its leaders say is intended solely for civilian energy and medical purposes. Iran has a past history of covering up nuclear weapons over the years.

For those who were not in attendance at the last debate of the semester, there is a new Troika. Mr. Sean Connolly remains Chairman, with Mr. Peter Deucher as Secretary, and Miss Nicole Koopman as Prefect of Secret Rites.

News & Opinion

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It may be posited that one of the greatest, if not the most pressing issue in American politics today is the division of country into the Democrat and Republican factions. The philosophy that parties

produce healthy contention and desirable results falls short of the reality: blind trust and intentional deceiving. George Washington, in his Farewell Address, described political parties as “potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.” Ideal, then, would be a country without political parties. Ideal is the key word. What may be most desirable may not always, or ever, be possible. A country without political parties is agreeably ideal, though practically it is impossible, as the Founding Fathers well understood. In Federalist 10, James Madison wrote that wherever liberty and differing opinions co-exist, there will be factions. ‘And so long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed.’ It is thus in the very way man functions that individuals form groups based on shared opinions.Consequently, anyone hoping for politics without faction is hoping for the impossible.

Discouraging as this may seem, there is a solution to the problem. If an impediment is placed upon the parties, they may be restrained, keeping damage to a minimum. The natural check is the individual. An educated citizen investigates the options of every election and votes not for a party but for a particular candidate. With an educated citizen body, the vote would be based, not on complete agreement (as perfect conformity is unheard of between individuals), but on the shared moral values between voter and candidate. In this

way, educated citizens hinder the escalation of fascism; though, conversely, the lack thereof proves detrimental – witnessed today by the societal dependence on political parties. Recently, the United States has suffered politically from two parties run amuck. Complaints are all too common that neither theRepublican nor the Democratic Parties support their original founding principles. This straying is deplorable and the parties should be criticized for their abandonment of certain values. However, often censure arises from an unreasonable trust in and misunderstanding of the party system. For instance, many point fingers because they see a party failing to provide respectable candidates for election. Yet, completely entrusting a party with the duty is evading the responsibility of citizenship. Unreasonable, too, is expecting consistency in principle from a man-made organization. An organization is only as good as its members; if a party is defective, it reflects the people of not only the party, but the nation as a whole, for allowing the error. Stop the tolerance then, some cry. The solution suggested is to completely throw out the parties, for no one can support them in good conscience. The Republican Party, in particular, receives such censure as it caters to the Christian vote. However, throwing out the parties would only create a vacuum for other parties to step in, and so solve nothing. The real solution lies in reforming the parties, bringing them back to uniformity with Christian principles. Many have already recognized the solution and have begun the battle in restoring values in the Parties. Yet they receive criticism for their efforts, labeled, because of their party membership, to be moral- sacrificing politicians. Critics must realize, however, that party reformation is an inside job, and that even good-willing individuals may be a Republican or Democrat insofar as their beliefs and their votes correspond to the common good. Redefining what each political party stands for is a process, one requiring individuals firmly standing for the Christian moral values while reforming the parties within. Their parties may continue to make mistakes, yet judging and condemning such individuals does nothing to assist them in their efforts and even disrespects their mission, the mission of all Christians, to restore the moral order in the world.

NEWSFLASH:

“ ” There is nothing more I dread than division of the republic into two great parties, the greatest political evil under our Constitution. – John Adams

by Rebecca DeucheR, ‘14

UNITED STATES CAUGHT PARTYING

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News & Opinion

Republican Insanity

T his is what Catholic conservatives do again and again when election season comes around. Catholics go to the polls and vote Republican, believing, “This time the republicans will

bring our soldiers home, this time they will end the debt, this time they will end abortion.” But they will not. Republicans do not have a history of this and have given us no reason to believe they will begin advancing true conservative and Catholic values anytime soon. Thus, it is time that we, as serious Catholics, begin looking into other options. There are sixty million American Catholics who represent possibly the biggest and most important voting group. In nine of the last ten elections the winner of the Catholic Vote won the presidency. We are too big a voting block to accept mediocrity and failure. We have too distinguished a history to settle for Republicans. We are called to a higher standard—a standard to which we must hold our politicians, a standard that Republicans simply do not live up to. It is time we demand a better party to represent us. From their big government party origins to failed and war hungry foreign policy to their misleading and irresponsible economic platform and finally their inaction on social issues, the Republicans represent the party of insanity, a party Catholics should refuse to support. From the very beginning, the “Grand Old Party” has been the party of big government dominance over the rights and freedoms of state governments and their respective people. The first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, showed this when he marched his army into the Southern states to forcibly re-admit them to the Union, blatantly ignoring their constitutional right to secede and basic human right to form their own government. In the process of fighting this war he issued an arrest warrant for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who disagreed with him, allowed General Sherman to target civilian populations throughout the South, and after the war he, along with fellow Republican Ulysses Grant, established martial law and a military enforced dictatorship throughout the South. These actions destroyed the Founding Fathers’ principle that the federal government served the

states and the people, not the other way around. In addition, Lincoln’s actions set the stage for one hundred and forty years of illegal Federal Government expansion, an expansion the Republican Party has been at the forefront of advancing. Among the most heinous of these recent advances has been the Republican foreign policy that, for the last fifty years, has entangled the United States in one foreign policy debacle after another while expanding the role of government to unprecedented levels. Republican involvement in Afghanistan under Reagan, where we funded rebel groups to fight against the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), serves as one example of the pathetic Republican foreign policy. While the USSR was certainly a great evil, the rebels fighting were no better. And as it turned out, among the rebels to whom Reagan gave money was Osama bin Laden. Reagan may have helped destroy communism, but it was at the cost of empowering Osama bin Laden for twenty years to come.

America is neither the world police, nor the world-instillers of democracy. We do not have the practical capabilities to succeed in these missions because America was not created to be a world empire. It was created to be a Republic. The simple fact, that four of our last five wars have been started by Republicans, gives a critical insight into the Republican thought process. (Interestingly enough, the one war they did not start, Vietnam, they unanimously voted in favor of anyways). These wars failed to consider the Just War Theory which states, in part, that war must be the last option. However, in each of our last five wars

Voting for Big Government Republicans and Expecting Small Government

by Joe Walsh, ‘15

“ ”The Republicans will eagerly send the military to overthrow a tyrant but the problem is that such tyrants are

often replaced by others worse.

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News & Opinion

it is hard to say all other means to find peace were exhausted. Instead, war seems to be the first option for Republicans. This warfare state is just as bad as a welfare state, and is completely unsustainable. As history teaches us again and again, a country simply cannot maintain itself when it is constantly at war. The misconceptions surrounding the Republican Party’s stance on foreign policy continues into the public’s perceived conception of their economics. For some reason they are seen as the party of small government policy and reasonable spending that looks to promote andprotect capitalism. Again, this is simply not the case. Look again at the history of the Republican Party. It was a Republican president, Lincoln, who first imposed an income tax, the complete antithesis of capitalism, in 1861. Then a series of Republican presidents in the 1920s moved us into the Great Depression. Reagan continued the Republican assault on the economy and the constitution with his massive deficit spending. When Reagan took office the deficit was 94 billion, by 1988 it was 2.6 trillion—under Reagan the size of the federal government grew ninety percent! George Bush exploded the deficit and size of the federal government further from 2000-2008 when he nearly doubled the deficit to 10.6 Trillion. Most recently, the Republicans have once again failed to propose viable options for cutting the debt. The reason for this is threefold: first they fail to acknowledge the importance of cutting down the warfare State which exponentially adds to the deficit. Second, they promote a welfare state by refusing to make the necessary cuts into Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Third, while maintaining a constant state of war and ever increasing welfare policies, they refuse to raise taxes. In fact, the tax rates are at historic lows, due to Republican insistence. Despite these shortcomings Catholics often appeal to the Republicans policies on social issues as one last reason to vote Republican. But the question must be asked: what, specifically, have the Republicans done to be considered ‘good’ on social issues? Was it Reagan’s appointment of the pro-choice Supreme Court Justice

Anthony Kennedy? Or Bush senior’s appointment of another pro-choice liberal, David Souter? Was it prominent Republican leader Rick Santorum’s support of a bill that gave millions to Planned Parenthood, or his support of pro-choice and pro-gay Senator Arlen Spector? Or how about the future Republican nominee: Romney? Did he inspire this idea of the superiority of Republicans on social issues through his support of abortion throughout most of his political career? Before the 2008 election Romney consistently supported abortion, once saying abortion should be “safe and legal”. Thus, I do not ask why Republicans might be better than another particular party; rather, I ask why they deserve the votes of Catholics? On what grounds have they proven their worth as an individual party? For whom then should Catholics vote? It is clear Democrats are not the answer either, so if not Democrat or Republican, who else? The answer is: anyone else. There are numerous independent candidates that could make great presidents. It is up to each voter to inform themselves which they believe is best and vote that way. Between Republicans and Democrats, the Republicans are not the “lesser of two evils.” They are the same evil, which the Democrats represent. It is insane for us as Americans, and more importantly as Catholics, to pledge our support to a party that so clearly violates our beliefs. One of the key principles of any democracy is that one votes for whom one truly believes in. Our Founding Fathers were willing to die for that principle. Therefore, let us vote for a party that represents us. If you believe the Republicans truly represent Catholics, then vote for them. If you can be proud of voting for a Republican like Mitt Romney for president, then vote for him. But ask yourself: will you be able to come home after this year’s election saying, “I’m proud to vote for Republican Mitt Romney?”

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News & Opinion

W hy don’t I have a job yet? Why hasn’t career services gotten me a job? The poor attendance at a recent Christendom professional development evening might have something

to do with it. A few weeks ago, I joined twelve other professionals to speak at the evening hosted by the Chester-Belloc Debate Society. Each professional spoke about their field or on job search topics like networking. Students also had the opportunity to participate in mock interviews or resume critiques with any (or all) of the presenters. Given the challenges of finding a job in these trying economic times, I expected a strong turnout. Concerned for our students’ job prospects, I invited two friends to attend who had a lot to offer. Jacob Meza, a leading executive for Valley Health, one of the largest employers in this region, is a valuable contact for anyone interested in business management or looking to locate in this area. Ben McMahon, a Project Manager at a large commercial painting company, has, like Jacob, interviewed and hired numerous local employees. I was surprised (and embarrassed), however, when the event started off with as many speakers as there were students. Only a few more students trickled in during the night. It made no sense. If you are a Senior and don’t have a job yet, you should have been there. If you are a Junior, a Sophomore, a Freshman and you don’t have a post-grad job lined up, you should have been there. If you have a job, but aren’t sure it is the right one, you should have been there. If you don’t know what you want to do with your life, you should have been there. Oh, I know that there were at least two other events going on that night. The timing was bad. It was a lot to sit through. There wasn’t anyone in your industry. The talks could be boring. You didn’t see the ads until too late. It was Saturday night. That is the point! It’s a tough, competitive world. People who

want jobs, people who get jobs, show up to boring events, ask everyone and anyone to edit their resume, do practice interviews, seek advice from anyone willing to offer it (and give them their contact info in the process), and show up in suits to meet someone they don’t even know when other people are having fun. I have yet to find a school where anyone is happy with career services (I hope ours is becoming the first). Career services can never do enough. But, the ones who really want jobs don’t even think about it – they’re too busy getting their own job: sending e-mails to the friend

of a friend of a friend, making awkward phone calls, having business lunch after business lunch over every vacation. What’s the lesson here? Career services doesn’t find jobs. Job seekers find jobs. (Okay, so maybe Harvard is different, although it’s a challenge even for Harvard grads to recoup their huge investment in this economy). You have to take responsibility for your own job search and your own future because you’re the only one who really can. That’s why our new career services program is right on the money by focusing on

teaching and empowering students to find their own jobs. You can’t afford to miss a professional development event, a chance to meet your parents’ working friends, a chance to hand out your resume, a chance to learn— even if it turns out to be a waste of time. If you missed the professional development night, you’re already a step behind. The speakers there eagerly shared their experiences with those willing to listen. More amazing, I heard at least four of them offer to interview students for open positions on the spot. I’m not writing this article to chastise you. I am writing this because I care. You can take control of your job search or you can learn this lesson the hard way. Save yourself the trouble. Start today. If you want to talk, I and many others will be happy to make the time–if it’s a busy time you might have to ask twice but be persistent–keep asking!

by Paul Jalsevac

DiRectoR of DeveloPment oPeRations

Why Don’t I have a Job yet? (Lessons Learned the hard Way)

Jobs

NEXT EXIT

9 | nine

Faith & Reason

COURAGE VS. “PEOPLE-PHOBIA”

Courage is a funny virtue. The word tends to conjure images of great heroics and valor. Maybe it brings to mind a Roman soldier standing his ground against a Carthaginian war

elephant. Perhaps a thought of Christopher Columbus arises, sailing off into the unknown with his three ships as he watched Europe sink into the horizon behind him. Or you might see a soldier stepping off the amphibious vehicle onto Omaha beach into the rain of gunfire as his companions fall all around him. Courage, however, is not exclusively for those who face dangers of death. It is a virtue also indispensable for those who face something, often equally as terrifying: life. To understand courage as it applies to those of us who will not be facing Carthaginian war elephants any time soon, it would probably make sense to first have an understanding of fear as it applies to us. As serious as fear of the dark, heights, or spiders may be, (no seriously, some people lose their minds when they see a spider) unless you are seeking an education in psychology, I do not really see how there is much room for insight there; so I have probably already talked too much about them for our purposes. However, a fear worth spilling some ink over is social fear, not only because it appears in every list of “top 10 most common fears” you can find but also because of the drastic effect it can have on one’s relations with others. Social phobias can be as small as nervousness for a particular type of public speaking, or as serious as near emotional breakdowns in any social setting. Though the average person will not start crying if you say “hello” to them, the majority of people will suffer from some amount of social fear when taken outside their comfort zone. Some peoples’ comfort zone just happens to be a bit smaller than others’. For some it can be triggered simply by having to place an order at the fast-food register, or having to speak up in class, while for others it is a fear of that individual or group we perceive as superior to ourselves in some way (commonly known as the “cool” kid or the “cool” group). Whatever causes your particular social fear to flare up, the majority of us are familiar with the feeling. Your stomach tightens up, your pulse pounds in your head, and your mind starts dancing wildly from one thought to the next in a frantic search of what you want to say. The fact that you cannot seem to speak or think coherently and you know how horribly tense and uncollected you appear also spurs the emotion on and you might have an urge to begin looking for the nearest rock to crawl under. Whether only caused by intense social interactions, like the job interview atmosphere, or by every interaction with people, most of us have experienced that nearly unbearable insecurity and loss of self confidence. My hope with this article is to offer a few thoughts that, although they are terribly simple, are important to remember when seeking courage. Those who struggle with social phobias are facing a great

challenge. It is usually based in some sort of insecurity. While everyone else seems to “have it together,” you cannot seem to shake some kind of doubt, whether conscious or subconscious, in yourself. When you communicate and interact with others, you are, in a way, giving yourself to them through your time, attention, input, and the list goes on. But constantly being haunted by the belief that you are not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, athletic enough, holy enough, or (fill in the blank with any quality you can doubt yourself to have) enough, will often arouse fear that giving of yourself socially might not be enough. The fear builds up a psychological wall that hinders fully interacting with others.

When we lack this social outlet, we are not only desperately unfulfilled, but succumbing to this social fear often becomes an avenue for lack of charity as it builds resentment against those who you made yourself believe are rejecting you, though in reality they may have not even had the chance to receive you. This is the battlefield. Now the first and most important thing for courage is toremember your dignity as a unique and beautiful person. Having Larry the cucumber tell you that “God made you special and He loves you very much” can be less than consoling when you are fighting a mental battle like the one analyzed here. But to take a moment and realize thatGod, who has plenty of important things on his plate, created YOU (I have been using “you” in a general way but right now I am pointing specifically to the individual person reading this) in His very own image and likeness. The beauty and depth of that fact is always important toremember. He is also the very author of the qualities that you are ashamed not to have (or that you just think you do not have), but He takes one look at you in your imperfection and still says, “I love you anyways,” with all five wounds of Christ. So do not worry too much about what the next Tom, Dick, and Harry think about you. Also, remember that people know you are human and therefore might have that quirkiness or imperfection that you cannot get off your mind. You are probably the person most critical of yourself. And for those who do look down on you, well, I find it interesting that they have to guts to think less of you while Christ obviously thought you were worth it. So take heart and have courage! Have the courage to be willing to put yourself out there and give of yourself in social circumstances. Do not miss the opportunity to get to know everyone else whom God saw as worth it, too.

by Jake moRgan, ‘14

“ ” But we are social animals! We, by nature, desire to give ourselves to others socially.

Feature

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Earlier this week, I went down to Shore Stop for one of the last times. Everyone at Christendom knows Ekrum, the owner from Bangladesh, is always happy and ready to talk, telling a joke you halfway understand or giving you advice about life or letting you use a credit card even if your purchase is less than ten dollars.

Ekrum and I began talking about graduation and goodbyes and how no one ever likes to say farewell. But Ekrum said that goodbyes are a reality that we have to acknowledge. Whether you are saying goodbye to a school, to your home, to your country, or to a friend, goodbyes will always be part of our lives. It is a universal truth that everything must come to an end: summer ends, good friendships end, even the nightmare that is Twilight ends, and we must say

goodbye to everything. And now it's the Class of 2012's turn to say goodbye. After four years, everything and everyone becomes comfortable and familiar. Even when trials and ob-

stacles are thrown our way, there is something constant about having a place you know is your own, at least for now. Everyhing about our surroundings is comfortable and no one likes to let go of what they know. We know the

beds are awful, we know the food can be great or not, and we know that no one likes to go to major speaker; we know that Pub Nights are a blast and we know that being covered in dirt means you play rugby. In four years, we made friends and lost them and we experienced joys and heartache, all in the comfort of the Christendom Bubble. The Bubble is about to burst and we're moving on. Goodbyes are never complete, however. The things that we experienced and the people we met have become a part of us, little pieces of who we are today. Congratulations, Class of 2012. And goodbye.

eniors

Saying Goodbyeby aDele c. smith ‘12

Feature

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Earlier this week, I went down to Shore Stop for one of the last times. Everyone at Christendom knows Ekrum, the owner from Bangladesh, is always happy and ready to talk, telling a joke you halfway understand or giving you advice about life or letting you use a credit card even if your purchase is less than ten dollars.

Ekrum and I began talking about graduation and goodbyes and how no one ever likes to say farewell. But Ekrum said that goodbyes are a reality that we have to acknowledge. Whether you are saying goodbye to a school, to your home, to your country, or to a friend, goodbyes will always be part of our lives. It is a universal truth that everything must come to an end: summer ends, good friendships end, even the nightmare that is Twilight ends, and we must say

goodbye to everything. And now it's the Class of 2012's turn to say goodbye. After four years, everything and everyone becomes comfortable and familiar. Even when trials and ob-

stacles are thrown our way, there is something constant about having a place you know is your own, at least for now. Everyhing about our surroundings is comfortable and no one likes to let go of what they know. We know the

beds are awful, we know the food can be great or not, and we know that no one likes to go to major speaker; we know that Pub Nights are a blast and we know that being covered in dirt means you play rugby. In four years, we made friends and lost them and we experienced joys and heartache, all in the comfort of the Christendom Bubble. The Bubble is about to burst and we're moving on. Goodbyes are never complete, however. The things that we experienced and the people we met have become a part of us, little pieces of who we are today. Congratulations, Class of 2012. And goodbye.

eniors

Saying Goodbyeby aDele c. smith ‘12

Arts & Culture

12 | twelve

4.

1. 2. DinosauR lanD

3848 Stonewall Jackson Highway, White Post, VA 22663.540.869.0951 Yes, there is a park filled with statues of dinosaurs. Picnic with the raptors, anyone? Now that the weather is nicer, how about taking a Saturday to regain your inner child? It’s not Jurassic Park but it is a nice, unique place to explore. And it’s a bit safer than Jurassic....or is it?

sT. DominiC’s monasTeRy

2636 Monastery Road, Linden, VA 22642540.635.3259 How many of us know that there is a convent of cloistered Dominican nuns only about 15 minutes away from Christendom College? This would be a nice visit for Sunday Mass if you are staying over the summer. The nuns have Mass, to which the public is welcome, at 7:00 a.m. on weekdays and at 11:00 a.m. Friday and Sunday. If you are interested in learning about this convent in particular or cloistered nuns in general, the sisters’ website has some lovely pictures and explanations of the various elements of the cloistered life.

Out& About

Every issue, we hope to feature another segment of Out & About, giving students a taste of local attractions and places to go in the Virginia area. If you have any questions or ideas, please e-mail the A&C Editor at rambler.arts@gmail.com.

by Rebecca Willen ’15

3. hunTeR’s heaD TaveRn

9048 John S. Mosby Hwy, Upperville, VA 20184 540.592.9020Hunter’s Head is an English-style tavern that serves organic local farm meats and produce, offers domestic and imported beers, and has an excellent selection of local and organic wines. It’s a delightful spot and only about half an hour away. Perfect for a night out with someone special or all your friends! We highly recommend that you explore this authentic English pup in quaint Uppervile.

sky meaDows sTaTe PaRk

11012 Edmonds LaneDelaplane, VA 20144540.592.3556 We all know about Shenandoah National Park, but Virginia does have a number of other lovely parks within a short driving distance. Sky Meadows State Park has a farm house from the 1860’s as well as 14 miles of hiking trails that access the Appalachian Trail.

Arts & Culture

13 | thirteen

None of us can remember an Easter without Peeps. Like them or hate them, we cannot imagine a spring without their plump forms gracing the shelves of Wal-Mart or poking out of a child’s

basket. But how did these sugary little marshmallow chicks take flight to become a perennial holiday favorite? What is the story behind their birth and continued success as an icon of the commercial American Easter? The Peep hatched out of humble beginnings in 1950 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania by the Rodda Candy Company. In 1953, a mere three years after the first Peep entered the world, Russian emigrant and candy-maker Sam Born acquired Rodda. He incorporated itinto his own confectionary business called Just Born located in Bethlehem, PA, according to the company’s official website. It was here that the Peep truly made its leap of fame into the food industry. Sam and his brother were innovators in the candy-making industry and eagerly took on the task of supplying Peeps to the public in a more efficient manner. This was certainly necessary because, as the official history of Just Born states, the Peeps were originally made by a slow process of “squeezing marshmallow through pastry tubes” that took six hours per piece of candy. However, thanks to some technological advances on the part of the Borns, it was not long before they were able to develop machines that produced Peeps quickly and easily. As the means for Peep-making became more advanced, so also the variety of different kinds of Peeps increased. The original Peep was the familiar chick shape that only came in yellow or white. Eventually, it began to be manufactured in the bright colors that we know today—lavender, pink, blue, green and orange. In 1980, the Marshmallow Peeps Bunny appeared on the scene. Just Born also continued to develop new lines of Peeps throughout the decades, from Halloween Pumpkin Peeps to Snowman Peeps and even patriotic, star-shaped Peeps for the Fourth of July. Luckily for the general public, the art of Peep-making has grown by leaps and bounds since 1953. It now takes approximately six minutes instead of six hours to manufacture a single Peep. According to the official Peeps website, the candy begins as a mixture of sugary ingredients known as ‘slurry,’ which is whipped into the consistency ofmarshmallow. This is then poured onto a conveyer belt with molds of different shapes, covered in a dyed sugar. Once shaped, the Peeps are given a final brush-up by being sent through a wind tunnel. They are also imprinted with tiny eyes. From that point, hosts of them are packaged each day and shipped off to stores around the world—in fact,according to Pearson Education, an astonishing 4.2 million Peeps can be produced daily.

No wonder they dominate the Easter aisle of the grocery store! And dominate they do. Peeps, as the Just Born Candy Company proudly announces, are the highest selling Easter treat in the United States after chocolate, and have been for the past twenty years. Americans buy over 700 million Peeps annually. To keep up with the demand, the Just Born Company constantly provides its customers with many interesting new twists in the Peeps’ flavor and color. The most recent variation is a line of Peeps developed this year called Chocolate Dipped Mousse Chicks. Yet, despite the fascinating and often sophisticated variations on this candy, original yellow chicks and bunnies remain the most popular Peeps year after year. Peeps fans have found many surprising uses for their favorite candy. While some enjoy eating them fresh out of the Easter basket, others prefer their Peeps frozen, stale, or roasted. Peeps have been melted into fondues, found in the ingredients of some Crème Brulee recipes, and even served as a cappuccino or pizza topping. Clearly, the Peeps’sugary simplicity and fun shapes open up a whole new world of culinary possibilities where the sky is the limit. So, the next time you prepare to bite into a Peep’s gooey goodness (or run away from it in disgust), take a moment and remember all the hard work, history and creativity that went into making this little marshmallow animal an Easter staple.

Peculiar Peeps Facts! 1. All the Peeps made in a year could go around the world twice.2. If you stacked 8,000 Peeps on top of each other, they would reach the top of the Sears Tower.3. Just Born is the world’s biggest marshmallow company.4. Sam Born, the man who elevated the Peep to its current fame, was also the inventor of chocolate sprinkles and the chocolate covering found on ice cream bars.

by maRia bonvissuto, ‘15

A Peek at eepsP

Arts & Culture

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THE THIRD MAN, 1949: WHAT IS TRUTH?

From the opening sequence of The Third Man (1949), there is an uncanny sensation that something is not right. That uneasy feeling soon permeates the atmosphere, through imagery that

is both haunting and unforgettable: the crumbling ruins of bombed-out buildings, shells of ornate architecture laying topsy-turvy in the rubble, mismatched furniture and coverless light-bulbs cluttering vaulting rooms of elaborate Italian design. Shadows, fogs, and shafts of light obscure the viewer’s vision; cobblestones glitter like glass in the streetlamps and shadows of men loom deceptively as tall as buildings. Every shot, every angle, every line of shading and light, is just slightly off, just barely skewed, resulting in the distinct sensation that the whole dark and twisted world in which the characters are entangled is swiftly slipping off the screen. The city is a showcase of post-war poverty struggling for survival amid the grim near-anarchy of crime and corruption, death and disillusionment. This evocative setting is the perfect backdrop for director Carol Reed’s film adaptation of Graham Greene’s tale, set in the post-WWII black market days of Vienna, about a bumbling, naïve American writer named Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten), who is offered a job in Vienna by an old school friend, Harry Lime (Orson Welles), but arrives barely in time to be told that, at that very moment, the last shovelfuls of six feet of earth are being laid over his pal Lime. At the funeral, Holly falls in with British inspector Calloway (a resigned, grim Trevor Howard) who, after buying Holly one too many drinks, candidly informs him that Lime was a vicious racketeer but that the police were never able to convict him. Reeling and aimless after the sudden shock of death and accusation, Holly foolishly commences a one-man crusade to clear his dead friend’s name. He determines to investigate the “accident” of Harry Lime’s death, at first suspecting foul play, but eventually unearthing a much darker truth about good ol’ Harry. This tale of deception and discovery is Graham Greene’s oblique stab—oblique as Carol Reed’s cinematography—at moral relativism, especially in the human perception of and reaction to the truth. Holly sets this tone when Calloway first implies that Lime was involved in the black market. Holly doesn’t deny the statement, but interprets it in such a way that justifies Lime: that Lime was a small-time operator, trading tires or cigarettes—sure, just like everyone else was—and that Calloway is a petty policeman with a vindictive drive against Lime. Calloway calmly reassures him that Lime was one of the foulest

criminals in Vienna. Calloway, at least, sees the truth, but he cannot force anyone else to accept it. Holly, on the other hand, has a hopelessly flawed grasp on the truth. He fumbles through his fool-hardy investigations, making mistakes that tip his hand or are even fatal to others; at one point he even gets himself accused of murder. He misjudges, misapprehends, and misconstrues his way towards the truth. Yet his real problem is more than simple American blundering or romantic naïveté. The real problem—indeed, the problem that confronts most of the characters—is that they find it nearly impossible to reconcile the horrible facts about Lime with their own perceptions of him. The elusive and powerful personality of Lime is not buried at his funeral. It looms large and mysterious in the background, and fills the thoughts not only of Holly but of everyone who ever had to deal with him, including Calloway and Lime’s girlfriend, the depressed and lonely Anna Schmidt (played by the beautiful and intense Valli). Lime is shrouded in darkness; for the first half of the film the audience has no notion of what he looks like. Even then, the first glimpses of Harry are—like the snapshots of his personality as seen through the eyes of Holly and Anna and Calloway—incomplete, swathed in shadow and questionable gloom. With time the audience gleans that he was Holly’s closest companion, a flippant and amicable man, a treasure-trove ofuseful facts, little tricks, and hints of humor. He was Anna’s roguish beloved, a charmer, light-hearted and loveable. He was their friend; but according to the police file, he was a fiend. They all saw him in a way which seems to contradict Calloway’s accusations. Who was Harry Lime? What is the truth about him? What is truth? Is it, after all, just a question of perspective? This problem, like Harry’s personality, is more than what it appears. “Stop making him in your image,” a pained Anna rebukes Holly, “Harry wasn’t just your friend and my lover. He was Harry. A person doesn’t change just because you find out more.” Anna perceives that Holly adjusts his memory of Lime to fit his own sympathies and emotions. She’s partly right: Lime hasn’t changed. However, what they know about him has, and so their judgment of him should. As they uncover the nasty and brutal facts about Lime’s racketeering, which caused irremediable harm to many, they catch a glimpse of his real character. They can accept the truth, or reject it. Holly struggles with this choice, flopping back and forth, uncertain whether to side with the

“Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love

- they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.”

by lauRen enk, ‘14

Arts & Culture

15 | fifteen

police for justice or with Lime for loyalty. For her part, Anna eventually falls prey, in a way, to the sin for which she reprimands Holly. Her love for Lime borders on obsession—she absently calls Holly “Harry” when she is deep in discussion with him; she wears his pajamas, cries herself to sleep thinking of him. She clings hopelessly to her personal memory of Lime, without reconciling it to reality, remaining loyal to this illusion and ignoring the truth; consequently, she forever closes herself off from the kindness, love, and life offered her by others. She accepts onlyher vision of him—in other words, makes him in her image—and refuses to see the truth. This problem of perspective on the truth is most perfectly manifested when—in a sequence so beautifully filmed it sends tingles up the spine—it is suddenly revealed that Harry is not six feet under. He is alive and well. Holly catches a mere glimpse of him, and then he’s gone, disappearing into the dark city streets once more. Later, however, he is able to meet with him, and the interview seems almost unreal. Holly meets Lime at a Ferris wheel and suddenly the audience understands why Holly and Anna have such a hard time deciding where their loyalties lie. Orson Welles’ performance is superbly subtle and disturbing. He’s devilishly charming, charismatic, a pleasant talker, possessing all the gentle outward qualities of a true friend. But again, something is not right. As they ascend in the tilting world of the Ferris wheel, Holly feebly attempts to rebuke Lime, and Lime reveals that he is the quintessence of moral relativism. He throws open the door of the Ferris wheel, and points to the people a hundred feet below on the sidewalk. “Victims? Don’t be melodramatic. Look down there. Tell me. Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever?” To him, they are only blots on the road. They aren’t people. It’s all relative; it’s all a matter of perspective. It’s not until the final moments that both Holly and the audience catch a glance of Harry Lime in all his ugly reality. When the perspective, at last, is righted, we see Lime for what he is, at once as pitiable and repulsive as a rat caught in a trap. Holly is faced at last with the irrefutable, unambiguous, truth. However, the film ends with an eerie, queer element of ambiguity, along with a powerful déjà vu sequence, which not only leaves the ending open and questions unanswered, but ultimatelyreinforces the point. The men and women of his tale have trapped themselves by their moral relativism, locked tight in their mental habits of denying the truth in favor of the “other side of the story,” which is really a lie. They embraced relativism and ambiguity; and in the end, that is all they have left. Because they could not accept the truth, unambiguous, whole and entire, they cannot escape to freedom and love.

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Humor

Dear JoeDear Joe, I’m having issues with my roommate. She is always talking to her boyfriend on the phone! I told her that I really don’t want to hear their conversations that are embarrassingly sappy. I’ve started coming in later and later so I don’t have to hear any of it, but I’m sleeping so late that I miss class! What do I do? —Worn Out in Fro RoDear Worn Out—Wow. It sounds like you and your roommate have a lot to discuss. While your roommate’s behavior is certainly thoughtless, you should be appreciative that she and her boyfriend are sharing such a positive romantic connection over the phone even though they are far apart. That being said, I understand your problem. Why don’t you try this? Pretend to call your own boyfriend and start talking to him for hours every evening at the same time your roommate talks to her boyfriend. Be as sappy as you like and exaggerate everything. Maybe then your roommate will see what you have to put up with and she might decide to change her ways!

Dear Joe, I’m experiencing serious troubles with my roommate. Not only does she come home during the wee hours, which disrupts my sleeping and makes it hard to get up for 7:30 Mass, but she refuses to give me the privacy I need when talking to my boyfriend on the phone. Do you agree that she needs to be more considerate?

—Worn Thin in Fro RoDear Worth Thin—I definitely think your roommate needs to be more considerate. You deserve quality time with your boyfriend and she should respect this. Why don’t you try starting a dialogue with her and expressing your concerns? Tell her you’re concerned about her health and that if she doesn’t get enough sleep she might suffer emotional stress? If all this fails, I suggest that you and your roommate see a therapist.

Dear Joe, I have a real problem. I’m a guy and I love the Blimey Limey smoothie from Tropical Smoothie. All my girl friends don’t have a problem with this and tell me it’s perfectly manly but guys keep on making fun of me and saying I’m a girly man. What do you think and how can I make people appreciate that I’m just a sensitive guy with a fruity taste? —Sensitive SophomoreDear Sensitive—Don’t be ashamed of your love for Blimey Limey smoothies. Everyone has unique tastes. The guys who are making fun of you clearly are antiquated and have a false sense of their masculinity left over from pre-modern times when gender misconceptions and prejudices were quite common. You are right to embrace your sensitive side and to enjoy whatever smoothie you like. Besides, the girls seem to like you so you must be doing something right. Remember, girls like a sensitive guy who isn’t afraid to show his sensitive side.

Dear Joe, I don’t have enough friends on Facebook. I feel so unloved. I keep on sending friend invites but people ignore them. My girlfriend says I need thousands of friends on Facebook to be socially acceptable. How do I resolve this? —Friend less in LeesburgDear Friendless—First of all, remember that you are your own person and that you shouldn’t let your girlfriend dictate to you her subjective views of what is acceptable and what isn’t. Although Facebook is a great tool, many of the ‘friends’ people have on their Facebook page really aren’t friends, so you shouldn’t feel bad about not having thousands of friends. Maybe you should change your profile to let people know what a wonderful person you are? Let them know what they are missing out on by refusing your friend invites. Be secure in yourself. And maybe you should get a new girlfriend?

Have a problem? In need of guidance? Have a question that needs answering?

Write in to Joe for some firsthand advice.

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Humor

Dear Joe, I am a very sensitive person; I love fluffy little rabbits and love, and cute cuddly babies and lovely pastel rainbows, and love, and sweetly lowing milk cows and romantic ruby sunsets... and love, and fields of gently flowing wild flowers with fluttering butterflies, and perfectly poetic poetry, and love. My problem is that I am surrounded by unfeeling, hard, and mean men who are always mocking these beautiful things. They snort and sneer and call everything “over the top sappy and mushy”! What am I to do?

—So Sad, Sensitively Sentimental Dear So Sad—I’m so glad you were able to open up and communicate your feelings. It must be frustrating for you to have to deal with this. I must admit that your letter greatly saddened me. I had hoped that all the advances in recent years of trying to teach people to be more supportive of other’s expressions of feelings and their choices would have eradicated this type of unfeeling behavior. Just remember that you are a special person and that you are more connected to your feelings and sensibilities than they are. Why don’t you try explaining to them that being sensitive would show they are really true men? Tell them that their negative attitude offends you and makes you feel bad. Explain that you have a right to feel fulfilled and that talking about sensitive things fulfills you. If all else fails, I suggest that you host a discussion on sensitivity and masculinity. Maybe that would make a difference!

Dear Joe, Yesterday, my boyfriend came to class wearing white socks with his dress-pants. This was offensive to me as a woman of elevated aesthetic taste, and I am also afraid that the fines he will have to pay will limit his ability to spend money on me, thus damaging our relationship. I complained that he was putting his own laziness in dressing and slobbish habits before my greater good. However, he said I was being controlling and making a fuss about nothing. Should I call things off, or is there a way we can work this out?

—Well-dressed and WorriedDear Well-dressed—I don’t want to sound negative but you clearly have a problem. You clearly aren’t putting yourself in his shoes so to speak. Guys don’t care about their appearances like girls and you can’t project your sense of fashion onto your boyfriend. Maybe he has a higher sense of fashion than you? Maybe he deliberately wore the white socks to make a fashion statement? You should be supportive of his choices and recognize his uniqueness. Recognize and address your problem and I think you can work things out. Maybe you and he should see a relationship counselor and have a role changing session? You should find out what it feels like to be criticized for your fashion choices by a nagging female.

Dear Joe, I really like this guy and I follow him pretty much everywhere he goes when I see him so I can observe what kind of a guy he is. I know it’s kind of creepy but I just can’t help it. I guess my problem is that I really like him but I can’t get enough gumption to talk to him. PLEASE HELP! —Love Struck C ollege StudentDear Love Struck—First, do not think you are creepy or weird. You are following him to find out what he’s like and to see if he is a good match for you, not for some creepy reason. Clearly, you should talk to him about your feelings. Try crying and making him feel bad. Maybe you could try making him food? Either of these should get him interested in you. If they don’t, I suggest you contact your local chapter of Lonely Single Females for help.

Dear Joe is written by Joe McGlynn in order to provide an outlet for frustration on campus. Although many people doubt it, he actually is quite sensitive and can connect to the needs of students. Feel free to contact him with your questions.

A s graduation fast approaches, I find myself facing, with my classmates, a pivotal moment in life. We are about to embark on the journey of our lives . . . I think all of us are asking some

form of the question: What next? I am young and I do not claim to have all the answers. I can only say what seems to me to be the truth from what I have experienced in my life. As graduation nears I find myself asking: What is my true vocation? How am I specifically to employ the tools I have acquired from my liberal arts education? After all the time and money invested, I feel I need to do something great or important. I believe our generation faces a particularly difficult time in history. I have no doubt that the problems of vocation we now face have troubled many college seniors over the decades, but I believe these problems have reached a state hitherto unknown. We face a world deeply scarred by the sexual revolution, war, and the materialism of the baby boomers. In our own country our President aggressively advances the culture of death, disregards the Constitution, attacks our freedoms, and squanders our future. On a global scale the culture of death is widespread, wars abound, and the economy is hurting badly. Add to this the personal pressures of family pride, finding a spouse, joining the religious life, or simply “making it,” whatever that may mean, and the task is daunting. I look in the mirror and I ask myself: So now what? What can little me do against this tide? And even if I can do something, where do I start? I think the answer is in the little things. Cliché proverbs come to mind, like “Even the longest journey begins with the first step.” It is perhaps a cliché, but also true. I think many of us know the truth of this, but it is easy to forget. What we all want is happiness, and it is doing the little things right—with an attitude of trust—that makes a person happy. It is getting up in the morning, brushing your teeth and getting the things done that need to be done that day. Sending out the application. Going to the job interview. Praying, if only for a short time. We know how to do the little things, but we forget the hidden opportunities that they provide. We shelve them, and even disdain them when faced with the overwhelming pressure to succeed in life. In truth, I believe that accomplishing the small and often overlooked daily tasks is great and important. When faced with uncertainty about vocation and the future, many of us become worried, discouraged, and anxious. St. Therese of Lisieux, who exemplified the Little Way, wrote “If I did not suffer simply from moment to moment, I would find it impossible to be patient; but I look only at the present, forget the past, and am careful never to anticipate the future. Whenever I surrender to discouragement or despair, it is usually because we are thinking too much of the past or the future.” I have often found comfort in these words in times of uncertainty. Sometimes that word, “vocation,” is especially troubling to me. What is a life vocation? Am I called to the religious, married, or single life? My current vocation has been as a student; but what happens in the next month?

I remember hearing a homily at Mass on vocation a few years ago. The priest giving the homily said he had talked with numerous people during his ministry who approached him looking for guidance in their lives. His answer: “Follow the Ten Commandments.” That is your vocation. I think he is right. When we live with right principles and take care of the little things, direction becomes much clearer. We are called to be great, but that does not necessarily mean becoming rich or prominent. It means leading a life well lived, and that is achieved by the little things. That is how we can make a real difference in the world. Still, one can know these things intellectually and not feel it. The pressures do not disappear overnight and the world remains wounded. We cannot live this life alone and we should never feel that we have to. We need good friends, family, and leaders to follow. One such leader I have followed, and a man who I believe truly understood my generation’s heart, hopes, dreams, and desires, is John Paul II. He has helped me countless times, especially in finding meaning and purpose in life. In his first address as pope he said, “Be not afraid”. Those words are written over our student center and I read them so frequently that at times the familiarity makes me fail to realize their truth and power. Yet, they are powerful, and pondering them provides an answer to our fears and concerns about how to live our life fully and discover our vocation.

Reflection

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so, now what?by Dominic kRestyn , ‘12

“ Be Not Afraid.

”

ThumbsAnother opportunity for presenting our opinions on campus occurences. Agree? Disagree? Have an opinion of your own? Then stop being lazy and let us know.

The Crusader Baseball Team is the best ever. They had a great season and five players made National All-Academic Team. Great work, all of you.

Graduation plans are all smooshed together. Yes, smooshed.

Last Rambler. :-(

Christendom has always been blessed with extraordinary Chaplains and so, with great fondness, we say goodbye to our beloved Fr. Fox, who will be leaving this semester. Thank you for everything!

Spring Formal was an absolute blast this year! A special thanks goes to the outstanding performance by Mr. Douglas Briggs and the Vinyl Tracks.

Four years, Christendom. We’ve been asking for four years. Where is the campus Wi-Fi?!?!?!?!

Adele C. Smith, otherwise known as the Layout Goddess, has reigned over this publication during the last few years. Considering that this is the final issue of The Rambler under her maternal care, it seems

only fitting that the Last Word attempt to offer some testimony to her im-pact. Due in large part to Adele’s efforts, The Rambler transitioned from its dreary black and white appearance to full color in 2008. Then, “Rambler 3.0” occurred in 2009, which switched things up to our current glossy, con-temporary look. Aided by Matt La Fave (we appreciate you as well, Matt), she has consistently churned out polished, visually effective magazines. In-deed, because of her efforts, Christendom’s Rambler was awarded the Best Layout Magazine Award at the Collegiate Network’s 2010 Editor Confer-ence. Adele’s willingness to employ her time and her artistic talents on The Rambler’s behalf has certainly borne nice, juicy fruit. Yet her role has not been limited to the visual makeup of the maga-zine. Also, she has been a dedicated player in this crazy college game of juggling extracurricular activities, be it through planning meetings, mak-ing deposits, ordering pizza, or spending hours in the library folding and stapling Ramblers together. Yes, our readers will likely never guess what goes on behind The Rambler’s shiny veneer, but the backstage work is relatively heroic. Through it all, Adele has been a stable factor amidst staff transition, making The Rambler a priority and thereby ensuring that issues actually get published and promulgated. Working late hours, making Dan Mitchell look photogenic, writ-ing the occasional article—running layout for The Rambler can be tough business sometimes, and is assuredly not a task for the weak and weary. But in the end, we hope her time with The Rambler has been as rewarding to her personally as it has been to us to have her on board the staff. Adele’s legacy will live on in The Rambler. Words do not suffice to express the gratitude she deserves. But we want to attempt to relay some of our gratefulness to her. Thanks, Adele. We wish you the best of luck as you graduate. We will miss you.

THE RAMBLER GODDESSby the editoRial staff

The Last Word

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