A Not So Tobacco Free Campus: Smoking at Gordon College

“All the President’s Men” Teaches Reporters to Be Hungry for the Truth

Alan J. Pakula’s 1976 production of “All the President’s Men” depicted one of the biggest government scandals to this date, Watergate. Reporter’s Bob Woodward (played by Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (played by Dustin Hoffman) of The Washington Post work to uncover the truth about the burglary at the Watergate Building in Washington, D.C. In the process, they learn a good deal about reporting, integrity, and trust.

Woodward and Bernstein start the investigation working separately. Woodward searches for the facts, while Bernstein has trouble separate opinion from the truth. Ben Bradlee, an editor at The Washington Post, tells Bernstein, “I’m not interested in what you think is obvious, I’m interested in what you know.” And soon after that Woodward tells Bernstein while he writes the beginning Watergate story, “. If you’re going to hype it, hype it with the facts.”

Eventually Bernstein and Woodward begin to investigate together. They find leads, they conduct interviews, and they take a lot of notes. Yet, even when the two reporters believed to have a story, Woodward would say, “But there’s not enough fact.”

The two dig deep to discover that this is not merely a two men scandal. The Watergate burglary goes all the way up to President Nixon and everyone seems to be covering it up. Bernstein and Woodward must interview those citizens who don’t wish to be interviewed, citizens who do not even trust the reporters themselves. This mistrust of reporters is depicted very well throughout the film. There is an unspoken fear of the discovery of the truth. Yet, that is the essence of journalism, to give the people the truth.

Towards the end of the film, Bradlee is speaking to both Bernstein and Woodward. He says, “I can’t do the reporting for my reporters, which means I have to trust them. And I hate trusting anybody.” The story is published, and those accused were rightly charged.

A Not So Tobacco Free Campus: Smoking at Gordon College

Walk around Gordon College, it’s not hard to enjoy the luscious quad, the glisten of Gull Pond, the bustling student life, and the fresh air. Cigarette butts and the smell of tobacco do not taint the campus. While some may find this environment appealing, there are students at Gordon College prefer to enjoy the beautiful campus with a cigarette in their hand and nicotine in their blood stream. Tobacco is banned on campus, yet those students find a way to get their fix. Whether they have to drive down Grapevine Road or hike deep into the Gordon woods, they do. These same students sit in Lane and chapel next to us; they walk beside us on our way to Jenks and Bennett Center. They are the smokers of Gordon College.

Clearly stated in the behavioral expectations for Gordon, which can be found on the college website (www.gordon.edu) is the probation of tobacco on campus, as well as alcoholic beverages. Why then do students light up while on campus? “It was something to do,” said Ben Knudtston, a senior accounting major from Oconomowoc, WI. “Especially in the winter, no one wants to freeze walking to their cars in Woodland.”

“Smoking is an addiction so like other addicting behaviors, smoking is rewarding—it helps calm people down, increases alertness, and provides a break in the day,” said Erin Devers, former psychology professor at Gordon, now of San Diego, CA. However, this break in the day is hard for students to fulfill on a tobacco free campus.

Does the fear of getting caught and fined by Gordon Public Safety ever keep students from smoking on campus? “No,” said Knudtson, “There were a couple of run-ins with the Go-Po mobile where we had to run away, but it became sort of a high to get away with it. Like going 90 miles per hour on the highway and not getting pulled over.”

Brooke Talbot, a ’09 art major from Beverly, MA felt a similar way to Knudtson when she attended Gordon. Due to lack of available parking on campus, Talbot would smoke behind Barrington. She found that smoking a cigarette helped with the stresses of Gordon, like work and professors. “Smoking would help take off that edge,” Talbot said.

Smokers at Gordon say they find the tobacco free campus to be a speed bump in their day, not a roadblock. But, Gordon bans tobacco on campus for a reason. “I think Gordon bans smoking on campus because it promotes both the health of the non-smoker and the health of the smoker,” said Devers. “If smoking becomes more difficult (you have to walk further to smoke, or it costs even more money), it becomes easier to quit.”


About 8 students a semester are caught and fined for smoking on campus according to Terry Charek, Associate Dean of Students, Residential Life and Judicial Program. Yet, Charek believes that many students get away with smoking on campus. “As with everything at Gordon, we deal with what we know, and we’re okay with that. We have no compelling need to search through the bushes or chase people down the Coy paths to stamp out smoking,” said Charek.

Second Lieutenant of the Marine Corps Will Nadeau smoked cigars in the Gordon woods while he attended Gordon. A resident of Beverly, MA, Nadeau now has different thoughts about tobacco use on campus. “Let kids smoke on campus and they wouldn’t clean up after themselves. Gordon is beautiful,” he said. “And it wouldn’t be with a bunch of butts lying around.”

“We all have our ‘issues’ to deal with, and from my perspective the act of smoking itself or ‘being a smoker’ is not a big deal. The issue lies with the question of integrity, and agreeing to do or not do something while voluntarily being part of this community. There’s the real issue,” said Charek. Some students feel that the community would not be harmed if they enjoyed a cigarette while still on campus. “I want to be able to walk behind Jenks and rip a butt between classes,” said Knudtson. “It would be relaxing.”

Journalism Elements in Clooney’s “Good Night and Good Luck”

Together in 2005, George Clooney and Grant Heslov wrote “Good Night and Good Luck”, a black and white film portraying the relationship between popular televison journalists, Edward R. Murrow and Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. The conflict is between Murrow and his news crew battling McCarthy and his radical anti-Communist ways.

There are many different elements of journalism represented throughout the film. Using Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel’s book, “The Elements of Journalism”, as a guide, these elements are more aparent to the viewer. The most noticeable element is found in Chapter 2, which says “Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.” Murrow, even though accused of being a communist by McCarthy, knew that was he was broadcasting was infact truth. He followed through with his responisibility as a reporter to give the people the truth.

The next element of journalism in “Good Night and Good Luck” is found in Chapter 6 (“Monitor Power and Offer a Voice to the Voiceless”) and Chapter 3 (“Who Journalists Work For) of Kovach’s book. Murrow works for the American people, he wants them to understand whats going on in the country and not have their minds polluted by false media. He gives a voice to Milo Radulovich, an Air Force pilot who is falsely accused and discharged while innocent. Murrow does a report on him and is also accused for simply working for the people and trying to give a voiceless Radulovich a fair trial.

Journalists are represented in an aspiring light in “Good Night and Good Luck”. They are looked at as hard-working people. Yes, contraversies are represented, but all to bring forth the truth to citizens. Murrow’s work in “Good Night and Good Luck” led to the factual downfall of Senator McCarthy.


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Gordon Alumni honored at Convocation

By Maggie Lafferty and Steven Fletcher

The A.J. Gordon Chapel resounded with a bagpiper’s rendition of Amazing Grace, signaling the start of the college’s homecoming festivities. Echoing pipes served as a prelude for the 2009 Alumni Awards convocation held on October 9th. Five graduates of both Gordon and Barrington College received awards.

The convocation began with the Alumnus of the Year award, given to Reverend Eugene Neville, a ’69 Barrington graduate. He serves as pastor at the Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Brockton, MA. Neville created several ministries while serving; a prison ministry was most notable. He gave a short message on Psalm 27:4, telling the audience about his desire to “dwell in the house of the lord all his life.”

Herbert Boyd, a ’52 Gordon Graduate recieved the A.J. Gordon Missionary Service Award for 55 years of church planting in the Netherlands. For his service Queen Beatrix made him a member of the Order of Orange-Nassau, the highest civilian honor in 2008. At the convocation, he said a chapel speaker inspired his work in Holland expressed to the audience “listening is hearing and doing something with it.”

Shella SaintCyr, a ’03 graduate Gordon graduate received The Young Alumna of the Year. SaintCyr serves as a social worker in both Boston and Chicago. Her message to the audience imparted a strong hope in God’s faithfulness.

The final award, the Winfred Currie Alumni Award in Education, was given to Dr. Gary Schmitt, a ’72 Gordon graduate. Schmitt writes young adult literature and teaches English at Calvin College. Schmitt arrived at the convocation just moments after Mering announced his award, but came not a moment too soon to speak. Schmitt told the audience his Gordon education reminds him God is in the details.

The Jack Good Community Service Award winner, Melissa Winchell a ’99 Gordon graduate, could not attend the convocation. She serves at Lynn Classical High Schools in Lynn, MA.

“The award winners are just the tip of the iceberg of what people from Gordon and Barrington are doing all over the world,” said Mering. Gordon’s Alumni awards convocations draw award winners from the Philippines, Romania, the Netherlands and others.

Gordon College Breaks the Routine: Rabbis Lecture on a Christian Campus

To some students at Gordon College, attending chapel is part of the daily routine. To some, attending chapel is out of the question; sleep is more important. However in mid-September, as some students went about their routine and attended the Friday morning convocation, they were in for a surprise. Greg Carmer, Dean of Chapel, would not be speaking today; rather, Rabbi’s would be lecturing at this Christian college.

Perhaps Gordon needed to promote the presence of the Rabbis more. Ariana Rostron, a junior Spanish major at Gordon College, said, “I attended the Rabbi chapel. I didn’t know that I was attending anything out of the ordinary though; I just went to get chapel credit.” After polling several sophomores and juniors at Gordon, 90% of those polled were not aware of the Rabbis presence on campus.

Those who chose to sleep, rather than attend convocation, missed out. Rabbi Barauch Halevy, Lecturer on Jewish Spirituality, Leader of the Temple of Shirat Havam, led the opening convocation. Halevy spoke about the Psalms, headlining that “God wants the heart” and explaining Judaism customs and history. Halevy spoke in a Jewish tongue, to incorporate his background into the lecture, and he used humor to win over his dominantly Christian audience.

The Rabbi convocations were not the routine chapel service, they were an event that explored diverse view points and promoted a healthy future for Jewish-Christian relationships.

Newcomers: Kaelyn McBride Trades Africa's East Coast for America's East Coast

By Margaret Starr Lafferty

On the eastern coast of Africa, in the heart of the Kenyan wilderness, there is a boarding school. Rift Valley Academy houses high school students of many different nationalities. A barb wire fence surrounds the perimeter to keep out wild animals. On the eastern coast of America, on the north shore of Massachusetts, Gordon College houses students from all of the country, as well as internationals. There is no barb wire fence to keep out predators. Kaelyn McBride, a new student at Gordon College, reflects on the difference between the two schools as she tells of her time living in Africa.

New student, McBride, with junior standing at Gordon, is a history major with a political studies minor. Since she was four years old, McBride lived in Africa, attending school in Tanzania, the country south of Kenya, until her junior year of high school. She then decided to go to Rift Valley Academy, surrounded by African wilderness, McBride made many close friends. “My best friend was from Finland,” McBride said. “I had another good friend from Korea and a few American friends.”

After graduating from high school, McBride returned to the States, became a student at Westmont College, in California. She soon realized it wasn't a good fit and transferred to Gordon College for the Fall 2009.

So, why Gordon? “I love the academics at Gordon, the professors and the classes. There’s not that too cool for school attitude that there was at Westmont,” said McBride. “I like the location too, and the freedom of no fence.”

However, she notices big differences between Gordon, Westmont, and Rift Valley Academy. “Rift Valley was so international. I miss the diversity. I was friends with everyone from everywhere,” said McBride. “Compared to Westmont, Gordon is more diverse,” she said with a laugh, “but that’s not saying a lot.” McBride comments on diversity at Gordon saying, “We’re color blind, yet we still know there is a difference. This is foreign to me, because I grew up with everyone being the same, no matter their nationality .”