Tangents & Tirades

Finish Your Vegetables!

In a country where almost 49 million lack consistent access to adequate food, it is inexcusable that 40 percent of all food produced is thrown out. To wash this down, one-quarter of all freshwater consumption is associated with food waste. Friends, feel very free to ignore my militant vegetarianism, my illogical tears when you hold a plastic water bottle in your hand, or my not stepping on the same ground your leather shoes have just stepped on. I beg you, however, do not ignore my glaring, with the intensity of a thousand solar-powered flashlights, when you wastefully throw out Ray Dining Hall products. I do not care how bad it tastes, I do not care that you were mistaken in picking it. No, I will not ship it to the hungry myself. No, you may not watch television until you finish it. You will sit at the dinner table and eat every last piece or, I swear to God, I will tell your father and trust me: I’m the nice one.

—Jayo Miko Macasaquit ’11

Plane Preferences.

This week, the only thing on my mind has been my upcoming flight home to Miami on Saturday afternoon. Once onboard, you find your perfect seat, whether window or aisle. You might pop in your headphones (even though you know that in a few minutes they will ask you to turn off all electronics) and look to see who is next to you. It might be that adorable elderly couple on their annual trip to Florida, or the chatterbox who decides to recount his ENTIRE life to you even though all you said was “hi.” Either way, here’s where you make the pivotal decision, headphones in or out? For me it’s always in. It’s a feat in itself to get myself to sleep on any mode of transportation, therefore, I’ve turned into a compulsive studier, which makes that an easy decision. Amazingly enough, aside from having to pop them out when the attendant asks for your food/drink order, you can be amidst 100 people and still feel like you’re in your own little bubble. One little tidbit of advice:  Make sure you have an exit-buddy. Just in case, you want to make sure that you can seemingly rely on the person next to you if you have to abandon ship. Thanks for flying!

—Viviana Garcia ’12

The Opacity of Hope.

Barack Obama’s historic presidency broke another record this week, though not the sort his administration wants publicized. On Monday, The Washington Times reports, Obama had gone a full 215 days without a formal press conference. The president’s last question-and-answer session with White House reporters was on July 22, when he remarked that Cambridge police acted “stupidly” in arresting Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates. Such a length of time tells us much regarding the confidence Obama’s staff has in the president’s ability to speak off-the-cuff. Indeed, George W. Bush’s longest stretch between press conferences was 214 days back in 2004. Bush was often criticized for taking such long periods of time between televised conferences, with the press demeaning his communication technique. On the other hand, Obama has been given a free pass by the media despite claiming that his administration would be the most transparent in decades. The American public deserves more from the man who has touted himself as the greatest political orator since Lincoln.

—Mark Scirocco ’10

Another Alice.

For the Providence College community, Thursday, March 18 is a day scheduled way more well than wisely. In addition to the NCAA Tournament basketball games taking place at the Dunkin Donuts Center, our campus will have the privilege of hosting three colossi of the Catholic intellectual landscape. While I unreservedly recommend the lectures of papal biographer George Weigel and Fordham Thomist Fr. Brian Davies, O.P., the day’s best bet may well be the talk by feminist philosopher Alice von Hildebrand. Any lecture by von Hildebrand, the wise and aged widow of the great philosopher and theologian Dietrich von Hildebrand, is a rare treat, for she keeps her public appearances to a minimum these days. This particular presentation promises to be especially wonderful, as she will be speaking about her new book Man and Woman: a Divine Invention. The intersection of love, gender, marriage, and theology is Alice von Hildebrand’s intellectual wheelhouse. She loves God and her late husband, whose legacy she defends vociferously to this day. Her vision of married love is salve for our wounded culture. One can attend all three lectures in a row; if you pick just one, however, pick hers.

—Jeremiah Begley ’10