are you flippin` kidding me? - Saskatchewan Polytechnic Students

8
Volume No. 28 Issue 3 - November 2015
ARE YOU FLIPPIN’ KIDDING ME? CONTINUED
Some the Rangers took exception to it, which
I can understand. They were on the other side
of that emotion. I’ve been there before. I know
how it feels. I’ve been pissed off on a baseball
field plenty of times. I’m no angel. Is it out of
disrespect? Of course not. It’s because you’re
upset and want to win so badly. That’s just part
of the game.
After the game, some of the backlash from
small sections of the media took on a familiar
tone. I’ve heard this before.
“Disrespectful, mocking, showboating.”
One MLB Network analyst went as far as questioning my “character” and my “leadership.”
Were these same opinions expressed when
Carlton Fisk “waved” his home run fair in ’75?
Or when Joe Carter jumped around the bases
in ’93? When I was growing up and I watched
iconic moments like those, I was so caught
up in the emotion that I got chills. I wasn’t
thinking about the implications. I was fully immersed in the moment and enjoying it. I loved
Cal Ripken Jr. for his poise and control. But I
also admired Reggie Jackson for showing his
passion and flair.
It’s true. I’m different. I come from a different
baseball culture. But so what?
Those moments are spontaneous. They’re human. And they’re a whole lot of fun.
But nowadays, when a player flips his bat,
especially a guy who wears his emotions on his
sleeve, a small section of people always seem
to turn it into a debate about the integrity of the
game.
It’s true. I’m different. I come from a different
baseball culture. But so what? Why does that
have to be a bad thing? The beautiful thing
about America is that it’s a melting pot. Every
year, thousands of kids in Latin America give
up their education to chase their dream. For the
tiny, less than 3 percent chance that they will
one day take an at-bat in the Big Leagues.
As I’ve written before, they do not take this
gamble out of foolishness, they do it because
they have no other choice for a better life.
They see it as their chance to live the American
dream — and take their families out of poverty.
In a sense, they can become their family’s hero.
For the ones who make it into an MLB organization, the cultural change can be a real shock.
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen
incredible players get labeled as lazy or disrespectful based on shallow assumptions like
“body language.” (But more on that another
time.)
The reality is that these guys came up playing
baseball in an entirely different atmosphere.
Come down to the Dominican Republic and
experience it yourself. We’re loud. We’re
emotional. We’re always singing and dancing.
We love to laugh and have a good time. It’s
ingrained in our DNA. And it doesn’t change
when we’re playing baseball. To us, baseball
isn’t a country club game. It’s our national
pastime, and it comes packed with emotion.
I played winter ball in the Dominican the first
nine years of my pro career. When you get
a hit, people in the crowd will start playing
trumpets and horns and the cheerleaders will
jump up on top of the dugout and start dancing.
The fans stand up from the first inning to the
ninth inning, and half the time they’re dancing,
too. That’s part of the experience. When you
hit a homerun in this atmosphere, you might
flip your bat. You might pump your fist running
around the bases. You might even point to the
sky when you step on the plate (I see you, Big
Papi). For the most part, pitchers don’t have a
problem with it. They know they’re entitled to
enjoy the moment when the script is flipped.
It’s all part of the show. And you’re kidding
yourself if you think baseball isn’t a show. It’s
a spectacle. It’s entertainment. If it wasn’t, then
11.5 million Canadians wouldn’t have tuned
in to watch Game 5, and MLB’s TV contracts
wouldn’t be worth what they’re worth.
Baseball is a metaphor for America. It’s a
giant melting pot made up of people from all
over the world and all walks of life. How can
you expect everybody to be exactly the same?
Act exactly the same? More importantly, why
would you want them to?
Look at all the excitement around the 2015
playoffs. We live in a different time now. It’s
not 1932 when Babe Ruth played (and called
his shot). The entire world was following along
with the drama on TV, social media, and the
internet, and having a lot of fun with it. After
I hit the home run against Texas, I got tens of
thousands of people flooding my Twitter timeline. I got over 400 text messages. Over 200
e-mails. It was stupid. I’ve never seen so many
message notifications on a phone before.
Someone sent me a video of a subway car in
Toronto after the game. Everybody on the train
was doing the olé soccer chant with my name.
“Joséee, José, José Joséee!”
That felt amazing.
I also saw a video of a guy finishing his bowl
of cereal and then flipping the spoon. Even the
mayor of Toronto flipped a bat into a fountain.
It turned into a social media frenzy.
Student Newspaper of Saskatchewan Polytechnic
Saskatoon and Prince
Prinec Albert Campuses
ARE YOU FLIPPIN’
KIDDING ME?
The controversial bat flip story, told to the Player’s Tribune
by Jose Bautista
Pg 2
I got over 400 text messages. Over 200 emails. It was stupid.
When you talk to people around MLB, everyone wants to expand the game globally,
keep the younger demographic engaged, draw
more people to the stadiums, and improve the
pace of play. But in my eyes, there has never
been a better time for Major League Baseball.
Technology has allowed people to connect with
the game in many different ways. On Twitter and Facebook, baseball is trending. In the
ballparks, especially during the playoffs, cities
and countries are buzzing with emotion (I see
you, Canada).
But for whatever reason, there’s a small section
of old-school, my-way-or-the-highway type
of people who never want the game to evolve.
They’re the dinosaurs who believe that everybody should play the same and act the same.
They usually claim that it is out of “respect.”
In my opinion, true respect is about embracing the differences in people’s cultures. That’s
what the melting pot of America is all about.
I flipped my bat. I’m human. The emotion got
to me. It’s in my DNA. If you think that makes
me a jerk, that’s fine. But let’s call it what it
is. Let’s not have these loaded conversations
about “character” and the integrity of the game
every time certain players show emotion in a
big moment. That kind of thinking is not just
old school. It’s just ignorant.
And it is slowly becoming extinct.
WOMEN IN TRADES INTERVIEW
Pg 4
STUDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL
NEWS AND NOTES
Pg 6
THE POWER OF VOLUNTEERISM
Pg 7
7
2
Volume No. 28 Issue 3 - November 2015
Volume No. 28 Issue 3 - November 2015
ARE YOU FLIPPIN’ KIDDING ME?
Jose Bautista
www.theplayerstribune.com/jose-bautista-batflip/
When the pitch came in, I turned on it. It was
just a natural reaction, just like I’ve done hundreds of times before.
Let me take you inside my head for a second.
It’s Game 5 of the ALDS against Texas. Do or
die. Tie game, seventh inning. Two men on.
Two outs.
There’s no sound in the world like the crack a
baseball makes on the sweet spot of my maple
Marucci. You blink on contact. The immediate
roar of the crowd lifts your sights to see where
the ball is going. Imagine the feeling of watching it land in the seats. How would you feel?
What would you do?
I was standing in the on-deck circle when we
knocked in the tying run, and the crowd just
exploded. Imagine standing there on the field
and looking up at 50,000 people going crazy.
Then I took that lonely walk to the plate with
everything on the line.
I wish you could have heard my thoughts in
that moment. It’s the closest I have ever felt to
being a superhero. I felt like I was Batman, and
the villain had the girl dangling off the edge
of the building. My adrenaline wasn’t 10-outof-10. It was ten-million-out-of-10.
The stage was set.
I was so locked in that all I could see was the
pitcher. Everything else was out of focus. It
was so loud that it was quiet.
Think about the odds of being the person
standing there at the plate in that moment.
There have only been roughly 18,000 players in the history of Major League Baseball.
How many out of that number have played
in a playoff game? One third maybe? I’ve
played over 1,400 games, and that was my first
playoff series. Out of those 6,000 or so, how
many players have been lucky enough to be in
a position to change the outcome of a playoff
series with one swing? Maybe 10 percent? And
how many have succeeded?
None of this math was going through my head
when I was standing at the plate. That came
later on, when I had time to reflect at home. All
I was thinking in the moment was, This is your
chance. Just relax. Get ready early. See it and
hit it.
When you’re in that situation, you’re playing
a role in a show. I’m not Jose Bautista. I’m the
guy trying to be the superhero. I’m coming
through. I’m going to make something happen.
ROGUE POLITICS
There was no script. I didn’t plan it. It just
happened.
Joseph Maggrah
Campus Council Director - Prince Albert
I flipped my bat.
Global conflict, when interpreted by the general public refers to all-out war, with the likely
possibility of nuclear warfare. However, in
reality global conflict is usually referenced to
three or more nations involved in a war, which
usually involves some level of military combat.
What contributes to conflict becoming a war
is the drawing of resources from the world,
having a noticeable impact on any number of
nations. These impacts may be most evident in
economical disturbances, political unrest, and
civil unrest. It is through these disturbances
a nation may feel the pressure to become
involved in a conflict, likely leading to military
combat. It is in times of military combat
where there is plenty of news coverage, where
casualties and collateral damage are often sensationalized. Yet, war does not develop overnight. It is the result of an unresolved dispute
or any number of discrepancies, which have
It wasn’t out of contempt for the pitcher. It
wasn’t because I don’t respect the unwritten
rules of the game. I was caught up in the emotion of the moment.
Continued on Page 8
manifested over time into a heavy weighted
like object that is constantly changing. What
the general public normally doesn’t see are the
underlying issues to the causes of conflict, and
how these issues are dealt with.
themselves and what they value, or to abandon
their cause with the intention of survival and to
prevent catastrophic loss. These are the same
reasons nations go to war, as their actions are
determined by people.
For some the focus is prevention of war. Efforts for prevention of conflict revolve a lot
around three things: conflict resolution, crisis
management, and communication. In politics
these three things often bring about plenty
of talking points alone, and often one of the
divisive points is distribution of wealth and
resources. The distribution of wealth and
resources is considered a key factor in determining whether a population may thrive or
struggle. This is obviously why wealth and resources are so important to so many people. In
our culture, it is considered that any action that
may cause the potential loss of wealth and resources is a threat. There is also the universal
understanding that people tend to reach a point
where they believe they are to either protect
Many of us know that one thing leads to
another. Through our daily lives we can have
an influence on conflict. This is why there
are people who place emphasis on formally
managing a possible conflict in a timely manner, while practicing effective communication.
It is also why people are punished for a wide
range of behaviors such as theft, fraud, and
corruption. So, in our daily lives we all make
a choice. People may contribute to conflict by
exploiting others’ losses and disadvantages, or
lessen hardship by encouraging and providing
support for those in need of it. In the end, what
I’m trying to say is one day you may have a
problem – deal with it.
THE POWER OF VOLUNTEERISM
DURING AND AFTER POST-SECONDARY
Terry Beaulac
Campus Council Director - Saskatoon
Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others
cannot keep it from themselves.
- James Matthew Barrie
your core values and beliefs. Many volunteers
share the ideals of community, friendship, family, and love for their fellow man.
In the busyness and turmoil that is post-secondary student life it is easy to lose sight of the
sunshine behind the clouds of financial, social,
and physiological stress. It seems that the
load is unbearable at times and that the end of
the tunnel is dark and infinite. In this article I
would like to shed light on an often overlooked
area of student life, volunteering.
Now is there any correlation to student life
in those ideals? Undoubtedly, yes. A school
should be a place of community, friendship,
and family where a question is only stupid if it
is feared to be asked. Where we as individuals
see the common goals of our peers, and that
we all deserve a better life and serve a greater
purpose for ourselves and others; A forum
of ideas and conflicting opinions in progress
towards enlightenment. That is post-secondary,
university, and life.
Volunteering may seem like a burden or a
chore in terms of all the responsibilities that
are involved in a student’s day; but the positives largely outweigh the negatives. From the
new friends, relationships, and team building
not only do you receive the immediate benefits
but also the long term benefits such as, lifetime
friends who share the common good, relationships that go further than the topical student/
classmate relation of forced necessity, and the
everlasting character developed through team
based activity. A great deal of volunteerism is
When you leave here, your workplace will be
a melting pot of different ideas and attitudes.
You will be expected to participate in a longer
term community of co-workers and be expected to work effectively as a team. The qualities
of volunteering are shared directly with work
life and personal satisfaction. By volunteering
you become the person you deserve to be and
have the opportunity to show that you are giving of love and deserving of love. If we all did
an hour of volunteering a week imagine how
different the world would be. There would be
no fear of a stranger walking down the street.
Everyone would be looking out for one another
and we would all receive the benefit of experiencing each other’s unique character without
persecution.
PRINCE ALBERT
3
6
Volume No. 28 Issue 3 - November 2015
Khushbu Koshti
Campus Council Director - Saskatoon
As we all know reading is a must for any of us
to gain knowledge, and in turn pass our exams.
So here are two good styles or techniques of
reading which are most widely used. The two
important styles are skimming and scanning.
Most of us use these styles in our day to day
life, but maybe we don’t recognize it as it’s a
daily practice. So let’s learn about them and
grab some important quick tips from these
styles.
Skimming and scanning are two very different strategies for speed reading. These are fast
reading techniques. People who know how to
skim and scan are flexible readers. They read
according to their purpose and get the information they need quickly without wasting time.
They do not read everything, which is what
increases their reading speed. Their skill lies in
knowing what specific information to read and
which method to use.
What Is Skimming?
Skimming refers to looking only for the general or main ideas, and works best with nonfiction (or factual) material. Skimming is one
of the tools you can use to read more in less
time. When a person uses this tool his overall
understanding is reduced, but this is the best
for reading to the point or reading information
of interest and excluding the rest.
How To Skim
READ LIKE A PRO
Most of the people think that to skim means
to read haphazardly through the given information by just eye balling the information
and reading wherever their eyes fall. To skim
means to read the information of purpose and
exclude out the unwanted information. The
basic idea is to decide what information is
important to you as a reader.
For example, say you are reading a chapter
(you should read the main topic sentences
i.e. the first line of each paragraph), by going
through this line you will understand the main
content in that part of the paragraph. Now, if
you are interested in that part go through the
paragraph and read through only the important
information of interest like names, dates and
places. Once you have done this the end contains conclusion so remember to go slowly and
if you got the grasp of things that means you
skimmed correctly.
Some of the discussion highlights from the
recent meetings relevant to both campuses
included:
• Access to services for students at satellite
buildings as well as main campus locations
So, now with the information given in this
article try scanning and skimming techniques
on the other articles and practice your skills.
Hope this article helps you to gain the power
of fast reading.
Happy Reading!
Source: http://www.howtolearn.com/2013/02/
skimming-and-scanning-two-important-strategies-for-speeding-up-your-reading/
SOCIAL NETWORKING
Afroditi Papageorgiu
VP Saskatoon Campus
Building a strong social network can make or
break a university experience—and no, I am
not talking about online social networking, I
am talking about real life friendships. Research
has found that those with strong social networks get fewer colds, experience more happiness, and have reduced physical signs of stress,
among other benefits. Of course, knowing that
you need friends and finding them are two
separate things—here are some tips for making
new friends!
Be Ready to Meet New People
When you are waiting in line, whether it is at
the book store, in the cafeteria or at the library,
look up instead of looking down at what you
are holding in your hands—you may meet a
new pal waiting in line.
Try not to pigeonhole people into the types of
friends you had before post secondary. This
is a time to broaden your horizons and talk to
everyone.
Put your smart phone away while you walk
across campus. Do not be afraid to look people
in the eye and say “hi”.
Get Involved Early and Often
Joining clubs and associations is a good way to
connect with people who have similar interests. Be sure to visit the SPSA Office at your
campus to inquire about clubs, or joining the
SPSA. If you do not find a club you want to
join, you can always take the lead and create
your own.
Find a Fitness Buddy
Having someone to keep you accountable for
working out on a regular schedule is both great
for bonding, and helpful for staying in shape
and research shows that people are twice as
likely to stick to a fitness routine if they have
a workout partner. Be sure to check out the fitness facilities at your campus, as well as other
recreational events.
Attend Campus Events
Campus events are a great way to meet fellow students. Events such as Welcome Day,
Rider Trips, or an Amaruk game are excellent
opportunities to connect with others. Be sure
to check out the SPSA website for upcoming
events!
The college environment really is one of the
greatest places to meet people, and make
friends—it is up to you to put yourself out
there and forge friendships! Meeting new
people will require getting out of your comfort
zone, but that does not mean that you cannot
be you. Sit with different groups of people
until you find the right one!
SPSA GENERAL COUNCIL MEETS FOR FALL MEETING
What Is Scanning?
The Saskatchewan Polytechnic Students’ Association’s General Council met October 16th
and 17th in Prince Albert for their first of three
General Council meetings of the academic
year.
Scanning is another useful tool for speeding up
your reading. Unlike skimming, when scanning, you look only for a specific fact or piece
of information without reading everything.
You scan when you look for your favorite
show listed in the cable guide, for your friend’s
phone number in a telephone book, etc. Before
you start, steps for scanning include establishing your purpose, locating the appropriate
material, and knowing how the information is
structured is essential as a reader. Scanning is
mostly helpful when you are going down a big
STUDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL NEWS AND
NOTES - OCTOBER 2015
Meetings for this year’s Student Advisory
Council continue to see a great turnout and
members are offering great feedback on student issues at both Saskatoon and Prince Albert
Campuses respectively. Plenty of valuable
discussion was generated, ensuring that your
SA is working for its members.
encyclopedia or dictionary. I am sure most of
us scan things in our day to day life without
even being aware of it.
Volume No. 28 Issue 3 - November 2015
Topics of discussion included, bylaw revision
and ammendments, policy review, and deter-
mining committee representatives.
General Council meetings are one of the many
ways the student representatives of the Prince
Albert and Saskatoon Campuses collaborate
to set the direction for the organization both
internally and externally.
The next General Council meeting will be held
in Saskatoon in January 2016.
If you are interested in becoming involed with
the SPSA, please talk to one of our student
representatives.
PRINCE ALBERT
• Transit concerns
• Therapy Dogs
• Access to printing in library
SAC meetings are held monthly with the next
meetings as follows: Thursday, November
12 @ 4:00PM in Room 129C (Saskatoon)
and Thursday, November 19 @ 12:00 noon
in Room 231A (Prince Albert). If you are
interested in becoming a part of SAC, please
contact Joseph Kiunga at Prince Albert (joseph.
[email protected]) or Perry Meier at
Saskatoon ([email protected]).
Back Row Left to Right: Joseph Maggrah - Campus Council Director - Prince Albert, Afroditi Papageorgiu - VP Campus - Saskatoon, Bryce Wilson - VP Finance
and Internal Operations, Daniel Wirsta - Campus Council Director - Prince Albert, Samuel Yaholnitsky - President
Front Row Left to Right: Hailey Jeddry - Campus Council Director - Saskatoon, Oluwafemi “Sam” Ojo - Campus Council Director - Prince Albert, Khushbu Koshti
- Campus Council Director - Saskatoon, Terry Beaulac - Campus Council Director - Saskatoon, Erin Kirton - VP Campus - Prince Albert
5
4
Volume No. 28 Issue 3 - November 2015
WOMEN IN TRADES
Hailey Jeddry
Campus Council Director - Saskatoon
I am currently a student in the Welding Program at Sask Polytech. I recently sat down
Talia Natowcappo, another female student in
the trades program, to discuss her thoughts on
women in trades.
Q: What trade are you pursuing?
A: I’m in the welding certificate program
Q: What made you pursue it?
A: I did it in high school and I thought it was
fun.
Q: Did you have any background in the field
or prior education about trades and technology?
A: Just the class I took in high school.
Q: How do you feel about the workplace
culture so far?
A: So far I like it and have not had any trouble.
Q: What is your relationship with your classmates like?
A: It is good I have no problems
Q: What is it like for you working in a nontraditional work place?
A: Sometimes I feel out of place and like,
the guys have an advantage over me because
of their background. Like with working with
tools, and I feel stupid for asking questions
because I’m a girl.
Q: How do you feel you are treated and do you
notice any differences if any?
A: I feel like a lot of the guys will do the work
for me instead of showing me how to do it.
Partly I think they do it because they are just
trying to be nice, but I need to know how to do
it too. Also maybe they just don’t know how to
teach.
Q: How is your relationship with your teacher?
A: He treats me like one of the guys, I like his
style and I like him as a person.
Q: What is your worst experience?
A: My worst experience was... lighting myself
on fire. I was doing some oxyacetylene welding and the bucket was not positioned properly
and a piece of the metal fell out and got caught
in the roll of my pants and I caught on fire.
Q: What do you think has been your best
experience?
A: When I first started, I felt like I wasn’t getting it and I felt like maybe welding wasn’t for
me. Then as the weeks past I ended up getting a head of the class in a lot of assignments
which felt really good.
Q: Would you like to see any changes in
school for the new women coming in? If so
what?
A: I would like to see maybe a female welding
instructor, more girls’ bathrooms in the trades
part of the school, and just more woman in the
trades in general.
Q: Do you feel like you have had to sacrifice
or diminish your femininity at all while being
in this industry? If so why do you feel this
way?
A: I have never been very girly in the first
place. I had to stop getting gel nails because
I knew they would interfere and there was
no point in really wearing make-up because
it’s hard to keep your face clean when you’re
welding.
Q: How do your loved ones feel about your
decision to pursue a career in trades?
A: My grandma is afraid that I will get hit on,
being around so many guys.
My brothers and uncle are very proud of me.
I’ve always been a tom-boy and I’ve always
been independent enough to pursue what I
want.
Q: Do you have any advice or tips for woman
pursuing a career in industry?
A: My advice would be to go for it! The
money is there and don’t listen to anyone who
Volume No. 28 Issue 3 - November 2015
MALE ENGINEERING STUDENT PERFECTLY EXPLAINS WHY
FEMALE CLASSMATES AREN’T HIS EQUALS
Taylor Pittman
Voices Staff Writer, The Huffington Post
scribed a situation with one friend in particular
who was treated differently in a calculus class
When Jared Mauldin saw how his female peers
were treated, he realized men and women in
STEM are definitely not equal.
The senior in mechanical engineering at Eastern Washington University sent a letter to the
editor of his school’s student newspaper, The
Easterner, addressed to “the women in [his]
engineering classes.” Mauldin’s introduction,
in which he writes that he and the women “are
in fact unequal,” seems problematic, until he
explains why.
A study published in the Harvard Business
Review in March 2015 highlights the sexism
that exists in STEM fields. According to the
study, two-thirds of the 557 female scientists
surveyed “reported having to prove themselves
over and over again.”
Since it was published, Mauldin’s letter has
been shared on Twitter and has gotten thousands of likes on Facebook. He told HuffPost
he believes his praise for the women in his engineering classes and the letter have gained so
much attention because he’s a man, which isn’t
necessarily a good thing. However, he is happy
to add to the conversation about sexism.
“I did not, for example, grow up in the world
that discouraged me from focusing on hard
science,” he wrote. “Nor did I live in a society
that told me not to get dirty, or said I was bossy
for exhibiting leadership skills.
Mauldin, who also teaches tech classes to
students from fourth to eighth grade, told The
Huffington Post he frequently sees women and
girls face obstacles in STEM fields. He de-
ing her at all.
PHOTO COURTESY: JARED MAULDIN
simply because she is a woman. Mauldin said
that male students were hypercritical of her
work and often talked over her, if acknowledg-
“Nothing I said was new, it has all been said a
thousand times before. The difference is that
I am a man,” he said. “Maybe by standing up
and breaking the silence from the male side,
I can help some more men begin to see the
issues, and begin to listen to the women who
have been speaking about this all along.”
LATER NOW
Bryce Wilson
VP Finance and Internal Operations
Yesterday you said tomorrow. Today you said
after one more episode on Netflix. Postpone,
postpone, postpone… procrastination. As
students it is far too easy to procrastinate be it
due to lack of interest or motivation, numerous everyday distractions, perfectionism or the
overwhelming fear of failure. Eventually the
number of all nighters increase, assignments
are consistently late, stress levels multiply,
marks drop and your drive is all but lost. Procrastination is not a curse however, and with
time and self discipline it can be overcome and
the perils of procrastination can be eliminated.
With these simple suggestions your days of
procrastinating end tomorrow today.
Embrace Self-Awareness
Sit down, reflect, and really get to know yourself. Create a list that details your strengths and
weaknesses, your work ethic, passions, what
excites you and what bores you. Consider what
makes you procrastinate. By spending time
understanding yourself and your habits you can
create a personal plan to address procrastination in your life and move forward in eliminating it.
Develop Time Management Skills
Calendars, agendas, phone applications, post
it notes, whatever it may be now is the time
to begin organizing and scheduling. Record
due dates, appointments, and extracurricular
activities along with the length of time to
complete/attend. Prioritize and be honest with
yourself, if you think an assignment will take
two weeks, set aside a few hours each day to
work on it. The SPSA provides handbooks to
all their students which are a great tool to help
keep you organized.
Commit
Ensure timelines are followed and deadlines
are met. The two hours after class that you
have set aside to re-write class notes should
be fulfilled even if friends are begging you
to hang out. Commitment ensures you hold
yourself accountable and restores faith in your
own abilities.
Eliminate Distractions
In order to maintain productivity and limit
distractions it is imperative to find a work
space that suites your personality and offers an
environment that allows you to focus. Organize
a study group of classmates that will not encourage off topic discussions, turn your phone
off during work periods, or listen to instrumental music, all the above will help to direct your
focus to the task at hand.
Reward Yourself
Celebrate the progress you have made! Positive reinforcement will push you to continue
meeting your goals. Deadlines are achievable,
and a study-social balance is attainable. Most
of all be proud of your work ethic and abilities as good habits will benefit you in the work
force.
5
4
Volume No. 28 Issue 3 - November 2015
WOMEN IN TRADES
Hailey Jeddry
Campus Council Director - Saskatoon
I am currently a student in the Welding Program at Sask Polytech. I recently sat down
Talia Natowcappo, another female student in
the trades program, to discuss her thoughts on
women in trades.
Q: What trade are you pursuing?
A: I’m in the welding certificate program
Q: What made you pursue it?
A: I did it in high school and I thought it was
fun.
Q: Did you have any background in the field
or prior education about trades and technology?
A: Just the class I took in high school.
Q: How do you feel about the workplace
culture so far?
A: So far I like it and have not had any trouble.
Q: What is your relationship with your classmates like?
A: It is good I have no problems
Q: What is it like for you working in a nontraditional work place?
A: Sometimes I feel out of place and like,
the guys have an advantage over me because
of their background. Like with working with
tools, and I feel stupid for asking questions
because I’m a girl.
Q: How do you feel you are treated and do you
notice any differences if any?
A: I feel like a lot of the guys will do the work
for me instead of showing me how to do it.
Partly I think they do it because they are just
trying to be nice, but I need to know how to do
it too. Also maybe they just don’t know how to
teach.
Q: How is your relationship with your teacher?
A: He treats me like one of the guys, I like his
style and I like him as a person.
Q: What is your worst experience?
A: My worst experience was... lighting myself
on fire. I was doing some oxyacetylene welding and the bucket was not positioned properly
and a piece of the metal fell out and got caught
in the roll of my pants and I caught on fire.
Q: What do you think has been your best
experience?
A: When I first started, I felt like I wasn’t getting it and I felt like maybe welding wasn’t for
me. Then as the weeks past I ended up getting a head of the class in a lot of assignments
which felt really good.
Q: Would you like to see any changes in
school for the new women coming in? If so
what?
A: I would like to see maybe a female welding
instructor, more girls’ bathrooms in the trades
part of the school, and just more woman in the
trades in general.
Q: Do you feel like you have had to sacrifice
or diminish your femininity at all while being
in this industry? If so why do you feel this
way?
A: I have never been very girly in the first
place. I had to stop getting gel nails because
I knew they would interfere and there was
no point in really wearing make-up because
it’s hard to keep your face clean when you’re
welding.
Q: How do your loved ones feel about your
decision to pursue a career in trades?
A: My grandma is afraid that I will get hit on,
being around so many guys.
My brothers and uncle are very proud of me.
I’ve always been a tom-boy and I’ve always
been independent enough to pursue what I
want.
Q: Do you have any advice or tips for woman
pursuing a career in industry?
A: My advice would be to go for it! The
money is there and don’t listen to anyone who
Volume No. 28 Issue 3 - November 2015
MALE ENGINEERING STUDENT PERFECTLY EXPLAINS WHY
FEMALE CLASSMATES AREN’T HIS EQUALS
Taylor Pittman
Voices Staff Writer, The Huffington Post
scribed a situation with one friend in particular
who was treated differently in a calculus class
When Jared Mauldin saw how his female peers
were treated, he realized men and women in
STEM are definitely not equal.
The senior in mechanical engineering at Eastern Washington University sent a letter to the
editor of his school’s student newspaper, The
Easterner, addressed to “the women in [his]
engineering classes.” Mauldin’s introduction,
in which he writes that he and the women “are
in fact unequal,” seems problematic, until he
explains why.
A study published in the Harvard Business
Review in March 2015 highlights the sexism
that exists in STEM fields. According to the
study, two-thirds of the 557 female scientists
surveyed “reported having to prove themselves
over and over again.”
Since it was published, Mauldin’s letter has
been shared on Twitter and has gotten thousands of likes on Facebook. He told HuffPost
he believes his praise for the women in his engineering classes and the letter have gained so
much attention because he’s a man, which isn’t
necessarily a good thing. However, he is happy
to add to the conversation about sexism.
“I did not, for example, grow up in the world
that discouraged me from focusing on hard
science,” he wrote. “Nor did I live in a society
that told me not to get dirty, or said I was bossy
for exhibiting leadership skills.
Mauldin, who also teaches tech classes to
students from fourth to eighth grade, told The
Huffington Post he frequently sees women and
girls face obstacles in STEM fields. He de-
ing her at all.
PHOTO COURTESY: JARED MAULDIN
simply because she is a woman. Mauldin said
that male students were hypercritical of her
work and often talked over her, if acknowledg-
“Nothing I said was new, it has all been said a
thousand times before. The difference is that
I am a man,” he said. “Maybe by standing up
and breaking the silence from the male side,
I can help some more men begin to see the
issues, and begin to listen to the women who
have been speaking about this all along.”
LATER NOW
Bryce Wilson
VP Finance and Internal Operations
Yesterday you said tomorrow. Today you said
after one more episode on Netflix. Postpone,
postpone, postpone… procrastination. As
students it is far too easy to procrastinate be it
due to lack of interest or motivation, numerous everyday distractions, perfectionism or the
overwhelming fear of failure. Eventually the
number of all nighters increase, assignments
are consistently late, stress levels multiply,
marks drop and your drive is all but lost. Procrastination is not a curse however, and with
time and self discipline it can be overcome and
the perils of procrastination can be eliminated.
With these simple suggestions your days of
procrastinating end tomorrow today.
Embrace Self-Awareness
Sit down, reflect, and really get to know yourself. Create a list that details your strengths and
weaknesses, your work ethic, passions, what
excites you and what bores you. Consider what
makes you procrastinate. By spending time
understanding yourself and your habits you can
create a personal plan to address procrastination in your life and move forward in eliminating it.
Develop Time Management Skills
Calendars, agendas, phone applications, post
it notes, whatever it may be now is the time
to begin organizing and scheduling. Record
due dates, appointments, and extracurricular
activities along with the length of time to
complete/attend. Prioritize and be honest with
yourself, if you think an assignment will take
two weeks, set aside a few hours each day to
work on it. The SPSA provides handbooks to
all their students which are a great tool to help
keep you organized.
Commit
Ensure timelines are followed and deadlines
are met. The two hours after class that you
have set aside to re-write class notes should
be fulfilled even if friends are begging you
to hang out. Commitment ensures you hold
yourself accountable and restores faith in your
own abilities.
Eliminate Distractions
In order to maintain productivity and limit
distractions it is imperative to find a work
space that suites your personality and offers an
environment that allows you to focus. Organize
a study group of classmates that will not encourage off topic discussions, turn your phone
off during work periods, or listen to instrumental music, all the above will help to direct your
focus to the task at hand.
Reward Yourself
Celebrate the progress you have made! Positive reinforcement will push you to continue
meeting your goals. Deadlines are achievable,
and a study-social balance is attainable. Most
of all be proud of your work ethic and abilities as good habits will benefit you in the work
force.
3
6
Volume No. 28 Issue 3 - November 2015
Khushbu Koshti
Campus Council Director - Saskatoon
As we all know reading is a must for any of us
to gain knowledge, and in turn pass our exams.
So here are two good styles or techniques of
reading which are most widely used. The two
important styles are skimming and scanning.
Most of us use these styles in our day to day
life, but maybe we don’t recognize it as it’s a
daily practice. So let’s learn about them and
grab some important quick tips from these
styles.
Skimming and scanning are two very different strategies for speed reading. These are fast
reading techniques. People who know how to
skim and scan are flexible readers. They read
according to their purpose and get the information they need quickly without wasting time.
They do not read everything, which is what
increases their reading speed. Their skill lies in
knowing what specific information to read and
which method to use.
What Is Skimming?
Skimming refers to looking only for the general or main ideas, and works best with nonfiction (or factual) material. Skimming is one
of the tools you can use to read more in less
time. When a person uses this tool his overall
understanding is reduced, but this is the best
for reading to the point or reading information
of interest and excluding the rest.
How To Skim
READ LIKE A PRO
Most of the people think that to skim means
to read haphazardly through the given information by just eye balling the information
and reading wherever their eyes fall. To skim
means to read the information of purpose and
exclude out the unwanted information. The
basic idea is to decide what information is
important to you as a reader.
For example, say you are reading a chapter
(you should read the main topic sentences
i.e. the first line of each paragraph), by going
through this line you will understand the main
content in that part of the paragraph. Now, if
you are interested in that part go through the
paragraph and read through only the important
information of interest like names, dates and
places. Once you have done this the end contains conclusion so remember to go slowly and
if you got the grasp of things that means you
skimmed correctly.
Some of the discussion highlights from the
recent meetings relevant to both campuses
included:
• Access to services for students at satellite
buildings as well as main campus locations
So, now with the information given in this
article try scanning and skimming techniques
on the other articles and practice your skills.
Hope this article helps you to gain the power
of fast reading.
Happy Reading!
Source: http://www.howtolearn.com/2013/02/
skimming-and-scanning-two-important-strategies-for-speeding-up-your-reading/
SOCIAL NETWORKING
Afroditi Papageorgiu
VP Saskatoon Campus
Building a strong social network can make or
break a university experience—and no, I am
not talking about online social networking, I
am talking about real life friendships. Research
has found that those with strong social networks get fewer colds, experience more happiness, and have reduced physical signs of stress,
among other benefits. Of course, knowing that
you need friends and finding them are two
separate things—here are some tips for making
new friends!
Be Ready to Meet New People
When you are waiting in line, whether it is at
the book store, in the cafeteria or at the library,
look up instead of looking down at what you
are holding in your hands—you may meet a
new pal waiting in line.
Try not to pigeonhole people into the types of
friends you had before post secondary. This
is a time to broaden your horizons and talk to
everyone.
Put your smart phone away while you walk
across campus. Do not be afraid to look people
in the eye and say “hi”.
Get Involved Early and Often
Joining clubs and associations is a good way to
connect with people who have similar interests. Be sure to visit the SPSA Office at your
campus to inquire about clubs, or joining the
SPSA. If you do not find a club you want to
join, you can always take the lead and create
your own.
Find a Fitness Buddy
Having someone to keep you accountable for
working out on a regular schedule is both great
for bonding, and helpful for staying in shape
and research shows that people are twice as
likely to stick to a fitness routine if they have
a workout partner. Be sure to check out the fitness facilities at your campus, as well as other
recreational events.
Attend Campus Events
Campus events are a great way to meet fellow students. Events such as Welcome Day,
Rider Trips, or an Amaruk game are excellent
opportunities to connect with others. Be sure
to check out the SPSA website for upcoming
events!
The college environment really is one of the
greatest places to meet people, and make
friends—it is up to you to put yourself out
there and forge friendships! Meeting new
people will require getting out of your comfort
zone, but that does not mean that you cannot
be you. Sit with different groups of people
until you find the right one!
SPSA GENERAL COUNCIL MEETS FOR FALL MEETING
What Is Scanning?
The Saskatchewan Polytechnic Students’ Association’s General Council met October 16th
and 17th in Prince Albert for their first of three
General Council meetings of the academic
year.
Scanning is another useful tool for speeding up
your reading. Unlike skimming, when scanning, you look only for a specific fact or piece
of information without reading everything.
You scan when you look for your favorite
show listed in the cable guide, for your friend’s
phone number in a telephone book, etc. Before
you start, steps for scanning include establishing your purpose, locating the appropriate
material, and knowing how the information is
structured is essential as a reader. Scanning is
mostly helpful when you are going down a big
STUDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL NEWS AND
NOTES - OCTOBER 2015
Meetings for this year’s Student Advisory
Council continue to see a great turnout and
members are offering great feedback on student issues at both Saskatoon and Prince Albert
Campuses respectively. Plenty of valuable
discussion was generated, ensuring that your
SA is working for its members.
encyclopedia or dictionary. I am sure most of
us scan things in our day to day life without
even being aware of it.
Volume No. 28 Issue 3 - November 2015
Topics of discussion included, bylaw revision
and ammendments, policy review, and deter-
mining committee representatives.
General Council meetings are one of the many
ways the student representatives of the Prince
Albert and Saskatoon Campuses collaborate
to set the direction for the organization both
internally and externally.
The next General Council meeting will be held
in Saskatoon in January 2016.
If you are interested in becoming involed with
the SPSA, please talk to one of our student
representatives.
PRINCE ALBERT
• Transit concerns
• Therapy Dogs
• Access to printing in library
SAC meetings are held monthly with the next
meetings as follows: Thursday, November
12 @ 4:00PM in Room 129C (Saskatoon)
and Thursday, November 19 @ 12:00 noon
in Room 231A (Prince Albert). If you are
interested in becoming a part of SAC, please
contact Joseph Kiunga at Prince Albert (joseph.
[email protected]) or Perry Meier at
Saskatoon ([email protected]).
Back Row Left to Right: Joseph Maggrah - Campus Council Director - Prince Albert, Afroditi Papageorgiu - VP Campus - Saskatoon, Bryce Wilson - VP Finance
and Internal Operations, Daniel Wirsta - Campus Council Director - Prince Albert, Samuel Yaholnitsky - President
Front Row Left to Right: Hailey Jeddry - Campus Council Director - Saskatoon, Oluwafemi “Sam” Ojo - Campus Council Director - Prince Albert, Khushbu Koshti
- Campus Council Director - Saskatoon, Terry Beaulac - Campus Council Director - Saskatoon, Erin Kirton - VP Campus - Prince Albert
7
2
Volume No. 28 Issue 3 - November 2015
Volume No. 28 Issue 3 - November 2015
ARE YOU FLIPPIN’ KIDDING ME?
Jose Bautista
www.theplayerstribune.com/jose-bautista-batflip/
When the pitch came in, I turned on it. It was
just a natural reaction, just like I’ve done hundreds of times before.
Let me take you inside my head for a second.
It’s Game 5 of the ALDS against Texas. Do or
die. Tie game, seventh inning. Two men on.
Two outs.
There’s no sound in the world like the crack a
baseball makes on the sweet spot of my maple
Marucci. You blink on contact. The immediate
roar of the crowd lifts your sights to see where
the ball is going. Imagine the feeling of watching it land in the seats. How would you feel?
What would you do?
I was standing in the on-deck circle when we
knocked in the tying run, and the crowd just
exploded. Imagine standing there on the field
and looking up at 50,000 people going crazy.
Then I took that lonely walk to the plate with
everything on the line.
I wish you could have heard my thoughts in
that moment. It’s the closest I have ever felt to
being a superhero. I felt like I was Batman, and
the villain had the girl dangling off the edge
of the building. My adrenaline wasn’t 10-outof-10. It was ten-million-out-of-10.
The stage was set.
I was so locked in that all I could see was the
pitcher. Everything else was out of focus. It
was so loud that it was quiet.
Think about the odds of being the person
standing there at the plate in that moment.
There have only been roughly 18,000 players in the history of Major League Baseball.
How many out of that number have played
in a playoff game? One third maybe? I’ve
played over 1,400 games, and that was my first
playoff series. Out of those 6,000 or so, how
many players have been lucky enough to be in
a position to change the outcome of a playoff
series with one swing? Maybe 10 percent? And
how many have succeeded?
None of this math was going through my head
when I was standing at the plate. That came
later on, when I had time to reflect at home. All
I was thinking in the moment was, This is your
chance. Just relax. Get ready early. See it and
hit it.
When you’re in that situation, you’re playing
a role in a show. I’m not Jose Bautista. I’m the
guy trying to be the superhero. I’m coming
through. I’m going to make something happen.
ROGUE POLITICS
There was no script. I didn’t plan it. It just
happened.
Joseph Maggrah
Campus Council Director - Prince Albert
I flipped my bat.
Global conflict, when interpreted by the general public refers to all-out war, with the likely
possibility of nuclear warfare. However, in
reality global conflict is usually referenced to
three or more nations involved in a war, which
usually involves some level of military combat.
What contributes to conflict becoming a war
is the drawing of resources from the world,
having a noticeable impact on any number of
nations. These impacts may be most evident in
economical disturbances, political unrest, and
civil unrest. It is through these disturbances
a nation may feel the pressure to become
involved in a conflict, likely leading to military
combat. It is in times of military combat
where there is plenty of news coverage, where
casualties and collateral damage are often sensationalized. Yet, war does not develop overnight. It is the result of an unresolved dispute
or any number of discrepancies, which have
It wasn’t out of contempt for the pitcher. It
wasn’t because I don’t respect the unwritten
rules of the game. I was caught up in the emotion of the moment.
Continued on Page 8
manifested over time into a heavy weighted
like object that is constantly changing. What
the general public normally doesn’t see are the
underlying issues to the causes of conflict, and
how these issues are dealt with.
themselves and what they value, or to abandon
their cause with the intention of survival and to
prevent catastrophic loss. These are the same
reasons nations go to war, as their actions are
determined by people.
For some the focus is prevention of war. Efforts for prevention of conflict revolve a lot
around three things: conflict resolution, crisis
management, and communication. In politics
these three things often bring about plenty
of talking points alone, and often one of the
divisive points is distribution of wealth and
resources. The distribution of wealth and
resources is considered a key factor in determining whether a population may thrive or
struggle. This is obviously why wealth and resources are so important to so many people. In
our culture, it is considered that any action that
may cause the potential loss of wealth and resources is a threat. There is also the universal
understanding that people tend to reach a point
where they believe they are to either protect
Many of us know that one thing leads to
another. Through our daily lives we can have
an influence on conflict. This is why there
are people who place emphasis on formally
managing a possible conflict in a timely manner, while practicing effective communication.
It is also why people are punished for a wide
range of behaviors such as theft, fraud, and
corruption. So, in our daily lives we all make
a choice. People may contribute to conflict by
exploiting others’ losses and disadvantages, or
lessen hardship by encouraging and providing
support for those in need of it. In the end, what
I’m trying to say is one day you may have a
problem – deal with it.
THE POWER OF VOLUNTEERISM
DURING AND AFTER POST-SECONDARY
Terry Beaulac
Campus Council Director - Saskatoon
Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others
cannot keep it from themselves.
- James Matthew Barrie
your core values and beliefs. Many volunteers
share the ideals of community, friendship, family, and love for their fellow man.
In the busyness and turmoil that is post-secondary student life it is easy to lose sight of the
sunshine behind the clouds of financial, social,
and physiological stress. It seems that the
load is unbearable at times and that the end of
the tunnel is dark and infinite. In this article I
would like to shed light on an often overlooked
area of student life, volunteering.
Now is there any correlation to student life
in those ideals? Undoubtedly, yes. A school
should be a place of community, friendship,
and family where a question is only stupid if it
is feared to be asked. Where we as individuals
see the common goals of our peers, and that
we all deserve a better life and serve a greater
purpose for ourselves and others; A forum
of ideas and conflicting opinions in progress
towards enlightenment. That is post-secondary,
university, and life.
Volunteering may seem like a burden or a
chore in terms of all the responsibilities that
are involved in a student’s day; but the positives largely outweigh the negatives. From the
new friends, relationships, and team building
not only do you receive the immediate benefits
but also the long term benefits such as, lifetime
friends who share the common good, relationships that go further than the topical student/
classmate relation of forced necessity, and the
everlasting character developed through team
based activity. A great deal of volunteerism is
When you leave here, your workplace will be
a melting pot of different ideas and attitudes.
You will be expected to participate in a longer
term community of co-workers and be expected to work effectively as a team. The qualities
of volunteering are shared directly with work
life and personal satisfaction. By volunteering
you become the person you deserve to be and
have the opportunity to show that you are giving of love and deserving of love. If we all did
an hour of volunteering a week imagine how
different the world would be. There would be
no fear of a stranger walking down the street.
Everyone would be looking out for one another
and we would all receive the benefit of experiencing each other’s unique character without
persecution.
PRINCE ALBERT
8
Volume No. 28 Issue 3 - November 2015
ARE YOU FLIPPIN’ KIDDING ME? CONTINUED
Some the Rangers took exception to it, which
I can understand. They were on the other side
of that emotion. I’ve been there before. I know
how it feels. I’ve been pissed off on a baseball
field plenty of times. I’m no angel. Is it out of
disrespect? Of course not. It’s because you’re
upset and want to win so badly. That’s just part
of the game.
After the game, some of the backlash from
small sections of the media took on a familiar
tone. I’ve heard this before.
“Disrespectful, mocking, showboating.”
One MLB Network analyst went as far as questioning my “character” and my “leadership.”
Were these same opinions expressed when
Carlton Fisk “waved” his home run fair in ’75?
Or when Joe Carter jumped around the bases
in ’93? When I was growing up and I watched
iconic moments like those, I was so caught
up in the emotion that I got chills. I wasn’t
thinking about the implications. I was fully immersed in the moment and enjoying it. I loved
Cal Ripken Jr. for his poise and control. But I
also admired Reggie Jackson for showing his
passion and flair.
It’s true. I’m different. I come from a different
baseball culture. But so what?
Those moments are spontaneous. They’re human. And they’re a whole lot of fun.
But nowadays, when a player flips his bat,
especially a guy who wears his emotions on his
sleeve, a small section of people always seem
to turn it into a debate about the integrity of the
game.
It’s true. I’m different. I come from a different
baseball culture. But so what? Why does that
have to be a bad thing? The beautiful thing
about America is that it’s a melting pot. Every
year, thousands of kids in Latin America give
up their education to chase their dream. For the
tiny, less than 3 percent chance that they will
one day take an at-bat in the Big Leagues.
As I’ve written before, they do not take this
gamble out of foolishness, they do it because
they have no other choice for a better life.
They see it as their chance to live the American
dream — and take their families out of poverty.
In a sense, they can become their family’s hero.
For the ones who make it into an MLB organization, the cultural change can be a real shock.
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen
incredible players get labeled as lazy or disrespectful based on shallow assumptions like
“body language.” (But more on that another
time.)
The reality is that these guys came up playing
baseball in an entirely different atmosphere.
Come down to the Dominican Republic and
experience it yourself. We’re loud. We’re
emotional. We’re always singing and dancing.
We love to laugh and have a good time. It’s
ingrained in our DNA. And it doesn’t change
when we’re playing baseball. To us, baseball
isn’t a country club game. It’s our national
pastime, and it comes packed with emotion.
I played winter ball in the Dominican the first
nine years of my pro career. When you get
a hit, people in the crowd will start playing
trumpets and horns and the cheerleaders will
jump up on top of the dugout and start dancing.
The fans stand up from the first inning to the
ninth inning, and half the time they’re dancing,
too. That’s part of the experience. When you
hit a homerun in this atmosphere, you might
flip your bat. You might pump your fist running
around the bases. You might even point to the
sky when you step on the plate (I see you, Big
Papi). For the most part, pitchers don’t have a
problem with it. They know they’re entitled to
enjoy the moment when the script is flipped.
It’s all part of the show. And you’re kidding
yourself if you think baseball isn’t a show. It’s
a spectacle. It’s entertainment. If it wasn’t, then
11.5 million Canadians wouldn’t have tuned
in to watch Game 5, and MLB’s TV contracts
wouldn’t be worth what they’re worth.
Baseball is a metaphor for America. It’s a
giant melting pot made up of people from all
over the world and all walks of life. How can
you expect everybody to be exactly the same?
Act exactly the same? More importantly, why
would you want them to?
Look at all the excitement around the 2015
playoffs. We live in a different time now. It’s
not 1932 when Babe Ruth played (and called
his shot). The entire world was following along
with the drama on TV, social media, and the
internet, and having a lot of fun with it. After
I hit the home run against Texas, I got tens of
thousands of people flooding my Twitter timeline. I got over 400 text messages. Over 200
e-mails. It was stupid. I’ve never seen so many
message notifications on a phone before.
Someone sent me a video of a subway car in
Toronto after the game. Everybody on the train
was doing the olé soccer chant with my name.
“Joséee, José, José Joséee!”
That felt amazing.
I also saw a video of a guy finishing his bowl
of cereal and then flipping the spoon. Even the
mayor of Toronto flipped a bat into a fountain.
It turned into a social media frenzy.
Student Newspaper of Saskatchewan Polytechnic
Saskatoon and Prince
Prinec Albert Campuses
ARE YOU FLIPPIN’
KIDDING ME?
The controversial bat flip story, told to the Player’s Tribune
by Jose Bautista
Pg 2
I got over 400 text messages. Over 200 emails. It was stupid.
When you talk to people around MLB, everyone wants to expand the game globally,
keep the younger demographic engaged, draw
more people to the stadiums, and improve the
pace of play. But in my eyes, there has never
been a better time for Major League Baseball.
Technology has allowed people to connect with
the game in many different ways. On Twitter and Facebook, baseball is trending. In the
ballparks, especially during the playoffs, cities
and countries are buzzing with emotion (I see
you, Canada).
But for whatever reason, there’s a small section
of old-school, my-way-or-the-highway type
of people who never want the game to evolve.
They’re the dinosaurs who believe that everybody should play the same and act the same.
They usually claim that it is out of “respect.”
In my opinion, true respect is about embracing the differences in people’s cultures. That’s
what the melting pot of America is all about.
I flipped my bat. I’m human. The emotion got
to me. It’s in my DNA. If you think that makes
me a jerk, that’s fine. But let’s call it what it
is. Let’s not have these loaded conversations
about “character” and the integrity of the game
every time certain players show emotion in a
big moment. That kind of thinking is not just
old school. It’s just ignorant.
And it is slowly becoming extinct.
WOMEN IN TRADES INTERVIEW
Pg 4
STUDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL
NEWS AND NOTES
Pg 6
THE POWER OF VOLUNTEERISM
Pg 7