That’s What She Said

My original plan for this column was to honor my favorite ’80s films in light of Molly Ringwald turning 40 last week. However, due to recent events, I have decided to alter my focus in the form of a letter.

We will return to our regularly scheduled entertainment topics next week.

Dear female students of Ohio Wesleyan University,

Leggings do not qualify as pants. Ever.

Honestly, I have no desire to walk up the stairs of University Hall behind a girl who is not wearing pants. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened last Friday, which accounts for the existence of this column.

Merely because leggings are the same shape as pants does not make them a qualified substitute.

You should never wear leggings f you do not plan on wearing a skirt over them. If you choose not to wear a skirt, I would hope your shirt is long enough to cover your butt. If it is not, the rest of OWU’s population (at least the women and probably every member of the faculty and staff) would prefer that you covered up. I have no idea why this trend would be thought of as fashionable, but apparently it is.

I know this might be difficult to understand, but do not worry because I have created a simple test to figure out if pants are needed to complete an outfit.

Step 1: Look in the mirror and ask yourself this question: “Can I see my butt?”

If the answer to this question is yes, please proceed to the second step.

Step 2: Put on pants, a skirt, shorts, etc.

As an addition to my complaints bout leggings, I have one more thing to say: wearing Uggs (or any form of boot that looks as if it could handle the snow) with leggings (with or without a skirt) is not attractive and makes me ashamed to be a woman of our generation.

Aside from the fact that I have no desire to see my fellow students’ butts, it snowed last week. Why in the world would you think it was sane to walk out of your dorm room or apartments without proper winter attire?

As a true Ohioan I will often shed my winter coat for sweatshirts once the thermostat reads a balmy 45 degrees. I understand that this is not entirely appropriate but, hey, at least I am still wearing pants.

Yours truly,
Kaitlin Thomas

P.S. If you absolutely cannot stand wearing pants, I hear there are nudist colonies in Europe. I would be happy to Google them for you.

I could also help you find the names and addresses of businesses in the adult entertainment field around Columbus. Apparently not wearing pants is a requirement for the job. And you get paid for not wearing those pants.

So it’s a win/win/win situation f you ask me. I do not have to look at your butt, so I win. You will still be able to not wear those pesky pants, so you win. And you will be making money. So again, a win.

From: Volume 146, Issue 17: February 28, 2008

Students often spend a semester abroad during their college experience, but rarely do professors have the same opportunity. Mark P. Gingerich, James S. Britton Professor of European History here at Ohio Wesleyan, returned to campus in January after spending a semester in Turkey.

Gingerich was invited to teach at the Center for Russian Studies at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey as a visiting lecturer for the fall of 2007. The university was the first private university in Turkey.

“They offered me the position for a year,” Gingerich said, “but I couldn’t swing that.” Instead, he opted for one semester.

Though he was formally a part of the International Studies department at Bilkent, Gingerich taught strictly history courses.

At OWU, Gingerich has specialized in modern European history since 1991, where his course on Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany is extremely popular among students. At Bilkent, his classes covered a broader timeline.

At the undergraduate level, Gingerich lectured on European political and diplomatic affairs spanning the years 1648 to 1914. He also taught a graduate seminar on the affairs of the Soviet Union during World War II.

In comparing OWU to Bilkent, Gingerich said most students were of the same high caliber.

The main difference though, was that while the university was an English-based institution, most of the students were not native English speakers.

“I found that a constant challenge,” he said. “I had to make sure I always spoke clearly. I tried to say everything twice using different ords and terms.”

Opportunities like this are not unheard of, but generally professors ave to apply for programs such as these through scholarly programs like Fulbright. In Gingerich’s case the opportunity arose out of his personal and professional connection with the director of the Center for Russian Studies.

“I got a phone call and was asked if I wanted to do it. It was not something I had to apply for. It was an invitation so I decided to take it,” he said.

Gingerich was accompanied by his wife, Suzan Osman, instructor of Middle Eastern history at OWU, and their twin daughters. The opportunity to share the experience with his family was ultimately what sold Gingerich on the trip.

“Quite honestly, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” he said.

Gingerich’s connection to the director of the Russian Studies Center is not the only connection he has to Turkey. His wife previously ived in Istanbul in the 1980s and is fluent in Turkish.

“If she had no connection, I would have still thought about it because I have friends in the faculty at Bilkent,” Gingerich said.

The opportunity to return to Turkey was exciting to Osman and it had always been a dream of hers to return. As for the couple’s eleven year old daughters, it was hard to transition to living in another country.

“They really missed their friends [and] they missed their school,” Gingerich said.

“They made friends at school and we have family friends with girls right about their age, but we were kind of isolated,” he said. “We lived on campus and there weren’t a lot of kids right in the apartment block where we were.”

Gingerich said that while the experience was positive, it was also unusual.

“To be in a different country, to teach European history in English; there are very few opportunities in Europe to do that. If you’re teaching American history and you are an American, you have a much better chance of being brought somewhere else.”

Gingerich said it was more common to bring in someone from a European background to teach European history rather than an American.

When asked if he would pursue the opportunity again if it should present itself, Gingerich said he would seriously consider it.

“It’s quite disruptive for one’s family. If I do it again in the future I would probably wait until my daughters are in college so it would just be my wife and I.”

Gingerich also said that his decision would depend on the location.

He knows the area of Ankara now and thanks to sightseeing trips he has seen at least some of Turkey outside the capital city.

“We took every opportunity we could [to explore]. It was difficult of course because I was teaching five days a week and my daughters were in school for a very long school day,” he said. “But we made it to Istanbul a couple of times [and] we went up to the Black Sea region.”

After pushing up his final exams due to the overlapping schedules with OWU, Gingerich and his family spent a few days in Munich, Germany before returning home.

The experience may have been a once in a lifetime opportunity and a lot of fun, but Gingerich seemed happy to be back.

From: Volume 146, Issue 17: February 28, 2008