February 11 9:06 a.m. Suspicious incident: unauthorized meeting notices found in food court. February 12 10:45 a.m. Student injury: stu dent tripped & fell in class room. University injury report completed. February 13 6:20 a.m. Suspicious person; observed suspicious male in Olmsted building. All okay. 7:30 a.m. Traffic stop: several citations issued for speed-relat ed moving violations. 1:45 p.m. Traffic stop: citation issued for speed-related moving violation. February 14 5:59 p.m. Harassment: student reported receiving numerous hang-up calls in Village build ing 6200. February 16 12:42 p.m. Traffic stop: citation issued for moving violation. February 17 9:02 a.m. Traffic stop: citation issued for speed-related moving violation. February 18 11:40 p.m. Suspicious incident: student reported male in vehicle following her while walking on Olmsted Drive. February 19 1:58 a.m. Defiant trespass: report of possible trespass by another student in Village apart ment. Unable to locate. February 20 1:30 p.m. Suspicious incident: report of missing parking per mit. February 21 9:00 p.m. Health and safety: report of several people in area of Meade Heights. Gone on arrival. February 24 11:33 a.m. Harassment: student reported receiving harassing instant messages. Browse the Children exhibit The title is almost chilling, if you think about it. “Browse the Children” for them among books or groceries. Stacey Martin’s exhibit “Browse the Children” offers a personal, artistic look at the process of adoption. The exhibit was displayed from January 19-February 27 in the Gallery Lounge, Olmsted. The work showcased Martin’s firsthand experience with the difficulties of adoption. She and her husband, Dale, spent over a year struggling to adopt. In Martin’s artistic statement about the exhib it, she explained, “My goal is to open viewers’ eyes to the reality of the system, the children, and the loss of privacy.” “I felt as though I have been exposed physically and emotionally. We have been documented on papers that are available to hundreds of strangers. These persons judge us by placing aspects of our life under a microscope...’’she said. One wall of the gallery was covered with the faces of over 20 children that are hoping to be adopt ed, lined up like magazines at a checkout counter. Drugs, physical abuse, neglect, or alcohol has affected each child. The images are distinct from a distance, but they become more and more unclear as you approach. The images are extremely grainy at close range, like pop art. It seemed the closer one comes to finally adopting a child, the harder and more impersonal the process becomes. “Family Roots,” created with charcoal, photographs and Mylar, measures 26 x 40 inches. The piece was in black and white, like most of the works in the exhibit, and depicts a family tree over lapped by family names. Faces peer out from the roots and branches, showing the growth of sever al generations. An infant in the trunk becomes the bridge between yesterday and tomorrow. A fam ily lives on as long as there are children. Katie Myers, humanities, liked “Family Roots.” “At first when I came info the gallery, I just saw a tree, and I didn’t know what it had to do with adoption,” Myers said. “But when I got close I saw people in the branches. It was really cool. I always thought adoption was a neat thing to do. It made the idea more real.. .to see the kids’ faces,” she said. Matt Seifarth, mechanical engineering technology, said it was not until recently that he even noticed the gallery. “I noticed that it [gallery] is there, but I didn’t realize that stuff was on display,” he said He said he had walked past the room many times but never went in. “It’s kind of a blah room,” he explained. “Although, I do like the pictures now that I think about it.” The most thought provoking picture was Martin’s “Strings Attached.” Powerful, innocent eyes pull you in and force you to take a second look. The large image of the child is haunting. In “Strings Attached,” an infant is almost buried under paperwork. The legal documents compete for your attention, and the child is almost overlooked as in the process of adoption. Despite the adoption papers’ impersonal significance, this work was incredibly uplifting. The eyes dominate the picture, and ultimately shine through the overlapping documents. Martin’s work is touching. Through the mode of art, she poignantly expressed the adoption para dox: the inhumanity of a social worker’s desk piled high with paperwork, and the almost forgotten humanity of the thousands of children waiting to be embraced by families. Martin is an elementary art teacher in the Lower Dauphin School District. She plans to graduate in the spring of 2004 with a master’s degree in Teaching and Curriculum from Penn State University. showcases adoption By SHARON FURFARO Staff Reporter - like you are shopping A charcoal picture enti tled, “Motherhood.” This picture and other works from Stacy Martin’s “Browse the Children” exhibit were displayed in the Gallery Lounge from January 19 - February 27. Martin’s work express es the much-over looked but complicated process of adoption as her work sheds light one the inhumanity of “shopping” for children. Gallery hours are Mon- Thu 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. and Fri 8 a.m.-5 p!m. photo courtesy of Stacey martin
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