Eve on Our
The Lion’s Eye
March 17, 2010
Generation
He Said
By daniel j. taylor - Lions Eye
Campus Editor - djt5036@psu.edu
I’m not Catholic, so I don’t really celebrate the Saints’ days in a religious man-
ner. But that doesn’t stop me from making a Valentine’s Day card in February or wearing
a green sweatshirt in March. A celebration is a celebration, after all!
But I’m not one to disparage religion. I wouldn’t treat a holiday with disrespect
if it were, in fact, treated as holy. When Easter comes around I don’t think about bunnies
and eggs. I go to church, I pray, and sometimes I glance over a few of the gospels. At
Christmastime, I give out presents but I don’t go crazy with commercialism, and I recog-
nize the day for its true purpose--to celebrate the birth of Jesus (even if it is in the wrong
season). That’s my point: holydays deserve respect, but holidays (like Flag Day on June
14th--partayy!) deserve-basic, plain old revelry.
I am a little Irish, but only in blood. I don’t celebrate my partial-Irishness to
any degree whatsoever, so the closest I’ve ever come to my Irish brethren is wearing my
Notre Dame t-shirt or scrubbing with Irish Spring bath soap. As you can understand,
when it came to St. Patrick’s Day knowledge, I just didn’t have any. How could I ever
discuss the nature of St. Patrick’s Day with-
out prior knowledge? Why, the internet, of
course. It was pretty easy, really. The first.
paragraph of the first website I checked out
stated that in Ireland, on March 17, families
would hang the rules of Lent and celebrate
by eating meat, drinking alcohol, and danc-
ing.
“Are you kidding me,” I thought
to myself, “this is game over.”
So, basically, what I’ve set out to
prove here is that Americans haven’t ru-
ined the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day as it was
originally celebrated, with their gluttonous
_ eating, drinking, and merriment. Ruin it?!
They’ve mastered it! St. Patrick’s Day isn’t
a holyday at all. More than anything, it
seems to be a vacation from the holy period
of sacrifice and dedication, in favor of a big
party.
St. Patrick’s Day: Harmless fun or holy
day that has lost its meaning? (Photo by
Karrie Bowen)
Americans Killed
St. Patrick
She Said
By Karrie Bowen- Lion's Eye Adviser-
kab44@psu.edu
Did you know that the very thing for which St. Patrick is famous isn’t true at
all? His works and teachings are somewhat of a mystery historically, but we all think of
St. Patrick as being the man who banished snakes from Ireland. Guess what? It’s all a
tall tale. What St. Patrick really did was missionary work, commissioned by the Catholic
Church to go to the island of Ireland and convert the pagans. In my research, I never
once saw “St. Patrick loved to get bagged up and party like a rock star.”
And so begins my point. We, the American people, don’t know ANYTHING
about St. Patrick, the Catholic Saint who died in the fifth century. Historically, St. Pat-
rick’s Day is a holy day on the Catholic calendar, celebrated on March 17, as a religious
feast day and the anniversary of the death of St. Patrick. The Irish have observed this
day as a religious holiday for over a thousand years, with families attending church most
of the morning and then with feasts and celebrations in the afternoon and evening. Since
St. Patrick’s Day falls during Lent, the prohibitions against the consumption of meat
were waived for the day and everyone was allowed to party and make merry, eating
corned beef or bacon and cabbage and drinking stout by the pint to the wee hours of the
morning.
So who WOULDN'T agree with this kind of party? Well, look to me to rain on the
parade. Let me preface this by saying that I am not religious as a rule at all. And [ am a
HUGE fan of Guinness. But I am a cultural relativist, and I think what we, as Americans,
have done to the religious holiday known as St. Patrick’s Day is an injustice. It isn’t
that I am against St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, but I am completely against American
culture taking a day that is traditionally a holy day with a feast of merriment and forget-
ting the holy part and instead turning it into Amateur Night....or in the case of my friend
Mike, Amateur Early Morning, Mid-Morning, Afternoon, Evening and Night.
Maybe what we ought to do as a culture is look a little bit more toward the tra-
ditions and workings of St. Patrick and add those into our own festivities and actually
celebrate the man himself rather than use the day as a license to get hammered and act
stupid. Is it too much to ask that as we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day we might consider
including church services and holy reverence? Like all the rest of the holy holidays on
the calendar, tradition has escaped us, but it seems that this one is worse than the others.
We keep the fundamentals of Christmas close and while the Easter Bunny comes for
Easter or Whitman’s makes heart shaped chocolates to celebrate love on St. Valentine’s
Day, Americans have looked at St. Patty’s Day as “Let’s drink like the Irish because
those guys can put it AWAY.” In short, St. Patrick’s Day is not about celebrating the life
of St. Patrick and what he gave to society; rather, it is a day to celebrate the fact that we
all wish we could hold our liquor like Seamus O’ Finnegan.
Talk In Public? NO WAY
Who among us has experienced anxiety prior to giving
a speech/presentation? The answer to this is almost everyone.
As a student and or professor you are required to give presenta-
tions at least a couple times a year.
As you read on you will find helpful tips to overcom-
ing the anxiety and possibly have fun while presenting. If these
pointers do not help, you may find benefit in accessing counsel-
ing for speaker’s anxiety. Counseling is on campus for many
other reasons also. PSU offers free counseling and it takes place
in the Student Life Office in the Commons Building. All ap-
pointments are scheduled through Dale Soring at dgs13@psu.
edu or 610-892-1270. Feel free to contact Stacey Shapiro, Per-
sonal Counselor, directly at slb38@psu.edu.
In the meantime, keep these tips in mind for a positive public
speaking experience!
Prior to Presenting:
1) Ask yourself questions about the room and the culture of you
class:
How many students will attend? How is the room set up? Do
you need your laptop? What is the atmosphere of the class and
your classmates? Are they easy going, laugh a lot or more con-
servative?
2) Take time to research:
Gain as much information as you can on the subject matter. This
will help you feel more prepared and confident.
3) Put the presentation on paper:
This will help you focus and guide you if you lose track.
4) Outline your presentation to hand out to your classmates:
Rather than reading your presentation you can use the outline to
prompt your memory about what you want to say. In addition,
putting it in large bold type will make it easier to follow. It is
more interesting to your audience if you are not reading from the
paper. Also, your classmates will more easily follow along and
they can write notes while you are speaking.
5) Make sure to staple and number your presentation in order!
In case the papers are scattered this will make it easier to get
back on track
Special to the Lions Eye
Ways to rehearse prior to presenting:
1) Picture yourself in front of the class:
If you can rehearse in the classroom when nobody is there, this
is the best scenario. Otherwise picture yourself in front of the
class presenting the material. Set a timer for the allotted time-
frame and practice many times! Afterward, decide what you
want to change verbally and non-verbally.
2) Videotape, audio record yourself or rehearse in front of your
family or friends:
By doing this you can more easily decide what you want to keep
in the presentation and what you do not.
3) Utilize self-talk:
Tell yourself what you are doing right and what you need to
work on. Tell yourself you are going to be ok, and you are go-
ing to do the best you can.
Think ahead of time what may be useful to reduce your anxi-
ety:
1) Nurture your mind and body:
Utilize breathing techniques prior and during the presentation,
release your shoulder tension. Eat well, get enough sleep and
do not abuse alcohol or drugs!
2) Decide your safe place in the room and try to move around:
Your safe place may be behind the table, in front of the table, be-
hind the podium etc. Moving around releases the excess energy
anxiety creates.
3) Bring something to use in order to release stress:
Hold a pen, a pointer, water or the outline.
4) Show up early and check the equipment ahead of time:
Make sure you know how to use the projector, overhead projec-
tor or the laptop.
During the presentation:
1) Make connections in the room:
Greet each person who comes in, make small talk and smile a
lot this will take some of the pressure off!
Fear of speaking
in front of a group
iS a common
occurance, but
it is something
that most of us
have to do in both
academics and
out in the real
world. (Photo cour-
tesy toastmasters.com
2) Look at your audience: -
It will keep them interested and you less anxious. Tell yourself
they are people like me who get nervous during this situation
also.
3) Speak clearly and slowly:
This will also help engage the audience.
4) Allow for questions and answers:
This can be done during the presentation or at the end. The
more interaction with your audience the less anxiety you will
feel.
5) Do not worry if you forget something during the presenta-
tion: ;
Move on to the next topic. Most people will not even notice.
Afterwards:
1) Give yourself more nurturance:
Exercise, eat and relax.
2) Ask for feedback:
Your classmates and professors are willing participants in
providing you feedback. Take advantage of this opportunity
to grow. Look at the feedback as an opportunity rather than
criticism.