Page 7 The Lion’s Eye September 28,2011 Opinion Don’t Be a HATER! By Judy Bowker - Lion's Eye Editor-In-Cheif -jlbS706@psu.edu In the season premiere of H8er on the CW it gives you a little insight that maybe you shouldn’t be a HATER on celebrities or people in general. H8er s premiere showed Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi go head to head with one of her biggest haters, and throughout the episode, you see her attempt to win over his family, and SURPRISE! She succeeds! Good old Snooks spent the day with her hater and a lot of the time spent with him revolved around her explaining that person she is on Jersey Shore is not who she actually is as a person. According to Polizzi, she may act like a fool on TV, but that one facet of her life doesn’t define who she is as a person. One of the biggest prob- BR lems celebrities like Snooki Y face is that reality TV isn’t 3 really reality. Yes, Jersey ‘8 Shore is known as “real- ity TV” but the “reality” is that it is mostly scripted and planned out. Sure, some of what the cast does may be true and that can be their authentic selves, but I do not think the kids from Seaside Heights should be judged as badly as they are. To you, she’s Snooki. To the ones who she is closest to, she’s just Nicole. Don’t be a hater. (photo courtesy MTV.com) When Snooki met her hater’s family she simply asked them to call her Nicole. We, the world, call her Snooki, which is her nickname, she tells the hater’s family, and while she loves her nickname, Polizzi says that her close friends and family all call her Nicole, because that is who she really is, not just the character she “plays” on Jersey Shore. Another thing that people always bring up when they are coming down on Snooki is that she isn’t even even Italian. And they are right...she isn’t. However, what people don’t know is that Nicole was adopted at birth from Chile into an Italian family. So no, she doesn’t have Italian blood coursing through her veins, but she was raised Italian-American and took on the Italian-American lifestyle and traditions, which is something that anybody who was adopted would do with their adoptive family. I truly believe that people need to let loose on the cast of Jersey Shore, es- pecially their hatred of Nicole/ “Snooki” It’s a TV show people, plain and simple. It isn’t meant to be taken seriously and for people to sit for hours and contemplate it. It is simply entertainment and meant to be funny. If they want to act silly and make $30,000 and episode; so be it, you all would do some crazy stuff for money too... So before you HATE on someone, make sure you know facts. The person you hate on may actually be a great person once you get to know them. Jumping to conclu- sions and judging the person on what you think you know only serves to make you be just as crazy as the people you are judging. Knittany Lion Needleworks Needs Helping Hands! hen: Friday, September 30 Time: 11:30AM and 1:30PM Where: Large Conference Room, Floor 2, Commons Building Why? September is Childhood Cancer Month, and Friday is the final day we can make pillowcases for ConKerr Cancer's Miles of Pillowcase Smiles, an organization that delivers pillowcases to children in hospitals to make children feel special while battling life-changing illnesses. We need assistance at all levels - cutting, sewing, and folding fabric. Financial donations are still being accepted in Student Affairs all week! For $1 you can sign a heart to include a personal message to a hospitalized child. 7 Ways We The People Can Restore Civility By Lisa Earle McCloud Special To The Lions Eye We’re at a turning point. We claim we want civility. But let’s be honest; what we really want is for the other side to shut up. We can criticize the politicians, but how many of us truly want to collaborate or cooperate? Here’s the deal, people: Congress works for us. They re not going to change until we do. They’re not going to start thinking bigger until we start thinking bigger. Polarizing politics is not a new problem. During the 2004 election, I watched my close suburban community divide. People who once shared friendly backyard barbecues began to question each other’s morals and values. At the time I was a member of two groups, one very conservative, and one very liberal. Because they both considered me a like-minded peer, they spoke freely about the other side. I got to hear their unfiltered assessment of “those people.” You know, “those people” who don’t share our values, who don’t care about our coun- try, or families or schools or God the same way we do. Both sides were equally self- righteous and judgmental. It broke my heart, because I knew that their values were more alike than they were different. I also knew there had to be a better way. I spent the next five years studying the world’s greatest problem solvers, people like Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. I dissected conflict after conflict to identify which behaviors enabled people to solve their problems and which behaviors kept them stuck. The result: The Triangle of Truth — a problem-solving model to rise above either/or thinking. Based on the best practices of the world’s greatest thinkers, The Triangle of Truth is rooted in 7 core principles: 1. Embrace AND (NO) . Make peace with ambiguity (U8) . Hold space for other perspectives 4. Seek higher ground 5. Discern intent 6. Elevate others 7. Be the peace The “I’m right so you must be wrong” paradigm isn’t working. It never did, and it never will. There’s a critical turning point inside every conflict when the two parties either attack each other, or they attack the problem. These 7 best practices of The Triangle of Both Mitt Romney (left) and Rick Perry (right) are vying to be the GOP’s candidate for President of the US, but are either of them good role models for civility? (photo courtesy google.com) Truth keep the focus on the problem. If we want things to change in Washington, we the people need to start the process. I used to sit on the sidelines criticizing politicians. Then I decided, this is my country; if I love it, I need to stop criticizing and start helping. So here’s my offer: I’ve spent the last 18 months training business leaders in these principles, and I literally wrote the book on conflict resolution — The Triangle of Truth. If you think your Congressperson or Senator could benefit from learning these techniques, email me - Lisa@TriangleofTruth.com - and I’ll send them a copy of the book, for free. I’ll also fly to Washington to work with them or any member of their staff, on my dime. This may cost me a bundle; in fact, I hope it does. I hope we have to give away 538 free copies and that I have to spend hours of pro bono time helping Congress reframe their think- ing. : Why am I doing this? Because I love my country. I’m a mother, I’m a business owner, and I'm an American citizen who is no longer going to sit on sidelines and watch her country implode. If we the people want a better government, then we the people need to help our leaders create one. I’m in. How about you?
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers