Who's Who?

Honors students Deana Hughes and Hayden Kopplin, that's who. Deana will soon graduate with a major in wildlife biology and Hayden with a major in psychology. Way to go.

Congratulations to both for making the 2013 Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities

 

Deana Hughes

 

Hayden Kopplin

Curtis, David: Sexual Health

In his blog about hookup culture, Marc Perry refutes the notion that there is a "new or pervasive ‘hookup culture’ among contemporary college students." He makes the point that although sexual behavior itself is not changing, the language surrounding it is much more prevalent in conversations and that sexual partners are more likely to be someone less well know than in the past. That being said, how does that compare to what I have experienced personally on the college campus?

    Well, to start out with, I do notice the prevalence of language regarding "hooking up." I hear it when I'm walking through the hallways, sitting in a classroom, or eating lunch. Moreover, the context is not subtle or private. There is definitely an excess of conversation regarding the subject of hooking up.

    Occasionally, I will also witness the start of an obviously anonymous hookup, usually late on a weekend night. Although the people involved might not normally view this behavior as appropriate, and it is obviously not well thought out (given the usual temporarily incapacitated mental state of the parties involved), it must happen with a relatively high frequency for me to notice it. However, this is not an accurate measure of its frequency - it is small sample, given the little time I spend around groups of people on the weekend. Either way, hooking up is much less frequent than the talk about it. But, it does show that people will occasionally hook up with people that they barely know.

    Even with my limited experiences, I have been able to pick up these trends on the two main types of observations that Marc Perry uses. These two types of observation have lead me to believe that Perry is right about the frequency of hooking up not changing as much as the frequency of conversation and blatancy regarding hooking up.

Mashburn, Cody: Sexual Health

Studies and statistics show that “hook ups” in college remain the same throughout the years with very little fluctuation. This seems plausible and a possible examination of the data supporting an intuitive, yet debatable conclusion that collegiate “hook ups” have remained the same for decades.

                  Studies of the “Hook Up Culture” include face to face interviews about how many hook ups have occurred between yourself and another person. It is simply scientific fact that the chemical reactions within our bodies to lust have been, and always will be, the same no matter the generation of college students. Most high school students coming from a public school have heard that college is one big party and that it is all about the booze and women. The continuation of a relatively high flat-lined trend among hook ups in college not only has to do with the biological side of the human brain, but the social norm per se. I have a girlfriend back home and would never do anything to hurt her. I am not alone in that scenario. But for others, their mindset about college is all about parties, alcohol, and sex. They are the ones who are most likely to “hook up” in today and in the past. So, I do believe that the percentage of hook ups has not changed drastically since 1988, the beginning of this research. Most of my reasoning is not what I have heard, but what I have seen. I have seen my closest friends go to college and return home after a couple of weeks because they have fell victim to yet another statistic in which the research has provided. They kept making bad grades but kept partying and skipping class thinking that that is what people are SUPPOSED to do in college.

                  I am not surprised when the research stated that hook ups have remained the same over the past couple of decades. The importance of college will always be undermined in the minds of students looking for a four-year social event.

Youngblood, Julia: Sexual Health

I believe that not much has changed in the area of “hook-ups” from the last generation to this one. Since I have started school this semester, I have only heard of two drunken make-outs between people that I know. However, as a college kid I would not refer to this as a “hook-up” as might the professors in the reading. From movies I have seen about college, I figured that there would be more “hook-ups” than there actually are, because those movies led me to believe that the culture actually had changes and is worse now than it was a decade ago.            

One of the comments on this article is that college kids experiment, which is a very true statement. I have always heard that college years are the “wild” years, and the only “hook-ups” that I have heard about are after something “wild” has happened.

I do believe that what has changed about this culture are the customs. A decade or two ago, it was crazy to talk about some topics in public. Sexual topics were most certainly talked about but only behind closed doors and typically among the same gender. Today, it is not uncommon for me to walk into the lobby and sit down with everyone to talk and then hear someone crack a dirty joke during the conversation. Once this has happened, the conversation usually spirals out of control into a talk about anything and everything relating to sex.

 No longer are topics or jokes about “hook-ups” are no longer discussed behind closed doors, these topics are open conversation in the lobby. Also, I have always heard that boys are the ones who tend to do this most often; on this campus however it is very even. Meaning girls crack just as many, if not more dirty jokes than boys.     

In what I have seen from my fellow classmates, the action is has not changed nearly as much as people think it has, but what has changed is how much teenagers talk about the action.

Leach, Cameron: Sexual Health

The media seems to be portraying our generation as one that is much more likely to have casual “hookups” rather than be in committed relationships. This is true to some extent, but the media is over exaggerating. The amount of sex that our generation is having is almost exactly the same as our parents’ generation. We are not much different in our amount of sexual partners or in our views on sex. Studies even show that the percentages of college students who have had more than one sexual partner have dropped since previous generations.

 What has changed is the fact that our generation is less likely to get into a committed relationship with someone as quickly as before. Many members of our generation seem to find someone they want to be with for the rest of their lives by having sex with them before they decide whether they want to commit to anything or not. The age that members of our generation get married has also changed. The average age that people marry at has risen higher and higher each generation. Our grandparents’ or great grandparents’ average age of marriage was 12 to 14, while we have risen that age to 27-30 years old. Our generation isn’t just “hooking up” just to do it; this is our generation’s way of testing out a person to see if they will be an appropriate partner. It is a way of “throwing themselves out there.” Every relationship has to begin with some type of test to see whether it will stand up to the test of time anyway. Our generation has just taken that test a step farther. Years ago the test would begin with asking a girl on a date, which then over the years evolved into asking someone if they wanted to kiss you or if you could kiss them, and now it has evolved into asking someone if they want to “hookup.” This is simply evolution of the generations.

Different things become the “norm” over time, and today finding a partner begins with a “hookup”. Romance however, is not dead on the college campus; not everyone in our generation mindlessly has sex with someone just because they feel like it. It is simply a new way of finding a partner than earlier years rather than a whole new era of no strings attached sex.

Mukweyi, Diana: Sexual Health

                  I have little interaction with the campus “Hookup Culture”. I don’t participate in such a lifestyle, and I’m don't see it in the lives of my friends. I also don't believe that such a culture is on the rise for this generation compared to those of the past.  Modern day youth have more freedom to do as they please due to a more liberal society.  If Mr. Monto feels that there isn’t a new version of the “Hookup Culture” on college campuses, then I’m willing to agree with him because I feel that it’s most likely has the same meaning today as it did a few decades ago. I’m not a primary witness to the “hookup culture” therefore, should there be a change to it, I’m not sure I’d try to notice it.

I find it to be unfortunate that Mr. Monto feels “the hookup discussion conveys a sense of moral panic;” I believe that the morals of young adults are shaped by the societies in which they are raised. Therefore, how they live their lives on campus is to some degree a reflection of what they see in the world around them. The “hookup culture” should be studied in the world outside the campus and then compared to the campus life. There might be some similarities in how different generations form relationships based on the conduct of the societies they live in.

I don’t agree with Mr. Monto’s statement that “fewer students today are dating.” Personally, I feel like too many students are dating. I also hear of more people who are college-aged getting married. I think I’d say that most young people don’t want to stay in long relationships.

Honors College Report

Activities and News:

• Eight Honors College students recently attended the National Collegiate Honors Council in New Orleans. Seven students were on the program and one was a nominee for national Honors College student of the year.
• Also at the NCHC meeting was a joint presentation by SAU, SAU Tech, and College of the Ouchitas about their new Honors 2 + 2 programs. SAU Tech has already enrolled 10 students and COTO 8. The Honors College hopes to sign South Arkansas Community College and Cossatot Community College soon. Word on the street is that Henderson is attempting to piggyback on our idea by launching a similar program.
• Dr. Kardas is now co-chair of the NCHC Research Committee
• Lilli Hollensworth interviewed for medical school at UAMS last Saturday.
• Two honors students, Cheyenne Meyer and Joel Pogue, will graduate in three years in May.
• Several honors students, Christopher Harris, Pui (Joy) Tan, Samson King, and Subir Shakya, are applying to graduate school or for funding. Schools include: The London School of Economics, the National Science Foundation, Colorado State University, and St. Louis University.
• The Honors Seminar class has recently hosted Trey Berry, David Rankin, Donna Allen, and Paul McLendon.
• Rachel Wetherington is working on a project titled: SAU as Text. It will provide all first year students with a campus walkabout designed to give them experiential learning about SAU history and traditions.
• The NEW iPads arrived (at least most of them did) last week. Because Apple released a new model in October the Honors College decided to delay its annual purchase in order to provide the latest models.