Essays
Following The Rainbow: A Look into the Events that Sparked the Stonewall Riots
- Kelly Whitney
2007 1st place winner of Ohio State Newark's annual Seaton Award
As the product of a movement that paved the way for equal rights, I must remember and honor those activists who began our fight for equality decades ago. Every year we honor those who began the gay-rights movement that fateful day in New York City; we march the streets of downtown Columbus to commemorate the trials that we overcame. We remember the Stonewall Riots, and continue to march to symbolize the fights that remain ahead of us...
The Evolution of Social Welfare & Government Assistance in Ohio
- Ashley Miravalle
2007 3rd place winner of Ohio State Newark's annual Seaton Award
Poverty and need have long been a part of mankind’s history, and efforts to combat them trailed their existence. Over the last four hundred years the attempt to end poverty by means of social welfare and government assistance has been ever present. The key to understanding the evolution of social welfare and government assistance in Ohio is to understand its evolution on a greater scale; the idea of those in need was in place long before Ohio. The evolution of social welfare programs and government resources in Ohio is largely influenced by the history of social assistance policy making, inside and outside of the United States...
The Statement of an Uncomfortable Generation
- Steve Beha
Best History Paper 2007
“We are people of this generation, bred in at least modest comfort, housed now in universities, looking uncomfortably to the world we inherit.” These words formed the opening sentence of The Port Huron Statement of 1962, but they held much more significance. These words shaped a new movement that changed the role of students within the American political system. The Port Huron Statement became the most circulated literature of the 1960’s student movement and influenced the ideas that were being formed throughout the educational institutions of America. With this document as its manifesto, the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) catapulted itself into the forefront of student activism. The Port Huron Statement has remained a statement that sheds light on the New Left generation of the 1960’s and their hope to entice social change in America...
A (Con)textual Argument of America's Globalization from an Outsider's View
- William Brown
The American/British imperialistic influences that have spread around the world are a heated debate. Whether one sees it as a beginning or dying trend (results may vary in a world economy that is starting to see a heavy Asian influence), there is no doubt that all sides usually portray it as a moral issue of right and wrong. As Condoleezza Rice stated in 2000, “It is best for the world if the USA continues to enforce its own interest, because American values are universal values.” It is clear that America’s current administration is in favor of pushing Americanization further...
An Inquiry Regarding the Necessity of the Existence of God
- Jonathan Holmes
For modern philosophy, the argument for the existence of God really began with a few philosophically-minded theologians. Some theologians were concerned with articulating an argument for the existence of God that did not rely on traditions and texts. Christian scholars constructed their arguments to defend their beliefs against competing religions and skeptics alike. These arguments were eloquently put forth by figures such as Anselm of Canterbury, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Rene Descartes...
How to Live for Even One Day
- Michael Morrison
The London of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway is an epic place. The city, like everything else, was changed by the events of World War I. It can be overwhelming with its noise and bustle. Clarissa suspects that it is “very, very dangerous to live even one day” (Woolf 2390). The citizens of London must now learn how to cope in the new world. Some, such as Lady Bruton and Sir William, remain unchanged and already seem like relics of another age. Septimus Smith has been so changed that he is no longer himself, and he has lost touch with the world around him. Clarissa feels the world very deeply, yet she is able to hold on. In fact, Clarissa provides a model for dealing with this post-War world. She is aware of its changes but still can find happiness, a feat that no one else in the novel is able to accomplish...