opinion | Page 290

He IS Superman

Details: Written by Patrick St. Pierre; Hits: 401

Well, maybe a better title would be “He is Clark Kent” as he has never officially donned the red, blue and yellow. Regardless, Tom Welling’s decade of portraying Clark Kent is nothing short of history-making. According to Guinness World Records, in May of 2011, Welling’s Clark Kent will be considered the longest running portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman in the long history of the character.

I have been a Superman fan since I first saw the late great Christopher Reeve in the classic “Superman: the Movie,” and because he was my first Superman, he will always be considered in a league of his own. He made me believe a man could fly—both in his performance and in his philanthropic work with the Christopher Reeve Foundation. One of my favorite Smallville moments was seeing Reeve and Welling on the screen together in the second season. They talked of destiny, of hope and of leadership. All of these things would help form Clark into the hero we all know him to be. Reeve was the longest running Superman, so it only seems right that he passed on the torch.

There have been a few different incarnations of Clark Kent/Superman over the years, beginning with Kirk Alyn and George Reeves in the 40s and 50s, respectively. Neither played the character longer than Reeves though; who played him from 1978 to 1987. The three men played a man of steel who saw Clark Kent as his mild-mannered disguise. Superman went through a change in the early 90s and saw Clark Kent with more of a personality. This Clark Kent/Superman was played by Dean Cain. I particularly like Cain’s performance because I like Clark having a personality. I think the character becomes rounder. Cain, unfortunately, played the character for only four years; well short of Reeve’s nine years.

In 2001, Smallville’s pilot episode marked the beginning of Welling’s run as the high school student Clark Kent in the Superman origin story. In 2006, while Smallville was ending its fifth season, Brandon Routh put on the cape for the film sequel to the first two Christopher Reeve Superman films. This was not as successful as they had hoped, and David Goyer (“The Dark Knight”) is writing a reboot film. Smallville continued, however, and it is now entering its tenth and final season.

Welling has portrayed Clark in a way no one else could, and I believe that he is Superman. Routh, Alyn, Reeves, Cain and Reeve have all come before him, but he has surpassed them all. Don’t get me wrong, every single one of those men changed the character by their performances and none should be discounted, but Welling has given the character a decade of his life. He gave the character a beginning. While Reeve made us believe a man could fly, Welling made us believe that any child could become the greatest hero of all time.

Patrick St. Pierre is a senior English and psychology major and columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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Our View for Sept 27

Details: Written by DKS Editors; Hits: 419

We don’t care what your politics are: There are four of Ohio’s top politicians on campus today to speak and answer questions. So go hear them. They’re powerful, they represent you and they’ll be in the Kiva at 10 a.m.

They’re also all Democratic candidates for office, whose judgment day will come Nov. 2. If you plan to vote, or even if you don’t, these politicians may be making decisions for you this year that directly affect you.

In Columbus in July, either Ted Strickland or John Kasich will conduct an effort to balance a state budget that is leaning frighteningly toward the red. During this biennial budget term, Ohio’s leadership spared higher education institutions from any slashes, which would have had a direct impact on what Kent State students would pay for tuition.

Strickland’s running mate, Yvette Brown, will be in the Kiva this morning. Go and ask her if your tuition will go up next year.

Rep. Tim Ryan, the incumbent Democratic representative for this district, will headline the event.

Ryan’s the front-runner in the race, so go and meet the man who represents your interests at Kent State. He’s handsome, friendly and he continues to funnel money into Kent’s liquid crystal industry.

The other two visitors are running for the less sexy positions of secretary of state and Ohio Supreme Court justice, Maryellen O’Shaughnessy and Mary Jane Trapp, respectively.

Whether you’re a Democrat, Republican or Tea Partier, show the establishment we’re not as apathetic as it thinks we are, because we’re not, we’re very politically aware.

If you don’t have class around 10 a.m., drop by the Kiva and hear what they have to say.

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board.

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Pacifying the masses

Details: Written by Molly Cahill; Hits: 264

It is considered a mark of our society’s advancement how quickly and with such ease we are able to share information. The right of free speech is guaranteed to us in the constitution that forms the base of our country’s laws. Nowhere else in the world will you find a country whose people are so free to speak their minds. I have to ask why then, do we feel the need to take that ability right to a place where we regularly share the intimate (and often insignificant) details of our daily lives with anyone who has access to the Internet?

The advent and subsequent popularity of the various social media like Facebook and Twitter have left us more plugged in and hooked up than ever. Almost gone are the days when you could easily go a week without knowing that that one guy you had a class with in high school had gas after eating at Chipotle.

We are so fascinated with knowing every minute detail of our acquaintance’s lives and similarly laying our own thoughts out bare that I sometimes wonder if most people even understand the meaning of privacy anymore.

Once you put something out there, even if you delete it, it’s never really gone. Now in part because the Library of Congress struck a deal with the San Francisco based company Twitter to add every tweet ever twitted to their archives for future generations to marvel over.

For some, posting an update of what they’re doing on Facebook or Twitter almost becomes a force of habit. I too have felt the compulsive twitching in my fingers to type out a quick ‘update’ to my ‘friends’ about how boring math class is.

It is not so much the ready availability of news that is the problem, it is the way it has inured us to going out, learning about and experiencing what’s happening on our own. Humans are social creatures who thrive on interaction with their fellow beings, so it is easy to understand the appeal of sites that allow one to connect with so many people at once from a phone or computer. But you miss out on so much of life when you let yourself be contented to read live updates of an event rather than go out and see it happen in person.

Molly Cahill is a senior pre-journalism major and a columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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Kraft, where do you get off?

Details: Written by Nicole Aikens; Hits: 7089

A question of the day was posed in the newsroom: “Why do Jell-o pudding cups say ‘Frown is a four-letter word?’”

Maybe saying something is a four-letter word implies it is profanity, and frowning is just as bad as, say, cussing. Maybe. But after some Google-ing, no one could settle on an answer.

So I gave Kraft Foods Inc. a phone call, and I’m frowning at the answer.

Ivan answered the phone, and he seemed happy enough to get to the bottom of my question. After being on hold for a minute or two, this is what Ivan had come up with: It’s a marketing ploy.

That’s it. There’s no rhyme or reason, just marketing.

I even made Ivan clarify. I said, “So, what you’re telling me is there’s no reason that the pudding cups say ‘Frown is a four-letter word,’ it’s just marketing?”

Ivan, much to my dismay, said “Yes.”

Oreo, another Kraft product, uses the same type of marketing. Have you ever noticed the Oreos are Double Stuf? Yeah, that’s s-t-u-f. Stuf. No reason for that one either, it’s just because.

Now, maybe we just expect our nation’s children to be smart enough to understand that Kraft’s just having a little fun with its graphics. Maybe we expect the kids to know it’s all just supposed to be appreciated then shrugged off and dunked in a glass of milk.

But I don’t think it is such a huge leap to think all of this marketing could cause a problem for little Johnny or Jane when they get to second grade, and they have to write about what they did over summer vacation. I don’t think it would be a stretch to say the teacher might find some little boy or girl did a lot of fun “stuf.” Way to go, Oreo.

All I wanted was an awesome reason why frown was a four-letter word.

Then to make matters worse, to rub salt in the proverbial wound, Ivan went ahead and tried to sign me up for a mailing list. No thank you, Ivan, you already disappointed me enough. I don’t need any e-mails clogging up my inbox. If that wasn’t bad enough, he asked me if I wanted to pay for a food publication; he didn’t specify which one that is currently selling for a special price. Absolutely not, Ivan. Geez.

OK, Kraft, you got me. I wasn’t keen on your shenanigans, and you conned me into calling so you could try to get me to sign up for this and that. Good for you. But you know what else is a four-letter word, Kraft? Shit. And that’s what I think of your marketing strategies.

Nicole Aikens is a sophomore magazine journalism major who hates Double Stuf Oreos and is a guest columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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What’s the state of our university?

Details: Written by DKS Staff; Hits: 300

President Lester Lefton delivered his annual State of the University yesterday, in which he outlined his goals for the future. So far he’s on the right track.

Not going to lie: We’re really pleased with the current state of our university.

Don’t get us wrong; there’s always room for improvement, and President Lester Lefton sounded committed to moving forward and tackling the next set of goals in yesterday’s State of the University address in the Kiva.

But things are pretty calm at Kent State, and we’re looking forward to what the future holds, especially when it comes to campus renovations. Many students would agree these renovations are necessary, even if we don’t agree with the way they want to fund them.

Only four months ago, Risman Plaza seemed like a wasteland. Now the center of campus actually looks like, well, the center of a college campus. For years, the academic accomplishments of Kent State have been overshadowed by the tragedies of May 4, 1970.

Instead of being remembered as the university where the Liquid Crystal was invented, Kent State has long been synonymous with the place where the National Guard opened fire.

With these renovations and our new professional commercials, Kent State is rebuilding its image. Most students probably think these improvements are only being instituted to attract more students, and in a way this is true. But the more people know about academic achievements of this university, the more our degrees will eventually be worth.

The truth is, a lot of our programs at this university are nationally ranked. But unless you’ve attended Kent State, it’s unlikely that you would know that. We’re hoping Lefton’s goals will change Kent State’s image from a place of tragedy to a place of innovation.

Lefton spent part of his speech talking about the need for the library to be updated, and this is clear to anyone who has ever walked the building. The academic heart of the university is in desperate need of a building-wide reorganization. We’re hoping new Library Dean James Bracken will make the process fast and cost efficient.

Overall, it’s clear Lefton has a vision for the future. We’re just hoping he stays committed to seeing it through.

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board whose members are listed to the left.

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board.

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