VOL XI NO 6

ORBIS

Vol XINo VI

5.2012

[OCCUPY]

Occupy Vanderbilt has established itself in front of Kirkland Hall.

Your move, Vanderbilt.

a note from the editor

Published with support from theCenter for American Progress/Campus ProgressOnline at http://www.campusprogress.org

OrbisAmplifying Vanderbilt's Progressive Voices

May 2012

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Editorials represent the policy of Orbis as determined by the editorial board. Letters and commentary pieces represent the

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Please recycle.

Volume 11, Number 6

What is Orbis?

Orbis is a forum for social and political commen-tary relevant to the Vanderbilt, Nashville, and greater communities. By providing a voice for alternative viewpoints at Vanderbilt University, Orbis creates a platform where diversity can be a unifying force in the community.

Visit us at www.vanderbiltorbis.com.

04. Marijuana proponents don’t match up along lines of liberal/ conservative Maria Ochoa

IMPACT Symposium speakers explore how the war on drugs in Mexico and America affect each other, making the discussion of marijuana seem more like an economic factor of a market, rather than an issue of moralistic concerns.

InsIde OrbIs

Features

COmmentary

06. Obamacare case heightens in importance as elections nearSteve Harrison

As the presidential election nears and Governor Romney threatens to repeal ‘Obamacare,’ the Su-preme Court could set a dangerous precedent over the balance of the three governmental branches and whether decisions will be made along partisan lines.

2 3Orbis / In This Issue / May 2012 Orbis / From the Editor / Commentary / May 2012

Campus prOgress engages students In natIOnal Issue

CampaIgns On CrItICal Issues — FrOm glObal warmIng tO

CIvIl rIghts, student debt tO aCademIC FreedOm. vIsIt

CampusprOgress.Org/Issues FOr mOre.

Editor-in-Chief

Associate Editors

Features Editor

Designer

Web Editor

Editor Emeritus

Andri Alexandrou

Carol ChenMeghan O’Neill

Steve Harrison

Ricky Taylor

Matt Joplin

Jon Christian

The semester comes to a close, but the tasks presented to us here at Vanderbilt are not over. I discuss the developments seen over at the Occupy Vanderbilt camp, including efforts to bring together workers.

Sae Lyun Park visited the anime convention here in Nashville and re-ports back on the cultural vocabulary that belongs to a community once un-derground, and now surfacing in the mainstream. Maria Ochoa discusses the complex issues surrounding legal-ization of marijuana in Mexico and in the United States. Finally, Steve Harri-son reviews precedent which is inform-ing the current Supreme Court consid-eration of the threatened healthcare act.

I’d like to also especially welcome next year’s new editors-in-chief, Maria Ochoa and Sae Lyun Park, and wish them a successful year.

Thanks for reading, and stay safe this summer.

Andri AlexandrouImages

Cover//andrI alexandrou//2//andrI alexandrou//5//andrI alexandrou//6//us supreme Court//7//mtaC omega

07. Anime and cosplay and otaku, oh my!Sae Lyun Park

Our writer takes a look into the continously devel-oping interest in Japanese animation and comics in the United States, displayed through the in-creased prevalence of anime conventions.

05. Occupy Vanderbilt encamp-ment is established in front of Kirkland and awaits response from administrationAndri Alexandrou

Vanderbilt University delays its response to Oc-cupy Vanderbilt’s concerns by claiming a need to wait for the union contract conversation that will come up late next fall. Meanwhile, they stifle Nashville news stations from publishing about the event.

On Friday, March 30, “Grounded,” the first musical ever written by a Blair student, pre-miered in Sarratt Cinema to an eager audi-ence. The show, written by senior Ryan Korell, has been several years in the making.

Directed by sophomore and first-time direc-tor Jessica Ayers, the musical focused on seven people awaiting a delayed flight in an airport terminal. Andrea (Laura Payne) and Sophie (Molly Snead) are a type-A control freak and a free spirit, respectively, trying to make their re-lationship work while negotiating the contrast-ing paths they each have chosen for their future together. Trish (Madeline Fansler) is struggling to raise her son Ben (Laurie Nordlund), who is very vocal about missing his jailed father. Dave (Ben Edquist), a stay-at-home dad, is having difficulties with his wife’s lack of involvement in their children’s lives and her lack of interest

in making their marriage work. Chris (Michael Greshko) is a playboy who sleeps around con-stantly and compulsively womanizes, but is se-cretly depressed about being without a loving partner. George (Steven Fiske) is an aging wid-ower, watching the lives of the others intersect as he waits to join his late wife in the afterlife.

Though the characters were somewhat ste-reotypical in their personalities, “Grounded” brought them together in unique and enter-taining ways. A highlight being the song “How to Be a Stud,” in which Chris tries to give Ben advice on how to be a real man, with George and Dave doing their best to counteract his les-sons in sexism with advice on being chivalrous and caring.

The ending, which did not turn out as hap-pily as I expected, was perfect in bringing a sense of realism to the play. Loose ends were not necessarily tied, and the audience was left not knowing exactly what was in store for these seven passengers as their flight boarded. It lent the musical an incredible sense of realism and believability that was extremely enjoyable.

Musically, the show was bittersweet. It had minor and sparing technical difficulties (slight feedback sometimes), as most shows in Sarratt do. And the singing was somewhat of a roll-ercoaster: a few flat notes, and generally av-erage, save for a stellar vocal performance on “The Bad Guy,” a potential anthem for single parents everywhere, from Madeline Fansler, and the entire cast’s beautiful harmonies and touching solos on “Fight or Flight/Postlude.” The so-so vocal performance, however, was contrasted by the impressive musical composi-tion on every song, and the especially moving lyrics on “Hey, Honey,” “The Bad Guy,” and “Alone.” I was astounded that such profes-sional work could come from an undergradu-ate student.

Overall, I thought “Grounded” was an amaz-ing show, and those who didn’t attend really missed out on something special. I would not be surprised to see the musical on Broadway one day, and I really hope the soundtrack is recorded sometime soon, because I cannot imagine going through life without being able to listen to this wonderful story at least several times more.

Meghan O’NeillASSOCIATE EDITOR

Review of Grounded, the MusicalBlair student’s musical is a product several years in the making

A heat wave throughout the country caused Spring to come quickly and briefly.Photo: Andri Alexandrou

George W. Bush, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney; when you hear these names you don’t imagine them associated with legitimization of any vice, let alone pot. If you pay attention though, you will notice that the groundswell of support for the legalization of marijuana comes from an unlikely source—the Republican Party.

According to the Tennessean, during the first week of April, a surprising Republican-led vote in favor of review-ing a bill that would legalize medical marijuana in the State of Tennessee unleashed a week of campaigning for the Safe Access to Medical Cannabis Act. Although the bill was struck down early on Wednesday, April 4, a sub-committee in the House Health Committee agreed to have a hearing on behalf of it after it was voted down. Constance Gee, the ex-wife of former Vanderbilt chancellor Gordon Gee and a widely known user of medical marijuana, spoke about the impact that medical marijuana has had in her life for the first time since knowledge of her use appeared on the cover of the Wall Street Journal six years ago.

According to advocates of the bill, it is not a matter of whether the bill will pass in the future, but when it will pass. This may seem like a naïvely hopeful statement to make in a historically red state. On a national level, though, a sur-prising number of Republicans have come to the defense of medical marijuana. Granted, it was opposition from Republican leaders concerned with the already existing problem of prescription drug abuse in the state of Tennessee that led to the rejection of the bill. It was also, however, a deal struck with Republican Health Committee Chairman Glen Casada that allowed Gee to speak on behalf of the bill.

This is not the first instance where legalization of marijuana receives some support from Republicans. Much of that support in the 21st century has come from the

executive branch of New Mexico. Gary Johnson, the former Republican governor of New Mexico, campaigned enthusi-astically for the decriminalization of marijuana. In 2007, his Democratic successor, the former Governor Bill Richardson, signed a bill into law that made this state the twelfth one to legalize marijuana for medical reasons.

In this way, medical marijuana has become an issue whose support and opposition is beginning to cross party lines and challenge preconceived notions of what it means to be a conservative and a liberal. In February, the tradition-ally leftist Rolling Stone published an article on the unprec-edented scale of the federal crackdown of legal medical pot dispensaries under the Obama administration. According to Rolling Stone, the executive director of the Medical Marijuana Policy project believes Obama is the worst presi-dent on medical marijuana. The magazine also stated that his crackdown on medical cannabis exceeds any efforts ever undertaken by the Bush administration.

The legalization of medical marijuana and the decrimi-nalization of drugs was a widely discussed subject amongst political leaders during the IMPACT Symposium series at Vanderbilt University on March 21. Bill Richardson, former governor of New Mexico, and Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico, spoke on the issue that served as an interesting basis to examine it beyond its effects on a national level.

According to Mexican newspaper El Universal, since Mexico unleashed its “War on Drugs” in 2006, it has claimed around 48,000 lives. Deaths and violence have not deterred the drug cartels from engaging in their criminal activities, but have further incited them. While Mexico suf-fers from this battle, the drug cartels are supported econom-ically by demand in the United States. The United States has publicly acknowledged its role in this problem and has thus attempted to take responsibility for it through the Merida Initiative, signed by Mexican President Felipe Calderón and George W. Bush in 2007.

This initiative, however, does not address the main prob-lem, which is American demand for illegal drugs. It only provided funds for equipment and intelligence to prosecute drug cartels and stop them from illegally smuggling weap-ons from the United States into Mexico. For this reason, Calderon’s predecessor, Vicente Fox, is very critical of the deal.

Although Vicente Fox is part of the Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), translated into English as the National Action Party and one of the Mexican right-wing parties, he would not be considered a conservative as measured by traditional American political standards. During his conver-sation with Bill Richardson at the Impact Symposium, Fox firmly stated his support for the legalization of drugs, stat-ing that “at the very end, prohibitions do not work. Even in the Garden of Eden, prohibition did not work.”

On the other hand, although Bill Richardson legalized medical marijuana in his state, he established that he saw no real solution in de-criminalizing drugs in the United States to stop the violence of the War on Drugs in Mexico. He acknowledged the American responsibility to address the problem of illegal drug demand but did not propose legalization of the drug market as a solution. Rather, he stressed an increase on the emphasis of drug rehabilitation and education.

Once again, while Richardson and Fox’s stakes on the issue of the War on Drugs are very different, the fact remains that a traditionally conservative figure is advocat-ing for the legalization of the drug market while a tradition-ally liberal one is arguing against it.

Looking at it from an economical rather than an ideolog-ical perspective, however, the issue of legalizing marijuana makes sense from a conservative standpoint. Conservatives argue for regulation of markets by economic forces rather than by government, which is what Fox supports in arguing against the governmental repression of the drug market. According to him, it is a $50 billion dollar industry, so there are no economic incentives for cartels to stop trafficking, as has proven by the incessantly thriving Mexican drug cartels.

On the other hand, there could be a more leftist inter-vention in the market through taxing drugs, which could be used to indirectly regulate the drug market not only by raising monetary costs for consumers, but also by using the taxes to prevent the use and abuse of drugs.

In this way, the legalization of marijuana is shifting from an ideological to an economic discussion. According to the Tennessee legislature’s Fiscal Review Committee, the pro-gram for legalizing medical cannabis in Tennessee would only bring in $300,000 in local revenue per year, which is not a significant enough increase from a fiscal revenue standpoint to justify legalizing the drug. Examining other economic factors such as the social costs of having a black market economy, it may be possible that the legalization of medical marijuana would be economically efficient. The risks of abuse, however, could present an even bigger social cost, which is where the argument is falling in the state of Tennessee.

When I first started talking with Zach Blume about Vanderbilt Students for Nonviolence, The Responsible Endowment Campaign, and plans for the upcoming Occupy Vanderbilt encampment, he said this wasn’t what he came to Vanderbilt to do.

“I spent the last two years as a Neuroscience major,” Blume said. “This stuff has changed my life.”

What Vanderbilt University administrators likely view as a pestering annoyance, many more students like Zach take very seriously.

Two other such students are Vanderbilt graduate stu-dent Tristan Call, who studies land rights and rural com-munities in Guatemala, and Vanderbilt alumnus Benjamin Eagles, who organizes community union OUR Vanderbilt. On any given night you can meet them at the Occupy Vanderbilt camp—which, if you haven’t seen it, is perched right outside of Kirkland Hall where Chancellor Zeppos and Provost Richard McCarty can witness from their office windows the protest below.

At night, camp is lit up by periodic roamings of police car headlights, as well as by a string of Christmas lights hung up on a tree to provide light for the picnic table. This little picnic table, painted with various messages, serves as the focal point for discussion. One of the times I visited, it was Tristan and Ben discussing what the doctrine of “nonviolence” means, and with what means a community might protect itself against outside force should that com-munity express nonviolent dissent.

The Occupy Vanderbilt movement has set two primary goals, and one more abstract goal. The first controversy,

which came to light just about a year ago, centers around Vanderbilt’s investment in a company which allegedly “land grabs”—stealing peasants’ subsistence farmland in subsaharan Africa for profit. It amounts to a new rendi-tion of colonialism that threatens indigenous populations by encouraging local governments to steal land from its own people, and to then turn around and sell it to outside investors.

Occupy Vanderbilt’s other central focus is to change how Vanderbilt treats its employees. Dining workers, for example, face seasonal layoffs when students leave cam-

pus, but are provided with no alternative by Vanderbilt. As Ms. Anne of Last Drop Coffee Shop has pointed out, Vanderbilt exerts too much influence in Nashville and in Middle Tennessee to let almost 200 employees go without pay for three and a half months. And then, workers that are guaranteed full year work are discouraged from apply-ing for higher positions through a complex point/status system, and are not eligible for unemployment checks in

the summertime despite a lack of income. With typical healthcare bills amounting nearly a thousand dollars just for the summer, these workers are barely scraping by.

More abstractly, the Occupiers are petitioning for com-munity members to be the ones that actually have the power to make decisions about the community, rather than administrative officials. They’ve cited a necessity for there to be an infrastructure for evaluating new invest-ments, so that it isn’t discovered after the fact that a com-pany is engaging in unethical practices.

At the March 19 rally that kicked off the occupation of lawn in front of Kirkland Hall, students and workers spoke to a crowd of over 120 people.

Despite there being multiple film and news crews from various Nashville networks, an in-depth story never ran. When no stories surfaced in the next few days, students again contacted the networks. At least one had a story on the press until the last editing check, when it was entirely pulled.

“They were just waiting on a quote from Vanderbilt,” Eagles said. “So we can guess what happened there.”

Indeed, only one of the crews that showed up to the rally published anything after the rally. There had been short previews published before the rally when students had notified them very last minute, forcing them to pub-lish short Internet blurbs before contacting Vanderbilt. Despite multiple news crews showing up to the rally and filming several student and worker testimonies, only one station ran a short package on their network.

Vanderbilt has been responding in a variety of ways. Dean of Students Mark Bandas appeared at the March 19 rally. He spoke in one focus group with students about how the timing of union contracts conflicts with any immedi-ate desire to change the infrastructure of dining employ-ment. Students and workers note that a proposed solution, nominally reclassifying workers as “fulltime” workers, would allow them to receive unemployment insurance and requires no contact modifications.

Chancellor Zeppos spoke during what he calls a “state of the university address” at the Spring Faculty Assembly, one of two formal addresses to university faculties in the year.

“We have a village of tents with faculty, staff and stu-dents participating to protest our endowment investments and other matters,” Zeppos said. “We’ve had a robust and open debate over our principles of nondiscrimination.”

He continued, saying that this was expected in “a community of active and thinking students, faculty and staff who are passionate about their views. But rarely will these differences seem stuck at impasse, because dialogue, debate and listening occur here every day.”

Vanderbilt has made some good moves toward opening up its university, namely with the newly reinforced non-discrimination policy. If Vanderbilt wishes to hold true to its altruistic image, they’ll pay serious attention to these discrepancies in employee treatment, and in the general discrepancy between image and action. Vanderbilt must be a place governed by its community members and those who are aware of the true interactions on campus, not by distant decision makers and limiting bureaucratic systems.

Come on, Vanderbilt. We know you can do it.

Andri AlexandrouEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

4 5Orbis / Feature / May 2012 Orbis / Commentary / May 2012

Spending Time with Occupy VanderbiltStudents have presented their case to the administration, so far without response.

Maria OchoaSTAFF WRITER

Blurring Party Lines and the Legalization of Drugs

Photo: Andri Alexandrou

IMPACT Symposium speakers address the changing landscape of marijuana debates

On a national level, though, a surprising

number of Republicans have come to the defense

of medical marijuana... The issue of legalizing

marijuana makes sense from a conservative

standpoint. Conservatives argue for regulation of

markets by economic forces rather than by

government.

If Vanderbilt wishes to hold true to its altruistic image, they’ll pay serious

attention to these discrepancies.

Tackling its most high-profi le case in years , the Supreme Court heard arguments against P r e s i d e n t O b a m a ’ s P a t i e n t P r o t e c t i o n a n d A f f o r d a b l e Care Act on March 26—even before t h e m a j o r i t y o f the law’s c o m p o n e n t s wi l l actual ly c o m e i n t o e f fec t . This c a s e h a s l i b e r a l a n d c o n s e r v a t i v e p a r t i s a n s clamoring for a decision that w i l l u n d o u b t -edly be conten-t i o u s a n d c o n -fusing in terms of what i t means for the c h a n g i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p between the legislative and judicial branches.

By striking down the law, the jus-t ices potent ia l ly create a dangerous domino effect . A law from Congress, extremely diff icult to pass in and of i tself , would then become sub-ject to a much more powerful process of judicial scrutiny that effectively scrambles the entire federal system of government. In this scenario, the legislative branch would lose much of i ts legit imacy in favor of a federal judicial system that gains the arbitrary power to ef fect ively dictate policy rather than weigh in on it . Such a decision would act as just the beginning of a new governmental era of court supremacy, according to some legal analysts.

Simon Lazarus, a notable proponent of the heal thcare act and counsel to the Nat ional Senior Cit izens Law Center, said, “Is the court going to become a dedicated foe of al l manners of social legislation? If anything amounts to micromanaging rational choices by Congress, i t ’s this.”

The individual mandate aspect of the law that requires nearly every American to either buy healthcare or pay a f ine serves as the inflamma-tory source of opposit ion to the law. Advocates against the so-cal led “Obamacare” legislation argue that the federal government has over-stepped its boundaries in forcing cit izens to engage in a commercial interaction against their

wil l . They point to a different sl ippery slope method of argumentation that wonders what else the government might compel i ts cit izens to buy.

An interesting counter to this l ine of legal thinking has surfaced in

the past month, as health-care detractors repeat-

edly state that the law is antithetical to the

founding fa thers ’ c o n s t i t u t i o n -

a l i n t e n t i o n s . R e p . S t e v e K i n g ( R - I A ) , for e xamp le , d e n o u n c e s the law for precisely this r e a s o n a n d i n s i s t s , “ T o mandate that

everyone must b u y a h e a l t h

insurance policy is a huge reach

and this is exact-ly the kind of gov-

ernment the Founding Fathers wanted to l imit .”

Yet King might do well to investigate a bit more into the

actions of the Founding Fathers before speaking on their behalf .

Advocated and signed by President George Washington, the Second Mil i t ia Act of 1792 mandated that every able male between the ages of 18-45 join a mil it ia and to buy a gun in the interest of national security. The act thwarts the notion that legally permitting compulsory purchase for safety purposes throws the gov-ernment into chaotic disarray and necessari ly entai ls huge government overreach.

This law, amongst others l ike i t , demonstrates that Congress possesses certain powers that should be deemed necessary in the nation’s best interests. Providing for the safety and welfare of a projected 32 mil l ion Americans f i ts neatly under this purview.

The Supreme Court must weigh this case care-ful ly and apolit ical ly since the U.S. st i l l remains skept ica l over the court ’s impart ia l i ty f rom cases l ike Gore v. Bush.

An April 10 Washington Post/ABC News poll revealed that 50 percent of Americans believe that the justices of the Supreme Court wil l rule according to personal ideological and part i -san v iewpoints rather than legal precedents and interpretations. This staggering percentage shows a waning level of respectabil i ty for the judiciary branch that may seep over into impor-

tant decision-making.Though a decision on the case is not expected

unti l the end of June, constant media coverage ensures that this law wil l be a crucial ral lying point for both sides of the polit ical spectrum during an increasingly revved up election cycle. Governor Mitt Romney has already spoken out against the law and presses for i ts swift repeal , despite approving a similar healthcare system with an individual mandate during his tenure as the governor of Massachusetts.

Even i f the law is upheld, Romney, i f elected president, states that he wil l issue an execu-tive order on his f irst day of off ice to waive Obamacare in each state and convince Congress to immediately repeal the law.

This bold strategy rel ies heavily on the law’s unpopularity and healthcare serving as a pri-mary, al l- important issue for American cit izens.

But President Obama has not shied away from the legislation and touts the law’s health and economic benefits , making it a focal point of his campaign. On his off icial campaign website, the Obama team l ists passage of healthcare reform as one of the president ’s primary achievements. The administration pointed to several benefits

of this piece of legislation. Some of them include how 34 mil l ion more

Americans wil l eventually be able to gain cover-age, In addition, the law wil l make healthcare much more affordable for families. Furthermore, the act wil l prevent insurance companies from taking advantage of their consumers.

Regardless of which candidate wins or how the court rules, one thing can be asserted with conf idence—the mere fact that this piece of legit imately passed social legis lat ion is even being considered by the Supreme Court repre-sents an unprecedented high mark in partisan divisiveness.

Steve HarrisonFEATURES EdITOR

6 7Orbis / Commentary / May 2012 Orbis / Feature / May 2012

Healthcare Investigation Sets Dangerous Precedent

Advocated and signed by President George Washington, the Second Militia Act of 1792 thwarts the notion that legally

permitting compulsory purchase for safety purposes throws the

government into chaotic disarray and necessarily entails huge

government overreach.

MTAC Celebrates Japanese Animation and Cartoons

Sae Lyun ParkSTAFF WRITER

The 12th annual Middle Tennessee Anime Convention (MTAC), known as MTAC Omega, took place from April 6 - 8 in the downtown Nashvil le Convention Center. This year’s theme was surviv-ing the end of the world and post-apocalyptic set-t ings as a general theme in anime and manga. It featured several guest speakers, of varying kinds of involvement in the anime and manga industry, as well as musical acts.

Anime conventions started to take place in the United States in the 1990s and are currently held annually in various cit ies. According to i ts website, MTAC is a non-profit organization that produces events related to anime, manga and rel-evant popular arts, providing enthusiasts and the public at large with a forum for patronage and education.

Furthermore there is emphasis on MTAC as the result of a community effort , s ince it oper-ates entirely on a volunteer basis and currently has over 70 ful l t ime staff members. This goes to show that anime conventions in America are no longer an underground, subculture activity but a rather prominent feature of the American fan base of Japanese animation.

Ironical ly, because a considerable amount of people have started attending and participating

in the events that typical ly take place during American anime conventions, someone with l i tt le to no background of this culture would l ikely feel out of place at an anime convention.

To begin with, some terms ought to be dis-cussed and c lar i f ied. Anime and manga are the Japanese terms for animation and comics, respectively. Cosplay, short for costume play, involves dressing up in costumes and accessories to represent a specif ic character from manga and anime, video games, comic books and so on. Many consider cosplay an essential aspect of anime and manga fan culture.

To go further, a more extreme version of the

typical anime fan would be an otaku. Originally otaku was a term used to refer to someone else ’s house or family as well as an honorif ic second-person pronoun, but i t has since become a slang term used to describe someone with obsessive amount of interest in anime, manga, or video games.

Many different kinds of events occurred over the three days of MTAC Omega: MTAC’s Got Talent , complete with judges, a ramen eat ing contest , and of course, a cosplay contest . Fan panels also took place al l day, with subjects such as: Kimono 101, Affordable Cosplay, How to Be a College Otaku, and How Not to Be a Creep and Other Geek dating Tips.

What is most interesting about cosplay is the social culture built around it . Cosplay partici-pants interact with each other and use this unique hobby as a way to build connections with each other. The Internet has been hugely influential for this, as i t al lows individuals from around the world to gather at a specif ic place to engage in discussion over a shared mutual interest . Online forums especia l ly can be instrumental in the sharing of stories, photographs and t ips between cosplayers.

Or ig ina l ly , cosplay and other aspects o f Japanese popular culture in general remained known only within Japan or at best , the continent of Asia. However anime and manga have gained huge popularity outside of Japan since the 1980s. This growing demand for Japanese animation

prompted the translation of manga and anime into other languages and distribution overseas to parts of Asia and eventually to Europe and the United States.

Once again, otaku refers to people with an interest in anime, manga or video games that goes beyond those of a regular person. The term otaku is used outside of Japan to describe someone who is more or less a geek: someone who might be obsessive and knowledgeable about a subject, but not to the point of being considered a social out-cast because of i t .

In Japan, the place of the word’s origin, otaku originally had more negative connotations due to a lack of understanding of the term.

For example in 1989, a man named Tsutomu Miyazaki muti lated and ki l led four young girls . His eventual capture and a search of his apart-ment led to the discovery of over 5,000 video-tapes, which included horror and slasher f i lms as well as anime. The media dubbed him “The Otaku Murderer” and the general Japanese pub-l ic , unaware of l i t t le else about otaku culture, came to associate i t with a dangeorus kind of l i festyle solely due to i ts l inks to a brutal ki l ler.

As the detai ls of the murder came to l ight, many Japanese cit izens came to perceive otaku as something dark, twisted and dangerous. This ini-t ial ly poor impression has since changed within Japan, and there is no longer such a strong image associated with the otaku outside of Japan. Now it appears that the Japanese themselves also try to f ind ways to embrace this term: now the image is that while the otaku may be passive and social ly challenged, neither should he be a serious threat to the public.

A different kind of obsessive non-Japanese fan of anime exists, informally known as Wapanese or weeaboo. It is a derogatory slang most often used on the Internet to describe a person, typical ly of non-Asian descent, who tends to have almost an extreme interest in Japanese culture but almost exclusively through manga and anime.

This is problematic on several accounts; such individuals might mistakenly associate Japan as a whole country only through anime, a small source of entertainment. According to several onl ine sources, some stereotypes of the weeaboo may include using certain Japanese words in place of English words, preferring Japanese imported products over domestic ones, and generally dis-playing behavior of wanting to be Japanese. Such kind of behaviors may be as simple as learning to use chopsticks, deciding to take Japanese as a foreign language at school, to more devoted kinds such as actually traveling to or studying abroad in Japan.

Regardless of whatever social st igma exists for individuals who feel incl ined to engage with their interest in a particular aspect of Japanese popular culture, the main point is that there wil l always be some sort of outlet through which it can be expressed.

Once a small subculture occupies a space now within the mainstream.

Ironically, because a considerable amount of people have started at-

tending and participating in [anime conventions], someone with little to no

background of this culture would likely feel out of

place.

12 Orbis / May 2012

email [email protected]

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In preparation for exams, we’ve compiled a list of our favorite ways to cope, from very unproductive to very productive methods. Good luck, and know that summer’s right around the corner.

Least Productive

Most Productive

Useless Procrastination Kanyezone.com Ryan Gosling Tumblrs SMBC.com Sartorialist Fashion Blog Thought Catalog Blog Productive Procrastination

Freerice.com Read Orbis! or the New York Times This American Life Flicx Movie: Footnote

Funtivities! Canoeing at Tip-a-Canoe Climb Nashville Bike through Nashville Fly a kite at Centennial Park Beach Volleyball

Places to Snack Pinkberry Hot & Cold Commodore Coffee Break (April 24 SLC 7-11) Las Paletas Provence

Productivity Methods Writtenkitten.net Self Control Application writeordie.com (check out kamikaze mode)

Places to Nap OrbisOffice Alumni Lawn Couches in Sarratt Common Rooms Lounge Chairs outside Commons

Places to Study Barnes and Noble Café Fido JJs Market Frothy Monkey Nashville Library