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Show Features From Qingdao to Weber State WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 28 2011 ILLUSTRATION BY CRYSTAL CHARRIERE AND JAKE McINTOSH I THE SIGNPOST International student Elain Liu, with her Chinese name to the left and American name to the right. Liu and 22 others moved from China to Utah to attend Weber State University. Chinese student Elain Liu adjusts to life in Ogden with 22 classmates, to complete a degree in international economics at WSU. She is 20 years old and currently lives at University Village. The dry desert climate of Ogden took Liu by surprise. "The weather here confuses me; it's too dry," Liu said. She also noticed the difference in the By Jenny Peterson number of people in Ogden (just more correspondent I The Signpost than 82,000 inhabitants) compared to the bustling city of Qingdao, home to more The distance across the open waters of than 8 million people. the Pacific Ocean from Ogden to Qingdao, Elain is Liu's chosen American first China, is approximately 6,500 miles. name, but Nian is her given Chinese birth Qingdao is a coastal city located in name. For some Chinese, a tradition of Northern China, also home town to We- choosing an American name happens ber State University international student during different times of one's life. Liu Elain Liu. personally picked her first name in high Liu made the long trip to Utah, along school due to the instruction of an Ameri- can teacher who wanted to pronounce the student's names more ef fortlessly. Liu has travto the Unit"Fortunately eled ed States before, but this is the my university first time she has in China has a lived in Utah and studied as an inprogram with ternational student. Weber State "I actually University heard about this and so I came city before, and I knew it was a here." beautiful city," - Elain Liu Liu said. "FortuStudent nately, my university in China has a program with Weber State University, and so I came here." Liu is connected with the Learning English for Academic Purposes program on campus and is taking ESL classes for her first semester. LEAP is a program that allows students structured English instruction each week. "I think it's really fun," Liu said. "We have writing class, grammar class and communication class. I know a lot of different people from different countries, and I have made a lot of friends. It's more fun than my major class." There are many differences between China and the United States, and college life is one of them. Liu attended Shanghai Normal University, which consists mostly of women. Be kind to the Greek week kicks off person behind Anthropology Club begins Greek festival with gender role discussions By Christine Merkley features reporter I The Signpost On Monday, Weber State University's anthropology club kicked off the 14th annual Greek Festival by studying gender roles in Greek society and comparing them to today's standards. "The Anthropology Club has opened the Greek Festival for years now, longer than I've been a student at WSU," said Alexa Eaton, club president. This year, the club celebrated by showing the film Kypseli: Women and Men Apart-A Divided Real- The 1976 film studies gender roles in the modern-day Greek village Kypseli on the island of Thera. Linda Eaton helped present the film on Monday. Eaton has been an anthropology professor at WSU since 1992. "The club is 40 years old and has been very active on campus throughout that time, including the Greek Festival," Linda Eaton said. ity. See Liu page 8 According to Linda Eaton, the movie was "controversial" when it first came out. "The women's movement was in its infancy at this moment. This is a very interesting film that does look very specifically at gender roles in a Greek village," Linda Eaton said. Gender roles in the Greek culture studied in the film are noticeably different from gender roles in America. "The whole movie focused on how gender roles were di- By Rebecca Kibler vided very distinctly in this rural Greek culture. Men and features reporter I The Signpost women ate at separate tables, talked to separate groups, did separate work, and really spent free time in separate places," This past week, a Starbucks employee, Chris said Alexa Eaton. Criswell, was fired for making a YouTube video cornJulianne Ramanujam, aWSU cognitive science major, had plaining about what he has to deal with on a daily ba"mixed reactions" to the film. sis, being a Starbucks employee. "I found the film to be Being a Starbucks employee as well, I can agree a good opportunity to with many of the things he says in his video. After he take a look at feminism fired, Criswell made another video, "Starbucks and gender equality, was and examine just how Rant 2," to let others know that he really did enjoy his they work in our soci- job, co-workers and many of the customers. He took responsibility for posting the video online ety" Ramanujam said. "I was fascinated in and how it could affect the company. He then went that sense, but it was on to add on to the frustrations of being a Starbucks mixed with disgust barista. His video and subsequent firing got me thinking where my own values how rude people can be, not only at Starbucks, but were concerned." "Women's lives also in every customer service environment. There are the people who talk on their phones in a today are dramatically different (from) drive-thru and tell the people working at the estabthose of their mother's lishment to "hold on" so they can finish their converand grandmother's," said sation. Rosalind Chait Barnett in There are the people who give a handful of change a 2008 lecture discussing and tell the employee they don't know how much it is. gender roles at Harvard There are customers who run off a quick, complicated order and then roll their eyes at the baristas the counter How to be a better customer See Greek page 8 See Customer page 8 |