Isham talks on “Crime and punishment”

Professors from different departments lecture about books that have influenced their lives

John LeMasurier
Staff Reporter

Passion in a professor has the tendency to rub off on his or her students inspiring excitement about the curriculum. Everyone has had at least one or two professors like that in their academic history.
Upon conversing with Assistant Professor of Great Ideas and Modern Languages John Isham, one comes to know how passionate he is about his job as well as one of his favorite subjects: Russian literature. This enthusiasm was seen Thursday, Oct. 22 during Philosophy Club’s “Books That Changed My Life” series.
In the new series at Carthage, similar to the Hannibal Lectures, professors from different departments present books that influenced their lives and explain how and why. For this series Isham talked about one of his favorite works of Russian literature, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment.”
Published in 1866, “Crime and Punishment” tells the story of an impoverished student living in St. Petersburg who commits the murder of a malicious old pawnbroker. The student, named Raskolnikov, believing he has the intellect and will to deal with the consequences, is instead plagued by mental anguish throughout as he evades the authorities.
Isham started off by describing when he discovered the book; aged 23 and fresh out of college, he said that the book spoke to him “on many levels.”
After giving his background as well as information on the book, Isham read to the audience the first page in English and then in Russian to show how it would sound.
He then talked about the Russian word for crime, prestuplénie. Meaning to step over or to transgress, he described how nearly all major events in the book were some form of transgression.
Isham continued by reading and examining other passages throughout Dostoevsky’s work. He used Google Maps to show the streets and back allies that make up the setting of St. Petersburg. The participants got to learn some history as well as see the actual buildings Dostoevsky lived in while writing the book.
Another passage described the main character himself. Isham revealed that Raskolnikov’s name in Russian means “schism” and explained his internal divide of sentiment and intellect that instills conflict within the narrative.
Other passages include a narrative of the murder and Raskolnikov’s character development. Isham also took the time to introduce other major characters such as Svidrigailov, a depraved and affluent man who learns of Raskolnikov’s crime and tries to use it against him, and Sonya, a Christ-like prostitute who leads Raskolnikov toward redemption.
The fervor that Isham has for “Crime and Punishment” was there for all to see in his lecture. Each topic regarding the book was spoken with an ease and clarity that comes from pure enjoyment.
During the question and answer session he met all questions and statements with keen open interest. With his delightful conclusion, Isham instills a feeling similar to what Raskolnikov felt at the end of the book: a feeling of regeneration and optimism for the future.

Sikh speaker comes to campus

Allie Marshall
Staff Reporter

There are nearly 25 million Sikhs worldwide that are now visible not only in India, but around the globe. This past Thursday, Gurinder Singh Mann, Professor of Sikh Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, spoke to students and faculty on the topic of “Sikhs in the U.S.: Challenges and Opportunities.”
Mann is currently one of the most prominent Sikh scholars in the United States. He met Director of the Asian Studies program and Director of the Global Heritage Program Dr. James Lochtefeld in the fall of 1987 while both of them were attending graduate school at Columbia University. In 1989, Lochtefeld took the first Sikhism class offered at Columbia and has since taught Sikhism classes of his own here at Carthage. This fall marks the second time that the course has been offered to Carthage students, and to supplement the class material, Lochtefeld invited Mann to come speak to the student body as not only a Sikh scholar, but also as a practicing Sikh. Lochtefeld said, “It becomes far more real when a member of the community is standing in front of you.”
Mann classifies Sikhism as “the largest among the smaller religious traditions.” It is a tradition that started in the Punjab, which is the fertile land in between Afghanistan and India. Mann said, “It is culturally very rich because of the trade routes cutting through it.”
Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak, who lived in the early sixteenth century. His primary message was one more of ethics than theology. He preached that his people focus on personal purity, charity and gender and social equality. During his lifetime, Guru Nanak bought land for his people, obtained a following, established a farming community on that land, and designated a successor to continue this tradition once he had passed away.
Nine more human gurus, ending with Guru Gobind Singh who was the last of the personal gurus and died in 1708, followed Guru Nanak. Before his death, however, he founded the Khalsa, a new outlook on the Sikh tradition that was more focused on military power and maintaining Sikhism as a prominent religious tradition in the Sikh homeland of Punjab. Guru Gobind Singh then declared the Guru Granth Sahib, or the Sikh scriptures, to be his successor, and since then, Sikhs have been known as “the people of the book.”
Soon after, Sikhs started to migrate out of the Punjab and become visible in other parts of the world. The British really respected the Sikhs for their fighting qualities and even called the Sikhs a “martial race.” Thus, the Sikhs held a prominent position in the British Army during the 1900’s.
By 1925, Sikhs had traveled globally and started building Gurdwaras (the Sikh equivalent of a temple or synagogue) in many places, including Australia, Canada, and East Africa. In fact, the first Gurdwara built outside of India was completed in 1892 in East Africa.
In 1916, the first Sikh family moved to the United States and was a part of the first wave of Sikhs to come to America. This first wave came as laborers looking for work. They were followed by a second wave not long after that came to the United States to study rather than work.
Mann spent the latter half of his speech discussing the assimilation of Sikhs into American culture. It is a very interesting phenomenon when “a community that wants to be very visible moves into a culture where invisibility would be their easiest option,” as Mann said. But the Sikhs were and continue to be determined to remain a visible presence within America. They are very much succeeding.
By 1918, the first Sikh had joined the U.S. Army and the first Asian to enter Congress was a Sikh. By 1929, the first American Gurdwara was built in Stockton, Cali. and was soon followed by a second that was completed in 1948 in El Centro, Cali. There are now many more throughout the country including one in Richmond Hill, New York, and one very close to campus, in Palatine, Ill.
In 1999, there was a Sikh gathering in Washington, D.C. where Sikhs showed that they are trying to synthesize with American culture. There have also been exhibits in the Smithsonian Museum in D.C. that are geared toward Americans who do not know very much about the life of the Sikhs.
The biggest issue that the Sikhs are facing right now is the distinction between religious and cultural traditions. Obviously, the Sikhs have had to employ some changes within their practices as they have moved to a new country and are surrounded by new customs. As this change continues to happen and to evolve, the Sikhs will continue to adapt their practices and ask themselves what can be changed because it is cultural, and what is essential to their religious tradition.
Sikhs are thriving in the United States. There are even non-Panjabi people starting to explore and practice this religion alongside Sikhs who have been in the faith their whole lives. Throughout the process of assimilation and evolution of the American Sikh community, there will undoubtedly be conflict and challenges, but for now, as the banner read on one of the floats in the Sikh Day Parade in New York City, this community is “Proud to be American and proud to be Sikh.”

Current graphic Alexander Albright

Liberal libations: Alcohol awareness

Nathan Giebel
Copy Editor

Residence Life Council (RLC) held its annual Alcohol Awareness Week, Oct. 19-22. Events were held each day in an attempt to make the campus aware of the dangers of alcohol and the failure to drink responsibly.
Monday, Oct. 19 was the “Hall Crawl,” where each one of the residence halls had “mocktails” and facts to make participants realize the detriments of alcohol consumption.
Upon a visit to one of the stations, the students were presented with a sticker for their “passport.” If they visited every residence hall and filled their cards, then they were entered into a drawing to win a $100 Best Buy Gift Card.
“Most halls had at least 70 people go through with their passports,” said Elena Tobolt, ‘12, Vice President of RLC.
Tuesday, Oct. 20, RLC hosted Sue Niesen, a speaker from Mothers Against Drunk Driving. She gave an emotional and heartfelt reading of a letter written by her son, who is currently in prison as a result of a vehicular homicide conviction.
Her son was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. After the letter, Niesen gave her perspective of the entire ordeal and broke out in tears during her speech. The audience was noticeably touched by her presentation. “The attendance wasn’t as high as I was expecting because only about 20 people came. I expected at least 50 to show up, but any attendance is better than none I think,” said Tobolt.
Wednesday, Oct. 21 was “Wellness Wednesday.” Pastor Harvard Stephens and the Director of Counseling Services, Deborah Betsworth shared educational information about alcohol during the morning chapel service.
Thursday, Oct. 22 was “Dead Day.” Volunteers wore black shirts that stated that they had been killed in an alcohol related accident and were not allowed to speak, text message or communicate via the Internet unless it was essential for academic situations.
“We were able to get new wooden tombstones this year which, thankfully, held up in the rain pretty well. We even needed to order more shirts for the number of students we had participating this year,” elaborated Tobolt.
“I am very impressed with Alcohol Awareness this year, but of course there is always room for improvement,” said Tobolt.
“I think that we can start advertising earlier and really let students know what is going on, especially with the speaker and Wellness Wednesday. Next year will just be even better!”
Alcohol Awareness Week was a huge success this year and hopefully will continue to be the same in years to come.