mary luber – The Hilltop Monitor

Where are they now?

Brianna Steiert — Sat, 23 Apr 2016 00:53:18 +0000

With graduation right around the corner, the “Hilltop Monitor” decided it was time to catch up with the staff members who graduated last year and see where they are today. The seniors on staff were Mary Luber, James Webber, Bryson Waibel and Joe Gunn.

Mary Luber

Mary Luber majored in nonprofit leadership and psychology. She is now working at the Kansas City Public Library as the refugee and immigrant services outreach coordinator.

“Our goal as a division is to connect refugee and immigrant populations with the quality services, resources and lifelong learning opportunities of the Library. This fits in really nicely with the Library’s mission statement, which is to be a doorway of knowledge to all people in our community,” said Luber.

Luber and her coworkers are working to accomplish this goal through education, outreach and advocacy.

Mary Luber

“So part of my job is lessening the gap between refugee and immigrant patrons and the accessibility to, or awareness of, already-existing resources, in the Metro. That includes promoting inclusivity and accessibility within the library system, ensuring our branches are welcoming to persons speaking any one of the 45 languages that are reported to be in use within our service district in Jackson County,” said Luber.

Her day-to-day work consists of planning educational programs, attending meetings, grant writing and increasing public awareness. The library is working to increase public awareness through events such as lectures, forums, panel discussions, performances, film screenings, gallery walks and radio interviews. One of Luber’s personal projects is sharing the stories of refugees with the public through oral histories and digital storytelling. Luber wants to create a safe space for immigrants and refugees to share their stories to help promote understanding, empathy, curiosity and willingness to listen from natives of Kansas City.

“These narratives are invaluable, and that makes even days I’m tied to my desk interesting and just really, really worth it,” said Luber.

Luber’s experience at the library has shown her that within the nonprofit sector you need to find what you are personally passionate about and pursue that if you want to make change.

“I am in indirect service by writing grants and setting up a department to be successful in the future and creating succession plans. I really want to work more with a policy focus, so a lot more advocacy. I want to make nonprofits more efficient,” said Luber.

To do this, Luber sees herself moving to Washington, D.C. to pursue a job at a policy institute.

Luber credits some of her success to her ability to get an aerial view and critically analyze the situation before making a decision.

“It’s been ingrained in me because every class I took at Jewell forced me to do that, every professor encouraged me to do that, all of my writing for the “Monitor”made me step back and think how will people perceive things. Being able to pause and reconsider before making a decision, and so that’s been helpful in almost every aspect of life,” said Luber.

During her senior year at Jewell, Luber was the editor-in-chief of the “Hilltop Monitor”. She frequently sees the Monitor influencing her work life, as she is always revising tweets, emails and press releases for the Library.

“I spend so much time on it because it’s habitual from my time at the “Monitor” to constantly be like ‘what will readers think about this specific word’ or I think that organizing this email or this document this way will be most effective,” said Luber.

In addition, Luber is still close with many of her friends from the “Monitor”because it became her niche and although she is enjoying adult life since graduation, she misses the ability to see people whenever you want and having built-in time to see your friends whether it is in the Pryor Learning Commons (PLC) or the dining hall.

James Webber

James Webber, former social media manager for the “Monitor”, was an international relations and Spanish major at Jewell.

He is currently taking a gap year to apply for law school. He is living in Alexandria, Va. where he is working at Starbucks. He has applied to many law schools including University of Washington in Seattle, William and Mary, Washington and Lee and the University of Richmond and hopes to attend one of them this fall.

James Webber

When asked how Jewell has helped him reach where he is today and where he is going, Webber talked of the leadership and critical thinking skills he learned here.

“They’re buzzwords, but they’re buzzwords that are actually true,” said Webber.

Webber gained additional leadership and writing skills from the “Monitor”, along with a reason to stay up until 3 a.m. copyediting.

“I used to think I was a really terrible writer and now I’m just a bad writer. If I had to find a way to use up my time, it would definitely always be the “Monitor”. It was always a good time,” said Webber.

Bryson Waibel

Bryson Waibel was a physics, economics and ACT-In major. During his senior year he served as the Sports page editor for the Monitor.

During his senior year, Waibel got engaged to his wife, Kate. She graduated from Jewell in 2014 and started working at Cerner. After his own graduation, Waibel started working at Cerner as a consulting analyst and got married in September. He and his wife now live in Lees Summit, Mo. and are expecting their first child in July.

Bryson Waibel and his wife, Kate.

“Kate and I have done a good job a checking a lot of ‘adult’ things off of our list very quickly. Right now, we are going to look forward to trying to slow down a little bit, at least hopefully not having as many big events in the next couple of years. There are currently a lot of uncertainties in my life because I will be starting a family,” said Waibel.

Both Waibel and his wife were very involved at Jewell and believe this has helped, and will continue to help them prepare for their busy lives ahead. In fact, this constant sense of being busy is one of the ways Waibel believes Jewell helped him prepare for his future.

“Always having something more to do at Jewell has pushed my lifestyle to be the way it is today. I really enjoy engaging in community and keeping myself busy, two things Jewell does well. I feel that if I’m not pushing myself out of my comfort zone, then I’m not pushing myself to be the best I can be,” said Waibel.

When reflecting on what he misses about Jewell, Waibel mentioned community. Like Luber, he misses the convenience of being able to see friends daily and has found the transition out of the Jewell community into a new one one of the hardest post-graduation adjustments. In addition to the Jewell community, Waibel also misses the “Monitor” community, which he believes extends beyond staff.

“I miss the community I gained from the Monitor, and I don’t just mean the staff. The entire campus would come together to read the new issues, especially if there was a juicy story. This is another facet to community that you strive to find in post college life. It’s nice to have discussions about the Royals or current events with co-workers, and that can only happen if they are engaged in the same spaces as you are. The “Monitor” enhances the Jewell community in this way,” said Waibel.

Joe Gunn

Joe Gunn, 2015 graduate in biology and mathematics, is currently taking a gap year to apply for graduate school. In addition to filling out applications, he is volunteering at a dermatology clinic in Columbia, Mo.

“Although it’s been an admittedly low-key year, the time to relax and plan out the future has been valuable,” said Gunn.

Gunn recently found out that he has been accepted into the biological sciences Ph.D. program at the University of Missouri and is looking forward to more years of late nights doing homework and studying. He will be focusing on a doctorate in environmental toxicology.

Gunn believes that Jewell’s philosophy of education and its small community have made him well-rounded and prepared him better than a large university would have.

Joe Gunn

“Aside from great instruction in math and biology, I grew so much socially, academically and professionally as a student,” said Gunn.

Moving from the small community of Jewell to the University of Missouri will be an adjustment for Gunn who misses many aspects of Jewell.

“Truthfully I miss almost everything about Jewell. But if I were to choose one thing, I miss seeing everyone out on the Quad on the first 75-degree spring day. The sun always seemed to lure everyone to the Hill, including people you didn’t even know were students at Jewell. It was neat seeing everyone come out to procrastinate together on the Quad on those days,” said Gunn.

During his senior year, Gunn was able to serve as a staff writer for the “Monitor” and enjoyed his time, even calling it one of his favorite extracurricular activities he participated in at Jewell.

“I have never seen, let alone been a part of, such an effective, efficient, close-knit and fun-loving group of people; we have Mary Luber’s unrivaled leadership and organizational mastery to thank for much of that,” said Gunn.

To be honest, the swing did me in.

Mary Luber — Fri, 08 May 2015 13:00:09 +0000

To be honest, I am graduating in eight days and I did not think it would be this hard. Two weeks ago, I had gotten comfortable in the outfit of adulthood. But, as I said my first real goodbye today, it hit me that summer is just another season now, not a break before classes begin again.

It happened outside of the schoolhouse, right there on the sidewalk. In an instant the girl who was so sure she was ready to move on became the girl who ugly-cried outside of the president’s house, and it was all that swing’s fault. Of course you know the one. You have heard stories of newfound friends and first dates. You have seen neighborhood family photoshoots and proposals take place right there. And me? I have written letters underneath its tree’s canopy, had middle of the night heart-to-hearts in the middle of its bench and belly-laughed with my best friends while suspended between its two chains.

Today I hoisted myself up on its rain-stained seat and wished I would have believed them when they told me these years would go by in an instant.

I wish I would have held on to all of my Responsible Self books. Even “Confessions.” I wish I had kept all of my notes, careful and measured at Mill, sharing space with doodles and grocery lists by the time we made it to Emecheta. I wish I would have bravely raised my hand, projected my “what ifs.” I wish I would have been okay with being uncertain. I wish even more I would have been okay with being wrong.

I wish I would have learned to pick my battles. To let the small things go.

I wish I would have sat on the floor and done absolutely nothing more. I wish I would have spent more nights on the hill behind Melrose and more early mornings in the “living room” of Browning just being.

I wish I would have stuck with Latin.

I wish I would have captured the mundane, taken snapshots of the run-of-the-mill. My bed before it was made, sheets blanketing the textbook I fell asleep on. The note left outside of my door on the hardest day of my life. Sidewalk chalk half washed off in the rain. Shoelaces trapped in closed dresser drawers. Christmas lights framing Curry Hall. I wish I could recreate the surprise of getting caught in the “Sleigh Ride” snowfall for the first time and keep the candlelight lining the Lighting of the Quad pathway.

I wish I had written down how it felt to peer over the observatory railing for the first time. Cherished the numbness of my toes that time we raced around the building in 10 inches of snow. Had bottled the sunshine from spring days in that ever-perfect grass. Still had the scratches on my arm from rolling down Browning Bowl. I wish I could recreate every game of hide-and-seek played in White Science, every all nighter in the Perch and every midday nap in the PLC. I wish I could relive the breaks spent breathing in mountain air, whiling away the day by the lake, milling around state fairs and science museums.

I wish I had time to run through the fountain on a 40 degree night one more time. To chase down the memory of my first “real college party,” how we only made it 30 minutes before we abandoned it for a Harry Potter marathon and drive-thru Taco Bell. To recall the chants from my first Homecoming. To sit down with every professor & a pot of coffee and ask them how they ended up where they are.

I wish I would have written the gardeners a thank you letter every spring.

I wish I had figured out how to open my mailbox before the second semester of my sophomore year.

I wish I would have asked more questions.

I wish I would have taken you up on that coffee date.

I wish I would have spent less time staring at my screen and more at the Kansas City skyline.

I wish my weekly to do list would have included a long, scalding hot shower just for thinking about the here and now. Would have let the steam cloud the future and feet in the next shower stall distract me from obsessing about post-grad plans.

I would have called my parents just to check in. Thanked them for spotting me for that parking ticket. For putting the dogs on the phone. For good morning texts. For not saying “I told you so.”

I would have saved the money that I spent on clothes I didn’t need and instead would have spent it on more all-night bus rides to Chicago, Sunday morning pancakes at Ginger Sue’s and single tickets to matinee movies.

I wish it was guaranteed that I would be moving to another place where everyone held the door open for each other, nodded hello on the sidewalk and ended every cut-off conversation with an invitation to continue it over coffee later.

I wish every person in the world could take in the magic of a thunderstorm from the steps of Jewell Hall.

I wish my day one had been May 1 and my four years were starting rather than nearing their end. I am swaying back and forth on the schoolhouse swing, frantically dragging my feet in the dirt trying to the slow and stall the end any way I can.

I wish every person could spend four years on this hill with its speed bumps and hammocks and bookless library and walks around the quad and quiet places and coffee lines.

I wish it wasn’t so hard to leave this place.
I wish I would have winged it then instead of wishing now.
I wish the same for you.

Before You Vote: 2015-2016 Student Senate cabinet candidates

Mary Luber — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 22:14:13 +0000

Mary Luber, editor-in-chief, sat down with the three 2015-2016 Student Senate president candidates: sophomore Bruce Rash, junior Grace Smith and junior Logan Routh.

What do you believe is the main purpose or point of Student Senate?

Rash: I believe that the role of Student Senate is to be the conduit through which each student here is heard. I don’t think Senate is about the voice of senators being heard; it’s about what each and every student here wants. And I think that the point is to make sure those voices are heard and represented, not just in Senate meetings, but in actuality, in discussions with Student Life and in the way that Jewell is run.

Smith: The role of Student Senate is to represent the needs of the students and intentionally seek their opinions so we can better represent them to the surrounding community, faculty and administration. We will additionally provide tools and services to enrich the student experience at Jewell.

Routh: Student Senate is an outlet for students to come . . . to be a way for students to work hand-in-hand with the administration to fix problems on campus that students have. That takes relationships that can connect students with the adminstration and be able to resolve problems and come up with solutions that way.

Reflecting on the actions of the 2014-2015 Student Senate and its cabinet, what is one thing you would change or prioritze differently? How would you improve upon this past year?

Routh: I’ll be honest. When I first started at Jewell, [Student Senate] was pretty much useless, and I wasn’t even involved my freshmen year. I think that is because the cabinets are usually too focused on one thing. So while past leaders – like Alex [Bush] did a great job, but he and his cabinet focused too much one one thing, which was a New York Times subscription. If we [as senators] wanted to work on things, that was fine, but it was not a group effort. This year we have done a little better job of coming together, especially earlier in the year . . . but we have students come to us when they have problems, and that is what we want.

Smith: For the upcoming year, our priority is going to be accomplishing short and medium term projects with tangible results. We’re going to figure out what needs to be done through a process of reflection. Student senators brainstorming and determining what we need to do on campus, what needs we have seen. And then intentially reaching out to campus groups, especially groups that are classically underrepresented on Student Senate, such as student athletes, nursing major and music majors. Some of those group [members] . . . their schedules do not allow for them to come to regular meetings, and we can not let those people be forgotten. A lot of times the groups on Student Senate that represent themselves very well, like the sororities and fraternies, have great self-governance and can advocate for themselves. So part of our priority is going to be reaching out to other groups to see how we can help them as well.

Rash: Well I would say that first of all that Senate under Harry [Schwartz, 2014-2015 Student Senate president] has gotten a lot of really cool things done, and I know that Grace [Smith, candidate for 2015-2016 Student Senate president] worked really hard on . . . really great things, but for the most part they are not really things that people are noticing. And if they are noticing, it is a really niche groups, and I think that we really need to get out there and not only build an awareness of what Senate is going, but also get people way more involved. Like Grace said, there are a lot of groups that are underrepresented, but I don’t think it’s enough to reach out to groups. You have to reach out to individuals and really get to know them on a personal level and learn about them and their lives and what it is they want to see changed. So I think one of the things Senate could do better is to actually get involved and make sure that people know because, from most of the people I’ve talked to, most people don’t even know when and where Senate meets, let alone that they’re allowed to go talk to them. So we need to reach out and learn what people want so when it comes time to make a big decision, like if we should have a smoking ban on campus or any of those things, we can put it up to a student vote so that Student Life can’t tell us ‘no’ to these issues. It’s time for the era of ‘no’ to come to an end, and the only way to get that done is to get the students, every single one, involved.

Looking past services, activities and events, what is one policy change you would push most if you and your cabinet were elected?

Rash: That is a phenomenal question. It all goes back to the core tenant of our campaign platform, which is that any measure that could negatively impact any student on this campus or infringe [upon] their liberties deserves to go to a student body vote, not just a Senate vote. They tell us that being a responsible self is being responsible for your own commmunity, getting involved and [having] a voice but then they deny us that voice. So that needs to change.

Smith: One of the most important policy issues for our cabinet is reconsidering the P.E. requirement for student athletes. This is something where we can bring in a lot of data and examine it. We are looking at how many hours per week do sports teams practice during the offseason, during the inseason and looking at the different aspects of team building and interpersonal relationships and figuring out if those fulfill the class requirements. One thing my cabinet will do is that when we are looking into a policy change, we will study it first, issue a report to Student Senate . . . and then the full Senate and the cabinet can make a decision based on that data. So that is the first thing we’re going to look into because we think that student athletes work really hard and this change could be valuable for their physical wellbeing and their personal development. It may be unnecessary for them to take PE classes with non-student athletes.”

Routh: The smoking policy is definitely the most important. We are also going to once again look at the alcohol policy. This past year we have had senators working on it, and the problem was that it was trying to get the whole thing totally redone at once . . . it is a gradual process that we have to take one step at a time. And we want to really get that started along with the smoking policy because we are responsible adults. We go to William Jewell. We should be able to make our own decisions, so we’ll start to work one step at a time to make those reconsiderations happen.

Rash: Can we talk about the alcohol policy? [Upon confirmation from interviewer] I think the alcohol policy as it stands is not only unfair to students but also a little bit on the ridiculous side. it is unsafe. You’ll see other schools all across the nation that are changing their [polices] to be more open for students, if they’re going to underage drink, leave the door open so someone can make sure that [they are] ok. They’re moving toward safer ways of transitioning people to those more adult activites, and of course they don’t want kids [drinking underage] because it is a violation of federal, or at least state, law. However, those activities are going to happen on a college campus. If you deny that, that’s just ignorant. Although I know we are not going to get the punishments removed for that right away, I think we need to be moving toward an alcohol policy that make sure that people stay safe. And if they’re in serious trouble, I know we tell people to go get help if they feel sick or are in serious trouble or impaired after drinking, but I don’t know a single person who feels safe going up to Dr. Pratt and saying, “Hey, I am really way too drunk and I need help.” No one does that. We need to create an environment where people are abe to say, “I need help and I messed up.”

Smith: In the past, changing the alcohol policy has been a long term project that has absorbed a lot of Student Senate manpower, and I would like to give a few veteran senators the task of writing a comprehensive report on the alcohol policy. [They will be] interviewing students who have interacted with the policy both positively and negatively, RDs, RAs, those responsible for student wellbeing in residence life. Compiling that data and those interviews to see, does there need to be a policy change? And if so, what do those people believe will be the best changes? We don’t want to put a lot of Student Senate manpower into this, as in the past it has distracted us from accomplishing those short and medium term projects with tangible results that are our focus for next year. What we can promise is that we will look into, and we will make our findings will be public.

Routh: So I think a good first step would be limit the restrictions on students who are 21 and are of age who get written up because they have a friend in their room or for having too much alcohol in their fridge. I know last year [Student Senate] worked on making it equal with state laws, and I think that would be fine for 21+ students as long as underage students are not around. And that would be a first step because, like I’ve said, we have to work hand-in-hand with administration. That is something to which they could agree.

The Monitor is going to live-tweet the debate on Monday at Jewell Time. If you were limited to 140 characters, how would you sum up what your cabinet stands for?

Routh: Making changes that affect the entire campus: each and every student

Smith: Our cabinet can get results. We can improve visibility and function of Student Senate because we all have extensive campus leadership experience.

Rash: It’s time for the voice of every single student on this campus to be heard. It’s time to say no more ‘no.’ It’s time for “Rash” decisions.

A debate between the three cabinets will take place Monday, April 20 at 10:15 a.m. in the Yates-Gill Union Atrium. Be sure to look through the cabinet profiles on the Hilltop Monitor Facebook page and follow along during the debate on Twitter at @MonitorWJC.

“It Follows” you everywhere

Mary Luber — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 13:00:08 +0000

David Robert Mitchell’s “It Follows” is not your mother’s horror movie . . . but then again, it sort of is. The latest teen horror flick does not even feel like one – it is like if “Halloween” (the 1978 original, obviously) and “The Outsiders” had a baby, and the old man next door, “The Shining,” is calling out sage parenting advice from his front porch. This semblance of sorts knows exactly what it’s doing.

When Jay (Maika Monroe) gets it on with her goin’ steady in the back of his car, she learns that he has been living in constant fear of a shape-shifting, slow walking spirit. Bad news: he just transferred it to her, and the only way to shake her contracted creeper is to pass it on.

What’s a girl to do when she needs to bang away her thing-that-goes-bump-in-the-night but enlist the help of some lovingly deadbeat neighborhood kids? The dreamy and elusive boy next door, Greg (Daniel Zovatto) joins forces with Jay’s sister (Lili Sepe), best bud (Olivia Luccardi) and wanton childhood friend, Paul (Keir Gilchrist). If the “Friend Zone” actually existed, this boy would be in it. Basically, this movie is one big, strangely-sensual ethical dilemma.

The rules of the game are that the supernatural stalker can look like anyone or anything. It appears in the corner of almost every scene, because it walks everywhere, but really, really sinisterly. Honestly, there is nothing scarier than something walking dispassionately toward you – it means it knows it doesn’t have to run to catch you. Your demise is inevitable. And that is why “It Follows” will tail you, viewer, even in the daytime. A slow moving movie like this should not be that terrifying, but Mitchell and crew present an incredibly convincing, entrancing scene.

The film is suspended in time with its cast sporting wardrobes that could either be from 1991 or the Forever 21 sales rack. Its props range from rabbit ears television antennas to smartphones. It transcends a specific time frame and owns its ambiguity with grace. The best way to describe this score is lingering. Think perfectly benign scenes of someone strolling down a suburban sidewalk interrupted by jarring, stabbing whistle tones and recrudescent refrains. However, the admittedly repetitive nature of the accompaniment makes complete sense, as Disasterpeace, most known for creating soundtracks for video games, created it in its entirety.

The storyline is sliced by Tin Man movements, creating jilted scenes that take their time unfolding. And its indiscriminate Detroit landscapes help the film teeter between a #tbt and a cult classic.

The deciding factor on the success of a horror movie is how long after the credits roll the audience members are checking over their shoulders and peering out from behind shower curtains. It has been eight days for me.

————READ MORE———-

Click the image to hear this Disasterpeace masterpiece for yourself.

Want to delve a little deeper into the work of Disasterpeace? Select the above image.