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#Post#: 10--------------------------------------------------
The Role of Mental Health in Stuco
By: ahitzhusen Date: April 26, 2014, 7:45 pm
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First, sorry Hannah for creating a new thread :-/
I just didn't see how this discussion can go under any of the
ones already created.
I think we need to start having a conversation (and then many
more) about the culture in Stuco and how it relates to stable
mental health in students.
I think the pressure to stretch yourself too thin is huge on
this campus, including StuCo. Project schedules prioritize
student work over sleeping, eating, studying, and having down
time. Now of course, these things need to be in balance, but I
know too many people who come near to the point of breaking
because of how we run things.
I also think that trigger warning need to be posted on shows
featuring excessive violence, death/suicide, and sexual assault/
rape. I've had a few too many panic attacks in the audience
because I wasn't properly warned about the content of the show.
There are other things, but hopefully, that will come out in
more discussion!
#Post#: 12--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Role of Mental Health in Stuco
By: Jason Clark Date: April 26, 2014, 7:53 pm
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I certainly have thoughts about this topic, but just wanted to
quickly say that Hannah is encouraging people to start new
topics, so no need to apologize!
#Post#: 13--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Role of Mental Health in Stuco
By: hannahfisher Date: April 26, 2014, 8:15 pm
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Andrew, no need to apologize! I'm glad you started this thread!
Thanks for your contribution!!
#Post#: 21--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Role of Mental Health in Stuco
By: samgarrott Date: April 26, 2014, 9:13 pm
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TRIGGER WARNINGS PLEASE YES!!!
Throwing harmful content at your audience for the sake of the
"art" of the surprise is tremendously irresponsible. If not on
the poster, warnings should at least be posted on doors into
performance spaces and on programs.
For shows associated with boards, a member of the board could be
specified with the job of maintaining such warnings so that it
is consistently done.
#Post#: 43--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Role of Mental Health in Stuco
By: jschneidman11 Date: April 28, 2014, 8:35 pm
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I have a few unrelated thoughts on this topic.
1. I think Stuco needs to self-impose/police a tech week curfew.
There's absolutely no reason why somebody needs to spend all
night working in Shanley/Louis. We need to stigmatize staying up
all night to make a show happen. It doesn't need to be that way.
Another version of this is no freshman past a certain hour. My
basic point is getting no sleep during a tech week should not
be/is not a badge of honor, and I think a culture of taking care
of oneself and prioritizing health needs to come from the
upperclassmen.
2. FBRs need to go. I am not on a board, but I would argue that
they serve no function that could not be achieved by others. I
understand the sense of "tradition" that this would eliminate,
but I think that Stuco would be a far less scary place to a lot
of freshmen if we did not denote a group of "cool kids" their
first quarter here. Which leads to my next point...
3. StuCo's general social media presence is pretty focused on
individual people and the "things" that they get. This needs to
end. We create a culture of have and have nots, and make people
sitting at their computer who didn't get the thing feel
worthless.
#Post#: 46--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Role of Mental Health in Stuco
By: halemcsharry Date: April 29, 2014, 12:09 am
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Quick question on the topic of trigger warnings: does anyone
have an example of an element of a StuCo (or TI) show in recent
years that should have warranted a trigger warning?
God of Carnage had vomiting but I think there was a warning for
that? Bug, I think, had some content warnings.
Would a piece like Next to Normal require trigger warnings for
topics of depression and attempted suicide? That's the only
piece I can think of where someone might go into the theatre
expecting something less intense than advertised. With
Marat/Sade, on the other hand, I think one should have probably
expected some freaky shit and some yelling just based on the
posters and (amazing) promo video.
#Post#: 47--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Role of Mental Health in Stuco
By: ahitzhusen Date: April 29, 2014, 12:14 am
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I didn't go to Bug because of the blood. Nor did I go to Next to
Normal (was warned not to go by my roommate).
I did go to Marat/Sade and wished I hadn't. I spent the entire
second half hiding in the back row of the theatre.
4 Trains from last year probably should have had a trigger
warning on it. Midnight's Dream probably should have had some
too.
#Post#: 50--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Role of Mental Health in Stuco
By: hannahfisher Date: April 29, 2014, 12:39 am
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Hey guys!
Let's try to talk about ways to move forward without calling out
shows. I say this simply to keep the conversation positive and
productive rather than critical in an unkind way. Totally hear
what you're saying, though, and this feedback is really helpful!
#Post#: 59--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Role of Mental Health in Stuco
By: Jason Clark Date: April 30, 2014, 3:34 pm
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[quote author=jschneidman11 link=topic=10.msg43#msg43
date=1398735332]
I have a few unrelated thoughts on this topic.
1. I think Stuco needs to self-impose/police a tech week curfew.
There's absolutely no reason why somebody needs to spend all
night working in Shanley/Louis. We need to stigmatize staying up
all night to make a show happen. It doesn't need to be that way.
Another version of this is no freshman past a certain hour. My
basic point is getting no sleep during a tech week should not
be/is not a badge of honor, and I think a culture of taking care
of oneself and prioritizing health needs to come from the
upperclassmen.
2. FBRs need to go. I am not on a board, but I would argue that
they serve no function that could not be achieved by others. I
understand the sense of "tradition" that this would eliminate,
but I think that Stuco would be a far less scary place to a lot
of freshmen if we did not denote a group of "cool kids" their
first quarter here. Which leads to my next point...
3. StuCo's general social media presence is pretty focused on
individual people and the "things" that they get. This needs to
end. We create a culture of have and have nots, and make people
sitting at their computer who didn't get the thing feel
worthless.
[/quote]
Jon, I agree VERY strongly with your first and third points
here. However, I disagree that Freshman Board Representatives.
Now, yes I was an FBR and am therefore a bit biased, however
I've spent a lot of time trying to remove my own personal
feelings from this issue and have come upon a vital function
that I think FBRs serve. The first is that, without them, the
boards would have absolutely no freshman voice. An entire class,
a full quarter of the department, would not have a voice in the
decisions being made throughout most of the year, which I think
is not just incredibly unfair, but also unhealthy for StuCo. As
people with little to no experience in the system, I think
freshman bring a valuable outside voice that might be able to
spot flaws.
I do agree very strongly that we need to do a significantly
better job collectively making sure that we're emphasizing that
being on a board is not necessary to have the full StuCo
experience and that we're treating the entire petition process
with much more kindness, but I think removing the institution of
Freshman Board Representatives would do more harm than good.
#Post#: 62--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Role of Mental Health in Stuco
By: JesseItskowitz Date: April 30, 2014, 11:55 pm
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I agree really strongly with the idea of tech week curfews, Jon.
I say that having spent more than 24 straight hours working on a
show. I'm not sure how I would have gotten everything done in
time if I hadn't done that, but I also think it was stupid and
unhealthy and I hope not to ever have to do that again.
In RTVF we have pretty strict curfews that are at least
kinda-sorta mostly enforced. We aren't allowed to shoot past 2AM
on Thursdays or Sundays, and there is a minimum rest time
between back-to-back calls. (I think it's 8 hours between wrap
and the next call.) Something like that should be adopted by
STUCO.
I especially agree with rules for protecting freshmen -- there's
a lot of pressure on freshmen to work a bunch of extra hours and
prove themselves, and there should be rules in place to keep
that eagerness from being unfairly taken advantage of.
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