Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Nov. 10, 2010, edition 1 / Page 19
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THE PENDULUM STYLE WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 10, 2010// PAGE 19 Elon professor published in respected anthology Aloy Trin» Alex Trice Online Editor-In-Chief Elon professor and poet Kevin Boyle likes to write about politics, history, sex and religion. Sometimes he writes from his experiences in his own life and sometimes he writes from pure invention. Originally from Philadelphia, Boyle does not usually write about North Carolina. But his poem “The Lullaby of History," recently published in an anthology that has featured works of writers like Langston Hughes and David Sedaris, is an exception. The poem is infused with historical images and biographical components from Boyle’s own life and tells the story of a family that goes to visit a museum in Durham. “1 went (to that museum) with my daughter, who was a young child at the time," Boyle said. “I blended that with some thinking of my father, who’s from Northern Ireland, where fighting was going on for so long." Boyle said that the local references made throughout his poem helped it seem like a good choice for the anthology, “Literary Trails of North Carolina." “It makes reference to Bright Leaf Square and the mall in Durham,” he said. He said that the editor of the anthology thought it was a very moving poem. “I was very happy," he said. “It’s nice to be in a book with a lot of great writers in it." When he first starts writing a poem, Boyle said he waits for a phrase to strike him or for an image to come to mind. “It’s not as if I sat down and said ‘now I’m going to write about the Civil War and link it to Northern Ireland.’ It just developed that way. I’m sure I probably knew I was going to write about that museum, but I didn’t know where it was going," he said. When Boyle was an undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania, he majored in sociology and then history before finally settling on English. “I had three sisters who were language majors and two brothers in pre-med," he said. “I tried to avoid studying what my sisters were studying, but eventually realized that was my passion and I followed my bliss." It was during Boyle’s sophomore year that he first started writing poetry. “You would read poets like (Walt) Whitman, (Alan) Ginsberg, (William) Wordsworth and love them and then you would try to imitate them in some way," he said. Ever since then, Boyle added that poetry has “been a good love affair." Some of his favorite writers include William Shakespeare, Sylvia Plath, I Professor of English Kevin Boyle was recently published in anthology of poems about North Carolina. ALEX TRCE | Pt)0l0gnM)ti« John Ashbery and the Irish poet Seamus Heaney. After receiving his bachelor’s degree, Boyle went on to earn a master’s degree from Boston University, and both a master of fine arts and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. Now a faculty member in Elon University’s English department, Boyle teaches classes such as intermediate poetry writing, advanced creative writing and literature courses from both Irish and Middle Eastern cultures. Boyle said he tells his students that in order to be a writer, one must be a reader. “I encourage them to read as well as write and try to get a voice that is reflective of their life and experiences." Although finding a balance between teaching and writing could be difficult for some professors, Boyle has found a way to do both. During the school year, he usually writes on the weekends, often waking up at 6 or 7 a.m. to do so. “Poetry has given me something that I'm passionate about and I get great pleasure from reading great poems,” Boyle said. “And I guess that’s what life is — trying to find as many things that give you an extraordinary amount of aesthetic pleasure. All great writing: short story, poem or novel is just what I’d prefer to be doing than washing dishes or grading papers.” Top 6 ways to beat the cold and stay warm as winter approaches David Turkel Reporter 1 Stay hydrated sweat away from your body, as wet clothes will make you colder. Clothes made from materials like polypropylene and silk are good for this purpose. Your outermost layer should be both water and wind-proof. than other parts of the body. Wearing a hat helps make the face and head less sensitive to these changes. A ski cap or another hat made specifically for winter is ideal, but any kind of hat will help to some degree. With the weather obviously colder in winter, some people think that they don’t need to drink as much as they do in the summer months. This is not the case. Even having an ice-cold drink can help you stay warm. According to Josh Baker, co-director of Colgate University’s outdoor education program, “Your body needs water to keep your blood pumping, and people tend to become dehydrated in the winter without knowing.” So even if you’re not thirsty, it’s still important to make sure you're constantly hydrating in the winter. 3 Exercise 5 Let the light in 2 Dress in layers the right way Wearing layers of clothes may seem like obvious advice for winter, but some ways of dressing in layers are more effective at keeping you warm than others. According to Anne Keisman of the National Wildlife Federation, wearing several layers of thin clothing will keep you warmer than wearing two or three layers of very thick clothing. Keisman also suggests your base layer of clothing (the layer closest to your body) should be made of a material that wicks P in addition to obvious health benefits, exercising is a great way to stay warm in winter. Exercise gets your blood pumping and circulating. Workouts can obviously be conducted inside, but for runners who are used to exercising outside, experts have a couple of suggestions. According to exercise physiologist Gordon Blackburn, muscles should be warmed up indoors and more extensively than in warm weather to reduce the possibility of a muscle pull. Orthopedist Dr. David Stone suggests that those who do want to exercise outside in winter set sensible goals, and encourages these people not to risk frostbite or other cold-related afflictions for the sake of a few extra minutes of working out. This tip is simple. During the day, open your blinds in order to let sunlight in and make your room warmer. At night, close your blinds to keep the cold out and trap the warmth your room accrued inside during the day 6 Keep the right mindset 4 Cover your head According to researchers at Indiana University, the face and head are more sensitive to changes in temperature Obviously, as the calendar flips from fall to winter, the weather will be objectively colder. But, approaching colder weather with a negative mindset can make you feel even colder. Distracting yourself from the cold with positive thoughts, such as pretending you’re at a beach, can keep your mind off of the cold and make you feel warmer. As long as you don’t let the cold beat you mentally, and you exercise, hydrate, dress appropriately for the weather and use whatever warmth you can to your advantage, you have a pretty good chance of dealing with winter weather successfully and most importantly, warmly. InfarnTatton frmi various sources ^ %. , ^ - .»S i
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