Etownian Issue 6 - October 29, 2009

One Alpha Drive • Elizabethtown, PA 17022-2298

October 29, 2009 • Volume 106, No. 6

On the Web: www.etownian.com

on campus

Health Services unable to administer H1N1 vaccine and Campus Health, said that due to certain constraints, “We do not have the required equipment available on campus.”

Spayd also said that the biggest concern among her colleagues at Health Services is that is in addition to the vaccine not being available on campus, “some students will not follow guidelines when ill because they don't want to miss class. They will put others at risk for infection, and one never knows who might be vulnerable for severe complications.”

The biggest misconception about the

Carrie M. Chase Staff Writer

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he days of swine flu and self-isolation may be over for the rest of the country, but not for the community of Elizabethtown College. During the week of Oct. 12, 2009, the vaccine for the H1N1 influenza became available for the nation.

However, Health Services will not be able to administer on campus the number one preventative step against H1N1.

According to Health Services, some of the most important ways to prevent swine flu include coughing into your sleeve, staying healthy and washing your hands frequently. However, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the best way to steer clear of swine flu is to get vaccinated. Sandy Spayd, Director of Student Wellness

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H1N1 influenza is that “there is a different course of illness than the seasonal influenza,” said Spayd. H1N1 is a different form of the flu and therefore requires a different vaccination. According to Health Services’ online Flu IQ test, the seasonal influenza and the H1N1 influenza are both “highly contagious respiratory diseases caused by a virus.”

According to the Health Services Web site, “Once the flu starts to spread, up to half the people in the community can become infected.”

An epidemic lasting four to six weeks could be devastating for a small community like Etown.

Health Services, as well as the rest of campus, has worked to avoid an outbreak in more ways than one. Health Services stresses the education component of preventing an epidemic by restricting those infected, including faculty and staff, to their homes. Dining Services has done its part in the war against H1N1 by installing the new hand washing station and the automatic hand sanitizer in the Marketplace.

According to the CDC, the first step for any person who has a flu-like illness is self-isolation for at least 24 hours after a fever is gone. For residential campuses, the CDC recommends that a “flu buddy system” should be established. The flu buddy system is a pair of students who care for one another when the other is sick. The buddy

Perspectives Dutch students talk about their experiences on campus and the differences from home.

Features, page 5

Where’s Campo?

Campus Security Blotter gives students the low down on what Campus Security is and what they are up to these days.

Campus Life, page 7

of the sick person will bring meals and watch after him or her. The idea behind this is that if the buddy of the sick person becomes sick, the friend who was originally ill can return the favor, having already beaten the strain.

As for the H1N1 influenza vaccine, among the published studies from Australia, Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, Canada is the only country to believe that the vaccine increases a person’s chance of becoming infected with the 2009 H1N1 flu virus.

Other countries have not reported whether or not the seasonal or the H1N1 influenza vaccines have had a negative effect on the risk of contracting the virus.

Spayd did say that even though the vaccine will not be available on campus, students, staff and faculty “should take the opportunity” to get vaccinated.

Spayd is following the Pennsylvania H1N1 influenza Web site to see if and where a vaccine site in our area will be available. She will send notification to the campus when she has any new or updated information.

Got Flu? Here are five questions the online Flu IQ assessment asks: 1. Did the illness come on abruptly?

2. Have you measured a temperature of 100° F or higher?

3. Do you have a runny nose/nasal congestion, cough or a sore throat?

4. Do you have body aches?

5. Is there any rash?

Images: thesun.co.uk, kindredmedia.com

Spooktacular Stories Winners of our spooky story stories unveiled. See who are the winners!

Centerfold, pages 8 & 9

Young Love Recollection of young teenage love in today’s society. Read about this experience.

Opinion, page 11

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news

the Etownian

October 29, 2009

in the nation

The

Jayd-ed edge

Rachel A. Marsteller News Editor Memorable trek An 88-year-old woman in Colorado Springs who walks laps around a nursing home in memory of her deceased husband has hit a major milestone: 10,000 miles.

Martha Michel walks daily around the lake at Namaste Alzheimer Center. She started walking around the lake with her husband Lester, who was a patient at the center.

After her husband’s death in 1998, Martha Michel kept up the walk in his memory.

The two were married 56 years and enjoyed hiking Colorado peaks until Lester became too sick. Martha keeps meticulous records of her walks around the lake, and Saturday she hit 10,000 miles. That’s about the equivalent of walking across the United States three times.

Skin crawling smuggling A man was arrested in Norway after trying to smuggle two dozen snakes and geckos into the country by hiding them under his clothes.

Customs agent Helge Breilid said Monday the 22-year-old Norwegian citizen was apprehended in the southern town of Kristiansand after getting off a ferry from Hirtshals, Denmark. He said the man had 14 royal pythons and 10 albino leopard geckos under his clothes.

Breilid said the non-venomous snakes — the smallest species in the python family — were hidden in stockings duct-taped to the man’s abdomen. The geckos were in boxes taped to his thighs.

Customs officials found the reptiles, which are not endangered, Sunday during a search following the discovery of a tarantula in one of the man’s bags.

Strange spill Police say a truck loaded with sides of beef overturned on the Massachusetts Turnpike, leaving meat strewn along the highway by a toll plaza.

State police say the chainreaction crash happened at about 2:30 a.m. Monday at a toll booth in Weston, about 15 miles west of Boston.

Sgt. Michael Popovics said a truck carrying tomatoes was stopped at a cash-only lane when a car and two other trucks approached from behind. The last truck in line — the one carrying the beef — struck a third truck carrying plastic foam cups.

Compiled from myway.com.

Volunteerism spikes among Americans Amanda Shepherd Staff Writer

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ere at Elizabethtown College, the motto is “educate for service,” meaning that it is important to Etown students to give back to the community in any way. There is a whole world out there that needs help, but is it realistic to think that students can make a difference outside of their tiny community between classes, homework and occasional recreational activities? Wouldn't it be nice to find a way to improve the world without taking away what little free time available in our hectic lives?

People say that some things are as easy as clicking a button, but there is no way making a difference in the world could be that simple, right? Well, it is, according to the new charity Web site, BettertheWorld. com (www.bettertheworld.com/home).

This Web site was launched Feb. 12, 2009 by the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. The major idea behind the Web site is that raising money for charities really can be as simple as clicking a button, or, as they put it, “Raise money for your cause by simply surfing the Web.” It is free to join Better the World, and there are currently 5,294 members from Canada, the United States and other countries. According to a table on the home page of the site reading “our impact so far,” Better the World has worked with 115 projects and has thus far raised $7,762.

So how does it work? Once a member of Better the World, one only has to choose a charity to support, download the Better the World tools, and then proceed to surf the Web as usual. The Better the World tools are Sidebar & Blog Widgets for bloggers or a standard sidebar that seamlessly integrates into the Microsoft Internet System, Explorer and Mozilla Firefox, so downloading the tools is simple and manageable. Once the sidebar is set up, money is raised when members

view socially — and environmentally-conscious advertisements on the sidebar. But these ads are not pop ups that will trash your computer. Each time a member views such an ad, its respective company will donate to a charity. There are several different types of ads that will appear, such as promotions for corporations, social products and services that are selected by members’ interests (judged by the charities for which members chose to raise money) and ads that are not for profit, which align with and support values of the members. The bottom line is this: the more ads clicked, the more money raised for the chosen charity.

Top 10 Voluntourism Opportuntieis 1) i-to-i 2) Voluntourism.com 3) Cheaptickets.com with the United Way 4) Sierra Club 5) International Volunteer Program Association 6) Volunteerabroad.com 7) United Nation’s World Volunteer Web 8) Earthwatch Institute 9) responsibletravel.com 10) CIEE Compiled from about.com.

According to Better the World, a recent survey by Giving & Volunteering reported that 71 percent of people who did not give to charities said that the only reason they did not donate more was because they could not afford it.

However, with Better the World, people who want to make a difference can do so without feeling guilty that they can’t give more money. On the Web site, there is no cost to their charity partners, and the fundraising is monitored by their supporters. Better the World is an easy

way for everyone, including busy college students, to help charities because it allows people to raise money for their chosen charity while surfing the Internet. There are several organizations that members can choose to support through Better the World, and there are currently 12 charity partners working with Better the World as well as 28 different causes that members can support. Some of these causes include 5 Days for The Homeless, Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research, the Children’s Miracle Network, Habitat for Humanity, Trickle UP, the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, The United Way, War Child, World Wildlife Fund, TakingITGlobal and many more.

Better the World also offers the option for its members to donate money directly by contributing to charity projects. Some examples of these projects include War Child's opportunity for members to buy one shovel, one spade and one digger for a school-building site, or Lewa Wildlife Conservancy’s opportunity for members to buy 20 tins of milk to feed an orphaned rhino for a month.

Whether a member raises money through surfing the Web or by directly donating money or time to charity projects, BettertheWorld.com provides ways for people to make a difference in their community the world. Better the World is an innovative way for people to raise money, but just how much money goes directly to charity? Charities directly receive 90 percent of funds raised by members, with only 10 percent going to the actual Web site. According to Kristen Petri for Better the World, the 10 percent is used to “pay our staff, keep lights on, etc.”

Petri reported that their Web site would love the support of students here at Etown and that there are several projects that she thought would interest students.

After all, here at Etown, service is valued, and Better the World shows us that providing service for others really is as easy as clicking a button.

in the community

Into the Streets blasts away problems

Photos: Sharon N. Shericks

Into the Steets was an event in which many students participated, all helping Elizabethtown community to be a better place. Occupational therapy and Senate were just a few of the organizations to help out.

news

October 29, 2009

the Etownian

on campus

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Home for the Holidays more expensive this year Kristen N. Lacaillade Staff Writer

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hances are you know someone on Elizabethtown’s campus who is not from Pennsylvania. In fact, a large number of students on campus are from out-of-state. Do you ever wonder how these students get home for the holidays? Some take their own cars, a train or a bus, but if you live quite a distance away from campus, your best bet is to fly.

Flying has become so restricted ever since 9/11 that it is virtually impossible to make it through airport security and onto your flight in the amount of time that it used to take. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), in conjunction with numerous airline companies, now recommend arriving at the airport for your flight at least of two hours in advance, and that’s just for a regular flight. Want to fly during the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, perhaps?

Plan on arriving to your airport upward of three hours ahead of your scheduled flight departure.

The security measures the TSA is taking this holiday season will be tight, so plan on waiting a while, but be sure not to lose your cool or else you may not be getting on your flight at all.

A recent article was released by MSNBC citing the “10 tips to beat the airport security line.” Number one on their list: liquids. According to spokesperson Sterling Payne of the TSA, “[liquids] are probably the biggest thing slowing down security lines.” TSA regulations state that any liquids in your carry-on baggage cannot be larger than 3.4 ounces. If

e t a n e S s t e p Snip T

his past week, Senate has been busy preparing for Trick or Treat 2009, which will take place tonight from 6 to 9 p.m. on the walkway between Steinman and the High Library. More than 20 student groups and sports teams signed up to meet the Elizabethtown community.

Additionally, Senate has scheduled another Off Campus Meeting this evening from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Elizabethtown borough’s Chief of Police, Liquor Control Enforcement representatives and the Director of Public Affairs will be present to field student questions and concerns. All are welcome to attend, as this meeting is the next step in working toward better relations with the Etown community.

As for long-term projects, students can check out the upcoming Body Shop improvements diagram on the Senate bulletin board in the mail room. These additions will be implemented in the coming weeks, and questions can be directed to the Office of the Dean of Students.

at all possible, you should pack any and all liquids you will not need on the flight in your checked baggage. MSNBC’s also suggests empty your pockets of keys, cell phones and loose change before getting to the front of the security line. We’ve all seen it: People are given ample time to empty their pockets before they reach the conveyor belt — or even the metal detector — but they wait until the last minute to do so, which holds everyone else up. Small errors like these can be easily avoided and save everyone behind you a ton of time.

A third helpful tip for college students, provided by the TSA, is to frequently monitor your checkpoint security timing. Each security checkpoint in an airport has lines in differing time lengths. Numerous cell phone applications exist nowadays that allow us to see the time it takes to get through each of these checkpoints so we can plan accordingly. Applications such as TSAwait on the iPhone or TripCase for Blackberrys, are easy, inexpensive ways to make our travel experiences more relaxed and less stressful.

First-year student Nick Swartzwelder comes to Elizabethtown from Chapel Hill, N.C. Over the past fall break, Swartzwelder flew to Charlotte, N.C., from Harrisburg International Airport and then drove home. Swartzwelder had a few suggestions for his fellow out-of-state students embarking on a trip home this Thanksgiving, “double checking your bags is always helpful, and definitely don’t overpack. You could run into serious fees if your bag is over a certain weight.”

In the end, all we really want to do is get home and spend time with family and friends.

Being away from home is never easy, and being prepared ensures that nothing can get in the way of spending quality time with the ones we love. Going home is also an extreme breath of fresh air from the sometimes-stressful atmosphere of college life. With these tips and more, we can all make not only our own airport experiences, but our also those of fellow travelers, shorter so we can all get to our final destinations more smoothly .

in the nation

Unexpected pregnancies researched Victoria K. Kamouh Staff Writer

fective in many cases. According to the Wall Street Journal, it is unrealistic to believe that teens will not have sex and that programs need to teach that abstinence is the best choice, but contraception is needed if they do choose to engage in sexual activity.

“We have to look at all sides of this issue and certainly cannot just focus on abstinence-only sex education,” professor of social work Dr. Margaret McFarland said. “These programs have

and location of residence. The project tries to determine the most common thoughts and fears individuals experiave you or someone you know ence when seeking help during this been affected by teen or untime in their lives. According to Masplanned pregnancy? terpiece Marketing’s press release Oct. May 7, 2009, President Obama 6, 2009, entitled “President Obama’s proposed approximately $164 million Call Addresses When Local Research for a new teen pregnancy prevention Project Asks: Has An Unexpected initiative. This drive provides grants Pregnancy Changed Your Life?,” it for evidence-based programs, research also analyzes other circumstances, and evaluation. including what resources are consulted According to Sarah for advice or information, such as Brown, CEO of The friends, family, counseling services National Campaign or even the Internet. Also important to Prevent Teen and is the role the father plays in making Unplanned Pregnancy, decisions about the pregnancy. In during an economic the Masterpiece Marketing survey, downturn and at a time questions concerning the father when the teen birth rate figure focus around the relationship is on the rise after 14 the mother had with him before the straight years of decline, pregnancy and the role the father has it is particularly imporin the decision-making – if he helped tant that public dollars with the decision, if he had no input be devoted to those inImage: birthcontrolbuzz.com or if the decision was made against terventions that have The Obama administration allocated $164 the father – and whether or not the evidence of success. million to a new teen pregnancy prevention father will be helping to raise the child.

“This plan is allocat- inititive. Teen birth rates are on the rise again “Obama’s focus on the issue of the ing government money after 14 straight years of decline. absent father is important because we toward researching and finding been successful with delaying first know how much impact fathers have innovative solutions for a national sexual experiences, but we still need in the lives of their children,” McFarproblem that has been occurring to increase contraceptive use to reduce land said. “The teen mothers and their for years,” junior social work major teen pregnancy.” families often carry the responsibility Liz DiLeonardi said. “Today’s young The Obama administration is fund- of raising the children without the people are completely different from ing a research project through Mas- benefit of a father figure. We need to those of the past, and new methods terpiece Marketing, an independent focus more on the male’s role in this must be found that effectively reach research firm located in Lancaster, Pa. issue of teen pregnancy.” out to this population.”

This undertaking looks into the If you are or have been affected by Abstinence-only programming will journey that a young woman may take this in the past 10 years and would take up to 25 percent of the budget. when she finds out she is unexpectedly like to participate in this secure, conThe main goal of these programs is pregnant for the purpose of being able fidential survey or would like more to encourage students not to have sex to help others who might face this information call the Masterpiece Reand does not talk about contraception, same situation in the future. The re- search phone line at (717) 735-3957, except to indicate its failings. However, search project looks at demographics ext. 2, or visit the Web site at www. plans like this one have proven inef- such as age, race, pregnancy outcome masterpieceresearch.org.

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features

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profiles • monthly series • campus events

October 29, 2009 town events • facts & figures• business

educational series

Films, panels promote environmental consciousness Melanie R. Giardina Assistant Photography Editor

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t’s 8 a.m. For most Americans, that means waking up, taking a shower, brushing your teeth, running out the door to Starbucks and filling your tank before heading to the office. This is a typical American morning; while most would look at this scenario as completely normal, others would ask themselves — how much water did I waste this morning? Did I recycle that Starbucks cup?

Sustainability and Hope at Elizabethtown College works to bring to light some of the environmental issues plaguing the planet while simultaneously working toward giving people the hope that these issues will be resolved and that we will live in an environmentally-aware society.

The program consists of panels discussing possible solutions and various movies highlighting different ways we affect the environment.

“We are demanding so much of the earth. How can the earth give it back?”

Tom Hagan, professor of biochemistry and one of the coordinators of Sustainability and Hope, said.

According to Hagan, the U.S. is responsible for using 25 to 30 percent of the worlds fossil fuels. This gives Americans the responsibility to develop solutions for how to sustain our planet when non renewable resources are all but depleted.

We need to maintain a proper balance between what we use and what we give back.

The panels discuss not only different issues that are relevant in the environment but also how different fields other than biology can be applied to help sustain our planet. Engineering and the environment was one of the topics discussed during the Oct. 14 panel.

“We’re not going anywhere focusing on the negative. We have to focus on

the positive things we can do,” Amanda Vaine, a sophomore elementary education major, said. Vaine is also a member of the Elizabethtown College Environmental Group (ECEG).

ECEG, has also taken an active role in helping to promote the series. She has participated in the Oct. 14 panel discussion and will introduce the upcoming movie “Addicted to Plastic” Nov. 3.

“I am hoping that people will realize that doing little things such as using reusable water bottles and grocery bags, taking shorter showers, recycling paper and plastic or no longer using them can have a huge impact, especially when everyone does them,” Duelfer said.

Vaine and Duelfer are part of the Sustainability and Hope series because they both believe that the world needs to focus on learning more about conseres.com ogleimag image:go vation and sustaining our planet for Vaine states that all generations to come. colleges should be aware of their in“I think society as a whole needs to stitution’s impact on the environment reexamine their values and realize it is and work toward shrinking their own necessary to protect the environment, ecological footprint. decrease carbon dioxide emissions and Vaine has attended ECEG meetings reduce consumerism,” Duelfer said. as well as participated in Sustainability The Sustainability and Hope series and Hope. For her, the best part of the will take place at various times this series is being surrounded by people semester and will hopefully be carried who are passionate about the environ- over into the spring semester. Be sure ment and the topics that are being not to miss the next part of the series: discussed in the films. a showing of “Addicted to Plastic” and Junior Jessica Duelfer, environ- “China: From Red to Green” Tuesday, mental science major and president of Nov. 10.

on campus

Ode to the ‘90s: Halloween costumes spark nostalgia Patricia A. Cangelosi Assistant Copy Editor

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ver see a Halloween costume that takes you right back to childhood? Despite the many differences among Etown students, we all share common memories of growing up in the ‘90s. The shows, movies and other elements of pop culture that we know and love bring us together. The end of October is a perfect time to reflect on this as we remember — and imagine — Halloween costumes that evoke nostalgia for the old days.

Junior Jess Roberts recalled an outfit she wore as a little girl. “My favorite costume was when I was Jasmine [from Disney’s ‘Aladdin’],” she said, noting that it was the closest she ever came to dating Aladdin. “I used to watch that movie all the time growing up.

It’s my favorite movie, even to this day,” she said.

First-year Alexa Cordaro agreed. “As a child, I loved Dis-

ney, and I still do,” she said. Her favorite Disney character is Belle from “Beauty and the Beast.” Seeing someone in a Belle costume would bring back joyful memories for Cordaro.

“I recently saw a kid dressed as Belle,” junior Jess Mathews said, echoing Cordaro’s sentiment. “I know it’s common, but it makes me happy to see that old school Disney is still popular.”

Aside from Disney characters, Etown students also remember the television shows that captured our hearts as young children. “ M a y b e w e need to go retro,” sophomore Dan Silver s a i d . “ We n e e d t o bring back the oldies but goodies, like ‘Barney and Friends’ and ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’”.

Silver pointed out that he doesn’t think people are as creative with Halloween costumes as they can be.

For instance, he and his girlfriend are dressing as Danny and Sandy from the movie and mu s i c a l “G r e a s e” images: googleimages.com this year.

“What about [Nickelodeon’s] ‘Rugrats’?” Silver said. “I’d love to see Tommy Pickles or a pair of twins (or even a couple) could be Phil and Lil.” He also suggested a Disney theme with an added twist: “Maybe a girl goes as the Beast. Maybe a guy goes as Belle.”

“I want to see someone be the pink [Power] Ranger this year,” senior Mike Mauger said, “or the ultimate would be someone as Arnold from [Nickelodeon’s] ‘Hey Arnold!’ I feel like that would just b e an inconvenience at a party.”

Mauger also suggested people go as “the whole cast of [Nickelodeon’s] ‘Doug’, including his alter ego, Quailman.”

Junior Kerry Weber would be thrilled to see someone dressed as Nemo from the movie “Finding Nemo.” “It reaches to my inner child,” she said.

Though Etown students all have different interests, passions and goals for the future, it is our past that truly unites us. We grew up with the TV shows and movies that shaped a decade — and our childhoods.

features

October 29, 2009

time for theater!

the Etownian

5

‘The Memorandum’: like ‘Office Space,’ but on E(town) Erin M. Hensel Staff Writer

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f you loved watching “Office Space,” you’ll probably get a kick out of “The Memorandum,” the Obie Award-winning dark comedy by Václav Havel.

One of the best-known playwrights from the Czech Republic, Havel wrote and produced “The Memorandum” in the 1960s as a political protest.

Although the play is based on Havel’s own experiences in communist-controlled Czechoslovakia, the dramatic office situation and language complications depicted in the play can be related to workplaces and organizations around the world.

In “The Memorandum,” the audience witnesses the struggle of Josef Gross, the managing director of a nameless organization, as he attempts to preserve his authority in the face of office spies, secret codes, hidden motives and a whole mountain of red tape.

Gross discovers that a new system of communication has been introduced to his workplace, an artificial language known as Ptydepe (pronounced “Peh-tie-deep”). Ptydepe is supposed to simplify inter-office communication by making messages clearer and removing any emotional connotations,

and only Gross has been left out of the loop. As the play progresses, Ptydepe leads to more problems for everyone involved. Gross gets demoted, and nobody can figure out what’s really going on or who is pulling the strings of power in the office.

him. The committee thought it was “funny and relevant,” and it seemed like the right time to produce the play.

Swanson pointed out that although “The Memorandum” is funny, it’s certainly a dark comedy. “When you catch yourself laughing during this play,” Swan-

Ethan Shearer, a first-year who plays Josef Gross, said, “It’s funny because of how ridiculous it is, but there is truth in it. It’s not so absurd that it wouldn’t happen, and that’s why it’s a dark comedy.”

Despite the lack of fluffy humor, the cast seems to enjoy the play, and only one problem stands out in their minds. Senior Ian Pape, one of the lead actors, says that “The Memorandum” is most challenging because of the difficult language. “I can handle Shakespeare better than this,” Pape said.

Shearer agreed, saying “It’s a very wordy show, but that’s part of what makes it interesting.”

Swanson also mentioned the importance of the language in “The Memorandum,” commenting, “It’s a play about language doing the opposite of what’s intended.

Photo: Matthew P. Butera It’s a failure to communicate.”

Ethan Shearer (left, playing Josef Gross) is confronted by Kyle “The complex language is Kovatch (middle, playing Viktor Kubs) and Ian Pape (right, being made fun of,” Shearer playing Balas) during a penultimate dress rehearsal of “The added. Shearer also said that Memorandum” Tuesday. The play opens to the public tonight. judging by “the reactions of the tech crew, who haven’t seen this Dr. Michael Swanson, the son said, “you might also say, play before. They were laughing. play’s director, submitted “The ‘Why am I laughing at that?’ This They were definitely following Memorandum” for consider- play is not uplifting or celebratory the plot.” “The cast believes that ation to the selection committee and, it’s not the kind of things we many people could enjoy this this year. Swanson said he has often laugh about. There is defi- production because of the huwanted to produce this play nitely unpleasant stuff happening mor, and Pape described “The since reading it in graduate in this company, and at the end of Memorandum” as “Office Space” school, and he finally found a the play, you’d be hard-pressed to on crack.” committee who agreed with say it was a happy ending.”

The production process

went smoothly, according to Stage Manager junior Beth Lewis. This is her third production, and it was relatively easy to pull together. “The biggest issue was smoking,” Lewis said. The script called for smoking by the characters, but lighting anything inside a campus building is illegal. The only solution was to purchase electric cigarettes, although “this was a problem because of the budget cut,” Lewis said.

However, the production team managed to put together the set and necessary props without much difficulty.

Overall, Swanson said that “The Memorandum” should be a good experience for anyone who attends. “Our goal includes educating the campus community,” he said, and he hopes that the humor will be the “spoonful of sugar” that helps attendees absorb the deeper, more serious messages of the play. Havel’s play is a communist protest work with a dark and dangerous background, but it offers a universal message and humor that can appeal to everyone.

“The Memorandum” will be performed Oct. 29-31 and Nov. 5-6 and 8th at the Tempest Theatre. Tickets are $6 and can be reserved by either calling 717-361-1170 or e-mailing BOXOFFICE@etown.edu.

international perspectives

Hallo, Amerika: Dutch explore cities, cuisine, culture Kelly J. Clayton Staff Writer

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t is the texting that is the biggest difference [between America and Holland],” first-year Max Mol said. Mol is an international student from the Netherlands who is studying this year at Elizabethtown College.

The four international students from the Netherlands who came to Etown in the summer all agree that Americans text a lot, and that college students are the absolute worst at face-to-face communication.

“At home in Holland I would use about 200 texts a month, but here in America I use more than 200 in a week,” first-year Fleur Mommersteeg said. Texting is one of the many contrasts between Holland and America, but it was these cultural differences that attracted these students to America in the first place, and motivated them to study here.

So why America? Why Etown? First-year students Mol, Mommersteeg, Joya Jansen and Jeroen Hooijboer all agreed that they wanted to study in America for the on-campus experience. Although Jansen and Hooijboer had v i s i t e d the States before, they knew that studying abroad in America after high school was just the right choice for them. Mol and Mommersteeg, who had never been to America, heard great reviews from friends and family who went and knew for sure they would love it.

“At home, we don’t go away to college; we just go to school during the day and come home after classes. There is no campus or roommates, so America is completely opposite from what we have,” Mommersteeg said.

“I wanted to have a roommate, and live on campus and

get a fresh start,” Hooijboer said. “Etown looked nice, and people had lots of compliments about it, and since I got a good scholarship I decided to come here.”

The Dutch students say it was the energetic atmosphere that drew them into spending an entire year on the Blue Jay campus. With local colleges such as Juniata and Arcadia as options for them to attend, they all agreed that they heard the best things about Etown.

“It was definitely a good choice, and I would definitely come back,” Jansen said.

Through the International Club and SWEET trips they, have seen a great deal of the East Coast, including New York City and Washington D.C. “America is a country of extremes; they have very rich people and very poor people,” Mol said.

“Also, America is very big. The people are big, and the cities are bigger.”

Despite all the things they like about America, the Dutch students all agree that the worst part about America is the food. In comparison to the food in Holland, they say that Americans have larger portions and sweets on everything. “Foods that should be fresh don’t taste it, and the coffee is bad,” Mol said. However, all of them say that America is wonderful overall, and the people at Etown are the best part.

All agreed it is very easy to make friends on campus because everyone is friendly and enthusiastic. “When you walk by someone, they will say ‘Hi, how are you?’ and they genuinely care about you,” Mommersteeg said. “In Holland we care, but we’re not as forward about it.”

Since the people at Etown have made their experience so positive, they are not quite ready to go home to Holland yet.

“Etown rocks because it is just awesome,” Jansen said.

“I am having a lot fun and meeting lots of great people.”

Hooijboer couldn’t agree more with Jansen.“I like being here because it is a great experience and I am meeting lots of new friends,” he said.

Mol is thankful for America for something different than friends and the experience: he is thankful for the unhealthy food. “Thanks America! I might gain some weight,” he said.

“I’m very happy to be here. I’ve met a lot of great people; Etown is fantastic,” Mommersteeg said.

Our Dutch friends are all very happy to be in America and are looking forward to traveling to more cities, meeting new people and having Courtesy Photo fun while being at Etown. “I feel at home here,” This year’s Dutch students get a leg up on Philadelphia.

From left to right, they are: Fleur Mommersteeg, Joya Mol said.

“And I can’t wait to come back!”

Jansen, Jeroen Hooijboer and Max Mol.

6

the Etownian

campus life

movies • music • television • humor • travel

October 29, 2009

lifestyles • arts • advice • college issues

trick-or-treat

Why no one likes candy corn: the true story

Kara M. Luzik Staff Writer

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hosts, princesses, pirates and lions scurry up and down the streets clutching plastic pumpkins and pillowcases at their sides.

They run from house to house knocking on doors and ringing doorbells. Their goal is simple: collect as much candy as humanly possible in one night.

Trick-or-treating has been a tradition in America since the 1850s and is still going strong today. Over half of all Americans will be handing out candy to trickor-treaters this Halloween, according to the National Confectioners Association (NCA).

Any store selling candy is stocked up this time of year with just about anything a sweet tooth desires. With this selection, trickor-treaters are sure to have a wide variety of candies at the end of their quest.

“For a lot of adults, the candies they give out mean something to them,” Dr. Bryan Greenberg, Associate Professor of Marketing, said. Most adults will give trickor-treaters their or their children’s favorite candy.”

For example, Greenberg said he would never buy Skittles because they just don’t resonate with him.

He loves anything with peanut butter, especially Butterfingers, but he also has a sweet spot for Fun Dip. “There’s no better candy than sugar being dipped into sugar,” he said.

In her trick-or-treating days, sophomore Chelsea Decker looked forward to houses that gave out SweeTARTs. She would take as many as the adult with the candy basket allowed and then resort to the seasonally accepted “trick.” “I would steal them from my brother when he wasn’t looking,” she said.

“There are different ways we become attached to brands,” Greenberg said. These include our personal experiences using brands and experiences watching others, like parents or older siblings using brands.

“It is very powerful when you take a product and a holiday that both carry sentiments and connect them to each other,” Greenberg said. [For example] fruitcake has become the unofficial mascot of Christmas celebrations. “People don’t love it,” he said, “but it has memories, so they buy it.”

It’s the same concept with candy corn. “If people liked candy corn that much, they’d eat it all year long,” he said.

Greenberg pointed out Hershey’s attempt to modernize the

triangular bites of orange, yellow, and white colored sugar. The candy corn kiss attempted to modernize the old favorite by bringing it together with Hershey’s Kisses.

Candy corn is the most popular Halloween candy, according to a list published by the Ponte Vedra Recorder. The traditional treat is followed by Twix, Snickers, KitKat and Starburst. Other popular candies include Mary Janes and Tootsie Rolls.

The NCA released its own yearly list of the most popular types of Halloween candy.

Chocolate prevailed in their 2009 survey, with hard candy and lollipops coming in a close behind.

Chewy and gummy candies like Starburst were listed third, followed by bubble gum. Last on the list were caramel treats, such as Sugar Daddies and Cowtails.

Of course, Halloween also has a gruesome side, and some candies have fought their way onto the market by embracing it. Next time you think you see a little kid (or your roommate) eating his boogers, don’t be alarmed.

He may be chowing down on Box of Boogers, a gummy candy that boasts the look and feel of real boogers.

Box of Boogers and four other candies made it onto Houston

Press’s list of the creepiest Halloween candies. At the top of the list were Spooky Nerds. These sugary bites are given a Halloween twist in orange and white colors. For those of you with a sensitive gag reflex, the rest of these candies may be hard to stomach. Gummy Body Parts in the shapes of fingers and feet came in second, and Zit Poppers (gummies filled with liquid) were third on the list. Rounding out the list at number five are Scaba-Roni, peel-and-eat gummy scabs and scars.

Many parents are cautious of their children’s Halloween candy and inspect it before their kids dig in. “My mom would always make sure none of my candy was open before I was allowed to eat it,” sophomore Sean Duetsch said.

Other parents make sure to avoid the past Halloween sugar high. “My parents would always ration our candy,” Decker said. “We didn’t get to finish it until Christmas.”

The rationing works because candy has a long shelf life, especially candy corn. Opened candy corn can last from three to six months while an unopened bag can last up to nine months, prolonging the Halloween experience well into the year.

campus life

October 29, 2009

movie review

Haunted nightmares abound Ross M. Benincasa Assistant Campus Life Editor

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hat do you get when you take a tired idea for a horror movie, a handheld camera and young, no-name actors? If you answered “The Blair Witch Project” you’d be correct. Now what if I told you that it was so scary it could keep you clutching your sheets through the entirety of the night? Stumped? Well, then say hello to this year’s Halloween blockbuster, “Paranormal Activity.”

The movie, written and directed by Oren Peli, was filmed entirely in less than a week on Peli’s personal budget of under $15,000. It follows Micah (Micah Sloat) and Katie (Katie Featherston), a couple in their 20s, as they attempt to cope with the haunting of demons inside their new, southern California home.

Katie, always speculative about the mysterious occurrences in her life, becomes increasingly worried as she moves in with Micah and odd, paranormal events begin to happen during the night.

However, Katie’s curiosity is equally matched by Micah’s witty sarcasm and his realistic, technology-centered viewpoints. He decides to film their daily routine, therefore bringing us “Paranormal Activity.” The aftermath of this decision brings more than they bargained for in a fight for survival against demonic forces.

Coming into the movie, viewers can be skeptical, due to the low budget, or overwhelmed by the amount of positive reviews. Many viewers claim they experienced sheer terror as a result of it. I was impressed by the film’s apparent immediate growth. For example, the first week the film was released, it was only viewed in 12 theaters nationwide, but still took in over $60,000 more than its production value. By week five, the movie was in nearly 2,000 theaters

across the country and had taken in a total of $62.4 million, or about 4,165 times the amount used to produce it.

Although “Paranormal Activity” may not make it on the same list as top horror movies such as “The Shining” and “Silence of the Lambs,” it certainly impressed, and did its job by making for an unsettled night’s sleep.

Unlike “The Blair Witch Project, where the film style simply made viewers nauseous, the use of a personal camcorder is what gave this “Paranormal Activity” its eerie feeling. From beginning to end, you feel like you are watching someone’s home movie, and not an actual film production.

The only sense of opening credit is a short blurb, thanking both the police department as well as their families. It then cuts immediately into the camcorder’s video. It also simply fades to black, with no ending credits or any mention of a production company. In addition, to enhance the true story vibe, the filmmakers decided not to change the characters’ names from the actors’ own names, making the film feel more like the actors’ own home movie.

When a film like this comes along, it is hard to commend the director on a job well done when most of the movie’s quality attributes were brought about by the actors. However, this film is certainly one of the most brilliantly marketed movies I have ever seen.

The film’s executives chose to stick to the Internet and word of mouth, and produced a trailer that only consisted of audience reactions.

It left a lot of mystery surrounding the movie but also created plenty of buzz. It is certainly a one-of-a-kind film and is definitely worth checking out in theaters; a movie like this wouldn’t have the same effect on the small screen.

the Etownian

7

• Sunday, two opposing intramural football players collided during a game on Wolf Field. Although an ambulance was not called, both players were brought to the hospital, one sustaining a head injury, and the other a facial injury.

• There have been many mechanical problems lately, especially among the residence halls, stemming from the heating and cooling systems. This is often due to the lack of air conditioning within buildings now.

• Fire alarms were set off this week within Myer Residence Hall due to a student cooking in the first floor kitchen. No fire was found.

• A student called Campus Security due to scratching sounds at her door. Originally, it was thought to be an animal in the ducts, but it was simply a poster swinging in the hallway.

• Environmental Services cleaned vomit from two locations within Ober Residence Hall this week, one in a first floor bathroom, and the other on the back porch.

• A noise complaint was filed against Schreiber Quads D1-D4 this past week. All students were cooperative and simply headed back inside.

• Oct. 23, Campus Security was called to Founders to investigate a possible stench of marijuana within the building. No marijuana was found, and it was believed to simply be a resident’s air freshener.

• So far this year, Campus Security has made 26 transports to the Penn State Hershey Medical Group on Chestnut Street by many of which are due to flulike symptoms.

beauty column

Buyer beware: look out for these in future purchases Lindsay D. Goldsmith Staff Writer

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any companies advertise their products, such as L’Oreal’s new EverPure collection, to be free of chemicals such as parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate and a whole slew of others that are equally unpronounceable. Unfortunately, this leads many of us to ask: what the heck is propylene gylcol, and why should I care if it’s in my shampoo? The scary thing is that you should.

To start off we’ve got parabens. You can find them in basically any beauty product from concealer to conditioner.

They are used as a preservative so that the product you are using lasts longer. At this point you are probably thinking, “Hurray for parabens! Can I give some to my boyfriend?” What most companies don’t tell you is that parabens mimic the natural hormone estrogen.

So why is that a problem? Aside from the possibility of allergic reactions, giving your body more estrogen than it needs can cause mood swings, weight gain and, worst of all, higher risk for breast cancer. That’s right, your favorite moisturizer that makes your skin so soft and smells so good can give you cancer. Is it really worth it? I don’t think so ­­— and neither do a lot of companies.

Victoria’s Secret recognized the harm of parabens, and its PINK line started making lotions that are completely paraben-free. To top it off, the products are made with natural, organic,and 100 percent vegan (no animal by-products) ingredients ,and they smell amazing! The line includes body lotion, sugar scrubs, hand cream, refresher spray (great for those mornings after late-night partying when you don’t feel like showering before breakfast), soap, body lotion, shave cream and all-over body mist.

As if this wasn’t great enough, the products are also affordable for college students ranging from $5-15.

So go ahead, ladies — think PINK! The next bad guy in the lineup? Sodium lauryl sulfate. It’s usually one of the first things you see in the ingredient list on your shampoo (which, by the way, means that it is the largest ingredient. As you go down the list of ingredients on beauty products, the amount in the product decreases).

Sodium lauryl sulfate, also known as SLS, is used in shampoos as a cleanser and to make them foam up and get sudsy, bringing to mind glamorous images of Mitzi Gaynor in 1958’s South Pacific with an inchthick layer of bubbly shampoo on her head, washing that man right out of her hair. SLS is used because it is inexpensive, but I’ll leave it up to you to decide if the lower price point is worth the drawbacks.

First off, SLS was originally intended to remove

grease and oil from surfaces, so when you put in on your hair, it strips out all the natural leaving it dry and fragile. Aren’t shampoos and conditioners supposed to moisturize and help hair? Not if they have SLS in them, which almost every shampoo you find on the shelves at Giant or CVS does.

Second, when you use a facial cleanser with SLS in it, which is true of most, what do you think it’s doing to your face?

It’s not only removing the natural oils that your body makes to protect your skin, but it’s also causing an imbalance in moisture levels in your skin, making it susceptible to any other negative ingredients that might be in anything you put on your face.

What’s worse? All that imbalance and damage to your skin causes breakouts — the last thing any girl wants. So how does it make sense that something supposed to help clear your skin of breakouts is causing them? The answer is simple: companies want to save money, and SLS is cheap.

Thankfully, L’Oreal Paris’ EverPure line is sulfate-free and very affordable, and many more companies are realizing the harmful effects of parabens and SLS and removing them from their products.

Burt’s Bees makes all of its products this way, and, although they are slightly more expensive (about $8 for a bottle of shampoo and about $9 for a facial cleanser), isn’t your health worth it?

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campus life

the Etownian

October 29, 2009

on campus

Midterm meltdown? Learning Services to the rescue!

William J. Blatchley Staff Writer

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ith the first half of the semester gone so fast and midterms upon us, students’ stress levels are off the charts as they become bogged down with work.

From projects to papers, pop quizzes to hours of homework, it does not seem possible for students to catch a break from the grueling schoolwork professors dish out these days. With such a cloudy outlook, Learning Services provides a ray of light for students.

“Learning Services operates under a support service model for academic assistance through peer tutors and peer writing consultants to assist full-time students with their coursework,” said Tammie Longsderff, assistant director of Learning Services.

Learning Services creates a relaxed atmosphere for all students, no matter what their situation, and it is there to help out with all kinds of problems. Students can use Learning Services as a “study buddy” to prepare and review for tests or to finish homework. All tutors received an A in their appointed classes and came highly recommended by the instructor.

Learning Services also provides writing consultants who assist students throughout the whole or part of the writing process. This can include selecting a topic, outlining or citing a paper, correcting grammar and sentence structure or just reviewing the paper before the student submits it in class.

Learning Services can be a place for quiet study time as well.

It offers small study rooms that

students can use if they need to a tutor. They are trained and get away from the hustle and begin tutoring immediately. bustle of their dorms. Learning “There is a lot of preparation Services also provides reading and planning to implement tumaterial that encourages students toring services. We work very to practice better study habits and hard to complete all sessions time management skills to become requested for every day,” Longsmore efficient in test preparation. derff said. “This means that Learning Services is available requesting a tutor does require to all full-time students. While some future planning on the it takes a few days to match students with the best tutor for their needs, Learning Services is extremely easy to use. Students may come to the Learning Services’ tutor sign-up board located inside the Photo: Tyler Drolet front door. StuJunior Katie Diamond works as a tutor for dents may email Learning Services, where she offers help in Learning Sergroups or one-on-one for science classes. vices (LEARNINGSERVICES@etown.edu) or part of the student requesting call (717) 361-1185. When making tutoring services.” a request, please include your As for those pesky early warnname, course number and name, ings, Learning Services looks to professor, dates and times you extend a helpful hand. Learning are available and a main phone Services contacts all students number. Specific tutors can also who receive two or more warnbe requested. ings to let them know what aid Learning Services will con- is available. tact the class’ tutors, along While underclassmen are with the professor, to see when worried about their classes for tutors are available to comply upcoming semesters, seniors with your request. If there have something else on their are no tutors for that class minds: jobs. Luckily, Etown also or professor, the professor is provides something for that. contacted to recommend a Career Services exists to help student who has excelled in students plan their futures. the course. That student is then Whether one is trying to contacted and asked if he or decide on a major, find a job or she would be willing to become internship, plan a career or find

graduate school, Career Services can help students design a road map to success.

Career Services offers free testing for a plethora of subjects as well. The office schedules practice tests for the GRE (admissions tests for graduate school), LSAT (used for law school), GMAT (used for graduate schools in business) and MCAT (for medical school).

“If students are thinking about a graduate degree within the next five years, they should take the relevant exam(s) either while they are students or shortly after graduation,” Jane Nini, Director of Career Services said.

“It is easy to forget information you have learned in classes, so taking the test while you are still a student is beneficial.”

Many students use Career Services to help guide their way through college, learning what they should or should not focus on during their four years.

• Students should keep up their grades • Become active in a few select clubs or organizations (focus on getting deeply involved rather than being a marginal member of numerous groups) • Remain connected with their academic advisors • Get experience directly related to their fields • Learn how to write a résumé and cover letter, develop interview skills and learn how to effectively network

But what is one of the most important things students usually overlook?

Nini said, “Students should spend a few moments at the end of each term to record their accomplishments, identify activities they enjoyed and why, and organize any papers or projects that might support their skills.

Learning Services’ hours are Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 6 to 10 p.m. Walk in hours for writing consultations are Monday through Thursday and Sunday from 7 to 9 p.m.

Career Services’ hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (and from 4 to 6 p.m.

Mondays for drop-in résumé reviews). Additionally, evening appointments are available with advanced notice.

“The best way to succeed is to have a plan, and don’t be afraid to ask for help, if needed. It is also very helpful for students to begin the tutor process earlier in the semester.

Students tend to gain more from tutoring services if they start with a tutor earlier in the semester, as opposed to waiting until the last two weeks of the semester,” Longsderff said.

Nini gave one last piece of advice: “Please do not wait until your senior year to start the process of career development. Students need to understand that career development is a life-long process that starts with self-exploration and knowing where your interests, passions, values and skills fit into the work world.”

movie review

‘Wild Things’ brings us back to our own imaginations Melanie L. Weyant Staff Writer

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or those who spent childhood under a rock, “Where the Wild Things Are” is a 1963 children’s storybook by Maurice Sendak about a small boy who misbehaves at home and is sent to his room, where he takes a magical trip to the land of the Wild Things and becomes their king. At its core, the movie, released Oct. 16, stays true to the book, portraying the danger and loneliness of childhood that adults seem to forget.

The main character, Max (portrayed by newcomer Max Records), is a rough and tumble little boy experiencing the pains of growing up. He has an absent sister, Claire (Pepita Emmerichs), who is more focused on new friends than playing with her kid brother, and a mother (Catherine Keener) who attempts to give Max the attention he needs but struggles with the pressure of being a single parent in a neighborhood that lacks friends for Max. After Max abandons his home for the adventure of the ocean and lands beyond, he sails to an island inhabited by the mon-

strous Wild Things (played by Jim Henson puppeteers sporting 9-foot-tall animatronic suits, which are based closely on Sendak’s original creations) and is promoted as their leader. The monsters are voiced by actors such as James Gandolfini, Paul Dano and Catherine O’Hara.

In each Wild Thing, we see an aspect of Max’s life: Gandolfini is Carol, a rageprone monster who just wants to be loved; Dano voices Alexander, the smallest and loneliest Wild Thing who is often ignored; and O’Hara plays Judith, full of despair and discontent.

It does not take Max long to learn that being king is not always easy, and as he faces the troubles created by his Wild Things, audiences see him mature.

The cinematography of the film is captivating; Spike Jonze’s artistic vision as a director is a direct homage to Sendak’s illustrations. The film uses vast landscapes and handcrafted scenery rather than CGI to pull audiences into the world of the Wild Things. Karen O’s (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) vocals on the soundtrack also add a sense of unruly emotion to the movie.

Elizabethtown College students seemed split on the topic of the movie. Junior Andrea Georgic said, “I really liked it. I think they did a good job of portraying the monsters as all the different emotions children feel.

It’s great at making you feel like you felt as a child. The setting of the movie portrays childhood so well too; the imagination and emotions of being a kid are well represented.”

However, senior Stephen McGonigle felt that “It wasn’t an escape for me, unfortunately. It was visually stunning, but it was no ‘Some Kind of Wonderful.’”

As for the critics, they too seem to be divided. While most agree that the attention to detail and incredible visuals in “Where the Wild Things” are unparalleled, the plot Dave Eggers and Jonze constructed left some critics wanting more.

Lou Lumenick of the New York Post said, “In their overly earnest attempt to flesh Sendak’s story out to 100 minutes, Jonze and his co-screenwriter, novelist Dave Eggers, have laboriously spelled out motivations (divorce is bad!), elaborated back stories— and

added reams of less-than-inspired dialogue.

Unfortunately, they haven’t supplied any kind of plot that would keep an adult like myself (who didn’t grow up on the book) fully engaged.”

Critic Christopher Orr of The New Republic disagreed, saying, “Spike Jonze’s film adaptation … expands Sendak’s tale considerably, but rather than lose track of this insight, the movie enriches it.

The result is a mesmerizing fable, a probing, occasionally discomfiting, exploration of the childhood psyche.”

While not necessarily a children’s movie, “Where the Wild Things Are” shows audiences a glimpse of their inner children.

“Where the Wild Things Are” has an incredible soundtrack, beautiful imagery and an unmistakable sense of tenderness in relation to the subject matter.

There is no sense of adults mocking kids here, as one often sees in children’s movies, but rather a distinct amount of respect for the heartbreak and loneliness that childhood can bring.

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the Etownian

opinion

campus controversies • letters to the editor

October 29, 2009 national debate • our take • guest columns

romance column

political cartoon

Saliva sweeties Samantha T. Phillips Assistant Opinion Editor

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new perspectives

Disconnecting: a natural lesson Jonathan S. Gamble Staff Writer

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outh Arm Campground is on Richardson Lake in Andover, Maine. For our purposes, it is special for being on the endangered species list of places in nature still unspoiled by the 3G network. That buzzy Verizon man with chic glasses still has work ahead of him. But I hope he retires soon, with no heirs, and forgets what he must have learned about manifest destiny.

The campground employed me for the summer raking campsites, assisting campers, and docking and driving boats while keeping the landscape easy on the eyes (i.e. free from weeds and long grasses). I was fortunate enough to befriend a nice old lady with a one-room cabin that no one had used in 20 years. She let me stay there for free on the nights I needed to avoid driving the 20 miles to and from home each day.

There was no sink or toilet, no electricity or stove, and no Internet or cell phone coverage. A simple floor for my mattress and a table for my books and clothes were available. Color me a thankful Thoreauvian in “The Maine Woods.”

Some campers brought big families that come every year to get away from it all. Others tried to bring it all with them, and these people taught me something.

One time, I saw a man walk a mile down the road in search of cell phone coverage. Many times people would look delirious from staggering around and bumping into things while orbiting their phones above their heads. Usually they let go by the middle of the week. The same people who did not seem happy unless they were attached to some human construct were found smiling bigger smiles over a dinner they earned from fishing and canoeing in the lake with their sons and daughters all day long.

Their smiles were contagious. I started to wonder what caused them. It wasn’t the meal or the fishing or the canoeing. It wasn’t the lake, the scenery or the weather. All of these seemed replaceable to them. It wasn’t the absence of technology or fleeing the pressures of life. All of those were still available. Rather, they had no one with which to compare their happiness. They were unconcerned with external adequacy or inadequacy. They told social status to blow off.

They had fun without their wallets. They let the

here is one place in every town that guarantees a cast of characters more frightening, odd and intriguing than any you have ever seen.

The smorgasbord of rebellious youths who frequent the shopping mall nearly every night is a grouping of individuals that never fails to spark my curiosity. Who are these inhuman creatures that seem to be inextricably linked in small clusters by their numerous body piercings? They gather like disturbed socialites, discussing whatever kind of satanic worship is in vogue and turning a normal shopping day into a Rocky Horror Picture Show reunion.

My last trip to the mall was no exception. I stepped out of my car only to see the children of darkness (as I’ve affectionately named them) manning their normal positions in the parking lot. I wasn’t sure whether it was the mix of cigarette smoke and department store perfume in the air that day, but something gave me the courage to observe the children of darkness a little closer. I honed in on one couple, two outcasts in their mid-teens, groping each other within the comfort of their natural habitat. Now, when I say groping, I don’t mean it in a subtle way. In that mess of ripped black clothing and silver chains, I had trouble distinguishing where one body began and where the other ended.

Terrified for the safety of the girl’s face, I almost yelled out, “Stop, you cannibalistic monster!” My instincts stopped me. If the children of darkness realize my presence, they might use me as a human sacrifice, I thought to myself. To my relief, the male half of the hybrid pulled his suctioned lips off of the female. But the male child of darkness was not going to leave that kiss empty-handed. He took with him one long string of intermingled spit that traveled from his mouth to the silver hoop poking through her upper lip. I stood there, paralyzed by horror, watching the spit string dangle between the two sets of lipsticked mouths, reflecting the October sun.

What was in that spit string, you ask? Love. Pure, youthful, innocent love. Despite the holes they had poked in their bodies, their black painted lips, and the dark eyeliner that framed their eyes, their love was shockingly normal. When it comes to relationships, we are all minimized to the most honest stage of life: awkward moments, odd bodily Image: files.myopera.com functions and embarrassing strings of spit. These things will always come to destroy those moments of great romance, and we will all, at one time or another, experience them.

Even the walking dead who frequent mall parking lots feel the passionate burn of love in their hearts at one time or another.

My point is, readers, that love exists, and it is confusing, awkward and sometimes downright disgusting. Yet, it is the vein that runs through all of us, and whether we like it or not, it is the monitor sustaining humanity.

The Beatles had it right: “All you need is love.”

As for the children of darkness, they discovered my hiding spot and responded to my observations with some profanities and flicking of cigarette butts in my direction. I wasn’t scared or anything; I ran because I thought I saw a bee.

Image: Weblogs.cltv.com

outdoors be their classroom and their children be teachers. And every little thing they had done purely for the social definition was forgiven in the breeze of self-acceptance.

Our world is skilled in persuading us that happiness is around the next corner — that if we meet this deadline or complete this project, buy this object, go to this event or achieve this goal — then finally society will throw us dogs a bone. You would think human history would have added a few negative connotations to the term “progress.” We do so many things without thinking, “Why?” and we justify the “How?” by the number of participants, convenience, wealth or the potential change of the status quo, all of which we have assumed to be more innately good than bad. Progress does not equal success. If it does, then success is unattainable because it is always in the next step and the next and then the next. I never knew thinking ahead could be myopic until this summer.

After witnessing those contagious smiles week after week, I didn’t drive as fast. I put the window down instead of using the air conditioner. I waved to people I didn’t know and drove without any shoes on. I immersed my mind in the menial tasks in front of me and waited to learn from the people and the landscape they called me to encounter. Early in the summer, I was excited about my job and accommodations for all the time it would give me to read and abstract myself from whatever social definitions I harbored and were encroaching on my intentions. Gradually, I grew to value them for their own sake and for the practical lessons they taught me. It’s amazing what a small paycheck teaches you about honesty or what an old two-stroke engine has to say about • Pregnancy tests with immediate results perseverance. Carrying someone’s lug• Education on all options • Limited ultrasounds when indicated gage without getting tipped taught me • Confidential & free unselfish altruism, and a 3-year-old We care and we’ll listen. perfectly content with his collection of Lancaster Pregnancy Clinic pine cones taught me that he earned 717-291-1800 more than $8.25 that hour.

Columbia Pregnancy Center Thoreau once said, “A truly good 717-684-3400 book teaches me better than to read A Life-Affirming Organization it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began Day and evening appointments available by reading, I must finish by acting.”

Wondering About Abortion?

www.pregnantwecare.com

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opinion

the Etownian

d n ou

S Off

What is the funniest cotume you’ve ever seen?

by Melanie R. Giardina

Stephanie Dougherty Class of: 2010 “Dwight from the office.”

Andrew Burd Class of: 2011 “A snot.”

October 29, 2009

in the nation

NaNoWriMo: pointless, wordy endeavor?

Alanna J. Delfino Staff Writer

have a chance to reclaim their everlastWithout even thinking, you have ing dream of becoming internationally experienced the same feeling a writer known novelists. experiences when he or she has writIn this type of event, editing has ten for a long time and it gets to the any people wonder what it takes to get noticed in this world. They no practical application; it is in mere point where boredom has become his or her life. visualize the day they will meet the existence. It This is the same right person, the one who will guide is not about feeling a basethem in the direction of fame. Whether how well you ball pitcher gets they are aspiring singers, dancers, ac- write, how when he eastresses, comedians or writers, this day creative you ily pitches a nowill always linger in the back of their are or even if your 50,000hitter numerous minds until it is brought to life. games in a row.

Many will say that to be a true writer word novel makes sense.

Or the feeling one must have the talent, skill and drive. an artist receives They say that one must be original, Ins te a d, it when he or she dedicated and advanced in one’s area is about the quantity of has painted the of experience.

Image: Thejamjar.com same exact landHowever, this is untrue. According your work, to National Novel Writing Month, the pace of your typing and whether or scape over and over again. This feeling NaNoWriMo, all it takes for a writer not you can succeed before the mid- catches most of us in the pit of our night deadline stomachs, and nearly all of us need a to become a novelist on Nov. 30. purpose to remind us why it is we do is one month, 50,000 I f y o u ’ r e what we love. word s an d a wondering According to NanoWriMo.com, large, pulsing w h y p e o p l e “In 2007, we had over 100,000 parheadache. involve them- ticipants. More than 15,000 of them To m a n y selves in such crossed the 50k finish line by the this assignment a p o i n t l e s s midnight deadline, entering into the seems ridiculous, project, you’re annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom implausible and farn o t a l o n e . forever.” Starting Nov. 1, bored, dedireaching. We think Many out there are thinking cated writers across the globe will set about past essays we have written the same exact thing. Why aside the expected duties of making for school and the short stories would someone put him or dinner for the kids, taking their dog we have created for English herself through this? What to the vet and cutting the lawn, to do class. How is it possible to write do they get out of knowing the unbearable, painstaking task of without thinking? All the time spent pulling out our hair, Image: Store.lettersandlight.org they won a prize of noth- meaningless writing. ing? The anbiting our fingernails, staying up into the late hours of the night swer is very simple: it’s and to think: none of that even mattered. not about how they write, NaNoWriMo is a worldwide event the moral of their plot or In last week’s Breast Cancer Awareness article, it that attracts more than 120,000 writers even the surprise ending. was stated that breast cancer is the leading cancer from over 90 countries in this experi- This type of contest helps in women second to skin cancer. In actuality, it is ment of fiction. Teachers, college stu- writers to get out of their the leading cancer in women second to lung cancer. dents, struggling movie producers and own comfort zones and The Etownian apologizes for the mistake. even the occasional stay-at-home moms overcome their fears.

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Correction

on campus

Kassandra Snook Class of: 2012 “My friend was stuffed crust pizza.”

Dan Silver Class of: 2012 “I was the Little Mermaid.”

Make sure to check out the Sound Off poll and the opportunity to comment on articles on our Web site: www.etownian.com

Diversity debates distracting, losing focus Rachel L. Jesten Assistant Copy Editor

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’ll be honest — I didn’t know too much about this diversity debacle when the whole thing started. Last year, I wrote an article on the then recently-founded Diversity Task Force, and I have to admit ignorance at the time to exactly what the Task Force was trying to do. But abundant articles published in the Etownian (and even more abundant letters to the editor) have made me more than aware of the debate at hand.

I’m not going to express my opinion of the Diversity Plan in this article. I haven’t read it, and so I can’t in good conscience pass judgment on it. I have a roommate in Senate and plenty of friends and professors on both sides of the debate, and what I want to say is that I’ve noticed a change in the focus of argument.

The issue at hand is about finding practical ways to bring students of diverse backgrounds, sexual orientation and religious and philosophical thought to the College. But each conversation about the plan, and the Senate’s disagreement with the plan, has brought the focus further and further from the effectiveness of this proposal. As far as I can see, the debate has become very, very personal.

The Diversity task force spent over a year in conversation about this document, researching and discussing possible plans. The members of the Task Force were passionate about finding practical ways to increase the diversity of the

student body, pouring their time and energy into finding a solution. This document is their baby. Is it a surprise that proponents of the plan were upset when Senate rejected it?

Senate approached the document as a policy plan that they were asked to review. Their perspective in reading it was not to judge the intent of the task force but the details of the Plan’s implementation. Senate members read over the plan, discussed their concerns and ultimately agreed that some aspects of its wording ought to be changed. They came to the discussion with an open mind and did their best to make an informed decision. Can you blame them for feeling attacked by the proponents’ displeasure?

Allegations (and may I stress the word “allegations”) of rampant racism, stacked committees and personal attacks on the student body, administration, Senate and Task Force have clouded this debate. Everyone involved seems to be on the defensive, disarming the opponent with emotionally-charged lashings-out and insisting (but who’s arguing?) that theirs is the higher moral road. And the hostility is distracting.

As conversation continues, and I believe that conversation on such an important issue should continue, I would only urge each side to put down their guns, take a step back and look at the debate from the other side’s perspective. Steer the conversation away from pointing fingers and casting blame; focus on finding a solution. I think both sides can agree that a polarizing debate that leaves hard (and hurt) feelings is the last thing this Diversity Plan was intended to bring about.

October 29, 2009 Image: Talking proud.us

opinion

the Etownian

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13

the Etownian the board

Technology takeover: man vs. machine Rebekah V. Arbogast Staff Writer

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magine a world where people no longer have to speak to communicate or to pay attention while driving.

Imagine being able to work without having to leave your bed. Most people would see this as a great lifestyle, but is it really? Are we becoming too lazy and beginning to rely on technology for everything? Some may think so.

Neil Postman, a cultural critic who taught media ecology and is an author of many books about education and technology, stated in his book “Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology” his thoughts on how culture is controlled by invisible (IQ, statistics) and visible (television, computers) technologies. Today, our culture is being controlled more and more by visible technologies. Postman believes technology can be a friend, but it is mostly a dangerous enemy that intrudes into a culture, changing

everything while destroying the vital sources of our humanity.

“Our moral center is replaced by efficiency, interest and economic advance,” Postman said. This is his view of the world gone wrong and what he classifies as “technopoly.”

Think about how much time you spend on a computer. While they are very convenient and efficient, we are relying on them too much. You can sit at your computer and be able to do work, look up almost any information online, listen to music, shop, chat with people from around the world and even make a phone call. Why leave your room?

Postman said the computer “undermines the old idea of school.” This defeats the purpose of group learning and social responsibilities. I agree with this view, as I think you would experience and learn less from a machine than you would from a hands-on approach and collaboration with others.

“I don’t really use my computer a

lot,” senior Brittany Paulshock said.

“I do work, but I don’t like to sit there 24/7. I think a lot of people do, though, and it becomes their lives; it’s not healthy.” Some students see the toll technology can take on us, but others are falling in the crowd of always relying on it because of the accessibility.

What if there was a major electronic crash and you could not use your computer? I think a lot of people would feel lost and freak out. Our society needs to learn that the technologies we have are beneficial, but we need to have independence from them. People need to maintain their own individualities, as that is what makes us unique.

“I think [technology] will destroy the personalities of people in general,” senior Tom Hickey said. We need to use technology sparingly. Yes, technology helps us in many ways, but we need to adapt to it, not rely on it. We cannot let our culture get to the point where technology controls us.

Image: Wikimedia.org

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The Etownian is the student newspaper of Elizabethtown College. All editorial decisions are made by the student editors.

With the exception of editorials, opinions presented here are those of quoted sources or signed authors, not of the Etownian or the College.

The Etownian is published most Thursdays during the academic year by Susquehanna Printing.

Image: Quickpwn.com

by Jill Hugus

Editor in Chief Jamie L. Bartolino Managing Editor Aimée M. DiMichele Assistant Editor Aidan E. Bauernschmidt News Editor Rachel A. Marsteller Features Editor Peter S. Northrop Campus Life Editor Joelle E. Atkinson Opinion Editor Craig H. Meaney Sports Editor Sara E. Crimmel Copy Editor Emily M. Reigart Photography Editor Matthew P. Butera Layout Editor Matthew A. Wagener Online Editor Zachary T. Johnson Assistant News Editor Allison M. O’Boyle Assistant Features Editor Laura A. Farnish Asst. Campus Life Editor Ross M. Benincasa Assistant Opinion Editor Samantha T. Phillips Assistant Sports Editor Janna M. Richards Assistant Copy Editors Samantha M. Alleman Patricia A. Cangelosi Rachel L. Jesten Leigh N. Ontiveros Asst. Photography Editor Melanie R. Giardina Assistant Layout Editor Huntley C. McGowan Assistant Online Editor Andrew R. Sides Business Manager Brittny E. McLaughlin Asst. Business Manager Marc C. Weber Advertising Manager Katie L. Bornholdt Faculty Adviser Kirsten A. Johnson

Submissions to the Etownian are always welcomed. We will make every effort to print submissions, but we do not promise publication. Submissions may be printed anonymously at the discretion of the editor. Submit letters to EDITOR@etown.edu.

14

the Etownian

sports

October 29, 2009

tennis

First-years Marani, Noecker win MAC singles titles Sara E.Crimmel Sports Editor Ashley S. Perry Staff Writer

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he Lady Jays tennis team ended the fall season with several extraordinary feats while participating in the Middle Atlantic Conference Women’s Tennis Individual Championships this weekend, Oct. 23 through 25 at the Kingston Indoor Tennis Center and Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. There, they competed against 14 other schools in the region.

All eight ladies played exceptionally well as they took on each game in their respective divisions of either singles or

I’m very impressed with our performance this weekend ... we are a better team than we were a week ago.

Matt Helsel Head Coach

doubles. In the former, two first-year students, Alena Marani and Kristi Noecker, won titles.

Marani defeated Misericordia’s Laren Verret 8-4 in the first round of play; Manhattanville’s Danielle Waldron 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals; and Wilkes’ Michelle Knight 6-3, 6-0 in the semifinals. Finally, Marani took on and defeated King’s Lauren Breen 6-4, 6-1 in the flight five singles finals to win her title.

Noecker received a first-round bye, defeated Messiah’s Kristen Chen 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals, and beat Lebanon Valley’s Morgan Brady 6-0, 6-1. Noecker won in the finals against Wilkes’ Anna Mitchell 6-3, 6-1, thus earning herself the title. She finished her season with a record of 12-1.

These wins gave Elizabethtown College its seventh and eighth conference titles since 2004, when the flighted formatting system changed.

Later, first-year Allison Burkhardt was able to advance to the finals by beating Ashley Mangabang of Misericordia in a 10-5 tiebreaker in the quarterfinals.

First-year Madision Pipkin also made

it to the finals with a score of 8-1 against Albright’s Desiree Owle. Pipkin continued and eventually lost to Alexis Donner of Wilkes.

Seniors Emily Swarr and Jess Russell played in the flight one and flight two singles, respectively. Swarr defeated FDU’s Lauren Abdate 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals, but lost 7-6, 6-1 to LVC’s Sarah Grodzinski in the semifinals.

Russell defeated Albright’s Anna Berzins 8-0 and beat Arcadia’s Megan Gillespie 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.

Russell lost 6-1, 6-1 to Wilkes’ Katrina Lynn in the semifinals.

In doubles, Burkhardt and Pipkin won their matches against Misericordia in the quarterfinals with a score of 8-3 and then won 8-1 against Arcadia University in the semifinals. Unfortunately, they lost 9-7 to Wilkes University in the championship match.

Noecker and Marani also played in doubles, winning their first match against Arcadia 8-3 in the quarterfinals and defeating Lycoming 8-1 in the semifinals.

They lost 8-3 to Wilkes in the finals.

“I’m very impressed with our perfor-

mance this weekend,” head coach Matt Helsel said. “It was a great cap to the fall portion of our schedule, and everyone rose to the occasion. Even in the losses, our players fought hard, stayed positive, problem-solved and pushed themselves to reach a new level. We are a better team than we were a week ago.”

“I think this tournament summed up our entire fall season: individually, we all did well, and, as a team, we did even better,” Pipkin said. “This tournament was a good experience, and I am excited to play some of the teams from other conferences this spring.”

“I think the best part about this tournament was the fact that there were so many different types of players, and whether you won or lost, you still improved as a player and learned new things about your game,” Burkhardt added. “I thought overall everyone did a great job, and it was nice to see how far we have all come since the beginning of the season.”

The Lady Jays tennis team’s fall season is over, but the team has shown that it is ready and ethusiastic for upcoming matches once spring rolls around.

volleyball

field hockey

ECFH picks up win and loss LVC defeats Lady Jays 2-3 Kristy N. Castellini Staff Writer Sara E. Crimmel Sports Editor

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uesday, the Elizabethtown College field hockey team took on seventh-ranked Lebanon Valley College in its last regularly scheduled game of the season.

Lebanon Valley first-year Caitlin Vasey tipped in a pass from LVC junior Allison Bicher to give the Dutchmen a 1-0 lead. LVC sophomore Jocelyn Novak added a goal just 23 seconds later. Novak scored again less than two minutes later to give the Dutchmen a 3-0 lead.

The Lady Jays scored on their first shot of the game, when junior Liz DeMatteis scored off a pass from fellow junior Meg Cassels to make the score 3-1.

Bircher added another goal for the Dutchmen early in the second half, but junior Julie Foster answered back less than ten minutes later, shooting between her legs to make the score 4-2.

With less than a minute left to play, Vasey scored again off a pass by Bicher to make the final score 5-2 in favor of the Ducthmen.

Image: www.spraypaintstencils.com

The Dutchmen outshot the Lady Jays 26-7 and held a 14-3 advantage in penalty corners. Senior Liz Hannegan recorded 12 saves.

Saturday, the Lady Jays defeated the Lions of Albright 5-1 in a Commonwealth Conference game.

Senior Brenna Noon scored an unassisted goal at 11:03 to give the Lady Jays a 1-0 lead. Senior Katy Boone added a goal less than ten minutes later off an assist from DeMatteis. Just as the first half ended, Albright junior Gia Boscola put the Lions on the board.

DeMatteis led the Lady Jays into the second half by scoring at 42:40 off an assist from Foster. Less than five minutes later, Boone scored off an assist by Cassels. Boone scored a third goal to complete her hat trick as time expired off an assist by senior Martina White.

The Lady Jays finished with a 9-6 edge in shots and had seven penalty corners to the Lions’ four. Hannegan had three saves on the day.

The win over Albright locked Etown in for a Commonwealth Conference playoff berth for the fifth consecutive season.

In addition to the fact that it was senior day and the Lady Jays’ last home game, it was also their Breast Cancer Awareness event for which they were able to sell about 300 t-shirts. The proceeds from the sale were donated to the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition. Sophomore Kelly Clayton expressed her feelings about Saturday’s game: “It was really neat seeing all the parents and fans wearing pink and to know that we were playing for a cure.”

Wednesday, the Lady Jays will be travelling to compete in the Commonwealth Conference semifinals. As of press time it was unknown as to who the Lady Jays will by playing.

Janna M. Richards Assistant Sports Editor

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ednesday, the Elizabethtown College volleyball team lost 2-3 to the Dutchmen of Lebanon Valley College in their last Commonwealth Conference matchup of the regular season.

The Lady Jays won the first game 25-16 after the Dutchmen allowed a six-point run. The Dutchmen came back to win the second match 25-22, and the Lady Jays took the third match 25-19. Despite a nine point lead in the Lady Jays’ favor, the Dutchmen took the fourth game 25-19 and stepped up to win the final set 16-14.

Senior Paige Tanner led the Lady Jays with 14 kills and 22 digs. Senior Kayla Deats had 15 kills, six aces and seven blocks, while first-year Lindsay Palm had 14 kills. Junior Crystal Agnew led the team with 49 assists, while sophomore Andrea Weaver had 15 digs, and senior Kathy Perry made 10 digs.

Saturday afternoon, the team took on Dickinson College and Haverford College on Haverford’s campus. During the Dickinson game, Tanner led the team with 9 kills with junior Molly Northway following close behind with 8. Sophomore Kelsey Hayes dished out 7 kills along with 3 blocks.

Agnew had a team high of 34 assists and 10 digs while junior Amanda Ritchey had a team high of 14 digs. The Lady Jays defeated the Red Devils 3-0 with match scores of 25-18, 25-20 and 25-14.

After defeating Dickinson, the women moved on to face Haverford College. Although they won the first match with a 26-24 score, the 25thranked Fords wouldn’t let the Jays take home the win. Tanner earned a team high of 12 kills and 14 digs, while Northway had 11 kills. Agnew brought 43 assists, and Perry had 13 digs. First-year Holly Bubb and Deats had 7 blocks apiece. Haverford took the win over Etown 3-1, winning the final three matches 25-22, 25-20 and 25-9.

Overall, the Lady Jays have a 17-8 season record with a 6-1 conference record. They have a team total of 1,047 kills, with an average of 11.5 kills per game. With 3,193 total attacks, the women are fierce competition for any opponents. The team also has an average of 10.2 assists per game and 925 total. Other statistics include 166 aces, 1.8 per game; 1,581 digs, 17.4 per game; and 163 blocks, with 1.8 per game. The team also soars far above other opponents in terms of total points by game with almost 2,000 this season alone. High scorers for the team include Tanner, Palm and Weaver with 82 points each, Deats with 81 points, and Ritchey with 80 points.

Friday, the Lady Jays will travel to Pittsburgh to face Carnegie Mellon at 7 p.m. Saturday, the Lady Jays will travel to Washington to face Westminster College at 2:30 p.m. and Washington and Jefferson College at 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, the Lady Jays will host Messiah College in the semifinals of the Commonwealth Conference playoffs at 7 p.m.

October 29, 2009

sports

the Etownian

men’s soccer

15

Jays win playoff bid with last-minute Widener defeat Christie A. Caldwell Staff Writer Sara E. Crimmel Sports Editor

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ednesday, the Elizabethtown College men’s soccer team defeated the Pride of Widener University 1-0 in a Commonwealth Conference matchup to secure a Commonwealth Conference playoff bid.

Despite controlling the play for most of the game, the Blue Jays were unable to get on the board until junior Taylor Helsel scored with just 6:08 to play in the second half off an assist from firstyear Javeim Blanchette.

Helsel’s goal marked the third time in the last six games that he has scored a decisive goal in a Blue Jay victory and was his fourth game-winning goal of the season.

The Blue Jays ended the game leading 20-6 in shots and 12-1 in corner

We have stressed team unity this year, and our desire to work for each other surpasses every other team we face.

Eric Carr First-year goalkeeper Men’s soccer team

kicks over the Pride. All 10 of the starting field players made shots on goal, while first-year goalkeeper Eric Carr made five saves to record his third shutout of the season.

Saturday, the 24th-ranked Blue Jays travelled to Glenside, Pa. to compete against Commonwealth Conference opponent Arcadia University.

Arcadia junior Joe Clementi scored the only goal of the game in the 34th minute of play when he scored off a penalty kick. Clementi was awarded the kick after being pulled down in the box by first-year goalkeeper Eric Carr.

The Blue Jays almost tied up the match with just six minutes remaining in the game, but first-year Giovanni Correa’s header bounced off the crossbar.

The Blue Jays took 13 shots on the Knights and received two cards, one of which came in the 78th minute of the game and left the team a man short for the final minutes.

Carr finished the game with nine saves, while Arcadia senior Jeff Kratohwill made 13 saves to complete the Knights’ shutout.

“There was a very weak penalty kick called against us, which Arcadia capitalized on,” said senior captain Luke Mitchell. “After that, they packed it in and kept us from scoring. We certainly dominated the game in terms of possession but just could not get the ball into the net.”

“We were not able to capitalize on our opportunities, and the game is in no way a reflection as to how our

Photo: EtownBlueJays.com

Junior Taylor Helsel gets ready to kick the ball during a previous game this season.

Helsel scored the only goal in Wednesday’s game against Widener to secure a Commonwealth Conference playoff berth for the Blue Jays.

season is going,” Helsel said. “There is no doubt that we are a much better side than Arcadia, but that day, in those conditions, we were not able to put the game away. Saturday was a dissapointing loss, but we know we were the better side and cannot wait to ... get a second chance against Arcadia in the playoffs.”

“Our record reflects an amazing team, but that does not come close to describing how we work ... we have stressed team unity this year and our desire to work for each other surpasses

every other team we face,” said Carr.

Head coach Skip Roderick wants the Blue Jays to become “the fittest team, the smartest, the most together, and a team that believes. Two out of four isn’t good enough. As their coach, I won’t settle for anything less than all four.”

The Blue Jays will compete in their final regular season game Saturday, when they host rival Messiah College at home on Ira R. Herr Field at 7 p.m.

The Blue Jays will compete in the Commonwealth Conference semifinals Wednesday against a yet-unknown opponent.

women’s soccer

ECWS wins bid to compete in conference semifinals Sara E. Crimmel Sports Editor

added a goal of her own with 6:49 to play, securing a 3-0 win for the Lady Jays.

The Lady Jays finished the game with a 21-6 edge ednesday, the Elizabethtown College women’s in shots over the Pride and had a 8-2 advantage in soccer team’s game against Eastern University corner kicks. First-year goalkeeper Jess Manchak played all 90 minutes in goal, earning her fifth shutwas postponed.

Monday, the Lady Jays hosted Commonwealth out of the season.

The Lady Jays’ win Monday night earned them the Conference opponent Widener University.

Widener nearly scored half an hour into the game, chance to play in the Commonwealth Conference but first-year Amy Bunting’s defensive save left both semifinals Tuesday night. This is the sixth consecutive year that the Lady Jays have clinched a playoff teams scoreless in the first half.

First-year Laura Wingert put the Lady Jays on the berth and the 13th time they have earned a bid in board less than ten minutes into the second half with the past 14 years.

“It felt great to get a bid on Monday,” said senior capan unassisted goal. Five minutes later, Wingert added another goal off a pass from senior Erin Scott. Scott tain Ellen Parr. “It was a great win and everyone played their hearts out, which showed on the scoreboard.”

Saturday, the Lady Jays travelled to Glenside, Pa. to take on the Knights of Arcadia University in a Commonwealth Conference matchup.

Junior Katelyn Roderick scored the first goal with two minutes remaining in the first half off an assist from Scott to give the Lady Jays a 1-0 lead. Roderick added another goal in the 63rd minute of the game when she scored off a penalty kick.

Arcadia junior Jessica Leathem put the Knights on the board less than 10 minutes later when she scored on a ball that had just rebounded off the crossbar.

Arcadia junior Katie O’Malley tied up the score seven minutes later.

The game remained tied at the end of regulation Photo: EtownBlueJays.com time, and neither team was able to score in the first Junior Katelyn Roderick dribbles the ball while firstovertime period. O’Malley scored again on a free kick year Kristen Eck struggles with an opposing player during a previous game this season. Roderick scored 45 seconds into the second overtime period to give both goals in the Lady Jays’ loss to Arcadia Saturday. the Knights a 3-2 win over the Lady Jays.

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We have to play the best we have ever played against Messiah ... we have to go into the game like we are playing any other team in our conference.

Ellen Parr Senior and captain Women’s soccer team

Both teams took 12 shots on goal over the course of the game, and the Lady Jays had a 2-1 edge in corner kicks. Junior goalkeeper Kristen Kelly started in goal for the Lady Jays and made four saves. Manchak subbed in after the Knights’ first goal and made one save. Arcadia first-year Jacki Law made six saves for the Knights.

Today, the Lady Jays will host Eastern University in a make-up game at 7 p.m. Saturday, the Lady Jays will host rival Messiah College at 4:30 p.m. in their final regular season matchup.

“I’m looking forward to a very competitive game,” Parr said. “We have to play the best that we have ever played against Messiah ... the biggest challenge will be not getting scared because they are a nationallyranked team. We have to go into the game like we are playing any other team in our conference.”

Tuesday, the Lady Jays will compete in the Commonwealth Conference semifinals. As of press time, their opponent is not yet known.

16

the Etownian

sports

etown athletics • pro sports • ncaa coverage

October 29, 2009 high school football • olympics • analysis

cross country

Blue Jays finish first in Battle of the Buggy

InsideSports

Patricia A. Cangelosi Assistant Copy Editor

Etown Sports: Tennis

Page 14 Field Hockey

Page 14 Volleyball

Page 14 Women’s Soccer

Page 15 Men’s Soccer

Page 15 Cross Country

Page 16 Athlete of the Week

Page 16

The Blue Jays are ranked 28th in Division III, aturday morning, the men’s and wom- and t he men’s en’s cross country teams competed in team overall finthe second annual Battle of the Buggy, ishe d w it h 4 9 which Elizabethtown College and Mill- points, defeating ersville University co-hosted at Central rival ShippensPark in Lancaster County. The men’s cross burg University’s country team finished first of 17 teams, “B” team by only while the women’s cross country team six points. Salisbury University finished seventh of 12 teams.

The men’s team dominated their por- took third place tion of the meet. Of 123 runners total, with 107 points, sophomore Eric Reichert finished sec- Gwynedd-Merond with a time of 20:12.95; sophomore cy College took Colby Miller took sixth in 20:42.21; senior fourth with 123, Myles Lund finished 11th in 20:57.33; and the Etown sophomore Evan DeArmitt took 12th in alumni team took Courtesy Photo 21:02.80; and sophomore Charlie Larsen fifth with 126.

Members of the women’s cross country team begin the Battle Mo s t o f t h e of the Buggy race Saturday morning. The Lady Jays finished took 19th in 21:14.47.

The Blue Jay alumni also competed L a dy Jay s’ top seventh of 12 teams. well; Greg Wetzel (’06) finished fourth in runners were not pensburg University finished 35 seconds 20:28.23, and Ryan St. Clair (’09) finished present, as they needed rest before the after Fisher. ninth with a time of 20:50.25 on the slightly Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) With 57 points, Salisbury University Championships, so other runners stepped took the team title, beating University of more than 6,000 meter course. up to the challenge. First-year Mary Washington by 11 points. ShippensSarah Steinmetz finished in 30th burg took third with 93 points, Gettysburg place with a time of 28:02.12; College took fourth with 107 and the first-year Jill Casey finished 34th Etown alumnae team took fifth with 154. with 28:35.58; and first-year The men and women have two differJanna Richards finished 37th ent outlooks for their next race, the MAC with 28:57.17. Senior Abbey Championship meet. The women’s team is Anderson took 39th place with a looking to repeat as MAC champions for time of 29:06.97, and junior Alex the third year in a row.

Walmer took 47th in 29:45.27 as “We want to win ... so we can defend our the fifth and final scorer for the title,” said sophomore Kathryn Howser.

Lady Jays.

The men’s team is more focused on Etown alumna and former their season after the MAC meet. “It’s just Blue Jay All-American Erin another race ... we’re building towards reFisher (’08) won the individual gionals,” sophomore Charlie Larson said.

Photo: EtownBlueJays.com race, finishing the course in The cross country teams will compete Sophomore Eric Reichert crosses the finish line. 24:15.34. Second place winner at MAC Championships at DeSales UniReichert finished second in Saturday’s Battle for Lindsay Hollenshead of Ship- versity Saturday. the Buggy race.

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the etownian’s

Athlete of the Week Alena Marani

Sara E. Crimmel Sports Editor

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he Etownian is ecstatic to name first-year tennis player Alena Marani as Athlete of the Week!

Marani won the flight five singles championship this past weekend at the Middle Atlantic Conference Women’s Tennis Individual Championships in WilkesBarre, Pa. Marani defeated Misericordia’s Laren Verret 8-4 in the first round; Manhattanville’s Danielle Waldron 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals; Wilkes’ Michelle Knight 6-3, 6-0 in the semifinals

and King’s College’s 6-4, 6-1 in the finals to win her title.

Marani is 8-3 for the season in singles play and 8-1 in doubles play.

Photo: EtownBlueJays.com

Marani and her doubles partner, fellow first-year Kristi Noecker, defeated Arcadia’s Melissa DeBello and Irina Samson in quarterfinals 8-3 and won against Lycoming’s Adriana River and Katie Walker 8-1 in the semifinals.

Marani and Noecker lost to Wilkes’ Knight and Rebekah Shanaman 8-3 in the finals of flight three.

Thanks to Marani and the Lady Jays’ success so far this season, they are assured the top seed in next spring’s conference tournament.

Congratulations to Alena on her success at MAC Championships and for being Athlete of the Week!

Q&A

Major: Business Years playing tennis: 12 Favorite Jay’s Nest item: Chicken Quesadilla Favorite sports team: Baltimore Ravens Favorite TV show: “True Blood” In 10 years, I want to be... traveling around the world I can’t live without...

White Cheddar Cheez-Its Little-known fact about me: I love “Twilight.”

Sports Recap Men’s Cross Countr y Battle for the Buggy 1st of 17 (49 points)

Women’s Cross Country Battle for the Buggy 7th of 12 (159 points) Field Hockey (11-6) Etown 5, Albright 1 LVC 5, Etown 2 Men’s Soccer (13-2-1) Arcadia 1, Etown 0 Etown 1, Widener 0 Women’s Soccer (8-8) Arcadia 3, Etown 2 (OT) Etown 3, Widener 0 Tennis MAC Championships (Event unscored) Volleyball Etown 3, Dickinson 0 Haverford 3, Etown 1 LVC 3, Etown 2

Schedule

of Sports

Men’s Cross Countr y Oct. 31: @ MAC Championships Women’s Cross Countr y Oct. 31: @ MAC Championships Field Hockey Nov. 4: Conference Semifinals Men’s Soccer Oct. 31: Messiah Nov. 4: Conference Semifinals Women’s Soccer Oct. 29: Eastern Oct. 31: Messiah Nov. 3: Conference Semifinals Volleyball Oct. 30: @ Carnegie Mellon Oct. 31: Westminster College (@ W&J) Oct. 31: @ Washington & Jefferson Nov. 4: Messiah (Conference semifinals) EtownBlueJays .com