From Grove City, with love
Grover couples’ kids go to the college where their parents fell in love
inside
Men’s Lax is so back Wolverines bulldoze Bison in home opener
Collegian
Is he ‘An Ideal Husband’?
Madison Lynch Contributing Writer
This weekend the Grove City College Theatre Department will debut “An Ideal Husband,” a play by Oscar Wilde.
According to Director Betsy Craig, the show was first produced in Haymarket Theatre in London in 1895.
“This comedy illustrates the story of blackmail and political corruption with romance, witty humor and controversial ideas to consider,” she said.
This play tells the story of Sir Robert Chiltern and his wife, Lady Gertrude Chiltern, who are wealthy members of the House of Commons. Lady Chiltern views her husband as the paragon of morality and virtue, but a mysterious woman risks revealing his scandalous secrets of the past.
To hide the truth of his stock exchange swindle that led to his political gain, Sir Chiltern must accept a bribe from this woman, Laura Cheveley. He works with his best friend, Lord Arthur Goring, to protect his political standing and marriage. The plot examines the consequences of actions taken for personal gain and the idols of money, power and love.
The play encompasses themes of comedy, romance and political scandal, and has plenty of British humor and a Shakespearean style comedy ending. The play reflects many themes still prominent in the political and social world today: the effect power and money have on people and politics,
standards of morality and the ability to love despite the flaws of others.
Sir Robert Chiltern is played by senior Hayden Wehrman. He is the best man of the House of Commons and highly respected as an example of morality and success. His scandalous political past threatens his social standing and marriage.
Lady Gertrude Chiltern is played by senior Emma Will. She is the wife of Sir Robert Chiltern and a woman of uncompromising morals. She strongly values honesty and honor and views her husband with utmost respect and rev-
Help wanted CRM seeks student fellows
Emma Rossi Editor-in-Chief
The Center for Rural Ministry (CRM) will be expanding through a Student Fellows program and more service-learning projects.
In January, the CRM received a $5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. Now, they’re putting that grant to work.
“This all fits within our desire to equip rising generations to contribute to local churches in vocational and lay roles. We want alumni of CRM programs and Grove City College to develop a vision for a full Christian life connected to a local church — and to see that small places are just as viable for their flourishing,”
Dr. Adam Loretto ’05, associate professor of English and assistant director of CRM, said.
The Fellows program is new and involves students who are working with the
staff of the CRM on projects that fit their interests and skill sets. The CRM’s current fellow does writing, marketing and social media for the Center, but Loretto sees future work for someone with skills in audio and video production or finance.
The CRM has placed interns with local churches for a few years, which they will continue. The Center hopes to expand summer internship opportunities in other areas as well.
For students interested in working with the CRM, Loretto encourages following the Center’s Instagram page, where their studentfocused content goes.
“In the fall, look for information about Plowshare, which is our program that connects students to local churches that are a little ‘off the beaten path.’ Our ICO Rural Ministry teams will also be recruiting in the
McNulty waxes nostalgic
Matthew Purucker Staff Writer
erence until she discovers his scandal. This strains her perspective of life as she wrestles with her fierce love for her husband and her unyielding moral principles, ultimately showing the recognition of fallen human nature and the need for forgiveness.
Lord Arthur Goring is played by senior Noah Koons. Goring is Sir Chiltern’s best friend, a frivolous bachelor who only wants to experience the delightful parts of life and society. His extravagance is a front to avoid the problems his serious counterparts face.
In his 22nd semester presiding over the College, President Paul J. McNulty’s time in Crawford Hall is nearing its end, and though he has enjoyed many parts of his job, he believes this is the right time to retire.
However, it is still hard for him to say goodbye to the various activities he has appreciated doing as president of the College.
“In just a matter of four months, I won’t be doing these things like encouraging students and building relationships with them that are meaningful and potentially impactful, and I won’t be responsible for setting a tone in our campus culture,” McNulty, a 1980 graduate of the College, said.
McNulty expressed that those purposeful relationships were some of the most important memories he can take with him into retirement.
Although McNulty will miss Grove City College, he is content with not having to handle some of the responsibilities, challenges and risks associated with the position. As of February, McNulty is feeling bittersweet about retiring, much like the soon-tobe graduating class of 2025.
“When I say mixed, I’d say (I have) some sadness over what won’t be happening, some relief about what also won’t be on my plate and then some excitement about what’s to come,” McNulty said.
His blended feelings in the present are also influenced by wanting to become more involved in the lives of his family, whom he has not been able to see often during his presidency and earlier jobs in Washington, D.C. He will move to Charleston, S.C. to live near one of his daughters.
“The top of my list is a real sense of calling to be engaged with the family, especially as a grandfather, to be able to have an influence in their
special editions of ‘Dr. Love’
LUKE PAGLIA
Senior Noah Koons as Lord Arthur Goring in Oscar Wilde’s “An Ideal Husband”, presented by the College’s Theatre Program this weekend and next. See “Through the Lens” for more photos.
LUKE PAGLIA
The play will premiere at 7 p.m. tonight in the PFAC Little Theater.
From
the Tower Trump ‘floods the zone’
The first month of Trump’s presidency was a whirlwind of wacky declarations, weighted statements and an onslaught of executive orders.
My phone was overwhelmed with notifications from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Associated Press with headlines trying to cover everything coming from the White House.
The bombardment of news felt constant! But that was the point. Trump and his administration have been employing a classic media strategy called “flooding the zone.” If the media and the public are overwhelmed with a deluge of information evoking controversy and outrage, then eventually we can’t keep treading water and we drown.
Trump has done this before. Steve Bannon, who helped run Trump’s 2016 campaign, told PBS five years ago that “all we have to do is flood the zone. Every day we hit them with three things. They’ll bite on one, and we’ll get all of our stuff done, bang, bang, bang. These guys will never — will never be able to recover.”
“It’s a classic PR strategy: overwhelm, distract and control the narrative before anyone else can. Flooding the zone is his way of making sure no single controversy sticks because there’s always a new one incoming,” Evan Nierman, the founder and CEO of global crisis PR agency Red Banyan, told Barron’s in late January.
It seems that the new administration has taken this “flooding” to the next level in the past month, but it’s really nothing new. Nixon had a nightmarish relationship with the press. He staged a variety of attacks on mainstream press, most unsuccessful, but he was no stranger to flooding the zone – particularly when it came to Watergate.
When Nixon realized he had no choice but to release the transcripts of his notorious tapes, his administration chose to flood the zone with as many transcripts as the president would allow in an effort to overwhelm and distract the media.
On April 30, 1974, more than 1,200 pages of edited transcripts of the Nixon tapes were released by The White House. Fortunately for Nixon, this strategy worked for a time. It was far more information than most journalists expected, and publications were frozen in time for a period trying to organize their coverage and determine what valuable information was hidden in the hundreds of pages.
Unfortunately for Nixon, it was only successful for a time. Not to spoil it for anyone, but he did fall victim to his own scandal and had to resign.
Flooding the zone only works for so long, either because the media gets its bearings and develops a counter strategy, or because the administration burns out and loses its momentum.
Things have seemed to calm down in the past week, and the water levels don’t seem to be rising as rapidly as they once were – so perhaps we’ve survived the worst of the storm. However, I won’t be going for a swim anytime soon.
Emma Rossi Editor-in-Chief
Collegian Staff
Editor-in-Chief
Emma Rossi
Managing Editor
Grace Scheller
Section Editors
News
Violet Whitmore
Community
Emily Fox
Perspectives
Grace Scheller
Entertainment
Catharine Runion
Sports
Mia Gallagher
Photo Chief Luke Paglia
Copy Chief
Kathryna Hoyman
Business Manager
John Remaniak
Copy Editors
Anastasia Brown
Olivia Emerick
Kendall Lambrecht
Bonnie Pittman
Hannah Williams
Staff Writers
Dom Puglisi
Matthew Purucker
Madison Lynch
Christa Bashinski
Staff Photographers
Staff Adviser Nick Hildebrand
The Collegian is the student newspaper of Grove City College, located in Grove City, Pa. Opinions appearing on these pages, unless expressly stated otherwise, represent the views of individual writers. They are not the collective views of The Collegian, its staff or Grove City College.
Hunger for the humanities
Violet Whitmore News Editor
I’ve heard countless students complain about being forced to take humanities classes over my four years at Grove City College. I can’t say I blame them.
It’s hard to rationalize studying dead people, art and Dostoevsky when you have an organic chemistry test the next day that could make or break your chances of getting into medical school. It’s hard to rationalize memorizing a painting by Velasquez when you’re busy studying for your CPA exam.
I don’t expect humanities to be a top priority for everyone. I agree that expertise in your field is important and necessary. However, it doesn’t matter what you specialize in — the humanities will play a fundamental role in your career.
What we learn from social sciences and humanities informs and reflects the reality of human nature. They are essential to human understanding, connection and conversation.
Medical professionals often grapple with ethical issues related to genetic selection or psychological states of patients. Accountants may deal with laws or conversations about how to make historical inequities right. Professionals need to be well-rounded so they can contribute intellectually to a conversation that affects living beings made in the Image of God.
We are more than our jobs. We are siblings, parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors and voters. We have a duty to others to act with compassion, understanding and virtue, traits that cannot be learned without a true understanding of what it means
“The timeless phrase ‘there is nothing new under the sun,’ is worthless if we prefer to hide in the shade.”
to be human. History, literature and art teach empathy, understanding and perspective, and we cannot become faithful stewards if we cannot put ourselves in other people’s shoes.
A deemphasis on the humanities erodes our humanity. A few days ago, I saw a video on TikTok of a young teacher arguing with her students who didn’t believe her when she said slaves didn’t get paid. After hearing her rebuttal, one student was audacious enough to say, “prove me wrong.”
While this may be an extreme example, educated authority figures in humanities are becoming devalued, disrespected and untrustworthy in schools because students refuse to engage with shocking ideas they are uncomfortable with. An education deprived of humanities is an education that operates on empirical evidence alone, which means student understanding is driven based on self-experience.
This severance from stories and history does not serve us well. We are forgoing compassion, truth and understanding for misinformed logic. As the adage says, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
A recent article put out by The Atlantic notes that some students enrolled at Columbia University were never required to read a whole book in high school. Professors find students “‘shutting down’ when confronted with ideas they don’t understand” and unable to finish texts that students 20 years ago were able to work through in a week.
There is an educational crisis in America that shackles our ability to intellectually engage and connect with each other meaningfully. The assumption that students will continue to understand and take an interest in humanities and the world outside of their own naturally is eroding in a disconnected, efficient age where foreign ideas are not worth the time or are too much to swallow. We are allowed to be willfully ignorant regarding the perspectives of others while still being rewarded with job security, money and notoriety. It is no longer a priority to teach individuals to struggle and seek comprehension, especially if they score well enough on national exams and are enrolled in college. Knowledge without critical thinking leads to an easily manipulated, robotic population.
The importance of understanding your own government, history and culture cannot be understated. If we are not versed enough to discuss our relationship with the past and present, what are we but well-trained machines working towards an “intellectual” future? Though an essential part of our duty as members of society is to be taught valuable skills, intellect without wisdom leads to darkness. The timeless phrase “there is nothing new under the sun,” is worthless if we prefer to hide in the shade.
RENOIR
CRM continued from 1
fall,” Loretto said.
Students are encouraged to talk to faculty about ideas they have for service-learning projects that could address needs in local churches. The Center is also looking for Greek groups and other campus groups that are searching for volunteer opportunities. Students that are willing to do one-off or long-term service can connect with local congregations and some of their ministries through the Center.
The CRM is going to collaborate with a small number of other Christian colleges and universities that are located in rural settings. The larger aim is to work with them to establish their own rural ministry project to connect college, church and community.
“We will be sharing content and programming ideas and collaborating with them on research projects. Because of the CRM, we have been excited to see our students get more involved in local churches and get a grander vision of what God is doing in rural America. We also hope that even more students are coming to see that God calls people to pursue all different kinds of vocations, not just pastors, to serve in small towns and rural communities,” Dr. Paul Kemeny, academic director of the CRM, said.
The new Lilly Foundation grant is also going to provide more money to support service-learning projects. Professors select one of their classes to engage in a project that meets the real needs of a pastor and local church. The project also fulfills one of the course’s learning outcomes.
MCNULTY continued from 1
lives, to take my life experiences and my interests and share that with them and give them an opportunity to benefit from knowing their grandfather. To me, it’s an enormous privilege, and I see it as really fulfilling,” he shared.
While McNulty’s retirement looms large in the coming months, the president of the College is focusing his attention on several of the last major events in the academic year, like Admitted Student Day. “That speech is something
Professor of design Nate Mucha has had students in a website design course create a website for a local church. This past fall, in professor of marketing Dr. Scott Powell’s advertising class, a group of students helped a local church develop a name, style guide and promotional material for its new youth group ministry as a class project.
“We have found that students engaged in servicelearning projects not only bring a high degree of enthusiasm to the project because they are doing it for a church, but also learn more in the process. In short, it’s a win for students and local churches,” Kemeny said.
Shannon N. Barrios, instructor of communication arts, oversaw students in her research methods class who worked alongside Christ United Church in New Castle, Pa. to explore how to engage young peo-
I always put my back into. It gives me an opportunity to say…what makes (Grove City College) special, and when I give that last one, I’ll definitely feel…relief that the pressure is off, but a little sad that the opportunity to persuade people about what makes us special is also my last time to do it,” McNulty said.
Notably, McNulty speculated he might remain involved in the affairs of the College within the Institute for Faith and Freedom’s Center for Faith and Public Life, but his inclusion on any level will depend on the wishes of his successor. Regardless of
Ed Dept. raises readers
Madison Lynch Contributing Writer
This Saturday, the Grove City Department of Education and the Pennsylvania Chapter of the International Dyslexia Association will be hosting a Raising Readers conference in SHAL.
This conference is designed to “inspire, connect and provide practical tools to support the literacy journey of young learners,” according to the College’s website.
The College will host interactive workshops, practical resources and networking opportunities for parents, educators and literacy advocates. The event includes parent sessions and educator sessions, but all are welcome to register and come at any time for any of the sessions.
The keynote speaker will be Dr. Steve Dykstra, a nationally recognized expert in and advocate for literacy and child development.
There will also be featured professors from the College, including Dr. Richard Sabousky, Dr. Natalie Heisey, Dr. Linda Culbertson ’84 and Dr. Constance Nichols ‘93. Additionally, adjunct professor Dr. Tammi Martin, alumna Kelly Neff ‘00 from the Butler Area School District, Lauren Lutz and Linda Delvaux will be present.
The parent track will include multiple concurrent sessions from professionals and professors.
ple.
“Working with the Center for Rural Ministry has been a wonderful learning experience for my students. Through service-learning initiatives, they have had the opportunity to engage with research in a handson and meaningful way. By working with pastoral clients, they get to put their faith into action by partnering with local churches to examine and bring recommendations toward solutions to the challenges these church communities face,” Barrios said.
The CRM was established in 2023 after the success of the College’s Project for Rural Ministry, a five-year initiative that marked the beginning of the College’s regional outreach to help pastors serving rural, rust belt and Appalachian communities thrive.
what the specific future holds for McNulty, he shared that his thoughts now remind him of when he first became president. “The moment (Brenda and I) got packed up down in Northern Virginia and started heading this way, we started quickly realizing that this new calling was a calling that involved extraordinary engagement,” McNulty remarked. “It involved giving yourself up to the life of the campus and leaning into it to have an impact. …There was some calling that we had that this would be very special, and we wanted to make the most of it,” he said.
oping reading comprehension and fluency based on PAL approaches developed by Fuchs and Fuchs.
“Raising Readers: Finding Joy in Reading and Writing Through Routines and Small Steps with Big Impacts in the Home” will be given by Nichols, a strategy for developing a home environment that fosters love for literacy in children with dyslexia using simple and playful strategies in daily life situations.
The educator track of concurrent sessions also has a detailed lineup of workshops.
Delvaux will teach evidence-based strategies to build phonemic awareness, strengthen phonics skills and improve spelling in the classroom in “Mastering Phonemic Awareness: Using Sound Boxes and Manipulatives for Reading and Spelling Success.”
Heisey will present “Speaking on Words! Linking Sound-Symbol Relationships to Reading and Spelling,” speaking on multisensory and structured literacy approaches involving sound-symbol relationships to support students with dyslexia in reading and writing.
In “Unlocking Possibilities: Disciplinary Literacy and a Key for Opening the Doors to Future Learning for Adolescent Learners,” Nichols will teach on developing disciplinary literacy to support academic growth and connect to real-world applications.
Dykstra will present on “Dyslexia and its Entourage,” a presentation focused on sorting truth from myth about the diagnostic conventions related to dyslexia.
Culbertson will speak on “The Joy of Reading Aloud: The Importance of Parents in Literacy Learning,” a lecture that will focus on sharing and analyzing skills in actively developing literacy through reading stories to children in their home life.
Martin is giving an overview of the multi-tiered support system and analysis of intervention for student success, from the first stages of MTSS to developing an IEP titled “Where do we begin?: A Comprehensive Overview for Parents of MTSS and the Special Education Process.”
In “Enhancing Reading Skills: Partner Reading and Paragraph Shrinking Strategies,” Neff will present on proven strategies for devel-
IDEAL
continued from 1
Underneath the façade, he is intelligent and philosophical, but does not wish to be taken seriously in order to retain his reputation.
Laura Cheveley is played by senior Grace Scheller. Chevely is a cunning woman visiting from Vienna, and she holds Sir. Chiltern’s reputation and future in her hands with the threat of a bribe. She has a complicated relationship with each of the three previous characters, whom she manipulates to her advantage. Mabel Chiltern is played
Lutz will focus on practical strategies for applying morphological awareness and understanding complex vocabulary in “Unlocking Words: Morphology Awareness in the Upper Elementary Classrooms (Grades 3-6).” In “Effective Core Instruction for Small Groups: Enhancing Literacy (Grades K-3),” Lutz will present on strategies and actionable tools for supporting lower elementary students in small group instruction.
Sabousky will analyze notions and myths about visual treatments for specific learning disabilities in “Visual Interventions and Treatments: Fact, Fiction or Something in Between.”
The event begins at 8:45 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m. this Saturday in SHAL. For more information on the schedule and event, visit Education News at gcc.edu.
by senior Mary Margaret Bargery. Mabel Chiltern is Robert’s sister who is a modern young woman pursued by every eligible bachelor in London.
Lord Caversham is played by sophomore Chris Corbin. Caversham is Lord Goring’s father and a member of the old nobility who wishes for his son to do something good with his life.
The play will premiere at 7 p.m. this Friday and Saturday and next weekend at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 20-22 in the Little Theater in Pew Fine Arts Center.
CRM
The Center for Rural Ministry staff gather before their annual conference. This year’s theme was Thriving in Ministry.
EMILY FOX
Senior Blaise Kilmartin presents for a service learning project..
Love and acorns
Remembering the love stories of Grovers past
Kathryna Hoyman Copy Chief
We are all well aware of the many love stories unfolding on campus during our own time here, but it’s easy to forget how many similar romances have taken place at this College over the decades. Some of the Grover couples from years past are now the parents of current students, and the stories that were very real for them are now held in remembrance by their children.
Freshman Anna Shwartz and sophomores Luke Morton and Katie Weese are three examples of such.
Shwartz, who is now a physics major at the College, shared how her parents met while they were both sophomores and got to know each other in a somewhat unconventional manner.
“The first time my mom saw my dad he was in a play, but he had to kiss another girl in it, and she thought it was terrible and was like ‘I could never date a guy like that’… and then she totally forgot about him,” Shwartz said.
“(My dad) was out skiing with some friends over some break, and he crashed and shattered his leg, and (my mom) was part of the group welcoming him back. He was on a scooter and so she would open the doors for him and carry his books, and that was how they got to know each other,” she explained.
Shwartz’ parents started dating their junior year and then both graduated in 2005. They got married in Harbison Chapel that same summer.
“If I’m walking alone at night and I walk by the chapel, I’ll just stop and look at it for a minute and think that someday I want to get married in there too,” Schwartz expressed.
Like many children of alumni, Shwartz herself originally did not expect to follow so closely in her parents’ footsteps. “Growing up I didn’t want to go to Grove City because that’s where my parents went…but I visited in October of my senior year and I loved everything about it,” she said.
Morton, a mechanical engineering major, also shared a reflection of how his parents’ experience as students has shaped his own at the College. Morton’s late mom was a year older than his dad, and they got married right after his dad’s graduation in 1992.
“When I was visiting
Grove, my dad and my mom were taking us on their personal tour, and they walked around and showed us which window was whose and he was like ‘right here is where I would take the acorns from a tree that is no longer here and throw them at her window to tell her I was ready for breakfast,” Morton said.
“I am carrying on that tradition…I’ve thrown a couple acorns – and snowballs: there’s not been a convenient spot to get acorns,” he added.
“Its crazy to think about walking down the same halls, after renovations and all that…there’s some pretty significant changes, but it’s still the same campus, so it’s funky to know that the same rooms that are serving me are the same rooms that served them so long ago,”
Morton said.
Weese is a data science major, and her parents met when her dad was a senior and her mom a freshman.
Her dad contacted her mom through a system that is equivalent to today’s Telegram. They went on a couple of dates together, after which her mom decided that the relationship was not going to go anywhere.
“My mom was looking for a ride home, and my dad’s roommate lived in the same area as my mom. She called their room, and my mom had already written off my dad, so he picked up the phone and my mom was like, ‘I don’t want to talk to you, I’m looking for your roommate and I need a ride home,’” Weese said.
“Along all their drives,
my dad’s roommate was really talking up my dad to my mom,” she explained. Through further convincing on the roommate’s part and frequent peace offerings of banana bread, Weese’s parents started dating during her mom’s second semester.
“My dad was a Rho, and apparently back then all the Rhos were dating ABTs, so she joined ABT after she started dating my dad, and all the girlfriends of my dad’s friends were ABTs,” Weese, who is now an ABT herself, said.
Weese’s mom graduated in May of 2000, and the couple got married the next month.
“(Grove City) has always been a super big part of my life – I can tell my parents still view it as home,” Weese expressed. “It’s an important
place to them, and so every time we’d come back, they’d always look on the school so fondly. It’s kind of a piece of who I am, because the reason that I’m here is because of them meeting here,” she said.
The College has certainly seen its fair share of love stories play out on its campus, and these stories have reverberating effects through the following generations.
In time the relationships of today will be a memory, perhaps one which we Grovers can tell to our children when they attend (because of course, they will).
WHAT’S FRESH AT THE GROVE
In the Little Theater...
‘An Ideal Husband’ Feb. 14 - 15
7 p.m. Feb. 20 - 22 5:30 p.m.
Don’t miss opening weekend of Grove City’s rendition of Oscar Wilde’s “An Ideal Husband.”
For now, all of our stories are still unfolding, and Shwartz’s advice to those currently in the throes of traversing romance at Grove City is, “break a leg.” In Sticht... ‘Black Panther’ Movie Night Feb. 15
7 p.m.
Join Imago Dei and sit back and relax to watch Black Panther in Sticht lecture hall this Saturday at 7 p.m.
In Rathburn... Professionalism & Etiquette Night
Feb. 20 5 - 6:30 p.m.
Learn some etiquette tips from career services to prepare you for your future in the workforce Thursday starting at 5 p.m.
In Crawford Auditorium Andrew Peterson Concert
Feb. 21
7:30 p.m.
Get your tickets for one of the most anticipated events of the semester. Andrew Peterson will be performing on campus next Friday at 7:30.
ANNA SHWARTZ
Freshman Anna Shwartz’s parents started dating their junior year at Grove City College and were married in Harbison Chapel in 2005.
Behind the eyes of flies
Students research impact of genetics on cell proliferation
Emily Fox Community Editor
Grove City College takes pride in providing its students with quality education through its strong academic departments, accomplished faculty and career preparation programs. The Hopeman School of Science, Engineering and Mathematics is no exception. Each semester, professors from many of the departments within the Hopeman School lead teams of students in various research projects designed to prepare them to enter their expected fields.
For the past year, biology professor Dr. Lisa Antoszewski has been working with students researching the effects of genetic modification on cell proliferation in fruit
flies. Cell proliferation refers to the process of cell division. Antoszewski hopes that through their efforts, new mechanisms will be identified that ensure cell division takes place at the right time and produces the correct number of cells.
“In lab, many students feel as though they have to produce expected results to be considered successful. In this course, I have no expectations when it comes to students’ results. We do not know what will happen, and it is entirely possible that we will not uncover a new mechanism for cell proliferation control,” Antoszewski said.
“For me, this is not a problem. While the ultimate goal of this research is to increase our understanding of how cell division is
controlled, the goal of this course is for the young scientists in my class to develop important skills, including contributing to the design of a well-controlled study, making and defending decisions about experimentation when troubleshooting experiments and communicating science to their peers both orally and in writing,” she explained.
Antoszewski’s research team is divided into two groups. The first group is studying the role of a gene called “short stop,” also known as “shot,” and its impact on fruit fly development. They do this by changing the DNA sequence of the shot gene of the fruit fly and observing the impact of this change on the fruit flies’ eyes and in the developing
embryo.
The second group of students is focusing on histone monomethylation, specifically of the lysine 20 in the histone H4 protein. Histones are proteins around which DNA is wrapped, and this allows for the DNA to fit in the nucleus of a cell. When a histone is methylated, a chemical group is added to the protein and this affects how DNA is wrapped. It can also change gene expression. When a gene is expressed, it is translated into a protein. These proteins can affect the function and physical characteristics of the flies.
Within the second group, there are two subgroups of students testing the effect of removing different genes from the flies’ DNA. The first subgroup of
students, junior molecular biology major Kendra Schoeppner and senior biology major Luca Wilkins, chose three genes to focus on: RecQ4, Sox2 and Su(z)12. This semester, they will test whether each of these genes has an effect on cell proliferation.
Schoeppner and Wilkins will perform two crosses using flies with genetic modifications to determine the impact of those modifications on cell proliferation.
The first cross involves female flies that are missing RecQ4, Sox2 or Su(z)12 being crossed with male flies that are missing all of the replication-dependent histone genes.
The second cross involves taking male offspring from the first
Messages from Dr. Loves old and new...
A Valentine’s Day Collegian ghost special
Happy Valentine’s Day Grovers! In preparation for our Valentine’s Day edition, I spent some time looking through the Collegian archives at issues that fell on Valentine’s Day in Grove City history. I came across this piece, published in 1946, that appears to have been written by one of Dr. Love’s predessessors, Aunt Annie Anchovie, in a column called: Aunt Annie Anchovie’s Advice to Aching Hearts. I hope you enjoy reading Aunt Annie’s wisdom alongside this week’s special edition piece written by our current Dr. Love about the most iconic Grover green and red flags.
Emily Fox, Community Editor
Grover red and green flags A Valentine’s Day Dr. Love
As we all know, Grove City has its own unique set of green and red flags when it comes to the dating culture of the students. Here is my professional analysis of the most iconic Grover green and red flags that I’ve observed during my time as a love expert.
Grover Green Flags:
They are a true son/ daughter of God.
Grove City College is known for its faith-based community, although of course, this doesn’t apply to everyone. I think a lot of people here are making the effort to find the right person. Ring-by-spring (though it has its faults) at least means that people are dating to marry. In today’s society? I think that’s admirable.
They walk you to your dorm after spending time together.
This is specifically for my ladies. What a gentleman, am I right? Plus, I personally don’t want to walk alone when it gets dark (yes, I know we’re in the middle of nowhere). But, in times of need, Campus Safety has your back.
They wear Blundstones.
If you don’t already have a pair, get some. Your Christian granola boyfriend/girlfriend awaits.
Now for what you’ve all been waiting for…
Grover red flags:
They think a meal at Hicks or MAP is the best date ever.
I get it; college kids are broke (but we won’t be in the future). I think a date needs a little more effort than a 5-minute walk in the frigid cold. Believe me, there are a lot more options out there when you’re willing to be creative. Put the effort in! It shows you care.
They blast “A Careless Whisper” by George Michael so that the entire campus can hear it.
I’m sure that the Rockwell crew enjoys listening to it. You know who you are.
Ring-by-Spring
Sorry (not sorry). I think it’s a lot of pressure when people come to Grove. My friends at other schools look
Seven questions with…
Brad Isles Head Men’s and Women’s Golf Coach
What made you decide you wanted to coach at Grove City?
I started off as a volunteer assistant with Coach Melissa Lamie not long after I began working at the College just about 20 years ago. She was coaching both golf teams in addition to women’s soccer at the time. Subsequently, and since being appointed head coach, recruiting student-athletes to GCC and helping them succeed both on and off the golf course gives me great joy. I’m often proud of what my golfers accomplish through their hard work and seeing their dedication pay off, especially with the amount of time they sacrifice to be a varsity athlete representing Grove City College.
What’s the best gift/date you’ve ever planned for your wife on Valentine’s Day?
I actually ran this one past my wife and she didn’t have an answer either. Haha. (We don’t typically do anything special for Valentine’s Day.)
If you could guest star on any TV show, which would you pick?
This is a great question and one I haven’t thought much about … If I could guest star on any TV show it would be Fargo. Or True Detective.
What are three songs on your semester playlist?
“Thunder” – Billy Strings “Run It” – My Morning Jacket
at me like I’m crazy when I talk about it. Of course, many of our parents have met at Grove City, and it worked out for them. Ringby-spring didn’t just pop up out of nowhere. My professional advice is to not rush it; take your relationships day by day. If the ring comes by spring, yay! If not, that doesn’t mean you’ll never get engaged. Don’t worry. Everyone has their own timeline.
“Brace for Impact (Live a Little)” – Sturgill Simpson
What’s the best piece of advice you received from your parent(s)?
The best piece of advice I received from my parents was “Make smart decisions – and don’t do anything stupid.”
What is something you find overrated?
I find flavored coffee to be overrated. Just give me coffee-flavored coffee.
What are you looking forward to this semester?
The thing I am most looking forward to this semester is watching my daughters perform during spring Orchesis.
An ‘Ideal’ production
Grove City College’s theater program presents ‘An Ideal Husband.’
This season’s production is an Oscar Wilde comedy that explores the complexities of marriage, political corruption and the search for personal integrity. The play follows a respectable man’s hidden past, and his secrets threaten his career and relationship.
Be sure to get tickets before its too late and don’t miss this production in the Little Theater in PFAC.
The 2025 spring play opens today. The Grove City College Theatre Program will perform “An Ideal Husband.”
Photos by Luke Paglia, Photo Chief
Perspectives
More than just makeup MAGA women’s cosmetics create personas
Grace Scheller Managing Editor
The stereotypical makeup look of MAGA women is one of ostentatious distinction, at least according to the most recent viral trend on TikTok. Left-leaning users everywhere have taken to the app to participate in videos typically titled “Get Ready with Me: Conservative Girl Edition” or “MAGA makeup tutorial,” in which they offer a rather gaudy, satirical tutorial that blends humor and criticism.
“Now, I have cool undertones in my skin, meaning red-ish, pink-ish undertones. So, we want to choose a foundation that doesn’t match the undertones of our skin, so I’m going in with my warmest foundation,” one trend participant, Suzanne Lambert, quipped. “To finish the eyes, we’re going to go in with a heavy black liner … I really wanted to give myself the ‘is she awake?’ effect, so I made
sure to draw the eyeliner in a downward motion.””
The look is simple and uniform in every example: orange, often unnatural base makeup paired with a dramatic eye look, thick, dark brows and a matte lip. Usually, the country song “God Made Girls” by RaeLynn is thrown in the background of the video as well.
The trend began earlier in 2024 but gained significant momentum since Trump was reinstated in office. But why has it spread so quickly? Because it’s true. Take a look at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. At the beginning of her political journey in the early 2000s, Noem sported a short, layered haircut often paired with a bright lip. She looks a bit different these days. Although the most recent physical development is veneers, she’s clearly switched up her look with a spray tan of some sort, long, highlighted hair extensions, eyelash extensions and lip injections at the very least. Similar alterations are
shared by the U.S. ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, as well as many of the women in the Trump family themselves.
It’s no secret that in recent years, conservative women of power have gotten quite the makeover. The “conservative girl makeup” trend has caught on to that.
But why the switch up? You’d think that, for a party so adamantly against gender-affirming surgery and drag culture, its women would prefer a more natural look. While this may have been true at one time, the spread of MAGA culture has changed all of that.
The fact is that conservative women uphold rather traditional values, especially when it comes to gender roles. Women are expected to be caregivers above all: nurturing, docile and domesticated. For Republican women in office, such as Noem and Guilfoyle, this is a rather tricky message to consistently convey when possessing such positions of power.
A Republican politician’s ideals of what a woman should be directly oppose her career choices. A conservative woman who demands authority in a rather maledominated field still needs to appeal to her party’s male counterparts – she still needs to be seen as a nurturing, feminine figure somehow. Because of this, conservative women feel the need to overcompensate in some way. Oftentimes, this results in some rather strange appearance choices.
Hair extensions, spray tans and lip fillers are a must in order to appear twice as feminine, all to make up for their rather “unladylike” career. It’s a complicated catch-22. But maybe it’s working. After all, President Trump did appoint Noem as his Homeland Security secretary – obviously not due to her appearance, but when it comes to Trump, it certainly didn’t hurt. In fact, during a campaign rally in Vandalia, Ohio, Trump introduced Noem, stating, “We have a very special woman who’s hot as a politician…
You’re not allowed to say that she’s beautiful so I’m not going to say that.”
The attention these women are receiving for their physical appearance adds another complicated layer to the onion: In an effort to appeal to their party’s traditional idea of what a woman should be, are these politicians truly earning respect?
When your physical appearance is chained to the work you do, you risk your appearance no longer being an advantage, but a distraction from the important stuff. It may not be right, but to suggest that Trump and his administration pay no mind to their female members’ appearances would be naive.
It’s objectively ridiculous to judge a person by their looks, yes. But it would also be ridiculous to suggest that looks don’t convey a purposeful message. There’s intention behind appearance – there’s a strategy. Whether or not it’s working is not for me to say.
‘Emilia Perez’ judged by biased panel
Owen Pfaff Contributing Writer
I have never watched “Emilia Perez.” I do not want to watch “Emilia Perez.” I am not going to watch “Emilia Perez.” Fortunately, my purposes do not require viewing the movie. The three primary controversies surrounding the film – its use of AI to autotune singing, having a transgender protagonist and cultural appropriation – are utterly immaterial. Why? If the movie was good, people wouldn’t care.
There is a long list of films that suffer from all of the aforementioned flaws that are still considered classics.
“Moana,” “Aladdin” and
“Pocahontas” are all pictures that take place in cultures totally foreign to the writers. Yet nobody is crawling out of the woodwork to decry them as insensitive and vulgar.
“The Greatest Showman” used pitch correction technology, but none of the music critics are trying to drag its name through the mud.
“The Danish Girl” has a transgender protagonist and was relatively popular at the time of release. Despite these issues (if having a transgender character could be considered an issue on its face), all those films are beloved by large audiences. The problems they possessed were swept under the rug and forgotten.
“Emilia Perez” isn’t a good film being persecuted by perfectionist critics, bigoted audiences and indignant
Mexicans. It’s just bad. But how? After all, it did win the Golden Globes award for best musical and was nominated for thirteen different Oscar awards. How can a movie with this many professional accolades be so terrible?
Simply put, the judges are frauds. The panels of people who determine what movies are nominated for and win Oscars and Golden Globe awards do not often choose the awardees based off some pre-determined conception of what makes a film highquality. They simply choose them because they like them. That’s it.
The panels are composed of veterans of the movie industry, and they choose high quality pictures by happenstance. Moreover, films associated with major production companies and well-
connected producers are disproportionately represented in nominations over productions from indie studios.
Movies aren’t chosen because they show outstanding writing, music or visuals. They’re chosen because they’re politically expressive of a left-leaning message, while also being bland and inoffensive.
Take “Black Panther.” Objectively horrible writing. Confused plot, bizarre character arcs and downright negligent treatment of African society. For its efforts, it received three Oscars. How come? Because it was a very popular film about black people.
“Green Book” is another unremarkable film that won multiple Academy Awards, including best picture and best screenplay. Why was it
chosen? Racism. The panel didn’t choose it because they think racism is a good thing (as far as I’m aware), only that it touched on racist themes and should therefore be commended. I could yap about how transgenderism is corrupting society. I could preach about how AI is chipping away at true musical talent. I could talk about how cultural appropriation is nonsense. Truth is, none of these things really matter in relation to “Emilia Perez.”
If the film were good, people would ignore its flaws and accept the awards as just and fitting. The controversies surrounding it would never have existed in the first place.
Superbowl: Sports or entertainment?
Cat Runion Entertainment Editor
Super Bowl LIX took place this past Sunday, and if by some chance you haven’t heard about it, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22. If you were watching for Taylor Swift, she was only shown once. If you were only watching for the halftime show, Kendrick Lamar gave an excellent performance (and dealt all the petty drama we wanted). And if you were only there for the commercials, I’m sure we can all agree that there were some definite highs and lows.
Therein lies the question: is the Super Bowl even about football anymore, or has it become mere entertainment? No doubt there are still myriad viewers who watch for the game itself, but
you hear far more discourse about the other aspects of the event, namely the commercials and the halftime show. The commercials are undoubtedly entertaining. Corporations roll out their best fresh advertisements for a coveted spot to be broadcast to 127 million viewers. This year Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal promoted mayonnaise, Eugene Levy’s eyebrows became sentient for Little Caesar’s and one commercial exclusively focused on women’s chests in an interesting plea for breast cancer awareness.
I know many people who watch the Super Bowl exclusively for the commercials. I used to be one of them; I would do homework during the game and then tune in to the TV whenever there was a commercial break. My grandma used to call me every single year the day after the Super Bowl to read out her ranked list of favorite
commercials.
It’s objectively a great time to advertise, but I would argue that it almost takes away from the importance of the game. Why must we be lambasted with products to buy in order to watch a simple game of football? It feels strange to me that more hype is generated over the same recycled insurance advertisements than over the culmination of the entire NFL season.
The halftime show is another great example. A large portion of viewers tune in only for the halftime show. This year, we essentially got a free, televised 13-minute Kendrick Lamar concert. I can’t complain; it was pretty awesome. I’ve had “Not Like Us” stuck in my head all week. But I saw more hype being generated over this aspect of the game than for the match itself.
There’s even been some discourse over the prospect
of the Super Bowl being scripted. This is yet unproven, but it does sometimes feel possible, or even likely. This year, the pattern wasn’t as striking, but in the past, I’ve noticed that the games are frequently neck-in-neck, with shock upsets right at the end or impossible pulls by the underdog. If it seems far-fetched that these games are rigged or scripted, at least consider the possibility of a few plot points. ESPN predicted that Americans were projected to bet almost $1.39 billion on the Super Bowl. Those who stand to gain from this are financially incentivized to make the game as close and as surprising as possible. There will always be complaints about phony calls by the refs, too, often in favor of the more dominant team. And of course, you always see the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. I’ll go out on a limb here and say that many of us watched
Elon in the Oval Office
Madelyn Braho Contributing Writer
There’s a new power in the Oval Office, and he wasn’t elected. Elon Musk, noted for his Twitter rants, Nazi salutes and penchant for “founding” tech companies, is currently attempting to take over the government. Musk is head of the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE, because memes can never die peacefully), and has been working to gain access to sensitive financial information, along with other members of the Trump administration. This department is supposedly meant to cut down on government inefficiency and excess spending, which I expect many people would consider a good thing. Few people have any real trust in the government nowadays, and claiming to tame bureaucracy is something few people would immedi-
ately object to. But for all of the flag waving, the real purpose of this new department seems to be cutting the social safety net out from under us.
DOGE has attempted to force thousands of federal employees to quit, likely in order to replace them with Trump loyalists, an action which has been blocked by a federal judge for a time. They are also trying to cut funding to research by the Department of Education, which Trump has said he would dismantle.
DOGE has also gained access to the treasury, including the ability to cut off government funding to Medicare, Medicaid and even Social Security. This, along with the determined effort to cut out Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) jobs, seems to be an attempt to dismantle all the progress the government has made to give everyone a fair chance at economic success, despite the cards they were dealt.
DEI jobs have thus far been a way to categorize a position
held by any person of color, or any other marginalized person, which the current administration considers incapable of deserving by their own merits. DEI is a part of a movement going back to the 1960s to make sure everyone has equal opportunity to jobs, regardless of ethnicity, gender, disability, etc. It would be hoped that the general American population would be anti-discrimination, seeing as our founding documents claim “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” as human rights. But we have been convinced that we are each other’s worst enemies, instead of the people actually benefitting from our poverty and struggle.
The biggest issue with this whole situation is that Musk has in no way been elected by the American people. Presidential Cabinet members, although nominated by the president, must be confirmed by the legislative branch. But because Musk is a “special government employee,” that is not required.
This means that the man currently in charge of a large swath of the country’s finances, both at home and abroad, has not been given this power with anyone’s consent but the president. If the United States were a monarchy, perhaps that would be acceptable, but with a representative government like the U.S., the people should have a say in who controls the government.
And when an unelected official who has ties to fascist movements is attempting to remove access to Social Security and healthcare from Americans, it should raise concern. No one has cast a single ballot for Musk, or any of his DOGE employees, yet they are one of the most powerful forces in the government right now.
This is not normal, and do not let anyone convince you that it is. This is not standard procedure, and this is not benign. If we wish to live in a democracy, we must know what the absence of it looks like.
more out of disdain for a team than for genuine fandom of either one of them.
I understand that part of this effort is hoping to get more people hooked on football – that by watching the Super Bowl for the entertainment value, viewers might become interested in watching the rest of the next season, but I start to worry whenever an establishment tries to cater more to potential viewers than to those fans who have already proven to be loyal.
It’s clear to me that the NFL has focused on external entertainment elements such as the halftime show, advertisements and storytelling in order to draw more viewership, but I feel that it has taken it too far. The NFL may garner such numbers for the Super Bowl, but it’s sold the integrity and the purity of the sport itself.
FLIES
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cross that are missing both the histone genes and either RecQ4, Sox2 or Su(z)12 and crossing them with female flies carrying a modifiable histone transgene. A transgene refers to a piece of DNA that is inserted into the fly through genetic manipulation. There are three types of transgenes involved in this experiment. Some female flies have a wild type histone transgene, meaning that the inserted gene contains all of the genetic information necessary to code for the histone genes that were initially removed. Another group of female flies contain a transgene that changes the 20th amino acid in histone H4, a lysine, to a different amino acid. In this case, it is changed to alanine. The third group of female flies have a transgene that changes this lysine to an arginine.
Analyzing the offspring of the second cross: Then the students will analyze the flies produced from the second cross to determine the impact of the genes of interest on cell proliferation. These flies will be missing the histone genes and either RecQ4, Sox2 or Su(z)12 but will have a transgene that provides either normal histone H4 function (wild type) or altered function (alanine or arginine mutants). Analysis will involve placing the flies under a fluorescent microscope and observing their eyes. The students chose to manipulate genes in the eyes specifically so that they could see the results of gene modification without killing the flies. The way that the flies’ eyes appear will allow the students to see which genes impacted cell proliferation through their interaction with histone H4 lysine 20 monomethylation.
“It has been eye-opening and rewarding to delve deeper into this small model organism while discovering more about its biology and why it’s such a powerful tool for research,” Schoeppner said.
“Not only does this experience provide beneficial research skills, like problem-solving when your experiments don’t go as planned or learning how to approach your research question, but it also provides more of a true lab atmosphere that comes with graduate school and specialized research,” she said.
NPR
Kendrick Lamar kills it again
‘Not Like Us’ rapper performs at Super Bowl
Alexandria Fox Contributing Writer
Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 Super Bowl halftime show is now the most-watched halftime show of all time, surpassing the audience of the Super Bowl itself, peaking at about 133.5 million viewers.
Despite the record-breaking numbers, people have many differing opinions about the show. Several think it was too simple and not flashy enough for the Super Bowl. Many viewers also felt that his performance catered only to the younger generations.
A comment from a Yahoo entertainment user reads, “I’m so old, so it might just be me, I did not know what was going on during the show and wasn’t entertained by it. I’m just guessing here, but I’d say at least 75 percent of our country feels the same way I do.”
Another commented, “We need a show for ALL generations.” I felt that they were trying to cater to a younger audience in order to gain live viewers and demographics they may not have reached otherwise.
While opinions vary about whether or not the show was entertaining, I personally thought it was very enjoyable. I watched the show with several friends, and we all greatly enjoyed his performance — his decision to bring out SZA undoubtedly added to the experience. She performed beautifully.
Lamar and SZA performed several of their biggest songs together, such as “Luther” and “All the Stars.” There has been some debate over whether or not she was lipsyncing, but it seemed to me that she sang everything live, since the original recording of her songs sounded very different from her voice in
the show.
Aside from his hit songs with SZA, Lamar also performed the “GNX Preview Song,” “squabble up,” “humble,” “DNA,” “Euphoria,” “Man At The Garden,” “Peekaboo,” “Not Like Us” and “TV Off.”
The most important moment occurred during Lamar’s performance of “Not Like Us.” In case you missed the massive beef last summer, “Not Like Us” is a diss track aimed at fellow rapper Drake. Drake was not in attendance, but the internet has been busy imagining his reaction to hearing the song played live to 133.5 million people.
Aside from the setlist, many agree that the halftime show also seemed to have strong political inclinations. President Trump previously stated that he would be in attendance (the first sitting president to do so), which
could have partly inspired this.
The most obvious example is that Lamar and his dancers wore red, white and blue, with the dancers forming an American flag. Additionally, Samuel L. Jackson portrayed Uncle Tom from “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
Many originally thought he was playing Uncle Sam, but several of his comments during the show such as “Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto. Mr. Lamar, do you really know how to play the game?” suggest otherwise.
Lamar’s show comes hot on the heels of his five Grammys, achieving both feats within one week. Whether the show was too political, not flashy enough or too controversial, all can agree that this will be a show to be remembered for a long time.
Gaga Returns with ‘Abracadabra’
Emma Rossi Editor-In-Chief
On Feb. 3, Lady Gaga fed the masses by releasing her single “Abracadabra,” reviving dance music only a day after Charli XCX’s “Brat” was snubbed for Album of the Year at the 2025 Grammy Awards.
“Abracadabra” is absolutely hypnotic. The track is laced with a sickening synth and an enchanting electronic sound that she seems to have been snatched straight out of 2008.
Gaga’s otherworldly vocals bring the mystery and magic of the lyrics to life, lifting the staccato beat to the surface. She sings of a “lady in red” who represents life’s challenges. She told “ELLE”, “In many ways, it’s about how to deal with that challenge within yourself, and often, the world around us can reflect it as well. I wanted to explore the question: ‘What does it feel like to thrive rather than just survive all the time?’”
The single is only a premonition of her sixth album, “Mayhem,” which will be released on March 7. Gaga has been in the game since she dropped her first
album “The Fame” in August 2008. Since then, she’s released four more solo albums that have shaped pop music and culture in ways that will be studied in the history books.
“Mayhem” promises to be just as impactful, inspired by industrial dance music and dropping in the wake of an electronic-pop resurgence.
The music icon has ventured far from her origins, starring in both successes (see “A Star is Born”) and sunken ships (see “Joker: Folie a Deux”). After 2013’s
“Artpop,” Gaga took her next album to showcase her vocals through a very mature “Joanne.” She returned to her roots and resurrected dance pop in 2020 with “Chromatica.”
Five years later, “Mayhem” brings Gaga’s career full circle. Gaga told Rolling Stone in January that the album would be an amalgamation of genres and styles, serving as a recollection of her life.
“Every song I wrote emerged from surrendering to different dreams tied to my past, almost like a recol-
50 years of Journey
Catharine Runion Entertainment Editor
When most people think of Journey, they think of “Don’t Stop Believin’” or “Any Way You Want It.”
The band spent 20232024 celebrating their 50th anniversary of formation, but their first selftitled album “Journey” didn’t come out until 1975, making this year the album’s 50th anniversary. Journey’s commercial success has been characterized by Steve Perry’s iconic vocals and the true sounds of the 1980s. Vocals were not the original focal point for Journey. Several tracks on this first album are solely instrumental, and when there are lyrics, they act as bridges between larger solos and expositions.
This first album resonates more with the sounds of Pink Floyd or early Boston. The lyrics are few, far between and often abstract. The songs have the typical drums, bass and guitar, but also the occasional organ accompaniment. Their original frontman, Gregg Rolie, is much less of an iconic voice than Steve Perry, and his singing is almost forgettable in this album. As a result, the instrumentalists are the focal point, and they shine. Journey debuts itself as a band of musicians, not just a backtrack for a singer. Journey’s sound in “Journey” is so radically different from the songs that most people associate with the band, but one factor remains the same — Neal Schon’s guitar. Schon was an original member of the band and continues to perform with them, perennially holding the place of lead guitarist.
lection of all the bad decisions I’ve made throughout my life. There are moments where we sonically push the sound to extremes, and others where everything revolves around love. That, to me, represents true chaos,” Gaga said.
“It’s sometimes difficult to see the light, but I think what makes inner chaos more challenging is when you occasionally catch a glimpse of the sun. For this reason, the album offers a bit of everything. It’s a complete experience,” she continued.
While the album is reminiscent of sounds from the past, she acknowledges that it won’t be what “The Fame” or “Artpop” was.
“The album started as me facing my fear of returning to the pop music my earliest fans loved,” Gaga told Pitchfork in January.
Her creative process was like “reassembling a shattered mirror: even if you can’t put the pieces back together perfectly, you can create something beautiful and whole in its own new way,” she said.
If the album is as dynamic as Gaga promises, it has the potential to dominate 2025 the same way “Brat” dominated 2024.
Schon’s hallmark sound makes Journey sound like Journey, even as lead singers have come and gone. I got the chance to see Journey perform live this past summer, and I was shocked at how energetic and consistent the band was after 50 years. This was in part due to Neal Schon. He lent a continuity to their sound that was absolutely crucial.
Hearing their greatest hits live was already great enough, but Schon’s guitar was by far my favorite part. I can’t even describe how ascendent of a sound it was. The combination of the music, the lights and the guitar solos made me feel like I was genuinely on a different planet.
They definitely didn’t perform any songs from this first album at the show – they focused on bigger hits like “Separate Ways” and “Faithfully” – and rightly so. It isn’t as easy to hold a jam-packed baseball stadium full of fans captive with a meandering, trippy, wordless song about a comet that’s almost seven minutes long.
Just because it took Journey a few years to find their signature sound doesn’t make this first album any less valuable or important. It still holds up, even if it’s a little bit of a different sound.
UPROXX
CHEATSHEET
Swim sails past Titans in regular season finale
Mia Gallagher Sports Editor
With only a week remaining until the PAC Swimming and Diving champion will be crowned, the Grove City men’s and women’s swimming and diving squads are poised and prepared to clinch the league title yet again.
Four dominant relay finishes highlighted the Wolverines’ regular-season finale last Wednesday, Feb. 5 in New Wilmington, Pa., where they faced off against PAC rival Westminster. The evening also saw stellar individual races from both teams and allowed a trio of Wolverine rookies – freshmen Freja Kile, Gianna Bracken and Evan Tritt – to secure PAC weekly honors for their performances.
Kicking the scoring off for the women’s team were Bracken, Kile, freshman Gabby Kinneer and senior Sarah Kuchma, whose impressive one minute, 57.65 second finish in the 200 medley relay notched the first victory for the squad.
Continuing to lead the charge for the Wolverines
“With
the PAC championship meet right around the corner, we hope to find success by working hard these next few days, making sure we prepare properly and cheer each other on the day of the competition as well.”
was Kile, whose victories in the 200 and 500 free locked down the middle distance events for the team. She then went on to join sophomores
Jamie Durstein, junior Leah Boardman and sophomore Katie Bell in their dominant one minute, 46.35 second 200 free relay win.
“It felt great to find success in both relays at the meet! All the women on both the 200 medley and 200 free relay have worked so hard this season, so it felt very rewarding to pull off a victory in both events,” Kile said.
Bracken, Kuchma and Durstein all found success in their individual performances as well. With victories in both the 100 and 200, Bracken swept the breaststroke events while Durstein
-- Freja Kile
likewise locked down both the 100 and 200 backstroke. Kuchma contributed wins in both the 50 free and 100 butterfly to secure the team’s victory in the final dual meet of her college career.
Kile and Bracken swept the PAC weekly honors this week for the Wolverines, securing Swimmer of the Week and Newcomer of the Week, respectively.
“With the PAC championship meet right around the corner, we hope to find success by working hard these next few days, making sure we prepare properly and cheer each other on the day of the competition as well,” Kile said.
From the men’s pool, the 200 medley relay team of sophomore Peter Hasse,
Freshman Gianna Bracken earned PAC Newcomer of the Week for her work against Westminster.
LACROSSE
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postseason,” Bui continued.
On Saturday, the Wolverines traveled to Baltimore, Md. to face the Salisbury University Sea Gulls. Salisbury defeated the Wolverines
The Sea Gulls are one of Division III’s biggest threats, having won the 2023 men's lacrosse national championship and making the quarterfinals in 2024. Last year, Salisbury defeated Grove City 17-11 in their Feb. 10 game.
The Sea Gulls took an early lead, scoring four in a row.
VOLLEYBALL
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effort with two service aces on the day.
Defensively, Malcolm tallied two blocks at the net while Fair and sophomore Philip Schweitzer locked down the back row with four digs a piece.
Day two of the invitational saw the Wolverines get narrowly edged 12-15 by Eastern in the fifth set of the matchup. Despite this setback, however, the team produced their best all-around perfor-
Bui opened scoring for the Wolverines in the second quarter. In the third quarter, the Wolverines held Salisbury to only one goal, while Grove City was able to score three goals, decreasing the deficit to only 5-3.
In the fourth quarter, the scoreboard read 8-4 in favor of the Sea Gulls until the Wolverines scored two final goals to end the game with a final score of 8-6.
“Our biggest challenge this year is our mindset around getting over the ‘Top 10 hump,’” Jernstedt said.
“We are close to being a
mance with countless players achieving season-high totals.
Headlining this stellar showing was Fair, whose season-best 42 assists allowed the Wolverines to put up 58 kills against Eastern.
Fair’s efforts allowed Gianneski and freshman Keith Otto to each contribute 13 kills to the effort. Malcolm and Norris also got in on the action, putting away 11 and nine points, respectively.
Sophomore Andrew Kessler led the Wolverines’ defensive effort with seven blocks, followed by Giannes-
Tritt, freshman Aidan McCarthy and senior Jacob Vannoy led the charge with a commanding 1 minute, 40.40 second win in the meet’s opening event.
Vannoy then joined junior Caden Ondrejko and sophomores Charlie Cratty and Josh Remlinger to secure the Wolverines' victory over the Titans with a victorious one minute, 32.85 second finish in the 200 free relay.
Individually, McCarthy notched a pair of first-place
finishes in the 100 and 200 freestyle while classmate Tritt found similar success in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Ondrejko and Vannoy equally contributed to a sweep of the butterfly events, finding victory in the 100 and 200 events, respectively. The race to defend both the men’s and women’s PAC titles is on. Grove City will host the PAC Championship Meet starting next Wednesday, Feb. 19 in the James E. Longnecker Natatorium.
Sports at a Glance
team that consistently competes and wins games at the top of our level but for a newer program that is a new challenge. We are learning the consistency that it takes to compete at the top and we are challenging the guys with the schedule, but also by talking a lot about our mindset and defining excellence. We have to believe in ourselves to be able to play at a certain level before we are going to be able to do it,” he expressed.
The Wolverines will face Ohio Wesleyan at 3 p.m. tomorrow in Delaware, Ohio.
ki, Malcolm and Norris, who combined for 10. Freshman libero Ben McVey thwarted Eastern’s efforts from the back row, tallying 16 digs on the day. Fair and Gianneski rounded out their performances by contributing a combined 24 digs as well.
After hosting the Saint Vincent Bearcats for their inaugural PAC match yesterday, Feb. 13, the Wolverines will travel to to take on the Yellow Jackets of Baldwin Wallace at 10 a.m. tomorrow, Feb. 15 in Berea, Ohio.
(2-3)
Upcoming
Gianna Bracken Women’s Swimming
WILLIAM HANCOCK
Feb. 19.
DAVE MILLER
Sports
Bisons bested
Men’s lacrosse dominates in home
Emma Rossi Editor-in-Chief
Men’s lacrosse is back in action, defeating the Bethany Bisons 23-1 in their home opener on Tuesday.
Sophomore attack Sawyer Strong led the Wolverines’ dominant effort with a career-high six goals. Several other Wolverines scored multiple goals in the win, with sophomore attack David Schneider earning a hat trick and senior midfielder Kobi Bui racking up two goals and three assists.
Grove City took off in the first quarter, gaining an 11-0 lead early. Their offense continued its onslaught of shots on goal, scoring an additional eight goals in the second quarter.
In the second half, the Wolverines tallied up four additional goals, allowing Bethany to score only once in the fourth quarter.
The Wolverines have a
“We are learning the consistency that it takes to compete at the top and we are challenging the guys with the schedule, but also by talking a lot about our mindset and defining excellence.”
schedule of non-conference competition slated for the beginning of their season but got a small taste of PAC competition earlier in the week.
“We are preparing for our conference schedule by playing one of the toughest nonconference schedules in the country. We play three teams in the Top-5 and a number of other traditionally great programs. We hope that by testing ourselves in this game the conference games should feel comparatively easier,”
Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach Alec Jernstedt said.
Prior to Tuesday’s game, Bui spoke to the team’s focus
-- Alec Jernstedt
as they approach PAC play.
“For the bulk of our conference schedule, we are really looking to stay consistent with our play style and continue to build chemistry on the field. We have a lot of great opponents this year and our conference schedule allows us to just iron out our play style and get good consistent reps on the field,” Bui said.
“Every weekend is a challenge for us in terms of playing really good teams -- if we lose sight of winning the day and continuing to better our craft, it will be a challenge. But if we can stay consistent
opener
in our game plan and continue to buy into our process and fix the mistakes that we make every week, we will be
able to stay really composed and motivated going into the
Volleyball splits at home invitational
Mia Gallagher Sports Editor
The Grove City men’s volleyball team continued their historic 2025 season last Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7-8 with two remarkable performances in the Wolverarena.
The team, who hosted Carlow and Eastern for the College’s inaugural men’s volleyball invitational, produced their fourth three-set sweep of the season against the Celtics Friday night, setting them up for success as PAC play gets underway. Leading the offensive
charge for Grove City was sophomore Max Gianneski, whose team-high seven kills paced the Wolverines in their commanding victory. Junior Tieg Malcolm and senior Quintin Norris joined Gianneski, contributing a combined 11 kills to the offensive showing.
Setting their hitters up for success at the net were setters sophomore Craig Fair and freshman Josiah Goin, who notched 23 and 10 assists, respectively. Sophomore Hayden McCreadie also got in on the offensive
LUKE PAGLIA
Sophomore attackman Sawyer Strong contributed six of the team’s 23 goals last Tuesday, Feb. 11, against Bethany.
LUKE PAGLIA Freshman attackman Tyler Blazek, carrying the ball upfield.
LACROSSE
LUKE PAGLIA