Hempstead, NY Vol.77 | Issue 13
The Hofstra
Chronicle
Thursday
February 2, 2012
Keeping the Hofstra Community informed since 1935
Students starve themselves for a good cause
Photo Courtesy 30hourfamine.com
By Zach Mongillo Staff Writer
a group of students on campus are planning to purposely starve themselves for over a full day this March in order to spread awareness and raise money for starving children in africa. the intervarsity Christian fellowship (iVCf), an on-campus club that regularly holds servicedriven events, will be hosting and participating in one this spring called the “30-Hour famine.” Participants of this event will fast
for 30 hours straight in order to experience similar living conditions as people from african countries like ethiopia and Somalia. they will emulate the experience of people in those areas who spend an average time of 30 hours between putting food in their stomachs. the event will spread awareness and raise money that will be sent directly to the areas that need it most. “30-Hour famine” is an internationally followed event that was started in alberta, Canada in
1971. It is powered by a non-profit organization called World Vision. This will be the very first time that a Hofstra club hosts it. though it will be hosted by the iVCf, all students and faculty are encouraged to participate. “We want this to be a campuswide event,” said Mark atkinson, president of the club. “We are hoping to get over 200 people to join in with us.” atkinson is a major advocate for the event for multiple reasons. Not only is he hopeful that Hofstra
can raise thousands of dollars to send to countries in need, but he also believes participation in this endeavor can “enrich a whole person.” “You know that cliché about how you should be thinking of starving children in africa when you’re hungry? Well, this time you really will be thinking about them,” said atkinson. “So many times we physically give things, but we never really empathize because we don’t know what these people are actually going through.” atkinson is a three-time participant in this experience and says that just one time can change someone’s entire perspective on world hunger. “You don’t really know what hunger feels like until you go 30 hours without eating,” he said. it is commonly believed that people of fortunate societies like the United States take food for granted, and here at Hofstra students can often be heard venting about running out of funds on their meal cards. Yet in countries like Somalia and ethiopia, people have no choice but to live on less than two dollars a day. “these kids would die for a meal card; in fact, they die because they don’t,” said atkinson. this statement proves itself true according to the “hunger facts” portion of World Vision’s website (www.30hourfamine.com). experts estimate that almost 11,000 children under the age of five die of hunger-related issues every single day. this is due to increasing food
prices as a result of a recent plummet in crop availability. Proceeds will go toward providing impoverished areas with food and supplies that can help create renewable crops. Word is already being spread around campus about this event, which will begin on the evening of thursday, March 15. iVCf hopes to end the event with a celebratory feast in which students will finally be able to eat and can share experiences from their last 30 hours. Many students like sophomore Carl rohde have shown great enthusiasm for the famine and are hoping to participate in it. “it’s not going to be fun and i’m not going to like it, but i’d do anything if it is for a good cause,” said rohde. Unfortunately for iVCf, some students are hardly even considering participating in the famine. Students like sophomore Sam Cohen seem to believe that participants of the event are crazy for doing so. “if anything, i think i could do two fifteen hour shifts,” Cohen jokingly stated in regards to going 30 hours without eating anything. Still, atkinson and his group will continue attempting to convince fellow students and faculty to participate this March. they will be seen promoting this event and their club in the student center throughout february and March. “all i’m asking people to do is to think outside of yourself,” stated atkinson, “Don’t walk away without at least telling someone about it.”
Hofstra students see the primary process in person By Ben Suazo aSSiStaNt NeWS eDitor
Concorde, NH – in a televised speech, you can’t hear the same flutter of camera shutters that must hover like a buzzing fly in the back of a candidate’s mind. You see glimpses of the audience, but only in reaction to some of the questions. it can be easy
to forget that the speaker has a living audience he is speaking to, and that the make up of that audience will influence the candidate’s words and attitude. Newt Gingrich made that point obvious Sunday, Jan. 8, in a Hudson, New Hampshire high school, where he began his discussion with a direct appeal to
New Hampshire primary votes on the regional Northern Pass issue. Québec and Boston want to share electric power, he said, and to do that they will have to string power lines through beautiful, northernNew Hampshire tourism-country. But he would push for an alternative, underground connection and save the business-driving beauty
of the affected land, according to Gingrich. Besides drawing my attention to the unique traits of New Hampshire, however, this weekend has also left me feeling nauseously aware of the calculated routes we have laid out for candidates to win their party’s nomination. We’ve seen rick
Santorum and ron Paul reach across intimate, “town hall” settings for a deliberate atmosphere of closeness and equality, much like sitting in an occupy Wall Street meeting. romney and Gingrich went the way of a more musical, pep rally introduction this weekend, prefer-
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