The Swinging Bridge: Oct. 17, 2013

THE

SWINGING BRIDGE MESSIAH COLLEGE//THE PULSE

Vol. 94 // ED. 3 // October 17, 2013

Homecoming A Preview

Celebrity

Crushes

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Entertainment’s

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Students during the 2012 Messiah College homecoming.

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“FALCON! FEAR THE

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By Jen Morgan STUDENT WRITER he annual Messiah College Homecoming Festivities will be taking place during the weekends of October 18th-26th.

Photo provided by Messiah College

First year, transfer, and returning students, as well as alumni and friends, all have something to look forward to this year.

a Falcon Fun Run for current students and alumni. The registration will begin at 8:30am, and the race will commence at 9:30am at the outdoor track.

Homecoming weekend will commence with the annual Homecoming Chapel service, which will take place in Brubaker Auditorium on Thursday, October 17th at the standard chapel service time of 9:30am. Students can expect uplifting music and an inspiring message of encouragement.

Throughout the afternoon, alumni sporting events and individual class

there will be a FalconFest lunch in the Hitchcock Arena, as well as the Li’l Falcon Zone for children of alumni and staff to play and engage in interactive activities.

The evening will end with a special Homecoming Coffee House from 9pm-11pm in Brubaker Auditorium, featuring current student performances in music and dance.

On the evening of the 20th, the Homecoming Committee and the Messiah College Special Activities Committee of

A student cheers on the Men’s Soccer team during the 2012 Messiah College Homecoming.

SAB Dance Executive Hannah Teklits has been working hard to ensure that this year’s Homecoming Dance is a success. She hopes that all students will take the time to enjoy music and dancing together.

“Even though it is the week after Homecoming, we will still announce the King and Queen at the dance, so seniors should definitely come out” said Teklits.

For students who plan on attending both the Homecoming Dance and the Mat Kearney concert, there is a ticket bundle purchasing option, where you can get tickets to both events for only $20 combined. Individually, the Homecoming Dance costs $12 and the concert costs $10 per ticket for Messiah students.

There will also be a Reunion Celebration Banquet in Brubaker Auditorium on Friday evening from 6pm-9pm for alumni celebrating their 5th, 10th and 25th class reunions in addition to the Class of 1963.

Family friendly activities will begin on Saturday the 19th. The day starts with

On Friday the 25th, the annual Homecoming Dance will take place from 8pm-12am in the Hitchcock Arena.

The theme is Red Carpet, and music will be provided by DJ Contrast.

The following evening will feature a concert by musician, singer and songwriter Mat Kearney in Brubaker Auditorium.

The doors will open at 7:30pm, and the show is set to start at 8pm. The opening act will be a performance by Kishi Bashi.

On Friday the 18th, the Class of 1963 will enjoy their 50th class reunion events. Activities include tours of the Oakes museum, a Presidential Social featuring President Phipps, and an evening lecture from the Collaboratory about student initiatives on campus.

The day will conclude with a performance from the Messiah College Wind Ensemble at 7:30pm in Parmer Hall in the High Center.

will run from 7:30pm-11:30pm. There will also be a Disney themed costume contest, so those attending are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite Disney character or sidekick. At 8:30pm, the 2013 Homecoming Court and Powderpuff winners will also be announced.

Photo provided by Messiah College Pulse reunions will take place, as well as a tour of the High Center and an open house at the Oakes Museum.

Starting at 12:30pm and ending at 4pm,

the SAB will be hosting a Disney themed event entitled “A Whole New World,” which will feature Disney karaoke, Disney themed crafts and songs, and a Disney photo booth. The event is free and

Whether you plan to attend several events or just one, take some time to enjoy the company of your fellow students as we come together to appreciate the rich history of the Messiah College

NEWS

October 17,

2013

The Swinging Bridge

Memories of Long Ago

By Nicholas Tay FEATURES EDITOR

A

&

Danielle Chun STUDENT WRITER

bsent from the legend on the campus map, the Longs’ house seems like an anomaly at first glance. After all, most students’ only association with the Longs’ residence is the old lady who takes her regular walks on the sideway across from her house. So who exactly are the Longs?

A retired professor emeritus of Bible and Greek at Messiah College, Alden Long served the Messiah community as an educator and administrator for 52 years, while his wife Mary Long taught English and Latin at various schools in the area.

One has to wonder what led Mr. Long to Messiah—and kept him there— and his passion for Greek and biblical studies. Deferred from active service at the closing stages of World War II to work on his father’s farm, Mr. Long felt a calling to higher education.

“I would say there were divine calls to enter some kind of ministry, and so I had to leave the farm which broke my dad’s heart—it broke my heart to some degree. But I knew I had to follow God’s call. I came as a winter term student trying to sample college with the intent of seeing whether I was capable of the work. I spent the six-week term focused on biblical studies and I found it enjoyable and profitable. I got permission after the winter term to come to college and report back to the draft board

Recollections of Alden Long’s Messiah Career

Meanwhile, Mrs. Long did her own fair share of teaching over the years.

“Our first year here in 1951, Mary taught a one room school—eight grades— at Shepherdstown. That nearly killed her. She taught one semester of freshman English here at Messiah, and she also taught English in high school in Mechanicsburg. After that she got a job at some West Shore schools, teaching Latin and English.”

Long also recalls the time spent teaching and mentoring students, noting differences in student attitudes over the years spent as an educator.

“I found that in the early years of teaching, students were very committed to hard work. Towards the end of my teaching term, I found that students were more argumentative about good grades for doing less work and they were skipping classes more often. Looking back, I was glad that I had the time in the early years when students were really committed to learning and it was exciting to see students being interested in biblical studies.”

Long believes that his pedagogical methods challenged students to fully grasp the material.

Photo by Caroline J. Phillips

Not all was smooth sailing for Mr. Long, even after he sought to follow the call of God on his life. His grades fell after he was selected to sing bass with the official college male quartet in his freshman year, which required frequent travelling and practices.

“In my sophomore year, one professor told me that I probably wouldn’t have a future in the academic world of teaching.”

Yet, Long persevered and consequently he spent the 52 years teaching Greek at Messiah.

The Long’s charming house sits behind the Union.

“I was leading the class in Greek. The president of the college came to me and asked me to consider going to Houghton College to continue my studies and possibly come back here to teach Greek.

That encouraged me and gave me a shot in the arm, so to speak. And so I did that and when I came back here, I taught Greek and a lot of other assignments grew with that. I found that I could excite the students in biblical understanding and that was very rewarding. And so, I never looked for another job elsewhere.”

The Long’s charming house sits behind the Union.

that I was going to study for ministry.”

News 2

“For my classes, I didn’t use tests. Instead, students had

to keep a composition notebook, a move both popular and unpopular with the students. You couldn’t just cram for a class and pass a test; you had to produce consistent work. My approach is for students to get the subject in their notebooks. Not many professors did that. Most of them just had lectures and exams. I didn’t like that. In some of my courses I didn’t even do a final exam.

The exam was the notebook, the notebook-produced response to the questions and so forth. Individual research.

I think it worked out well in the end. I got pretty good evaluations in the student feedback survey. I guess my teaching methods weren’t all that bad. For the most part, there was camaraderie

Photo by Caroline J. Phillips between the students and myself. One of the things we did in Greek was when they made mistakes while at the board, I would throw erasers at them. Surprisingly they seemed to enjoy that. Sometimes I think they made mistakes just to see me throw erasers. So I’m traditionally known as the ‘eraser thrower’.

When students come back now, they say, “Are you still throwing erasers?”

Looking back, Long deeply appreciates the responses of former students who note his impact on their lives.

“I still have students that visit me. I just had one today that stopped in from Texas to say hello. Living here on campus and then seeing the growth in my students over the years is rewarding. When I retired, a lot of them wrote letters of thanksgiving for the quality of instruction they received, especially in Greek.

One guy even wrote a letter thanking me for flunking him. He said it was the best grade he ever received because it woke him up. One of the best compliments I’ve received from any student was ‘That guy makes the Bible come alive.’”

While Long’s storied Messiah career spans over a half-century, his similarly aged house has not changed much.

A memento of a time when faculty lived simultaneously on campus with students, Long reminisces about the process by which he built his house.

“When I first started in the early 1950s, Dr. Hostetter wanted his faculty to be on campus as much as possible to be with students. So the college administration made lots possible for faculty to build houses. Initially this area was all hay field; there were no buildings when I came. When I bought the lot for my house for $500, I farmed and gardened it for two years. In the spring of 1962, we put the finishing touches on the house and by July that year, we moved in. By the time we finished the house, I think we spent about $20,000.

Long remembers being part of the campus building team, which focused on constructing affordable oncampus houses for college faculty.

“[Ike] Harley, [Mark] Wolgemuth, and I didn’t have any salaries during the summer time. We had to find work because of the low-pay scales and for three months we needed some form of income. So we started to build houses. When we were done with our own houses, we didn’t stop there. We built more houses. Our group, the ‘Campus Builders’ operated for maybe ten years. With our low salaries, this was how we made ends meet during the summer. However, when our salaries went up and we had requirements for professional advancement in order to improve the syllabi of our courses, we slowed and eventually disbanded our building operation. We still have good feelings about our journey together.”

When Messiah expanded, Long recalls the removal of faculty houses – homes that he helped built years before – to make way for academic and student buildings “When Dr. Sawatsky came, the razing of houses began. Ray Hostetter did some of that as well, but Sawatsky wanted to expand the campus. So the houses were razed, and new buildings were put up. The student [Union] took the space of four houses on that side of the road. The hours of careful labor and finished work were wiped away in a flash. It was painful to see.”

While the Longs have no immediate plans to leave, Mr. Long notes that the college will probably purchase his house in the event that they do.

“As for our house, the college will buy our house when we’re finished with it.

There’s a proviso in the deed that the college has the first right of refusal. It means that I will set the price for my house and if the college doesn’t want to pay, I can sell it to someone else.

But they’ve been very generous in the settling of the house buying-back.”

But for now, the Longs are here to stay, and hopefully that mysterious house and the people who live there will be less of an oddity and more of a familiarity in the near future.

October 17, 2013

News 3 The Swinging Bridge

Messiah College:

Pilates Coming Soon

By John Moulton STUDENT WRITER

A

s part of the Wellness series at Messiah, a 6-week Mat-Pilates class will be offered to both students and employees. The course will be begin on Monday, October 21 at 12:00-12:45 in the afternoon.

What is Pilates? According to Joseph Pilates, the creator of Pilates, it is a “Method of Body Conditioning that develops the body uniformly, corrects posture, restores vitality, invigorates the mind and elevates the spirit.” In another quote from Pilates, he says “With body, mind, and spirit functioning perfectly as a coordinated whole, what else could reasonably be expected other than an active, alert, disciplined person?”

The Pilates course at Messiah College will be taught by Mindy Smith, an adjunct professor and certified Pilates instructor. The cost of the course is $15, which must be paid prior to participation. Although this will not be considered a credit course, it will still be a valuable experience for students and shouldn’t be overlooked.

According to Smith, there are several things she plans to incorporate in the course that aren’t typically associated with Pilates. One thing Smith said would make her Pilates sessions unique is that “there will be music during the whole time; usually Pilates is strictly quiet, but I find that music helps to get into the exercises.” The other is that it isn’t all mat-based and includes dumbbells resistance bands which makes the exercise less tedious while working different parts of the body.

When asked about what the course offered and what participants had to do during the 45-minute sessions, Smith said that each session will be organized into three stages. “The course starts with an active warm-up for five minutes instead of just stretching,” she said. After this, “it goes into a specific routine for 35 minutes which changes each week but builds up to the whole body being worked by the end of the course.” Some of these areas of focus include “core, legs, upper body, etc.” The session then ends with an 5-minute active cooldown.

So what are the benefits that students will get from this Pilates course? Ac-

Sustain-A-Fest: O

By Huy Nguyen NEWS EDITOR

n Thursday afternoon, Oct. 3, Messiah College Office of Sustainability held its third annual Sustain-a-fest. The event featured Messiah student clubs as well as outside organizations and drew the attention from hundreds of students.

Participants camped the patio of Larsen Student Union, each equipped with a stand exhibiting their own locally grown produce or proofs of sustainability awareness in their business model.

The buzzword of the afternoon was, without a doubt, “sustainability.”

“What we bring aligns perfectly with the mission of the day,” said Keith Lemnios, CEO of Sun Coffee Roasters. He added that Sun has been working with colleges and universities across the nation in emphasizing their importance of sustainability through their product. This is Sun’s second appearance at Messiah College’s Sustain-a-fest.

“We are dedicated to produce premium quality coffee with social responsibility in mind,” said Lemnios.

Sharing Lemnios’ sentiment is Mike Andrus, co-founder/principal of WeFeedUs, LLC. His organization realizes the importance of limiting food transportation costs and strives to create a sustainable source of locallygrown produce in the form of a strategically-located greenhouse in Carlisle.

The greenhouse manager is none other than Messiah’s own Paul Nicker-

A Recap

son ‘13. Another Messiah grad, Galen Halteman ‘13, is currently interning with the organization. WeFeedUs also works with Messiah College Dining Services and the Office of Sustainability.

Photo provided by www.kansas-city-yoga.com cording to Smith, there are several of them. The first is that it allows you to exercise during the middle of the day instead of at night when you are already tired from classes. Another is that it will result in an increase in both muscular strength and flexibility at the same time.

Lastly, it allows students/employees to interact in a class setting on campus and not having to search for one off campus.

lenge themselves at their own pace.”

This is important because it allows for both beginners and those with experience to succeed in the course. The other is that “it is a time to mentally reflect through positive music that allows for mind and spirit renewal.” She said this was important because there are so many stresses in a day that can affect our attitudes and bring us down.

But there are two benefits that Smith stressed needed to be realized. The first one is that “Pilates is so individualized that it allows the participants to chal-

In the upcoming spring semester, Messiah will be offering Pilates as an activity course that students can take for one credit.

Messiah College Students and Outside Organizations Gathered with a Common Goal of Sustainability Students from the Restoration House create a welcoming community at Sustain-A-Fest.

“We have developed a wonderful relationship with Messiah College,” said Andrus.

Other outside organizations present at Sustain-a-fest include Everblossom Farm, Real Food Challenge, and Recycle Bicycle Harrisburg.

Sustainably-minded clubs and organizations on campus also came out in full force for this year’s Sustain-a-fest, including Grantham Community Garden, Restoration House, Social Justice (SoJo) House, Green @ Messiah, The Oakes Museum, and the Student Nutrition Awareness Club (SNAC).

While most on the list above have attended previous editions of Sustain-afest, this year marks the SoJo House’s first appearance. And it was an enjoyable one, at least for its representative, senior Social Work major Allison Cowles.

“I really like the variety of the booths.

Although they all share the idea of sustainability, each of them brings something unique to the table,” said Cowles.

So what “unique” thing did each club/organization bring specifically?

For the SNAC, it was the tasty energy bites and pumpkin smoothies made using a blender installed on a bike.

Photo by Jeremy Zimmerman According to sophomore Nutrition & Dietetics major Alia Burlew, these are healthy food options made of fresh local produce that students should consider in their daily food intake.

“As an organization, we place an emphasis on being nutritionally aware and having a balanced diet. It’s also important to eat locally and seasonally because oftentimes that means the food is fresher,” said Burlew.

As for Cowles’ SoJo House, she stressed that social justice can be achieved via a sustainable lifestyle. Despite not having any tangible products on their stand at Sustain-a-fest, SoJo House used the space to advertise their upcoming sustainability-themed events. On Nov. 1, students are invited to SoJo House for an event titled “Unplugged,” where students would turn off their devices and focus on building relationships

through games, conversations, and worship.

Turning off electricity is also one of the key themes for Green @ Messiah. According to junior History major Phil Strunk, Residence Life and the Office of Sustainability are working to raise awareness for students in apartments and dorm rooms to actively conserve energy by turning off lights and unused electronic devices whenever possible.

While the outdoor festivities came to a close by the end of the afternoon, Sustain-a-fest 2013 proceeded till late in the evening with an Alternate Chapel forum to further educate students on the topic as well as presenting opportunities to get involved.

Held annually on the first Thursday of October, the next Sustain-a-fest will take place Oct. 2, 2014, barring

October 17, 2013

News 4 The Swinging Bridge

Humility and Civil Discourse

David Brooks Discusses the American Way of Life and Generational Shifts

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By Huy Nguyen NEWS EDITOR

he High Center’s first public event of the 2013-2014 season took place Thursday evening, Oct. 3, featuring New York Times columnist and best-selling author David Brooks. The event was sponsored by the Office of the President.

Before a packed audience at Parmer Hall, Brooks got the High Center inaugural season underway with a lecture titled “The Importance of Humility and Civil Discourse in American Life.” Using examples and statistical differences between Americans of the past and present, Brooks identifies a shift in humility, or the lack thereof, as America experiences a lifestyle change between generations.

“They are the ones who practice self-criticism, see and confront their weaknesses,” said Brooks.

According to Brooks, these examples are not the exception but the norm.

He pointed to results gathered from a 1950 poll in which high school seniors across the nation were asked if they thought they were important. 12% responded yes to the poll question.

The same poll in 2005? 80% of high school seniors responded yes.

According to Brooks, this is the result of a dramatic rise in pride and self-confidence among the youth of the current generation. He added that fame is rising to the top of many young people’s life priorities.

This generational shift comes with some negative effects as pointed out by Brooks.

Increasingly individualistic living pattern is one of them. Brooks said that people in general are having fewer friends and it’s becoming more and more common nowadays to live in solitude. Polarization is on the upswing, while social trust is declining, so is articulateness.

Word usage also reflects the shift, according to Brooks. Words such as “myself”, “individual”, or “economy” are being used more often as opposed to the likes of “communal” or “moral,” which see a decline in usage.

He also added that the rise of egos in this generation makes today’s American much “harder to govern.”

David Brooks discusses “The Importance of Humility and Civil Discourse in American Life.”

He reasoned that cultures do change over time, so generational shifts like this are inevitable. Moreover, the consequences of this particular shift are not all negative either. Brooks pointed to the steady decline in teenage pregnancy, teenage abortion, and youth crime rates as reasons to be optimistic and remain confident in the young generation.

“

And above all, it’s

still America

in many respects.

Despite having to present an eyeopening and difficult topic, Brooks was able to use his excellent sense of humor to great effect and kept the audience engaged throughout the lecture.

Brooks concluded his lecture with a 30-minute Q&A session, addressing the audience on questions related to his lecture as well as contemporary political issues.

Next up on the High Center public event agenda is J.B., a play directed and acted by Messiah College Department of Theatre and Dance.

Performances will be available from Wednesday, Oct. 16 to Sunday, Oct. 20 at Poorman Blackbox Theater.

For a complete list of Calvin & Janet High Center’s inaugural season events as well as further information, visit: http://www.messiah.edu/homepage/1152/high_center_inaugural_season.

Photo by Sarah Newton

2 Week Outl

Despite these negative consequences, Brooks said there are reasons for optimism.

“

Brooks pointed to revered figures in previous generations who, despite their expertise and important role in the society, had always managed to keep a levelheaded approach. His examples included anecdotes of Frances Perkins, the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet, ex-President Dwight Eisenhower, former Secretary of Defense George Marshall, and “Servant of God” Dorothy Day.

T

k:

Oct. 18 - Oct. 31 Compiled by News staff

he News section of the Swinging Bridge is happy to introduce a brand new feature. Starting this issue, we will compile all the upcoming events happening on and around main campus into a list titled “Two-Week Outlook.” This new feature is designed to keep readers upto-date and not miss a beat with everything under the Grantham sun.

If your club or organization are planning to near future, don’t hesitate to contact the News ing Bridge at hn1169@messiah.edu so we event to Messiah students and faculty via

host an event in the section of the Swingcould promote your “Two-Week Outlook.”

Without further ado, below is the list of notable events happening on campus in the next two weeks:

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The 8th annual Career and Graduate Expo will take place at Brubaker Auditorium on Monday, Oct. 21, from 11:00-2:30. If you are looking for an internship, a job, or a graduate program, this is an opportunity for you to explore your options.

Even for freshmen, it’s never too early to start building relationships with potential employers and admission officers. So prepare your business attire.

. For the Rec Sports enthusiasts, a Floor Hockey league and a Flag Football

league for both men and women are starting Monday, Oct. 28. The Rec Sports Office requires teams and players to register by Monday, Oct. 21, so start filling out your rosters now and sign your teams up. It’s all about the shirt!

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On Monday, Oct. 28 in Boyer, get a “Taste of Africa” from 11:00-1:00 as African food will be served as part of the annual African Week at Messiah College. If you’re looking for an alternate option for lunch, come try out some African food.

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The LOFT is organizing a Men’s Adventure Retreat on the weekend of Oct.25-27. The topic of the retreat centers on “men coming together to leave the sexual sin behind and pursue sexual purity with a life that desires God above all else.” The retreat is open to all male Messiah students. Activities include camping in the woods, games, caving, Bible study, and campfire discussion. Register now as spots are limited.

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The second lecture of the Calvin & Janet High Center inaugural season, “Copernicus and Galileo: Authors of the Moving Earth,” will take place 8 P.M. Tuesday, Oct. 29. at Parmer Hall. Delivering the lecture will be former New York Times science reporter Dava Sobel. Admission is free and open to the public but a ticket is required. If you’re interested in this lecture, grab a ticket at the Ticket Office at Eisenhower Commons before they run out.

OPINIONS

October 17, 2013

The

Opinions 5

The Swinging Bridge

Evolution of Running

A Long-Time Runner’s Reflections on the Evolution of Running

By Grant Meckley STUDENT WRITER

F

ew activities elicit such a wide range of emotions as does running. From anguished dread to endorphinfueled fanatical devotion, running is a divisive and polarizing sport. However, something that everyone can agree on is that running has gone from an “elite” athletic event of naked Greeks to a fairly mainstream cultural phenomenon. Running´s sprint to widespread prevalence has been a recent one. Nowadays, I can´t get on Facebook without seeing pictures of my friends at the “Color Me 5K” or “Zombie Run Apocalypse: Runner´s Revenge”. I have been running for eight years now (admittedly on and off) and it is both exciting and bewildering to see the changes

over the years: what types of races are trending, who stuck with running from high school, who didn’t, and so on.

When I ran Cross Country in middle school, my dad would marvel at the size of the team, which had over thirty runners. “When I was in high school,” he said, “The Cross Country team was barely seven guys…and there was no such thing as girl´s Cross Country” (this is before Steve Prefontaine and the running craze of the 70´s) . Thanks to talented coaching at Central York Middle School, the allure of Cross Country grew and the team had swelled to over fifty runners by the time I was in high school. Cross Country had become viral: friends told their friends about the good times on and off the course.

Warming up had become the Roman

forum for discussion and hanging out.

The long runs in the park were opportunities for guys to talk about girls and cars (I´m not sure what the girls talked about, although the sexes were often not segregated during practice).

My first 3 years of Cross Country were very pleasant memories. There were pasta parties to attend, personal records to break, and friends to encourage other. Coach Rossi was a font of positivity, support, and imperturbable ambition. Coach Wolfgang was a well-seasoned veteran runner and offered sage advice and encouragement.

However, my junior and senior years of Cross Country, running had become a chore. I ascribe this to the findings by popular author Malcom Gladwell refer-

Runners celebrate finishing the 5K by throwing color powder in the air.

ences in “The Tipping Point”. One of the main ideas in “The Tipping Point” is that groups of people start to lose their cohesion after they pass a threshold of 150 individuals. Though this number wasn´t attained on the team, in my later years of cross country there was no unity. The sheer quantity of runners was a blow to morale: I was no longer unique for doing Cross Country. Furthermore the dozens of teammates saying “I’m just doing this to stay in shape for X” was not exactly ingratiating. Running for fun turned into running for results and as I forged ahead with my experience and tenacity, I felt the heavy burden of responsibility.

Early in my senior year, my times plateaued and then slowed. The more running was billed to me as a team sport, the less I enjoyed running and (paradoxically) the company of my peers.

I find the overarching cultural shift in attitudes towards running to be a lot like the microcosm of my running career. Once I was out of varsity Cross Country running, the individual sport, became pleasurable to me again. Call me a hipster for liking something on the virtue of it being esoteric, but this is one of the reasons I enjoy running. I see this threatened by gimicky races like the Color Runs and Zombie Obstacle Courses. Part of me is delighted to see people getting active to run through clouds of colored powder, or evade having their flags plucked from their flag football belts. However, an interesting statistic states that 60% of the runners at The Color Run reported it as their first 5k race. In response to a recent Color Run in Camden Yards, the Baltimore Sun said the races “represent a new theme in running: the selling of an experience beyond the accomplishment of crossing the finish line”. I have yet to compete in these themed races but as a long distance harrier, I can say the pleasure of racing against the clock is sufficient impetus to compete.

Photo by Danielle Bausher

Euthanasia: Mercy, not Murder

By Bree Whitelock STUDENT WRITER

O

ne of the hardest situations anyone has to deal with in their lifetime is the point when they have to say goodbye to a loved one. It is always hard to have those close to us pass away, but some would say that an even harder situation is having to say goodbye to someone who is not completely dead, but is also not completely alive. Individuals at the end of their life, or individuals who have faced irreparable trauma, are stuck in an unfortunate state between life and death.

Euthanasia Is Illegal In Most of the United States, and Yet...

Euthanasia is the practice of painlessly killing a person who has suffered from irreparable brain damage or is in a coma. Euthanasia is also referred to as assisted suicide, usually involving a person who is suffering from an incurable disease and wishes to escape his or her suffering. This practice is illegal in most countries, as it is considered murder. Here in the United States, it is only legal in four states: Washington, Oregon, Vermont, and Montana. Deciding to let a loved one die is extremely hard,

especially when we take into account the moral conflicts that come into play; however, I believe euthanasia is a better answer to help the ones we love the most.

In cases where a person has developed an incurable illness so that all he or she has to look forward to is death, it is only fair that he or she should be allowed to “speed up the process”. There are many illness that are not only terminal, but also cause unbearable suffering to its patients, such as some forms of cancer.

We all have the right to live, but do we not also have the right to die? If we are able to make decisions in the way we live our lives, it seems only fair that we also have the right to chose the manner in which we end them. Euthanasia allows a patient to have control over the time and manner of his or her death.

Sometimes the decision to continue or terminate a life can not be made by the affected individual.

CONTINUE ON PAGE 7 //MERCY

October 17, 2013

The Swinging Bridge

Opinions

6

Celebrity Crushes 101 Celebrity crushes are innocent fun, to an extent

By Priya William STUDENT WRITER

I

‘ve seen the movie The Amazing Spiderman three times in theaters, not for the stunning special effects, the three dimensional technology, or the captivating plotline. No, what drove me to this movie in particular was the tall, dark, and handsome actor playing Spiderman, Andrew Garfield.

Is it okay to have a celebrity crush? Some argue that it’s a waste of time to have affection for someone who is highly unlikely to reciprocate the same feelings, let alone become an acquaintance. Others think it’s plain weird and immature.

“It’s silly, unrealistic, and people get too obsessed,” says senior Scott Hoffer.

Although there are others who hold this same view, most students with whom I raised this question disagreed.

They thought that a celebrity crush was

typical and completely normal. Social work major Brenna Mellott says, “It’s something fun that people choose to do because celebrities aren’t real to us.”

I would have to agree with Brenna. Having a celebrity crush is effortless fun that adds extra enjoyment to a movie-watching, television-viewing, sport-attending, or concert-going experience. The attraction provides a spectator with something to look for, since the sight of a celebrity crush causes natural excitement.

Most celebrity crushes develop from physical attraction or an interest in the persona presented by the celebrity, to the public. Relationship expert Kate Harrison says that crushing on a celebrity is a very normal, harmless concept that’s both natural and common.

Among teenagers, having celebrity crushes is about developing feelings for another person and experiencing a first crush. Once a person reaches adulthood, it’s more about just having fun.

Because most of what we see of celebrities is their portrayal in movies, interviews, or on stage, we are left with a bit of mystery. It’s innocent fun to daydream about interacting with a celebrity crush, and to speculate what you would say and how he or she would respond.

While many people have

one or more celebrity crush, some hold an even deeper interest in the relations of celebrities and movie and television characters by imagining romantic pairings amidst them. This popular trend known as “shipping” (which stems from the word relationship) involves coupling a celebrity, non-celebrity, or fictional character together in a romantic relationship. (Think of the couples that fans create between Katniss, Gale, and Peeta from The Hunger Games.) A person can also ship themselves with any actor, athlete, or singer. Does shipping take the whole idea of celebrity fascination too far? Is it still harmless fun or does it become immoral obsession?

Personally, I think it’s still a part of having fun, but only to an extent. It gives you something to cheer for every time you watch an episode of your favorite show on TV. Shipping is something that television script writers actually take into consideration when developing a script, in order to keep a viewer curious as to whether or not his or her expectations will be fulfilled. While I’d like to think I don’t ship when watching a television or movie series, I find that I actually do unintentionally start rooting for characters that I think should be together. However, shipped couples aren’t something I constantly contemplate.

This limitation is where the line between fun and obsession should be drawn.

Whether it is a celebrity crush or “shipping”, both are perfectly fine as long as

photo from: http://www.dallasnews.com/incoming/20120324-one_direction004.jpg.ece/BINARY/

photo from : http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/18600000/ Andrew-3-andrew-garfield-18616638-789-1000.jpg

they don’t interfere with a person’s reality. It’s entertaining to have someone that represents a daydream, but if it affects your mood or relationships with the people right in front of you, then it has gone a little too far. It’s important to recognize the difference between infatuation and love, and, for me, to not confuse the Andrew Garfield in that fitted Spiderman suit with the person he is, and who I do not know, in everyday life.

It’s okay to feel disappointed when a couple doesn’t end up together in a TV series or if a celebrity crush starts dating someone that’s not you, but if you actually begin to experience extreme pain over it or your friends start to worry about your mental health, then it most likely has become an unhealthy obsession.

Reconsidering Requirements O

n the seventeenth of September, several hundred Messiah students and myself found ourselves in a chapel about chapel. The talk included points such as the ethics of swiping into a chapel that one did not attend and the mandatory 24 chapels per semester.

Not only was this information uninteresting to me, I am positive that I have heard almost exactly the same talk every year I have been here at Messiah. So instead of listening attentively, I confess that I began to contemplate the malfunctions of the current chapel system.

First off, I want to say (sincerely) thank you to the many people who plan, organize, perform and speak at chapels.

You are under appreciated. I can’t even imagine all that it takes to plan and set up for these events. Worship leaders, you always sound great. The issue is by no means lack of effort or skill on anyone’s part. What is wrong is the entire system. See, students really value their time and freedom. Making chapels man-

By Lynda Heller OPINIONS EDITOR datory entirely corrupts student attitudes about attendance. Sure, if chapels weren’t mandatory then very few people would make it to them. However, those who did go to chapel would be fully present and excited participants. The entire feel of the event would be transformed.

Addressing problems with chapel and considering how to move foreward talks, and the attitudes of students.

Yes, there would be a decrease in quantity of students per chapel. This shouldn’t matter though, as inactive attendance is not real attendance at all.

I believe that this issue could be largely rectified if the number of required chapels were lowered to 12 per semester.

Students would still attend chapels, just not as many of them. This would allow chapel planners to find really inspiring, relevant topics for every chapel, eliminating “filler” chapels. Filler chapels just lower student expectations for the quality of chapels, making them less willing to attend unless forced.

Regardless of chapel requirements, student attitudes need a dramatic change.

For example, when the chapel speaker starts with a greeting, it won’t kill the audience to say good morning back.

That poor person is speaking in front of a huge crowd and he or she does not need to be left hanging. I sit close enough to the stage to see the shaking hands and sweating foreheads. There is a natural anxiety that speakers deal with and as an audience we need to show the speakers more support and respect.

So, fewer required chapels would result in an increased quality of both the

I understand the desire to use chapel time to do homework, text, or even

play “candy crush”. We are a multitasking generation, and most students are probably capable of paying attention while doing these things. Even if not, then that is fine. One’s priorities are a personal matter. But what I don’t understand is why some students feel the need to rush the swipers during the final prayer, closing song, or concluding words of the chapel lecture.

Where on earth do you have to be directly after chapel? I have my doubts that anyone is that eager to get to class.

In short, the currently chapel system is not ideal. If students and chapel organizers were to consider each others needs and goals then compromises could be made that respect the time and effort of both parties. I hope and trust that we can achieve this.

October 17, 2013

The Swinging Bridge

Disappearing Dishes:

//MERCY In these cases, the person is usually suffering from brain damage or is in a coma. Many people will agree that it is inhumane to let a person go on ‘living’ when they are unable to eat, think, or even breathe on their own. Tragically, the decision to continue life support is usually left to family members. The family’s financial situation is a factor that plays into these decisions: sometimes euthanasia is chosen because there is no longer enough money to provide care for the individual. Other financial hardships can come from the expenses of prescribed medicines and drugs that end up increasing length, not quality of life.

Whether the decision falls on a family member or the individual, the hardest issue usually comes down to the morality of allowing (or helping) someone die. Many individuals will consider it murder, while others say it is the humane decision to help someone who is suffering. The desire for an individual to die sooner rather than later is often blamed on depression caused by illness, which leads to the idea that a person who asks to die is not in the proper state of mind to even make the decision.

Granted, choosing euthanasia is a choice that should never be made lightly, but when considering the possible the suffering of the patient, the medical burden, and the hardships that come with having a person be “alive but dead”, there may be situations where it is the best decision to make. Unfortunately, it is not an option for most people because it is illegal in most of the United States.

Considering the benefits, we should increase euthanasia’s availability.

Opinions 7

A Call for Decency and Sustainabllity

By Andrea McIntosh STUDENT WRITER

I

was sitting in a meeting at the beginning of the year with Mark Wirtz, the Director of Dining Services, discussing sustainability and environmental stewardship within dining. At one point in the conversation, he brought up the new, plastic, “for here” plates in The Union and The Falcon. I cringed. Not because of the idea of the plates, though, but because I was waiting for him to tell me how many were gone. “Out of the 200 plates ordered at the beginning of the year for The Falcon,” he said, “56 are now gone.” My shoulders sank a bit.

How could more than one-fourth of the plates be gone after one week of classes?

So why am I so stressed out about plates? After all, we pay so much money in tuition, we should be allowed to take the dishware, right? Not exactly.

Let me walk you through some history.

Around four years ago, Dining Services switched from compostable plates to foam plates due to the low capture rate of these compostable containers and the high cost of those take out containers.

When they switched to foam, they also purchased equipment to recycle that foam. This process is less than ideal.

Because of the amount of food left on these foam plates, only 50% of the disposed foam is actually recycled. After it’s recycled, it takes more energy to convert it into something usable. When

Photo by: Danielle Gringich you calculate the cost of foam and the capture rate, this means we are spending $25,000 a year to go to a landfill; this isn’t even counting the energy used.

As Dining Services discusses changing this problem, they have to be sure that students will respect the composting system and do it right. So how do they know if the students will respond well?

Here’s where the plates come in. In an effort to reduce foam waste, be more environmentally conscious, and provide a more professional atmosphere, Dining Services ordered these new plates. They are not cheap but they figured it was worth it. This is where they are placing incredible trust in you. They figure students should be responsible enough

to give a plate back when they are done with it. If not, Dining Services will realize they are spending too much money on something the student body is not ready for and back off on the sustainability initiatives in the future. Do you really want to reverse someone’s hard work because you couldn’t give back a plate? Frankly, I’m tired of hearing comments like, “Do they really expect us to give these back?” or “we should take that to our apartment!” When you’re done with a plate, take it to those wooden garbage cans and place it on top of the receptacle. Then the Union and the Falcon staff will take them, wash them, and reuse them. Let’s help each other and the world by being responsible and respectful of other people’s efforts. The change starts with you!

Helen’s Helpline Dear In-The-Middle,

Dear Helen’s Helpline, A Note from the Editor: We are proud to introduce to you “Helen’s Helpline,” a new advice column for The Swinging Bridge. Helen is a wise student here at Messiah who is here to answer your questions, provide guidance when you are lost, and hopefully, make your life better. If you have a problem that you think Helen could help with, let us know at thepulse@ messiah.edu. Who knows, your query may show up in an upcoming article!

I am having some roommate issues. I am a freshman here at Messiah and I live in a forced triple. For the first couple weeks of school everything went great. I like both of my roommates a lot. The problem is, they have decided that they don’t like each other. I’ve told them that they have to talk to each other about issues instead of coming to me, but they don’t seem to ever do that.

Well all of this conflict seems to be going on under the surface, and I don’t know if its better to force a group discussion of what it going on, or let it be. In addition, as the middle-man I am getting really stressed about it. I have lots of school work to do, and I don’t really have the energy or time to deal with the drama. So lately I’ve been avoiding the room. Do you think I should move out? I don’t think that they would do very well without me, but maybe having more space in the room will help. On the other-hand, I don’t want to lose two of my closest friends at college so far. What should I do??? Is there any way out of this mess without having a mental breakdown?!

Sincerely, In-The-Middle

First take a deep breath! I can tell that this situation has you very stressed. The problem here is not that your roommates don’t get along, it’s that you have accepted the responsibility of being the intermediary between the two.

You are not responsible for making them friends or refereeing. Your efforts to get them to talk are commendable; however, if they choose not to do that I wouldn’t push the issue. My advice is to tell both of them that you value their friendships very much, but that it is too stressful for you to continue to hear bad things about the other. Ask them to please refrain from talking about each other with you. If the situation doesn’t improve, then you may want to pursue the possibility of leaving the room.

Best regards, Helen

October 17, 2013

The Swinging Bridge

Opinions 8

Advertisements: Assault or Asset?

Advertisements are our friends Ads may be annoying, but they allow companies to continue operating without charging their users.

By Bree Whitelock STUDENT WRITER

W

hen one surfs the Internet, it is impossible not to notice the vast amount of advertising on social media sites. Many users have expressed frustration towards the frequent interruptions to in their music listening or video watching. But here’s the catch. These sites use advertisements in order to provide free access for their customers.

There’s a simple solution for this problem, money. It would be easy to charge a small fee to users for the privilege of using their sites advertisement free.

For example, Pandora already has a paid version, where you can pay $3.99 a month for access to commercial-free music. On the other hand, Pandora’s cost-free options allow you the options of listening online or on your smartphone, with the added hassle of interruptions. Advertisement interruptions may be annoying, but they are less painful than paying money.

As college students, money is scarce. If popular sites such as Youtube started charging a small fee, its user base would probably decrease. Given the choice between the paid and free versions, I believe that many of Pandora’s listeners opt to listen for free. Pandora could take away free listening and require a monthly fee for all of its listeners but this would cause many listeners to go elsewhere for music. Paying a small fee adds up over the course of a year. If Hulu were to match Pandora with a monthly fee of $3.99 then this would add up to almost $50.00 over the course of a year. Imagine if you were an avid lis-

tener of Pandora and relied on Hulu for your weekly show catchup! These small fees wouldn’t seem so small anymore.

We enjoy using these social media sites, making playlists on Pandora, and discovering the latest video hits on Youtube. With the increase of advertisements people have become agitated by the ubiquity of these ads. Yet they should know for any company to continue its business there are operating costs. The viewers are essentially the driving force for a company’s successl and as viewers it is better to have advertisements than a required fee for use. Most individuals begin using these media sites for the reason of them being free and easily accessible. Teenagers and young adults today are constantly looking for the cheapest and fastest means of receiving what they want. If sites such as Youtube, Pandora and Hulu were to begin charging mandatory fees to their customers, many of these customers would look for other outlets for their media needs.

The online media world is continually changing yet its financial models are still traditional. Companies such as Youtube, Pandora and Hulu should revisit their preliminary guidelines when thinking about changing the means of their enterprise. Many of these companies have had faithful users since they started and new users are joining each day. The continued success of the companies is dependant on the desires of the users and major media corporations need to keep that in mind when considering major changes to their sites.

Are Subscriptions to Media Sites Worth it?

Social media ads cost us more than a subscription

By Dan Row EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

A

merican speaker and author, Jim Rohn, has said that, “Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.” As such, shouldn’t we value our time far more than the few dollars it would cost for a paid subscription to internet media sites like Spotify? According the media research group, Fluid Drive Media, the average person receives over 2000 advertising messages per day. That’s right. Every. Day. So if given the chance, wouldn’t it be worth it to cut down on the time spent having to deal with these messages?

What’s more, there are some dilemmas with the effects of advertising on consumers who are not prepared for them.

We live in a world that is dominated by advertising. Everywhere we turn, we are attacked by messages vying for our attention and for our compliance. When listening to music on Spotify or watching videos on YouTube, our experience is frequently interrupted by advertisements that we have largely come to ignore.

This disregard, however, is risky. According to the Center for Media Literacy awareness is one of the keys to understanding and engaging with media which allows us, among other things, to “Evaluate media’s explicit and implicit messages against one’s own ethical, moral and/or democratic principles.” By trying to ignore advertisements like these, but putting ourselves in situations where we are periodically bombarded, we are giving up our freedom to critically analyze and understand these messages. If

we can’t evaluate a persuasive message, how could we possibly make a conscious decision about the persuasion?

There has also been a lot of talk about YouTube’s paid subscription model which requires a fee for access to certain content. Many people interpret this to mean that you’ll have to pay to watch the newest viral video about some weird song or some dancing cat, but that’s not the case. Many of the paid subscriptions are already in place and include partners like Sesame Street or the Ultimate Fighting Championship. These kinds of partners allow YouTube to provide a wider variety of media, even providing access to entire seasons of television shows.

This is a major boon for people who don’t have a TV or don’t wish to pay for even more expensive cable or satellite bills.

So when it comes down to it, the real question is what is more valuable to you: your money or mind. Of course, as college students, we are always strapped for cash, but I ask you, is the $3.99 fee you’d pay for a Pandora subscription really worth more than giving up the right to have control over what goes into your brain? Is it really easier waiting away your life as an advertisement plays than paying a few dollars? It’s something each individual must decide for him- or herself if we want to continue to be a part of the media environment of today’s society.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

October 17, 2013

Arts & Entertainment 9

The Swinging Bridge

From Walter to

Heisenberg: The Theme of Change in Breaking Bad Photo from http://investorplace.com

By Jonathan Barry Wolf STUDENT WRITER You see, technically, chemistry is the study of matter, but I prefer to see it as the study of change,” teacher Walter White says to his chemistry class in the pilot episode of AMC’s Breaking Bad. Change runs rampant throughout this critically acclaimed television series.

In Breaking Bad’s first episode, Walter White celebrates his 50th birthday, is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, and begins cooking and selling crystal meth to secure his family’s financial future.

As they go deeper into the drug business, he and his partner, former student Jesse Pinkman, become very different men. Walter sheds his mild-mannered family man image in favor of the life of his alter-ego, ruthless drug kingpin Heisenberg. Meanwhile, Jesse spirals hard into a lifestyle of paranoia and drug addiction spurned by the manipulation of his partner. Even Walter’s tightly knit family, his reason for cooking in the first place, falls into utter depravity because of his actions.

Walt’s motives begin to change as he grows fond of the excitement that comes from making, “Blue Sky,”—his brand of blue methamphetamine—and the power that comes from being Heisenberg. Eventually, his good intentions give way to his selfish desire to be remembered and feared as a drug lord.

As this meek father devolves into the holistically evil Heisenberg, the world around him starts to decline. Heisenberg is willing to murder others, rob trains and even harm children when it

is in his best interest. Walter is not just battling cancer, he is the cancer that ruins the lives of the people around him. This transformative disease is ultimately what brings Heisenberg down on his 52nd birthday, proving that every bad action has a consequence.

This change present in Breaking Bad has transformed the minds of Messiah College students as well. Sophomore Noah Sheir spoke about how the show has altered the way he watches television. “[Breaking Bad]...centers on the transformation of the protagonist rather than banking on making the audience feel comfortable and confident that they’ll be seeing the same character every week....[It] has changed how I look at storytelling, what I look for in a good story, and what I hope to see more of in future television.”

Questions of morality have been stirring in the mind of sophomore Jeremy Jensen.

“I think it has really challenged me to think about how far I would go to create security for those I care about. They say the path to hell is paved with good intentions and if that doesn’t sum up the show I don’t know what does...”

Breaking Bad teaches us that despite good intentions, every action has a consequence. These consequences bring about change, and therefore change is inevitable. Walter White once said that change, “ ...is all of life, right? I mean, it’s just the constant, it’s the cycle. It is growth, then decay, then transformation.” Therefore, we should be very careful of who we become.

Graduate Programs at Messiah College

Master of Arts in Counseling (CACREP accredited) Tracks: Clinical mental health • Marriage, couple and family • School counseling (K-12)

Master of Music in Conducting Tracks: Choral • Orchestral • Wind Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies (CAGS) in Conducting Master of Education Tracks: Curriculum and instruction • Special education* (PreK-8, 7-12) • TESOL* (K-12) *Option for PA teaching certification Certificate programs in ESL • TESOL • Autism Spectrum Disorders Master of Arts in Higher Education Tracks: College athletics management • Student affairs • Individualized concentration

Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies (CAGS) in Counseling Master of Science in Nursing Tracks: Nurse educator • R.N.-MSN option-nurse educator Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies (CAGS) in Nursing Education

Now enrolling for 2014-2015 classes

messiah.edu/gradprograms

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Online | Flexible | Affordable

717.796.5061

see anew

October 17, 2013

The Swinging Bridge

Arts & Entertainment 10

Developing Voices: A Look at Student Films

By Sam Dougherty ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

S

ubjects such as theater, photography, and music are often brought up when discussing student artwork, but the medium that combines those elements is sometimes overlooked. The student films made at Messiah have become a striking outlet for creativity on campus, as they mark the success of the school’s growing film department.

Last years big student film and senior project, Palace has recently been accepted to seven 2013 film festivals.

These include the International Peurto Rican Heritage film Festival, The Columbia Gorge International Film Festival, and the FirstGlance Film Festival in Philadelphia where it picked up a “Best Student Film” award. The short film was directed by former student Rolando Vega, who was assisted by nine other students and supervised by film professor Fabrizio Cilento.

Photo from Palace’s Facebook Cilento, who’s role in Palace’s creation was close to that of a co-producer, says “If there’s one thing I can convey, just being accepted to those festivals is a big thing” and that “the selection is pretty difficult and unforgiving.”

while Nathan Skulstad handles the film production courses. On the varied curiculum, Cilento says “The idea is that theory, history, and practice all reverberate into each other. We think about them as being the same thing.”

Palace took home the “Best Cinematography” award at Messiah’s Splice Film Festival, which hosted eight more student films. These works came in the form of documentaries, art videos, 16mm shorts, and fiction work such as Mitch Mclure’s neo-noir McFly, which won “Best Film” and “Best Editing” awards.

Skulstad says of films made in classes, “When I give students assignments I’m trying to build certain skills while allowing some space for creativity and developing their own voice.” He also sees student films as a portfolio builder, saying “I see it as a big part of what you take to the world. Presenting yourself professionally, presenting the kinds of work you do. Not to put you in a box but in order for people to say ‘That’s somebody I want to hire and I can see they have both technical and

The film department currently consists of two professors and close to thirty students. Fabrizio Cilento teaches the historical and theoretical components

artistic skills to carry out projects.’”

A third professor is likely to join the department soon as the school looks to make up for the loss of the Philadelphia campus. Cilento also sees the program growing through more film classes at Messiah as well as a bigger presence online and on campus, possibly through new facilities.

For the remainder of this school year we can expect to see a couple of exciting projects. Senior, Derick Esch is planning to direct a documentary in Ghana over J-term in coordination with the Collaboratory at Messiah.

The film department is also anticipating a big sci-fi project that we expect to hear more about in the months ahead.

The Palace crew hard at work during production in January. Photo provided by: Rolando Vega

October 17, 2013

The Swinging Bridge

Arts & Entertainment 11

Entertainment’s

Finest

Tri-State Shows, Gigs, and Spectacles

By Sam Dougherty ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

I

t’s indoor concert season, so let’s take a look at some nearby shows of the musical, comedic and theatrical variety.

If you’re not one to travel, then Harrisburg and Hershey have some good venues to keep an eye on. The Fed Live building in Harrisburg will be hosting indie bands Lucero and Titus Andronicus. The former is fusion of punk, country and Springsteen, while Titus Andronicus is closer to classic punk. The two groups will be playing together on November 14th and tickets are going for $20-25 a pop.

Two days later, the Hershey Theater will be hosting popular comedian, Gabrielle Iglasius, who currently hosts a stand up series on Comedy Central. The theater is also bringing comedian Brian Regan on December 8th, as well as diverse acts like The Blue Man Group, Flashdance – The Musical, Sister Act, and of course, Elmo Makes Music.

Brian Regan will be at the Hershey Theatre Dececember 8th . Photo from: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E_nTpNBq0qc/UPVp0zEIhsI/ AAAAAAAAD-U/U8pRmQCOSus/s1600/BrianRegan.jpg

Scattered throughout Pennsylvania are many varied acts such as Nine Inch Nails (State College on Oct. 19th), Chris Tomlin (Oct. 19th, Johnstown), The Onion Live! (Oct. 24th, Wilkes Barre), and the Misfits (Oct. 26th, Chameleon Club in Lancaster.) Of highlight is otherworldly folk group, Neutral Milk Hotel, who will be coming to Upper Darby in January after recently playing their first show in 15 years in Baltimore.

of Music on October 29th, while the Forest Theater will show Jersey Boys in November and popular comedy The Book of Mormon later in the year.

in nearly 22 years, are sure to put on an interesting (and very loud) show. Some other noteworthy acts include Fiona Apple, Kurt Vile and Franz Ferdinand.

The City of Brotherly Love will also have some big pop-concerts such as Drake (Oct. 19th), Josh Groban (Nov. 3rd), P!nk (Dec. 11th), and Justin Timberlake (Nov. 10th) who is just coming off his second album release of 2013.

Many Country artists are winding down their summer tours, but there are still some events coming up, such as Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt (Baltimore Oct. 24th, or Harrisburg on this stories publishing date), as well as Lady Antebellum in D.C. this Winter.

Speaking of which, if your a city person, then Philly, Baltimore, D.C. and Pittsburgh have got you covered. Philadelphia will bring Tony award winning musical, Once, to the Academy

There are many indie acts to look forward to, many of which will be touring throughout the major cities. My Bloody Valentine, who are coming to Philly on Nov. 9th in support of their first album

There are of course many, many more events to look forward to throughout the year, and hopefully as college students we can find the time (and money) to enjoy them.

The Blue Man Group will be at the Hershey Theatre this December. Photo from: http://www.blueman.com/sites/default/files/about.jpg

October 17, 2013

The Swinging Bridge

Arts & Entertainment 12

B-Sides:

Photo provided by http://digboston.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Yellowbirds-band-pic.jpg

October Preview

By Danielle Burkett STUDENT WRITER f you like listening to the Velvet Underground, Roy Orbison, Neil Young, The Ventures, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Holly, Stereolab, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and/or The National then you are going to love the Yellowbirds.

Coming to B-sides on October 23rd, the Yellowbirds are not a band you want to miss. They describe their style as, “Orbisonian guitar jams,” and their Facebook genre description says: “psych, folk, progressive, rock n’ roll, R&B, and warm n’ fuzzy. “ After listening to their albums, they absolutely have that 60s pop kind of vibe to their music.

The Yellowbirds are comprised of Sam

Cohen, Josh Kaufman, Brian Kantor, Annie Nero and they are based out of Brooklyn, New York. They got started when Sam Cohen, wrote a bunch of songs, and then was like, “I’m gonna need some friends to help me play these live. Probably gonna need a name, as well. The rest is an obscure history.”

If you really want to get to know the Yellowbirds you should definitely go to B-sides on October 23rd.

On October 30th Nat Baldwin of the Dirty Projectors will be coming to B-sides. Nat Baldwin is an endearing singer/songwriter /bassist.

Nat isn’t your typical bass player as he doesn’t play in the traditional sense.

He scratches on the strings and creates sounds rather than playing straightforward notes. His song, “Wounds” from Solo album, Contrabass, is just a collection of various sounds that he has produced from his bass. There are no lyrics.

There is not really any sense of what we would consider “traditional” music, but he is simply exploring and these sounds that he creates with his bass really paint a picture of chaos in musical form.

“Dangerfield” from the album titled: Grown Zone/Groan Zone starts off with clashes of drums, cymbals, guitars and bass riffs before some screaming comes in, which attributes to the songs title and definitely creates this sense that the person in the song is in danger. Honestly the best way to experience Nat’s

style is to listen to his music for yourself.

Nat studied briefly at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT, but soon he began studying avant-garde jazz and improvisation with jazz legend Anthony Braxton. In 2005 Nat joined popular indie band, Dirty Projectors, and in addition to his work with them, he has performed on: Grizzly Bear’s Sheilds, Vampire Weekend’s Contra, and Department of Eagles’ In Ear Park.

He has been writing, recording, and arranging songs for a new album to be released in 2014.

B-sides is a

FREE weekly

concert series brought to you by the Student Activities Board and open to the public.

Wednesday. 9:00. Union. photo from: http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/235/574/235574910_640.jpg

SPORTS

October 17, 2013

The Swinging Bridge

Sports 13

Field Hockey: A Mid-Season Recap

By John Moulton STUDENT WRITER

T

The Messiah Field Hockey team reached the halfway point of their season Saturday, October 5. With an overall record of 7-2 and a conference record of 2-0, the team is poised for a playoff run this year. So far, the team is outscoring their opponents 30-10 and out-shooting them 168-104.

The team started off fast by winning their first three games of the season, beating Stevens Institute of Technology (2-1), Rowan University (3-1), and Juniata College (3-0). The Falcons then traveled to Maryland to play Salisbury University for a game between two undefeated teams. The Falcons stayed close and after the first half, Salisbury only had a 1-0 lead. Although they were able to put up 10 shots on net, they were unable to score and lost the game 3-0 which was their first loss of the season.

The team came home to face Haverford College and were able to bounce back from their first loss. Behind a stellar defensive performance, the Falcons shut out Haverford 3-0 and earned their fourth win of the season. The Falcons again went on the road to face Ursinus College and in a hard fought game;

they lost 2-1 after holding a 1-0 at half.

Since then, the Falcons have gone on a three-game winning streak.

The women’s team played Alvernia University at home and dominated the game by getting five goals on 27 shots on goal compared to Alvernia’s eight shots without goals. The team then welcomed Eastern University to campus with an offensive explosion. The Falcons had 17 shots on goal and a total of 26 shots for the game and were able to put seven of those goals into the back of the net for a 7-2 victory.

Next, the team played Widener and put on a dominating performance both offensively and defensively winning 6-1.

The team held Widener to only 6 shots the entire game while they had an explosion of 32 shots with 20 of them on goal.

The team is led by Moriah Pfautz who currently has six goals and 12 points on 24 total shots, with 17 on goal. Celina Nissley, and Rachael Cox are a close second to Pfautz in scoring category. Emily Bower and Gina lead the team in the assist category with three each for the year.

Photo by Caroline J. Phillips

Messiah’s Emily Bower (#12) shoots past Haverford College players towards the goal.

Photo by Caroline J. Phillips

October 17, 2013

The Swinging Bridge

Sports 14

Fall Season Summations

By Michael Brookhart STUDENT WRITER

for Messiah’s Golf Team

Brian Loesser, senior, tees up at the Gettysburg Fall Invitational

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ith a second place finish in the final tournament of the fall season, the Falcons swung their way to an impressive 80-13 record. Given the losses the team endured due to graduation, this 86% winning percentage is even more remarkable.

The squad lost two key players, one of those being four-time PING All-Region Golfer and three-time Commonwealth Player of the Year, Matt Burkhart. The other was M’Cheyne Farlling, who was a consistent performer for the Falcons throughout his illustrious career.

Normally in sports when a team suffers roster losses of this magnitude, they are due for a few years of rebuilding. Not this team. “This team has a different feel to it,” says Coach Troy Boone. That it does as the roster features just one senior in Brian Loesser and has already seen production from two talented First Year players in Jordan Kirsch and Evan Lebo. The question has to be asked.

How has the team continued its success after losing key players like Matt and M’Cheyne? The answer to that question is leadership, both the leadership of the past and the leadership of the present.

When asked about the leadership of the past, Coach Boone proclaims, “Both of them created a great legacy to pass on to the guys and the proof is the continued success that we have in their absence.”

This legacy has created the mold for Justin Sisson and Austin Galaska, who are the captains this year. Their duties range from being the voices of the team to organizing off-season bible studies where the team can grow off the golf course.

“Having great leaders of the past has re-

Photo provided by Messiah Athletics ally made it easy to see and understand how to be a leader this year” says Galaska and the results of the team are evident of this smooth transition of leadership.

In collegiate golf, teams of five compete with other teams of five with the purpose of having the lowest cumulative score. The top four scores are counted, with the fifth being discarded. This fall the team held an extraordinary average of 26 strokes over par. The lineup featured four players having an average below an 80. Justin Sisson leads the charge with an average of 77.1 and three Top 5 finishes this fall. The team brought home gold at the Messiah Falcon Classic, placing first out of eighteen teams. To exemplify the difficulty of college golf, first year player Jordan Kirsch,

one of the four players with a sub-80 average, explains that five strokes will be added to your game in college golf compared to high school competition.

“The courses in college are longer and harder than the courses I played in high school,” explains Kirsch. Coach Boone stresses the importance of the fall nontraditional season in that it “is extremely important to our national ranking of the team and the individual player.”

south for the great weather, great golf, and great team bonding. Sisson refers to this trip as the highlight of the year as he says, “being in the sun and enjoying the stress free week with the guys is always a great time.” Upon their return, the team sets their sights on the conference season and the ultimate goal of the year: to make the national tournament.

In order to do so, the team must win the year end conference tournament.

The team now transfers its focus to offseason training in preparation for the main season taking place in the spring.

In the spring, Geoff Boyle will return to the links as his primary focus in the fall and winter is participating on the Messiah Men’s Basketball team. During spring break the team travels down

Some may consider this season a rebuilding year for the squad, but that is no reason to write the team off. With their mix of great leadership from Boone and the team captains as well as the steady production from underclassmen, this “rebuilding year” on paper may turn into much more on the course.

Austin Galasku, Junior, hits the ball at the Elizabethtown Fall Blue Jay Classic

Photo provided by Messiah Athletics

October 17, 2013

Sports 15 The Swinging Bridge

The End of an Era:

By Phil Nagely STUDENT WRITER

Elizabethtown-Messiah Rivalry Set to End

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ast April, rival Elizabethtown College announced their plans to move into the Landmark Conference, thus ending their 63-year affiliation with the Middle Atlantic and Commonwealth Conferences. In comparison, Messiah College has been a conference member for 30 years, since the 1983-84 season. Etown will leave the conference effective July 1, 2014 with the exception of softball and women’s lacrosse who have already made the move.

The Landmark Conference is a smaller division three conference then MAC, having only eight members.

MAC, on the other hand, has eighteen members and is divided into two smaller conferences within MAC.

I love how everyone goes out to eat and throw marshmallows in a harmless way With 30 years of competition between Messiah and Etown, a serious rivalry has developed. In cross country, women’s lacrosse, field

Photo provided by Messiah Athletics hockey, soccer, and many other sports, the Messiah vs. Etown games have become much-anticipated matches. For example, Messiah students look forward to the “The Marshmallow Bowl”, the main attraction being the fans throwing marshmallows onto Shoemaker Field as the game is played. “It is a fun tradition that I hope contin-

ues in the future. I love how everyone goes out to eat and throw marshmallows in a harmless way” says student and fan, Andrew Joy. Last spring, on April 13, the Baseball team, Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse teams, the Softball team, and Men’s and Women’s Tennis teams all played Elizabethtown

and came away with victories.

At this time it is unknown whether or not Messiah will take on Etown in non-conference matches. Most likely, it will be on a sport by sport basis depending on if both teams match up skill wise. Nonetheless, the 30 years as conference rivals has left many memories for athletes and non-athletes alike.

Messiah College Racquetball Club

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Letters to the Editors

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By Matt Meads STUDENT WRITER

hen asked about racquetball, people reply with something like, “Yeah I know what that is. It’s that big room you run around in playing a weird version of tennis.” However, there are some here on campus who know that it is much more than “a weird version of tennis.”

The Pulse accepts and encourages letters to the editor, but reserves the right not to publish submissions, giving preference to student writing. Letters containing inflammatory content or language will not be accepted for publication.

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It was only last year Messiah College recognized the MC Racquetball Club, but the club is already on the rise. Started by current seniors Matt Meads and Todd Wilson, the club operates by giving students an opportunity not just to meet other players but to give anyone a chance to learn a new sport. “We noticed a lack of competition because people would only play a small group of friends or even just one person every time so we wanted to create a space that encourages people to gain more skill in the sport by getting to oppose a variety of players” said President Todd Wilson.

But what is Racquetball? It’s a racquet sport involving two, three, or four people at a time and is played in a large, en-

closed room. Players alternate shots attempting to hit the ball against the front wall before it bounces twice on the floor.

MC Racquetball club meets every week on Tuesday nights from 8-10 at the Eisenhower courts. There is still equipment available and all are welcome to come try it. If you still aren’t convinced take it from sophomore, Jason Yoder who said, “I love it. There’s not a night I don’t leave the courts covered in sweat. It’s a mix of fierce competition and a cardio workout.” First-year, Sarah McDowell says, “It’s a great stress reliever,” and Junior, Ben Albert says, “Playing with the club has really helped me get better at the sport.”

So it’s up you. Swing by the courts sometime on a Tuesday night and decide if racquetball is just an awkward version of tennis or if it will be your new favorite activity. Anyone can come by whether they are experienced or have never picked up a racquet before. If you’ve ever wanted to give it a shot and hit up the courts in Eisenhower, this club is for you!

October 17, 2013

Sports 16 The Swinging Bridge

Messiah Women's Volleyball

Photo by Danielle Gingrich

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By Ashlyn Miller STUDENT WRITER

ut of the 17 players on the Messiah College volleyball team, 8 are freshmen. Many of them, including Kristen Douglas and Jane Underman, who are the team leaders in kills (with 190 and 178, respectively) have stepped directly into starting roles on the team. With this youth and talent, it comes as no surprise that despite having ups and downs throughout the season thus far, Messiah comes into its tournament at Ithaca College with a winning record (10-9).

The Falcons’ season started out with a bang, pulling 4 wins out of 5 matches in its Tri-Match, including a 3-0 victory over MAC opponent Lycoming College.

The only loss was a 1-3 result against Lebanon Valley, a tough match considering that LVC is undefeated in the conference.

The trouble comes with consistency though, as the following section of the schedule, Old Friends Crossover, began with a 4 game losing streak for the Falcons against opponents like Gettysburg College- a 0-3 loss- and Stevenson University- a 1-3 loss.

The casual onlooker would be confused by the seemingly hot-and-cold performance from the team, but a closer look at the stats reveals that the Falcons are not having a drop-off in performance, rather they are simply battling in close games against evenly-matched teams.

The 0-3 loss to Gettysburg is a great example of this, where the set scores were 2523,25-23, and 25-18. During the match, key stats like kills (Gettysburg 35, Messiah 34) and digs (Gettysburg 88, Mes-

The Falcons’ season started out with a

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BANG BANG

siah 87) were practically identical, the difference came in team blocks, where Gettysburg picked up 8 to Messiah’s 3.

The team rebounded from the losing streak well, picking up two wins at home, and then performing well at the Galludet Tournament in Washington, D.C. A strong home record has been key for Messiah, as they currently hold a 6-2 record for games in Brubaker. Neutral sites have proved to be especially challenging, as the Falcons have only posted a 1-4 record.

Games to watch for include the everpopular rivalry game against Elizabethtown on Oct. 30 and Widener University on Oct. 16. The determining factor of the Falcons’ success for the rest of the season lies in their ability to learn from the close losses they had earlier this season.

If they are able to make the adjustments, they have a chance to go on a hot streak towards the end of the season, as most of their opponents post a similar record or are playing at a level below .500.

The Falcons’ next home game is on Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. against Hood College (4-14, 1-3 MAC).

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