Swinging Bridge Magazine: May 2017

A History of the Pulse

Pulse Staff Profiles

The Pulse in 5 Years

PAGE 8

PAGE 18

PAGE 28

Volume 97 // Edition 6 // May 2017

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Letter from the

(FUTURE) volume 97 // edition 6 // may 2017 Swinging Bridge Magazine Staff

Student Director Assistant Student Director Editor-in-Chief Online Editor Student Life Editor Culture Editor Sports & Rec Editor Design Manager, SBM Design Manager, Clarion Design Assistants

Audio/Visual Manager Audio/Visual Assistants Business Manager Social Media Manager Web Manager

Bree Whitelock Gabby Kurtz Maddie Crocenzi Alyssa Burd Stephanie Bricker Mimi Pedercini Willie Hope Jimmy Gibbons Kerri Denton Lizzy Cole Grace Demmer Jacque Sauder Austen Bower Ryan Emerick Paul Smith Dan Husmann Kaitlyn Wolf Katie Piette

Monday - 1pm - 5pm Tuesday - 11 am - 3pm Wednesday - 1pm - 5pm Friday - 10am - 3pm (717) 766-2511 ext. 6081 1 College Avenue Suite 3058 Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 (Downstairs South Wing of the Larsen Student Union) The Swinging Bridge Magazine is published through The Pulse: Messiah College Media Hub, run by students. The Pulse consists of Pulse FM, The Clarion yearbook, and The Swinging Bridge Magazine. The Swinging Bridge staff strives to publish quality student writing, photography, and design. To learn about job and volunteer opportunities, email thepulse@messiah.edu.

Special Thanks to previous Pulse staff for the Cover Photo, and photos throughout this issue

Editor

When I hear the word “new,” I often think of a shiny new car or my new pair of shoes that finally came in the mail after watching them online for a month. New is exciting, and it’s fun, but new always has a way of wearing off. When I think of my position here at The Pulse, it’s a different kind of new. It comes with a sense of challenge, but also a feeling of promise.

And it feels like a kind of new that maybe won’t pull its usual wear-off. That’s what I love about journalism – every story, every interview, every issue of The Swinging Bridge is always new, and it’s always exciting.

My name is Becky Kimmel, and if you haven’t guessed, I’m the new Editor-in-Chief of The Swinging Bridge. I’m a Journalism major with a passion for politics - although that has turned into somewhat of a love-hate relationship these days with the three-ring circus known as Washington D.C. My college career has been a series of new beginnings, so this new position seems par for the course with my track record.

I graduated from high school with my sights set on fashion school in Philadelphia. After one year of learning how to sew a pair of pants and steam a dress in the perfect way, I was yearning for something more – something that mattered to me. And so began my new journey at Messiah College.

Many students talk about living within the “Messiah bubble,” but I think our little piece of Central PA, surrounded by the

trickling of the Yellow Breeches Creek on one side, and the roar of the train track on the other, is unique and special in more ways than many people know. Each issue of The Swinging Bridge magazine is one page after another of inspirational students doing incredible things. We are all lucky to live on a campus that fosters thinking and doing.

Many say journalism is a dying field, but I would argue that journalism is more alive today than ever. In a society that feels more divided than I can remember in my twenty years of life, stories have the unbound ability to bring people together, to lift people up and to move people in directions they may have never thought possible. That’s what I hope to accomplish during my short time with The Pulse – find stories that inspire tough conversations, move students to find things they care about and most importantly, tell stories that matter.

I invite you to come along on this new journey with me. With a future that can sometimes look so uncertain, it’s true that every day might not be good, but one thing is for certain – you can find something good in every day. So let’s earnestly search for that something good.

See you between the pages,

Becky Kimmel

SBM // 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Past

Present

Future

4. Radio History 6. Newspaper to Magazine 8. History of the Pulse

14. Pulse Statistics 16. Letter from the EIC 17. Letter from the Design Manager 18. Staff Profiles 22. Volunteer Writers 24. How did we get to a 5th Birthday Bash?

26. Importance of Having the Pulse 28. The Pulse in 5 Years

in this issue

on the web

Tattoo Tuesdays

New Finance Lab

Messiah Dreams Big

5K Fascination

Brubaker Memories

What Service Means to Me

visit us online at pulse.messiah.edu to read more 2 // May 2017

Pulse Birthday Party Details: The party will be on

April 29 from

8 p.m. – 11 p.m. in the

Union THE WILDCARDS will perform at

8:30 p.m.

PULSE ALUMNI

will be recognized at

9:30 p.m.

VACATION MANOR will perform at

10 p.m.

Throughout the event: - Photobooth - Games - Face painting - Giveaways - Food - Dancing Check Facebook the afternoon of April 29 for Vacation Manor’s Live From the Yellow Room performance!

SBM // 3

PAST

By Willie Hope III When the radio first started, it wasn’t a part of any student media program on campus. The program began under Residence Life, and it wasn’t until eight years later in 1995 that the radio became a part of the Communication Department, according to Professor of Communication Dr. Ed Arke.

In the past five years alone, the radio has been on the air for 43,800 hours, which would be 262,800 hours in the past thirty years if those statistics hold true. Within those hours, thousands of DJs have been over the air at The Pulse, each with different stories of good times and weird moments.

Joel Hoover : A Dream Fulfilled

I did not know this until the day of the game--I would have to travel north in a Nor’easter snowstorm that was hitting the east coast! It was six hours of touchand-go travel from Pennsylvania into New Jersey, the Bronx, Connecticut and then Massachusetts--where thankfully, the snow had already passed--but I made it to Amherst in the middle of the afternoon with two hours to spare.

I have many memories of working and volunteering at 90.7 Pulse FM while I was at Messiah; when you want to be a broadcaster, and you get your first opportunity in radio, there are going to be many moments that you do not forget. One of my favorites was when I had the opportunity to travel to Amherst, Massachusetts to broadcast the NCAA Division III Sweet 16 for the Messiah women’s basketball team back in 2013.

I had gone to New Jersey to cover the Messiah men in the NCAA first round the season before, but this was a totally new opportunity with the women’s team advancing to the second weekend to face Widener up at classic LeFrak Gymnasium at the host site Amherst. After we had covered both of their wins the previous weekend in Grantham, I asked Dr. Arke about taking our broadcast on the road for the next weekend. He made a few personnel and credential arrangements, while I worked out some lodging with a contact I had, and we got the broadcast confirmed.

However, there were a few catches: for starters, I would be traveling and broadcasting alone. Additionally--and

4 // May 2017

The game itself was a tough loss for one of Messiah’s best teams in recent seasons, but it was a wonderful travel opportunity to take Pulse FM up north to a great Division III basketball gymnasium deep in the NCAA women’s basketball postseason. For a young, aspiring sportscaster, these were the kind of games I wanted to eventually broadcast for a living, and this only helped fuel my dreams. And to do it in a snowstorm? Well, you definitely never forget a story like that.

My Story: Hope for the Future Radio was extremely awkward for me at first. My sophomore year, I started my own radio show, which online had a high of five listeners: my parents, my girlfriend and both my grandmothers.

The Pulse is turning five this year, but there’s another huge milestone to celebrate. The radio station, which began before The Pulse was formed, celebrates its 30th year of existence.

Even though it was a slow start, I loved talking about sports on the radio. I got better throughout the first semester of my sophomore year, but I received an offer to do something I’ve always wanted to do.

Since I was a kid, I wanted to do commentating. When I was eight or nine, I would sit in the front row of middle school and high school gyms and “commentate” recreation basketball games, using the first bleacher as my desk because I was small enough to fit my legs (and my whole body) under the bleacher. Fast forward to last year; I took a sports broadcasting class with Dr. Arke. I was able to broadcast three women’s basketball halves, one of the coolest things I’ve been able to do at Messiah. But it got even better after that.

With our season over after the regular season, I was able to go to women’s basketball games while they were in the playoffs and watch full games. Dr. Arke first presented me with the opportunity of doing the radio broadcast for the women’s semifinal game, but I had a meeting for The Swinging Bridge magazine, ironically enough.

So I listened to Nate Baum and Ashlyn Miller commentate the end of the game while I was sitting in the meeting (but I was paying attention Maddie, I promise).

PAST I didn’t think I would get another chance to do a radio broadcast for the women’s team because they were the two seed in the conference tournament and had to travel to Albright for the championship game. But Ashlyn and Dr. Arke worked it out so that we could travel to Albright on Saturday for the championship game.

I was absolutely thrilled that we got to broadcast the game. I remember getting there early and watching the players warm up, feeling a sense of accomplishment and nervousness at the same time. I’m more

than sure my nerves showed through the first few minutes of the broadcast, but as the game went on, I became more comfortable. In the end, the women’s team dropped the game to Albright in one of the best basketball games I’ve seen and had the privilege to be a part of. But having the opportunity to broadcast the game was amazing. Without the radio station, I never would have had the chance.

Just through these two stories, it’s easy to see how the radio has had such a huge impact on the lives of Messiah students.

Joel Hoover is now a play-by-play sportscaster for Paul Bunyan Broadcasting, something made possible thanks to Pulse FM. Here’s to thirty more years for Messiah College radio and the impact it has on all those who participate in it.

SBM // 5

The Transition:

PAST

THE TRANSITION:

NEWSPAPER

BY BREE WHITELOCK

I

imagine it happening similarly to a weekly managers meeting today, where we spin in our chairs dreaming of radical ways to introduce the campus to The Pulse.

During the spring 2015 semester, Messiah’s campus witnessed a change as the days of The Swinging Bridge newspaper disappeared, and The Swinging Bridge magazine came to take its place.

“Creativity, readership, experience, buzz,” are all words that come to mind for Joel Hoover, 2015 alumni and editor-in-chief during the transition.

The prospect of a magazine on campus meant more relevant news in a format students wanted. However, Hoover had to stop and ask the hard question: “How was this going to change how we report news?”

Writing news for a newspaper was one thing, but writing it for a magazine was another.

Facing a long-standing newspaper history, The Pulse staff at the time knew talk of a transition would require more than a little heavy lifting. How would current students react? How would prospective students react? How would administration react? These were all questions Pulse staff had to stop and ask themselves.

6 // May 2017

“We had meetings with SGA, Student Body President Tim Sensenig, Dr. Arke and President Kim Phipps to collect info of what we would need to do and evidence of why it would be a good change,” explains Lauren Piccioni, 2015 alumni and previous student director of The Pulse.

“Ultimately in the field of journalism, the way we tell stories has changed and the way we present news has changed,” explains Piccioni. “One of the benefits of a monthly magazine versus a bi-weekly newspaper allowed The Pulse to move toward online and produce more digital media content.”

Hoover realized while the newspaper still works in certain aspects, “the way people get news now has really changed.”

The transition offered a medium better fit for feature stories, which more students seemed to enjoy, while creating avenues for more timely articles online.

One of the prominent reasons for the change was based on the idea of “how can we get people to pick up the newspaper?” says Ally Coonradt Hall, fall 2015 student director of The Pulse. The staff admitted defeat when they saw students across campus no longer picking up the newspaper as readily as they hoped.

If The Pulse staff was going to put countless hours and energy into producing a product meant for campus enjoyment, they wanted the campus to enjoy what they were producing. With a plan set in motion to engage campus on their turf, Piccioni guided The Pulse team through a season of transition.

In May of 2015 Messiah’s campus saw the phasing out of The Swinging Bridge newspaper as The Swinging Bridge magazine came to take its place.

As the key point person for the change, Hoover questioned how his team was going to put a good end to the newspaper as it was, while also doing the magazine launch justice.

In the end, he couldn’t have been more proud of the team who worked tirelessly to see the launch through.

“The most exciting thing was when I started to see it all come together,” says Hoover. “The vision that had been put in place finally became realized. It was something campus could get excited about.”

“In the end the magazine pretty much sold itself,” says Coonradt Hall. “It felt like it wasn’t difficult to get people excited about it. People were already asking about the next issue.”

Whereas newspapers once filled racks for weeks on end, the staff could no longer keep the magazine racks full.

Coonradt Hall recalled having the refill the racks by 10 a.m. the first day of the magazine launch and by day three, they were completely out of magazines.

The demand was high and the positivity unparalleled.

Since the magazine’s launch in May of 2015, eleven issues have hit stands. Each issue has been filled with content geared toward campus in a format students want.

PAST

TO MAGAZINE LOOKING BACK ON THIS MONUMENTAL CHANGE, THE STAFF HAD A FEW THINGS TO REFLECT ON: “Positive, but difficult,” is how Coonradt Hall explains the initial transition. “We had to re-route our brains to think in a magazine direction. Magazines are different in that they’re more entertainment focused, but this meant students picking up a magazine over a newspaper and being exposed to stories they wouldn’t have been before.”

“It was rewarding to see different people chip in to make it happen,” Hoover says.

“It challenged us to be our very best and do the very best work we could. The biggest thing was how I learned to hear different ideas on something and ultimately take those ideas into account and go for it by working collectively with the group.”

The Pulse is not only a media hub on campus but a learning environment for

students to practice real-world skills in a controlled setting. The launch of The Swinging Bridge magazine in 2015 was a true testament to the hard work The Pulse staff puts into making the organization thrive. Through innovation and collaboration, the staff isn’t afraid to tackle challenges.

Five years down, forever to go.

“[The transition] was fun and stressful at the same time,” recalls Piccioni.

“It was the good kind of stress, like working in an art studio. When you’re working on something together, you can all be really excited about it. It was a unique experience to have that many students were a part of the transition.”

SBM // 7

PAST

By Maddie Crocenzi

“Does anyone know why we’re called The Pulse?” someone asks at one of our late-night managers meeting.

8 // May 2017

The ten of us look around the room only to see shrugged shoulders and blank stares.

“I guess it’s because we’re the heartbeat of campus,” SBM Design Manager Jimmy Gibbons says.

What’s in a name?

Five years ago, The Pulse was formed by a group of administrators and Messiah officials who decided to combine The Clarion Yearbook, The Swinging Bridge newspaper and 90.7 Pulse FM under one roof. The collaboration effectively brought writers, DJs, designers, photographers, business managers and web developers together in the Union.

The nostalgic moment passes, and we start working again, too busy to think about how or why The Pulse came to be. However, we soon find out that The Pulse’s name was discussed at a weekly managers meeting just like this one five years ago. We realize that groups at The Pulse have been bonding over office snacks for five years and dreaming up media hub visions at the CMA conference every year for five years.

“Pete Powers (Dean of the School of Humanities) called me in one afternoon and said you know we’re bringing in all these different things together,” recalls 2012 alumni and first Student Director Morgan Lee. “We’re looking for a student director.”

Now, on The Pulse’s fifth birthday, it’s time to reflect on how a team like ours shaped The Pulse five years ago, how the subsequent staff made it into what it is now and where those five years of alumni want to see the organization go in the future.

At the time, Lee was an editor of The Swinging Bridge newspaper, with a vision for more. “I was actually really thrilled by the idea of the offer partially because it was broader than the newspaper and there was a chance it had a bigger vision.”

PAST

Lights Out

However, Lee says the vision was murky.

Although administrators worked out the logistics of forming The Pulse, they left much of it up to the students. With virtually no limits and no precedent, Lee and her team laid much of the groundwork for The Pulse, including its name.

“When I came in it was basically ‘Messiah College Media Hub’ which is clunky,” Lee says. “There’s no way we’re going to get people excited about the media hub.”

The initial staff had a meeting solely devoted to the branding and identity of The Pulse. Lee says they wanted it to have a sense of energy and convey that the organization was student led. They eventually came up with The Pulse which suggested that energy and also the organization’s purpose to capture the “pulse” of campus.

“It was having a Pulse on what’s going on on-campus,” 2013 alumni and former Radio Station Manager Jessica Oldja says. “If you want to get plugged in or you want to know what’s happening, The Pulse should have it captured at least somewhere if not everywhere.”

The mission of capturing campus life quickly became a reality when the initial team created The Pulse’s social media accounts. Ironically, the campus took notice of The Pulse when the staff posted Facebook and Twitter updates during a power outage.

“There was a power outage on campus in the fall, and at this time we had begun to grow our social media presence,” Lee explains. “It definitely caused campus safety to notice what we were doing.

The administration and staff had been used to primarily communicating with students through mass email, and we were communicating on the platforms they (students) were checking and on.”

At the time, The Pulse had two social media managers who went to student events and quickly posted photographs on Facebook and Twitter. The almost real-time photos reflected a changing news cycle and the fast-paced nature of college life.

“I was there in 2008 and when I started it was when social media was really taking off,” 2012 alumni and former Editor-in-Chief of The Swinging Bridge newspaper Sari (Heidenreich) Magnuson says.

“We tried to start doing reactive things.”

This type of reactive social media coverage continued well past the first year of The Pulse. 2016 alumni and former Swinging Bridge newspaper Design Manager, Carly Groff, says there were multiple breaking news incidents while she worked at The Pulse during the 2014-15 school year. A skating accident with an emergency lifting, the Yik Yak bomb threat and a rocket launch were all huge events The Pulse used social media to report on in real time.

“One of our social media managers (Ally Coonradt Hall) got to go to the rocket launch that was happening that year,” Groff recalls. “We had like breaking events, and she was live tweeting.”

“We were taking high-quality shots that people could tag themselves, and it gave students much more of a way to be interested in student media,” Lee says.

This type of coverage helped The Pulse became the well-known campus news organization it is today. 2016 alumni and former Social Media Manager, Jessalyn Megerle, says The Pulse only grew while she worked there.

Besides media, the team was interested in promoting more hard news via social media. If there was a breaking news event, the team used social media to keep the campus updated.

“The Pulse became much more wellknown while I was there, from gaining social media followers to more publicity about events to greater pick up of the magazine on newsstands.”

SBM // 9

PAST

at The Pulse, Tay wrote a controversial story on internet privacy at Messiah after the College installed a campus-wide filter to stop content they felt did not agree with the College’s mission.

Read all about it Arguably one of the biggest transitions at The Pulse was the evolution from newspaper to magazine. While you can read the full story in this issue of the magazine, you may not know the idea started long before Joel Hoover ’15, and Lauren Piccioni ’15 made it a reality.

“That was something we had talked about my last year at The Pulse,” 2014 alumni and former Swinging Bridge newspaper Feature News Editor Nicholas Tay says. “Condensing the Swinging Bridge into more of a monthly type of magazine.

That never happened during my time.”

In fact, when The Pulse was formed five years ago, The Swinging Bridge was a newspaper that had a long history at Messiah.

“The Swinging Bridge was integral in determining what The Pulse was,” Magnuson says.

10 // May 2017

The summer before the 2011-12 school year, Lee and Magnuson sat down and talked about what the newspaper would look like. They decided to create a stronger website and online presence to publish stories between biweekly newspaper issues.

“That was to my knowledge the first time we really started doing that,” Magnuson says.

The pulse.messiah.edu website was born that year. Magnuson says the website “allowed them to think more innovatively” and gain practice with a 24-hour news cycle that had been looming for some time.

Tay’s role as feature news editor was also created in response to the push for online content. He says there were two news editors that year – a feature news editor who worked on long-form newspaper stories and a regular news editor who worked on weekly online stories.

During that time, news stories came up that lent themselves to both feature story and online writing. While he worked

“The article was essentially me trying to expand both points of view,” Tay says. “I think I was accused of being partial to the administration and trying to be the voice of the administration. My goal was to present the facts in a more objective manner, but I think maybe they interpreted my article to be more subjective.”

Magnuson says this was a prime example of the newspaper’s goal to hold individuals in power accountable for their actions. She remembers “feeling like we were holding the administration accountable to the student body. Showing the administration that the student body cared and bringing those questions to the administration and vice versa.”

During Groff’s year, the newspaper staff expanded the vision to produce quality design as well as written content. “We would make sure when we went to go put it out there it was the most professional thing because the next day we were going to stand out with our Pulse t-shirts.

On newspaper day, we would be out with our Pulse t-shirts handing out The Swinging Bridge to people. We wanted people just to get past the headline. If they can flip it, that’s all we wanted.

PAST

Flipping the page The newspaper wasn’t the only print publication The Pulse produced. The Clarion yearbook was incorporated within The Pulse and underwent significant changes during the beginning years.

“The big thing was the yearbook situation,” Lee says. “There were various viewpoints on our staff about whether to keep the yearbook and deciding what to do with that had a lot to do with our funding.”

Magnuson agrees, saying the yearbook was “broke,” before The Pulse came into existence. Since The Pulse received funding from SGA that year, Lee and the business manager sat down and discussed what to do with the yearbook. They decided to produce a smaller sized yearbook with fewer pages.

“We ended up printing a much smaller yearbook,” Magnuson says. “Maybe 50 pages and not even full page. Kind of like a regular book. It was really different.”

The yearbook continued along, with each year’s staff debating whether to keep it or halt publication when Lauren Piccioni came along. With a background in yearbook, 2015 alumni, and former student director Piccioni breathed new life into the publication. Now, the yearbook stands as a time-honored tradition among seniors, and with over 200 pages, has expanded well beyond the original vision.

Lights, Camera, Jon Bellion

The yearbook wasn’t the only product that got a facelift when The Pulse was created.

Live from the Yellow Room, performances and interviews with artists that came to Messiah, was revived during the 20142015 school year by some staff dreamers.

“With the A/V Assistant (Paul Ney ‘15) and Radio Manager (TJ Garman ‘15), we revived Live from the Yellow Room and over the course of the year got six bands to come and perform studio sessions,” 2015 alumni and former A/V Manager Will Colfelt says.

Groff remembers designing the Live from the Yellow Room logo as the dream became a reality. “They both came to me and were like can you design a logo for it?” Groff says.

During the school year, the team filmed interviews and performances with Magic!, Oh Honey and Jon Bellion.

“I enjoyed working with different bands for Live from the Yellow Room because that gave me full creative freedom to collaborate with other like-minded artists, and getting to share that online with everyone,” Colfelt says.

Live from the Yellow Room also gave the staff a chance to work with each other and the artists they filmed. It wasn’t all work either. Colfelt says he spent one-onone time with Magic! and Jon Bellion.

“We had just finished filming Magic!’s interview, and all walked down to the gym together talking about sports and decided to play some pick-up before they went on stage that night,” Colfelt says. “Another story; hanging out with Jon Bellion in his green room after filming his interview talking about TV shows like Samurai Jack and Dragonball Z.” The crew also laid the groundwork to expand the A/V Department. With the business manager’s approval, Colfelt remembers adding a 50mm lens, studio lights, camera ring light, voice recording gear, dynamic mics and more to The Pulse’s inventory.

The expanded gear list also gave the crew a chance to cover more events with more staff and volunteers. “I think I personally made an impact at The Pulse by vastly spreading our brand throughout the campus, simply by attending and documenting 95% of the various events and activities taking place throughout the year,” Colfelt says.

SBM // 11

PAST

There’s Always a Feud With so many staff taking photos, designing print publications and writing content it was only natural The Pulse would have a feud, but it may not be what you think.

Falcon Feud, an annual Family Feud style event hosted by The Pulse and SAB, began during the 2014-2015 school year.

Groff was an assistant designer that year, but she remembers the planning stages. “I was still kind of new, but I remember there was this one all staff meeting where they were like ‘hey, here’s the idea we have. We’re going to team up with SAB and give it a go.’”

Under the direction of 2014 alumni and former Student Director, Shannon Cochran, Falcon Feud took off. Designers worked on creating a Powerpoint of Family Feud slides with Jeopardy questions, the A/V team took pictures during the event and the staff prepared to start the first major event of The Pulse’s history.

“We probably had at least twelve teams signed up, and we actually had to turn a group or two away,” Groff says.

The staff was shocked by the turnout and level of engagement among students.

“It kind of gave us encouragement to still be there and keep doing that into the next year,” Groff says.

The next year, first-year students with siblings remembered The Pulse as the ones who co-hosted Flacon Feud. It was the beginning of a new era – one in which The Pulse would host student events, like the birthday party in a few days.

Overall, Groff says Falcon Feud had, “such an impact we weren’t totally prepared for but in the best of ways.”

2013 Staff

Best Times, Best Friends, Best Snacks While The Pulse was created as a paid opportunity and a way for students to gain professional experience, it turned into much more.

“My favorite part about working at The Pulse was the community,” Megerle says. “My coworkers became lasting friends, and I made so many happy memories related to my job.”

2016 alumni and former Business Manager Josh Husmann also says the people at The Pulse made his position great. “The Pulse was like working with family and knowing that somebody would have an answer or be willing to give a helping hand if asked.”

This kind of camaraderie is the fulfillment of Lee’s mission five years ago. “My goal was to make it feel like this is a destination that you want to work for, and it’s a cool place that you want to be a part of,” she says.

Office snacks and weekly managers meetings were important stepping stones in creating a Pulse communi-

12 // May 2017

ty. In fact, stocking the office fridge is a story that instantly comes to Oldja’s mind when she thinks of The Pulse.

“I don’t know why we all went, but we all went one night to Walmart or something, and it was so late, and it was just mayhem,” she laughs.

The staff fought over whether to buy a coffee machine and what snacks to bring into the newly renovated space.

“We went back and stocked the fridge and wasted too much time doing all of that,” Oldja says. “It’s a little bit more fun, spending time together.”

Even today, staff members cheer as office snacks are unloaded, and this time, the office has a coffee machine.

“If you ever want to feel like the coolest person on campus, just drive up on the sidewalk right next to the office door and start unloading snacks,” 2016 alumni and former Student Director David Broomell says. “Everyone sitting outside the Union will look at you and think, ‘Wow, why don’t I work at The Pulse?’ while you unload boxes of Tastykakes and Doritos.”

PAST

Pulse loyalty runs deep

Why Pulse?

Sure, the snacks are great, but it’s not the only reason five years of employees have graced The Pulse office. The Pulse was and continues to be, an important professional development and networking tool.

“A lot of what I did was more dreaming up things and thinking about how to bring them to fruition,” Lee says. “That type of skill never does not come in handy.”

Collaborating with different staff members and forming team skills was crucial for many Pulse alumni. As a chemistry major, Tay says he would not have met the people he did if it wasn’t for The Pulse.

“I appreciate that about being part of The Pulse,” he says. “I probably wouldn’t have taken the time or the effort to meet people through those realms.”

Besides gaining people skills, writing helped Tay critically evaluate both sides of arguments. “I was able to write articles and also improve my writing skills and learning how to condense a lot of news stories. You always have to present opposing viewpoints.”

Additionally, Husmann says his experience with The Pulse helped his future career prospects. “Being able to put the

business experience I gained was a huge help in the job search. A lot of employers saw what I was doing and were impressed.

The Pulse not only gave me business experience but also helped me improve my leadership traits. Employers don’t just look for someone who knows the book work, but someone who knows how to do it hands on and can be a leader as well.

The Pulse gave me an edge in that field.”

Leadership skills were also something Megerle formed while at The Pulse. “I learned leadership and communication skills, as well as how to handle the demands of working in social media. While my current job doesn’t require me to use social media, it does require me to use what I learned about communication and being a leader, and I credit The Pulse with a lot of my success in my new field, as well as with my persistence in finding only jobs that I truly love and feel called to.”

Onward Today, The Pulse has come a long way from the media hub Lee and her staff dreamed up during mangers meetings, office snack runs and late-night Union talks.

But there’s still more work to be done.

Magnuson would like to see The Pulse continue a strong journalistic tradi-

tion. “Keep up with technology. Still do good journalism and serve the student body well and don’t get complacent.

Don’t be afraid to ask tough questions to administration, to fellow students.”

On his side, Colfelt would like to see greater collaboration internally and externally with groups at Messiah. “Everyone at Messiah is there because they’re doing what they love and want to improve it. So figure out what Messiah lacks in, and what you can do with everyone’s various forms of creativity and make something brand new.”

Megerle wants The Pulse to continue to grow its social media presence. “I would love to see The Pulse expand and grow even more, especially when it comes to social media. Social media is an ever-changing medium, and I’m ready to be impressed with how The Pulse interacts with Messiah’s campus through the use of different and new social media platforms (I still follow all The Pulse accounts!)”

Ultimately, it’s Groff who leaves current Pulse staff with a charge for the future that sums up both the organization’s past and future.

“Go and do something bigger or greater with it all.”

SBM // 13

14 // May 2017

Look at what The Pulse has accomplished in FIVE years:

780

30 approximately

By Bree Whitelock

PULSE STATISTICS

Present

PRINTED a r t i coverl e s ONLINE articles

Present

Swinging Bridge Magazines ~70 Staff Members Employed

year- LIVE book from the ROOM editions YELLOW sessions

43,800 hours

of 90.7

PulseFM on air SBM // 15

Present

I

wrote my first “book” when I was in fourth grade. It was about a hundred pages long (in a big font), and it told the true, but the slightly embellished story of my best friend and me. I wrote it the summer before I moved, and every night my parents would come outside to find me writing. It’s kind of fitting that the fourth grader writing a story is now writing this remarkable and unexpected story to you.

It starts three years ago when I saw The Pulse’s booth at the Opportunities Fair and signed up to be a volunteer writer for The Swinging Bridge newspaper. Then it progresses to me, a shy freshman journalism major, sitting in a room at The Pulse while five people ask me questions to determine if I’ll be the next Editor-in-Chief. And then they ask me the question that would unknowingly shape the next two years of my life – What do you know about magazines?

The answer was nothing. At the time, I mumbled something along the lines of not knowing much, but I was eager to learn.

When we started The Swinging Bridge magazine, we didn’t know anything.

Essentially, we were handed a blank slate and told to make it what we wanted.

What came out of that was a lot of hard work. It was two long years of molding and shaping the magazine that you’re reading today. There were lots of late nights, bonding sessions over pizza and office snacks and hard conversations about what we could do better. I could go on about this magazine, but you can see for yourself how far we’ve come since the first issue in the spring of 2015.

Instead, I want to talk about how it changed me. This magazine took a shy and unsure freshman and built a confident leader who’s graduating in May. This magazine gave me the opportunity to get to know you and take a leap of faith.

I talked with you in spaces all around this campus and listened to your stories, your laughter, your tears and your hopes and dreams for the future. And while I’ve done a lot of listening, this letter

16 // May 2017

is my opportunity to speak back into your lives as you’ve spoken into mine.

I have loved every bit of these past three years, and it’s because of this staff that I care for so deeply. It’s also because of you, the readers. I was flipping through my prayer journal the other day and saw an entry from the year before college.

It was a prayer for everyone who would someday read what I wrote - that the words would speak life into you, change you and would land into the hands of people who needed them. You, the readers of this magazine, are the answer to a prayer that a seventeen-year-old me wrote before there was even the possibility of a Swinging Bridge magazine.

There’s a story that sums up what I’ve learned at The Pulse. Two summers ago, a friend took me to the Newseum.

There’s one Pulitzer Prize-winning photo that sticks out in my mind. It’s called “the vulture and the little girl,” and it depicts the famine during the second Sudanese Civil War, and it shows a starving little girl laying on the ground while a vulture watches nearby.

The photographer was told not to touch any of the people because of “diseases.” The photographer took the photo, scared the vulture away, but left the little girl. Why am I telling you such a sad story? Because fundamentally, I think about this picture every time I make any ethical decision.

Journalism demands that I take the photo and write the story. But I’ve learned these past three years not to be too concerned about the demands people or my profession place on me, and to instead listen to God’s call to love.

And ultimately that’s what The Pulse has taught me – the times to put down the camera and the notebook and lay aside rules to love those that are hurting.

Maddie Crocenzi, Editor-in-Chief

Present

E

ven though I have worked on every issue of The Swinging Bridge magazine, this is my first time addressing my audience directly. So I guess I should introduce myself: I’m James Gibbons, and I’m a design manager here at The Pulse.

I started work with The Pulse almost three years ago by volunteering with the side project The Beat magazine. At the time, I had never designed a single publication in my life, and my first art or design class was still a semester away. I learned a lot during my time as a volunteer, and I am so grateful for the mentorship of the senior designers we had on board at the time.

They encouraged me to apply for a design assistant position that spring, a time when The Pulse was still publishing The Swinging Bridge as a newspaper.

By some miracle, I got the position.

It was an exciting time to be brought on board, as the newspaper was transitioning to magazine format for the last issue that spring. It was my privilege to help with that transition in the assistant role, helping to bring the student publication into a new era. Plus, it made my job a lot more exciting, since designing for magazines allows for freedom and expression.

Unlike being an editor or a writer, us designers don’t get our names plastered all over the inside of the magazine. Though you might be familiar with the editors and frequent writers, you probably aren’t familiar with our design team, unless you love reading the masthead at the front of the book.

However, as designers, our influence probably shapes how you see the magazine just as much, if not more than the actual words. The way we design our spreads shapes how you view the words within them. We reinforce certain emotions, pull out engaging quotes and illustrate vital concepts within stories. It’s a lot of responsibility, but also a ton of fun.

That’s one of the things I love the most about working on the magazine: the marriage of design and journalism, and bringing art and word together. This really gets to the heart of graphic design, which is usually defined as the art of bringing image and text together. But as I think more about the process of producing the magazine, I realize it is a lot about user experience design as well.

User experience is user-centric design. In this case, that means sitting down with the editors and thinking through what our readers expect from the magazine.

This was even more prevalent in the early stages of transition from newspaper to magazine. Every month I have to sit down and think through how our readers ought to interact with each story and the magazine as a whole, then design the graphics to accompany the text, all while working with the design team. I am so grateful for all the experiences I have gained at The Pulse. From the wacky staff meetings, parties and mandatory bonding experiences, to the professional experience that has grown me as a graphic designer.

James Gibbons, Design Manager

SBM // 17

Present

I’m the Student Director, so I basically get to tell everyone what to do. Except that’s not what I do at all. – Bree Whitelock, Student Director

Basically my job consists of listening to new albums, updating and maintaining our music collection, jamming out and talking to really cool people on the phone.

Also the occasional break to go pet some dogs at the Engle Center. – Ashlee Miller, Music Director

As A/V Assistant, I get to take pictures of concerts, attend special events around campus and work to post fun media content on the Facebook page.

The Pulse is a great place to make friends and have an outlet for passions like photography on campus. I love my job! – Ryan Emerick, A/V Assistant

18 // May 2017

f f a St Profiles

I would consider my job to be the perfect amount of flexibility with a touch of organized chaos dealing with all of our department budgets. It’s not too often that I am called the “money man” outside of my job at The Pulse. – Dan Husmann, Business Manager

I am currently the Radio Station Manager at The Pulse and I am in charge of all things radio-related. Being manager, I schedule student DJs, upload shows on air, interview musicians and bands, attend managerial Pulse meetings and plan other events with the station. – Jordan Tiburzi, Radio Station Manager

Present

! b o j y m e v o Il

- Ryan

I'm the Social Media Manager at The Pulse, and this is probably the only job I'll have where I work almost completely from my phone. – Kaitlyn Wolf, Social Media Manager

I am a sophomore majoring in graphic design and marketing. I starting working for The Pulse at the beginning of this year as a Design Assistant. I work on a committee for the yearbook and The Swinging Bridge magazine. – Jacque Sauder, Design Assistant

Hey hey! I’m Gabby, and I’m studying public relations and business administration. I’m the Assistant Student Director here at The Pulse.

What do I do? Anything and everything that needs to be done in order for The Pulse to function, from mailing flyers to buying office snacks.

I like to think The Pulse couldn’t survive without me. – Gabby Kurtz, Assistant Student Director

I am the Student Life Editor for The Swinging Bridge magazine, which means you can catch me interviewing some cool people, editing the magazine’s student life articles and always sporting some sweet laptop stickers.

– Stephanie Bricker, Student Life Editor

SBM // 19

Present

It’s a -Paul blast!

One time I came into the office and had a message that a past graduate’s dog ate their yearbook, and they wanted another copy.

We all had numerous laughs about this. You really can’t make this kind of stuff up. – Kerri Denton, Yearbook Manager

I’m excited to be taking over talented, soon-to-be graduate, Jimmy Gibbon’s position as Design Manager of The Pulse next year.

One of my favorite experiences from The Pulse this past year was going to NYC with Bree, Maddie and Alyssa, where not only did we learn at the CMA Conference, but we also learned that Bree accidentally booked us a penthouse room in the middle of the city. – Grace Demmer, Design Assistant

20 // May 2017

I’m the Sports and Rec Editor for the magazine.

Sports are my passion, and I use that to come up with sports and rec ideas for the website and the magazine. – Willie Hope III, Sports and Rec Editor

I take quality photos of students blinking at the wrong time.

– Austen Bower, A/V Manager

Present

I like to think The Pulse couldn’t survive without me. – Gabby

I spend hours editing and correcting people's writing...only to have the AP Stylebook tell me that everything I know about the English language is wrong. – Alyssa Burd, Online Editor

The Pulse Web Manager maintains and updates the website and The Pulse TV. I update events and the banner images, monitor the traffic on the website, make sure everything [on the website] is running smoothly and post new information about The Pulse on the TV outside Lottie. – Katie Piette, Web Manager

I want people to be informed and care for social justice and world issues. Giving different perspectives and engaging the audience through creative storytelling is just what the culture section is for! – Mimi Pedercini, Culture Editor

As an A/V assistant I have the awesome privilege of conjuring up the most creative and humorous content for promoting with as much fun as possible. It's a blast! – Paul Smith, A/V Assistant

SBM // 21

Present

VOLUNTEER

Writers

By Alyssa Burd

There’s a lot of work that goes into creating a magazine. In fact, The Pulse staff often spends hours researching, editing and designing in order to bring you the stories of Messiah’s campus - stories that wouldn’t exist without the help of volunteer writers.

So this is our shout-out to all of The Pulse’s volunteers. Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to our media hub, and thank you for making this magazine and our online content possible each semester. Each writer has a different story to tell and not just in terms of what story The Pulse editors assign them. Everyone became involved with The Pulse for different reasons, and here is what just a few writers had to say:

22 // May 2017

Present Elizabeth Gutman Year: Junior Major: Human Development and Family Science My favorite thing about The Pulse in general is all of the avenues that there are to get involved in. When I give tours on campus through the Admissions Office, I talk about many of the various opportunities to get involved in at The Pulse that involve writing, photography, music, graphic design, digital art, social media and more. The Pulse is a really fun way for students to get involved, build their résumé and meet incredible people who love what they do.

Leah Robinson Year: Junior Major: English

Megan Hess Year: Junior Major: Public Relations I started doing the “What You Might Have Missed Last Month” column over a year ago, and it’s been my beat ever since. I love that column because it gives me a way to share my interests with the larger Messiah community and recommend some out-of-the-box entertainment options.

I love to write, I used to write stories of adventure and romance as a young child with a very dramatic imagination, and put that imagination to good use in college and high school where I wrote for my high school magazine and as an English major now. The Pulse seemed like a great way to combine my passion for writing with experiences I have had, sharing my adventures and opinion with fellow Messiah students. The Pulse is such a great student initiative and something that makes Messiah proud, whether it’s the radio station or the magazine or the online content, The Pulse is giving a voice to important topics, playing awesome music and raising awareness of topics that need to be read about.

Jessica Henry Year: Junior Major: Journalism

Ian Tan Year: Sophomore Major: English I am thinking of a possible career in journalism in the future, and The Pulse seems a good place to build up some experience in the newswriting industry.

I also thought I could add this to my resume, which many aspiring journalists at Messiah could and should do.

I came to Messiah with a background writing for other college publications, and I knew that was something that I wanted to continue here. I was surprised and glad to find out that it’s easy to get involved with writing for The Pulse. Also, since I’m a journalism major, it’s a great way for me to gain experience in my field. Through different stories I’ve written, I’ve learned a lot about Messiah and its students and faculty. I think that I’m more aware of the events that go on and what other people are doing with their time. I’ve learned a lot about the culture of Messiah from volunteering at The Pulse.

Natalie Vermeulen Year: Sophomore Major: English From volunteering at The Pulse, I have learned that a lot of work goes into the process of creating stories for an audience to read, but it is something I love to do. Writing has helped me form connections with my school and the people around me, and I love being a part of it.

SBM // 23

Present

The Pulse : HOW DID WE GET TO A 5TH BIRTHDAY BASH? Over the last 20 years here at

BY Dr. Ed Arke Messiah, campus media has Faculty Advisor had a colorful history full of facility changes and growth.

For me, it started with WVMM. When I first came to work on campus in 1997, the campus radio station was located in Musser House, a white-sided building across from today’s Rafiki House. On one side, our neighbor was Academic Dean Dorothy Gish and on the other Public Safety. Today, the Larsen Student Union sits on the site.

What is the Pulse? from the Advisor's perspective

24 // May 2017

While Larsen was being constructed, the station spent two and a half years in the basement of Miller dorm. It was during that time The Swinging Bridge newspaper shared space in another house with SGA in the center of campus. To be honest, I’m not sure where The Clarion yearbook was headquartered, although it may have been the same house where Legacy Park now sits.

When the Student Union was complete, we moved WVMM to what I swear will be our last home for the studios. Three studios and office space are located on the first floor, adjacent to the Union Café. This is where The Pulse Media Hub is housed today.

So, what is The Pulse and how did the idea come to fruition? In the spring of 2011, SGA approved a proposal to combine WVMM, The Swinging Bridge newspaper, and The Clarion yearbook. At the time, each had separate offices, a separate budget, and no overlap or synergy.

By fall of 2011, we had our first student director (Morgan Lee) and a staff of 19 work study employees. Some of the team members had specific roles assigned to one of the three core media outlets. Others like the areas of audio/visual production, business, the web and social media were not under one particular media product.

For the first couple of years, adjusting to a new structure was challenging. It was difficult to break the mold of three separate silos and generate the convergence we sought when we conceived the model in the first place.

I’ve addressed the how, at least to some extent. Now, here’s the why. Look at media today. Journalists are no longer limited to a single medium. New York Times reporters are regularly seen on cable TV news. Radio reporters are writing up print style stories for the station’s website. Television journalists sometimes tell stories with pictures and sound, without narrating the entire story. Major corporate players like Disney and Comcast have examples of every type of media in their portfolio. With the new environment and organizational climate we’ve established in five short years of operation, our students are able to experience what might be waiting for them once they leave Grantham.

Present

Today, The Pulse is a media hub. The student-led organization that started under the leadership of a politics major who has gone on to write for publications like Christianity Today, now strives to share with the Messiah community stories of the who’s, the what’s and the why’s of campus. Staff members, both paid and volunteer, are able to learn how to leverage the power of multiple forms of media to communicate stories. The three radio studios still operate, but with a much broader and more ambitious purpose in mind.

My career journey brought me to Messiah College from WITF Inc. In many ways, WITF was ahead of its time, sharing resources (financial and human) to tell stories on the radio, television and through print (Apprise and later Central PA magazine). Little did I know, as I was fundraising to pay the bills for public radio and television, that one day I would be helping guide students through the multimedia world that has since evolved over the last 20 years.

The Pulse Media Hub, while perhaps patterned after the WITF Media Center, has grown in the last five years to be an awarding winning producer of media content. It truly represents an organization of “students, telling stories about students, for students” on a variety of platforms. As the campus has changed over the last 20 years, so has student media. Personally, I’m excited to see where we head next.

Thanks to all who have shared a portion of the journey for making this celebratory issue of what has become The Swinging Bridge magazine possible!

WHATEVER YOU DO Whether you feel called to be a pastor, church planter, counselor, educator, community organizer, or something else, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary will prepare you to serve Christ in whatever you do. Graduates of Messiah may receive the PTS Partner Grant.

• • •

Master of Divinity (church planting, urban ministry) Master of Divinity joint degrees (law, social work, public policy) Master of Arts (Theology and Ministry, Theological Studies)

1-800-451-4194 www.pts.edu/Messiah SBM // 25

FUTURE

Why Should You Care:

The Importance of The Pulse “The Pulse provides real world opportunities and experiences for students in the variety of preprofessional settings such as journalism, editing, social media, digital media, you name it”

By Mimi Pedercini

S

tudent media is a unique entity in comparison to mainstream media you may follow, read online or watch on TV. For Messiah College, there’s The Pulse. You might see us in our black t-shirts and green logo taking pictures at an event, handing out The Swinging Bridge magazine or hear our voices on air on 90.7 Pulse FM. What makes The Pulse distinct and special is the fact that we are you, students who care and are active in this community. As Messiah College’s media hub, all of us at The Pulse strive to be the voice for the student body on events and issues happening on and off campus.

“Student media just do so many things for the student body,” says Dr. David Dixon, an associate professor of communication who has 20 years of working with student media under his belt. “It’s a place where students can have a voice but also hear reliable information about issues that they’re concerned about rather than relying on the regular news or things that they just pick up on social media that may or may not be true.”

26 // May 2017

With the world of social media making news and information available at the tips of our fingertips, having a student media hub like The Pulse ensures a closer connection to the audience rather than other media outlets.

“I think all of us are very much meshed in the media world,” says Dixon. “Being able to see kind of up close and personal how media works, whether that is as a consumer or producer, it’s different in a college environment because you know the audience and you know the producers.”

What Dixon touches upon is also an important feature to The Pulse. Not only is it a trustworthy outlet for the audience but it also provides a real world experience space for students.

“I think The Pulse provides real world opportunities and experiences for students in the variety of pre-professional settings such as journalism, editing, social media, digital media, you name it,” says Abby Book, a career coach and specialist for student-alumni engagement at the Career and Professional Development Center. “Anyone interested in those communications related field can find great experiences at The Pulse and be prepared for life after college.”

Students from a variety of majors are part of the team at The Pulse and receive these benefits. Working with The Pulse team is similar to an internship or practicum experience, right on campus. Being a DJ, writer or even a graphic designer are just some of the opportunities available.

“There’s so many ways they prepare students for the real world. It really is real world publishing,” shares Dixon. “Student media traditionally has provided a place for really important conversations to take place.”

The Pulse has had its fair share of bringing about needed conversations and sharing pressing issues with the Messiah community. Objectively opening up dialogue for students and faculty assists Messiah’s growth as a community. However, these positive aspects always come with their own challenges.

“We’re so public, so when we do make a mistake, oh my goodness, everybody knows it,” explains Dixon. “Other classes do controversial things, but nobody knows so nobody cares.

When we do it, everybody knows and has an opinion and lets us know.”

The reality is, being an important platform for the voices of students brings publicity to the organization and school. “It’s a way that Messiah news can be found and then disseminated amongst the student body in a professionally well-done manner,” Book says. “It’s a way to ensure that the Messiah brand is getting communicated the same way to all students.”

Learn more about what The Pulse does or get involved by emailing thepulse.messiah.edu.

Future

Every Booklover Should Visit Travel + Leisure, 2017

Saturday, May 20 at 5 pm – Free!

Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and Russia correspondent WILL ENGLUND discusses his new book, March 1917: On the Brink of War and Revolution – a riveting history of the month that transformed the world’s greatest nations as Russia faced revolution and America entered World War I.

1302 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg | Open 7 Days | Free Off-Street Parking SBM // 27

FUTURE

5

PULSE

Looking to the Future: THE YEARS

IN

By Stephanie Bricker

28 // May 2017

W

ITH ALL THIS TALK OF THE PULSE’S FIFTH BIRTHDAY, WE’VE SEEN JUST HOW FAR THE ORGANIZATION HAS COME IN FIVE YEARS. FROM TRANSITIONING TO A MAGAZINE, INCREASING ITS SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE AND IMPACTING COUNTLESS STAFF MEMBERS – THE PULSE HAS ACCOMPLISHED SO MUCH IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS. NOW, WE’RE TAKING A MOMENT TO REFLECT ON WHERE CURRENT STAFF WANT TO SEE THE PULSE GO IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.

Future

MADELINE CROCENZI

Magazine Editor-in-Chief 2015-Present Newspaper volunteer writer 2014-2015 BIG PICTURE DREAMS: “I hope The Pulse really capitalizes on the digital-first mentality. I love the magazine, but I think all news is heading toward online platforms. I’d love to see The Pulse have a website that’s frequently updated with content and includes motion graphics, pictures, videos, polls and more.”

FUTURE PERKS: “A full-time staff copywriter, a snack room always stocked with oatmeal cream pies and a drone for all the sick videos The Pulse will be making.”

KATHERINE PIETTE

Web Manager 2017-Present A/V volunteer 2014-2015 BIG PICTURE DREAMS: “I see The Pulse as a major source for information on campus. Right now it feels like everything is growing.

It’s really exciting to be a part of The Pulse right now because us on the staff can definitely feel the excitement building as we define who we are as a group.”

FUTURE PERKS: “It would be dope if we eventually held some kind of public event that people outside of Messiah wanted to come to. I don’t want us to just be important on campus; I want us to be a source of truth to the surrounding community.”

ALYSSA BURD

Online Magazine Editor 2016-Present Newspaper and magazine volunteer writer 2014-2016 BIG PICTURE DREAMS: “I can definitely see The Pulse establishing itself as a greater presence on campus in the next five years. There’s still a lot of people who don’t seem to understand what we do or what our mission is, but I think that will someday change because we are always coming up with new ideas to make The Pulse more accessible and even more fun.”

FUTURE PERKS: “I think it would be awesome if someone designed a Pulse app in the next few years!

This way, Pulse stories, videos, music and pretty much anything else we have to offer would be much more accessible and mobile.”

KAITLYN WOLF

Social Media Manager 2016-Present Magazine volunteer writer 2015-2016 BIG PICTURE DREAMS: “In a few years, I would love to see The Pulse expand and start to employ even more students than it does now. I think students at Messiah are both creative and passionate, and I would love to see those talents be put to use to improve The Pulse over the years.”

FUTURE PERKS: “As the Social Media Manager, I would love to see more photo and video shoots continue over the next five years because it is clear that the Messiah community enjoys the content we are sharing.”

JORDAN TIBURZI

Radio Station Manager 2017-Present Volunteer DJ 2015-2017 BIG PICTURE DREAMS: “Our social media has expanded immensely over the past year and our outreach has grown as well. I believe more student involvement will occur, making The Pulse’s name much more common than it is now.”

FUTURE PERKS: “I believe that we could implement more concerts and interviews and have heavier Spotify and social media promotions [to] increase the listener population for the [radio] station as a whole.

I think that with the rate at which The Pulse is growing, the radio station and The Pulse can grow together for students to get involved with on campus and outside of campus!”

GABBY KURTZ

Assistant Student Director 2016 - Present Volunteer photographer 2015-2016 BIG PICTURE DREAMS: “In a few years, I see The Pulse being an integral part of Messiah’s campus.

Since it’s beginning, I think it has become much more a part of campus, but I see there are areas where it can blend in and become vital to the culture on campus. It has a lot to offer to the students of Messiah that most people don’t recognize.”

FUTURE PERKS: “I hope that in five years, The Pulse has a hot tub where staff can come, kick back and relax when necessary (I’m half joking, half serious).

SBM // 29

Our Mission...

Promote honest journalism Provide timely and accurate news Act as an outlet for student voices and perspectives Help students gain skills in newswriting, radio, design, communication, and more.

Open Hours: Monday - 1pm - 5pm Tuesday - 11 am - 3pm Wednesday - 1pm - 5pm Friday - 10am - 3pm 717-691-6081 facebook.com/MessiahPulse twitter.com/MessiahPulse