PULSE
N o v e m b e r 3 , 2 0 1 7 • I s s u e 3 • Vo l u m e 5 • t h e s a u p u l s e . c o m
THE
FIGHT FOR FREEDOM Slavery comes in many forms. Students are not only fighting to break the cycle of human trafficking (pages 12-15), but also of debt (page 11) and spiritual complacency (page 10).
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PHOTO BY Kayla Williamson
PREVIEW
TAB LE OF
CONTENTS
HIGHER LEARNING COMMISSION PAGE 4-5
HUMAN TRAFFICKING CONFERENCE
DC NEWS
New staff, new food and the return of the Yo Bowl PAGES 8-9
HOW DO WE DECIDE WHY WE BELIEVE WHAT WE BELIEVE?
PAGE 6
HOW TO GRADUATE DEBT FREE PAGE 11
PAGE 10
HOPE FOR THOSE AT RISK
ARTIST REVIEW: SILVER AGE
PAGES 12-15
PAGE 17
FLATLINE PAGE 16
PHOTO BY Kayla Williamson
PSALMS AND PROVERBS PROJECT PAGE 19
HURRICANE RELIEF
GOOD ‘OL BEAN A guest column by Caitlin Stout on how to ethically drink coffee.
Baseball players from Puerto Rico raise money for families at home.
PAGE 18
PAGES 20-21 PHOTO BY Kayla Williamson
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY Francisco Odina
thesaupulse.com • November 3, 2017
RESPONSES ON #TAKEAKNEE PAGES 22-23
EDITORIAL
Safety vs. Safety
The protection of one versus the endangerment of many
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The Pulse | Editorial Board
o far in 2017 there have been 364 mass shooting incidents in the U.S., 27 of which were after the Las Vegas concert shooting on October 1. While there is no official definition of mass shooting, the MassShootingTracker.org defines a mass shooting as “an incident where four or more people are shot in a single shooting spree.” Guns are tools that have the potential for good and harm, but since 81 percent of known mass shooter’s guns have been bought legally, it is time to question the purposes of automatic weapons. There is a difference between guns that would work well for hunting and guns that could be used in the instance of war. Fully-automatic weapons should not be allowed for use by the average citizen. Nor should any tool that allows a gun to be turned into a fully-automatic weapon. Automatic weapons were banned in 1986, but any made before then could be kept if they were registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. These weapons can cost upwards of $20,000 today. Currently, almost 500,000 automatic weapons are still in U.S. circulation. Though newly manufactured automatic weapons are illegal, it is still possible for individuals to make them on their own. It is legal to buy and sell modification kits, such as a bump stock or replacing the trigger with a crank, that still fit within the legal definition of semiautomatic weapon but allow the gun to fire rounds closer to an automatic style. Illegal modifications can also be made. A bipartisan legislation to ban the manufacture, sale and use of bump stocks and similar devices was created by Congressmen Seth Moulton (D-MA) and Carlos Curbelo (RFL), but the bill has not been brought up for consideration. This legislation was even supported by the National Rifle Association (NRA). While we should not get rid of the second amendment’s “well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,” we should understand it within the context of its time. Guns were different in 1791. Many were single-shot and manually loaded.
The most advanced gun at the time, the Girandoni air rifle, allowed for 30 shots after its air reservoir was hand-pumped nearly 1,500 times. As for the right to small militias that “check” big government, Thomas Hobbes, 17th-century philosopher and author of the political theory work “Leviathan,” said by living in a society, people agree to give up certain rights on the basis of trust. In order for the state to function properly, it must have what Hobbes calls “a monopoly of violence,” which means anyone living in the state should not need any means to protect themselves since the preservation of peace is the sole purpose of the state. Fully automatic weapons have no purpose other than to harm. The speed and caliber of the weapon is excessive for any situation other than an active war zone. For the safety of U.S. residents, fully automatic weapons should be completely banned.
Have a response? Send us a Letter to the Editor, and we’ll print it in the next issue! Email us at thesaupulse@arbor.edu.
The Pulse Staff 2017-2018 Editor-in-Chief Kayla Williamson
Photography Editor Kaci Bedgood
Associate Editor Elise Emmert
Design Editor Andri Hill
News Editor Nathan Salsbury
Designers Makana Geppert Alexis Hall Emily Norton Emily Spencer
Features Editor Celeste Fendt A&E Editor Liz Pence Sports Editor Alex Anhalt Video Team Manager Brianna Buller Sales Manager Kaelyn Hale
Staff Writers Collin Caroland Heather Clark Makana Geppert Hannah Shimanek Emily Spencer Editorial Board Collin Caroland Elise Emmert Nathan Salsbury Hannah Shimanek Kayla Williamson
Online Writers Crisilee DeBacker Caralyn Geyer Kayla Kilgore Guest Writer Caitlin Stout Video Team Makana Geppert John Kroll Ryan Sisk Ethan Sox Sales Representatives Kelsey Brannon Katie Carroll Caytie Sprague Sasha Wilson Marketing Coordinators Aaliyah Winters Kaleigh Bone Vincent Nowak
November 3, 2017 • thesaupulse.com
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News
Higher Learning Comission to evaluate SAU for accreditation
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n December 4, a group of five faculty members from various schools in the region will visit Spring Arbor University (SAU) to evaluate the school and decide whether or not it will maintain its regional accreditation. On Monday, October 16, a student leadership meeting was held to inform students about SAU’s upcoming evaluation. Professor of Sociology John Hawthorne, alongside a team of other faculty members, has been working on the required paperwork for the visit. The document, at the time of the meeting, consisted of 28,456 of the maximum 30,000 words and featured information on how the institution is doing academically and spiritually. Hawthorne said the project, which has
taken up much of his time since March, is mostly ready to be reviewed by the visiting board, although it is still going through changes. “I was really excited Saturday when I put what I thought were the last edit passes in to say, ‘Oh good, now we’ve got this thing put to bed,’” Hawthorne said. “I got about seven emails between 5:30 and 10:30 on Sunday morning, so then I went back in and I’ve been working on that since.” The document will then be assessed by the five faculty members that are chosen to evaluate SAU. These members will come from schools in the NorthCentral region of the country, which is comprised of schools from 19 states. This region is also known as the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
To remain accredited, five criteria must be met as listed on the HLC’s official website. The surveyors need to make sure: 1) The institution’s mission is clear and articulated publicly; it guides the institution’s operations. 2) The institution acts with integrity; its conduct is ethical and responsible. 3) The institution provides high quality education, wherever and however its offerings are delivered. 4) The institution demonstrates responsibility for the quality of its educational programs, learning environments, and support services, and it evaluates their effectiveness for student learning through processes designed to promote continuous improvement.
Criteria for Accreditation Criterion 1. Mission Criterion 2. Integrity: Ethical and Responsible Conduct Criterion 3. Teaching and Learning: Quality, Resources, and Support Criterion 4. Teaching and Learning: Evaluation and Improvement Criterion 5. Resources, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness
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thesaupulse.com • November 3, 2017
5) The institution’s resources, structures, and processes are sufficient to fulfill its mission, improve the quality of its educational offerings and respond to future challenges and opportunities. The institution plans for the future. Not only will the HLC be looking for those five criteria to be met during their visit, they will also be sitting down with various students to evaluate what campus life is like. Hawthorne said students should be honest about their thoughts on the school, although they should not take this as an opportunity to voice complaints about such things as the limited parking availability. “We are not a perfect institution,” Hawthorne said. “The institutions that our visitors will come from are not perfect institutions. So, if you should say, ‘There’s an area that we think we’re working on as an institution and I wish we did more of that,’ I want you to be honest in that conversation.” During the meeting, students can expect to hear questions such as, “What’s it like to go to school here?” and, “How are your major classes going?” Hawthorne, who is occasionally asked to be a part of the HLC when evaluating other schools, said he would not directly ask about advising, but there might be questions to ensure students know what classes they need to take and that there is a strong support system of faculty members for the student to come to with any problems.
News
To receive federal financial aid, a group of five professors will visit campus in December. Nathan Salsbury | News Editor
States whose post-secondary institutions have been accredited by the HLC
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NM
Hawthorne said he assured the president that although SAU is being evaluated, there is almost nothing that anybody could say in the visit that would cause the school undue harm or prompt the accreditation to be taken away. The visit is a procedure that every accredited institution must go through every few years. The HLC typically evaluates schools once every seven to ten years, and this year marks ten years since SAU was last evaluated. Once accreditation takes places, it gives the school the opportunity to receive Title IV funding from the Department of
MI
IA IL
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IN
OH WV
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Education, which means the school will receive federal financial aid funds. The HLC will spend most of Monday, December 4 on campus, as well as some of Tuesday, December 5. The five members will then draft their assessment of the school to decide whether or not SAU will remain an accredited institution.
November 3, 2017 • thesaupulse.com
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News 6
SAU holds 4th annual human trafficking conference Heather Clark | Staff Writer
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n October 14, Spring Arbor University (SAU) hosted speakers from across the state, including alumni who are involved in various anti-trafficking efforts; Joyce Haskett, a survivor who shared her story; State Representative Brenda Khale; and Jane White, the director and founder of the Michigan Human Trafficking Task Force. After last year’s cancellation of the conference, this year had approximately 150 total attendees. Despite a change in scheduling due to the unavailability of a keynote speaker, the conference organizers felt that the conference was successful. “We were very thankful for the response this year,” SAU Professor of Sociology Jeremy Norwood said. “We were especially honored given that last year’s conference needed to be cancelled due to the lack of interest.” Norwood oversaw and organized the conference with the help of a staff of student workers, some of whom have volunteered for years, and others who participated for credit in various classes. After last year, Norwood said, making sure to advertise the conference ahead of time was critical, and his student organization staff sent hundreds of postcards to former attendees and businesses. The planners also applied to the State of Michigan for permission to grant social work
Continuing Education Credits. Norwood also spoke at the conference, covering two keynote sessions because of the loss of one
Human Trafficking: “the recruitment, transport, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a person by such means as threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud or deception for the purpose of exploitation.” Force: physical or brute force to compel a person to act against their will Fraud: misrepresenting truth or reality to victims, setting up stigmas Coercion: use of threats against valued people or possessions, or other forms of threat. speaker. He gave a basic overview of human trafficking and the three elements that need to be present for a case of trafficking involving adults. He also listed
thesaupulse.com • November 3, 2017
some signs of potential trafficking and gave advice on what to do if a person suspects someone may be being trafficked. Workshops included the Spring Arbor Free Methodist Church’s Set Free community group, a local women’s home and enterprise called SOAR, alumni Bekah Zraik and Atalie Schwartz’s Better Way Imports which provides free trade work opportunities in India, and survivor Joyce Haskett’s story. The attendees had the option to choose three different workshops to attend before hearing the final of the three keynotes. The third keynote, Jane White, presented on the current situation in Michigan, especially in regards to foster youth, who are a particularly vulnerable population. Her keynote highlighted the need for trauma-informed care for youth, as well as the necessity of educating people about the realities of human trafficking. “Everyone has to break the silence and make the issue known,” White said. The conference was attended by many SAU students as well as community members. For Senior Criminal Justice major Michael Ondersma, Joyce Haskett’s testimony was the most memorable part of the conference. “Her testimony was shattering,” Ondersma said. “Human trafficking isn’t a distant concept but a harsh reality facing millions, even here in the Jackson area.”
FREE ESTIMATES Homes, Kitchens, Decks, Garages, Pole Barns
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November 3, 2017 • thesaupulse.com
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News
Developments in dining
New projects, staff, and stations come to SAU Celeste Fendt | Features Editor
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ith several new full-time members added to the Chartwells staff, changes to Spring Arbor University’s (SAU) dining services are underway for the 201718 school year. Bob Brady, the new Director of Dining Services, is leading these changes. Brady has worked in the food service industry for over 30 years. “Back when I was starting out, yogurt was edgy,” Brady said. His career began when he was a student at Michigan State University working in the cafeteria. Since then, Brady has had food service jobs in restaurants, healthcare facilities, and most recently a K-12 school district. The main difference between working in K-12 and in a university is the way the food is prepared, Brady said. At Spring Arbor, it is all scratch cooking, whereas grade school is mainly about “heating-and-eating” frozen foods. “We’re back there peeling potatoes, making roasts, cutting up some zucchini,” Brady said. “It’s real cooking and I enjoy it.” Projects in Progress One project Brady has begun implementing is adding more fresh and whole foods into the D.C. menu. This plan was created because of feedback from a student survey conducted by Chartwells in the spring of 2017. The results of this survey showed that the majority of SAU students want food that tastes good and is nutritious at the same time. Another long-term project of Brady’s is sourcing food locally. Although the agriculture surrounding Spring Arbor
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mainly consists of cash crops like soybeans and wheat, finding ingredients from local sources would contribute to the economy and could potentially help small businesses in the area. Supportive Staff Twenty-five new staff members, including Brady, joined the dining services team this year. Among these is the new Executive Chef, Bob Heebner, whose new recipes and ideas are contributing to Chartwells’ goals for the school year. Heebner began working for SAU one week before classes began this fall. Most of his life was also spent working in the food service industry. Prior to his job at SAU, Heebner worked in several different upscale restaurants. But he enjoys the change of pace that has come with working for the university. “I owned two different restaurants before, so I’m used to the pressures of competition,” Heebner said. “Here, you don’t have that. It’s a totally different type of revenue.” Heebner said his favorite parts of working for Chartwells at SAU are the students and the big kitchen. New and returning students alike are also an integral part of SAU’s dining services this year. Junior Grace Comstock has worked in the D.C. since she was a freshman. Besides the new menu items, the biggest change Comstock has noticed this year is in the way that student workers are scheduled. The duties of her position have essentially remained the same since she started. “I appreciate the [job’s] consistency and flexibility,” Comstock said.
thesaupulse.com • November 3, 2017
Return of Yo Bowl These staff members were all excited about the return of the Yo Bowl station in the D.C. The issue began this summer, when the staff discovered that the station’s steam table was not maintaining a safe temperature. This could have led to contaminated or unappetizing foods if the station remained in use. The replacement parts needed for the equipment came from a factory in Florida that was hit by a hurricane around the same time the parts were ordered. Once the factory was up and running again, the wrong sized part was accidentally delivered to the D.C. “It was just a comedy of errors,” Brady said. “I really appreciate folks being patient.” This means the pasta bar has officially returned. Chartwells values the community’s suggestions and will offer several opportunities for feedback throughout the school year.
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Back when I was starting out, yogurt was edgy. Bob Brady, Director of Dining Services
News Grace Comstock
Bob Brady
The re-opened Yo-Bowl
PHOTOS BY Alexis Hall
November 3, 2017 • thesaupulse.com
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Features
Challenging Beliefs and Spirituality How students should embrace changes in faith and wisdom in college Makana Geppert | Staff Writer
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ollege is the time of change. Choosing a career, a new city, and often at Spring Arbor, a spouse, are important decisions. But what about our beliefs? When is the best time to challenge our understanding of why we believe what we believe? Should we even challenge our beliefs in the first place? Dr. Brian Kono, Assistant Chaplain and Associate Professor of Youth Ministries at Spring Arbor University (SAU), says we should challenge our beliefs, and that college is the perfect time to do it. As Kono says, when we leave home the way we understand things changes. Everything from emotions to our own spirituality are shown in a new light. Spiritual stability in the future depends on working through what comes up in these years.
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Be willing to wrestle with the tough stuff here.
Brian Kono, Assistant Chaplain and Associate Professor of Youth Ministry
“Be willing to wrestle with the tough stuff here,” Kono said. “The tough questions. Be honest about your doubts.” Joey Dearduff, Outreach Ministry Intern and 2017 graduate from SAU, agrees that challenging our beliefs is important. “If you don’t choose it, it’s not really a belief, it’s a law,” said Dearduff. Dearduff said if we are to mature in our faith and grow in wisdom, we must question our beliefs. He said his own beliefs have changed since he left home, and although it may not be easy, it is important and natural. When it comes to how we actually go about disputing what we believe, Kono advised using the resources Spring Arbor already provides to its students to do exactly this. The professors and staff are here to create a safe space for these questions, and to guide students to
thesaupulse.com • November 3, 2017
pursue the answers. Reading material is also integral to discovering our beliefs, from authors that we agree with as well as those we don’t. “If you don’t engage, you’re just trusting blindly. Which creates more doubt and confusion,” Kono said. The last thing we should do is isolate ourselves in this situation, says Kono, which is typically our first reaction. “Whenever we’re questioning something, we don’t want anybody else to know that we’re questioning, so we immediately get quiet,” Kono said. “That’s when we begin to separate ourselves from others.” As part of his closing thoughts on this subject, Kono said, “What you believe about yourself, and about the world will constantly grow, but this is the place where you start to set the most solid foundation.”
Features
How to be financially responsible in college Collin Caroland | Staff Writer
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he thought of college costs can create stress for many students. Spring Arbor University (SAU) offers students a variety of opportunities to learn how to properly manage money and plan for their future. One way students can learn about money is through the Student Alumni Council (SAC). The SAC is a student group on campus that operates from within the Advancement Office, working to make the transition into the post-college world easier for students. “We want to partner current students with alumni,” director of the SAC Elyse Underwood said. The SAC primarily focuses on partnership, preparation and philanthropy to set students up for success post-graduation. Partnership for the SAC means the student feels connected to the university. Preparation builds on partnership, but is more community focused, with an emphasis on professional networking and other related skills. Philanthropy is about learning how and why it is important to care for the community through giving to different causes. The Dollars and Donuts event and the Mentor Alumni Program (MAP) are both resources the SAC has to offer for the preparation phase of their studentto-alumni transition program. Dollars and Donuts is an event that is in the fourth semester running, and meets during chapel time (10:00-11:00) on Fridays. “We bring in alumni and community members to talk about basic financial
skills like mortgages, planning for retirement, banking, how to pay off loans and savings,” Underwood said The lecture portion of the program lasts for 15-20 minutes and the rest of the time is dedicated to Q&A between
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We bring in alumni and community members to talk about basic financial skills like mortgages, planning for retirement, banking, how to pay off loans and savings.
current students with willing alumni of SAU to talk about what working in the student’s selected field of study is actually like. In addition, if the student is wondering what it is like to live in a certain area, they can find alumni who live there. For students who are looking for something different than what the SAC offers, SAU also has a one-credit course about financial planning in the spring for students who learn better in a classroom setting. It is never too early to start planning for the future, and with all of the tools SAU offers, students can get a head start to achieve a secure financial presence in the future.
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Elyse Underwood, senior
the audience and the speaker. As the name of the event suggests, there are also free donuts and coffee provided to students who attend. The MAP is another tool the SAC has created for student use, connecting
November 3, 2017 • thesaupulse.com
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It matters
how it
How three Jackson organizations are providing hope to those at risk Kayla Williamson | Editor-in-Chief Hannah Shimanek | Staff Writer
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t started with a girl her son brought home. It should have ended with a Facebook post. But that was not what God had planned for Michelle Cochran. When Cochran first saw the mLive surveillance photo of a girl at a gas station, she kept scrolling. It was not until her son came home and asked her if she had seen the Facebook post that she realized it was her son’s girlfriend, Danielle. Danielle was addicted to heroin. She had been caught on camera robbing a gas station attendant at gunpoint. “Sadly, my first reaction was, ‘okay, at least she’ll be away from my son,’” Cochran said. But the next day brought a different outlook. That morning, Cochran listened to Adele’s “All I Ask” on her mp3 player when the lyrics, “there is thought to my role,” made her pause. Then, “it matters how this ends.” “All I could see was her face,” Cochran said. “And it just broke my heart. I cried over that girl for three days, and then I went to the jail.” Cochran asked Danielle if she could walk with her through the trial. From then on, Cochran never missed a court date and visited her every week. Danielle could have been sentenced to at least seven years of prison, but instead made it out with three and a half.
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“For that,” Danielle said in a blog post, “God is good.” Danielle’s story is not over. But many girls are not given a second chance like Danielle. They do not have someone willing to build a relationship with them or guide them post-addiction or trafficking or incarceration, so they go back to their unhealthy environments or addictions. They start the process over again. When fighting addiction, patients have a 40 to 60 percent chance of relapsing, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. A 2013 national study by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority on
residential programs for victims of human trafficking found 37 operational residential programs in the U.S. specifically for human trafficking victims. That brings a total of 682 beds for an industry with an estimated 1.5 million victims in North America alone.
thesaupulse.com • November 3, 2017
The freedom to choose their ending is a luxury not many people have. While the issue may be broad and reach across the globe, Jackson county and Spring Arbor University (SAU) students and staff are working to stop the cycle.
a a a t
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RESTORATION
A year before Cochran met Danielle, she heard about Thistle Farms in Nashville, Tenn. where girls with similar yet varying backgrounds to Danielle attended a two-year residential program of healing and support. Cochran fell in love with it, but it was put on the backburner until November
2016 when she brought it up to Danielle by mere happenstance. While in prison, Danielle met women stuck there because they did not have a home in which to live out parole. Or, once they were released, the women would go back to their unhealthy environment.
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“It gets me down, knowing these women long to do better and get stuck in this cycle,” Danielle said in a blog post. “They get out and end up somewhere that’s unhealthy for them. They feel unwanted and unloved.” That is where Cochran’s idea of a restorative home for survivors of addiction, trafficking, incarceration and exploitation would grow and come to fruition. Cochran is the founder and president of SOAR Café and Farms, Jackson’s first home for women trying to escape “the bondages of slavery to addiction, emotional wounds, prison and poverty,” as their vision statement
guests are paired together to create a meal, and at the end all the guests and a SOAR representative share food and SOAR’s mission. SOAR representatives are also spreading the word and raising money by selling healing products and a cookbook with “items by inmates.” Girls must apply to the program and will be evaluated by social workers to determine if they are capable of completing the program. If so, they will be entered into the program, and if not SOAR will work with community partners to make sure the girls are cared for. The community of Jackson is working on all sides to fight the underground slavery in their backyards. SOAR is just one of many groups to be working on this issue.
Free Methodist Church (SAFMC) called Set Free started to hone their sights on certain areas to tackle, the leader, Amber McKee, thought they were going to open a home for survivors. In fact, she was already searching for buildings. But before she could go any further, a community assessment of Jackson’s needs closed that door of helping survivors and opened it to working with kids most vulnerable to recruitment into human trafficking. A year ago, when someone asked what Set Free did, the answer would take 10 minutes to explain. Now they have decided to focus on a specific issue within human trafficking. A study of “The Just Church” by Jim Martin
The Process of Fighting for Hope
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states. The residency will provide mental and physical medical attention, education and personal/spiritual development to all the girls. Eventually the Café attached to the residency will be a place for the residents at SOAR to work, build their resume and gain new skills in a guided environment. The land for the program has already been identified, but until its official opening in the next year or so, SOAR is spreading the word and raising money by hosting a “mobile” café. They host house parties where
“I think [God] wants captives free,” Cochran said. “To be a part of that is humbling. I think that as we work together as a community, each person or group or organization doing their part, at the very least we can make it highly uncomfortable for trafficking to exist in Jackson.”
PREVENTION
Cochran was not the only one looking at buildings for potential rescue homes. When the anti-human trafficking movement at Spring Arbor
said the place where a church can have the most impact on justice work is where God’s will, gifts and talents of the group and a community’s need come together. So they held a community survey. With the help of Spring Arbor University (SAU) aluma Deja Williams, the group contacted schools, law enforcement, churches, nonprofits, government organizations and more to try and identify the gap in the community they could fill. That gap was with vulnerable youth and teens. A study by the Polaris
PHOTO BY Kayla Williamson
November 3, 2017 • thesaupulse.com
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Stats& ts Fac *
20.9 MILLION
There are an estimated
victims of human trafficking
around the world.
68 % 26 % 55 %
are trapped
in forced labor
are children
are women and girls
37
HOMES
IN THE US
682 beds
for human trafficking Sources: The Polaris Project, The International Labour Organization, JAMA, Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority *These stats may be estimated or inaccurate due to the unreported and hidden nature of human trafficking.
Project found the most common vulnerabilities in potential victims of human trafficking. Some of those vulnerabilities include kids in the foster care system, juvenile justice system or victims of abuse and neglect. Williams found that 35 percent of youth in Jackson have confirmed cases of neglect or abuse. Twenty-five percent live in poverty. Out of that research came the idea of the Brave event. Originally sponsored by the Salvation Army in California, Brave events reach and empower teen girls in the foster care system. “Brave is an opportunity for us to intersect with youth that are hurt and have been neglected,” McKee said, “to come into their life and tell them they are worthy. They’re created in God’s image.” But they are not only focused on girls. Post-event, the Set Free movement is starting a mentorship program between its members and teens in the Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative (MYOI). It is a group of foster teens that meets every other week and are trained in “leadership, media and communication skills, including how to strategically share their story and present on panels” according to MYOI’s website. By starting this new program, McKee hopes the Set Free Movement will help prevent youth from entering human trafficking in the first place. Through partnerships with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Salvation Army, public schools and more, the Set Free Movement has been able to raise awareness and educate students and other members of the community about the risk and vulnerability of those in human trafficking. “There’s going to church and doing church things, and then there’s being
the Church,” McKee said. “We’re outside of the boundaries of the church building, and we’re actually in community. It really feels like being the Church that God wants us to be.”
JUSTICE
With a human trafficking conference at SAU, multiple programs and organizations addressing the issue and a dedicated task force connecting individuals from all of those groups, one would think Jackson County is riddled with brothels, girls on street corners and pimps ready to exploit anyone vulnerable. Yet Jackson County has not prosecuted a single human trafficking case. According to Jackson County’s Attorney Prosecutor Jerry Jarzynka, building a case against human trafficking requires resources local law enforcement does not have. It is a challenge to gather enough time and resources to build a case against human trafficking or enough officers to mount a surveillance operation. That is why the county depends on community groups like SOAR, Set Free and others to start the movement. With the support of the Jackson County Human Trafficking Task Force, which connects the people fighting human trafficking in Spring Arbor and Jackson, the community is able to see, support and fight together to help Jackson become “a community known for freedom,” as Cochran puts it. The more diverse the backgrounds and talents of the task force, the better. A couple of FBI agents attended the last task force meeting, and Jarzynka sees the potential to start the offensive. “With FBI agents who just attended our recent task force meeting, we are involved with discussions trying to organize a co-op effort with FBI and PHOTO BY Kayla Williamson
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thesaupulse.com • November 3, 2017
local law enforcement,” Jarzynka said. “So that’s encouraging. You need to do that if you want to be able to put a case together.” Enforcing human trafficking laws by local government is also a challenge because of a lack of training and education, Jarzynka said. The laws are also so new that nobody knows about them.
Amber KcKee, leader of the Set Free Movement
Associate professor of sociology Jeremy Norwood agrees. He also sees a discrimination and corruption within the criminal justice system that prohibits the full enforcement of laws against human trafficking. “Prostitutes are seen as perpetrators and not victims. Immigrant farm workers are seen as aliens rather than victims, and are revictimized by the system,” Norwood said. The United States and other
Westernized countries compared to the rest of the world have polarized views on this modern day slavery, Norwood said. Western countries think human trafficking is bad but are ignorant to its presence in their backyard. Other parts of the world see it as normal due to weak criminal justice systems and lack of resources. That is why awareness and education are some of the first steps to fighting human trafficking. The Set Free Movement, Northwest High School’s Code Orange and counseling services like Flourish have those covered. Set Free is working on preventing vulnerable youth from entering it. SOAR is the pathway to restoration. And the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s office and task force work with the legal side. “It’s really quite beautiful to watch the community come together to do something about this issue because it’s just so vital,” Cochran said. It takes a village to work together to fight slavery in one small part of the United States. But that does not mean the fight starts and ends here. All of these groups would not be where they are today without partnering with each other and connecting with others in the community to share stories, experiences and resources.
To find help, report a tip about a potential case of human trafficking, find service referrals for victims of trafficking, or request training or technical assistance, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
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A&E
Get to the front: Enjoy the benefits of the altar call Elise Emmert | Associate Editor
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ny good evangelical on Spring Arbor University’s (SAU) campus can recognize a good altar call. The basics of what you need? Softly played piano chords; a preacher delivering short, punchy sentences about grace, forgiveness and commitment; and Fitbit and camp bracelet-bound wrists held high above faces with closed eyes while the general congregation sways slowly to the movement of the Holy Spirit. Altar calls have been a part of SAU’s chapel since its inception. Dozens of students have been giving their lives to Christ every week for generations, some of them more than once. Or twice. Or seven times. With Jesus, one commitment is never enough.
“I like altar calls,” one student said after his fourth time responding to one this year in chapel. “I really think I’ve got it this time.” Though they have been popular at worship services for years, not until now has any student attempted to see how they affect student life on campus. The new student group My Personal Commitment to Christ Matters Most (MPCCMM) took it upon themselves to survey students’ involvement in Bible-based groups and compare it to their responses to altar calls in recent months. The results, they said, were “astounding.” Students who responded to one altar call in the past six months were 53 percent more likely to start a Bible study than students who had not gone to the front of the church. Students who responded to two or more within the same time frame were 79 percent more likely to buy new journals dedicated to devotions or prayer, and 87 percent of these students bought colored pens dedicated for use in these journals.
“There’s just something about altar calls that really helps me stay dedicated to Christ,” one student who was surveyed said. “I think they should happen every week, so we can all be encouraged more. Because they don’t always stick.” The MPCCMM group has had difficulties tracking the long-term effects of altar calls on students. They have attempted to contact the leaders of new Bible studies that came from altar call responses, but have yet to receive feedback. More cynical students may believe the studies to be dissolved and given up already, but the MPCCMM leaders think otherwise. “They were so fired up for Christ after the altar call, there’s no way they’ve given up yet,” one leader said. “They must be really busy doing what God wants them to do right now and just don’t have time to get back to us.” For now, their conclusion is that altar calls are beneficial for students. Based on their data, they recommend all students go forward for altar calls if they feel at all prompted, so the benefits of more Bible studies and personal devotions can be felt across campus.
PHOTO FROM Pixabay.com
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thesaupulse.com • November 3, 2017
A&E
A New Age An interview with Jared Spindler
C
alling comes in seasons. In one moment, you’ve made up your mind: You’re going to quit the band and go to college. In another moment, you’ve hit the musical motherlode – a chance to record with a multi-platinum producer. You don’t do what you were planning on doing. One plan yields to the next. That’s how it works if you’re freshman Jared Spindler. Though calling comes in seasons, music has been an integral part of Spindler’s life since childhood. The son of an 80s rock fanatic, Spindler started guitar lessons as a child and drum lessons when he was a young teen. The latter talent is what he uses in his pop-punk band Silver Age, which he joined in 2015. Spindler says it was when he and the bassist joined that the group really started to take shape. “We started writing music that was a little bit more mature and started taking a more serious approach to our sound,” Spindler said. Silver Age traveled to Columbus, OH. to Capitol House Records, where they recorded a 7-song extended play (EP) titled “Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They
Liz Pence | A&E Editor Appear.” It’s an EP rife with moody, vulnerable lyrics, savage drum beats and angsty guitar riffs. Though similar in sound to acts like All Time Low and early-stages Relient K, Spindler says that the band’s main music influences are Brand New, Citizen and Turnover. This summer marked a turning point in the band’s trajectory. Along with 17,000 other unsigned bands, Silver Age entered a contest to win a chance to perform on the main stage at the Detroit date of Warped Tour. They, along with 41 other bands, were chosen to play. Silver Age took home the grand prize, which includes a three-song EP produced by John Feldmann. Feldmann is a multiplatinum producer of pop-punk titans such as Panic! At the Disco, We Came as Romans and 5 Seconds of Summer. Not only does Silver Age get to record with Feldmann, they will begin a month-long tour of the East Coast in February, something Spindler has to make sacrifices for. Spindler enrolled in SAU to study youth ministry and is currently in his first semester of his freshman year. His original plan was to bid an amicable farewell to his bandmates and become a full-time student. Music was a hobby that he enjoyed
but it was not something he planned on pursuing. Then Silver Age won the grand prize. Spindler saw this as a sign that music was something he was meant to do. “The fact that we won this shows that the music that we make matters to someone, so we’re really taking that to heart and we’re grinding stuff out,” Spindler said. Calling comes in seasons, Spindler believes. As he leaves Spring Arbor for the tour ahead, he is determined to make this season count.
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY Jared Spindler
November 3, 2017 • thesaupulse.com
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A&E
Ethical Coffee Drinking An Exercise in Caring Caitlin Stout | Guest Writer
M
y goals in life are to drink good coffee, love people well and do as little damage to the planet as possible. Unfortunately, this is almost never as simple as it sounds. American consumers are faced with the reality that many of the products we rely on come at a cost much greater than the currency we use to purchase them. Our economy depends on the exploitation of disadvantaged people, and those of us with more privilege reap the benefits of that exploitation in the forms of cheap clothing, chocolate and yes, even coffee.
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As a barista and a habitually caffeinated human being, the fact that one of my favorite things comes from a morally questionable industry is incredibly frustrating. It is made even more frustrating by the plethora of confusing labels and certifications that supposedly promise “ethical” beans. Some of these labels include “Fair Trade” and “Direct Trade.” While the goals of these two systems are similar (living wages, adequate safety standards and environmental regulations), there are also some major differences that should matter to those of us who care about both quality drinks and social justice. “Fair Trade” is a label given to farms by a third-party non-profit, and those farmers must pay an annual fee in order keep their certification. Fair Trade USA requires that certain social and environmental standards are met, but does not regulate the quality of products. In other words, “Fair Trade” does not necessarily mean you are buying good coffee. On the other hand, “Direct Trade” seeks to cut out middlemen entirely. It is an agreement made between growers and roasters, both of whom are invested in the taste
thesaupulse.com • November 3, 2017
and freshness of their products. Direct trade means that there is an established relationship between the two parties, and it comes at no extra cost to the farmers. No, neither of these systems are perfect. Yes, they will cost you more money. But there is something to be said for cultivating awareness of the outside world and caring about the dignity of people you will never meet. Researching your purchases forces you to slow down and consider the ways that your actions either promote or prevent human flourishing. It may not be simple, but it is a way to love people well. Buying ethically is not just good for the economy and the environment, it is—like a good cup of coffee—good for the soul.
Patton’s Psalms and Proverbs Project Elise Emmert | Associate Editor
P
aul Patton, professor of communication at Spring Arbor University (SAU), has been memorizing something new nearly every day since 1993. His criteria for what to memorize, he eventually realized, was Scriptures that moved him, ones he did not understand or made him upset, or ones that inspired and challenged him. Patton reviews all the Scripture passages he has memorized over the years on a two-week cycle. Every morning, he spends roughly two hours going over that day’s set of verses. On November 1 and 2, Patton presented passages he has memorized from all 150 chapters of Psalms and 31 chapters of Proverbs in his Psalms and Proverbs project. He has been working on this project specifically for nearly the past 18 months and spends about 40 minutes each day reciting the verses. ”I’m going to give it all that I have,” Patton said. “I’ve done Scripture recitations in front of audiences before, but I’ve never done this, where they’re basically presented as songs.”
Patton follows a memorization process called “Stewarding the Stirrings of the Soul,” which relies on being alert to when something inspires him. Then, he masters it through memorization, so the information can be retrieved as needed. This creates what Patton calls “an oasis of the mind.” The project itself, Patton says, is somewhat improvisational. He recited parts of each chapter of Psalms and Proverbs, at times stopping to add commentary or have the audience work with him on familiar psalms. Yet even with so much information given in such a short span of time, Patton does have a hope for what the audience will take away from the project. “I want people to take away the passion, the playfulness and the paradoxes of the Psalms,” said Patton. “Psalms that have a lot of physicality as well.”
A&E
Write These Things on the Tablet of your Heart In deciding which verses would make the cut to the final project, Patton looked at New Testament references to the passages. People like Paul and Jesus, who were too poor to own Bibles, knew the Scriptures because they memorized them. They, and others, were able to reference these texts to give context to New Testament events, which is something Patton hopes to give an example of in the project. Through his years of memorizing, Patton says he has found delight in the Scriptures. Regular practice of memorization leads to more success in the ease of memorizing, which then leads to more insights in the meanings of Scripture. Patton hopes people who saw the project are inspired to memorize things that move them and are worth remembering. ”This is probably one of my major focuses for the rest of my life,” Patton said. “Getting people to steward stirrings of the soul.”
November 3, 2017 • thesaupulse.com
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Sports
Unidos por Puerto Rico SAU students contribute to hurricane relief Emily Spencer | Staff Writer
F
ive weeks ago, the second
in the midst of the wreckage. Each of
to boil their water before drinking it
hurricane in less than a month
the students have been able to contact
so as to avoid the possibility of disease.
tore through the United States
their families since the hurricanes to
However, that still does not solve the
territory of Puerto Rico. According to
know they are safe, and the pair have
problem for the many Puerto Ricans
CNN, Hurricane María was a category
recently started a GoFundMe page to
still waiting on power.
5 storm with wind speeds as powerful as
raise money for hurricane relief.
175 mph, making it the worst storm to
Ondina also mentioned that hospitals
The damages, wrought on Puerto
are struggling to provide support. The
Rico by the two hurricanes includes the
lack of power means that they are unable
Emilio Perez and Francisco Ondina,
destruction of the power grid, blockage
to run important machines such as
senior baseball players at Spring Arbor
of major roads, water shortages, and
oxygen providers and life support.
University (SAU), are from Puerto
property loss. According to Eric Levitz,
Some facilities on the island do have
Rico. Their families both still live there
writer for New York Magazine’s Daily
power thanks to generators, but they
I n t e l l i g e n c e r,
are unable to keep generators running
around 79% of the
constantly. Ondina said his family
island still does not
sometimes has power temporarily, but it
have power. Perez
is turned off periodically for the sake of
said many of Puerto
conserving diesel fuel.
hit the island in almost 80 years.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY Francisco Ondina
Rico’s
roads
are
Many Puerto Ricans have lost
down, making it
personal belongings to the powerful
difficult for people
winds of the storm as well.
to
get
the
island.
around
“My family’s fine, but my aunt lost
Road
the roof of her house, and trees came
blockage is especially
down on two of our family’s cars,”
problematic
Perez said.
for
people who are in the mountains. Water is
also
Ondina wanted to provide all the help
access
they could. Together, they came up with
extremely
a plan to aid Puerto Rico in its hurricane
limited. The people of
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thesaupulse.com • November 3, 2017
With so much destruction, Perez and
Puerto
relief efforts.
Rico
And they weren’t alone. “It all started
have been advised
because there are some students from
Sports
PHOTO PROVIDED BY Francisco Ondina
Emil io PHO and Fra n TO P ROV cisco IDED BY F ra
ncisc
o On
dina
Puerto Rico that study in the United
Hurricane Irma and Hurricane María.
Anyone interested in joining the
States,” Ondina said. “They created a
One hundred percent of the proceeds
relief effort can visit the Unidos por
page called Students with Puerto Rico.”
will go to helping the victims affected by
Puerto Rico website to find out more.
Students with Puerto Rico swapped
these natural disasters in Puerto Rico.”
The website features several articles and
ideas and goals for ways university
Perez and Ondina intend to send the
graphs that give information about
students could aid Puerto Rico. They
money they raise with their GoFundMe
donations that are being given and how
made a goal for each university to raise
page to this organization.
they are being put to use.
$1000 to send to Puerto Rico. So far,
“Even though it is a disaster and many
Perez and Ondina’s GoFundMe page
are suffering, it seems that through the
has been able to raise $1900.
suffering Puerto Ricans have become
Perez and Ondina have been getting
united,”
Ondina
the word out by sharing their efforts on
said. “Many artists
social media. They have also spoken with
and
Ryan Marken, the baseball coach, who
representatives have
shared the page with faculty members
gathered
and others in order to raise awareness.
to help, even those
government together
Beatriz Rosselló, First Lady of Puerto
that are considered
Rico, started a relief organization called
enemies. This gives
Unidos por Puerto Rico, or United
Puerto Rico hope.
for Puerto Rico. According to the
There is a sense that
organization’s website, its goal is to
as ugly as it might
“provide aid and support to those
get, we are going to
affected in Puerto Rico by the passage of
bounce back.”
November 3, 2017 • thesaupulse.com
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Sports
Take a Knee or
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Thoughts from SAU Alex Anhalt | Sports Editor
I
t took two weeks for reporters to “A teammate of his that was a veteran realize something was off with said he was being disrespectful, so he the 49ers’ 2016 preseason bench. started kneeling instead,” Edwards said. When the media finally asked Colin Edwards thinks the protest is Kaepernick why he could not seem authentic and reasonable. to stay on his feet during the national anthem, the entire country took notice. Kaepernick and other participants in the #TakeaKnee movement are said to be peacefully protesting racial injustice and a national identity crisis, but critics see things differently. In the eyes of some, by kneeling “We need to think about during the anthem, how we are tending to the these athletes were disrespectfully ignoring self to see how we might lives lost for their contribute to or participate freedom to protest. So will Spring in the problems.” Arbor University Eric Magnuson, (SAU) take a stand or Director of the Master of Arts take a knee? Professor Mark in Spiritual Formation and Edwards, Assistant Leadership Professor of History said the issue did not start in the 2016 National Football League (NFL) preseason. According to Edwards, the flag was meaningless until the 1840s. “People started using the pledge of allegiance to ensure that immigrants “There are patterns of injustice, and were showing loyalty,” Edwards said. [players] have a right to call attention Even then, sports and patriotism did to them,” Edwards said. “We should not mix in the way modern-day NFL work toward a country where they viewers are used to. Edwards said most don’t have to kneel.” teams did not even come out onto the Sophomore Drake Heidepriem field until 2012, when patriotic displays said he is glad for the conversation the were paid for by the Department of controversy is prompting. Defense in a marketing campaign. “It forces dialogue about these Originally, Kaepernick protested by issues,” he said. “It’s a freedom they sitting on the bench. have that they’re choosing to express.
thesaupulse.com • November 3, 2017
They’re not kneeling for the flag; they’re kneeling for a voice.” Professor Eric Magnusson, Director of the Master of Arts in Spiritual Formation and Leadership Program in the Theology Department, agrees that it prompts discussion, but wants to be sure the conversation does not get twisted or distracted. “Bringing in outside conversations is important, but only if we stay focused on the core issue,” Magnusson said. “We need to think about how we are tending to the self to see how we might contribute to or participate in the problems.” Senior Zac Davenport, SAU College Republican Chair, agrees that it is important to consider the true intent of the issue. “To some people the national anthem represents the loss required for our liberty,” Davenport said. “However, the kneelers have made it very clear that this is not about the troops, it’s about how minorities are treated.” “To some, the anthem represents death for liberty, but to others it’s a symbol of a nation they think is oppressive,” Davenport said. Magnusson also wants believers to pursue a path towards equality. “Scripture shows a lot of tension of things still not being where they will fully be,” Magnusson said. “As Christian participants in US life, we have to move towards reconciliation, not only because of our status as US citizens but because we need to be part of the Gospel.” Davenport agrees that everyone has
responsibilities and freedoms to keep in mind. “When you are the face of a corporation or a company or a team, you are restricted in how you represent yourself because it represents the organization as a whole,” he said. “You cannot act ‘regardless of the company.’ ” For Davenport, it all comes down to the right of everyone to exercise their own freedoms. “It’s the right of the owners to fire the players for misrepresenting the franchise and the company. It’s the right of the fans to say ‘I’m not watching this because I don’t need to be preached at.’ It’s the right of the players to say ‘I’m not standing’ or even ‘I’m not playing.’” But not everyone is sure the #TakeaKnee movement is really a movement towards reconciliation. “I don’t mind people saying ‘Our country is not fulfilling its promises and I want to do something about it,’ but I don’t like it when people say ‘Our country is not fulfilling its promises, so I’m abandoning ship,’” said one student, who wished to remain anonymous. “If we want change, don’t we need to cling together and pledge to America that we can fix her?”
Sports
Take a Stand
“
It’s the right of the owners to fire the players for misrepresenting the franchise and the company. It’s the right of the fans to say ‘I’m not watching this because I don’t need to be preached at.’ It’s the right of the players to say ‘I’m not standing’ or even ‘I’m not playing.
”
Zac Davenport, Senior
November 3, 2017 • thesaupulse.com
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SPORTS
Athlete of the Month Monika Wynne Heather Clark | Staff Writer PHOTO BY Chris Bauman
B
y the time Monika Wynne completed her senior year on the Spring Arbor University (SAU) tennis team, every coach in her league knew and respected her. Wynne was one of fifteen players to be named to the All-Crossroads league team, receiving the most votes possible for a player. “She is greatly respected by the other coaches and players in our conference,” Director of SAU tennis David Darling said. He said the nomination to the AllCrossroads league is based on a vote of all the coaches in the league, and for Monika to receive ten votes meant that the coaches unanimously considered her to be an outstanding player.
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By the end of her season, Wynne had racked up twelve wins to four losses in singles play and seven wins to eight losses in doubles. She was the team captain for the 2017 season thanks to the leadership skills and excellence Darling said she demonstrated both on and off the court. “She sets a good example for what I want SAU tennis to be modeled after,” Darling said. This is Darling’s first year as Director, and he said having Monika as team captain helped the transition go smoothly. Her leadership and knowledge of the team, as well as her willingness to work with him to improve SAU tennis, were valuable in allowing him to learn more about the team. Since Darling is the new women’s tennis coach, as well as the overall tennis director, he has worked most closely with the women’s team. Adapting to different coaching techniques has been a challenge, as has forming a new team dynamic, but Wynne believes all of this is change for the better. Wynne’s interest in tennis goes back to when she played for various sports clubs at 7. She joined SAU tennis as a freshman in 2014. “Some highlights have been winning in tiebreaks, having fun and being goofy off the court with my teammates, and being able to help the team win the match with my specific singles match,” Wynne said.
thesaupulse.com • November 3, 2017
Now that Wynne’s last SAU tennis season is over, she can concentrate on her post-SAU plans. As a graphic design major, Wynne hopes to find more clients for her freelance design work and have her own business. However, she does not plan on leaving tennis behind, and she would like to coach either at the college or high school level or provide private lessons in the future.