The
SpringHillian November 5, 2015
Volume 101 Issue 4
Ad Majorem Del Gloriam
Ice Skating Rink Coming to Downtown Mobile By: Rebeca Marroquin Reporter
Byrne Hall covered in ice during Sprimg Hill’s infamous “snow day.” Photo By: Fernando Soto
A temporary ice skating rink will be opened in Downtown Mobile later this month. In early October the Mobile City Council voted 5-2 to approve the proposal of a $132,350 skating rink. It will be open from mid-November, 2015, to mid-January, 2016. The council members are hopeful that the rink will prduce a profit once it opens due to the $70,000 worth of sponsorship funds that have already been raised. Mayor Sandy Stimpson believes that the city will continue to raise even more money in addition to these sponsorships. The closest year-round ice skating rink is a little under four hours away from Mobile. The nearest seasonal skating rink is about three hours away.
Ice skating is a rare opportunity for citizens from Mobile and its surrounding areas because of this, so this attraction is projected to be very popular. The council members say they look forward to the new amenity attracting people to the downtown Mobile area. Magic Ice USA Inc. is the company that was awarded the contract to build and maintain this temporary attraction at Cooper Riverside Park. District councilman John C. Williams was extremely supportive of the ice skating rink, saying that he remembered a similar project that opened in Houston, Texas when he was a kid. "It was such an experience. Even if you typically could not afford it, you found a way to pay for your ticket, because this wasn't something you could do just every day," Williams said.
Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity Resigns InterfraternityMembership Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity resigned its membership from the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) Oct. 27. The fraternity has been a member of the association for 106 years. “For a century, we have supported the NIC’s efforts and advocated for its stated principles and values,” said Fletcher McElreath, the international head of Lambda Chi Alpha. The North American Interfraternity Conference is the trade association that represents 73 International and National Men’s Fraternities. Though Lambda Chi Alpha has been a Lambda Chi’s crest. part of NIC since the Photo courtesy of: Harper McNutt. associations founding in 1909, recently the fraternity saw a By: Harper McNutt difference in views with the conferReporter ence’s values. “Unfortunately, the
NIC has recently elected to pursue counterproductive tactics that we believe are antithetical to our values and we cannot support them,” said McElreath. The decision to resign was voted on by the fraternity's Board of Directors. According to the Huffington Post, Lambda Chi Alpha has cited “counterproductive tactics” and “internal squabbling” by the NIC being the reason they decided to resign their membership. The fraternity’s decision to leave comes as the NIC has been lobbying on controversial proposals concerning the way college campuses handle sexual assault cases, which includes the Safe Campus Act. According to LambdaChi. org, Lambda Chi Alpha plans to operate outside of the NIC umbrella until they feel that the values of the NIC are consistent with the values of their fraternity. Lambda Chi Alpha joins three other fraternities that have left the NIC. In 2002, Kappa Sigma, Phi Delta Theta, and Phi Sigma Kappa resigned their
membership due to differences of opinion about the direction of the organization, with Phi Sigma Kappa rejoining in 2006. The resignation of membership will not be affecting the chapter on Spring Hill’s campus or the way that they will be handling recruitment. “Lambda Chi Alpha's recent decision to take a stance and part ways with the NIC in no way affects the day-to-day operations of our chapter. Interfraternity Council at Spring Hill is treated as a local organization, and so our fraternity's disassociation with NIC will not change our operation with IFC here. With that in mind, no changes will be made to our recruitment, and we look forward to our continued work with the rest of the Greek community at Spring Hill,” said Andrew Pettus president of Lambda Chi Alpha. Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity is one of the largest men's fraternities in North America with more than 280,000 initiated members.
THE SPRINGHILLIAN
THIS WEEK
2
News
HILLIAN STAFF Editor: Cree Pettaway
Advertising/Social media: Kristen Meyer
Web Designer: Sierra Curtis
Graphic Designer: Sean Finn
Advisor: Stuart Babington
Reporters: Megan Anthony Jarrett Calhoun Fernando Soto Harper McNutt Jack Culotta Jr. Christian Cage Rebeca Marroquin Trevor Warren
Photo Editors: Stephen Nash Chris Portie Lifestyle Editor: Kristen Meyer
November 5, 2015
“No Girl Left Behind” Sleepover
Sports Editors: Stephen Nash Chris Portie
HILLIAN CONTACT The Hillian Newswire SHCmedia@shc.edu
Spring Hill College Letters to the Editors hillian@shc.edu Read the Hillian Newswire online at newswire.shc.edu
Public Safety to Offer a Volunteer EMS Course
Graphic courtesy of: Laury Rowland By: Rebeca Marroquin Reporter The No Girl Left Behind Bystander Intervention Slumber Party is being held on Sunday, Nov. 15th in the Price LeBlanc room. The program and its learning objectives will begin at 10 p.m. and will officially end at 1 a.m., however, activities will be available until 3 a.m. for those who wish to stay. The No Girl Left Behind Bystander Intervention event is the female version of the all male Whoa Bro Bystander Intervention event last year. This year's event is being host-
rector of Public Safety, Todd Warren. “There are two components to it. We have the volunteer through Public Safety and the training aspect of it that Dr. Fox (head of the Health Science department) is trying get as a credit class, and a requirement for the health sciences degree,” says Warren. The class will teach and train students to be an EMR, or emergency medical responder. An EMR is not quite the same as an EMT, emergency medical technician, however, the training is similar. With a total of 45 classroom hours, the course will allow students to emerge with the skills that almost mirror what Photo courtesy of: Megan Anthony By: Megan Anthony an EMT is able to do. Warren chose the EMR course because it does not require clinicals, Reporter making it easier for students to fit the course into With the stat of the new Health Science major, their schedule. Students would receive hands on training at Spring Hill’s Public Safety department is hoping to play a part in preparing students in that field sporting events, fraternity and sorority parties, by introducing a “volunteer EMS course,” said Di- and riding along with Public Safety on medical related calls. Agreements with local ambulance
ed by the Spring Hill College Sexual Assault Response Team and is being co-sponsored by Sigma Kappa and Delta Chi. Throughout the evening, there will be several topics covered which will help educate the Spring Hill female community on sexual assault awareness, understanding consent, learning the early warning signs and red flags of dating violence and stalking, as well as overall safety education awareness with a mini Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.)session. Public Safety Officer, Laury Rowland, explained, " No Girl Left Behind and Whoah Bro are unique in that they are a proactive approach to safety education as opposed to reacting to an incident after the fact. This type of safety education programming not only creates awareness about these issues but also assists in compliancy where Title IX is concerned." The program is being advertised as a slumber party, however, it will not be overnight because of it being on a Sunday and interfering with students' Monday classes. This event is a ticketed event and registration is required. There will be free food, t-shirts, door prizes, as well as extras such as a fingernail painting bar, life-size twister board, and a candy buffet.
companies is also in the works, so that students would have the opportunity to ride in the ambulance and work along side paramedics. This opportunity provides students looking to go into medical school with the hands on experience and volunteer hours that they would need to get into medical schools. There are no prerequisites for the Health Science class, so any student interested is eligible to take it. The class will consist of lecture and lab time. It will cover everything from how to take blood pressure to splinting trauma wounds. At the end of the course, students will be able to take the National Registry exam to become a certified EMR. The plan is to have the class available in January, 2016. Any students interested should email Todd Warren to receive the forms needed to sign up for the class. There is also an observer level if the class does not fit into a student’s schedule. For this level students are asked to take a first aid course, free of charge, and then they are able to observe a certified EMR or someone with higher certification.
THE SPRINGHILLIAN
OPINION 3 The Gotham Knight: Hero in Disguise November 5, 2015
Graphic by: Sean Finn By: Chris Portie Photo and Sports Editor No cliché background on what
characteristics form a hero, or any other basic setup. I’m just going to say my peace. The Joker portrayed in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” is actually the hero in the film. Looking at his actions as a whole, devoid of context, the Joker seems to be cruel, reprehensible, and twisted, for a start. However, when you take into account his motivation and the actuality of the events that transpired because of the Joker, an altruistic champion of the people begins to form. His foremost concerns are the city and the citizens of Gotham, and it shows profusely through his actions. Let’s first realize that in this film the mob represents oppression and corruption in Gotham. It is why the police are corrupt, the city is in ruins, and the streets are not safe. When we are first exposed to the Joker he is robbing a bank. Seems like a pretty ‘criminal’ thing to do until you realize it’s a bank run by the mob used to launder money made through the mob. He then uses Batman as a common enemy to unify the mobsters, while he unbeknownst to them undermines their effort, undercuts their men and in-
fluence and destroys a whole half of their cash. Boom, the Mob is in ruin and all because of the Joker. Now let’s look at the Gotham City Police Department. The Joker’s motif that he kept emphasizing is the power of corruption and the influence money and power have on the individual. He knows that very few people in this world who are in a position of power are incapable of corruption. That’s why he sets the bomb off in the precinct and points Harvey Dent (Two Face) down the path of revenge for the corrupt officer’s that were responsible for the death of his girlfriend and the scarring on half of his body. All the while Commissioner Gordon is left unscathed. Joker actually applauds Gordon for his promotion to commissioner. Albeit a somewhat sarcastic gesture, but it could be seen as praise for being incorruptible in a city where corruption is rampant whereas Harvey Dent, the proclaimed savior of the city, is proven to be just as corruptible when losing everything. Now what about the scene where he threatens to blow up the boats with inmates and citizens? If he is the champion of the common man
why would he pull a demonstration that would aim to showcase the corruption of the common citizen and undermine his efforts throughout the film? Well, the Joker was not planning on killing anyone on the two ships. He wanted to demonstrate not the inherent nature of corruption, but the common man’s will to overcome a selfish nature and come together for the greater good. The strength and the will of the many versus the illusion of power held by the few. He wanted to put the power back in the hands of the people, and, in order to do so, he had to stop the fire that was burning the city down. Instead of using water to douse the fire as Batman was attempting to do, the Joker became fire incarnate to suffocate the inferno of corruption. He fought fire with fire, something Batman was unwilling to do. By doing this, Gotham is made a better city for the following eight years. He is not the hero Gotham needed or the one it deserved. He was the hero it had created from ashes and brimstone and in the end was its salvation. He was their Smiling Knight.
Cruising into Fun and Financial Relief
Letter to the Editor
By: Sierra Curtis Web Designer
By: Stephen Rubey Spring Hill College Community Member
In 2011, Carnival Cruise Lines suddenly announced that it would be pulling its ships out of Mobile’s cruise terminal for financial reasons. Apparently, the port hadn’t been meeting Carnival’s profit expectations. Now, four years later, the company has reached out to Mobile officials in an attempt to make amends and re-establish a business partnership. It seems sort of foolish to me to sign another contract with the same company that left Mobile high and dry, but what other choice do we have? The city of Mobile pays out about $1.8 million annually to cover costs from building the terminal. After Carnival pulled out its business, Mobile was left with no way to cover these costs, let alone make any type of profit. City Councilman Joel Daves had this to say: “Anything we can do to eat away at that $1.7 million goes straight to our bottom line. It was really important we get someone in there.” Our officials must have considered this too because they proceeded negations with caution. They did sign a contract with Carnival, but it will only be for a short thirteen-month period. Cruises will begin on Nov. 9, 2016, and last until Nov. 27, 2017, unless another contract is
signed for an extension. Even though I’m hesitant, I am also excited about this contract. Not only will it bring enjoyment to Mobilians, who will get discounted tickets and easier accessibility through proximity, but I’m hoping it will increase tourism as well. More tourism means more profit and more funds to allocate to various social and educational programs; many of them have had their funding cut back in the past few years due to budget cuts in the annual spending plans. Hopefully this contract will counteract some of these financial burdens that Mobile has experienced. This contract is great news and I really hope that the cruises will generate enough revenue to ensure that Carnival wants to keep sending ships into our port. Stewart Chiron, CEO of cruiseguy.com, believes that, “if Mobile can prove to Carnival Cruise Lines they can handle a first-class vessel, there is no reason why they can't get two.” Mobile has only ever had one ship cruising in and out of the terminal at a time. "This could be quite a catalyst for future opportunities for Mobile," Chiron continued. Reopening the cruise terminal will have a big impact on the city. It’s easy to see that this contract will be beneficial to Mobile, both recreationally and financially.
Almost daily it is my pleasure to ride my bicycle through your lovely campus. On my route I intentionally enjoy the down and up of the great hill behind the campus reaching all the way to Dauphin by the east side of the golf course. There are several beautiful ponds on the golf course back there and a stream meandering on the other side of the road. These bodies of water are hiddenly connected; so the magnificent turtles who possess this area have occasion to travel to and fro between these waters whilst enjoying their hopefully long lives. Unfortunately, sometimes these individuals find themselves above ground endeavoring to traverse the paved surface of the road. As you know, they move
(as most everything does on the planet) quite slowly compared to us speed devils in our gasoline chariots. This creates peril!!! The other day I found an 8" to 10" fellow on his back with an awful tire track across his under parts mashed, of course, to death. You know these guys can reach 100 years sometimes. What a sin against nature! My suggestion is to erect signs on both sides of that road saying something like "Careful. ... Turtles crossing." I know his wife, children, grandchildren, great grands & who knows how many others would thank the college for its thoughtfulness. This hopefully finding a kindred heart, I am.
THE SPRINGHILLIAN
LIFESTYLE
4
November 5, 2015
On Oct 8th Pieter Favier’s art students join Spring Hill College Foley Center students to create terracotta pottery masterpieces.
David, Rachel, and Fromie get ready for the Delta Gamma Hipster Verses Hippie party.
THE HILL
Pillans Middle School student Javoris Bumpers-Robinson takes a break from his masterpiece to pose for a picture with Spring Hill College Tutor Shelby Smyth.
Spring Hill College’s Volleyball team celebrates during their Senior Night.
THE SPRINGHILLIAN November 5, 2015
LIFESTYLE
5
Savannah Harley Chamblee with Ian Konrad at Woofstock 2015.
Spring Hill College tutor Lily Shropshire,left, creates pottery bowls with Pillans students.
9 Du Rhu Drive | Legacy Village - Mobile | (251) 340-0528
THE SPRINGHILLIAN
6
LIFESTYLE
November 5, 2015
Adele Adkins’ New Hit Single “Hello” Debuts that have left many other artist across multiple genres in second place. Since its debut, "Hello" has been viewed over 195 million times on YouTube. The video hosting platform, Vevo, a joint venture between Google, Sony and other international companies, announced that Adkins had broken the record for the Graphic by: Sean Finn most views within 24 By: Fernando Soto hours, raking in a 27.7 Reporter million views on the first day of its release. Hopefully there's no bad Adele Adkins released a record blood between Adkins and Taylor breaking single titled "Hello" on Oct. Swift, who previously held that re28. In the week since its release, the cord, raking in 20.1 million views single has broken multiple records
with her hit song, "Bad Blood." "Hello" brings Adkins back to the top of the charts, claiming the number one spot in the U.S. and UK on Billboards top 100. According to Billboard, Adkins broke the streaming record with an incredible 7.3 million streams in its first week. Pushing Justin Bieber, who previously held that title, to the side. Bieber's hit song "What Do You Mean" didn't hold the throne for long and is far off in surpassing Adkins, with only 3.87 million streams. Additionally, Adkins’ music video brought in 50 million views within the first two days. Adkins, who had been absent from the public eye since 2012, is set to release her full album on Nov. 20, titled "25." Twenty-five marks Adele's third album and is expected to have
record breaking sales. Adkins is not unfamiliar with the attention and praise. According to Billboard she became the first living artist to have two top-five hits in the Official Singles Chart and Official Albums Chart, an accomplishment that had not happened since The Beatles in 1964. Adkins’ last release was 21 back in 2011. She took a break from the industry to focus on her personal life and to begin her family. In 2012 Adele told US Vogue magazine, "I'm F*****g off for four or five years. If I'm constantly working, my relationships fail."
Spring Hill College Ghosts Stories remember seeing the room in detail because of the light shinning through the curtains. It was too real to be a dream. I was looking around the room and noticed that there was a figure standing just to the side of the foot of my bed. It was a dark figure just standing there and looking at me. I could feel that it was a man and that it was evil. I tried to talk but I wasn't able to. I couldn't call for my roommate. It was just standing there looking at me and I felt paralyzed because of it. It disappeared and I was finally able to move and speak again." - Patrick Lameka, senior.
Photo by: Rebeca Marroquin By: Rebeca Marroquin Reporter Spring Hill College was founded in 1830, making the school almost 200 years old and full of history. However, historical buildings are tend to be known for being haunted. People tend to report paranormal activity in older buildings. It’s no surprise, then, that Spring Hill students say certain buildings on campus are haunted and even claim that they’ve experienced paranormal activity themselves. Here are a few of their stories: "It was the first week of classes this semester. I had gotten out of my
8 a.m. class pretty early, so I went back to Portier during my break to take a nap. I got into bed and had a difficult time falling asleep. It was cold in the room so I had all my blankets over me. I felt my blankets falling off the bed. The first time I just moved them back over me. I thought it was just because of all of the tossing and turning I was doing. I fell asleep again and woke up a bit later because I was really cold. My blankets weren't on me anymore and it felt like they were being pulled off of me. I tried to move my hands to pull the blankets up, but I couldn't move them. I tried to get up but couldn't move my body at all. The only thing I was able to move were my eyes. I
"I lived in pod 230 in room 232. Things in my room would fall or the locked door would open when no one was present. I kind of brushed it all off, until one night my roommate and I heard a crash. A hand mirror had fallen and landed perfectly upright in between two picture frames. This seemed impossible for two reasons; the mirror was suctioned on to a jar and it would've taken considerable force to move and, when trying to put the mirror back, I couldn’t get it to sit right. After that night only one more thing occurred before we got the room blessed. I was standing with my computer on my lofted bed and felt a chill. I asked my roommate if she felt it and she said no. That's when I looked at my arm and saw a mark. I couldn’t figure out what it was and I asked my roommate what she thought. She looked at me and said 'Elizabeth, that's a bite mark.' Needless to say we ran out of there
and the next day one of the priests came to bless the room." - Elizabeth Wellendorf, SHC sophomore. "I got to move into the pod early because I'm a member of the dance team. My parents stayed with me and my mom made my bed right when we got there. She did not, however, remember to tell me about the 'art' that graced my bed frame; an Ouija board was drawn on it. I had previously heard about this room being haunted, and that definitely added to the scare factor. After my parents left, the way the room felt was off. I didn't sleep in there for the first three days. When Ashlyn, my roommate, got to campus, the bed frame was already switched out and it was starting to feel better. We prayed in our room and doused it with holy water. From there on out the room has been fine. However the rest of the pod was not. Emily, down the hall, has woken up with many bruises on her legs. Sometimes we can hear the sound of someone beating on the shower walls while we're in there. One night, the girls heard footsteps down the empty side of the pod. Someone even said that they saw something like a ghost in one of the rooms. Thankfully, whatever is here isn't bothering Ashlyn or me anymore, but ours is the original haunted room.” - Alyssa Miles, freshman.
THE SPRINGHILLIAN
SPORTS
November 5, 2015
7
Spring Hill College Student-Athletes Give Back to the Community
By: Jack Culotta Jr. Reporter Spring Hill College’s sports teams collected canned goods and donations on Thursday October 29 under the leadership of the Student Advisory Athletic Committee (SAAC). Even in the midst of hectic fall seasons and Halloween weekend, the committee called all Badger athletic teams to go “trick-or-treating” for canned goods with the eventual plan to deliver them to a non-profit organization during the Thanksgiving holiday. SAAC hopes to raise the schools’ presence around the community through extra efforts during the holiday season. They used Halloween week to raise money, collect
cans, and help others prepare for Thanksgiving. On Thursday, they raised over 1000 canned goods, which will be delivered to Catholic Social Services in Mobile. The rugby team volunteered to bring all of the collected cans to the Mobile Fairgrounds and display them in the shape of a Badger. Ginny Hicks, the President of SAAC, shared her appreciation to all the sports teams for coming out to the “Trick-or-Treat for Canned Goods” event. Hicks expressed her hope that the Mobile community comes out to support Badger teams in their spring seasons, especially with “another service day in the works.” She added, “While I do not want to spoil the surprise, we will be doing another event next semester. So, a spring service day will definitely happen, and the proceeds will go to the Makea-Wish foundation this time. We look forward to the future as we try to help people out during the holiday season. Knocking door to door around the Old Shell neighborhoods also give us the chance to promote our teams and ask for support.
This was not the first time Spring Hill student-athletes have combined forces to participate in acts of philanthropy. Last fall, sports teams met on Library Field with their biggest vehicles to utilize for its first annual philanthropy event to accomplish the same task--traveling around the Spring Hill community collecting cans and compiling Thanksgiving baskets for those less fortunate. “I volunteered to drive my truck to the neighborhoods around the Old Shell entrance,” senior soccer captain Andrew McInnis shared about Thursday’s service day,”so while I did not get to knock on every door, it was good to group up with other athletes who are not my own teammates. I am proud that this school can
Photo by: Jack Culotta Jr. make such an impact on the surrounding area.”
Spring Hill College Volleyball Victorious on Senior Night
By: Jarrett Calhoun Reporter For the final home
College. With one game remaining on the schedule, have compiled another successful season so far with 23 wins and six losses. Each of the three seniors on the team talked about how they felt about playing their final game as a Lady Badger. “Senior night for me was surreal. It was more than I could have ever imagined for my last night playing in that gym. The four years I’ve spent in this program has taught me many valuable lesPhoto by: Jarrett Calhoun sons,” said Abby Algame of the season the lard. Virginia Hicks women’s volleyball expressed the same team came out victori- enthusiasm when disous against Stillman cussing the volleyball’s
team Senior Night. “Senior night was incredible. I am so happy I chose to go to Spring Hill. My teammates and coaches have become my family,” Hicks, senior. “Senior night was the best definition of bittersweet because it’s over, but then you stop to think of all that you’ve accomplished over those four years,” said senior Mallory Raulerson. Head coach Peggy Martin talked about how she believed the year went and the value the three seniors added to the team. “Overall, we had a very successful year meshing younger players
and upperclassmen to mesh well as a team,” said Coach Martin. Martin continued, “Maturing over the four years on and off the court is evident in this senior class. Mallory Raulerson was asked to play a lesser role of backcourt only for three years, which she embraced. As a senior she was challenged to take over the “Quarterback” role of setter and came through with an outstanding year. Ginny Hicks has played both outside and rightside over her four years and has competed well every year and brings a positive role model to the team. Abby Allard has accepted her role as
a defensive substitute, but also our designated server. She graduates this semester and is ready for the challenges of the real world.” The volleyball team’s final game of the season will be against rival Mobile University on Tuesday, November 3 at 7:30 p.m. Spring Hill volleyball continues to be one of the more successful teams on campus in recent years.
THE SPRINGHILLIAN 8
HILL YEAH!
November 5, 2015
Spring Hill College Badgers Show Their Halloween Spirit