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H o p e C o l l e g e • H o l l a n d , M i c h i g a n • A n i n d e p e n d e n t n o n p r o f i t p u b l i c a t i o n • S e r v i n g t h e H o p e C o l l e g e C o m m u n i t y f o r I 10 y e a r s
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Smoking banned in all housing STACY BOGARO campusbeat editor
Whose time is it anyway? Religion,
page 3.
Absent members on the Campus Life Board could have made the difference in the vote to ban smoking in all college residences in a special meeting held last Thursday, April 10. Only seven members of the Board's eleven voted 4-3 in favor of the resolution for "all campus housing to be smoke free beginning in the fall of 1997." Those not in attendance included Chaplain Delores Nasral|ah, Ron Wolthuis, associate professor of education, and Ryan Cook ('97), Student Congress president. Another representative from Congress, Jeremy Beard ('97), was also on the Board, but due to lack of attendance had lost his position in Congress. Vice President Katy Whitfield ('98) was asked to attend in his place, but did not attend. She would not have been able to vote since she is not a
formal member. Cook stated that he felt his presence was not needed due to the response he received in the previous meeting on April 1. and the fact that the resolution would be passed with or without his support. "They pretty much told us at the last meeting that our vote doesn't count and that they were going to pass it no matter what. T h e y d o n ' t give a d a m n about what we think," he said. "They would have done it in the summer. The only reason why they are going through the proper channel is so it looks good." Richard Frost, Dean of Students and also a member of the Board, disagreed with Cook's statement. "I do not believe that the Campus Life m e m bers ever stated or implied that student input is
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not important and essential to any discussion," h e s a i d . "I a l s o d o n o t b e l i e v e t h a t t h e resolution's outcome was known at the earlier meeting." Wolthuis was unable to attend due to u n c h a n g e a b l e lans made before t h e d e c i s i o n to hold a special meeting was finalized. D u e to a r e s o l u t i o n in their Constitution, Student Congress members must vote in the committees to reflect the vote that takes place in Congress. Cook would have m o r e N O SMOKE on 8
Hocus Opus A r t Dept. secretary and w r i t e r publishes first book. Intermission,
page 9.
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Finai S t u d e n t Congress f o r u m cancelled. Campusbeat,
page 2.
A " Men's tennis reach coveted ten-win mark. Sports,
page 12.
T h e life o f a dance m a j o r can be q u i t e a balancing act.
Spotlight, p a g e 10.
^Disappearing funds endanger the Opus Visiting Writers Series. M I R I A M BEYER staff r e p o r t e r
Funding for the arts is no longer an issue only to be considered at the national level. Right here, in the m i c r o c o s m of Hope College, an identical c o n t r o v e r s y is r a g i n g . With the Student Congress Appropriations Committee's recent passing of the 1997-98 student activities budget to which each student, through the Student Activity Fee, contributes, the Visiting Writers Series has received serious cuts, and feelings on both sides are running high. The Visiting Writers Series is an activity conducted through the student organization OPUS. The series has run for over a decade, and has b r o u g h t w r i t e r s such as C h i a m Potok and Pulitzer Prize winner Gwendolyn Brooks to campus. Its mission is to bring diversity to the H o p e and Holland c o m m u n i t i e s , and to allow for contact between writers and Hope students. Jack Ridl, a professor in the English Department and the founding father of the series, says the whole thing started because he and his wife just wanted to give something to the college that it didn't already have. With funding f r o m his own pocket and an anonymous donor, Ridl started the series in the DePree Art Gallery, where attendance averaged perhaps 30 to 35 people. The series has since grown into an event held at the Knickerbocker Theatre where crowds reach 450 to 500. Student Congress started helping with the funding of the series approximately five years ago. M e m bers of Congress approached OPUS and asked them to help bring '60s novelist Kurt Vonnugut to campus. T h e two g r o u p s then decided to continue working together in order to expand and enhance the series. With the combined income, OPUS was able to bring in more prestigious writers from across the nation. As the series grew, O P U S asked for a larger budget from Congress, and received it. T h i s is what Ridl finds ironic about the recent cuts. m o r e OPUS on
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Anchor photo by Zach Johnson
C O M E A L I T T L E C l - O S E f l z Hasan Choudhry ('97), Sheryl Gabriel ('97), Deepa Ramakrishna ('97) and Khurram Ahmed ('00) performed a wedding dance in Images.
Images crosses c u l t u r a l l i n e s and Peru, which Muriuki was able to do on a few occasions, leaving the disheartened women behind. Framed by the flags of the naThe entertainment ranged from tions they represent, a "cultural col- upbeat African drumming to mel a g e " of over 100 students per- rengue and dancing ceremonies, to formed through song, dance, poetry somber and moving poetry readand fashion last Saturday night in ings from Palestine and Bulgaria. Each sought to give a glimpse into Images '97: A Reflection of Culthe culture of the country through tures. The third annual event took place its people. "Images gives us the opportunity in the f u l l - t o - c a p a c i t y K n i c k e r bocker Theatre and provided a full to pause and listen and hear the stoevening of activities beginning at ries of other people. We are able to 6 p.m. with an international bazaar, pause and reflect on our own heritage. the spirit of followed by a variety show and a who we are," party in the Kletz said Laurie E n g l e , Images as the grand fiI m a g e s g i v e s us t h e c o o r d i n a t o r and nale. Admission opportunity to hear w a s f r e e to all International Stuevents. dent Advisor. the stories of other The perforThe internap e o p l e . W e a r e a b l e mances were intional bazaar int e r s p e r s e d with cluded samplings to reflect on o u r video introducfrom each of the own heritage. tions to a major16 countries that gave a glimpse ity of the coun— L a u r i e Engle tries represented. into the culture of Images Coordinator This was overthe people. laid with an exMaster and Mistresses of Ceremony, Muturi ample of the nation's music that Muriuki ('97), Fatin Muhawi ('97) helped to place the audience in each and Jackie Williams ('00) opened of the show's destinations. Fashion the variety show and introduced shows also helped to set the scene for a variety of countries with stueach performance with humor and e x c i t e m e n t . Each was ready to d e n t s s p o r t i n g traditional dress leave snowy Michigan and lake off along with some more modern day for the warmer climates of Hawaii examples. STACY BOGARD campusbeat editor
"1 felt I was celebrating not only my ethnicity, but I felt part of other people's cultures through participating and just watching," said Fabi Monroy ('99). Rhythm Jungle entertained the crowd with their rhythmic African drumming for the opening act. This was soon followed by Muhawi and Jalaa' Abdelwahab ('97) who spoke of the grief faced by a Palestinian in search of his identity through the poem "Identification Card." "It was really interesting seeing the different cultures, especially the Palestinian poem. It was enlightening to "me," said attendee Liz Hall COO). Three wedding dances provided a glimpse at the differing traditions that exist throughout the world. Each expressed the happiness of the occasion, while amusing the audience with the antics of the performers. The Palestinian wedding involved a dueling slick dance, while Khurram Ahmed ('00) and Hasan Choudhry ('97) held a competition w i t h S h e r y l G a b r i e l ( ' 9 7 ) and Deepa Ramakrishna ( ' 9 7 ) in the Indian/Pakistani wedding dance to show who was better, the bride or the groom. Following a brief intermission the acts c o n t i n u e d , i n c l u d i n g Kremena Todorova ('97). who used her gift for poetry to detail the differences between Holland and her m o r e IMAGES on 2