Year 45 Issue 10

Page 1

April 9

crusadernews.com

2014

rusader

Year 45, No. 10

Presorted Standard US Postage PAID Liberal, KS Permit NO.114

Liberal, Kansas

Blood moon rises Dawn Shouse Editor

SCCC Athletic Banquet 2014 — Page 7

In one week, a total lunar eclipse will turn the moon an eerie shade of red. Shortly after midnight on April 15 the moon will move into Earth’s shadow. According to Seward County Community College/ Area Technical School physics instructor Darrin Hook, the whole eclipse should be done by 4:30 a.m. Hook said that the eclipse will be visible, if weather permits, across almost the entire continental United States, most of Canada and Central America and parts of South America. Kevin Brown, a guest speaker for the Gas Compressor Institute, is an amateur astronomer who will give a presentation on campus on how to set up a telescope and a camera. Brown will take pictures of the event to share, according to Hook, and viewing the eclipse through the telescope is open to the public. The location where the telescope will be set up on campus has yet to

be determined. A full lunar eclipse is when Earth shades the entire moon. “This moon is called a blood moon,” Hook said. “It is a perfectly natural occurrence. When the moon passes completely into the shadow of the Earth, it turns a reddish color. The red color occurs because even when the Earth has moved directly between the moon and the sun, the scattered light from all the sunsets and sunrises on the rim of our globe and reflects against the moon’s surface. It’s really neat to see.” It has been since Dec. 11, 2001 that a total lunar eclipse has been visible from the United States, but the good news is there are three more on the way after this one. For more information, contact Hook at

Crusader photo/ Diana Chavira

Isabella Martinez, calling on behalf of SGA, raises a pledge sheet after getting a donation during a phonathon session on March 31.

Phonathon answers scholarship needs Makiah Adams Crusader staff Willing callers. Ringing phones. Generous donators. These are all characteristics of the annual Seward County Community College/ Area Technical School Phonathon. As of today, the total amount raised is $37,144, already topping last year’s total of $36,061. The overall goal is set at $38,000. This goal is within reach, especially with how smooth this year has gone. “I’m excited to be so close to our goal after almost two weeks of calling,” said Tammy Doll, Director of Development. Since March 24, SCCC/ATS clubs have been coming together to call out into communities in order to gather donations for student scholarships. The leading club in fundraising is men’s baseball with more than $13,000. Nursing follows in second with around $6,000 raised, and volleyball in third with a little over $2,000. “This is our fifth year of doing this, so sophomores are coming in with more

darrin.hook@sccc.edu.

Xtreme Challenge — Pages 4-5

Children’s Art Day — Page 3

Crusader photo/ Maria Lara

Vocal music instructor Dr. Magda Silva sports her tag of “Smartest Person in the Music Department.”

The Doctor is in(to) Music Kyleigh Becker Crusader staff

Sports — Pages 6-7

“Into the Woods” — Page 8

energy than when we first started. It’s becoming a culture here now,” said Dean of Student Services, Celeste Donovan. “This is one event that’s student driven. I think it’s so important to host this; a lot of our students benefit from scholarships. This is one way they can both benefit and help give back, and walk away feeling good about it, too.” Other clubs involved are agriculture, Auto Business Management, cheer and dance, criminal justice, cosmetology, diesel mechanics, Enactus, HALO, Kylix, Crusader, music, nursing, Phi Theta Kappa, softball, Student Government Association, sports medicine, student ambassadors, tennis, women’s basketball, and International Student Organization. Individual prizes consist of an iPad Touch, Mini Wii, Jambox, Beats by Dre headphones, and iPod shuffle. If students come close on individual prizes they will be called and notified so that they can rack up more numbers. The winners will be announced April 30, at the Dormapalooza.

While vocal music instructor Dr. Magda Silva has a doctorate and can professionally carry a tune, she never takes herself too seriously. Sometimes her busy schedule causes her to run a little late and occasionally be forgetful. “She wanted me to call her stupid one day because she’d thought that I’d lost the flash drive with all the music on it over Christmas break… It was plugged into her computer the whole time,” Michael Fisher, Silva’s student worker said, laughing. Silva, a 2009 doctoral graduate of Arizona State University, is the vocal music instructor at Seward County Community College. This is Silva’s fifth year of teaching at SCCC/ATS. She had to travel back and forth between Arizona and Liberal her first year of teaching in order to finish her doctoral degree. As vocal instructor, Silva is taking the choir to perform at 3 p.m. April 12 at Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Okla., for a joint concert. “I get to take our choir to go let them have a wonderful, professional experience in which we are bringing in professional performers, like soloists and instrumentalists from Wichita Symphony, Amarillo Symphony and I think even a couple from Denver Symphony, which is pretty high-caliber.” Silva is one of the featured soloists for the OPSU concert.

Darin Workman, the head of the Seward music department, says that Silva is one of the best vocalists he’s heard perform. In addition to being the vocal instructor, Silva is also the musical director. Most recently, she is working on “Into the Woods”, which premiers at 7 p.m. on April 10 in the Showcase Theater. The job of the musical director is to teach the students their notes and work to “really hone the music,” Silva said. “(It’s my job to) get characters into

“My name tag says ‘Queen of the Universe’… (but) there aren’t many awards in classical stuff, unless you’re really hitting at a national level.” — Dr. Magda Silva the musical voices and make sure they’re connecting emotionally… you don’t want to separate the drama from the singing because otherwise you get two disconnected styles.” Silva claimed she was a latecomer to musicals. “My first musical (Sweeney Todd) was as a sophomore, because I went strictly into classical music. I didn’t do anymore musicals until my master’s program and on that level they asked me to be the musical director.” At her previous position at Elizabethtown College in

Pennsylvania, Silva did two musicals. Silva prefers to be “behind the scenes” compared to in front of the scenes, though she has been in front more than in the background. Over the past 15-20 years, Silva estimates that she has sung professionally in more than 70 concerts. However, if one had asked her as a child what she wanted to be when she grew, she may have given a very different answer besides “singer” or “professor”. Silva claimed that she was “all over the place” as a child and, “as for getting into music, it was a bet. So it wasn’t like I grew up thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to be a singer!’” “I like to have fun, and as a kid I was always so bored and my brain would drift if it was very factual— if the teachers seemed like they weren’t having a good time teaching it, I always questioned, ‘Why am I learning this?’, so I always try to have fun,” Silva said. One of her favorite ways to have fun is by telling “bad jokes, horrible jokes.” One of Silva’s jokes is about her age— a question she refuses to answer. “I’m as old as my tongue and older than my teeth,” Silva said, smiling widely. While using a joke to avoid questions about her age, Silva also uses jokes to get students to move notes and change the tune of a song. One of her jokes is described by Jasmine Howell, a music major graduating this May. “It’s like ‘Mary Had a Little nContinued on page 2

Crusader photo/ Jakub Stepanovic

Julio Garcia makes his mark by painting one of the tiles which will eventually be used to cover the wall in front of the amphitheater.

SCCC/ATS students paint tiles for posterity Dawn Shouse Editor All graduating Seward County Community College / Area Technical School students are invited to participate in the “Leave your Mark” project that will eventually cover the wall in front of the amphitheater with individually hand-painted tiles. “Any student that will be graduating or receiving a certificate of completion can paint a tile and have it included on the wall,” Andy Yoxall, public information

director SCCC/ATS said. Students are encouraged to look for the craft tables set up in front of the library, April 9 between 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., in the Area Technical School lobby April 10-11 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and Epworth between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. The school has been collecting titles from graduates for the last three years and begins on placing the tiles to cover the wall starting this summer. For more information, contact Andy Yoxall at andrea.yoxall@sccc.edu or call her at 620-417-1125.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.