Hannibal-LaGrange University Student Publication
THE EXPERIENCE April 2022 Issue 72
THE EXPERIENCE Table of Contents
Shooting near Iowa Wesleyan HLGU tackles financial woes
5,7
3 Tiger King
9
Johnny D defamation
11
Depp n case
Advisor: Dr. Chris Brennemann
Thy neighbor
13
Staff Members:
Gracie Fath Hannah Gates Cade Slaughter Sam Leon Nick Gilbert Autumn Brookshier
The Experience is a student-run publication at Hannibal-LaGrange University. All content is written, edited, photographed and designed by staff members unless otherwise noted. The experience publishes on a monthly/bimonthly basis on-line with no cost to its readers. For more details, check the works cited page.
violence at iowa wesleyan univ. by: Cade Slaughter Approximately one week ago on Tuesday night, a shooting near Iowa Wesleyan University in Mount Pleasant, Iowa left an 18-year-old with minor injuries. Fortunately, no fatalities were recorded from the shocking incident. There is no doubt that safety has been one of the most-talked-about topics around Iowa Wesleyan University, as violence and assaults has seemed to be one of the major concerns as of this past month. April 4th Stabbing Incident On April 4, Mt. Pleasant Police responded to a report of an assault with a knife. The attacker, a man of relatively older age than most other students on Iowa Wesleyan’s campus, was arrested. The student from the April 4 incident received an interim suspension and was removed from campus indefinitely. The two men involved in the shooting on April 12 have been arrested and are currently in
3
custody by Mt. Pleasant police. April 12th Shooting & Fight With more information coming out regarding the shooting, it seems as if the occurrence was caused by simple argumentative actions, as a fight between 20 or more people resulted in the one teen being shot. The non-fatal shooting caused the entire college campus to be placed under lockdown, according to the Mount Pleasant Police Department. Around 8:30 p.m., local police had received a report regarding a large fight in the area of West Broad and North Jackson streets near the university. On their way to the fight, the officers and dispatchers learned shots were fired. Unfortunately, there is currently no information regarding the origins of the fight itself. Police stated many people were fighting near an Iowa Wesleyan University dorm, and at one point, the fight caused someone to pull out a handgun, firing, leaving an 18-yearold brutally injured at the scene. The
victim was taken to the hospital and later released. While searching the area, the campus was ordered to shelter in place, according to the university’s Facebook page. Officers began searching a campus dorm for suspects, and the two suspects ended up in custody at the Henry County Jail for participating in the riot. University’s Thoughts Vice President for Enrollment Meg Richtman stated the university’s number one priority is to protect the health and safety of all their students, faculty, staff, and those in the community. “Thankfully, the incident that occurred adjacent to campus this past week resulted in only one individual receiving minor injuries. However, it underscores this trend across the nation where a disagreement between a few individuals escalates quickly into violence. We find this trend profoundly sad and troubling, and not reflective of our values at Iowa Wesleyan.”
Richtman continued discussing the university’s policies regarding the ban of weapons on campus. Unfortunately, criminals do not tend to follow the law. “We have a clear policy that prohibits any type of weapons on campus. If a student violates our policy, they are mandated to go through our student conduct process, which can result in a suspension or expulsion from the university.”
4
hlgu tackles financial woes and enters a new era By: Sam Leon Hannibal-LaGrange University remains hopeful as it faces financial situations that have caused the school to make various changes. In March, HLGU transitional president, Dr. Rodney Harrison, released a statement regarding the University’s current financial stance. The school is looking to raise $2.2 million by June 30. Their first priority is to raise enough money to pay $690,000 worth of bills. Why is Hannibal-LaGrange facing this new stage? According to HLGU Vice President Dr. Robert Matz, a number of factors play into this growing struggle. One of those factors includes the increase of inflation. Inflation rates by end of March hit 8.54 percent, the highest since December 1981, according to Trading Economics. The second and perhaps largest contributing factor to the school’s struggle is a drop in enrollment numbers. In fact, across the nation, college attendance has been dropping. The need for a traditional bachelor’s degree is on the decline. Initial impacts of COVID-19 only quickened
5
the reduction in enrollment numbers. According to data from the National Student Clearinghouse, in Fall 2021, U.S colleges and universities experienced a decrease of roughly 500,000 undergraduate students. Enrollment had fallen 6.6 percent since Fall 2019. HLGU is among the schools that felt the impacts of such a drop. There is an additional reason for Hannibal-LaGrange’s situation. The University faces difficulties with adapting to economically changing times. Their usual procedures over the past few decades eventually lead to this predicament. “If the school wants to do things it did thirty years ago in some of these areas, then we’re just going to fall out of date,” Dr. Matz said. He discussed how continuously adapting without compromising a school’s identity is often necessary to remain intact. The school has taken steps to combat these challenges. One of those steps are curriculum changes. The original 124 credit hour requirement for graduation will remain standing, however the courses required to graduate will change. The University
will concentrate more on the necessary courses for a major, allowing for students to take more electives. “I think the curricular changes are an opportunity for the school. I really do. Schools have to continue to reinvent themselves, not around who they are,” said Dr. Matz. The new change will allow students to obtain a broader skill set and provide them with a better chance to earn extra degrees at a faster pace. Some students may be able to earn an additional major or earn a graduate degree. Although they will no longer be offering golf and the wrestling program in the future, HLGU has no
other plans to cut extracurriculars or academic programs. In early April, however, the school finalized an agreement to sell the Pulliam St. Apartments. Aside from the financial benefit, the apartment’s detachment from the campus and the building’s conditions were a part of the decision. Students do not need to be concerned about changes in their scholarships. All scholarships given to current students will be honored. Scholarship opportunities for new students may be different, and there will be a 4.6 percent minimum rise in tuition, and fees next year for all students.
6
hlgu tackles financial woes and enters a new era By: Sam Leon Faculty are also impacted by the financial changes. All staff and faculty have removed one day from their work week, taking a 20 percent pay cut. Despite changes in their pay, many have volunteered to work the extra day. “The people who work here believe in this school, and they believe in the mission and work of the school and they want to see it succeed, and we’re willing to sacrifice to keep the doors here open and to prepare for this bright future we see in front of us,” emphasized Dr. Matz. The passion that the faculty have for their students is something meant to encourage students and
7
outsiders alike. It demonstrates and reflects the school’s mission and desire for education and service. The school has already raised over $850,000 in total donations. Among the contributors are local business leaders and churches as well as HLGU alumni. The school has initiated many actions and events to reach out to these various groups including sending mailers to over 9000 alumni to encourage giving, a follow-up phonathon, and friends and alumni events in Kansas City and St. Louis. For the University’s recent “Day of Giving,” the goal was to gain 250 gifts within the designated 24 hours.
HLGU’s Board of Visitors also issued a $60,000 giving challenge. Hannibal-LaGrange succeeded in collecting $218,079 from 345 donors. As Hannibal-LaGrange fights to jump over their hurdles, students can also participate in this mission to raise money by engaging in HLGU’s fundraising events and encouraging local churches to help. It also helps the university financially when students register for both summer and fall classes. In his statement, Dr. Harrison concluded saying, “We believe Hanni-
bal-LaGrange is a place where individuals can strengthen and develop the gifts God has given them. The greatest impact we can make in this day is to raise up this next generation of students, equip them with the knowledge of a Christian worldview, and set them loose to serve the world wherever God should place them.” HLGU stands hopeful in these times. God’s grace and provision continue to show as the school enters a new era.
8
the tiger king By: Nick Gilbert Jose ‘Miguel Cabrera’ Torres is a Venezuelan-born professional athlete. He currently plays for the Detroit Tigers of the American League in Major League Baseball. His positions typically include first base, and occasionally the designated hitter, but this year the roles are reversed and his day-to-day playing has come to an end. First overall pick first baseman Spencer Torkelson has taken the duty of starting, and Cabrera is now holding the slot of DH. Cabrera has played the majority of his career with the Tigers, but that is not where the journey began. He is regarded as one of the best players of Latin descent in the history of the League. At just 16 years old Cabrera was signed by a Venezuelan professional team based out of Aragua for the Venezuelan Winter League. It was not until 1999 that the Florida Marlins signed the young talent as an amateur free agent. Cabrera would progress through the minor league system of affiliates for
9
roughly four years before making his MLB debut in 2003 at the age of 20. Ironically that same year the Marlins secured their 2nd World Series title in six seasons. Fast forward to the 2007 season, Cabrera was traded to the Tigers where he has been ever since. Although he only played with the Marlins in five different seasons, his career numbers were higher than than they are now. Such as batting average, slugging, OPS, and OBP along with two of his seven silver slugger awards coming while he was in Florida. Cabrera is considered one of the best Tigers of all time, along with the likes of Al Kaline and Ty Cobb. Both Cobb and Cabrera are on a shortlist of players who have won the Triple Crown. The Triple Crown in baseball is awarded to the player who led the league in Batting Average, Home Runs, and Runs Batted In (RBIs). Just 16 players have achieved this feat, Cabrera being the most recent achieving it in 2012.
Other awards include an 11x all-star, 2x AL MVPs, 7x silver sluggers, 2x Hank Aaron Award, 4x AL Batting Champion, 2x AL HR leader, and 2x AL RBI leader. Just this season Cabrera joined elite company recording 3,000 hits and 500 home runs making him the only seventh player to do so. Off the field, Cabrera is highly active in the community. His charity ‘The Miguel Cabrera Foundation’ helps a variety of children funding, including encouraging young kids to play baseball and softball. Cabrera will go down in history as one of the greatest players to ever dawn a uniform in Detroit Tigers history, as well as the entire league. He has and will continue to be a pioneer and pave the way for Hispanics who seek out the same dream. Many of the top players of Mexican, Dominican, Venezuelan, etc. descent all start playing baseball at a young age in their country, but only a few make it to the big leagues. His performance, leadership, and foundation will help continue to grow the game to the younger generation and those who have the same dream he did when he was a kid.
10
johnny depp & amber heard defamation trial By: Autumn Brookshier Johnny Depp is a well-known actor who played the lead roles in Pirates of the Caribbean, Edward Scissorhands, Alice in Wonderland, and so on. He has become one of the most famous actors in the film industry and is famous all around the world. He was married to Amber Heard, an actress who played a series of roles such as the Boys Love Mandy Lane and Never Back Down. Their relationship lasted less than two years, and Amber filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences. Now there is a new event brewing among social media and news stations worldwide that just might ruin Johnny Depp’s reputation, that is, if he does not win the defamation trial against his exwife, Amber Heard. “Depp is suing Heard, his ex-wife, for $50 million over a 2018 op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse,” stated by CNN news regarding the
11
defamation trial. Heard had stated that Depp domestically abused her during their two years of being married. Because of this statement, Depp has lost many roles that he planned on being a part of in the future. Depp’s reputation amongst the film industry began to plummet, labeling him as an abuser. “Depp testified Tuesday, April 19th, that the couple frequently argued but said, “Never did I myself reach the point of striking Ms. Heard in any way nor have I ever struck any woman in my life.” There were also audio recordings of some of their heated exchanges played in court, including one in which Heard discussed striking Depp. The recording of Heard stated, “You didn’t get punched; you got his. I’m sorry I hit you like this, but I did not punch you.” Another comment was made from Laurel Anderson, a clinical psychologist who worked with Depp and Heard in 2015 as their marriage counselor, about a video played in court on April 14th that
Heard told her she “fought back” after Depp would become physical. Anderson said the former couple
“engaged in what I saw as mutual abuse.” However, Depp had also claimed that he physically defended himself at times, speaking about one incident in which Heard said her nose was injured. Depp claimed in court that his head connected with Heard’s forehead while he was trying to “restrain” Heard. There were many other instances that Depp told the court, one of which Heard threw a vodka glass at Depp, and had his finger come clean off. There were many supportive testimonies towards this claim, and Depp stated that he had to have several surgeries to repair the finger, while also contracting MRSA, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus during recover. There were also text messages found by Depp that talked about Depp’s drug abuse, which Depp said was “embarrassing” for him that it was brought up in court. The trial continues and is supposed to last for six weeks. While much evidence has been put forth for both Heard and Depp, there is no telling who will win the case until it has finally been decided. Until then, Heard and Depp’s defamation case continues.
12
thy neighbor By: Hannah Gates To take initiative as a child of God requires accountability. Every day you wake up and promise yourself that you aren’t going to let another day go by where you cease to celebrate the life that God has given you. You lift your voice in worship every Sunday, despite the pain that you battle that following Monday. You want to quit daily, and still, you keep fighting. What is the point of living a life of trauma and discomfort? Why do people consistently fail, never satisfied even after receiving everything they could ever want, and despite that, continue to keep going. Some might say “I don’t believe in a god, things are not relevant, and nothing is promised…” why is it, that even when we don’t believe in him, we keep going? Some might think it’s an urge. Never really focusing on the idea of where the urges in our lives pertaining to purpose and meaning come from. It would be unethical to assume that our thoughts are not gifts.
13
It would be scientifically incorrect if we were to think every single event has no cause or meaning behind it, for example, birth order, human nature, and animal instinct. Scientists spend every day working to prove and hypothesize the purpose behind the life of every living, breathing thing. And yet you might spend every day assuming you don’t matter, and every day thinking you are not loved. A non-Christ follower will work so hard to convince you that your life is wrong. They do this without a real understanding of their own lives. They don’t even believe that they have a purpose. Yet some Christians take everything said so deeply. We work so hard to prove that we ourselves are believers in him, to convince the lives of those who don’t follow Christ that he is real. That they have no understanding of the life that Christ lived for our success. Instead of looking at a person who doesn’t know God the way we
do with caring eyes, we judge them. We spend hours praying for people that are different to find him and know him the way that we do. Why are we assuming that we are special? Assuming that only those of us who had a connection of religion, spirituality, or supportive God-loving households, get to see his glory, and those who don’t have those connections, do not get to see his glory? As Christians maybe we should be willing to meet others where they stand. Jesus came down to earth and spent time with the worst of the worst. He got to know the lives of those that were cast out from society and still chose to be himself. As his disciples watched him, they wanted to be more like him, because he led by example. Not only did Jesus live to be 33 years old and never sin a day in his life, but he also loved sinners. He loved those who deceived him and still chose to die on the cross knowing we would continue to betray him for the rest of eternity. We are special, but not in the way we think. Yes, as Christians in God’s eyes, we are all equal, but even despite that, those who are not following Christ, are also his children. They also deserve all his love the same as we do. We like to put each other in boxes. We like to separate ourselves and stand on pedestals to show God that we love him more as Christians, but that is a corrupt version of love. Think of the story of Lucifer, where
he felt he was better than God himself. He felt every single one of his siblings was less than him. And he acted on that thought. He compared and concluded that he could do better, and he created chaos. He lost his value and was damned. The value of being a Christian does not amount to the value of being God’s child. God said that the enemy will disguise itself to look and feel and taste just like him. That includes love. Sometimes we lose sight of the true meaning of being a Christian. God went to be in heaven, after dying on the cross, and before he left, he told us to go and share the gospel. He did not tell us to go and persuade the gospel. Remember to love each despite our differences, to share with each other our experiences, but to never judge those who are different. It is not our place to decide who is worthy of his love. 1 John 3:18 KJV - My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
14
Thanks for reading
THE EXPERIENCE Works Cited:
Pages 3/4: https://www.wqad.com/article/news/crime/fight-shooting-iowa-wesleyan-universi ty-lockdown-mount-pleasant-iowa/526-431ab47a-cd05-4476-b139-6272b56ee2d8; https://www. thehawkeye.com/story/news/2022/04/13/man-shot-and-two-arrested-following-large-fightmount-pleasant/7303863001/; https://www.kwqc.com/2022/04/13/1-person-shot-2-people-arrest ed-near-iowa-wesleyan-university/ Pages 5/6, 7/8: https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflationcpi#:~:text=US%20Infla tion%20Rate%20Hits%20New,of%201982%2C%20 matching%20market%20expectations; https:// www.npr.org/2022/01/13/1072529477/more-than-1-million-fewer-students-are-in-college-thelowest-enrollment-numbers; https://www.npr.org/2021/10/07/1043737586/college-degree-highschool-diploma-high-paying-trade-jobs; https://www.facebook.com/HLGuniversity Pages 9/10: Miguel Cabrera Stats | Baseball-Reference.com Miguel Cabrera Stats, News, Bio | ESPN; Miguel Cabrera Career Stats | StatMuse Miguel Cabrera reaches 3,000 hits: Tigers All-Star slugger becomes 33rd player to reach milestone CBSSports.com Pages 11/12: www.cnn.com/2022/04/24/entertainment/johnny-depp-amber-heard-defamation-tri al/index.html; https://www.eonline.com/news/1327831/the-most-shocking-revelations-from-john ny-depp-and-amber-heards-defamation-trial; https://people.com/movies/johnny-depp-v-amberheard-biggest-bombshells-from-trial/ Pages 13/14: https://resources.workable.com/stories-and-insights/diversity-in-leadership https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/hugs-lift-our-mood-so-why-do-they-stillfeel-so-awkward-20190206-p50vxx.html; https://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllo pis/2021/06/26/is-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-bringing-us-together-or-pushing-us-fur ther-apart/?sh=c9e865a442f9 HLGU Works Cited: HLGU Website: http://www.hlg.edu HLGU Facebook Student Activity Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HLGUActivities/