Pursuit | Winter 2018

CYC L I NG AC R OS S CA L I F O R N I A Cultivating fellowship through bicycles | 18

A Lo o k I n s i d e A history of the 'Ol' Monroe House' | 06

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T h e ' P i r ks o f A rt i s t ry Blending passions using bivocational ministry | 56

S h a r e d Mo m e n ts Enriching lives from the ground up | 36

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FEATURES

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18

A Look Inside

A history of the ‘Ol’ Monroe House’

36

SHARED MOMENTS

Enriching lives from the ground up

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Cycling Across California Cultivating fellowship through bicycles

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The 'Pirks' of Artistry

Blending passions using bivocational ministry

arts

trends

lifestyle

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relationships

contents 10

Muslim by Upbringing, Christian by Choice Implications of conversion despite familial heritage

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True Affection Distorted conversations and disrupted relationships

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The Effects of Wanderlust Why more women are traveling alone

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Traveling During Times of Crisis Fighting against the fear of travel

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Overconsumption Materialism and its shortcomings

30

Restoring Hope Texas hurricane ministry rises out of disaster

34

College Cookbook Healthy recipes for broke college students

42

The Reality of Hefner and Weinstein Grappling with legacies of accused sexual abusers

46

Just the Essentials Natural remedies to life's common afflictions

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The Revival of Analog Film, vinyl records retake the forefront of physical media

52

Tales of the Hydroflask Stories of slams, stickers and scars

54

Music Festival Survival Guide Surviving and thriving during festival season

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Under the Bright Lights Illuminating the Museum of Neon Art’s inspiration

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Pursuit Recommends Streaming series

Cover photo by Iamilett Picon Ethan Marrs, sophomore applied theology major, rests next to his bike after a 50-mile cycling trek.

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s ta f f

Kathleen Phillips Managing Editor

Katie Ring Photo Editor

Jessica Rose Design Editor

Kaylah Valdez Assistant Design Editor

Krysta Hawkins Lifestyle Editor

Katie Kostecka Relationships & Trends Editor

Morgan Culberson Travel & Arts Editor

Taji Saleem Staff Designer

Dr. Michael Chute Director of Student Publications

Sonya Singh Assistant Director of Student Publications

Writers: Alex Applegate, Diana Corona, Morgan Culberson, Krysta Hawkins, Katie Kostecka, Rachel London, Nadia Nawabi, Kathleen Phillips, Randy Plavajka, Katie Ring, Tess Schoonhoven, Kylie Voda

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Jim Veneman Photojournalism Consultant

Photographers: Tyler Bradley, Katie Kostecka, Reagan Lee, Phillip Ndowu, Iamilett Picon, Randy Plavajka, Katie Ring, Austin Romito

editor’s note

R a n d y P l ava j k a Editor-in-Chief

Perfectionist?

That’s not something I am.�

Mac DeMarco During every creative process, it is important to have an end goal in mind.

Every creative team wants to deliver a product that captivates an audience and holds attention for as long as possible. This theoretical end goal, when purely in thought, is perfect. Everything goes according to plan, nothing falls through and every member of the team is enamored with the final product. Such is not the case within the field of journalism. The nature of reality does not allow for perfection, and in fact, if Pursuit was the perfect magazine, it would not be as fun as it is to create it day in and day out.

It is impossible to be a perfectionist in this line of work because it is the imperfections that make it all worthwhile. The topics of stories within this winter issue are imperfect as there is not always a perfect solution or joyful ending to accompany the articles. In total, these stories deal with cross-cultural barriers, recovering from life-altering disasters and the vast struggles of daily life because of technology or ideology. My belief is that through reading about the imperfections of reality, you can gain new perspective on the topics within this issue and appreciate the craft behind it all.

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A history of the ‘Ol' Monroe House’

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Written by Kathleen Phillips Photos by Reagan Lee aded white and light blue paint. Wraparound porch, geometric rectangular railing. Victorian-peaked roof. Large, dark, mysterious windows.

An old Victorian house sits on Monroe Avenue on California Baptist University’s campus. As it stands out among the missionstyle architectural uniformity of CBU, students and staff have become curious about its history.

In a Press Enterprise article, Tom Patterson says that the home was built in 1886 for a New York stockbroker, Archibald C.E. Hawthorne. He was English-born, and traveled west to receive relief for his asthma and heart trouble. On August 22, 1886, he found himself at the Glenwood Hotel, now known as the Mission Inn in Riverside, Calif.

At the Glenwood Hotel, Hawthorne found many other Englishmen who lived in the area.

He decided to stay and have a house built on Magnolia Avenue beside the orange trees and vineyard, where he soon became a farmer.

According to Esther H. Klotz and Joan H. Hall in their book “Adobes, Bungalows and Mansions of Riverside, California, Revisited”, the architect of the house, A. C. Willard, described the house as a “modern Swiss-Chalet cottage” in the shape of a large cross.

Hawthorne stayed until 1897, then sold the house for $9,000 and moved back to New York after the severe freezes of 1897, causing Hawthorne and other citrus farmers to lose profit. The orange groves and vineyard, which surrounded the Victorian home, became vacant land and an overgrown field of weeds.

After Hawthorne sold the house, intermittent owners occupied the house until 1959, when the Hewitt family bought the house. The three boys in the family enjoyed the house, but to Ellen Hewitt, the house was nearly impossible to live in, especially for her, a mother of two.

“I didn’t like much about the house.

There was only one bathroom upstairs, and the flight of stairs was pretty tall. I didn’t have any washing facilities until we built a garage,” Hewitt says. “The windows rattled, dust and dirt came in.”

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Because of its age and design, the house was loud and creaky, every step heard. The foundation consists of bricks and two internal beams holding up the house. Hewitt says with every earthquake, common in Southern California, the house would rattle, shake and sway. It was also a hassle to maintain and regardless of how often one would clean, it seemed more dust and dirt would find its way inside, settling everywhere.

Despite the difficulties of living in the house, it was a source of excitement and adventure for Eliot Hewitt, Ellen's youngest son.

“I loved that old house. It was a mysterious place. (Our parents) had all the old stuff, all the antiques. It was just really cool,” Eliot says. “I felt like Huckleberry Finn growing up. I didn’t care that it was cold and drafty. I was a kid.”

The presence of the house served as one of the greatest sources of excitement and adventure to Eliot, his brother and his friends.

As a child living in a home nearly 100 years old with minimal alterations made, the house was, at times, terrifying.

“It was creepy,” says Eliot Hewitt.

“Of course growing up there, all the kids – my buddies – they would come and spend the night. One of them was actually too scared to stay. The old ghost stories are fun. In the basement on the floor was a stain. The story goes that the stain was blood from a shootout during Prohibition.”

Klotz and Hall says that in 1920 the house was leased to moonshiners who used the house as a brewery. Eliot says the house has pipes, leading from the basement to the top floor, that easily could have been what they used to make and distribute the alcohol illegally.

According to Klotz and Hall, the Riverside County Sheriff raided the house. The rumor claims the moonshiner was shot and killed in the basement during the raid, haunting the house.

“There is a closet just off of one of the bedrooms, and the door would open on its own,” says Eliot. “There were numerous times when I lived in the bedroom (upstairs), I would wake up and hear someone walking on the steps

Ellen and Eliot Hewitt, former residents of the A. C. E. Hawthorne house holding an original drawing and photograph of the home.

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Clockwise from Top Left: A picture of the Hawthorn House covered in wisteria vine, circa the 1980s. The original triple fireplace inside the home provided heat with the tiles outlining them imported from Italy. Left to right: Judy, Jacob, Eliot and Jessica Hewitt during a visit in 1997.

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and nobody would be there. I would even go in and look in the other rooms, and everybody was asleep.”

As a child, the mystery of the story terrified Eliot. Today, he and his mother laugh about it.

The house was not haunted, just drafty.

“The closet opened because it had a bad latch,” she laughs, “And, well, it was an old house, so it creaked and groaned a lot.”

While visiting the house in October 2017, Eliot looked under the house where paneling is covering the foundation.

“If I crawl under there, I bet you I can find some of my old toys,” he says.

One toy in particular, was his remote control airplane, got stuck on the roof of the W.E. James Building at CBU, then California Baptist College. Eliot laughs remembering losing his toy to the James Building. Going inside and upstairs into his old room, Eliot found an old sticker he had put on the wall more than 40 years ago that reads, “DO NOT REMOVE THIS STICKER.” He, his mother and his wife, Judy Hewitt all marveled at the house while remembering its quirks and characteristics: a three-in-one fireplace adorned with imported Italian tiles, homemade paneling that Ellen Hewitt made to match the rest of the house and a wrap-around porch where the family would gather together.

“I did like that porch. I used to sit in the swing and look out over Magnolia Avenue,” Ellen Hewitt says.

While taking out a Polaroid photo, Eliot pointed out an old barn and the plant life surrounding the home.

“You can see this old decrepit-looking barn. There was a chicken coop on the other end. (There were) great big walnut trees that were taller than the house,” Eliot says. “This was a wisteria vine. I’ve got a piece of that vine that’s really big in my yard (in Tehachapi, CA) now. It kept growing.”

Although Ellen Hewitt says it was really just a garage rather than a barn, in the mind of a child, it was a barn because of the chicken coop and the many animals that lived close to the house.

The Hewitts' neighbors had pigs and another neighbor had a peacock that lived where the main parking lot is now located at CBU. At one point while the Hewitts lived in a different house for a few years, their renters had a cage of squirrel monkeys that astonished Eliot when he would visit.

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“I remember the neighbor’s pig. That was always fun. The kids loved it, so did I. Maybe even more than the kids,” Judy Hewitt says.

To Eliot and Judy, the house is full of memories when they were dating, married and had children of their own. The two of them giggled while reminiscing on stories the house helped them remember: their daughter Jessica Hewitt being too scared to sleep in one of the rooms, their son Jacob Hewitt’s bright red hair that stood out in all the photos at the house and Eliot Hewitt’s old Camaro that he refers to as his girlfriend, joking that he would do anything to get “her” back.

CBU allows the Hewitt family to see the house whenever they come to campus. Although the landscape has changed, there are parts of campus that bring Eliot and his family back to an earlier time: the James building, Wallace Theatre and Annie Gabriel Library. The Hewitts say these buildings, and many others, give them a taste of home and Riverside’s history.

For the Hewitts, the old home on CBU’s campus — what they call the “Ol’ Monroe House” — does the same.

Today the house sits surrounded by beautiful green landscape and a style-fitting gazebo near Monroe Avenue on CBU’s campus, a time capsule of Riverside’s past. ◆

Eliot and Judy Hewitt reflect back inside a room of the home he grew up in. Eliot Hewitt's Chevrolet Camaro sits idle in the driveway of the Hawthorne House.

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MUSLIM BY upbringing, christian by choice Implications of conversion despite familial heritage

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I just knew I did not want to spend another day without the Lord. The truth had finally set in.�

Sadaf Mahan

Written by Nadia Nawabi Illustrated by Jessica Rose

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raying five times a day, fasting during the month of Ramadan and doing good deeds to please Allah is the typical lifestyle for an individual of Islamic faith. Beyond their faith is their family, who stick together, inheriting their religion from generation to generation.

In Muslim cultures, departing from the religion can result in extreme persecution. But those who convert to Christianity, regardless of their fear of persecution, know their decision will lead to the eternal reward of salvation. “To ask a Muslim to convert is really asking a Muslim to deny the entire self,� says Fyne Nsofor, associate professor of intercultural studies at California Baptist University.

Mariam Aswad*, a woman from Saudia Arabia, earned a scholarship from the Saudi embassy to study at a university in the United * Names changed for security.

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Just because you’ve come to Christ does not mean you have to forget about your culture.”

Sadaf Mahan 12 | Pursuit

States. Before moving from the Islamic country, Aswad knew little about Christianity. She says she was taught by other Muslims that the Bible is corrupted and that all Christians are untrustworthy.

As Aswad transitioned into an American culture, she grew close with her college roommate, the first follower of Christ with whom Joyex had come into contact. It was Joyex’s first time learning about Christianity from a believer’s standpoint.

Though the seed of Christian faith had been planted, that seed had not yet begun to grow. Six years after her college experience, Aswad moved to Colorado. There she met six Muslims who converted to Christianity, and Aswad deeply connected with another woman also from Saudi Arabia.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Aswad says.

“Someone from my background, my country (and) my religion is now a follower of Christ.”

As Aswad became less confident in Islam, she was inclined to attend a local church.

However, she still substituted Jesus’ name for Allah during a sermon, fearful of the potential consequences of betraying her family religion.

This left her conflicted with many questions.

“I kept thinking, ‘How could God be a baby?’ and ‘The people he created killed him?’

To me it sounded weak. God should be more powerful,” Aswad says.

As she struggled to find truth, Joyex was then connected with another Christian from a Muslim background who greatly impacted her devotion to Christ.

Nabeel Qureshi, a pastor from Pakistan, gave her an analogy of Christ’s love for his children. He asked her if she would save her child from a hole even if she were dressed in nice clothing for an important meeting. When she positively said yes, he told Aswad of how Jesus did the same.

He pointed out while she is willing to do that for her child, Christ is willing to do so much more for his followers.

Aswad was convicted by the Holy Spirit and gave her life to Christ when she read through John 4:18 in the Bible, and learned that there is no fear in love.

The next step was letting her family know of her redirection in faith. New hardship was

heading her way, as Christianity is illegal in Saudi Arabia and her surname derived from the prophet Muhammad.

“It’s not easy. It comes with a cost, but God is gracious and I know he is working, so I don’t want to just keep it to myself,” Aswad says.

Similar to Aswad’s journey in finding Christ, Sadaf Mahan* also battled with the acceptance of Christianity because of her family history.

“I was so close to my dad,” Mahan says.

“He would show me off to everyone else in the mosque because I was so strong in my beliefs and I made the family look good.”

Mahan lived in a community surrounded

by Christians, but did not pay attention until she was in graduate school and developed a deep relationship with a believer who was previously an atheist, Derek Nelson*.

“We spent so much time together and we loved talking about what is true,” Mahan says.

“I used Ramadan as a way to witness to him and bought him a Quran and he also witnessed to me and bought me a Bible.”

Aaron’s witnessing led Mahan to resolve soul-searching questions. He directed her to some answers straight from the Bible.

Mahan went to a mosque to pray and ask for more answers, but was unsuccessful. She then ditched her pride and went to a Christian church, which resulted in Mahan devoting her life to Christ that very night.

“I just knew I did not want to spend another day without the Lord,” Mahan says.

“The truth had finally set in.”

Although Mahan found her happiness in walking with the Lord, she was troubled at the thought of telling her family and decided to write them a letter.

Not to her surprise, Mahan's father was outraged, fearing that people would find out about her abandonment of the religion. He believed she had become brainwashed.

As Mahan and Nelson's relationship grew, her father would not accept their decision to get married unless Nelson stated the Shara, a statement said at a wedding claiming faith in Islam. However, he did not comply with this agreement.

Loyalty to family ranks high in collectivistic cultures like Mahan’s. Her father

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was displeased and perceived her conversion to be a surrendering of her family’s beliefs that she had been instilled in her youth.

“My dad threatened me and said if you (do not) do this, your family will never talk to you again,” Rahimi says. “He’s not even a super devout Muslim. It’s all about pride and how we look to other Muslims.”

Mahan and Nelson were married without a single guest at their Hawaiian destination wedding. Mahan dealt with the guilt of abandoning her family.

“I was really angry for the longest time,” Mahan says. “I went through the whole stage of grieving and now I really pity them. But I learned that just like everybody else, they need Jesus and just because they’ve done something horrible to you, you can’t hold that against them. They don’t know Christ.”

Finding Christ with a Muslim background is a blessing for both Aswad and Mahan, but it is the sacrifices they have made along the way that have made their faith even stronger.

“It’s ironic (that) the religion is supposed to bring peace but most times it’s the source of a lot of controversies,” Nsofor says.

Today, Aswad can never return to her home country and see her family unless she converts back to Islam because of legal issues with religion. Since coming to Christ, Joyex has founded her own non-profit organization to reach other Muslims and introduce them to the Bible.

Although Mahan does not have a deep relationship with her family anymore, she has faith that through Christ anything is possible, like uniting an atheist and a Muslim in a Christcentered marriage.

“Just because you’ve come to Christ does not mean you have to forget about your culture,” Mahan says. “You should seek comfort in your nationality because the Lord will be raising nations and our identity is in Christ.” ◆

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True Affection Distorted Conversations & Disrupted Relationships Written by Morgan Culberson Illustrated by Taji Saleem

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couple sits at a candlelit table. She fiddles with her thumbs in her lap and he repeatedly pushes his hair out of his face. Their giddy nervousness makes it clear this is their first date. They place their order, putting down the menus that were concealing most of their reddened faces. The silence that ensues is evidently uncomfortable. Each of them shifts awkwardly in their seats, avoiding eye contact until the lack of conversation becomes too much and the man pulls out his phone to fill the void.

Reliance on technology is more prevalent than ever before, but its effects are still regularly debated. A 2014 study by the Pew Research Center showed that 45 percent of internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 said the internet has had a serious impact on their romantic relationship. This impact, however, can be both positive and negative. Certain aspects of technology can create opportunities to communicate where there would not have been a few decades ago.

“On the macro-level, (technology) has facilitated an easier way to connect with a lot of people. It has allowed for global communication,” says Marilyn Moore, associate professor of sociology at California Baptist University.

more distant forms of technology that utilize the written word, such as text messaging and social media, can bring unspoken hostility.

“On a micro-level, the most profound change has been in the ability to have effective interpersonal communication, especially among people who are close and have intimate relationships,” Moore says. “There’s a loss of empathy because there tends to be a ‘read through your own emotional filter and then do a judgmental or impulsive response,’ which oftentimes doesn’t match what the other person intended.”

his ability to communicate across time zones has largely changed the way people are able to interact with others. Consider the difference in the ability to communicate for military families or other long-distance relationships. They are no longer dependent on snail mail. FaceTime, Facebook Messenger and Snapchat video chat offer countless ways to

mpressing emotion into a received text message is easy to do because of the lack of tone and inflection. In a face-to-face conversation, communication takes form in so many ways beyond the verbal message. It is not just about the words people choose to use. Body language, inflection and spatial distance all play a part in the way another person’s words are understood. So when one reads a message lacking all those things, the underlying tone is likely to be misinterpreted.

“Sometimes it’s really difficult for us to communicate in the way that we want to over text message because we’re both sarcastic people, and sometimes messages are received in a different way than they’re intended to be received,” Gledhill says.

However, because technology also gives them a way to communicate rapidly, she says conflicts are always resolved quickly and easily by phone call.

But the negative effects of visual technology do not disappear when the phones are put away. This inability to communicate effectively through text messaging bleeds into other areas of life, changing the way people interact with

talk that imitate a face-to-face interaction via technology.

Kimberly Gledhill, sophomore sociology and Spanish double major, says FaceTime has allowed her and her long-distance boyfriend to have “virtual dates” while she is away at school. “(Technology) gives us the ability to communicate in a more intimate form than just notes, because we can call or FaceTime so I can actually hear his voice or see his face,” she says.

Certain forms of technology can establish closer bonds for couples who are unable to spend quality time together in person. But while video communication strengthens bonds,

others in a face-to-face environment.

“As more and more (people), especially young adults, spend more and more time communicating by reading one another’s messages: No. 1, there’s a lot more misunderstanding, and No. 2, there’s a loss of the skill of listening,” Moore says.

Technology has created the ability to hide behind a screen during uncomfortable situations; sending a passive-aggressive text message in lieu of having a vulnerable conversation, and talking with the intention of telling and not with the intention of conversing.

In her book “Caring for Words in a Culture

of Lies,” Marilyn Chandler McEntyre addresses this unwillingness to have real conversations: “Good conversation, if it is to involve mutual teaching and learning, does require courage — not only the courage of one’s convictions, but also the courage to admit one’s limited range of vision and to allow for change, which always exacts some cost in comfort and the security of being ‘right.’”

Having a conversation is not always about getting your point across or conveying your particular message. More often, it is about the back and forth and give and take.

It humbles, instructs and forces a person to listen to something other than his or her own conscience. Electronic communication, such as text messaging, takes that factor away. It removes the necessary collaboration in reallife communication and replaces it with a simple tool to tell. f course, telling does not have to be a bad thing. It can be helpful for quick “on my way” messages, but if it is used as a replacement for regular conversation, it runs the risk of taking the “humanness” out of human interaction.

So, how does one address the way technology affects our relationships? Moore encourages couples to be proactive and start a dialogue about what role technology plays in their relationships.

“Couples need to talk about how they are going to use technological communication. Are we going to use social media, for example, to kind of portray to our friends the state of our relationship, and is that a good idea? Or are we going to use it to stay in touch? Are we going to spend more time in text-messaging communication keeping in touch? Or are we going to do more face-to-face?” Moore says.

Being honest about the role and impact that technology has is key to keeping it from damaging the relationship.

The intentionality of conversation within relationships is often traded for the rapidity of technology. Despite the good that it can bring, it can also distort communication and disrupt relationships. Technology may not be able to be forgone altogether, but deliberate efforts can be made to take control of the role it plays in relationships and refuse to let it take away true connection with friends and loved ones. ◆

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Written by Diana Corona Photos by Tyler Bradley ou fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it,” writes Elizabeth Gilbert, author of “Eat, Pray, Love.”

Gilbert wrote the book to tell a story about a woman seeking a new and happier life for herself; the woman finds strength and happiness in being alone. The author shares a powerful narrative that addresses a self-seeking, bold jump to happiness while discussing the cultures of the world.

The best-selling novel sparked the interests of thousands of women with dreams of experiencing international cultures and falling in love with places of which one would never think. But traveling is

why more women are traveling alone

more than eating good food and falling in love. Media shapes the expectations – for better or worse – of travels for women. But what they should expect might be surprising.

For some women, traveling is an escape from the restrictions and expectations of never having to leave home — an escape from the doubts ingrained in society pressuring them not to do so. Thirty years ago, traveling alone internationally was not a privilege in which many women could partake because of the lack of women’s rights abroad and limited availability of information, now provided by the internet and social media, significantly fewer women traveled alone. hrough the internet, blogs and social media, women become more aware of the “must-do’s” in traveling, including where it is safe to travel, what to wear and what to say. Learning the cultures of the places to where one travels is an essential strategy for traveling alone that books like “Eat Pray Love” and others might not consider. In fact, women who are ignorant in travel might sometimes be seen as impulsive. However, if there is a time for a woman to travel, it is now.

The internet has contributed a large amount to the accessibility of travel and the information needed to prepare for a trip on one’s own, including mobile applications for directions, books based on real-life travel experiences, and websites that inform audiences about the cultural norms in countries. The access to all this is a privilege in

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itself, making traveling for women easier.

Traveling alone as a woman should not be intimidating, but traveling safely is a priority.

Fear should not consume women or stop them from the beauty the world has to offer, but traveling should be done well. A majority of women who blog about traveling the world alone share stories relating to their steps for precaution and safety — ­ where to park to sleep for the night, what to wear in India, how to communicate with people in Spain, or who to stay away from at particular times of day.

“It comes down to education. If there are no travel warnings on the place, and you know the culture is not going to shame you or put you in danger, as long as you’re willing to educate yourself, you can lower the risks a ton,” says

are inevitable, but they can be lowered through awareness and education.

Throughout the course of Ramirez’s college career, she has managed to backpack across Mexico for four weeks with the intention of exploring her roots. She then backpacked throughout Hawaii and China. Hopping from Hong Kong to Bangkok to southern Thailand to Japan made her culture shock even grander.

Julie Dobbins, director of Compassion and Women’s Ministries at California Baptist University. “I wouldn’t want women to think they can’t do something because they’re a woman, but there’s still a way to do it well.”

placed on her there were irrelevant overseas.

Brannon says she came to find out a lot about herself through traveling, “It is an incredibly empowering experience to recognize your own strength and capability.”

In the context of safety as a solo traveler, Iona Brannon, Brannon says, “There is CBU alumna a world out there that is both beautiful and ugly, but we cannot live in fear of the ugly and pass by all the beautiful.”

The privilege of traveling has only increased and more women are considering solo trips because of it. In the context of today, women have more rights, education and a greater opportunity to travel.

“I was wasting my time waiting for others

ear of being hurt can often mean holding oneself back from becoming independent, but with media so ingrained in the culture, it is almost impossible to not be educated enough to make a solo trip comfortable.

“I broke the social norm and found myself to be more independent,” says Yolena Ramirez, senior communication major at Humboldt State University. “Women let society pick a role for them that discourages them to be alone and to be more attached to the feeling of being victimized and delicate or fragile.”

Ramirez’s experience has been filled with the message that women cannot travel alone without a male because it is unsafe. Through the experience, she says she grew a sixth sense, becoming more aware of her surroundings in order to take care of herself.

“In this male-dominated society, women have been strongly encouraged to listen to their fears, play things safe and explore the unknown only under the ‘protection of man,’” says Iona Brannon, CBU alumna.

Both Brannon and Ramirez say they have received strong criticism and discouragement for their decision to travel alone. Although they were raised in significantly different environments, they received the same attitudes and expectations. The risks of traveling alone

oming from small towns and experiencing new places helped Ramirez diversify her own set of values as she learned from theirs. She says she found happiness in exploring different cultures and understanding there is a world outside of her hometown. She understood the limitations

There is a world out there that is both beautiful and ugly, but we cannot live in fear of the ugly and pass by all the beautiful.”

to catch onto my ideas and plans,” Ramirez says. “When you take the initiative and travel alone, there is no wait-time for your dreams.”

Traveling around the world is an exciting opportunity, but sometimes books that inspire wanderlust might not be the most accurate depiction of what to expect. With the right amount of education, planning and execution, traveling alone as a woman is an idea in which to find more excitement than fear when experiencing all the world has to offer. ◆ Left: The Pigeon Point historical lighthouse sits on the coast along California Highway 1.

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Written by Alexandra Applegate Photos by Iamilett Picon fter 50.3 miles along the Santa Ana River Trail, they finally made it to the coast. Exhausted, sweating and laughing, the three men rolled their bikes off the sidewalk and collapsed onto the sand at Newport Beach.

The distance of the ride had not been the only speedbump on their journey. The night before the ride was also long for AJ Ursua, senior biology and instrumental performance double major. While preparing for the trip looming ahead of him, he discovered a hole in his bicycle tire. Ursua decided it was not a problem; he would buy a tire pump.

After trying unsuccessfully to pump the tire, he noticed the air wheezing out of the pump itself.

At this point, Ethan Marrs, sophomore applied theology major, and JC Bautista, sophomore nursing major, thought they were off the hook — they thought the tire difficulties meant they would not have to cycle the 50 miles the next morning. But Ursua refused to give up. After fixing the tire, sleeping for a brief hour and waking up with the sun, the men were finally ready to embark on their ride from California Baptist University to Newport Beach.

With wind and cars rushing past them, the trio began their trip. They left campus and rode west down Magnolia Avenue. As they began

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Ethan Marrs, sophomore applied theology major, and JC Bautista, sophomore nursing major, pedal along the roads paved across Newport Beach after a 50-mile trip.

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to pass through Corona and Santa Ana, the roads and buildings slowly faded into towering mountains, which had peaks so high they had to stretch their necks to see them. Finally, the hot, heavy air began to dissipate into fresh, cool ocean breeze. The men took it in with deep breaths.

Around mile 10, Bautista, a first-time cyclist, suddenly realized he was not positive how a bicycle worked.

“I haven’t ridden a bike since seventh grade,” Bautista says. “I found this out literally while I was riding: They change gears. I didn’t realize that behind me the gears were switching and the chain was moving. I just thought one setting was asking less help from God and one setting was asking more help from God.” Ursua laughs and humbly explains he had to ride next to Bautista and help him change gears along the way.

Bautista and Marrs, fellow male chorale members, say they have been encouraged by Ursua in their personal lives, schoolwork, male chorale and now, cycling to Newport.

“AJ has definitely encouraged me in different ways with problems in my life,” Bautista says. “He especially did it today. He could have kept going and left me behind but AJ slowed down and helped. Even when you think you’re super-alone and tired, he has that energy, backs you up and makes you feel good.”

Mars added “When you’re struggling, he’ll go above and beyond to make you feel better about it. Even when you’re not struggling, he pushes you to keep going.”

Ursua initially wanted to cycle with people from the male chorale and other students from CBU to make better connections with people with whom he already spent a lot of time.

THE TAKEOFF “Honestly, my idea for this started because I was trying to get people to know each other differently within this really large group of people in male chorale,” Ursua says.

Ursua felt the men could have deeper and more meaningful relationships with each other than simply working together. He wanted to know their pet peeves, struggles and joys.

“We have surface-level conversations with people all the time,” Ursua says. “We spend massive amounts of time with these people – we’re always together – but there was a lack of relationships. “

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Ursua says he had grown up cycling, so it was the first activity to which he resorted. Both of his younger siblings are mountain biking state champions and his entire family has spent many hours on their bikes, exploring and racing. Cycling is second nature to Ursua.

“It’s a really peaceful sport,” Ursua says.

“Cycling is like walking. There’s never a point where you can’t walk or ride anymore. You can just zone out and enjoy it.”

THE FOCUS Ursua has ridden the Santa Ana River Trail three other times with other CBU students and often goes with them to places around Riverside. Being secluded on bikes, without interruptions or technology, offers a haven where relationships can thrive.

“Other seniors and leaders (in male chorale) lead Bible studies and I help with those. Even then, there are 15 people there. I’m just trying to start smaller groups,” Ursua says.

“On a bike, it’s really quiet so we can just talk.

We do music all the time. On our bikes, we can just get to know each other.”

Bautista was not even sure he wanted to join the other two on their cycling adventure but he said Ursua insisted, simply texting Bautista: “You’re coming.” So he did.

While the underclassmen voice their appreciation for how Ursua has come alongside them as a peer and leader, Ursua modestly points to the men who came before him and were there for him as a freshman.

“There are freshmen I call to get them out of bed to go to class because otherwise, they won’t,” Ursua says. “But I had someone call me.

Being that for someone is the role everyone should fill as they get older.”

Through cycling, these men have been able to relate to each other deeply and genuinely.

“We’ve gotten to know each other in extremely sincere, raw ways,” Ursua says.

“There’s a lot more sincerity in people. I’ve been really encouraged by (Bautista and Marrs) especially.”

For one trip, Steven Dahlgren, assistant professor of music and director of male chorale, was encouraged by Ursua to join the group for the 50 miles to the beach.

Dahlgren says he was nervous to ride because he had not been on a bicycle since high school but Ursua encouraged him to try.

Ursua worked for weeks to find suitable

bicycles, equipment, clothing and snacks for those who wanted to join them. He also organized the schedule and found a ride back for everyone involved.

“AJ’s job as leader and encourager started long before we actually put foot to pedal that day,” Dahlgren says. “Once we got rolling that morning, he worked especially hard to make sure this old guy, as well as everyone else, were still pedaling, still enjoying and still making progress toward the beach.”

Ursua says he realizes he is surrounded by leaders and encouragers in the choir room and on the road so he never has to do this alone.

THE JOURNEY “It’s the community CBU has fostered.

It’s really empowering for student leaders to grow and to encourage the underclassmen academically and spiritually,” Ursua says. “I have been really encouraged by conversations with them, hearing about their lives and testimonies.”

Ursua says part of building sincere relationships is allowing everyone to be honest with one another about the struggles they are facing at that moment.

“We can’t always put on a face that we’re OK all the time. It’s OK to have bad days and help each other through it,” Ursua says. “There have been days when I’m down and they have to talk me out of a hole. And there are days when they’re a mess and we go get ice cream and try to talk about things.”

While investing time in younger students is valuable, Ursua says people gain more from relationships that are mutually beneficial.

“The benefit of college is getting to know people (on this level) and forming relationships that are symbiotic,” Ursua says. “Not just pouring everything into them as upperclassmen and being really prideful, thinking they can’t help me at all. The energy these guys have given me this year has pushed me through.”

Ursua says he hopes one day to take a week-long trip with other students from the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles to San Francisco. For now, Ursua says he recognizes life is not meant to be lived alone; he continues to pursue relationships outside of the choir room one meaningful connection and cycling trip at a time. ◆

It’s a really peaceful sport. Cycling is like walking. I don’t think there’s ever a point where you can’t walk or ride anymore. You can just zone out and enjoy it.”

AJ Ursua, senior biology and instrumental performance major

Opposite Page: AJ Ursua, senior biology and instrumental performance major, rests his hands on the grips of his bicycle after a ride from Riverside to Newport Beach.

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Traveling

During Times of Crisis Fighting against the fear of travel Written by Morgan Culberson Photos by Tyler Bradley terrorist bombing in Brussels, Belgium on March 22, 2016. Less than four months later, a truck deliberately driven through a crowd of people in Nice, France. Later that year in December, another truck, this time driven through a crowd of people at the Berlin Christmas market.

Yet, it was less than a month later that Sarah Rodriguez, senior English major at California Baptist University, boarded a plane to study abroad in Europe for four months.

One only has to turn on the news on any day to see the seemingly countless attacks claimed by terrorist groups. It is overwhelming and heartwrenching — the number of lives lost in these attacks and the vast spread of what

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feels like a pandemic of horrific violent acts.

Yet Rodriguez, along with tens of millions of other U.S. citizens, still dare to travel beyond the borders of North America.

“A terrorist attack could happen anywhere,” Rodriguez says. “It could happen here in Riverside, so you could stay here in Riverside your whole life, or you could go out and live and see things.”

Rodriguez’s refusal to give into fear may be shocking but is not unheard of. Many others who have traveled despite recent terrorism have voiced the same opinion: It is not the absence of fear that allows them to explore the world, but rather the intentional choice not to let their fear make their decisions.

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Chris Kanuha, hospitality and tourism major at Grossmont Community College, is of the same mindset even though he came faceto-face with a political uprising in 2016. He happened to be in Berlin at the time a riot broke out protesting a decision made by Chancellor Angela Merkel about the Syrian refugee crisis.

As he exited a train platform, he witnessed the protesters “screaming and chanting while the police barked orders.” Although he admits it was “really scary” to be so close to the conflict, he continued with his planned trip and even maintained his plan to go to Munich three weeks later, where a mass shooting had just taken place.

“We had our itinerary set to go to Munich already when we heard about the attack there.

It was scary we were going to be there ­— we didn’t know what was going to happen — but I personally tried to not let that fear consume me,” Kanuha says. “The world is going through

the same issues it always has gone through.”

He says that although it was nervewracking and confusing being in Germany during that time, especially because he did not speak the language well, he was confronted with German citizens who held remarkably positive outlooks in the midst of the chaos.

His most powerful memory, Kanuha says, was coming upon a simple, white handwritten poster that read “Liebe ist stärker als Hass” — in English, “Love is stronger than Hate.” Beneath the poster lay handfuls of flowers, an act of recognition and respect for the philosophy put forth by the anonymous advocate.

Ironically, the statistics on terrorism do not match the heightened fear prevalent in the United States In fact, recent statistics show deaths by terrorism globally have steadily declined over the past few years.

A peak of more than 32 thousand deaths by terrorism hit in 2014, and within just two years

that number decreased by almost 10 thousand.

This is not to minimize the significance of these deaths — of course, even five deaths a year by terrorist attacks is too many — but to show that while fear of terrorism continues to swell, the evidence supporting that fear is becoming lesser by the year.

“We see (violence) in the media a lot more,” says Aura Donaldson, CBU director of academic engagement. Donaldson is heavily involved in the study abroad programs available at CBU. “Things have happened in the world throughout history that maybe we hear about later, but it wasn’t in real-time. Now it’s in real-time,” Donaldson says. “You just get to see it at a different depth, and people are really connecting when they hear stories of people that are unfiltered.”

The information technology revolution has surely brought about countless improvements, but it has also given more exposure to acts of terrorism around the world. Horrible things have always been happening, but improvements in technology have allowed people to tune in to things they would not have been able to 50 years ago. They can see them up close and personal while being bombarded with appalling images daily. Naturally, they would think these attacks are worse than they ever have been.

Of course, these things do happen. Violent things do happen; terrorist attacks do happen.

But humans are not blank slates to be drawn Far Left: A culvert protects travelers from the spray of Staubbach Falls, a waterfall in the Interlaken region of Switzerland. Left: Windmills stand in front of the sunrise in Kansas. Top Left: A sign of the 267 subway stations in London. Above Right: The flag of Thailand waves in the sky.

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on. We have the ability to analyze and criticize, to make wise and informed decisions about traveling without giving into a debilitating fear.

“If there’s a travel warning in a location because of political unrest or civil war or anything like that, we take those issues very seriously," Donaldson says. "We must go through an approval process with administration and the board of trustees and discuss the possible travel implications before approving student travel. Are there areas we shouldn’t go? Yes. And at any given time that could change, depending on what’s happening in a location.”

Although technology has played a large part in inflaming apprehensions, it also has given the opportunity to conduct research before traveling anywhere. A quick visit to the Department of State’s website provides countless resources: packing lists, information about travel insurance, specific environmental conditions about travel locations worldwide and emergency contact information.

Perhaps one of its most vital resources is the regularly updated list of travel warnings

and alerts. As a person plans any kind of trip, the site sends out alerts about any areas that should be avoided — whether it be because of weather, high crime or terrorist activity.

And these resources give everyone incredible opportunities to experience culture and experience people groups in a new way.

“Whether you’re a believer or not, you’re an ambassador for this country while you’re traveling abroad. It gives a lot of our students the opportunity to be possibly the only American that others will experience,” Donaldson says.

The bottom line: There will indefinitely be reasons to avoid traveling.

But instant access to the world has a habit of provoking fears and proliferating justifications to remain in a small, safe bubble.

Realistically, there is just as much reason to travel more as there is to stay home — increased information, access to countless resources and pre-planning suggestions from others who have been to the places others hope to visit. Fear is not an excuse to remain isolated, ignorant and immobile. ◆

Above: The steeple of the University Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in Oxford, England.

Right: The California 190 Highway stretches across Death Valley National Park.

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We see violence in the media a lot more.�

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e live in a society that has been systematically developed for people to continuously aspire to more. Advancement in every aspect of life is a reoccurring goal. However, this advancement, which society deeply encourages, has fostered the desperation for materialistic objects.

Materialism has become a force that created a new consumer-culture, specifically among college millennials.

“Most young people use materialistic things to escape the true conception of themselves,” says Ryan Jentson, junior nursing major. “I’ve seen people buy fake designer clothes, just to feed their ego.”

Debt from loans and the immense pressure to produce funds for expenses is not unfamiliar among college students. However, while juggling these financial responsibilities,

society,” says Madeline McJunkin, sophomore intercultural studies major. “Celebrities and the media play a role in glorified materialism; we look up to these people who have everything.”

McJunkin’s time overseas created empathy in her for those who have less. She also utilized this time to reflect on her own materialism.

“I lived out of a 60-liter backpack with seven outfits for nine months and I still had much more than I needed. I realized I used shopping and things to fill voids inside of me, but God filled those voids with church, authentic community and joy that comes through serving.”

Materialism is not only depicted through popular culture and social media, but heavily in the church. The “Prosperity Gospel” is the idea that blessings from God come in the form of possessions and wealth. This has been a magnet for young believers because this generation is

students manage to acquire materialistic objects.

This may lead one to question: Are student’s priorities aligned within his or her studies or materials? It is becoming more difficult to believe the “broke college student” stereotype because of the excessive amount of money spent in various ways.

A survey conducted by Study Break magazine showed that 60 percent of college students are spending their money on electronics and $1,200 is the average amount spent on entertainment each year by students, an amount that can be equivalent to a scholarship.

The importance they often place on worldly possessions can be detrimental. The sheer volume of information young people consume from popular culture and social media dictates what they value.

Millennials high consumption of objects shows possessions supersede things that are not tangible, such as a peace of mind, morals and spiritual consciousness.

Popular culture is full of celebrities endorsed by expensive brands, whose intent is to have popularity produce money. Social media has become a platform to be boastful and indulge in one’s accomplishments rather than a tool to connect with people.

A sense of complacency can be created when one spends all day scrolling down a timeline of celebrities that constantly illustrate opulence.

“A ton of pressure is put on us from

fixated on receiving.

The “Prosperity Gospel” proposes the idea that the believer uses God. However, God is the one who uses the believer.

“We’re like gold-diggers waiting for these faulty-blessing-bank accounts,” says Jacob Ravenscraft, director of university ministries at California Baptist University.

Ravenscraft says young people ranging from ages 18-30 who have expectations for immediate blessings — drawn from prosperity — will eventually leave the church disappointed not realizing prosperity gospel is not the gospel at all. Jesus says in John 10:10 that he has come to give life more abundantly; nowhere in that passage did he say that would equate to possessions.

“This world is consumer-oriented world, and the economy runs off what people can get,” Ravenscraft says.

Though materialism may be identified as a small problem to some people compared to other dilemmas college millennials face, the dependency can evolve into long term issues.

A study conducted by the psychology journal Motivation and Emotion shows that when people are consumed with materialism their sense of relationships, purpose and rest decreases. When they are less consumed with amassing things, it increases.

“People are really depressed but turning to material objects for comfort and approval from others,” says Brina Russell, junior sociology major. “If your focus is directed mainly on material objects you must determine whether

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this habit stems from a deeply rooted issue. “ On this journey to receiving a higher education, students are cautioned to not go off course by indulging in the common collegeage addiction of materialism. No object can fill any void or unresolved issues they may find within themselves. If contentment in life was credited to the things possessed, it would be a misconception. Material aspiration is promoted constantly in society, but it is just a formula for how to be unhappy. ◆

I lived out of a 60-liter backpack with seven outfits for nine months and I still had much more than I needed. I realized I used shopping and things to fill voids inside of me, but God filled those voids.�

Madeline McJunkin, sophomore intercultural studies major

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Texas hurricane ministry rises out of disaster

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LIFESTYLE

Written by Tess Schoonhoven Photos by Austin Romito The toxic floodwaters that surged through coastal regions of Texas at the end of last summer left Emily Perez devastated. She lost every physical thing she held dear, forced to reckon with unimaginable pain and heartache.

Perez was one of the many homeowners who experienced immense damage to their homes and faced thousands of dollars in repairs because of the disaster.

Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 hurricane that lasted nine days, spreading across 3,1000 miles and causing billions of dollars of damage

them love and kindness.

While preparations were in full swing for the 2017 Halloween bash, Hurricane Harvey hit Perez’s home.

The floodwaters destroyed everything that would have been used for the party, taking with it any hope Perez had of continuing her ministry for those who she cares for deeply — children with disabilities.

California Baptist University had the opportunity to engage with community members, helping those affected by the

in the coastal bend regions hurricane by sending a team of Texas, disrupted the of 50 students and staff to lives of all who live there.

Texas.

Homeowners lost nearly There they met Perez everything, leaving and her son Matthew. tragedy and lost in its CBU students and staff place. spent two full days cleaning Prior to the out and beginning repairs hurricane, Perez had on homes that seemed been serving her local impossible to save, including community in Cypress, Perez’s home.

While Texas, for the past three students and staff spent years by hosting events many days throwing out geared toward children Perez’s furniture, gutting and young adults with all the drywall, breaking tile disabilities.

Perez and taking out appliances, developed a passion for it was clear Perez’s home serving this community was devastated by the toxic in particular because her floodwaters.

20-year-old son Matthew By the end of the tiring Emily Perez, is living with Down weekend, Perez’s belongings Texas homeowner syndrome. were turned into a mound Matthew’s favorite of trash in her front yard, holiday is Halloween. For the past three years including all the items she had planned to use Perez has planned a Halloween party for at the party for her son.

Matthew and the local families with children or The impact of the hurricane was not only friends who deal with similar disabilities. The unbearably difficult for Perez and the rest of children come for an evening to enjoy games, her community, but it caused deep-seated pain food and dancing — a chance to live carefree for her son Matthew. with all their friends in one place for a moment.

Matthew’s livelihood and connection to The Halloween party, and other similar happiness rested in his home. His bedroom events Perez plans throughout the year, are was his safe haven. Hurricane Harvey took catered specifically for these disabled people — away any sense of belonging and peace in those who so often are not shown unconditional Matthew’s heart. love. Perez sees their worth and pain, so she Left: Rubble sits in the driveway of a home damaged by Hurricane Harvey. dedicates her time to creating events to show

Even though all this happened, I feel God has given me a clean canvas on which to paint a better picture.”

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Above: Jacob Campbell, junior business administration major, tears insulation out of a damaged wall.

When visiting the site where his home once stood, Matthew refused to get out of the car because he did not understand why his room, along with his belongings, were gone.

He did not understand why he had to sleep in a hotel.

“Matthew’s been having a hard time,” Perez says. “He’s a bitter guy. He’s not happygo-lucky anymore.”

Emily and Matthew had faced other scarring losses in recent years with the death of family members. This pain combined with the hurricane completely wrecked any security that Matthew had and caused him to harbor feelings of anger and frustration.

But it is Emily Perez’s mentality that pulled her through this tragedy. Instead of allowing this storm to ruin her ministry and divide her family, she saw an opportunity for a fresh start.

“Even though all this happened, I feel God has given me a clean canvas on which to paint a better picture for me and Matthew,” Perez says. “When the water was rising I feared for Matthew because he can’t swim. I kept telling him, ‘You hold me around my waist and we’re gonna walk through the floodwaters. It’s gonna be OK.’” The morning after the floodwaters had peaked, Emily Perez’s fears were heightened.

Just as salvation from the destructive hurricane appeared impossible, Perez and her son were rescued from their drowning home.

In the following weeks, Perez and her family had to come to grips with the immense loss that resulted from the raging waters of Hurricane Harvey. Perez thought she would have to call off the Halloween party for her son and the community of those affected by disabilities.

But the miracle came when the same community she had spent years serving offered help in her time of need.

The community donated food and a venue, and people volunteered to work the event. The help people involved in the ministry were willing to offer revealed to Perez the impact she had on them.

The help from the CBU students who came to bring relief to victims of the hurricane not only relieved Perez of many bills to hire workers to fix her home but also renewed her spirit, giving her hope for the future of her family and her ministry.

Hope was restored through close community despite the tragedy of the hurricane. Those who rose up around Perez and her family to give her support in a time of intense need helped rebuild her life, materially and emotionally.

Perez laughed with joy, clapping her hands in thanksgiving for the help from the students and others in her community as she exclaimed, “Look what God gave me. He gave me y’all.” ◆

Hope was restored through close community despite the tragedy of the hurricane.

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Top Left: Gabriella Ortega, CBU alumna, uses the backside of her hammer to dismantle a damaged wall.

Top Right: Emily Perez, Texas homeowner and hurricane victim, smiles gleefully after seeing the clean up progress at her house. Bottom: Volunteers from CBU stand alongside Perez after a hard day's work helping restore her home.

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College Cookbook

Healthy Recipes for Broke College Students

Text and Photos by Katie Ring Illustrated by Taji Saleem

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iving a healthy lifestyle is seemingly impossible as a college student trying to balance having a social life, resisting the temptation to eat waffles three times a week, studying for the dozens of tests, drinking one’s entire body weight in water, and still getting eight hours of sleep with a few necessary intermittent naps.

Eating wholesome and hearty meals is a valid struggle, but similar to everything in life, it takes practice. A healthy lifestyle will not develop overnight, but like most habits it takes consistency. Ways to make healthy food choices on a budget are available come morning, noon or night.

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Buckwheat Pancakes Ingredients ¾ cup Arrowhead Mills Buckwheat pancake mix 1 egg 2 tsp coconut oil 2 tsp honey 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp nutmeg ¾ cup almond or coconut milk Directions 1. Stir all ingredients until lumps disappear.

2. Lightly oil griddle with coconut oil.

3. Pour pancakes and flip when bubbles appear. For thinner pancakes, use more milk.

4. Serve with syrup and enjoy.

Morning Start Smoothie Ingredients 2 Dino kale leafs or one cup of baby spinach or kale 1 cup frozen or fresh mangos 3 frozen bananas 1 cup coconut water or organic almond milk 1/2 seeded cucumber 1/4 cup of parsley or mint Handful of ice Directions 1. Add all ingredients to blender 2. Blend until fully mixed.

3. Serve in cup of choice and enjoy.

Winter Salad Ingredients 1 tomato ½ avocado ¼ cucumber ½ cup brown rice Handful of mixed greens Handful of sprouts 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar Salt and pepper for taste Directions 1. Chop tomato, cucumber and avocado and set aside.

2. Prepare brown rice and place on top of mixed greens.

3. Add tomato, cucumber and avocado to top of salad.

4. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic on salad, add salt and pepper, and top with sprouts.

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SHARED MOMENTS Enriching lives from the ground up

Words by Randy Plavajka Photos by Randy Plavajka & Phillip Ndowu ive people efficiently maneuver through a small storefront at 3 o’clock on a Tuesday afternoon, shuffling about and working on their own assignments for the day; one designing a flyer for an upcoming event, another weighing out packages for distribution, and a third unleashing a flurry of freshly roasted coffee beans into a cooling tray.

White walls and an exposed ceiling are connected by supporting beams as rays of natural light pour in through the windows, casting a subtle glow on the main room of the storefront.

Posters bearing each employee’s weekly and monthly goals can be seen on the otherwise open wall space within the shop, a testament to their mutual grind.

A playlist reflective of each person’s eclectic taste in music fills the rest of the space alongside a tall communal table, leather couches and small workstations dotted evenly through the store’s layout.

The owners navigate the compact building with cellphones and laptops in hand, negotiating wholesale orders and other business dealings with rigid expressions on their faces.

Stevie Hasemeyer and Shane Levario, coowners of Riverside's Arcade Coffee Roasters, operate their business with composure and a collective vision, apparent even on “off days” when their storefront fulfills and ships all of its

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large roasting orders.

It is clear the duo complements each other well as Levario roasts another substantial batch of coffee beans and Hasemeyer efficiently types up necessary invoices for the wholesale orders in progress.

They first came to know one another through a church youth group. Hasemeyer was able to mentor a then-teenaged Levario and provide guidance as questions of purpose, identity and faith arose.

The two would meet at a local Starbucks and discuss books together ­— a forum that gave Levario time to voice his career aspirations and long-range goals.

“I would always tell him, ‘I really want to work at Starbucks,’ and how it was my dream job; how badly I wanted to work there,” Levario says.

His initial passion found a home with Hasemeyer’s first sizable coffee company, Torch Coffee Roasters.

Torch was his entrance into the coffee industry and the byproduct of an overseas experience Hasemeyer had after graduating from California Baptist University in 2010.

“I went to China as like a vision trip trying to understand what it would look like to be a missionary,” Hasemeyer says. “We ended up driving to the Tibetan countryside because (the workers) were using coffee as a way to stay connected with Tibetans in remote areas; it was

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Left: Shane Levario, co-owner of Arcade Coffee Roasters, prepares an Americano during a long Tuesday roasting shift.

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Coffee connects everything for me. It’s a way to connect with people in the way it creates relationships."

Shane Levario, co-owner of Arcade Coffee Roasters

Left: Shane Levario, co-owner of Arcade, pours a heart-shaped design during the shop's recent “Pour & Destroy” event. Middle: Corey Atchley, employee, scoops fresh coffee beans into a bucket before they are roasted. Right: Arthur White, employee, weighs out small portions of coffee beans for tests and sampling.

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LIFESTYLE

something so incredible to witness.”

Upon his return to the United States, Hasemeyer began learning more about coffee and roasting alongside a close friend. As the shared craft gradually became a viable pursuit, he knew they would need a roasting machine just to make small batches of roasted beans.

“We drove all the way out to Arizona and bought a roaster from a bounty hunter and started roasting coffee,” Hasemeyer says candidly. “At first we would burn everything we touched and as we got better it would still take like an hour to roast a pound of coffee.”

The small operation, known as Barnyard Coffee Roasters, would lay the groundwork for Hasemeyer to formally join the industry.

From there, Torch was conceptualized as a joint venture between Hasemeyer and the professional contacts he had made while overseas in China.

He developed the brand for a couple of years, hired Levario onto the team and led Torch to a fair amount of success overall, but Hasemeyer says there was a point at which his vision and the original partners’ vision for the growing company fell out of alignment.

Hasemeyer and Levario say their complementary vision, passion for the community and development of a real culture within the city evolved into what is now Arcade.

Today, their vision best manifests itself in a simple mantra: Create shared moments.

When the company launched as Arcade in 2015, the idea was simply to form a community in Riverside that cares about good coffee, and more importantly, one another.

Both Riverside natives, Hasemeyer and Levario say they saw a unique community in Riverside that they wanted to help grow and flourish.

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Right: Kyle Brown, employee, and Stevie Hasemeyer, coowner of Arcade, work on a flyer design for an upcoming event at the store.

“My heart has always been for Riverside,” Hasemeyer says. “I love Riverside; I love being here; it is where I am from. And honestly, I am just tired of Los Angeles and Orange County having all of the cool things.”

Levario says the potential for Arcade to make a positive impact in the city has been something to which he and Hasemeyer were always drawn.

“I have seen so much, especially in the past, being a part of Torch and Arcade, of this unique community of people wanting to see Riverside grow,” Levario says. “We see a ton of potential and wanted to be a part of that, we wanted to help build a better, stronger community.”

Three years, countless customers and one stressful storefront opening later, the community they have curated has grown immensely within the city.

Hasemeyer recalls the hardships accompanying the opening of Arcade’s current location, a process he says opened his eyes to the reality of progressing as a small business.

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“A lot of times leading up to our opening, I was always putting the blame on other people,” Hasemeyer says. “I realized I can’t blame other people for this company not working anymore; it was all up to me if it was going to work.”

On May 31, 2017, this rediscovered perseverance paid off and the shop on Chicago Avenue officially opened its doors for business.

Arcade is a culmination of the passion Hasemeyer, Levario and the entire staff carry for serving the Riverside community they have worked so hard to build and maintain throughout the years.

This passion has led to something greater than Levario and Hasemeyer originally anticipated for the roasting company. Primarily a wholesale operation, Arcade has found a great deal of success in retail, its subscription-based services, pop-ups at local colleges and other special events.

Levario says they are not afraid to step outside of their comfort zone as a business and attempt something new. This line of thinking helped Hasemeyer establish a formal

relationship with his business, Arcade, and his alma mater, CBU. “Wake Up Wednesdays,” CBU and Arcade’s weekly pop-up events, are now a fixture within the company’s schedule and has further brought the Riverside community together simply through quality service of drinks at a local university.

Arcade’s following has grown rapidly since its founding, a standout among the local competition by no coincidence.

The company serves customers not as a business but rather as an extended family.

Levario says there is no act or facade, unlike some trendy shops in Los Angeles and Orange County, because the employees of Arcade genuinely care about their patrons and the product they are delivering on a daily basis.

This is best exemplified, Hasemeyer says, with Arcade’s production process. From start to finish, Levario or Corey Atchley, one of Arcade’s roasters, is preparing, testing and correcting the coffee being served until it is perfect.

“I just don’t know any other coffee shop

around that is so intimately connected with the coffee where we can taste it, know what we need to change, and then serve something that is even better than when we originally served it,” Hasemeyer says.

This connection is what ultimately makes Arcade so special and even translates to how shared moments happen as a result of Arcade’s service.

Levario says seeing those connections and bonds people form just while standing in line or sharing drinks and a conversation make it all worthwhile.

“Coffee connects everything for me. It’s a way to connect with people in the way it creates relationships,” Levario says. “Coffee is kind of like that ‘center’ for everything.”

Hasemeyer and Levario, alongside the entirety of Arcade’s staff, have gradually become a more integral part of Riverside's community simply through helping create shared moments. It is exactly those moments that make Arcade one-of-a-kind and keep customers coming back daily. ◆

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The Reality of

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HEFNER & WEINSTEIN Grappling with legacies of accused sexual abusers s soon as The New York Times sexually harass and manipulate many released the sexual harassment women over decades. claims against noted movie “The additional allegations of assault producer Harvey Weinstein, that I read this morning made me sick. a former studio executive, on Oct. 5, the This is completely unacceptable, and I entertainment industry found itself ablaze find myself asking what I can do to make in turmoil. sure this doesn’t happen to others.”

Weinstein’s scandal ignited a global Soon after Affleck posted his tweet, uproar with women and men from many criticized him for being hypocritical. celebrities to everyday citizens as they They accused him of knowing of the began opening up about their own sexual presence of sexual harassment, tweeting harassment experiences. about his sexual offense against actor Rightfully wanting to bring awareness Hilarie Burton in 2008. and justice, the viral On Oct. 29 #MeToo social media Written by Kathleen Phillips BuzzFeed released an hashtag showed Illustrated by Jessica Rose interview with actor the magnitude of Anthony Rapp, who a sexually charged industry and culture accused actor Kevin Spacey, also a writer that has been hiding behind the realm of and producer, of sexual advances when entertainment.

Rapp was 14 years old and Spacey was 26.

Or has it been hiding? Maybe the issue Again, the internet exploded. Spacey has has been present and lurking all along, but lost awards, including an Emmy Founder our culture’s shallow gazes made it take a Award, and he has been written out of his Hollywood powerhouse accused of more current show on Netflix, “House of Cards”, than 30 sexual harassment cases and three as a direct result of the allegation. alleged rapes to reveal itself in its entirety.

Allegations against Louis C.K., Ben Affleck, director, actor, writer and successful comedian, writer, producer, producer who had worked with Weinstein, actor, editor and director, were released tweeted on Oct 10: “I am saddened and Nov. 9 by the New York Times. Five women angry that a man who I worked with have accused him of sexual conduct used his position of power to intimidate, without consent.

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Ben Affleck

@BenAffleck • Oct 10

I am saddened and angry that a man who I worked with used his position of power to intimidate, sexually harass and manipulate many women over decades. The additional allegations of assault that I read this morning made me sick. This is completely unacceptable, and I find myself asking what I can do to make sure this doesn’t happen to others.

C.K. responded to these allegations saying, “These stories are true. The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly. I didn’t think that I was doing any of that because my position allowed me not to think about it. I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want. I will now step back and take a long time to listen.”

C.K.’s movie “I Love You, Daddy” was set to release Nov. 17. It has been canceled because of the allegations.

Just a week prior to the Weinstein scandal, Hugh Hefner, founder and editor-in-chief of Playboy magazine, died on Sept 27, but the coverage of Hefner’s life compared to the coverage of Weinstein’s scandal has been much different.

Hollywood and much of the nation mourned. Twitter was filled with photos and kind words about the legend, remembering his role in American culture — a role often perceived as revolutionary and praiseworthy. The life he lived remains untouched and disconnected.

His reputation remains the same.

New York Times writer Ross Douthat says in his article “Speaking Ill of Hugh Hefner:” “Needless to say the obituaries for Hefner, even if they acknowledge the seaminess, have been full of encomia for his great deeds: Hef the vanquisher of puritanism, Hef the political progressive, Hef the great businessman and all the rest.

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“There are even conservative appreciations, arguing that for all his faults Hef was an entrepreneur who appreciated the finer things in life and celebrated la difference … What a lot of garbage.”

Powerful people have turned a blind eye to the disgusting life Hefner lived, even following in his steps of abusing power, objectifying people and destroying community and relationships in Hollywood. His life shows a side of the industry that Douthat says is rotten, but praised. A side that “exploits appetites for money, feeds leech-like on our vices, dissolves family and religion while promising consumption will fill the void they leave behind.”

Most are not troubled by the fact Hefner is buried next to Marilyn Monroe, the woman that starred in his first pornographic magazine. According to Time Magazine writer Joseph Hincks, Hefner used her photographs without her consent in the first issue of Playboy, leaving Monroe fearing for her career and going down in history as one of the first American sex icons.

Monroe says in her book, “Marilyn: Her Life in Her Own Words”: “I never even received a thank-you from all those who made millions off a nude Marilyn photograph.”

Monroe was certainly not the first woman to be used and objectified without

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consent, but she is one of the greatest examples of the power of one man and a twisted culture. After the first issue of Playboy was released, her reputation and career changed forever.

Hefner is now buried next to Monroe.

Hefner told the LA Times, “I’m a believer in things symbolic. Spending eternity next to Marilyn is too sweet to pass up.”

Hefner being buried next to Monroe is symbolic, but not in the way Hefner thought. It is symbolic of the toxicity within Hollywood culture that has spread itself everywhere. A culture that sexualizes and objectifies, distorting women, employees, children and peers, all visible in the present Hollywood scandals. It is as if Hefner is continuing to exploit Monroe in death.

Celebrities and audiences have been shaming figures such as Weinstein, Affleck, Spacey and C.K., taking them from their business, awards and shows, hoping to put an end to sexual harassment in the entertainment industry. But it is not the people being criticized who will make a change, it is the corrupt culture of entertainment, founded and shaped by Hefner and those like him, that needs to be understood and altered.

Hugh Hefner has created a culture that breeds ego-heavy individuals, preying and taking advantage of those below them, as seen in the actions of Weinstein.

Michael Eaton, associate professor of film at California Baptist University, has worked as a producer, director, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor and camera operator in hundreds of productions. He says that at one point in his career he was approached to work on a project for Playboy, but turned it down because of his Christian values and moral compass.

While working with various celebrities and producers, Eaton has witnessed sexual abuse and harassment

in the entertainment industry.

“I’ve seen it firsthand,” Eaton says.

While working on a show, the lead actor came into his costar’s dressing room while she was changing, shut the door and tried to kiss her. Producers tried to cover it up. Later on, the same actor repeatedly sexually harassed an extra. The extra reported it but was sent home. They needed the actor to finish filming.

Eaton says he believes sexual assault and harassment cases need to be confronted as soon as they happen, involving police and not just the production crew.

“Producers and the people in charge should overrule the actors and say, ‘No, we need to call the police. That was unwanted sexual content.’ Why would (the actor accused of sexual assault) get a pass?”, Eaton says.

Eaton says he hopes that in light of the recent scandals, such as the cancellation of Spacey’s show and C.K.’s movie, the culture will begin to change.

“Hollywood is a mission field just like any mission field. Everything we do as Christians affects others. The way that we treat people and the way that we talk to people is super important. We don’t even know how much of a powerful effect that can have on people while working in the film industry,” Eaton says.

Change needs to start from the inside.

It will take professional people such as Eaton — a person who understands the cycle of abuse but stands in integrity despite it — to change the culture.

If Weinstein had grown in an industry that promotes professionalism, genuine kindness and respect for all individuals, there would be no scandal at all. Weinstein worked in an industry where gazes were fixed on powerful men such as Hefner literally lounging all day in pajamas, abusing their status to act on childish and compulsive sexual behavior. ◆

Hollywood is a mission field just like any mission field. I personally believe that everything we do as Christians affects others. The way that we treat people, and the way that we talk to people is super important. We don’t even know how much of a powerful affect that can have on people while working in the film industry.”

Michael Eaton, associate professor of film

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JUST THE ESSENTIALS Natural remedies to life's common afflictions

Written by Katie Kostecka Illustrated by Kaylah Valdez

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ssential oils are rising in popularity, in large part because of the growing research promoting them. These oils aid in sleep, sickness, skincare and everything in between, changing the days, months and lives of those who use them. Many can benefit a college student, and the six detailed here are some of the most helpful to a young adult’s demanding lifestyle.

c o nc e ntration + rosemary + peppermint + eucalyptus + lemon

d e - stres s ing + lavender + chamomile + orange + grapefruit + frankinsence

w a k e-u p + lemon + lime + grapefriut [mixed with peppermint]

Lavender Oil Lavender oil has numerous benefits, but one is particularly beneficial to college students.

The scent of lavender reduces stress and anxiety, replacing these feelings with relaxation. This promotes healthy sleep.

It can be used in a diffuser, sending the scent all over your room, or you can place a few drops on your pillow. It can also be rubbed on your temples and neck, which will aid in relieving headaches and calm your mind.

Lavender oil has healing properties, and placing it on a bug bite or sunburn will help tremendously. However, no benefit can match the instant relaxation you will feel as you smell the lovely scent.

Lemon Oil Lemon has several uses, one of which helps detoxify and heal the body from sickness. Lemon oil is safe to ingest, and adding 3-4 drops to warm water or tea will quickly soothe a sore throat. It will dissipate a cough and has the added bonus of being an excellent solution for bad breath.

Lemon oil is also a fantastic cleaner.

Instead of continuously buying Clorox wipes, you can make an all-purpose cleaner that is allnatural and smells wonderful. Simply fill a spray bottle with a quarter cup of white vinegar, one and a half cups of water and 25 drops of lemon essential oil. This is safe for all surfaces and will make your countertops shine.

Peppermint Oil Peppermint oil is an effective remedy for sinus congestion, as it is a leading ingredient in most topical medicines for this sickness. There are three ways to use peppermint oil to relieve nasal congestion.

One way is to mix it with a carrier oil and rub it on your chest and under your nose. A carrier oil is a thicker, less potent oil, such as coconut oil. Simply take a tablespoon of the carrier oil and add two to three drops of peppermint oil to create this balm.

Another way to relieve congestion is to place the oil in a humidifier in your room. This will help minor congestion and also acts as a preventative measure. A powerful alternative to the humidifier is to add the oil to a steamer.

If you do not own a steamer, boil a small pot of water and add three drops of peppermint oil to it. Place your head above the steam and breathe

through your nose. Peppermint oil smells great and will relieve your congestion.

Citrus Oils Citrus oils such as lemon, lime, grapefruit and tangerine serve several purposes. In tandem, however, they bring a sense of joy to the user. Mixing these oils in a diffuser, or waterdiluted spray bottle to spray around your room, will lighten your mood, relieve stress and restore energy. This power-pack is the perfect wake-up call to start your day with energy and motivation.

Bergamot is a citrus oil that has had numerous recent studies done to test its moodboosting properties, all of which were successful.

Rather than buying four separate oils to make a blend, you can get bergamot for the same effect.

Tea Tree Oil Tea tree oil is a phenomenally effective acne healer. You can place a minuscule dot on each individual pimple as an overnight treatment.

However, you must be careful not to spread the concentrated oil all over your skin. It is very strong and needs to be mixed to help rather than harm.

Mixing a few drops of the oil with either honey or aloe vera gel serves as an excellent nighttime moisturizer. If you would rather use it to clean your face instead of moisturize, you can add a few drops to your normal facial cleanser. However, if you decide to mix it into your skincare routine, tea tree oil is praised for erasing acne like magic.

Cedarwood Oil To promote hair growth and prevent hair loss, a concoction featuring cedarwood oil is the key. Like peppermint and tea tree oils, cedarwood oil requires a carrier oil. The best one for the hair growth is jojoba oil, though coconut, castor or grapeseed oils will work as well.

Simply mix 10-15 drops of the oil into a cup of your carrier oil and mix to create a mask.

Rub this mixture into your scalp and massage for about five minutes. For greater results, do the massaging while hanging your head upside down. This promotes healthy blood flow to the scalp.

You can leave the mask on for a few hours, or wrap your hair overnight. Be sure to shampoo thoroughly when removing it, for oil is tough to remove. Repeat every one to three weeks for noticeable results. â—†

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The

REVIVAL of

Analog Film, vinyl records retake the forefront of physical media crackle while listening to a Employee Ramal Cole, who has worked at jazz record. Sending your Groovers for three years, says he believes the film to be developed so you main attraction of vinyl is the hunt. can hold your images in “Going to the store and digging for hours your hands. Sorting through to find a record, then you find it, get home, thousands of records until you find a hidden take it out and put it on a record player,” Cole treasure. Over the years, these plights of the says. “It makes it a whole experience of finding analog age have been replaced by cassettes something new.” and stereos, digital cameras and iPhone Inside a tattered sleeve is an old record. photographs, and downloadable albums on Perhaps its color has faded and it bears a few iTunes followed by instant subtle scratches. Each record Written by Katie Kostecka music-streaming services. has a story. Each record has As fashion trends resurface Photos by Stephen Sleeper history. years later, such as high-waisted & Randy Plavajka Jericho Taetz, senior jeans and scrunchies, so has Illustrated by Taji Saleem music education and worship the popularity of analog. In an era of instant music and digital photography, millennials are finding the value of searching slowly for records and are gaining interest in film photography.

One record shop that has survived the rise and fall of analog popularity is in Riverside.

Opening in 2011, Groovers began small, selling the personal collection of owner Tom Allen.

Over the years, it has grown into a popular spot for both record collectors and hobbyists.

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arts double major at California Baptist University, says he enjoys the stories each record tells.

“People miss the aesthetic aspect because it’s got this nice cover that you can look at,” he says. “You can take it out and read it. It’s got an aesthetic value to it that people are missing now because they can just click a button. It is impersonal.”

For others, the attraction is sentiment.

“For me, it is the nostalgia side of things,”

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says Brett Vowell, director of Chapel at CBU. “I grew up listening to records as a child. If I am digging through albums at a record shop and I see an album that I had as a kid, there is an immediate attraction to that (album).”

Vowell’s collection tops 2,000 records, and he is working on a shelving system to organize them all. Because of his taste in music, records provide the ideal sound for his tunes.

“The majority of my collection is jazz and vocal standards, and (vinyl) lends to that sound, those pops and those crackles,” Vowell says. “It fits that style of music.”

While Vowell has a large collection of records, 120 miles north of CBU in Ventura, Joey Ready has a large collection of a different analog contraption: film cameras.

Ready, a film photographer, is the creator of the YouTube channel “AwesomeCameras.”

On this channel, he gives tutorials on film cameras, reviews cameras and shows the differences between types of film. Ready also

travels, buying every working film-camera he finds along the way. After fixing them, he sells them online.

While digital photography is often more convenient and easy to edit, Ready prefers film.

One reason for this preference is the infinite lives of film negatives compared to easily corruptible digital files.

The biggest reason of all, though, is Ready’s love for setting up and capturing a quality image.

“Every different film has its own feel to it, and it’s really hard to recreate with digital,” Ready says. “With digital it is more about Photoshop than it is about photography.”

Ready says he enjoys the challenge of taking a photograph that will not require the assistance of editing.

The community of film photographers worldwide is encouraging to newcomers.

“Everyone in this niche of analog photography is so welcoming.” Ready says “If

Above: Joey Ready takes a vinyl record out of its sleeve before loading it onto his turntable.

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For me, it is the nostalgia side of things. I grew up listening to records as a child.

Brett Vowell, director of Chapel at CBU

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you message them … everyone is super-friendly and super-helpful. It’s not a competition.”

It is the community that analog fosters, along with the love of hunting for a quality photo that Ready credits to the resurgence in film photography in recent years.

“I get messages almost every day from people asking what would be a good first film camera,” Ready says. “I definitely see the (film photography) medium coming back in a pretty big way.”

Whether it is records or film photography,

the analog movement is all about getting back to the basics.

Instead of accepting instant music streaming and instant photo files, analog lovers revel in the act of hunting for a great record or setting up a perfect photograph. It is about enjoying the process rather than the outcome.

Listening to a song or looking at a photograph can have a whole story and an entire experience behind it.

It is real. It is tangible. It is analog. ◆

Top: Joey Ready, owner of Awesome Cameras, adjusts the focus on an antique camera from his collection. Bottom: Ready’s garage doubles as his studio, mainly for product images for his online store.

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tales of the hydroflask

Stories of slams, stickers and scars

Written by Kylie Voda Photos by Randy Plavajka

ydroflasks are more than just an ordinary water bottle.

They act as a loyal companion, a preserver of good health, uniter of all cultures and, most of all, a guaranteed source of cold water for up to 24 hours.

Hydroflask culture is one not to be taken lightly. Members of this elite club never fail to bring their bottle to every class, announcing its arrival with a notorious slam on the table.

They compare stickers with one another over sips of some ice-cold beverage and give confident nods to fellow Hydroflask owners from across the cafeteria. The tattered stickers and variety of dents and scratches on each individual bottle represent stories of adventures and journeys each Hydroflask and its respective owner has withstood.

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Hydro 1 Embellished with fading, personalized stickers and awarded with scratches and dents from past expeditions, a Hydroflask is often found trekking on dangerous voyages with its owner.

Jessica Burnett, junior graphic design major, says she discovered the outstanding loyalty and sense of comfort her Hydroflask offered her during her time as a photographer in a children's camp among wild, rushing rapids and mountains of intimidating height.

Her Hyrdroflask became her safety blanket in the short two months she had it. It sustained her through arduous hikes and excursions, and it comforted her when she was unsure of herself during the camp.

One day after voyaging through the rapids of a treacherous river in a compact canoe, Jessica needed to seek out the perfect view to capture the happiness, joy and fun the children were experiencing.

She found a boulder that overlooked the rushing rapids. Jessica knew she needed to reach the top in order to capture the moment.

As if she were shooting for National Geographic, she scaled the rock with only her camera bag and Hydro to help her.

Inching toward the top, the flask received scratches as it melodically swung and collided with the boulder every time she moved, despite her attempts to save it. Like a sad song, tears would flow with each resounding beat.

The naked and new Hydroflask had received its first scratches. Just a few days later, while preparing for a day at the waterfalls, Jessica filled her container with cold water, and tragically forgot to screw on the lid, leading to a catastrophic fall onto the tile floor of her cabin.

The canteen received a large dent, which Jessica now enjoys because it perfectly fits her thumb to aid her in drinking from her bottle.

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Hydro 2

Hydro 3

Hydro 4

Shelby McDonald, sophomore sociology major, adorns her canteen with symbolic stickers that exemplify her as a person. Her stickers, though shabby and torn, represent her experiences, travels and personal attributes.

From her Santa Cruz Board Shop sticker showing her love for the area of Santa Cruz to the Maui sticker her friend brought back for her after traveling there, McDonald’s Hydroflask is embellished with stickers that express her character and experiences.

Upon receiving her Hydroflask, McDonald was going about her day, taking part in the mid-morning rush on her way to get some pre-Chapel coffee. Suddenly, she dropped her bright yellow Hydroflask, ringing out a resounding bang as it crashed against the floor.

Embarrassment flooded her body, but it had no comparison to the feeling of heartbreak she felt when she saw the newly-earned, enormous dent.

Now, Shelby loves her dented Hydro. She says that with each of the tattered stickers, scratches and dents, it builds the bottle’s character.

Alexander Stanford, junior music composition major, has a bright red Hydroflask with enough dents on it to nearly resemble a planned pattern. His Hydroflask is like his baby, and he treats it as such, cradling it with two hands, making sure to support it soundly everywhere he goes.

Unfortunately, despite his attempts to gingerly shield his “child“ from the cruel, harsh horrors of the world around it, Stanford accidentally fumbled and dropped the Hydro onto the floor of a doorway, leaving it with its first of many dents.

Mikayla Bennetts, freshman exercise science major, decorates her hydroflask with surf stickers as she is an avid surfer. Her stickers are worn and torn from her days at the beach and the Hydro’s extensive sun and sand exposure.

She collects her stickers from all of her favorite places, such as RipCurl Wetsuits and Wahoo’s Tacos, to show her love for what she describes as “bomb fish tacos.”

The edges are scratched from the two years of setting it down loudly and firmly on the desks in her classes, as most Hydroflask owners are known to do. However, its lone dent surfacing her Hydroflask is one earned during Welcome Weekend in September.

Bennetts was nonchalantly holding her water by the loop on the lid when suddenly she spotted a friend with whom she had to connect.

As she screamed her friend’s name, she accidentally tossed her Hydroflask into the air.

While it flipped in slow motion, Mikayla’s stomach dropped as her beloved Hydroflask received its first and only dent in the two years she has owned it.

Sometimes, no matter how much love and tender care you give your canteen, life gets in the way and puts a dent in the situation. ◆

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Written by Randy Plavajka Photos by Randy Plavajka

music festival survival guide SURVIVING & THRIVING DURING FESTIVAL SEASON

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ith the arrival of a new calendar year comes a few things: the start of the spring semester, resolutions to finally work out, a chance to finally land a real job and, most importantly, the restart of the music festival season.

The summer festival season’s formal beginning is signaled

by Southern California’s own Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. A haven for all things hip, cool, fresh and vibrant, Coachella is the big kahuna of music festivals as far as North America is concerned.

An added benefit: If you can thrive at Coachella, you can thrive at any music festival. To live your best life at Coachella and other music festivals across the nation, consider the following advice collected from years of research.

the preparation Many music festivals release their lineups and sell passes months in advance of the actual event. Larger festivals tend to sell out quickly because of their popularity and attending the best ones comes with a hefty price tag. The best thing you can do is plan everything out as far in advance as possible.

Priority No. 1 is buying the actual passes.

Set an alarm on your phone and have as many computers ready as possible for when tickets go on sale. Weekend No. 1 is notorious for selling out within the first few hours because every special guest imaginable will be in attendance.

Camping at Coachella is all fun and games until the dust settles and the Coachella Flu destroys your chances of recovering in time to take any final exams. Assemble a group of friends and book an Airbnb, hotel room or condominium and split the cost evenly among the people who will be crashing in the residence each night.

ARTS

the arrival When the long-awaited weekend finally arrives, make sure you are more prepared than the team mom of an AYSO soccer team. Water, sun protection, sand protection, snacks and the actual wristbands are all crucial to thriving while at Coachella.

For the best travel experience to and from your weekend residence to the festival grounds, invest an extra $50 in a shuttle pass.

Smaller festivals are more easily accessible via ridesharing or walking, but this is a hidden gem for Coachella attendees who do not want their car ravaged by sand throughout the weekend.

the experience Scheduling conflicts are unavoidable at music festivals unless you are going to Stagecoach, in which case everything sounds the same and you can bask in the glory of country music no matter where you are. For

Coachella, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits and any other multi-genre music festival, it is a free-for-all.

Prioritize the must-see acts over artists who only have one hit song to their name. If you subscribe to the music festival’s official playlist or create your own beforehand, the acts essential to ensuring the best festival experience will naturally stand apart from the rest of the schedule.

where the beauty truly lies for Coachella and similar music festivals.

With a solid plan and some spontaneity where necessary, music festivals are able to transcend and become more than just a collection of artists. After all is experienced and done, it can very well be life-changing and, in some cases, an annual ritual to keep reliving joyous memories for years to come. â—†

the downtime When you have some time in between all the music, enjoy some of the exceptional food vendors each music festival has to offer and take a seat near the back of one of the stages to listen to an artist with whom you may not be familiar.

If luck is on your side, you may even enjoy the act you randomly decided to catch and suddenly find a new favorite. The ability to soak in a weekend of music, art, food and friends is

Top Left: Mac DeMarco plays his Fender American Professional Stratocaster on stage at Coachella 2017. Top Right: Porter Robinson and Madeon perform their last set together in support of their "Shelter" tour at Coachella 2017. Bottom: Coachella attendees watch the sunset as Future's scheduled performance on the main stage approaches.

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Andrew Pirkle, sophomore applied theology major, works on an illustration in his notebook outside a favorite local coffee shop.

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ARTS

'

the

'pirks

of artistry Blending passions USING bivocational ministry

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Text and Photos by Katie Kostecka Illustrated by Kaylah Valdez

tudents in various majors are often stereotyped based upon their attire, behavior and social lives. Music majors dress professionally, engineering majors look perpetually stressed and graphic design majors are attached to their MacBooks. Most people attending California Baptist University for their Bachelor of Applied Theology degree have plans to go into full-time ministry and are stereotyped as passionate preachers with their noses constantly buried in a Bible.

The exception is Andrew Pirkle, sophomore BAT major, clad in glasses, nose ring, several tattoos and nose stuck in a sketchbook. Pirkle is a stark contrast of the image associated with his field of study.

Pirkle is an artist on all fronts, but his long-

Whenever I see him make art, it’s always original.

It’s always Pirkle.”

Jacob Adler, sophomore applied theology major 58 | Pursuit

term goal is to become a tattoo artist. It may seem strange to be in such a grueling theology program if his career goal differs so drastically.

However, Pirkle does not limit himself to just one future career. He plans to go into ministry as well as tattoo artistry by being a bivocational church-planter. He plans to work full-time as a tattoo artist while he plants churches during his off-hours.

His friend, Miggi Iniesta, sophomore BAT and film studies double major, explains the benefits of this career path.

“Being bivocational puts you in community with nonbelievers more than if you are immersed in a Christian bubble,” Iniesta says.

Having a career outside this bubble, where the majority of people are not from a Christian background, provides a mission field for sharing the Christian faith.

“Being an artist opens up a door by which I can reach individuals that would normally be outside of the church,” Pirkle adds.

He says his biggest goal is to simply befriend people unlike himself. However, Pirkle does not want his tattoo artistry to only be for the purpose of bringing people to church.

“The goal is that I want to love on people like Jesus (did) and grow relationally with them, exposing them to God because I pursue a lifestyle that reflects him,” Pirkle says.

He says he sees a bivocational lifestyle as the perfect way to combine two passions.

“Having the capability of doing things I love — art — and things I have wanted to do

for a long time — church plant — while being intentional with people in both areas, seems like an awesome opportunity and way to combine passions,” Pirkle says.

While some may find this an odd career path, his friend, Jacob Adler, sophomore BAT major, says he admires Pirkle for his individuality.

“He is a very talented individual. What I love about my friend is that he stays true to himself and never feels like he has to be like someone he isn’t. I have never seen him try to fit the trend,” Adler says. “Whenever I see him make art, it’s always original. It’s always Pirkle.”

Pirkle tries to make his art saturate everything he does, rather than separate his interests.

“I like being creative in all aspects of life,” Pirkle says. He has painted a mural in his hometown of Redlands, Calif., designed T-shirts, and keeps an active Instagram page of his sketches.

Inspired by other artists, social media and life around him, Pirkle is constantly finding things to create. He says he enjoys taking ordinary objects, seeing their potential, and making them one-of-a-kind.

“I definitely see things more creatively,” Pirkle says. “I have more freedom in day-today living because I see things more freely and open-ended.”

In a major so academically challenging, Pirkle finds his art focuses him. When he is studying, he often draws to help himself think.

“It helps me process new ideas better,” Pirkle says. “If I have an idea and I need to think about it, I’ll draw something that has no relevance … it just helps my brain think better.”

Fellow BAT majors are always trying to help one another grow in whatever ways they can. This growth is not limited to spirituality.

Pirkle asks his friends — artists or not — to critique his drawings.

“Being someone who isn’t very talented at art, I cannot really make too many artistic critiques of his works,” Adler says. “What I do instead is present my honest opinions. Pirkle takes my opinions with an open-hand, whether it is negative or positive.”

Pirkle says he strives to grow in his art so that he can successfully live his dream of being a tattoo artist and church planter. Because he is continually attempting to get better, he openly accepts any critiques of his work.

“If you aren’t down to learn or be

ARTS

challenged, you’re not going to get better, you’re not going to get anywhere,” Pirkle says.

“If you don’t ask for advice, you’re never going to know that.”

Pirkle is an individual with vastly different interests, which he plans to compound and use for a single purpose. He breaks the stereotype of what it looks like to be a preacher or an artist by fully inhabiting both titles. Pirkle says he wants to bring the gospel to an artistic field, transforming an ordinary tattoo shop into a place of community and fellowship. ◆

Top Left: Andrew Pirkle, sophomore BAT major, opens his sketchpad to begin a new drawing as he sits outside Augie's coffee shop, one of his regular hangouts. Top Right: Pirkle flips through his past illustrations, landing on a hipster skeleton that he filled in with color.

Bottom: A graphite sketch of a rabbit is seen as Pirkle turns the page of his nearly full notebook.

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Illuminating the Museum of Neon Art’s inspiration

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ARTS

Written by Rachel London Photos by Iamilett Picon

D

iscovered in 1898 by Scottish chemist Sir William Ramsay, neon brought a distinct flair to the rapidly industrializing world. Later, Georges Claude, a French chemist, developed the first neon lamp by extracting neon from the air by liquefying it. Introduced to the United States in 1923, it quickly became popular among many businesses that used it for outdoor advertising because of its convenient visibility during the day and moonlight.

Branding the United States as innovative and unique, neon became the face of many large cities such as those in California and New York in the 1920s and ’30s. Las Vegas was the icing on the cake with its extravagant and overthe-top neon signs and animations.

The museum has integrated science and art, merging them into one concept. Kim Koga, museum director, says it uses technology, encourages learning, curiosity and expression through the preservation, collection and interpretation of neon, electric and kinetic art.

The works currently illuminating the exhibit were submitted by 28 female artists from all over the world. With a largely femalebased collection, the art is a testament to feminism. This current exhibit is called “She Bends: Women in Neon.”

In a generation in which equality is being stressed on all levels, the exhibit justifies the elegance and beauty of women as more than objects. “She Bends” brightly vocalizes empowerment through the art pieces.

raise awareness to neon’s history.

The exhibits change every couple of months and vary in style and taste. The featured artists also change regularly after a theme is selected and artists within the community either volunteer or are sought.

The museum also gives visitors a chance to gain a deeper insight into the illuminating world of neon art by offering a variety of classes. They are all taught by artists who have a passion for neon-bending — a precise art that uses neon glass tubes and a cooling device to manipulate the heated glass.

Classes are as brief as one day to other more in-depth and extensive courses, meeting regularly over a couple of months. Koga says these classes are taught onside at the

Two artists, Lili Lakich and Richard Jenkins, appreciated the significant history and sought to immortalize the legacy of the neon world. After relocating multiple times, they finally set up their neon museum in 1981 permanently in Glendale, Calif.

Sitting on Brand Boulevard, a retro yet refined building is nestled on the corner — the Museum of Neon Art. The museum offers a modern, borderline psychedelic twist on art.

Entering the museum, visitors come into the lobby, which doubles as a gift store. Deeper into the museum is the one-floor exhibit room, which holds an array of exhibits that give a modern feel to the vintage memorabilia.

Other recent exhibits have been “Designing the Improbable” and “The Art of Plasma,” displayed from February into early September.

Koga says that all of the exhibits “are curated and planned in advance with a theme.”

She has been with the museum since 1999 and is the curator responsible for more than 50 exhibits at the museum.

One of her famous pieces is a visual survey of how neon art has transgressed through the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s called “Luminous Beginnings.” She says she believes in the historical value neon lights have added to American society and wants to consistently

museum in their own studio, where students are schooled in the process of fabricating and processing neon tubes, gaining a deeper appreciation for the art.

Art is a huge part of the history of the world and has always been used to comment on society and worldview. It evolves with the people as time goes on and continues to influence one generation after another.

The Museum of Neon Art has gone back in time, freezing an era forever. ◆ Neon art pieces part of the group show "She Bends," curated by Meryl Petaky, formerly on display at Glendale's Museum of Neon Art.

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PURSUIT Recommends STREAMING SERIES Written by Morgan Culberson Illustrated by Jessica Rose

'Abstract: The Art of Design' on Netflix his documentary series is adding to your Netflix queue.

Each episode features an artist or designer from a different artistic occupation — from illustration to architecture to footwear design. It peeks inside the professional lives of the people whose work we see every day and rarely think about. Aside

from seeing their artistic process, the show reveals their growth as designers, their influence in the industry and corrects any illusions that the public might have about the artistic professions. This series is a great opportunity to learn from big-name artists or at the very least live vicariously through their experiences.

'Runaways' on Hulu his original Hulu series is sure to fill your nostalgic needs. Based on Marvel’s comic book series originally debuted in 2003, the show features six teenagers who unite to defeat their parents, who have formed an evil cult called “The Pride.” Along the way, they each

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discover their superpowers and hone them to fight for the good of humanity. Marvel has made a strong entrance into the ondemand television world with successful Netflix series such as “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones” and “Luke Cage,” so expectations for this Hulu premiere are high.

'A Series of Unfortunate Events' on Netflix he Netflix adaptation of Lemony Snicket’s popular children’s book series is just as dark and unusual as Snicket’s writing. The plot follows the lives of three children — Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire — as they are passed from one distant relative to another after the mysterious death of their parents.

Unlike the 2004 movie adaptation of the books, the series perfectly

expresses the gothic, eccentric tone of Snicket’s storytelling and Neil Patrick Harris’ portrayal of the dreaded Count Olaf is simultaneously unsettling and enthralling. It is quirky and odd in the best way possible. Season two of the Netflix original series released in January, so you have plenty of time to binge-watch both seasons before the next one is released. ◆

PURSUIT Pursuit Magazine is a studentproduced publication of California Baptist University that works to utilize professional, balanced journalism to tell the stories of CBU’s community and the real-life, relevant factors that affect that community.

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