Volume Issue 1 | September 8, 2017 Volume 65 |65| Issue 1 | September 8, 2017
@cbujournalism cbubanner.com
Escobedo grabs award– Named Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year.
“When push comes to shove,
America is a country united.”
Volume 64 | Issue 7 | January 27, 2017
SPORTS, pg. 6
PAGE 4-5
OPINION, pg. 14
Students delayed by Harvey devastation
Courtesy of Colton Rockwell Rescue volunteer Rickus Otto searches apartments in Houston for victims trapped in the devastation left by Hurricane Harvey and attempts to retrieve personal items. BY KAITLYNN LABIT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
As the Coast Guard flew back and forth in the air continuing its rescue efforts in Houston, Bethany Wilson, junior graphic design major, and her family were checking their home security cameras to monitor the water buildup and tracking wind speed changes because of the possibility of debris flying through their neighborhood from the nearby construction site. Of the days Wilson and her family were enduring the flooding and winds of Hurricane Harvey in Spring Branch, a district of Texas, Wilson said she received a phone call from her grandfather, who, at the time, was out of state completing a job as a truck driver. He had called the family to ask them to get to his wife and two cousins. With freeways
flooded and transportation minimal, Wilson was unable to meet her grandmother and cousins. “It was a little scary, but ultimately we knew there was nothing we could do without putting ourselves in danger,” Wilson said. “We knew that God was bigger than the storm and that if it was his will to keep them safe, he would. It was tough to rest in that, but it feels a lot better to trust than to be scared and helpless.” Although Wilson’s grandmother and cousins were safe during and after the storm, Wilson’s mother, who works at a private school in their church, found herself without a job for the unforeseeable future after the church turned into a distribution center for shelters in the Houston area. For Wilson and her fiance, Harvey delayed their return to CBU, forcing them to miss
their first week of rehearsals for the Collinsworth School of Music, but they were able to return to CBU on time for the first week of classes. “My future looks like a normal semester, which is strange after seeing all the destruction in my home city,” Wilson said. “For those of us who get to go back to ‘normal life,’ there’s definitely a bit of guilt. It feels wrong to just go back to normal life when many others don’t have a ‘normal’ anymore.” Three hours east of Wilson’s hometown is the city of Cypress, where Ashley Johnson, junior intercultural studies major, lives. “I’ve been through a good amount of hurricanes, but never one as devastating as Harvey,” Johnson said. “It is absolutely heartbreaking to watch your hometown become
SEE HARVEY | PAGE 2
Men’s volleyball cut, women’s beach volleyball added while transitioning to NCAA Division I BY ALEXANDRA APPLEGATE MANAGING EDITOR
Last May, CBU’s Athletics Department publicly announced that as the entire program transitions to the Western Athletic Conference and NCAA Division I status, it would be discontinuing the men’s volleyball team starting immediately and that it will also integrate women’s beach volleyball as an intercollegiate sport in the near future. In the original press release posted on the Athletic Department’s website on May 8, Dr. Micah Parker, director of Athletics, said, “Decisions to discontinue a program are never easy. As we look at the longterm future of our Athletics Department, however, we feel this decision is needed based on budgetary and competitive factors as CBU moves toward D-I status.” While it is an exciting tran-
sition for CBU’s sports to move forward in the athletic world, the cut of the men’s volleyball team has left a handful of men without a team to play for this coming season. However, as also stated by Parker in the official press release, CBU will continue to honor scholarships for students who were affected by this decision. In addition, students who had been recruited for the 2018 season will have the option of receiving their scholarship offer for one year. Former players who chose to remain at CBU will continue to have access to Academic and Sports Medicine facilities. In the press release, Parker said, “We want to do whatever we can do to help our men’s volleyball student-athletes continue their athletic and academic careers, whether that be finishing their academic degrees at CBU or at another institution.” Kévin Vaz, senior business
administration major and for- miss the friends he made on the mer middle blocker and oppo- men’s volleyball team. “My favorite thing about besite, was one of the athletes unable to find a spot on a team at ing on the volleyball team was the friendships I had made,” another university. “I definitely thought about Schick said. “I always had their backs and I transferring,” know they Vaz said. “I have a tremenProgress usually always had It’s dous love for involves change and mine. tough that the game. But adjusting to new we won’t with CBU making this decisituations. be able to experience sion with such Dr. Ronald L. Ellis this anyshort notice president of CBU more.” (...) it was tough As the for any of my school beteammates to gins transitioning to Division I, find a new home.” However, Philip Schick, for- the Athletic Department is sure mer CBU student and former to experience some changes. Dr. Ronald L. Ellis, presimiddle blocker for the volleyball team, was able to transfer to dent of CBU, acknowledges the Cardinal Stritch University in change CBU has to adjust to but Milwaukee to continue playing said he looks forward to the fuvolleyball during the remainder ture of CBU athletics. “Progress usually involves of his academic career. Even though Schick has change and adjusting to new sittransferred, he said he will uations,” Ellis said. “An exam-
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ple of that is CBU progressing to NCAA Division I and joining the Western Athletic Conference. We are excited about the opportunity this presents for Lancer athletics to compete at the highest levels of collegiate athletics.” With regard to the men’s volleyball team, the Athletic Department had no further comment than what was stated in the press release. As CBU loses one athletic program, it gains another through the inclusion of a women’s beach volleyball team in the near future. Parker said he expects to hire a head coach for women’s beach volleyball in the summer of 2018, then recruit players and other staff in the 2018-2019 academic year and begin competing in the 2019-2020 school year, tentatively. “This is a sport that has grown in popularity and notoriety over the last few years,”
Parker said. “Regionally, it is a good sport for us. It is unique and our fans and students will enjoy watching it during the spring season.” The Athletic Department had been discussing adding another women’s sport for the last few years and expressed their excitement about incorporating women’s beach volleyball into CBU’s athletic roster. The team will not be a part of the WAC conference but will join water polo, cheer and wrestling in outside conferences. Athletics is looking to add onto its facilities, the new Events Center being the first addition. In the future, they hope to supply the new women’s beach volleyball team with three sand courts. While the Athletic Department eagerly anticipates the addition of the women’s beach volleyball team at CBU, athletes are coming to terms with the necessary costs of progress.