La Vie Collegienne Vol. 86 Issue 3

LA VIE COLLEGIENNE LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE’S STUDENT RUN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1924 VOLUME 86, NO. 3 | OCTOBER 18, 2018

King and Queen crowned CASSANDRA BARRETT ’19 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF This year’s Homecoming festivities included the unveiling of the 2018 Dutchmen Ale, free hot dogs, inflatables, tailgating and more, including one of LVC’s favorite Homecoming traditions at halftime of the football game.

Photo by: Cassandra Barrett Kevin Beaver, ABOVE: Marie Grenchik and Kevin Beaver were crowned Homea senior coming King and Queen at halftime of the LVC football game.

biochemistry and environmental science double major, and Marie Grenchik, a senior music education major, were crowned this year’s Homecoming King and Queen. Both Beaver and Grenchik are studentathletes, Peer Mentors and are involved in many organizations and clubs across campus. At halftime, Beaver and Grenchik were crowned with the help of President Lewis E. Thayne and his wife, Dorothy Thayne.

For Beaver, this Homecoming was eye-opening.

“It was a crazy weekend for me,” Beaver said. “In addition to being on the Court, I was running around between my lacrosse game, the Brew Crew and working the football game.

I was overwhelmed. But as I thought

about it, those were the reasons I was standing where I was. I remember 4 years ago, as a freshman, seeing Bridget and Vinny and the rest of the Court, and just thinking about how involved they were in our LVC community. And to think that in these 4 years that is who I have become, is just truly mind-blowing to me.”

Grenchik felt humbled to represent LVC on this year’s Homecoming Court.

“Being on the Court with this group of people in the first place was such an honor, and I was completely shocked that I was lucky enough to be among a group of such kind, talented and beautiful human beings,” Grenchik said. “Representing LVC in a way like this is such a blessing and I thank anybody who voted for me.”

LVC offers housing for recovering drug and alcohol addicts MERIDYTH SANDERS ’21 STAFF WRITER Lebanon Valley College has partnered with the Caron Treatment Center to provide on-campus housing for recovering drug and alcohol addicts.

“What we are able to do is provide an avenue for students who had completed primary treatment for their addiction to return or begin their college career,” Greg Krikorian, vice president of student affairs and dean of students, said.

The Caron Treatment Center is a world-class treatment facility for drug and alcohol addicts in Wernersville.

Attendees must complete their primary treatment and receive a recommendation before enrolling as full-time students at LVC.

Once enrolled, these students may continue their education by taking classes while living together in a safe, therapeutic environment with a livein staff member.

All participants must attend three 12-Step meetings per week along seeing a 12-Step counselor once a week and doing work with their counselor.

Krikorian initiated the program after seeing his own son benefit immensely from recovery treatment.

“I saw firsthand what’s possible with help,” Krikorian said.

This program was implemented at LVC because Krikorian believes the environment is strongly cultivated with a community of good people.

“We are an accepting and supportive community,” Krikorian said when describing the reasons he believed a

program like this could thrive at the College.

Krikorian feels the new program will add another dynamic to LVC’s diverse body of students. The new students on campus involved in this program offer a new set of experiences and insight that many other students may not consider otherwise.

The program benefits the student body in other ways as well. The new partnership with the Caron Treatment Center gave opportunity for guest speakers from Caron to visit classes, specifically within the psychology and science departments, and discuss matters such as addiction and recovery.

So far, only one other college in the region offers a similar program.

Krikorian hopes that this program will give LVC and other colleges a

Photo by: Meridyth Sanders ABOVE: Pictured is the house on campus dedicated to recovering drug and alcohol addicts.

way to be part of the solution to the addiction epidemic rather than part of the problem.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE OF LA VIE

BUDGET CUTS PAGE 2

MENTAL HEALTH PAGE 2

METZ PARTNERSHIP PAGE 3

NEW TECHNOLOGY PAGE 4

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LVC events and professors aim to raise mental health awareness S h r o y e r Health Center, located on Sheridan Ave, provides confidential and free services open to everyone. If a student feels sick or would like to discuss current struggles they are facing, professional counselors are available during drop-in hours or Photo by: Sierra Force upon appointABOVE: Suicide prevention month wristbands encourage posiment. tive mindset through the phrase, “You Matter.”

The Health CenSIERRA FORCE ’20 ter also offers students opportunities STAFF WRITER to discuss challenging obstacles with Lebanon Valley College offers stu- 50/50 Peer Helpers, student workers dents resources for positive mental who can offer similar resources to health at their on-campus facility, students. This allows students to talk Shroyer Health Center. Counseling ser- and open up to someone in their age vices host events and activities to edu- group. cate students about mental health.

As students, it can be hard to find

the time to use the resources Shroyer has to offer, especially as they find themselves in classrooms and interacting with faculty and staff most of the time. Many professors want their students to know that they are not alone and are huge supporters and advocators of mental health awareness.

“I lost my brother to suicide,” Shelly Moorman-Stahlman, professor of music and LVC organist, said. “Suicide prevention and depression treatment is really important.”

Moorman-Stahlman is currently teaching a connective experience course designed to teach how mental incapabilities can affect a writer’s, composer’s and artist’s work, called “Musician & Artist: Integration.”

To cope and de-stress with life’s daily encounters, Moorman-Stahlman turns to music.

“I use music as my outlet and play the piano and organ,” MoormanStahlman said. “I play the compositions that reflect my mood.”

Her advice for students is to find

International students welcomed at LVC

Michaela may ’20 STAFF WRITER LVC always welcomes a number of full-time international students, and this year is no exception.

Starting with the annual Flag Raising Ceremony, flags from the students‘ countries have arrived from are newly displayed on campus. This allows students to look back on their origins while also looking forward to the fresh start that LVC offers them.

“I needed to study abroad to be able to fulfill my dream,” David Campbell, a freshman actuarial science major from Honduras, said.

In Honduras, there are no opportunities to study actuarial science, and LVC gives Campbell the opportunity he needs in order to be prepared for his future.

Hope Rose, an undeclared major from the United Kingdom, arrived in the United States through a program

called “Study USA.” This is run by the British Council and sends around fifty students to multiple states to study business for one year.

“Business is something I have not studied in the past, and I am intrigued to see what it is about as a subject,” Rose said.

Study abroad programs will sometimes introduce students to a new culture for the first time, and it can be their first exposure to a world of diversity while allowing them to embrace their home countries.

“I want to make Honduras known at LVC,” Campbell said. “Our country has one of the most diverse ecological systems, and it is full of forests, beaches and waterfalls. Our main tourist attractions are the Copan Ruins, Taulabé Cave and Roatán and Utila islands. For our beaches, we also have La Ceiba, Tela and Trujillo.”

Some international students want fellow students to truly get to know

where they came from whether it is through conversation or by visiting.

“Although a lot of things are similar between the United Kingdom and the United States, there are also distinct differences I would love to share,” Rose said. “Even though the weather isn’t always fabulous, we have wonderful views and landscapes. I think everyone should visit more of the UK than just London itself or other big cities.”

One way to get in touch with international students in order to learn more of their stories and what they hope to accomplish here at LVC is through the Global Education Club.

The club meets weekly on Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. in the Lebergern Learning Commons in the basement of the Allan W. Mund College Center. The club also holds additional events throughout the year.

Budget cut clarifications CASSANDRA BARRETT ’19 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF College officials and members of the faculty task force facilitated an information session concerning impending academic cuts on Tuesday, Oct. 2, with the help of Student Government.

Those speaking on behalf of the College and task force included Michael Green, vice president of academic affairs and dean of the faculty; Deanna Dodson, professor of psychology; Grant Taylor, professor of art and visual culture; Walter Patton, associate professor of chemistry; Christopher Heffner, associate

professor of music; Shawn Curtain, vice president of finance; and College President Lewis E. Thayne.

The task force is now in the process of working through the early retirement incentive phase of the Budget cut clarifications continued on Page 4

ways to de-stress and relax healthily, such as finding a passion and using art as a creative outlet. She also recommends any form of exercise.

Another professor, Brandon Stoothoff teaches a second conjunction course to the same connective, “Science of Well-Being & Malaise.”

Stoothoff has first-hand experience with working and helping those who struggle with mental illness because of his second job as a therapist.

“I put a lot of advocacy for mental illness into my lectures,” Brandon Stoothoff, psychology adjunct instructor, said. “I want to empower people and harness their potential.”

To de-stress, Stoothoff recommends that students take time for self-care by focusing and being by themselves.

“I want students to know that I am a resource and available to talk if they had a family member or friend who was affected by suicide,” MoormanStahlman said.

Stop by Shroyer Health Center for more information on mental health.

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LVC student works to make campus safe Raeann Walquist ’20 STAFF WRITER Students and faculty alike are taking steps to make LVC a safer, more prepared College.

Lauren Sigmon, a junior English major, is currently working with public safety to instate mandatory ALICE training in all FYE courses.

ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate. The main goal of the program is to train students to be prepared in case of an active shooter situation.

“I got ALICE trained because I was an education major, but after the shootings last year, I thought it was relevant to more than just education majors,” Sigmon said. “I got trained to be an ALICE instructor so that I could train others.”

Sigmon has participated in an 18hour training course to become a trainer for ALICE and has been working closely with Brent Oberholtzer, director of public safety, and Dr. Laura Eldred, assistant dean and director of Constellation LVC, to implement ALICE

ESAC and Metz partnership Emilie Vicario ’19 STAFF WRITER The Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee is partnering with Metz Food Corporation to track and decrease the amount of food wasted at the College.

“Since the College first partnered with Metz for dining services, we have collaborated on many sustainability initiatives,” Michael Zeigler, co-chair of the Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee, said. “Metz has been a great partner because not only have they undertaken projects that directly affect sustainability at LVC, as a company, but also they have committed to conserving our natural resources and protecting the environment.”

The committee’s communications interns work with Timothy Hartlieb, operations manager of Metz, to track the amount of food the College is wasting, both in and out of the kitchen. The food thrown away is weighed every two weeks and the interns are tasked to communicate those results to their peers through different media such as social media, PowerPoint and displays.

“I look forward to using the information from the waste studies to better improve the infrastructure of the College,” Hartlieb said. “Then, I will use the info to better understand what students are eating and wasting and to better understand why.”

The interns plan to study the College’s food waste for the whole year and hope that spreading awareness will help lower the amount of waste.

Last year, students were made aware of the waste issue through a PowerPoint and a physical food display in the dining hall. This awareness brought the waste down from 120 pounds per meal to 90 pounds per meal.

ESAC feels it’s vital for students to understand that food wasted is money wasted. Last semester the waste equaled $33,000 worth of food.

Wasted food directly impacts the cost of student meal plans, and as a residential institution, most students have and pay for a meal plan.

The goal this semester is to decrease food waste to 80 pounds per meal; it is currently around 110 lbs. per meal.

ESAC and Hartlieb believe this goal should not be difficult to reach.

training as a mandatory component of the FYE program.

“My goal is to educate and empower as many of our community as possible,” Oberholtzer said. “We all have the right to know how to survive an active shooter situation.”

For Sigmon, her motives are personal.

“After seeing all of the tragedy with mass shootings, I decided to turn my outrage into action,” Sigmon said.

“I really want to ensure people are prepared if something would happen

to them.”

Sigmon hopes to eventually grow the program in a way that will ensure that every person on campus is ALICE trained.

“ALICE training is important because it gives students and faculty the tools they need to be empowered and keep themselves safe,” Sigmon said.

To date, six FYE classes have been trained or are on the calendar to be trained in the coming month.

LGBT history month Kayla HEISERMAN ’20 STAFF WRITER October is LGBT History Month, a month-long observance offering opportunities for LGBTQ+ youth to get to know role models and build community; LVC observes the month as the College reflects on the importance of inclusivity and diversity.

The yearly celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer history looks at events such as the Stonewall Riots, the AIDS crisis, the Pulse Nightclub shooting and other important milestones in LGBTQ+ history.

“It gives people outside of the LGBTQ community the opportunity to fully understand what we are all about and how the community has become such a positive light for all,” AJ Johnson, a junior criminal justice major, said. “What this month means for me is that I have the freedom to learn more about my sexuality and to learn more about myself as I grow.”

It also represents a statement of support for the LGBTQ+ community, whose history too often gets blotted out from learning environments.

“LGBT History Month is important because a lot of times LGBT history is overlooked or erased,” Alyssa Richards, a freshman music production major, said. “People do not want to talk about us existing, and having history forces people to acknowledge the fact that yes we do exist.”

October was chosen to be LGBT History Month because it coincides with National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11. October is also the anniversary of the Second March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987 and the First March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation in 1993.

The week of October 21-27 is Asexual Awareness Week. The week is an international campaign that seeks to educate about asexual, aromantic, demisexual and gray-asexual experiences. It works to provide visibility, support and understanding to a marginalized and often forgotten portion of the LGBTQ+ community.

“Little Shop” sets the stage Jolie Winemiller ’19 ASSISTANT EDITOR The Wig and Buckle Theater Company is readying the stage for the opening weekend of the fall musical “Little Shop of Horrors.”

The science fiction/horror musical was written by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menken. The show is set in the 1960s and features the characters Seymour Krelborn and his crush Audrey. Krelbron is an assistant in a floral shop who stumbles upon an unusual plant that begins to sing, speak, and feed on human blood.

The show deals with the struggle of Krelborn and the plant known as “Audrey II.” “The show is written in the style of a 60s b-list horror film and while it’s upbeat, fun and light, it explores the darker side of reality that is domestic violence, murder and poverty,” Madison Lenhart, senior musical director, said. “The actors in this production work so well together; it is almost unbelievable! As we get closer and closer to opening night, I can see the excitement grow.”

The Wig and Buckle Theater

Company will perform Little Shop of Tickets for students are free, and Horrors on Oct. 26, 27 and 28 and Nov. students are encouraged to reserve 2, 3 and 4. The Friday and Saturday tickets at wigandbuckle.com. performances begin at 8 p.m. and Sunday performances begin at 2 p.m. All performances will be held in Leedy Theater inside the Allan W. Mund College Center.

“I am excited for everyone to see the final product on opening night,” Lenhart said. “With all of the added aspects of lights, costume, and makeup, this performance will be brought to a new level.”

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Budget cut clarifications (continued from pg. 2) proposal, and it anticipates that seven full-time faculty members will take the incentive, which will provide a savings positive of $300,000. In academic departments with more staff, some faculty members have indicated an interest in altering their appointments. These faculty members will reduce their full-time instruction to three quarters or half time.

Previously, the College had created a program to credit and reward faculty who facilitated student research opportunities, took on large advising roles, or went above and beyond their basic duties as faculty, according to Dean Green. In order to save faculty positions in light of the impending budgetary cuts, that program has been suspended.

The proposed budgetary cuts also includes the elimination and consolidation of some programs currently offered at the College.

German, French, philosophy and religion majors are currently being considered for elimination at the College. Digital communications, global studies, international business and art and visual culture majors will potentially be restructured in order to attract more students to those majors, and ultimately to LVC. Deanna Dodson explained that the task force has discussed the possibility of combining academic departments to better meet student interest.

Dodson mentioned the potential to create a department of humanities, for example.

“One of the things we are considering, and this wasn’t part of the task force recommendations, is can

we find a way to re-envision or maybe combine departments in a way that might lead to some of these new ideas and interdisciplinary programs,” Dodson said.

Dean Green said the College aims to align with student needs and allocate resources to programs that are most important for students.

“In the last five years, we’ve added 11 new programs, and those programs were a direct result of what we were hearing from prospective students and current students about Photo by: Ryan Gilroy the kinds of programs they ABOVE: Dean Michael Green addressed student concerns at the budget information session. wanted,” Green said. “We are looking all the time at ways in which affect student tuition. Shawn Curtain been reserved at the initiation of the we can restructure the academic discussed that tuition is raised by a renovation plan two years ago. The program to better meet the needs of small percentage each year. Last year proposed academic cuts will not affect students.” saw a 4 percent increase in tuition, the bridge project.

The College maintains its and this year tuition was raised by 3.5 President Thayne assured students commitment to a liberal arts percent. Curtain looks to implement that throughout this restructuring foundation and will continue to offer an increase of less than 3 percent process, student experience has courses in religion and philosophy at for the 2019-2020 academic year. He remained a primary focus. the 100 and 200 levels. The task force explained that the tuition increases “The reason we’re seeking hopes that by eliminating upper- fund the operating budget, including reductions in the instructional level courses with low enrollment, health insurance, salary increases, budget and in non-instructional professors will be more available utilities, licensing fees for software purchases and why the Board has to teach more courses in the and technology costs, among other asked the administration and faculty Constellation program. costs.

“We’re not walking away from these A student also shared his concern to work together on those is because core liberal arts values,” Dodson said. about the renovation of the pedestrian we have substantially increased our “We’re trying to say how we can do this bridge and how that project might be financial aid,” President Thayne said. in a way that’s most efficient, that’s affected. Curtain discussed that the “Affordability and student experience most effective and that can have an renovation of the pedestrian bridge has been our top priority.”

The final budgetary report will be impact on the greatest number of has already been accounted for and is students.” estimated to cost $4 million. The cost submitted for an endorsement vote Students present at the information of the bridge will partially be funded by the full faculty, scheduled to occur session raised concerns about how the by the state, and the rest of the cost on Nov. 29 at the Faculty Business impending budgetary changes might will be paid using money that had Meeting.

New health professions technology MASON GREEN ’22 STAFF WRITER LVC’s new Arnold Health Professions Pavilion is giving way to new studies in the fields of exercise science, athletic training and physical therapy.

The new, state-of-the-art facility will headline the new technology, including the Human Lab Performance and Exercise Science Lab, which encompasses a number of different areas and equipment in these fields of study. Some equipment and software still need to be updated, but the Neurcom balance unit is now available.

Through future research opportunities, student-athletes may be tested with high-tech human motion analysis, advanced balance assessments, landing mechanics,

aerobic functions and general athletic performance.

“First, we would like to go after the number one cause of injury on campus--ankle sprains--looking to put resources towards possibly preventing injury and putting our student-athletes in the best position for success,” Dr. Michael Lehr, clinical associate professor of physical therapy, said.

This new advancement of technology will give student-athletes the opportunity to participate in faculty research led by the health profession departments.

“Coaches will also benefit and will be able to view and compare performance from a different angle,” Dr. Georgios A. Stylianides, director of human performance labs, said.

“We will analyze athletes and make

recommendations toward performance improvement and injury prevention.”

Lab testing has been discussed between some coaches and faculty about bringing in athletes to see what the new technology has to offer.

“As student-athletes participate in faculty Photo by: Mason Green research more resources will be available to them,” ABOVE: The new Human Performance and Exercised SciLehr said. “Collaboration ence lab is located on the first floor of the Health Profeswith athletes, faculty and sions Pavilion. athletic departments can bigger schools and graduate programs have significant benefits to give and but it’s here now at LVC. Lehr said create a win-win for everyone.” he hopes it provides a helpful Student-athletes and faculty will resource for those not only in the LVC benefit from the Human Performance athletic community, but also for the Lab; it’s technology typically seen at surrounding community.