The offical student-run newspaper of Sterling College
Volume 115 issue 14
Student Government Elections mean new regime, new motivation By NATHAN EHRESMAN Staff Writer Every year the 7 members of the Student Government Association (SGA) serve as an advocate for the SC students to the administration. This past Friday elections were held to decide the 4 elected positions for next year – President, Secretary, Director of Campus Activities, and Student Chaplain. Here is a glimpse inside the campaigns of the candidates and winners. Two different students ran for the job of student chaplain. Junior Scott Hicks ran on the platform of striving to help people to know Jesus Christ, not just know about him. Hicks’ vision was to employ the practice of spiritual disciplines and making campus ministry engaging for everyone. Junior Brandon Morrow, who summed up his campaign in one word as “relationship,” was elected to serve as student chaplain. Morrow’s vision for the chaplain position is to help students build their personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. He plans to achieve this end by encouraging faith-based organizations on campus to focus on laying faith foundations. From there, he hopes to enrich chapel by diversifying speakers and service structures in hopes of helping more people engage in the message. The position of Director of Campus Activities (DCA) drew three candidates. Sophomore Ashley Pannier, who was unable to be present at the election forum, centered
her campaign on advocating for unity between the various organizations to bring greater success across the board. Sophomore Lucas Knauss opened his campaign speech for the DCA position by sharing his heart for campus activities. Having started a new organization – the On the Spot improv group – he offered experience in the workings of the system and the job of DCA. In the end, though, Knauss encouraged students to “vote for what is best for Sterling, because that is what I want too.” Senior Alex Lawhon-Bush was elected to serve as DCA for next year. Currently serving as Campus Activities Board president, LawhonBush brings a lot of valuable knowledge and experience to the table. “Working for you guys (the students) is incredibly important for me,” Lawhon-Bush said. Deeply moved by the way past DCAs have done their job and benefited the campus organizations, Lawhon-Bush has spent her college career working toward getting this position: “DCA really is important to me on a personal level,” Lawhon-Bush said. Lawhon-Bush has three main areas she wishes to strive for with this position – advocacy for the organizations, understanding during the budgeting process, and unity between organizations. Senior Becky Barnes, running unopposed, was elected to the position of SGA secretary. The secretary is in charge
of organizing homecoming in the fall and that will be no small task for Barnes this coming fall because homecoming will also be a celebration of 125 years of Sterling College history. Barnes feels her organizational skills and commitment to a job will serve her well in tackling this daunting task. Although she was in India during this past year’s homecoming, she has gathered feedback from students and alumni to take into consideration and build on as she strives to make improvements for this year. Also running unopposed, junior Michael Redondo was elected and will serve as SGA president for the 2012-13 year. Redondo’s passion is to combine the humility of Solomon exemplified in 1 Kings 3 and the value of servant leadership. “ I will work hard at building up SGA,” Redondo said, “Not just putting in the minimum number of hours required, but really going in guns blazing.” His platform was built on three goals: advocacy of the students as change happens, enhancing communication by relaying information to the right people and keeping that dialogue open, and organization in carrying out a reboot of SGA and the organizations to increase efficiency. The four elected members of 2012-13 SGA: Brandon Morrow, Alex Lawhon-Bush, Becky Barnes, and Michael Redondo – all have a vision and are excited to put in hard work and effort to make those visions a reality.
By BAY BAKER Staff Writer Despite the tornadoes and rainstorms, Spring Formal was a great success. The event was hosted by the Campus Activities Board at the Memorial Hall in Hutchinson. Learning of the hour-long delay due to safety concerns, some students wondered whether they were all dressed up with nowhere to go; but the delicious food provided by Chartwells and the familiar dance tunes didn’t disappoint. Furthermore, there were chocolate fountains, snacks, balloons, and Christmas lights provided by CAB that really made the night a special one. The setting of the Memorial Hall was perfect from the shiny wooden floors to the semi-circular stadium seats. “CAB did a really good job of making it look really classy,” Emily Walker said. Other students had similarly positive things to say. “I loved the venue,” Freshman Ryan Bretches said. “The food was good, conversation was great. It was a good night with friends.” Ryan wasn’t the only one who thought the setting was perfect. “I thought having it at a theatre was a great idea,” Lisa Laney said. “Because there was a lot of space to eat and there was still tons of dancing area. The photo booth was a nice touch as well.” The photo booth was a fa-
Senior Ian Sparks, Junior Sarah Grafel, and Senior Truyn Mosher pose together for a photo at Spring Formal at Memorial Hall on April, 14, 2012. Photo Courtesy of Sarah Grafel vorite for many people that night, including Mark Allan Hemphil, who said he also had the experience of inhaling helium for the first time. Anna Kolb told us how much planning and preparing went into making Spring Formal a success. CAB spent hours both on Friday night and all day Saturday at the Memorial Hall preparing for the big night. “We went to look at formal places during orientation week,” Kolb said. “We had to book it way in advance. Considering the tornado circumstances, we had a really good turnout. I was really happy with it.” CAB certainly prepared well for the event, as it was a good time for all. “The steak was delicious,” Micah Mitchell said. “It was a lot of fun seeing everyone dressed up and having a good time. Even though there were tornadoes, we still partied.”
THISWEEK Spring Formal draws crowd despite storms Today. Track to Kansas Relays in Lawrence @ 10 a.m. Friday. Baseball vs. Kansas Wesleyan University @ 2 p.m. Spring Leadership training begins Saturday. Baseball at Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina @ 2 p.m. Sunday. Senior chapel @ 7 p.m. Monday. Art League Drawing Night in the Art and Media Center @ 8 p.m.
NEWSBITES On the Spot Improv Comedy Hosts first night of improv Freshman Lucas Knauss and his brain-child, On the Spot Improv, hosted its first comedy gathering in Upper Wilson on Monday, marking the first time the troupe has performed together in a public setting. Many were in attendence as the troupe entertained with their unscripted sketches. Editors and staff wanted! Enjoy reading the Stir and have little to no desire to watch it disappear before your very eyes? Contact Tim Luisi or Ryan Corwin about becoming the next editors of the official student run newspaper of Sterling College.
Michael Redondo served as the Student Government Chaplain in for the 2010-11 academic year, and will return to SGA as President in 2012. Photo Courtesy Michael Redondo
Event Management class Dodgeball fundraiser gains hundreds of dollars for Missions By BEN WRIGHT Staff Writer
Saturday mornings are held sacred by many of Sterling College’s students. As the one day a week that most students are allowed to sleep in, this is taken as an opportunity to recover from a week full of studying and classes. However, this past Saturday, over thirty students and guests could have been found in Gleason’s muggy Gymnasium. These brave souls chose to forego their private time with their pillows in order to test their physical prowess in a strenuous dodge ball tournament put on by Hans Nickel’s Sports Tournament/ Event Management class, which has set up similar events once every year including sand volleyball. While fun, the important thin was that through the event over $300 was raised for Missions teams. The event began at 10 in the morning on April 14th when five teams squared off against each other for the opportunity to win the grand prize of tee shirts for each of their team members and more importantly, bragging rights as champions. The rules were pretty typical for this type of event. One could get out a player on an opposing team by striking them with a ball or catching their ball. To make things more interesting, though, was the fact that victories were chosen on the basis of best two out of three. Towards the end of the tournament, this was hardly even necessary as one team made short work of their competitors. These athletes were primarily known for being soccer
players, but today they were the Rainbow Warriors. They were named for their colorful shirts, but the more defining characteristic had to be their acrobatic antics and unique strategies that propelled them to ultimate victory. It was not uncommon to see a player struck by a ball, and then diving for it in order to save himself from elimination. I asked about any special strategies that were employed. “Rollback,” they all said immediately and then went on to explain that one player would run up and roll as many balls back to their teammates as possible. From there, they would instantly target the biggest player on the opposing team “regardless of how good he was.” They emphasized that their focus was on aerodynamics and that the physical size of the people played into their strategy a lot. However, many of the really exciting plays seemed to be simply off the cuff. From the sidelines, the tournament seemed to be a lot of fun. If there was one thing that could be changed, it would be the size. True there was an email sent out to students and a couple posters put up, but information about this tournament was hard to come by. It also seemed to just pop up out of nowhere. There was a lot of involvement inside the gymnasium, but it was primarily just the teams who had signed up. One can only imagine how exciting a full scale Dodge ball tournament on the typical intramural level would have been. Hopefully, though, this starts a following for these types of activities on campus.
Swing Formal
Jacob Blackwell and freshman Rachel Grafel swing dance during the formal, which took a more ‘classy’ approach this year than in years past, including the types of music selected. Photo Courtesy of Sarah Grafel