Letter from the Editor
Dear Readers,
Our generation is no stranger to trends. We start them, we spread them, and we embrace them. From our clothes, to our dorm rooms, to our social media profiles; we’re all about making a statement.
A popular trend is the “#goals” posts going around on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. It consists of sharing photos online, with very little insight or context, which we perceive to be admired and we proclaim them as our goal.
Confused about what I’m referring to? Here’s some examples, squad goals, relationship goals, makeup goals; from day to day activities to food, to friends and all other aspects of life. One of the most vital uses of social media is that we can share our every thought and movement with the ones we love most. But are we being more influenced than we are inspiring?
Isn’t the point of goals, that we all have different ones? If every popular post we pass on Facebook is labeled a goal does it become a standard? Knowing others’ goals is important and can help you encourage one another, but don’t let the norm that you see for others interfere with yours. Your relationship goals, fitness goals, or career goals, for example, might be very different from someone else’s. That’s one of the most exciting parts of being a college student. With our every decision we are building our future and making our place in the world. That’s why we’re here, why we spend crazy long hours studying. We’re just trying to save the world somehow, someway even if we haven’t quite figured it out yet.
Our goals are ours and need no justification! Keep that in mind when you come across what others call goals. Remember that achieving your dreams means accomplishing your goals, not everyone else’s standards.
Sincerely,
Natasha Jones
Photo submitted by Erika Satterfield. “I just adore this campus!”
Showstopper wins big in Spotlight
Nikki Marietta is named the winner of 2016
By N ATASh A JONES Editor-in-Chief
On Tuesday, April 19th 2016, the fourth season of Spotlight wrapped and unveiled the season winner as Nikki Marietta. Marietta is a freshmen and a first time competitor in the annual on-campus spring singing competition sponsored by UC’s Campus Activity Board.
Marietta was a showstopper all season long and was recognized for always challenging herself throughout the competition. She was one of four very strong performing finalists, who were distinguished among all the competitors ever since the very first night of the competition. Winning second place was Elizabeth Steward. Third place went to Kristen Swords and the fourth place runner up was Maya Nelson. It was a game changer that all four were first time competitors, going up against a couple returning contestants.
Marietta sang “Gravity” by John Mayer in her first performance, and ended the night performing her judges’ picked song, “Perfect” by Pink. During her first song performing John Mayer, Marietta showed incredible stage presence and interaction with the live band that was brought in for the finale. After her first performance of the night, Judge Jordyne Carmack complimented Marietta, describing her as a “competitor” and encouraging her to keep “bringing it” and judge Victor Andzulis, praised Marietta for being the performer who was the most comfortable on stage.
Originally Marietta hadn’t even planned on auditioning for the competition. It was actually former host and Cumberland Idol winner Dalton Hutton that pushed her to try out. Hutton and Marietta knew each other from church and choir, and of course Hutton was very familiar with the competition.
“I really didn’t want to (audition); we have these competitions back at my high school and I always came in super low. I was actually sitting in my
room the last day of auditions, there was like a half hour left and Dalton was here and he said, ‘If you don’t get your butt down here and audition, I’m going to pull you out of your room and bring you down here,’” said Marietta. Marietta had committed to a mission trip in Africa earlier this year and Hutton had encouraged her by telling her “worst case scenario, you don’t make it, best case scenario your mission trip would be paid for.“
Hutton said, “She said that it would be a waste of time for her because she probably wouldn’t last long. I kind of gave her a pep talk and even drove from London for moral support. I knew she could do it! She has an amazing voice. She just sometimes, like all of us, needs someone to tell them that they can do it.”
As fate would have it, Marietta was victorious in the competition and was awarded the $1,000 cash prize; however, Marietta says she won something far more valuable than that giant check.
“It just made me a little bit more comfortable once I felt like I had a place here. Honestly, Elizabeth and I, we’ve been in choir since the first day of freshmen semester, and we sat right next to each other, and I would make a joke and she would giggle at it but that was kind of the furthest that our friendship went. Throughout this competition we ate lunch, breakfast, and dinner together almost every day together. Everyone in CAB and all the top twelve, we all just hang out when we see each other; it’s nice because I didn’t really know anyone,” said Marietta.
While Marietta is relieved to have the pressure of the competition over with, she says she’ll miss it and would love to be involved in future seasons in any way she can.
Nikki Marietta belts out on stage during the 2016 Spotlight finale.
Photo by Eric Ford Edwards
Nikki Marietta sings “Gravity” as her final performance in the Spotlight competition before being named the winner.
Photo by Natasha Jones
Bringing vigilance to campus
UC criminal justice department sponsors RADS program to teach self-defense to students
By Tr ENTON CANA dA Assistant Editor
The University of the Cumberland’s criminal justice department recently sponsored a convocation event aimed at teaching female students defense strategies to use in hostile situations. RADS, or rape aggression defense system, was available for only female students and was brought to UC’s campus by the Blount County Tennessee Sheriff’s office.
Trained officers spent the afternoon on April 14 teaching female students defensive techniques to use against possible attackers.
“It’s all about being vigilant,” states Warren Headrick, a former officer with the Blount County Sheriff’s office and now full-time professor at UC. “It’s not so much about the physical part, the learning how to defend yourself. It’s about being aware.”
The convocation event is part of a united effort from the criminal justice department to be more active on campus. The RADS program, presented by Headrick, was one of those ways.
Headrick offers, “We want things that relate to real-world situations. Whether it’s practical experience, awareness, or education, that all incorporates training.”
The RADS program comes just a few months after the criminal justice department sponsored a convocation event featuring an active member of the United States Secret Service.
“We hopefully want to do a few other things,” Headrick explains. “We’re brainstorming, and where there’s a will, there’s a way. With me, just finishing up my first year, I’m trying to do the best job I can to make the criminal justice department the best department that’s possible.”
Dr. Emily Coleman, vice president of student services, recognizes the efforts that the criminal justice department has made. “We greatly appreciated the criminal justice department’s willingness to host convocation opportunities for students,” she states. “Faculty and academic departments across campus provide outstanding speakers and workshops every semester which introduce students to a variety of topics. Their continued support of the convocation program through hosting these events is greatly appreciated.”
Human rights class goes beyond integrated studies
By A MAN dA K Elly
Writer
Think back to January when the University of the Cumberlands’ motto was metacognition, and the only important letters on campus were QEP and SACSCOC. The administration has emphasized the importance of integrated studies courses for their new accreditation mission. However, that’s not the point of this story. One integrated studies course, In Defense of Humanity: Human Rights Abuses, went beyond integrating two majors into one class; they went above metacognition. They went into the community to serve people rather than think about all the human rights abuses occurring every day. They took action.
The class divided into teams to head up three different service projects, in which the entire class contributed time, money and effort for the causes. The Sara Jo Hampton Benefit Dinner, the Benchmark Program (which provides foster care services) and a bake sale to raise money for Jolie, a girl from the Democratic Republic of Congo who’s sponsored by the class through World Vision organization.
“I’ve been really impressed with the growth of the service projects with this class,” Dr. Gina Bowlin, a professor of In Defense of Humanity, said. “We’re accomplishing a lot more as a student group.”
While the first In Defense of Humanity class raised enough money to sponsor Jolie for two years back in 2014, this class took on three different service projects to benefit their injured classmate Sara Jo Hampton, along with Jolie and local foster children. The Sara Jo Benefit Dinner on April 9 raised about $3,200 for her and her family’s medical expenses. Sara Jo’s mother, Kelli Waters Hampton, posted a sincere thanks to the class and volunteers to her personal Facebook page.
“Tonight has been another humbling night in our lives,” Kelli Hampton wrote. “We just came home from the benefit dinner that Sara’s classmates and professors sponsored at Main Street Baptist Church, and it was amazing! You’ve shown us light during the darkest hours of our lives, and we will for-
ever be grateful.”
Once the dinner was over, the kitchen was cleaned and the money accounted for, the class focused their attention to the Benchmark Program’s carnival day at the Corbin Center April 16. Haley Ferguson, a senior human services major, interns with the Benchmark program for her major. Her leadership and organization brought happiness to 120 children who attended the event. Fifteen to 20 volunteers from the class and the women’s wrestling team participated, making a memorable day for everyone.
“Benchmark said it was the best event we’ve ever had, and I think it went very well,” Haley Ferguson, event organizer and Benchmark intern, said. “I wanted to give the kids something they would remember because they’ve only been given mediocre in their lives. They deserve more than mediocre.”
After both of those events, the students didn’t stop. From April 18 through April 22, the students donated their time and baking skills to raise money for Jolie, the capstone project in Dr. Bowlin’s opinion. This project, at first, was meant to raise the spirits of the first class in 2014 since they encountered difficult topics involving people like Jolie. With the World Vision project, students could put a face, a name, a smile and give humanity to a little girl living in the one of the most dangerous places on Earth, the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa.
The students in this class were especially concerned about their classmate, Sara Jo Hampton, in the wake of her life-threatening car accident Feb. 19. Her friends in the class formed the special committee that organized the event. Anna Hoekstra, the primary organizer of the benefit dinner, got to see the Hampton’s reaction to the donations when she delivered the total funds.
“It was humbling to me, as the organizer, because we made such a huge impact on their family by doing such a small thing,” Hoekstra said.
Guest
Students gather around Sara Jo hampton during a bennefit dinner held in her honor.
Photo submitted.
One swipe at a time
The rise of online dating
By Tr ENTON CANA dA Assistant Editor
Since the rise of social media and apps, our day-to-day interactions have shifted forever. There is no doubt in that. We now have the ability to stay connected with people from around the globe on a scale that hasn’t been felt before. Yet, beyond the scope of simply staying connected, certain social media platforms grant us the ability to meet those who are completely new to our lives, most often in the hopes of finding that significant other. The use of online dating and dating apps has risen in recent years to a level that would have been unthought of just a few years ago.
In an article published in the Global Post, it was reported that a survey from 2006 had shown that 11 percent of all Internet users had engaged in some form of online dating. That number is thought to have doubled, perhaps even tripled, since that time. What’s more, those aged 18 to 30 were reported to use more online dating sites than any other demographic. But this doesn’t answer the question of why online dating has become so prevalent, especially amongst the college-aged demographic, or what risks there are to this medium for finding a soulmate.
One such explanation for the rise of online dating can be found in the ease and convenience offered by such sites and apps.
Alex Schaich, a UC senior who met her boyfriend online, agrees. “I think it’s so appealing because it’s so convenient. I mean, you can literally download an app and meet new people within minutes,” said Schaich.
No longer do people have to venture out into the physical world to find a match. We now have the convenience of finding someone from the comfort of our living room. Though for the college demographic, I suppose it would more likely be a matter of from our dorm room. But that’s the appeal of it. There’s no longer the immediate threat of humiliation from being possibly
rejected in public. The strain of spotting a person from across the room and working up the courage to speak to them is virtually eliminated. Now, it’s simply a matter of swiping left or right, typing a message and hitting the send button.
The success stories found with online dating offer another appeal. NPR reported in 2013 that about a quarter of all online daters had married a person they met through a dating site or app. The stories of successful dates and long-term matches help to drive the platform forward amongst young adults. It certainly did for Amber Gastineau, a junior at UC.
“My friend was talking about how she had met her boyfriend online,” Gastineau explains, “and I thought I would give it a try.”
The question then comes to mind, why is online dating so successful? There are many explanations for this. First, such sites allow users to upload a profile. Many sites ask the user about their interests, hobbies, education level and future goals. With all of this in place, possible suitors have the opportunity to read through dozens of profiles, eliminating the ones that don’t align with their vision of a match.
Still, in some cases, the process of finding a match is even more sophisticated. In a recent broadcast by NPR, one of the founders of Match.com reported that their site used algorithms to pair potential dates. They do this based on a series of questions, and depending on the user’s answer to the question, they are given a complex sequence of numbers that is then compared to all users within proximity. The users that are shown at the top of the match list are the ones that the algorithm has deemed most suitable for the user.
Photo courtesy of Flickr’s Collegedegrees360. Used with permission.
Those aged 18 to 30 were reported to use more online dating sites than any other demographic. “ ”
Granted, allowing a complex mathematical equation to pair you with potential matches seems to take the romance out of it all, but Match.com actually claims to have the highest percentage of online dating success stories. In fact, with many dating sites, users claim to have found “the one” within just a few dates.
“I had gone on a date with three other guys I had met online,” Schaich recalls, “but the first time I met my boyfriend, we hit it off and the rest was history.” She and her boyfriend have been together for a year and a half now.
Yet, apart from all of the successes and the ease of online dating, there are those who are still not convinced. There is a stigma that has been placed upon online dating. Again, NPR reported that 20 percent of Internet users say that online daters are desperate. In addition to this, there has been a tendency for some users to misrepresent themselves online, yielding negative results
when matches finally meet in person.
Schaich adds to this by saying of the three men she met before her current boyfriend, “…once we met in person, the chemistry was just a lot different than it was online.”
So, yes, there are those negative implications that come from using a dating site, but it’s left to the user to decide whether the risk is worth the reward.
“I feel like there are more and more college students that are beginning to use dating sites and would find it more appealing,” Gastineau states.
For those who have reservations about trying online dating, Schaich encourages, “I would say go for it! You really have nothing to lose. I think that in this day and age it’s a great way to meet people. Of course, just be smart about meeting up with someone. Make sure you do your research!”
By ShyANN NOrr IS Staff Writer
1) Get ahead of the game! Do some assignments before the night they are due. Start studying for your exam days before you take it. Begin on your paper that is due next week. You’ll be glad you’re ahead when 10 o’ clock rolls around on the day the assignment or paper is due at midnight.
2) Give yourself some “me time.” Take some time out of your busy day to reflect on you and your life. Take a walk, read a book, or go sightseeing.
3) Reconnect with an old friend or distant relative. Give them a call. Send a letter. Or even pay a visit. Let them know you are thinking of them. It will make their day and yours.
4) Go on a hike. Go outdoors with some friends or make it a date with your significant other. There is nothing like the beauty of nature and experiencing it with your loved ones. Make a day out of it and have a picnic.
5) Treat yourself and a friend to ice cream. A little sweet splurge every once in a while won’t hurt anyone, especially while having a quick “vent session” with a friend.
6) Take a spur of the moment to drive and listen to your favorite songs. This is a very therapeutic way to release tension and relieve stress in your body. And what is more fun than blasting your stereo and singing to the top of your lungs?
7) Visit someone you know who is sick, lost a family member, or going through a rough patch in his or her life. Let them know that even when they feel alone that someone somewhere loves them. This will mean so much to you while meaning even more to the person you are visiting. Love the ones around you who need it most.
Serving while surviving college
By lydIA hUGGINS Guest Writer
For a fulfilling college experience, getting involved on campus is important. A support system is needed to survive all of the many activities crammed into a short amount of time. Quizzes, assignments, tests, midterms, research papers, projects, presentations, and finals are a small part of the busy schedule that demands a student’s time. Add a part-time or full-time job, a sport or sports, academic clubs, coffee runs, study breaks, and many other things to a full-time student’s schedule and you have one stressed out college student. Also, don’t forget to spend time with family and friends.
Dealing with the stress of school and life outside of school is a lot to juggle. Along with family and friends, a local church can be a part of your support system. The challenge of including church, Bible study, and serving time often discourages students from getting involved at all in a church and community.
The student’s thought process seems to be focus on your education first and then, you’ll find time to be a part of the community and serve. However, we are not promised our next breath, so why are we waiting to start living out what is most important?
Galatians 5:13-14 (ESV) says, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
While it seems like there is no freedom as a student, we are called to freedom. We should not carry the burdens of stress; instead invest in people around you by loving them. Serving is love in action.
SURVIVING COLLEGE
With only four months in a semester, how are you supposed to impact someone in such a small amount of time? If you’re too busy to hang out with friends because of homework, study together. Ephesians 5:15-16 says to be wise in how you live and to make the best of every opportunity. Use every moment you can find to invest in people around you. The dinner table is a good place to prioritize time with people. Since you have to take time to eat, have intentional conversations at the table.
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God,” says 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV).
In whatever you do, glorify the Lord. However, being intentional is still very important in all relationships as well as in serving. Find time for important things like investing in people. If you’re extremely busy and can’t find time, then, make time like at the dinner table as mentioned before. A true friend should be willing to drop everything for anyone in need. Friends last longer than grades. Take a study break and go get ice cream to cry with your friend over the frustrations of life or to have a good laugh.
Obviously, you don’t want to completely throw off all studiousness to goof off. Education is a way to glorify God by using your gifts and talents to pursue a career that will impact the world around you. Preparing for your future is good, but don’t forget about the people that are around you because they make the college experience memorable. You have a limited amount of time with your college friends. A few will be around for a while, but most will move on as you do after graduation.
SERVING
Being a friend and finding everyday life moments to serve and glorify God are ways to serve while surviving college, but choosing to serve is a way to thrive in community. Attend a small group or Bible study to truly be in community with other believers. Being active in a local church is an important step, because serving by yourself is draining. We are made to live in community with fellow believers so that others will see the love of Jesus, as John 13:34-45 says.
Adding another activity to the schedule does become overwhelming. Instead of being involved in everything, wisely choose one or two that you’re passionate about and do those well. Choose a Bible study and/or ministry that you’d consider to be the most essential to your life. The same can be said of friendships. While we are called to love everyone, wisely choose friendships that you can invest in deeply.
“So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,” says Colossians 1:10-11 (ESV).
Photo courtesy of Flickr’s JohnPaul r ichards. Used with permission.
By lAN dry WOOd S Guest Writer
Cuba, baseball and Obama Students react to landmark game in Cuba
U.S. President Barack Obama sits with Cuban President r aul Castro at the Estadio l atinoamericano in havana, Cuba, as he members of a U.S. delegation including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry attend an exhibition game on March 22, 2016, between the Cuban National Baseball Team and the Tampa Bay r ays. [State department photo/ Public domain]
Last month the Major League Baseball team the Tampa Bay Rays played the Cuban National Team. You might be wondering, what ‘s the big deal about that? The fact that the Rays will be the first major-league team to play in Cuba in 17 years is a big deal. The Rays were the first MLB team to play a game in Cuba since 1999. The time before that? 1959. So, this game hasn’t come around that often. Plus, the president of the United States attended, which was heavily criticized by Republican presidential candidates for continuing his trip to Cuba in the wake of the attacks in Brussels and for being seated with Cuban President Raul Castro at the game.
While this news has obviously received national notoriety as the game was broadcast live on ESPN, the fact still remains that it was a very controversial topic. While there are many who praise the idea of these two countries coming together, maybe just as many oppose it. On the campus of the University of the Cumberlands there is a fairly diverse crowd, but still not one that may be able to fully understand the situation in Cuba. However, with the previous relationship the United States has had with the Cuban government, much of the view Americans take is one of negative thought. While that is attributed to the communistic government in Cuba, and justifiably so, not all individuals truly understand the matter.
The question then becomes, what does this game symbolize and how can it be helpful for the future of the Cuban people? While not every UC student and maybe not any UC student can fully grasp the entire issue at hand, maybe some can help better enlighten the situation. Cody Hughes, a UC student and native of Oshawa, Canada shares a unique perspective compared to that of other students on campus. Hughes as been to Cuba, on vacation, and
carries what he believes is a much better view of Cuba than that of some his American classmates.
“It is unbelievably peaceful,” said Hughes referring to Cuba. He believes that much of the negative view of the Cuban people, in the United States comes from media, but not one he shares as he glowed about the kindness of the Cuban people. However, the real issue here is the game at hand, and what it means to the future relationship between Cuban and the U.S.
While no one fully understand the implications this game has on the future of the relationship between Cuba and the U.S., one UC student suggests that it was a step in the right direction. Russ Kaeser was at one time a member of the Patriot baseball team and believes there are some positives to using the sport of baseball to bring two countries together. Kaeser referred to baseball as something Cuba and the U.S. had the “most common ground on.” In addition to this, Kaeser believes that if you are going to start relations between the two countries why not start with a sporting event, as Kaeser said, “I think it made the most sense.”
Regardless of what views are tossed around on UC’s campus, it is clear that the view many American’s share don’t necessarily coincide with others in the world. Either way, efforts for a new relationship have begun and a beginning to those relationships sometimes requires hard steps. However, by using the game of baseball these two countries can take difficult steps as well as make those first initial ones just slightly less painful. No matter the stance on the issue, there is no denying that baseball can help play a huge part in the furthering of this connection between these two countries.
