Volume 54, Issue 5

The Captain’s Log

TheaterCNU Presents: Spitfire Grill

EVELYN DAVIDSON EVELYN.DAVIDSON.20@CNU.EDU

TheaterCNU’s “The Spitfire Grill,” transports audience members back in time to 1991 in the small town of Gilead, WI. In Gilead, everybody knows everybody and there’s only one place to grab a bite – Mrs. Ferguson’s Spitfire Grill. New girl, Percy Talbott, played by Alexandra Lagos, rolls into town and has everyone in Gilead wondering, who is this strange girl with her country accent and criminal record?

Percy secures a job as a waitress at The Spitfire Grill where she lives with the stubborn but sharp-witted restaurant owner Mrs. Ferguson, played by Katie O’Shields. When Mrs. Ferguson has a sudden accident that leaves her unable to run the restaurant, Percy steps up to manage things with the help of the timid but sweet Shelby Thorpe, played by Adalynn Eller. Percy meets other residents of Gilead’s close-knit community, like Shelby’s bad-tempered husband Caleb, the town gossiper Effy, and sheriff Joe who takes a particular interest in Percy. The audience, just like Percy, is sure to fall in love with this charmingly quaint town and the quiet life it offers.

Lagos perfectly embodies the spirit of Percy’s character through her beautifully captivating voice with its slight country twang. She delights the audience with upbeat and humorous numbers like “Out of the Frying Pan” and inspires them with emotionally powerful songs like “Shine.” Lagos’ moving performance makes it very easy for the audience to immerse themselves in Percy’s journey as she attempts to abandon her painful past and find peace in a world that hasn’t always shown her kindness.

What’s Inside News

Leakage in Potomac North Newport News public school walk

In scenes with Percy and Shelby working together at The Spitfire Grill, Lagos and Eller’s chemistry breathes life into these moments and captures all the warmth and joy of their characters’ friendship.

Additionally, O’Shields comical portrayal of Mrs. Ferguson, brings a certain lightness and humor to the story, and she might remind you a little of your own tough, but loving grandmother. This trio of women shines bright on stage and will certainly make you smile with their caring relationship. They

may be different ages and come from different places, but they’re united by their love for each other and for the town of Gilead.

Effy Krayneck, played by Melaina Fergeson, amuses the audience throughout the entire show with her meddling ways and her quirky personality. The male characters also play integral roles in the story. James Pettus, played by Caleb Thorpe, is the judgemental and

emotionally closed-off husband to Shelby. Pettus did an excellent job of displaying this complexity and making the audience wary of him. In comparison, Sheriff Joe Sutter, played by John Byrd, is a breath of fresh air and audiences will melt over how sweet and patient he is towards the people around him, especially Percy. Liam Riley who portrays the mysterious Visitor does an amazing job of expressing his emotions and motives

without saying a single word.

This TheaterCNU performance will pull at the heart strings and leave audience members yearning for a hot cup of coffee from the only restaurant in town. With a relatively small but incredibly talented cast, compelling characters, and poignant musical numbers, You won’t want to miss what’s cooking at “The Spitfire Grill.”

“The Spitfire Grill” will

perform on Oct. 5, 6, and 7 at 7:30pm in CNU’s Peebles Theatre.

Tickets are free for CNU students. For more info visit: https://cnu.edu/academics/ departments/theater/ performances/

SnapshotSports LifestyleA&E

Captain’s victory over Rowan

Monster: The Jeffey Dahmer Story review

My Best Friend’s Exorcism review

A glimpse at The Disabled Student Union

How COVID affected on

Inside look at Spitfire Grill

Top: Characters read mail as they sing the song “Shoot The Moon”

Editor and

Staff

Editor in Chief

Grace Griles

grace.griles.20@cnu.edu

Business Manager

Justin Heller

justin.heller.21@cnu.edu

Lifestyle Editor

Savannah Dunn savannah.dunn.21@cnu.edu

Editor

Savannah Dunn

Editor of the Week

Savannah Dunn

Evelyn Davidson evelyn.davison.20@cnu.edu

News Editor Sports Editor

Elijah Williams elijah.williams.19@cnu.edu

A&E Editor

Fiona Sullivan

fiona.sullivan.20@cnu.edu

savannah.dunn.20@cnu.edu

Head of CNUTV

Allison Silverman allison.silverman.21@cnu.edu

Lifestyle and Photograohy Editor Savannah Dunn has been with The Captain’s Log since fall 2021. Dunn started off as a Staff Writer in September 2021 and became an A&E Ediotr in October 2021. Dunn is dubbed this title for turning in the paper for the Editor in Chief this week and always going above and beyond for The Captain’s Log.

Staff Writer of the Week Trey Greenwell

“Horoscopes” for the week of October 5-12

Mx. First Person to Get Mad (Aries): Pass Mx. I’ll Take Two (Taurus): Captain Chris will give you a cookie.

Mx. Evil Twin But Without the Twin (Gem ini): We asked a magic 8 ball for your horoscope and it just said “maybe.” Whatever that means.

Little Mx. I’m Not Crying (Cancer): Here .*passes tissues* You’re gonna need these.

Little Mx. Talks About Themselves Every 5 Seconds (Leo): Smash Virgin (Virgo): You and Paul Trible will be married in another life

Little Mx. Hiss Hiss: You will actually not hate soemthing for once in your life.

Jacob Sartorius (Saggitarius): “i DoNt Be LiEvE in aStRoLoGy.” Then why are you look ing?

Control Freak Sea Goat (Capricorn): You will get a better grade than you ex pect.

Mx. Always Got At Least 11 Problems (Aquarius): Buy Chinese food. Open your fortune cookie. There.

Little Mx. Door Mat (Pisces): You will come into a large sum of money. (Unfor tunately not enough to cover tuition.)

Created by

SAVANNAH DUNN

SAVANNAH.DUNN.21@CNU.EDU

KALEY VINCENT KALEY.VINCENT.21@CNU.EDU

GRACE GRILES

GRACE.GRILES.20@CNU.EDU

Trey Greenwell has been with The Captain’s Log since Fall 2021, and he has been a consistent writer for the Sports section ever since. Greenwell’s stories have been featured on the front cover two times in a row this semester! Even though he is not on the cover this week his excellent work can be found in the Sports section of this issue.

NFL Crossword

Answers will be posted on our Instagram @cnucaptainslog! (all past crossword answers are in our Instagram highlights)

Across Down

1. Last standing undefeated team in week 4

7. The city that the Commanders played for before moving to Washington

9. Nickname of the crazy Buffalo Bills fans

11. MVP of Super Bowl LVI

2 . The all-time leader in rushing yards throughout a career

3. The newest NFL franchise that was estab lished in 2002

4. The undisputed “GOAT” at quarterback

5. Winner of Super Bowl LVI

6. This team holds the title of playing more games than any other franchise (including post season)

8. First overall pick of the 2022 draft

10. The team that won the first Super Bowl in 1967

OPINIONS

Rappahanock Washers

Rappahanock Resident Shares Their Expereince with the In-Suite Washing Machines

EVELYN DAVIDSON EVELYN.DAVIDSON.20@CNU.EDU

If you’ve ever lived in Rap pahannock Residence Hall, then you know the struggle of having to wait endlessly for your clothing to finish in the combined washer/dryer ma chine, only for your load to come out still damp. Up until this semester at CNU, I had never used a dryer that takes so long to semi-dry things. It takes nearly three hours to dry when set on low temperature. Even worse, if you set the ma chine to normal then it will take five hours. Do you know all the tasks a college student can complete in five hours or how many classes they could sit through in that time? While many of us, myself included, probably appreciate not hav ing to deal with the communal laundry rooms found in most first and second year residence halls, I do miss their speed and efficiency.

On top of the timing is sues, the washers are quite flimsy and susceptible to breakdowns. Issues occur so frequently that housing loads a little extra money onto the residents’ Captain’s Cards so that they can pay for the communal washers on the 4th floor of Rappahannock when the washer/dryer fails to work in their dorm. However, the money is not meant to be enough for the whole academ ic year; it’s really only meant to compensate in case of an emergency.

I have already experienced a problem with the machine in my own dorm where massive amounts of water would accu mulate around the washer. A few weeks ago, my suitemate put in a work order and main tenance showed up and re placed the filter pump. We also learned that for the machine to drain properly, the water in the filter pump needs to be emptied every two weeks. This means setting out a container to hold the liquid and pull ing out the little tube housed in the compartment near the bottom left side of the washer to let it drain into the dish. If this isn’t done regularly, then the drum of the washer won’t drain properly and the cloth ing inside will not dry.

This is a relatively simple chore that does not take much time, but I do wish someone had told us that we would need to perform this task and showed us how to do it. The only infor mation that I had before mov ing in was from an email with brief tips on using the laundry machines. One of the tips said, “Clean twice a month to prevent odor and build up, drain the wa ter from the bottom and then clean your filter. Clean the door seal and door to prevent mildew after each load.” Nowhere did it explain how to drain the water or where one could find the filter on the machine. I think the ma chines would be better cared for if students knew exactly what to do.

I also really wish we could just have separate machines for washing and drying instead of combined. It seems like there is plenty of space to provide a better solution. Dorms in Rap pahannock are apartment style and contain laundry closets that house the washer/dryer and the water heater unit. Per haps not all laundry closets have the same dimensions, but at least in my dorm, there is definitely enough room for a washer and dryer separately or maybe stacked on top of each other. Furthermore, with such frequent breakdowns, a lot of money and resources are lost and maintenance workers must set aside more time to make re pairs to the machines.

“The Captain’s Log is free to write anything it pleases and CNU fully respects the Freedom of the Press.”

CNU PRESIDENT PAUL TRIBLE

Screen capture from LG Manual

Major Water Leak in Potomac North Causes Flooding in Dorms

EVELYN DAVIDSON EVELYN.DAVIDSON.20@CNU.EDU

Early Sunday morning, Oct. 2, stu dents residing in Potomac River Hall North got an unexpected surprise when a pipe burst on one of the upper floors of the building causing flood ing to the rooms on the lower floors. A video shared by a concerned parent on the CNU Parents, Alumni, Students & Staff Facebook group depicted stu dents standing in water that covered the floors, attempting to push the water around with brooms.

Mikaia Scott, a freshman psychology major who lives on the second floor of Potomac North, shared her experience. In the days leading up to the flooding incident, Scott and her suitemates no ticed something wasn’t right with their toilet. At one point, Scott’s suitemate saw water on the floor around the toilet and thought it had flooded, but Scott as sumed that somebody might have taken a shower and used the toilet, leaving ex tra water on the ground. Scott also ex plained that the toilet would continue to run for 30 seconds to a minute and they intended to report this to maintenance.

However, they did not end up filing a work order before the water started rising up and flooding out of the toilet around 2:00 a.m on Sunday. They tried to mitigate the issue by placing down towels but the water continued to flood the bathroom and the hall. The water leaked into other people’s rooms and to the floor below. Scott said this contin ued for 20-30 minutes. Her roommate closed the bathroom door and by the time she opened it again there was two to three feet of water on the ground. The Captain’s Log reached out to the university to find out what ex actly happened and what caused the in cident. When asked why the pipes burst, a spokesperson for University Housing said, “A water leak can occur for many reasons. Sometimes it can be weather or damage related, other times it can be that the specific item has worn out or broke down.”

They said that the problem started on the fourth floor and once this was identified the leak was temporarily fixed. Final repairs were set to be han dled on Monday, Oct. 3. With regards to students who have damaged rooms and belongings, the spokesperson said, “Damaged rooms are being repaired and a restoration company was brought onsite to address the cleanup prompt ly. Students with damaged belongings should work through their insurance company. The university does not of fer any liability coverage for students’ personal belongings.”

Students Protest Governor Youngkin’s Proposed Policy on Transgender Students

Many blame the fact these poli cies were adopted on the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric across the nation. Some say this is Governor Youngkin’s attempt to build a na tional image among conservative Republicans as there is a strong likelihood that he will make a run for the presidency in 2024. Young kin himself was not in Virginia on the day of the walk outs, he was in Alpharetta, Georgia campaigning for Republicans in that state.

Following the policy announce ments, student organizers across the state began to organize walk outs for Sept. 27. Students, staff, and others gathered outside their schools, waving pride flags, hold ing signs, and chanting things like, “Trans Rights are Human RIghts” and “D-O-E. Leave Us Be!”.

Thousands of students in Vir ginia schools staged a walk out on September 27th to protest Governor Glenn Youngkin’s rewrite on model policies for the treatment of trans gender students. The policy was posted online on Sept. 16, weeks af ter classes started. The policy states that students can only use facilites according to sex assigned at birth. It also forbids trans and non-binary students from changing their name and pronouns without parental con sent. The policy also discourages teachers from concealing the gender identity of students from parents, regardless of the harm that it could pose to the child.

Republicans and socially conser vative activists praised the policy change, saying it would “restore pa rental rights”. Democrats and LG BTQ+ activists slammed the policy change, saying it would put trans and non-binary students at more risk, citing the high rate of suicide amongst LGBTQ+ youth. Youngkin’s office denied this and claimed that trans and nonbinary students would still be protected from harassment under the new guidelines. The Vir ginia branch of the American Civil Liberties Union said they were “ap palled” by the decision and plans to possibly challenge the policy should it be accepted by the Virginia De partment of Education.

Many transgender students ex pressed frustation at the policy, one student in Fairfax County told NBC, “Trans students are students just like everybody else. We don’t want to be out here fighting for our rights and protesting — we want to be in calculus class and learning how to drive. But, instead, we have to be here, because they’re trying to take away our rights.”

The Governor’s guidelines are subject to a 30-day public comment period. Over 18,000 have been sub mitted.

Hurricane Ian Brings Heavy Winds and Rain to Newport News

EVELYN DAVIDSON EVELYN.DAVIDSON.20@CNU.EDU

Late last week, starting on Friday Sept. 30, Hurricane Ian brought heavy rain and wind to the Hampton Roads area. Wind speed in Newport News ranged from 16.78 mph to 20.51 mph on Friday (time anddate.com). Both a tornado watch and flood warnings were issued in the area late that afternoon.

In an email to the CNU com munity on Sept. 29, Interim Chief of Staff, Dr. Robert Col vin informed students that the university would still be open Friday and on through the weekend. Football and field hockey games would continue as scheduled, but an admission event originally scheduled for Saturday was canceled. Colvin

also urged students to avoid driving into standing water and warned that there may be disruptions to the local power system.

The Richmond Times-Dis patch reported on Oct. 1 that Dominion Energy had 25,946 customers lose power in Vir ginia, 4,542 of which were in Newport News.

A fallen tree took out a pow erline and led to a traffic back up on Interstate 64 last Friday, The Virginian-Pilot reported. They also reported other inci dents in the Hampton Roads area including a metal church steeple from Galiee Church that detached from the build ing and almost caused dam ages to a nearby apartment complex in Virginia Beach.

JARRETT CONNOLLY JARRETT.CONOLLY.20@CNU.EDU

Transgender flag, photo from Lena Balk, Unsplash.com

Flooding in Potomac North, photo courtesy of Mikaia Scott

State Required Anti-Hazing Training Skips Over Athletic Teams

University administrators explain the requirements of Adam’s Law at CNU

KAYLEY VINCENT KAYLEY.VINCENT.21@CNU.EDU

Back in January of 2022, Ad am’s Law was passed to protect college students from hazing and to create a precedent for legal responsibility in the event of hazing. Under this new legis lation, anyone found guilty of hazing in the state of Virginia is also guilty of a Class 1 misde meanor, one step below a felony (stophazing.org). Also under this new legislation, “Each in stitution shall provide to each current member, new member, and potential new member of each student organization with new members hazing preven tion training that includes ex tensive, current, and in-person education about hazing.” (lis. virginia.gov).

Since the bill was passed, Christopher Newport Universi ty (CNU) has presented the re quired anti-hazing training to various student organizations. On-campus student organi zations include all Greek Life organizations, as well as orga nizations like Knights of the Force and the SGA. However, another on-campus group that consistently has new members entering each academic year is CNU Athletics. Questions arose regarding the anti-haz ing training received by athletic teams, or if they received train ing at all. Why is it that athletic teams are identified alongside Greek organizations and oth er student groups as frequent culprits of hazing, according to the Gordie Center, yet ath letic teams are not required to attend the same Anti-Hazing Training as the other organiza tions?

As pointed out by Kevin Hughes, the Vice President of Student Affairs, athletic teams were never included in the Ad am’s Law legislation requiring student organizations with new members to receive anti-hazing training. In fact, athletic teams are explicitly excluded from the training. When defining “stu dent organization with new members,” officials indicated that this “does not include any varsity intercollegiate or club athletic team” (lis.virgnia.gov).

Hughes stated that all freshmen receive anti-hazing training at a ses sion during orientation: “We capture potential new members who also happen to be athletes, band mem bers, and any other student inter ested in joining any sort of student organization.”

Director of Athletics, Kyle McMul lin, confirmed Hughes’ statement, and also indicated extra training that athletes receive: “[Student-ath letes] also receive additional training when the Director of Title IX speaks to our student-athletes at the be ginning of each academic year and

specifically addresses hazing in her talk.”

McMullin made his stance clear: “Our expectations are quite simple: We do not condone hazing. Our coaches and staff have a clear un derstanding that while we expect to compete at a very high level, the best avenue to doing so is by creat ing teams that support each other and don’t engage in destructive be havior.”

However, despite the claims that student-athletes receive anti-haz ing training, some may wonder, is

it enough? According to the presentation shared by CNU in its Anti-Hazing Training for student organizations with new members, the Gordie Cen ter includes athletic teams in its list of hazing culprits. Accord ing to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), 74% of student athletes experi ence at least one form of hazing during their college years. The most frequent form of hazing is related to alcohol, specifically drinking games (ncaa.org).

The policy for athletic orga nizations and their athletes set by the NCAA states: “Athletics administrators, coaches and student-athletes need to work together to develop anti-hazing policies which promote healthy team activities and avoid prac tices that humiliate members. All student-athletes and mem bers of the department must be educated on the policy annu ally.”

In accordance with state law, the Center for Honor Enrich ment and Community Stan dards (CHECS) must publicly report any incidents where an individual or organization was found responsible for hazing within the past calendar year.

The CHECS Director, Alyssa Reddy, was proud to report zero violations for the 2021-2022 ac ademic year.

If a report has to be made, ac cording to state law, the report must include: the name of the student organization, the date the hazing incident occurred, the date the investigation was initiated and concluded, the date the organization was found responsible for the haz ing incident, and a comprehen sive description of the incident, including the findings, charges, and sanctions placed on the or ganization that does not reveal personal, identifying informa tion.

All reports can be found at cnu.edu/public/hazing/. It should be noted that incidents where an accusation of haz ing was made, but no one was found responsible, are not re quired to be shared.

TowneBank Stadium, photo by Savananah Dunn, Snapshot Editor

Captains Game of the Week: CNU Rugby v. VMI

PHOTOS TAKEN BY CNU SNAPSHOT TEAM MEMBER , KALEY VINCENT

On This Day in Sports October 5, 2007

ELIJAH WILLIAMS ELIJAH.WILLIAMS.19@CNU.EDU

After years of angry denials, triple gold medal winning American sprinter Marion Jones admits to using steroids in the early 2000s. She pleads guilty to lying to federal investigators and announces retirement from Track and Field in a tearful apology. Adding onto the pain and embarassment, her olympic medals had to be rescinded back to the Olympic Committee.

SOURCE: ONTHISSPORTSDAY.COM

Top NFL Teams to Look out For

ELIJAH WILLIAMS ELIJAH.WILLIAMS.19@CNU.EDU

Going into Week 5 of the 2022 NFL season, I figured it was about time to showcase the top NFL teams and their chances of winning the Conference titles and eventually the Superbowl! Without further ado, here are current postion charts as of October 5th.

Captains Defeat Rowan in Conference Opener

team

TRAJAN GREENWELL TRAJAN.GREENWELL.21@CNU.EDU

Last Saturday, the Captains began New Jersey Athletic Con ference play against Rowan Uni versity. After a big win on Family Weekend, the Captains wanted to continue that excellent level of play in this game. Although the score was not as convinc ing as last week, the Captains began conference play with a win against Rowan University, 20-14.

The Captains began the game on offense. Their first drive fin ished with a 34 yard completion to freshman running back Colin Hart that gave the Captains an early lead.

On Rowan’s first possession, they were able to move the ball into Captains territory. Howev er, a fourth down running play was stopped which gave the Captains the football at their own 28 yard-line.

Two punts from both teams kept the score at 6-0 to end the first quarter. Rowan’s second punt resulted in a near disas ter for the Captains as a fumble

from freshman wide receiver Trey Hayes was luckily recov ered by the Captains. A big 65 yard completion to Colin Hart put the Captains at Rowan’s 2 yard-line and ended with a rushing touchdown from ju nior quarterback Matt Dzier ski that extended the Cap tains lead to 13-0.

After the touchdown, the Captains defense man aged to keep the lead at 13-0 throughout the second quar ter. A punt followed by an in terception from freshman de fensive back Yasir Geter kept Rowan scoreless at halftime.

Another punt from Row an’s offense to start the sec ond half gave the Captains the ball. What was looking like another punt from the Captains offense changed quickly when a roughing the kicker penalty on Rowan gave the Captains a first down and a chance to keep the posses sion going.

On top of that, an electric

61-yard touchdown run from Matt Dzierski gave the Cap tains a further lead of 20-0 by the end of the third quarter.

After the Captains defense forced the Rowan offense to punt, Matt Dzierski fumbled on the next possession, giving Rowan the ball deep into Cap tains territory. The defense forced a goal line stand and a turnover on downs that gave the Captains offense the foot ball back.

After a punt that ensued the turnover on downs, Rowan got the ball to start the fourth quarter. The shutout bid ended with a touchdown that cut the lead to 20-7. After another punt from the Captains, Rowan got the ball with a chance to make it a one possession game. How ever, the Captains defense forced another goal line stand and kept it a two possession game.

On the Captains next pos session, their punt was blocked,

putting Rowan at the Captains 9 yard-line. This time, they converted at the goal line and trimmed the lead to 20-14.

With just under six minutes left, the Captains managed to pick up two first downs, one be ing a fourth down conversion just inside Rowan territory. This was enough to run out the clock and prevent Rowan’s bid at a comeback, giving the Cap tains the win and improving their record to 3-2.

Up next, the Captains (3-2) will face Kean University in Union, New Jersey on October 15. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 PM.

If you don’t feel like driving all the way to New jersey for the game, the Christopher New port Captains have another game later this month.

The next home game will be October 22nd where CNU will play against William Patterson Univeristy at 1:00 PM.

Headlines from the Wacky World of Here’s What You Missed!

Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

The horrific story of one of America’s notorious serial killers

ADA CHICAS ADA.CHICAS.20@CNU.EDU

Jeffrey Dahmer, Wisconsin’s known cannibal or Milwaukee monster, was an infamous American serial killer that mur dered and dismembered seventeen men and boys between the years 1978 and 1991.

Recently, Netflix released a production series, Dahmer: Monster - The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, that provided their view ers with a detailed timeline of his life that includes the killings of all of his victims. It is the number one show on Netflix’s Top 10 TV shows on US ranking. Although many viewers have mixed feelings over the series, others praise the actors and production team for demonstrating the gruesome and upsetting stories of Jeffrey Dahmer.

Evan Peters, known for playing several characters on the well-known beloved se ries American Horror Story, stars as the notorious serial killer during this 10-hourlong episode series.

This series depicts the story follow ing the multiple killing sprees during his young adult years leading up to his death as well as the incompetence of the Wis consin police department. He had been arrested multiple times but the police con tinued to release him back into the pub lic, ignoring the crimes he had previously

committed.

During the series, there were multiple times during the episodes where Dahmer had gotten caught or arrested and had simply gotten a slap on the wrist.

One of the many instances where the Wisconsin police had turned their eye was during one of his youngest victims, a fourteen-year-old Laotian boy. In the epi sode, we are shown how Dahmer was able to lie and hide that he had imprisoned and drugged the young boy when his neigh bor and her child, Glenda and Sandra, had called the cops.

During one of the last episodes, we are shown a courtroom scene where one of the family members gives an emotional testi mony and proceeds to yell and almost at tack Dahmer. On Twitter, that exact scene was played alongside actual footage of the 1991 courtroom testimony demonstrating the exact reenactment of Rita Isabell and the recreation of her speech.

The Netflix series has also received neg ative backlash, many reviews on the series beg producers and directors to make this the last production of Jeffrey Dahmer’s heinous crimes. Others are taking into consideration the victim’s families that were affected by Jeff– The families are an

gry, many of them state that Netflix never contacted and became aware of the series when the public did.

In an interview with Netflix, Peters explained how playing Dahmer was the hardest role he’s ever taken on. To pre pare, he listened to audio of Dahmer sepaking with a psychologist and read multiple biographies and police reports about Dahmer’s crimes.

“Honestly, I was very scared about all the things that he did and diving into that, and trying to commit to that was absolutely going to be one of the hard est things I’ve ever had to do in my life because i wanted it to be very authentic,” Peters explains.

He also stated that he doesn’t want the audience sympathizing with Dahmer at all and that the cast and crew wanted to be as respectful to the victims and the victims’ families as possible.

Many Twitter and Reddit users are pleading with viewers to not watch the newest series as it does not honor the victims like its original intentions. Even family members of the victims have spo ken out and said that it glorifies Dahmer and the least Netflix could’ve done is

warn them (the families) that they would be making a show about him and the victims.

However, it seems that many viewers, despite their concerns for victims, still always have a hunger for psychopaths and their ill motives to commit seri ous crimes.

From left to right: Evan Peters who portrays Jeffrey Dahmer vs the real life serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer; from Deadline

Poster of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story from Entertainment Weekly

My Best Friend’s Exorcism

A new horror movie for the Halloween season

JARRETT CONNELLY JARRETT.CONNELLY.20@CNU.EDU

Over the first weekend of Octo ber, matching the spooky releases of The Munsters on Netflix and Hocus Pocus 2 on Disney+, My Best Friend’s Exorcism released on Amazon Prime. Based on the 2016 novel by rising hor ror writer Grady Hendrix, it follows two high school best friends, Abby and Gretchen, in the 1980s.

The two are in separable until the night of a party goes incredibly wrong. Gretchen begins acting strange and then incredibly er ratic and evil. Abby begins to believe that Gretchen is possessed by a de mon and seeks out a Christian body builder named Chris to help save

her friend before its too late. But does the horror comedy pro vide a spooky and fun experience?

First and foremost, if you’re looking for a direct adaptation of the book in terms of plot and tone, not at all present here. But the film has a lot to love.

The film’s three main characters: Abby (Elise Fisher), Gretch en (Amiah Miller), and Christopher (Chris Lowell) are good char acters to watch. Abby is the perfect picture of teenage self con scious and you can’t help but love Chris in his utter but well meaning stupidity.

The film hits all the checkmarks of a pos session movie; the far away look in the pos sessed girl’s eyes, de

monic voices, vomiting scenes akin to The Exorcist (she also literally does the Exorcist walk at one point.

When the scares are there, they are especially horrifying to watch. It can be campy but there’s nothing wrong with a little cheesiness. The film also does a great job of expressing the novel’s sub text about the real nightmare of being a teenager with the demonic terror being intertwined with teenage anxiety.

The film also does a great job of ex pressing the novel’s subtext about the real nightmare of being a teenager with the demonic terror being intertwined with teenage anxiety. If you’re also look ing for a fix of 80s nostalgia, this film is RICH with it, even less obvious ones like the first Christian tv celebrities. But it’s also not an overbearing presence like certain movies set in the 80s.

But the film has its flaws. The film certainly has good comedic moments but is less of a horror comedy and more of a full on horror flick. It also feels a bit cramped at times and you don’t get a whole lot of time to feel for the charac ters. The film also surprises you with its ending being more happy and giving a nice epilogue

Overall its a good, at times cheesy, possession flick. I would suggest check ing it out on Amazon

Human Overboard

A debut country album that’s sure to please listeners

WYATT MILES WYATT.MILES.22@CNU.EDU

On Friday, September 23, Rhett McLaughlin released his debut country album ‘Human Overboard’ under the stage name James and the Shame. Most known for being the taller, bearded half of internet comedy duo Rhett and Link, this album is a culmination of both a life long love of country music and a more recent faith deconstruction journey for McLaughlin.

Born in Georgia and raised in North Carolina, McLaughlin was a child of the bible-belt and grew up as an evangelical Christian. McLaughlin would spend much of his late teenage years and early adult hood as a Christian missionary. Then, in the early 2010’s, he began to question the foundations of his faith and deconcon struct from his Christian moral view.

McLaughlin has publicly spoken about his faith journey on many occasions and his latest venture into country music is yet another way of expressing and process ing his current place in life. “Over three years ago, I began writing songs as a way to process a lot of the feelings I had during

my spiritual deconstruction…Now here I am with a full-length album”, McLaughlin said via his personal In stagram account.

From a musical perspective, the album is a fusion of the traditional sounds of artists like Merle Haggard and Roy Orbison, and more modern country and americana artists like Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson; all of whom McLaughlin has credited as inspirations for the album.

The first three songs encapsulate the theme of the album beautifully. The opening track and first single of the album ‘Believe Me’ is truly a mis sion statement for the project. The song asks the listener to simply be lieve that McLaughlin’s experiences are real and true even if you disagree with his beliefs. ‘Believe Me’ is laced with beautiful, droning steel guitar and soft percussion.

The next song ‘Flash of Rational ity’ is McLaughlin’s tribute to Merle

Haggard and is arguably the most country sounding song, remind ing the listener that this is a serious country album. On his podcast Ear Biscuits, Rhett spoke about the in spiration and story behind each song.

“That’s my homage to Merle, that’s why there’s an emphasis on trum pet, that’s my homage to my favorite era of Merle” McLaughlin said. The third track ‘Give a Damn’ shifts to a southern rock tone, opening with an electric guitar and is the only song to feature explicit lyrics.

The song speaks to how he can’t help but be enthralled by questions about life, faith, and the foundations of the universe. “My personality is evangelistic, I like to persuade people and I don’t necessarily like that about myself. It doesn’t make your life eas ier when you like to change people’s minds”.

The next three songs are about his relationship with the most important people in his life. First, ‘Sorry’ is an apology to his parents, not for leav ing the faith but for the difficulties they’ve experienced through hav ing a son who has very publicly left the faith while they are still deeply ingrained in the evangelical church. McLaughlin emphasizes that they have done nothing wrong and nei ther has he, yet he can’t help but feel “sorry”.

The second song in this section is a love song written to his wife, Jes sie McLaughlin, called ‘Where We’re Going’. Rhett reflects on his relation ship with Jessie and the evolution and struggles of their marriage amidst his deconstruction. Jessie is even fea tured on the song singing harmony in the chorus.

“We moved the foundation of our marriage from Christ to love and that change was very difficult at the time but has done wonders for our rela tionship”. The final song in this sec tion is a piano ballad written to his two sons called ‘Creek and Back’.

McLaughlin reflects on the joys and struggles of fatherhood, express ing that even as his eldest son departs for college he is still in the process of learning how to be a father. Yet no matter the struggles or strains in the relationship between father and son his love for them is unconditional.

Four of the final five songs on the album dive deep into faith, religion, and the foundations of Christianity. ‘Only Thing’ explores his current process around faith and his view of himself as a “hopeful agnostic”.

‘In Vein’ and ‘Fruit’ are direct critiques of the current state of the Christian church and the co-opting of Christian values by right wing pol iticians. He questions if the church today truly embodies the values of Christ or if they’ve bent his teachings to their own will.

‘Old Letters’ is both the first song McLaughlin wrote and the last song on the album. The song is at its core

a breakup song written to God. He again expresses his feeling of hopeful agnosticism yet de scribes the lack of faith in the God he was raised on. “The rea son this is the last song on the al bum is because I am committed to being open, I have not closed my accounts with reality, I have not closed my accounts with God”

My only complaint with the al bum is the only song I have yet to mention, the eighth ‘Kill a Man’. The song itself is a dark, gritty, western tale where McLaughlin sings in his lowest possible reg ister backed by a heart pounding kick drum and the clinking of death row chains.

In a vacuum the song is fan tastic listen and follows in the footsteps of other great western murder ballads such as ‘Kate McCannon’ by Colter Wall and ‘Death Row’ by Chris Stapleton. However, the song feels extreme ly out of place amongst the in trospective nature of the overall album.

Perhaps if the song was placed as the final track as a fun twist at the end it might have been a less jarring tonal change but as it stands the shift is off-putting.

Whether or not you agree with McLaughlin’s perspective on life and faith, the album is a fasci nating work of art that beauti fully pairs traditional country and western sounds with intro spective lyrics.

McLaughlin’s album cover from Spotify

LIFESTYLE

Writing Organizations Impacted by COVID

Interviews with the different campus writing organizations and how COVID has affected them

EVELYN DAVIDSON EVELYN.DAVIDSON.20@CNU.EDU

The effects of the pan demic impacted all aspects of college life, but it espe cially affected the many organizations on campus. Clubs that once served as fun social outlets and pro vided a sense of community for students suffered great ly under COVID restric tions. They could no longer meet in person which pre vented them from fostering meaningful connections between members.

This decline in member ship experience was evi dent in the writing clubs at CNU, such as Writer’s Syn dicate, Her Campus, and Currents.

Senior English major and President of the cre ative writing club, Writer’s Syndicate, Brenna Walch, told The Captain’s Log that before COVID they had around six to seven mem bers. After the pandemic hit, this number dropped to four, two of which were e-board members.

Sierra Palian, a senior Psychology major and Ed itor-in-Chief of Her Cam pus, an online magazine for college women, shared the same membership re tention problem. With the social aspects of the club taken away and the depar ture of many senior mem bers, the club went from around 25 members in 2019 to only six in the last aca demic year.

Meetings also changed drastically when shifted to an online format. To try and keep the same energy and excitement for writing as before, Walch conducted online workshops for the members of Writer’s Syndi cate. Similarly, Her Campus members played Jackbox games in order to stay con nected.

However, it still did not feel the same, said Walch, “Meeting on Google Meet, it’s like, ‘okay our meeting is done. Bye, see you next week’ and then you hit the disconnect button and now you’re alone in your room again.”

For many, the pandemic affected the content of the writing itself too. Shan non O’Keefe, the Manag

ing Editor of CNU’s literary arts magazine, Currents, said that COVID provided even more topics for writ ers to tackle. O’Keefe, a junior double majoring in English and psychology, explained that each writer went through pandemic life differently and their writ ing reflected those personal experiences.

In contrast, Walch said that some put a creative spin on their feelings re garding the pandemic or they didn’t address it at all, instead choosing to im merse themselves in the creative realm. Members of Writer’s Syndicate also focused more on already written pieces or writing series.

With the stigma sur rounding having COVID, Palian said that Her Cam pus writers were hesitant to address the topic and when a member shared their personal experience with COVID, they did so anony mously.

“Of course, that stigma has decreased significantly now that a good portion of people have already gotten it, but at the time, it was a brave thing to write about,” said Palian.

Instead, they mainly did self-care articles and fo cused on things like, “Hob bies I Picked Up During Quarantine” and “Habits That Changed My Life.”

Now that campus life is returning to a much longed for sense of normalcy, CNU’s writing clubs are working hard to recover member numbers and build back their close com munity.

Walch attributes the post-COVID growth of Writer’s Syndicate to the involvement fair which introduced many new and excited freshmen to the club. She also expressed her appreciation for in-person meetings where people show genuine enthusiasm to attend, a stark contrast to their online meetings where members wouldn’t even notify her of their ab sence.

“I didn’t notice how in credible it was that people

actually cared about the club until the attendance rose and people were actu ally apologetic about miss ing meetings,” said Walch.

Palian explained that it was the bonding activities that brought Her Campus writers together, “After COVID, everyone was col lectively a little more in troverted and hesitant to meet new people, so we knew we had to find a way to help members open up again. We have all grown a lot closer by playing group games together, meet ing for coffee, and sharing about our lives, to name just a few things.

Not everything about the pandemic negatively af fected CNU’s writing clubs, some changes were kept even after restrictions were lifted.

At Currents, O’Keefe shared one thing that they did for pandemic life and chose to keep moving for ward, “We’ve fully digitized everything in the editing and publishing process of Currents which makes sharing pieces with other members/advisors much easier.”

Offering more writing advice and help with the publishing process as well as an overall shift in focus to refining particular writ ing skills was one major change that Walch transi tioned into during the pan demic and that she plans to continue developing for Writer’s Syndicate.

Both Walch and Palian created a way for students to still be involved in their respective clubs even if they couldn’t be there in person. Walch created a discord server where stu dents can use the voice chat to attend meetings and Pa lian has a “virtual member” option for introverts or stu dents who are just too busy but still wish to write.

All three clubs excitedly welcome new members. To join Writer’s Syndicate, email writerssyndicate@ cnu.edu for a link to their discord or request to be added on Compass. They meet Fridays at 8:00-9:00 p.m. in mcMurran 160.

To become a member of Currents, email shannon. okeefe.20@cnu.edu or Dr. Rodden ivan.roddeniv@ cnu.edu.

For Her Campus, they meet Tuesdays at 8:00p.m. in McMurran 162. You can also find them on Insta gram at hercampuscnu.

Currents logo provided by Shannon O’keefe

Group picture of Her Campus courtesy of Sierra Palian

Group picutre of Writer’s Syndicate courtesy of Brenna Walch

Disabled Student Union

Get a glimpse into the newest club on campus

JARRETT CONNOLLEY JARRETT.CONNOLLEY.20@CNU.EDU

Disability rights have come a long way over the past century, but there’s still work to be done. Even with the passage of the American Disabilities Act in 1990, disabled persons continue to advocate for their right to live. 19% of undergraduate students in the US identify as a disabled person. CNU has become home to many disabled students and recently, an organization of disabled Captains has formed to help make their lives and the lives of others better.

The CNU Disabled Students Union was formed this Sep tember with the intention of supporting disabled members of the CNU stu dent body.

The group’s founders and eboard;Whit Flores (President) ,Pat Smith (Vice President), and Jamie Canty (Public Relations Manager), formed the or

ganization upon realizing the benefits of having a space for disabled people, like themselves, to have a community and discuss is sues and things to be done to both spread awareness and help improve the lives of disabled students at CNU. Some of these ideas include making sure there are more clear policies on things like housing so that disabled people have the accommodations they need. They also hope to be able to raise awareness and educate people when possi ble. They’ve discussed pos sibly doing panels to have discussions on disability rights issues. Their main focus though is being able to offer disabled students the resources they need and welcoming them into a loving community.

“We’re hoping as a club, we’ll be able to help each other figure out what we need. Because sometimes

people aren’t aware of the resources available to them” Canty says.

“There’s a lot of power in knowing you are not alone.” Smith says.

The group wants to em phasize that it is not just physically disabled people who are welcome to the club. Canty said “We are looking to include, not ex clude.” People who have chronic illnesses, neurodi vergent people, and anyone else who identifies as being a disabled person, as well as allies, are welcome to join the group. The group does not require a proof of diag nosis as they know all too well the expenses of medi cal care for disabled people. They also want to empha size that “disabled person” is the term they prefer to use.

For updates on the Dis abled Student Union’s first

interest meeting and what the group will be doing on campus as they grow, fol low them via social media on Instagram @ dsu.cnu or contact their email at dsu. cnu@gmail.com

Pi Kappa Fi Returns to Campus

Fifth-year David Davenport joins Pi Kappa Phi as Founding Father

KALEY VINCENT KALEY.VINCENT.21@CNU.EDU

The Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity is back on cam pus and is working to form its founding class. Having recruited 20 founding fa thers, Pi Kappa Phi is on its way to forming a strong presence on campus.

Fifth-year student David Davenport was one of the first founding fa thers to join Pi Kappa Phi. “The reason I joined Pi Kapp was for two reasons. For one, the philanthropy really touched me as I have worked with special-needs and disabled students for many many years now and think it’s super cool we are the only Greek or ganization to own, oper ate, and run a successful non-profit organization that helps people who need it. The second reason is as simple as I wanted to join a true brotherhood of guys that have the ability to build something from the

ground up and leave a long lasting legacy we can come back to. I always wanted to be in a social fraternity, but with COVID it kind of stopped that. I know it’s my last year, but this was such a unique opportunity and I really want to make up what was lost for me and so many others,” Davenport said.

Of course, found ing a brand new chapter can not be easy, especially when you have to compete against already established organizations. However, the men of Pi Kappa Phi seem proud of the accom plishments made within a few weeks. Davenport explained what goes into founding a chapter, say ing: “For one, the recruit ment is huge. I think it’s crazy that we started with me and two other guys, and now we have signed 18 people and still have more

coming. The next thing is setting up things inter nally such as getting com mittees, executive board, finances, modules, train ing, and education classes for brothers. Luckily with Pi-Kapp, we are full of awe some leaders and active students on campus which makes this process a lot easier. Even though it’s a lot to start a chapter, I think it has been very successful, and the work we have put in has been and will continue to be super rewarding.”

Because of Pi Kap pa Phi’s former presence on campus, the new chapter is receiving support from alumni. “It honestly makes it easier that we had a chap ter before. We have alumni that [are] still in the area that have been super help ful in this process and are great resources for us to use,” Davenport said. While the recruit

ment period has ended, students should keep a look-out for events hosted by Pi Kappa Phi to support their return to campus. “I see big things for this group and can’t wait to see it grow and become a long lasting family on our campus,” Davenport said.

Logo provided by the Disabled Student Union

Image of Pi Kappa Phi Crest provided by David Davenport

SNAPSHOT

TheaterCNU’s The Spitfire Grill

All photos taken by Staff Photographer Amanda Eacho

The cast of The Spitfire Grill sings “Come Alive Again” as the second act

Senior Chandler James Pettus in his role of Caleb Thorpe

Colors of Paradise Reprise at the show’s finaly

Left to right: Adalynn Eller and Alexandra Lagos, seniors

Top: Characters bowing on stage at the end of the show Bottom: Junior Katie O’shields, Senior Alexandra Lagos, and Senior Adalynn Eller (Left to right) sing “Come Alive Again”