The Bison Newspaper - Vol. 94, No. 15 (Special Edition)

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by Emily Nicks

How does society grapple with 21st century technology and a constant desire to be connected?

Internet Addiction Disorder was first brought to light in a 1996 paper by Kimberly Young, a psychologist who became an internationally renowned expert on internet addiction. Since then, the topic has been researched extensively and thoroughly. The results are staggering: digital addiction is a fast-growing issue.

President Bruce McLarty, an avid social media user, said it best: “I think it’s a very opportune time for us to talk about and address some of these things.”

THE BASICS

Dopamine, sometimes referred to as the “feel-good hormone,” is a chemical in the brain that, when released, is associated with feelings of happiness. Positive social stimuli, such as affirming words and laughter, trigger the release of dopamine, connecting those positive emotions with a physical neurological experience. According to Harvard University’s “Science in the News,” digital exposure can essentially overwhelm the dopamine exposure within the brain.

“Smartphones have provided us with a virtually unlimited supply of social stimuli, both positive and negative,” states Trevor Haynes in a 2018 article on the website. “Every notification, whether it’s a text message, a ‘like’ on Instagram, or a Facebook notification, has the potential to be a positive social stimulus and dopamine influx.”

Professor of Communication Pat Garner is well-read on the topic of digital communication and its effects on people. Garner, who recently had to trade in his flip phone for a smart phone — which he detests — said he is wary of the impacts digital addiction can have on the human brain and psyche.

“There is [separation anxiety] when you lose your phone,” Garner said. “People panic when they lose their phone because it’s their life, and of course they’re addicted to it.”

In addition to affecting individuals, digital addiction influences relationships and communication within communities. McLarty said he has witnessed digital addiction walking across campus and elsewhere within the Harding community.

“[It could be] a beautiful, sunny day, and you’re here with 4,000 other young people, and what are you doing?” McLarty questioned hypothetically. “Probably a concerning number of people are in a room, isolated,

maybe with a friend, playing video games.”

McLarty said he has felt the draw of technology himself.

“When I’m out around campus, there are times I feel like I need to make a post or something like that, and I have my phone up,” he said. “I know there are people who walk by me, and I don’t engage with them.”

According to MarketWatch, Americans in 2018 spent over 11 hours each day interacting with the media. That is almost a two-hour increase from four years prior. This amount of almost constant exposure makes digital addiction a different phenomenon from other traditional forms of addiction.

While she would not have ever considered herself addicted to media, junior Rebecca Stratton recognized her unconscious habit of spending time immersed in her phone, especially with social media apps.

“I noticed any time I got a notification, I’d go to check it and then spend 10 or so extra minutes just scrolling around,” Stratton said. “I’d get on it without thinking about it at all and just mindlessly scroll.”

With Millennials and those considered to be part of Generation Z engulfed by media for the majority of their lives, digital addiction may be thought of as a problem experienced only by the younger generations. But is that really the case?

Garner believes the problem runs deeper. In fact, he said younger generations may be even more aware of the all-encompassing nature of media than the older generations.

“I think more young people are … becoming more circumspect about it,” Garner said.

He went on to recall an experience he had while teaching a few years ago.

“I said, ‘How many of you find it irritating to be wanting to talk to your parents, and they pull out their phones and don’t engage you?’ And the hands went up,” Garner remembered. “And so the adults have a big problem with it. It’s not just young people, certainly.”

McLarty said he, too, thinks digital addiction is something that is felt by more than just young people.

“[A professor on the spiritual life committee] said he thinks you’d be surprised how many students feel that they have had to pay a price in their lives for their parents’ digital addiction,” McLarty acknowledged. “It’s not something that starts with this generation. It is a cultural phenomenon in modern culture that knows no age.”

Kay Gowen is the director of Abundant Living, an outreach from Harding’s office of church relations aimed at Christian senior citizens. As someone who spends significant time with both college students and senior citizens, Gowen has a different view of the generational gap, especially in regards to technology.

Gowen said she would classify seniors’ digital use as mindless but would hesitate to call it actually addictive.

“I doubt that too many overdo it, although I think it’s easy,” Gowen said. “I mean, you can start playing a game of solitaire and think you’re going to do this for 15 or 20 minutes. The next thing you know, it’s been two hours, and maybe the TV was on the whole time … and in a way, it’s kind of what you call downtime.”

addictiveness and its tendency to be mean-spirited makes it particularly dangerous.

“We can tear people down or build people up, and that’s the fundamental decision,” McLarty said. “The addictive nature of [technology] makes it especially insidious that we get drawn into a world where I think a lot of people get more negative and cynical than they realize … I think that’s part of why our culture seems so angry these days.”

Stratton, who found herself mindlessly opening her social media apps and scrolling without fully realizing it, deleted the apps from her phone for a month during the fall 2018 semester. She said this gave her a chance to get rid of the distractions they had become.

“I definitely would tap on where the icons used to be out of habit without even thinking about it, and that made me realize how mindless I was being,” Stratton said.

Although she decided to redownload the apps to her phone, Stratton said she is more thoughtful about her use of social media now, and she would recommend it to anyone who would like a chance to refocus.

“My relationship with social media is better now,” Stratton said. “When I redownloaded [the apps], I moved them to a page on my phone that I don’t scroll to very often, so I wouldn’t see them as often. I definitely got on them a lot less after this.”

If someone is worried about missing important information such as club announcements, Stratton suggested turning on email notifications for Facebook groups; she said this allowed her to get necessary information without being on the platform itself.

McLarty suggested finding an accountability partner to help monitor your digital use, similar to how his wife, Ann, helps him refrain from using sarcasm or potentially harmful words on social media.

According to McLarty, digital addiction is not just a societal issue, but also a spiritual one. He said Harding’s spiritual life committee read and discussed the book “Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked” by Adam Alter after McLarty became aware of the need for a conversation last year.

Garner said he feels the spiritual implications of technology use, too. He pointed to Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 10:23 as a reminder for Christians to use things without being mastered by them.

“I think it’s very important that [Paul] says ‘Everything is permissible but not everything is constructive, so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God,’” Garner paraphrased. “So, he’s calling us to say ‘yes, this is permissible, but not everything is good that’s permissible.’ Certainly, we need to be users of things in the world but not controlled by them.”

McLarty said he thinks the combination of technology’s

“[Our phones’ screen-time features] would be a great accountability baseline for people,” McLarty said. “‘Our goal is no more than x amount, and every Monday night we’re going to check each others’ phone on that.’ You know? It would be a wonderfully, fairly non-intrusive way to help each other be accountable for something.”

Garner said he thinks being aware of your digital use is a good first step toward making changes in how you use technology. Once aware, he said you can implement strategies to monitor your usage.

“We can’t escape it — none of us can — but we really can begin to monitor how much we say and do,” Garner said. “There are ways. You will have to work to do it, but there are ways that you can navigate around some of this. I think we can do it. I really do.”

McLarty said while digital addiction may seem overwhelming, he thinks the Harding community is still socially engaged.

“For all the problems we’ve got, we’ve got a lot of good things going,” McLarty said. “We’re all in it together, and I think the conversation needs to continue.”

Searcy wins Small Business Revolution

Donut Dash raises money for White County children

For the eighth year in a row, White County’s Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) will host a run at the Ganus Activities Center on March 2 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to raise money and awareness of neglect and child abuse. CASA is a national group that advocates for children who are in bad situations, usually foster care. The kids who are in this system need some kind of representative, which is where CASA steps in and trains volunteers to be advocates for the kids in court. Executive Director of CASA of White County Laura Burks explained that since this organization is a nonprofit, they rely on fundraising events like these to help with the expenses of running a business.

“The goal typically is about $12,000 to $14,000 every year, and we’ve been able to accomplish that thanks to our sponsors,” Burks said. “We just want people to come out and support the cause because that’s important, too. Beyond the money, we just want to raise awareness of the issue in our society and our community.”

This year, CASA is changing up the race by bringing donuts into the picture in hopes of drawing out a larger crowd and more college students. Competitors will run one mile, stop to eat four donuts and run another mile, and a donut-eating contest will follow.

On

Small Business Revolution – Main Street, a Hulu TV show. Six small businesses from Searcy will receive $500,000, and the TV crew from Deluxe Media will follow the renovations, unveiling the series in October 2019.

Five Harding teams to compete in annual Arkansas Governor’s Cup

ABIGAEL LANGDON student writer

An array of Harding student entrepreneurs have collaborated again for the annual Arkansas Governor’s Cup. The Arkansas Capital Corporation Group created The Governor’s Cup in 2001 as a business competition to encourage college students who “want to explore entrepreneurial endeavors and new venture creations while still in school.”

It is cool because the Governor’s Cup has produced real life products that go into an actual market and help people.

Erin Weiss, sophomore accounting major

Kenneth Olree, director of the Waldron Center, helps form the teams from Harding who enter in the Governor’s Cup, and he said the competition is about how to write a persuasive business plan.

“It works to bring people together from diverse disciplines,” Olree said.

From the engineering and business majors, to graphic design, exercise science and English majors, Olree said there are good connections between entrepreneurial students across campus.

“When everybody taps into their skillsets, you get a much more robust business plan,” Olree said. “You get a much more robust method of presenting what it is that you’re wanting to do.”

Senior Rachel Heussner, a mechanical engineering major, is a member of one of five teams at Harding entering the competition this year. Heussner said every engineer in the

senior design class has to build an innovative working product to complete graduation requirements, so business majors specifically like to pair up with senior designers to create a plan around an already-working product.

“For Governor’s Cup, you don’t have to have a working product,” Heussner said, “but it looks a lot better if you do.”

Landon Burcham, a biomedical engineering major and participant in the Governor’s Cup competition, said the engineering and business departments compliment each other well. On his team, there are biomedical, electrical and mechanical engineers working with a couple of business students. He said working with the business students has made him realize how important business is to helping people in his field.

“You really are limited on how many people you can help by how much money you can make,” Burcham said.

Heussner said if the project does not get to the market, then it is just a prototype not helping anyone.

Sophomore Erin Weiss, one of the business students on Burcham’s team, said she has enjoyed seeing the illumination of the different fascinations of the team members through the different fields of study, and how the coming together of their divergent minds and varying backgrounds has created something that could not have been without the diversity.

“We kind of both just understand that there are sides of it that we won’t understand of each other’s,” Weiss said.

Burcham said though the Governor’s Cup competition is a simulation of sorts, it is a real experience in learning how to work with people, how to build a successful business and how to persuasively get that business into the real world.

“It is cool because the Governor’s Cup has produced reallife products that go into an actual market and help people,” Weiss said. “So if ours doesn’t [help people] now, it’s learning the process of something that one day will.”

– Laura Burks, executive director of CASA

Student intern of CASA of White County senior Parker Samuel said the goal is to have fun and raise awareness.

“CASA works with some very serious issues, but I think that this race [is about] having fun,” Samuel said. “We want these kids to live in a world where they’re going to have better days where they can say, ‘Man, that was a good day. I had fun.’ And they don’t have to think about the other problems that people like me, who had a perfectly good childhood, didn’t have to deal with.”

The cost of the race is $25, and the cost of the donut-eating competition is $10, which includes the cost of participation, donuts and a T-shirt.

Several college students have signed up for the race so far, whether they know the cause behind it or not. Freshman Hunter Haynes plans to participate. He just learned what CASA is all about and said he is happy to hear that the proceeds go toward their efforts in criminal court.

“I just think this is an awesome, fun fundraiser for a great cause that does work that people may not think about or consider,” Haynes said. “It is a great way to spread the word about the efforts of CASA.”

Students can sign up until the end of today.

At the Arkansas Governor’s Cup Awards Luncheon in Little Rock on April 18, 2018, seniors Jhoel Zuniga, Roxana Excobar, Michael Cruz and Andres Rojas, members of Team Monity, win third place in the undergraduate division, including a prize of $10,000. This year, five teams from Harding will compete in the annual Governor’s Cup.

Feb. 26 in the George S. Benson Auditorium, community member Barbra Barnes celebrates at the announcement that Searcy won the opportunity to be featured in the fourth season of

Graphic courtesy of CASA OF WHITE COUNTY

GRACE BAKER student writer

Photo by EMILY GRIFFIN

Photo courtesy of THE WALDRON CENTER

–

of White County

Beyond the money, we just want to raise awareness of the issue in our society and our community.

Daniel Norwood Guest Writer

Pornography. As a man who has struggled on and off with a porn addiction for over 12 years, it seems as if I have heard every possible statistic and opinion when it comes to porn. I have heard about how the chemicals in a person’s brain are affected by porn use, I have heard purity talks and I have had countless conversations on the subject. On this campus, we probably have a wide range of opinions on the use of porn; however, the scientific and statistical facts speak for themselves: more people are watching it, the audience is getting younger and it is not exclusively a problem for men. If you want to see some of the hard facts related to pornography use, you can visit the website Fight the New Drug run by Porn Kills Love.

Beyond the statistics and science of pornography, however, I want to share some of my own thoughts on the reality of porn. Throughout the years of my addiction, I often chose to struggle silently, choosing to keep that part of my life secret from everyone around me. Even when I sought out accountability partners, I basically expected those individuals to intuit that I was struggling and to ask me how I was doing without really putting in the effort myself to seek out their help. If you are reading this, I want you to know that you cannot fight addiction in this manner. It does not work. It was not until the last couple of years that I started taking Christ’s

Pornography: getting to the root of the problem

teachings about gouging out your eye or cutting off your hand far more seriously when dealing with sin.

If our goal in life is to be holy as Christ is holy, we need to be willing to take drastic measures to rid ourselves of those sins and temptations to which we consistently return. Obviously, I did not cut off my hand or gouge out an eye, but I placed restrictions on my technology use, monitored by accountability partners, that limit my freedom to use technology

Are we willing to do whatever it takes, or will we choose to continue ‘struggling’ in the dark, expecting the temptation to simply disappear one day?

however and whenever I please.

Are we willing to do whatever it takes, or will we choose to continue “struggling” in the dark, expecting the temptation to simply disappear one day?

I honestly believe that, with the accessibility of pornography today, we cannot stand idly by as a church and expect ourselves or future

From the Bison Archives:

On Jan. 16, 1970, The Bison newspaper ran the following article related to drug use at Harding. Almost 50 years later, the conversation continues. Turn to 4C for more.

Oneof the major issues on college campuses across the nation today is the problem of drug abuse, yet Harding seems remarkably unaffected.

While college presidents from Yale to Berkeley battle student use of “pot,” “acid,” and other drugs, the Harding Administration has never had to call a meeting about the problem.

And it is a problem. Student use and abuse of drugs is constantly in the news.

In November, the House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill authorizing $29 million over three years for the education of youths on the hazards of drug abuse.

In a special report for Congress in June 1969, Dr. Stanley F. Yolles, head of the National Institute of Mental Health, stated that overall about 35% of the students in America’s colleges and high schools were using or had used drugs.

Yet at Harding it seems the problem is almost non-existent. Although most of the students interviewed felt that there was a possibility of scattered cases of drug use on campus, not one felt that there was a problem.

“I think some probably do use drugs but

generations to conquer this beast alone. Yes, sexual temptation has always existed (see David and Bathsheba), but never has it been more readily satisfied. As soon as a person thinks of something he or she wants to watch, it is already in a Google search bar, and the more we choose to feed the hungry beast that is sexual temptation, the more it asks of us and the hungrier it gets. Besides the correlations found between pornography use and anxiety, depression and relationship dissatisfaction, it is my opinion that if we continue ignoring the problem and pretending that it does not exist, we are choosing to allow greater frequency of events such as rape, sexual harassment, divorce and an overall disregard for the well-being of others.

Will we, as a student body and as a church, choose to have conversations about this issue, or will we sweep it under the rug, hoping it will just go away? We are the generation that makes that decision.

For more personal stories, statistics and reporting on pornography addiction, turn to 3C.

Pavlov’s dog with a blog

One of my biggest fears is that someone will ask what I’m listening to when they see me sitting in the library with earbuds. It’s not because I’m listening to anything embarrassing or anything like that. It’s because, weirdly enough, I’m most likely not listening to anything at all.

I assure you I’m not going through a psychotic breakdown (yet), but why else would I wear headphones sans music for hours on end? Pavlov and his dog can answer that.

Around the turn of the 20th century, Ivan Pavlov conducted an experiment in which he continually rang a bell before feeding meat to a dog. He repeated this process over and over, bell and food, bell and food. Finally, he rang the bell without feeding the dog. Even without a treat, the dog began to salivate. It had been conditioned to associate the sound of a bell with food, producing physical results. I relate to Pavlov’s dog.

Last Monday, I woke up on the verge of feeling overwhelmed. I wasn’t quite there, but I was pretty close. I was “verwhelmed” — just one letter shy of being totally engulfed with things that needed to get done ASAP. As soon as chapel ended, I headed to the library, found a table downstairs (because I truly detest the upper level), put in my silent earbuds and got to work.

Four hours later, I was feeling confident in the work that had been accomplished. With some focus and determination, I was officially treading water rather than drowning. I had made significant progress without hearing a single note of music.

For most of my freshman year, I spent my study time in the library, earbuds blasting electronic dance music. (Why EDM was my study music of choice, I’ll never really know.) Without fail, that is how I studied and completed all homework during that first year.

As I reached more difficult, upper-level classes, listening to music while studying became too distracting. However, studying without the slightly uncomfortable feeling of earbuds just wasn’t right. I had been conditioned to associate headphones with productivity.

Rising Drug Addiction Causes Much Concern

DONNA HOLMQUIST former associate editor

we don’t know about it,” says Dean Bawcom.

“You could probably find almost anything here like anywhere else, but there is a greater percentage of a certain type persons.”

Why is Harding not experiencing this problem in the way most schools are?

“Because,” commented Bawcom, “most of the students are brought up in the church. It’s not the regulations, it’s the personal beliefs of the students that make the difference.”

Margaret Formby feels that one reason for the lack of interest in drugs is because the students do not need them. “I think kids who use drugs have some kind of gap they’re trying to fill. Most people here have a purpose in life.”

Dean Virgil Lawyer cites the maturity of most of the students. “The authorities say that mature students are seldom those who use drugs and there is abundant evidence that most Harding students are mature.”

What would the school do if it did catch a student using drugs?

“We would treat it like alcohol,” Lawyer says. “The student could well be dismissed.

“This might not always be the case; it would

depend on the circumstances.”

Anyone caught using, pushing, and even being involved with those using drugs would be subject to disciplinary suspension.

“If you are in a car with those using it, for example, you would be held guilty.”

“Our action has to be pretty firm since dealing in drugs is a federal offense,” Lawyer comments.

According to Dr. T. A. Formby of Searcy, “A conviction for possession of drugs can complicate a person’s life and plans in many ways.

“Simple things such as obtaining a drivers license become difficult. Convictions can prevent you from entering professions such as law, teaching, or medicine.”

Has Harding ever had any trouble with drugs?

“No,” says Lawyer. “The closest we’ve ever come was last year when we had evidence that someone was pushing drugs near campus, but we were never able to spot it.

“But we’re not so naïve as to think it couldn’t happen here.”

Now whenever I really need to be productive, I use headphones without the distraction of music. Once I forgot to even plug them into my phone. Honestly, I feel a little embarrassed about it.

Motivation can come from the most unlikely places. Oftentimes, even negative situations can turn into powerful inspiration. When Searcy dropped to second place behind Durant in the Small Business Revolution, it definitely was not a happy day for those who had become invested. What happened though? For the next 48 hours, votes for #MySearcy skyrocketed. Falling behind Durant was not something anyone wanted, but it gave Searcy the push we needed to bounce back to victory.

Disappointments, tragedies and just weird experiences are all inevitable parts of life. They’re going to happen, and it doesn’t really matter how.

What matters is how we decide to move forward.

Where we come from doesn’t define us. Backgrounds can be messy; histories can be filled with mistakes and regrets. We all deal with things in different ways, from trivial study habits to serious ways we handle struggles — maybe even addictions. Rather than judging someone for where they’ve been, we should be spurring each other on toward better things.

Motivation comes from the most unlikely places; it’s up to us to make sure they’re motivators toward good.

EMILY NICKS is the opinions editor for The Bison. She may be contacted at enicks@harding.edu.

Twitter: emilyk_nicks

Barnard Michael Claxton

Carson Gentry Abigael Langdon

Tyler Moore Daniel Norwood

Ashlyn Quesinberry Hannah Read Emma Vaughn Karli Williamson

DANIEL NORWOOD is a guest writer for The Bison. He can be contacted at dnorwood@harding.edu.

– Daniel Norwood guest writer

An Ode to Nancy

Editor-in-Chief Kaleb Turner

Power of a story

Whenwe first began planning what this issue’s special coverage regarding addiction would look like during the fall semester, I knew the content would be heavy, and I knew the process of getting to our end product wouldn’t be an easy one.

It wouldn’t be easy for a number of reasons. For starters, the additional coverage would come on top of our normal coverage that we produce on a weekly basis. We also knew it would be a challenge to get people to talk about the topics we wanted to explore, and even if we made it to that point in our research, the question then turned to how we could write about and explore certain topics without jeopardizing ourselves and our valued sources who bravely shared their stories.

Finally, we knew the storytelling part of this coverage — perhaps the most important component to this reporting and any reporting — would be an emotional and spiritual rollercoaster ride, but we knew there were valuable stories to be shared. These stories serve as the narrative arc for our writing, but more importantly, we hope they will serve as the grounds for the important conversations that will come from this reporting.

It wasn’t until I sat down for these interviews that I truly realized how impactful and powerful these stories would be. I sat with interviewees in my office in the Reynolds Center, but when the stories were told, it was like we weren’t on campus any longer.

Suddenly, I was transported to early stories of addiction that began way before Harding was ever on anyone’s radar. We were back in the interviewee’s high school, or at a party where things went wrong. We went back to the emotional headspace in which they realized their habits had become a bigger problem than they ever anticipated. We went back to the times when they were found out and their worlds came crashing down.

We also celebrated the highest highs and the lowest lows of their stories. I caught myself choking up in the middle of the interviews and again when I reviewed our notes to write the stories.

When I finished these interviews and finished these stories, I couldn’t help but think about how we truly never know what someone around us is going through.

Sure. It’s easy to assume that everybody’s got something, because, well, they do. And sometimes it’s even easier to fall into the trap of thinking that addiction of any kind doesn’t permeate the Harding bubble, but this coverage reminded me of how incorrect these assumptions can be.

As we chat with our friends down the hallway, scoot past our chapel buddies on the way to our chapel seat and pass our peers on the sidewalk, I hope we’ll be mindful that the Harding bubble is always weaker than it seems. When you create a community with more than 5,000 people from all walks of life and from across the globe, it’s naive to think that something so serious could never plague our dear brothers and sisters here.

I hope that’s what our readers will be mindful of when they read the stories we’ve chosen to share this week. I hope they’ll realize the power of one’s story to ring true with those who need it most, and I hope they’ll realize the courage it takes to speak up and speak out when it comes to the darkest parts of our lives.

If the planning, research, interviewing and writing from this reporting has taught me anything, it’s that we have to be more open and willing to reach out to our neighbors and ask how they’re doing. We have to be willing to share our stories with one another and open our hearts, because what comes out of it will be courage and support that is needed more than anyone can imagine.

KALEB TURNER is the editor-in-chief for The Bison. He may be contacted at kturner3@harding.edu.

Twitter: kalebaturner

Illustration by JOHN DAVID STEWART

am) pretty convinced it wasn’t with writing. What is it that gives me, Carson Gentry, my voice? What voice do I have that stands out in a crowd and makes a difference?

Carson Gentry SA Secretary

Expressing our voices

Iwas sitting in one of my education classes last week when my professor asked a question along the lines of, “Why is it important for our students to be able to read and write?”The whole class was dumbfounded by the question because the answer seemed so elementary.

The obvious answer is that reading and writing are the very cornerstone of education. Without it, the whole education system would come crumbling down. However, the answer my professor was looking for wasn’t what we expected at all.

“The importance of teaching, reading and writing is to give all of our students a voice,” my professor said before lecturing on how writing is an avenue for our students to express themselves and their emotions.

After that conversation, I began to think about how I express myself. I was (and still

This one question led me down a rabbit hole of identifying how I am able to make a difference with my voice. I finally landed on one thing that I have been able to do that gives me a voice: my position within the Student Association.

As an SA officer, I have had the pleasure of being a voice for the student body. I have been able to listen to people’s concerns, grievances and praises toward Harding, and it has been such an incredible experience to see the different perspectives a diverse community of people bring to the table.

My only problem is that, while I have the ability to be a voice for myself and other students to the administration, I know that there are so many students who are missing the opportunity for their voice to be heard. I believe that everyone’s voice should be heard and I, along with the rest of the SA officers, want to hear it.

I encourage you to realize that you have a voice. While it may be hard to express your voice individually, I would like to be your partner and express your voice with you. You matter, and we want you to take your place alongside us in the Student Association.

CARSON GENTRY is a guest writer for The Bison. He can be contacted at sa@harding.edu.

What’s Your Opinion?

Contact

For the past 91 years, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been handing out awards for great movies, and I’ve been an avid watcher of the Oscars for a third of that time. Each February, I stake out the Redboxes in town to see which nominated films have been newly released on DVD, and then I head to Little Rock theaters to watch some of the rest.

As I dive into in the Academy favorites year after year, I often find myself torn between the joy of watching great art, and the duty of watching what some insist is great art.

I certainly experienced the wonder and grandeur of film with this year’s Best Picture winner, “Green Book.” The true story of a refined concert pianist who hires a not-sorefined nightclub bouncer to drive him on a tour of the deep South in the 1960s is a masterpiece. I realize there is controversy over the film’s perspective, but I hope that viewers won’t skip its powerful message about the need for dialogue and the hard work necessary for different people to understand each other.

I love the symmetry between this film and “Driving Miss Daisy.” Exactly 30 years after Jessica Tandy won the Oscar for playing a white woman learning to accept her AfricanAmerican chauffeur, Mahershala Ali won for his role as a black man connecting with a white driver in “Green Book.”

Both films confront the racial legacy of the South. The “Green Book” was a publication for African-American motorists, providing addresses of hotels and restaurants that served black patrons. Both films also present a completely charming relationship between two people who discover through honesty and humor that we cannot make assumptions about other people, and that we have much to learn from each other.

Virtue and vice

Guest Writer Michael Claxton

I enjoyed several other films. “Black Panther” is an innovative and absorbing superhero movie that transports viewers to a unique world and that justly won Oscars for costume design, production design and original score. “A Star is Born” portrays a completely believable relationship between an alcoholic country music star (Bradley Cooper) and the up-and-coming singer he discovers (Lady Gaga). The third remake of this iconic story — previously filmed in 1937, 1954 and 1976 — was a winner for Best Original Song.

As a sentimental favorite that took home no Oscars, “Mary Poppins Returns” is delightful from beginning to end. Emily Blunt is “practically perfect” in the title role, and fans were thrilled to see the 92-yearold Dick Van Dyke tap dancing on top of a desk — no stunt man required.

True stories dominated the awards as usual. “Bohemian Rhapsody” captured four gold statues with its tribute to the iconic band “Queen,” and Olivia Colman charmed everyone with her witty acceptance speech for Best Actress for playing another queen in “The Favourite.”

Each biopic presents its subject as flawed but ultimately redeemed. At least, all of them except “Vice,” which received eight nominations and took home one award for the makeup team who transformed Christian Bale into Vice President Dick Cheney.

“Vice” was exactly what I expected: an over-the-top hatchet-job on the former VP. The title says it all in a three-way pun:

a reference to Cheney’s job, a synonym for sin and a nod to the devilish medieval character who was always whispering bad advice to the protagonist. The film follows a well-worn pattern: if you want to feel smug about your politics, pick someone on the other side and make him into a monster. Conservative filmmakers have done this, too, and everyone learned how from Shakespeare. Over 400 years ago, his play about another Richard manufactured a cutthroat villain whose alleged crimes far exceeded his historical faults. You see, in order to flatter Queen Elizabeth in 1592, Shakespeare had to praise her grandfather, Henry VII. The best way to do that was to demonize the man he defeated a century before.

The result was “Richard III,” a play about a hunchback king with a withered arm who lurches from scene to scene, killing whoever stands in his way. As Christian Bale plays Cheney, you’d think he was the Prince of Darkness himself — wrecking the Constitution and ruining the free world from the shadows, with Amy Adams as his Lady Macbeth. In one telling scene, they even reveal their wicked ambitions in Shakespearean dialogue.

You don’t have to believe Richard III was a saint to see through the agenda. Nor do you have to agree with all of Cheney’s controversial actions to realize that “Vice” is political theatre designed to confirm what the man’s enemies already think. The message of “Green Book” — whatever its flaws — is that we have much to learn from those who are different from us. It’s a shame that tolerance doesn’t extend to Hollywood’s politics.

MICHAEL CLAXTON is a guest writer for The Bison. He can be contacted at mclaxto1@harding.edu.

At the Bison, it is our goal to serve the Harding University student body with integrity, truth and open ears. However, we believe that meeting that goal is a two-way street between our staff and the public it serves. We pledge to keep our eyes and ears open to what our community has to say and hope that, in return, that community will be an interactive audience, sharing its stories with us. We also pledge to do the basics: Report accurate and relevant information, check our facts, and share them in a professional, timely manner. If you have any story ideas, questions, comments or concerns for the Bison staff, please email Kaleb Turner, the editor-in-chief, at kturner3@harding.edu. “The Bison (USPS 577-660) is published weekly (except vacations, exams and summer sessions), 20 issues per year, by Harding University. Periodicals postage paid at Searcy, Arkansas 72143. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Bison, Harding University 11192, SEARCY, AR 72149-0001.” BYLINE POLICY: The Bison provides an opportunity for class writers to contribute work under the byline “guest writers.” Due to this arrangement, staff writers may rewrite a portion of the guest writers’ stories as they deem necessary, while still identifying the work as the guest writers’ own.

Delusional Optimism

Jack Allen Sports Editor

Mardi Gras mascots

This time every year, the streets of South Louisiana, my home state, are filled with parade floats, beads and a terrifying, seven-foot-tall half-dressed plastic baby.

Yes. It’s as terrifying as it seems.

Between the Catholic holidays of Epiphany and Ash Wednesday, the New Orleans Pelicans release havoc upon the streets of the Big Easy by unveiling their seasonal mascot The King Cake Baby (KCB) as an homage to the seasonal pastry associated with Mardi Gras.

KCB was first introduced to the Pelicans faithful in 2014 but did not come into the national spotlight until the 2017 NBA AllStar Game in New Orleans. Over All-Star Weekend, he appeared on several ESPN shows and scared several high-profile NBA athletes.

During its seasonal reign, KCB often goes to the homes of season ticket holders to deliver King Cake and show the franchise’s support. More often than not though, the ticket holders respond with fear more than gratitude. The mascot’s large baby blues are the fuel of nightmares.

Gaudy and unusual mascots are not new to the world of sports. In the 1940s, the University of Nebraska introduced its first mascot, Corn Cob, which was simply a person dressed in green and wearing a large corn cob on his head.

In 1980, Syracuse unveiled Otto the Orange, an androgynous cartoon orange.

While most mascots are designed to intimidate opponents or promote some element of a team’s local culture, others are ambiguous and hold no bearing on the team’s location or culture.

As a result, some of these sports symbols can be weird, funny or flat-out creepy.

These are some of the weirdest and creepiest mascots to ever grace the world of sports:

1) Gritty: Philadelphia Flyers

Unveiled this season, Gritty has taken the world by storm. It is unclear what the orangehaired beast is exactly, but his unblinking yellow googly-eyes made him destined to become an internet sensation. Gritty has been seen eating snow from a Zamboni, streaking across the stadium and shooting Flyers promoters with a Tshirt cannon. His identity may be questioned, but the laughter he causes is undeniable.

2) Weezy the Weevil: University of Arkansas – Monticello (UAM)

Harding’s neighbor to the south has one of the most unusual mascots in all of college sports. UAM introduced the mascot in 1925, naming it after a cotton-eating beetle that had infiltrated southern crops. The physical mascot is a green beetle with a long, floppy nose, two antennae and a subtle toothy smile. The women’s teams at UAM share a different name: the cotton blossoms.

3) The Stanford Tree: Stanford University

Galloping across the field during halftime alongside the Stanford Marching Band, the Stanford tree is a hipster treasure. A loose conglomeration of felt leaves and googly eyes, the dancing tree is an enigma in the mascot world. Why is it wearing a hat? Why does it have eyelashes? The world may never know.

4) Big Red: Western Kentucky University (WKU)

When Big Red opens his mouth, it looks as though a portal to a new dimension has been opened. It is just that big. Big Red was one of the first mascots to ever appear in a “This is SportsCenter” commercial. Described by WKU as a “large, fuzzy red blob,” Big Red is as lovable as he is massive.

5) Gunnersaurus: Arsenal F.C.

Even across the pond in London, weird and wacky mascots roam the pitch. Gunnersaurus was an idea submitted by an 11-year-old and selected as part of a write-in competition. The eight-foot-tall dinosaur bobs around North London looking like Barney’s bewildered brother. The mascot has nothing to do with the team’s official mascot, a cannon, although it might be nice to see Gunnersaurus shot out of one.

As weird and terrifying as these mascots are, perhaps the most terrifying mascot can be found here at Harding. There are few things as frightening as a mascot whose name is based in an old style of grammar. Even KCB would be scared to see that.

JACK ALLEN is the head sports editor for the Bison. He may be contacted at jallen10@harding.edu.

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME

A look into the effects of excercise addiction on Harding students

JACK ALLEN sports editor

In high school, senior pitcher Eric Hansen trained for baseball 365 days a year. Some nights, he would stay at his school until 11 p.m. to finetune his game. After being home only a few hours to sleep, he would head back to school for 4 a.m. workouts. Despite multiple injuries and long nights, Hansen’s love for the game has not wavered. For some athletes and Harding students, however, this passion for exercise can turn from healthy competition into an unhealthy addiction.

Identifying Exercise Addiction

In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association took the step to include behavioral addictions as mental disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Although the DSM did not go so far as to list different types of non-substance addictions, it did lay the groundwork for ways to identify behavioral addictions in individuals using the same criteria for substance dependence.

According to the DSM, substance abuse can be identified by determining if an individual shows signs of withdrawal, lack of control, a desire to reach a buzz or sense of accomplishment, inability to stick to a routine, an increase in time spent exercising, reduction in other activities and continuance despite pain. Using the same criteria, researchers hope they can also identify exercise addiction in individuals.

Brian Cox, professor of sports psychology, said it is particularly hard to define exercise addiction because it has not been officially recognized as a disorder.

“The definition is basically when exercise has a negative impact,” Cox said.

Cox said exercise addiction is often associated with other disorders like anorexia and bulimia because they all typically deal with people who struggle with personal body image.

Exercise and eating disorders can both

be unhealthy ways to deal with that struggle.

“Because exercise is beneficial, it is a matter of when it becomes maladaptive that we start seeing it,” Cox said.

Once identified, an individual struggling with exercise addiction will often be referred to a counselor who can prescribe methods for dealing with the addiction and other potentially associated disorders.

Effects of exercise addiction in students

One of the major effects Cox said students struggling with exercise addiction experience is decreased social activity.

“Some of the red flags include when it starts to affect relationships,” Cox said. “So, you would rather exercise than be with your friends or do things with your significant other.”

According to Cox, people struggling with exercise addiction often exercise alone multiple times a day. They also tend to miss out on other significant life experiences because they are exercising. Exercise addicts are also at an increased risk for injury or harm because they continue to exercise even when they experience pain. By constantly adding to their workload, they can put themselves in situations where their bodies are pushed beyond their physical capacities. This can result in further injury or pain.

Differentiating athletes from addicts

When considering the average college athlete, it can be easy to see similarities between their characteristics and the listed identifying traits of exercise addiction. For example, athletes often spend many hours preparing for, engaging in and recovering from exercise. They also often see a decrease in activities outside of sports and can struggle to keep up with the routine of school.

Athletes may not struggle with exercise addiction, even though they may exhibit many characteristics of it.

In high school, baseball was Hansen’s sole passion. He played all 12 months of the year, often missing weeks of class to play in tournaments throughout the country. As a catcher, his body took a beating from the day-to-day grind, but he remained injury-free until his junior year.

Hansen tore his hip flexor his junior year, broke his hand his senior year and then slipped a disk in his back his sophomore year of college at the University of Indiana.

Each time, Hansen tried to come back

PLAYERS ONLY

Tyler Moore Freshman Forward

Pain as a mental game

Injuries are not foreign to me. All four years playing high school basketball, I had had to sit out at least one month during each season because of some type of minor physical obstacle. It started with a broken wrist, then I got an avulsion fracture on my hip, then a fractured foot, and finally I was let off easy my senior year after I just had a minor finger injury.

So, discomfort and I know each other pretty well. However, this is the first time I’ve been able to play through an injury,

stronger, fighting through injuries to get back on the field. He transferred to Harding after his sophomore year.

“My trainer used to joke with me,” Hansen said. “He would ask if I was fine, and we would joke that my ‘fine’ is not like everyone else’s ‘fine.’”

His injuries left him sidelined for months at a time. During long periods away from the game, athletes are more likely to exhibit the effects of exercise addiction.

“They start experiencing irritability,” Cox said. “It can affect their sleep patterns … That doesn’t prove they have an addiction, but it does show they thrive on exercise.”

According to Cox, when athletes are injured, they can suffer from Sudden Exercise Abstinence Syndrome (SEAS). SEAS occurs because athletes are immediately removed from their normal, day-to-day activity. The sudden change is too much for their bodies to adjust, causing them to struggle.

Marilyn Freimuth, a leading researcher on the subject of exercise addiction, breaks down exercise into four phases: recreational, at-risk, problematic and addiction.

At the heart of her research, Freimuth determined the distinguishing factor between recreational and at-risk exercise is motivation.

“An addiction is more likely when the primary motivation is not enjoyment from the activity, but rather relief from stress or other types of dysphoria or to improve self-esteem,” Freimuth said.

Hansen said his motivation to recover every time he was injured was simple; he did it for the love of the game. He plans to one day become a coach and dedicate his life to the sport of baseball.

Athletes are distinguished from addicts by their enjoyment of their sport. It is only when the sport becomes “life’s main organizing principle” that athletes encroach on addiction.

Students who believe they struggle with exercise addiction can seek help from the Harding Counseling Center.

and I like that much better. It is not the fact that I can still do what I love on a daily basis, but the psychological gain I’ve been awarded. Plus, when I am back to 100 percent, I will be able to do two times as much as before. My opinion on pain is that it can be good for you. You have to change your perspective and quit focusing on how you feel. Place your focal point on the moment the pain will finally stop. What will I gain from it and what has it taught me?

Pain is not only physical; pain can also be spiritual and emotional. There are lessons to be learned from all forms. That is why Romans 8:18 sums it up best, “The pain that you have been feeling, cannot compare to the joy that is coming.” The joy is the life-lessons that are being instilled in you. Therefore, whenever you are feeling pain of any kind, remember this: The pain does not last long, but the lessons learned from it will be with you forever.

“Players Only” is a special column written by Harding athletes. In this week’s issue: Bisons freshman forward Tyler Moore discusses how he has dealt with injuries during his basketball career.

Photo by EMILY GRIFFIN

Harding students run on treadmills in the Ganus Activities Center on Feb. 27. According to Harding sports psychology professor Brian Cox, exercise is important to physical health, but if taken too far, it can cause negative consequences.

Illustrations by JOHN DAVID STEWART

SENIOR DAY SENIOR DAY

Harding honors seniors in men’s and women’s basketball, cheerleading, band

Tomorrow afternoon the Harding basketball teams will play their final home game of the season, as they take on Northwestern Oklahoma State University for senior day. After the game seniors from both Harding teams will be honored, as well as seniors from the cheer squad and pep band.

Senior guard Reggie Anthony started playing basketball when he was four years old. When Anthony was a freshman, he said the seniors on the team told him to take advantage of the time he had to play because the end comes quicker than expected. He said the feeling still has not set in that it will be his last time to play in the Rhodes-Reaves Field House, but he feels really blessed to get one more game. Anthony looks back at his playing time at Harding and sees all the places, people and opportunities that it brought him, and he is now more grateful for it than he was in the beginning.

“It will be sad,” Anthony said. “Basketball has been the love of my entire life, but it’s time to see what is next. Even though I won’t wear a jersey, I don’t think anything

will change. I have learned it’s more about the team and the relationships than the wins and losses.”

Basketball has been the love of my entire life, but it’s time to see what is next. Even though I won’t wear a jersey, I don’t think anything will change.

–

Anthony,

guard

Senior Devin Daniel is a music education major and plays the trumpet for the pep band. Daniel said he did not like band in high school and only did it so that he could be in orchestra and jazz band. Coming to Harding, he said he actually enjoys being in the band because everyone else loves it so much and wants to be there. Daniel said the band has given him a good set of friends and that leaving will be tough, because the Thundering Herd is like a family; they are not competing for chairs like other bands — they are

just a group of people that like to hang out and play music.

“It will be cool to be recognized as someone who has been with the band for a long time,” Daniel said. “I’m proud of where the band is today versus where it was when I was a freshman. I’m proud of my trumpet players that I’ve been in charge of the past four years.”

Senior Ellie Arnett is the cheer captain this year. She said the biggest thing cheer has brought her is her best friends, and having all of them with her throughout her years at Harding has been awesome. Arnett said she was worried about how this season would go since all the people she has started with graduated, but her worries were diminished when the season started. She said the whole team has been such a great support system throughout this year.

“Cheer has always given me this high of being around people, and being in front of the crowd,” Arnett said. “I love that atmosphere. So for me, the energy and the passion I came in with freshman year is the same passion I’m leaving with.”

The senior day festivities will be held after both the men’s and women’s games. Tipoff for the Lady Bisons is 1 p.m.

Hardin honored with award from her hometown

Senior middle blocker Zoe Hardin was honored by her hometown in winning the Panhandle State Volleyball

Athlete of the Year award. The award is handed out each year to the best player from Amarillo, Texas. According to Volleyball Head Coach Meredith Fear, this was Hardin’s second time to be nominated for the award.

“I think it’s great that her hometown will still recognize someone that went to college in a different state,” Fear said.

Hardin has made a career out of racking up awards; she has been first team All-Conference all four years at Harding. She has also been named the Conference Player of the Year, Conference Tournament MVP and an All-American the past two seasons. Fear said all the accolades this year just back up the fact that Hardin is such as great player.

“She really solidified her position as a great player for us this season,” Fear said. “But she didn’t do it alone. Her teammates share a piece of her awards, too.”

Hardin led the Lady Bisons in hitting percentage (.331), kills per set (3.31), points per set (4.39) and aces (34). She also led the Great American Conference (GAC) in blocks, averaging 1.40 blocks per set. Along with the increased stats, Fear said Hardin has also grown in leadership.

Edition Reversed

What was your favorite Oscars moment?

- Carissa Caples, basketball

What is your favorite TV show to binge?

- Filip Medjo, basketball

What Harding sports team would you play for?

- Jack Thomas, baseball

What 2019 Disney movie are you most excited for?

- Peyton Mills, softball

“As much growth as there has been on the court, there has been even more growth in her leadership abilities,” Fear said.

Fellow senior outside hitter Madison Poen said Hardin is one of the hardest-working, competitive and driven teammates she has ever had, and that she will miss playing with her.

“She pushed everyone around her to be their best and wouldn’t accept anything less,” Poen said. “She was always one of the first people in the gym and one of the last ones to leave.”

As Hardin and the rest of the seven seniors prepare to leave the program, she thinks they have set a great example for future teams to follow. The 2018 team was the first in school and GAC history to win a match in the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Bisons upset top seed and No. 3 University of Nebraska Kearney on Nov. 15. Hardin said her role has changed a lot in her four years at Harding, but she is thankful for this past year and her teammates.

“As a freshman I played every game, but it was very different,” Hardin said. “I lead in different ways, but by senior year, all the seniors and I had our specific roles and we knew what we had to do on and off the court to lead our team to wins.”

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga

“Brooklyn 99”

Soccer

“The Lion King”

The SNL opening

“Brooklyn 99”

TNT F-team

“The Lion King”

Regina King’s acceptance speech

“The West Wing”

Track and Field

“Toy Story 4”

The red carpet

“30 Rock”

TNT A-team

“Aladdin”

The “Shallow” performance

“Psych”

The basketball team’s cool hand shake guy

“Avengers: Endgame”

ASHLYN QUESINBERRY student writer

Jack Allen head sports editor

Nora Johnston asst. to asst. sports

Kaleb Turner editor-and-chief Emily Griffin head photographer Aaron Alexander asst. sports editor

Reggie

senior

AARON ALEXANDER asst. sports editor

Photo by RYANN HEIM

Senior middle blocker Zoe Hardin poses for a photo inside the Rhodes-Reaves Field House on Wed. Feb. 20. Hardin won the 2019 Panhandle State Volleyball Athlete of the Year award.

(left) Senior guard Reggie Anthony goes up for a layup against Arkansas Tech University on Jan. 17. (Middle) Senior cheer captain Ellie Arnett cheers on the sidelines on Feb. 8, 2018. (right) Senior Mary Katherine Strachan plays the clarinet in the pep band. All seniors will be honored on March 2.

Photo by EMILY GRIFFIN Photos courtesy of JEFF MONTGOMERY

Members of People Interested in Service (PINS) gather to stitch a quilt on Feb. 19 in the Harding History House. PINS has been meeting for more than 15 years, and the group donates the quilts they craft to Women for Harding, who then sells the quilts to raise money for student scholarships.

Intertwining their skills with their passion to help others, the tight-knit group People Interested in Service (PINS) raises money for Harding student scholarships by making and selling quilts.

The women of PINS have been using their crafting abilities for more than 15 years and work in cooperation with Women for Harding. Although the group does not exclusively quilt for Harding, they cherish their seamless relationship with the university. According to PINS member Billie Boustead, the group has raised more than $25,000 for scholarships.

In recent years, Harding has shown appreciation for the PINS group by offering them a place to meet and craft at the Harding History House. Former member, the late Charlotte Pigg, originally hosted the group in her home. They then moved to several different locations before finally settling at the History House.

“Through the years we’ve helped make a lot of money for Harding, so [they] thought we deserved a room,” Boustead said.

Meeting almost every Tuesday for four or more hours,

the group has made over 25 different quilts, the majority of them tailored for a queen-sized bed. Each quilt that the PINS group creates takes roughly a year to finish, depending on the size and difficulty.

fellowship. When the women of PINS gather, they share stories, experiences and skills to improve their work. PINS quilter Ruby Lane said that when the group was established, one of the first rules enacted was that there would be no negative discussions about other people. Instead, a fun and positive environment would be encouraged.

“We don’t gossip,” Lane said. “We solve the problems of the world.”

In total, eight-10 women make up the PINS group, each with years of experience and individual stories. Many of the women in the group also participate in other volunteer work at locations including the Barkin Barn, His House and the Carti Cancer Center.

On top of this, most women in the group also work on quilting projects at home. Irene Crouch, who started quilting more than 40 years ago, refines her skills by constantly working on new projects.

“It’s just in and out like sewing, but it takes a lot of practice,” Crouch said. “You can’t just sit down and do it perfectly your first time. The more practice you get, the better you are.”

The quilting group not only offers a creative outlet for the women involved, but it also encourages camaraderie and

The quilt the PINS group is currently working on will be finished in time for the Women for Harding’s luncheon in April. The luncheon will serve members of Women for Harding, scholarship students and the PINS quilters. The quilt will be displayed at the event and later on sold, with the proceeds all going toward scholarships. Soon after, the women of PINS will get back to work and start a new quilt stitched with love and hard work just like each one made before.

Making the ‘imaginary’ a reality

Last year, freshman Cambria Tognaci published her first novel. According to Tognaci, she knew she wanted to be an author since early in her childhood. By the age of 13, she had already started writing her first ideas and drafts, which later turned into one big idea for a book.

“I planned and planned from 2012 to 2015,” Tognaci said. “Once I had my message, I finally got to writing and let my imagination take me from there.”

Tognaci’s dream of being an author turned into reality in July 2018 when her first book, “Imaginary Friends,” was published.

“Imaginary Friends” is a young-adult fantasy about a girl who experiences abuse, foster care and mental illness. Tognaci’s passion for both writing and foster care meet in this book.

Tognaci said her work as a nanny and work with kids who have hard lives at home were who inspired her. She said it opened up her eyes to difficult family relationships some kids go through.

Freshman McLane Ramsey, a friend of Tognaci, was surprised when she found out that her peer was a published author.

“I didn’t expect to meet someone my age who had already accomplished something as big as writing a novel,” Ramsey said. “Once I got to know Cambria and saw that her heart is so passionate for social work, it all made sense.”

Tognaci’s passion for foster care is what inspired her to choose social work as her major. Tognaci said the topic of abused kids have always been heavy on her heart due to the experience of the people she grew up around. The main purpose of her book is to bring awareness to these issues.

“I want people to know the reality to all these things,” Tognaci said. “I just want the ‘average’ person to be more aware about these pressing issues around us.”

Tognaci will be speaking about her novel at an HU Speaks event on March 22. HU Speaks, a public speaking club that is designed to help students improve their communication abilities.

Allie Harbuck, a member of HU Speaks, said she is excited that Tognaci will be speaking at their next event because of how inspiring she is to other young people.

“She makes the dream seem more possible for me and I hope that she will help inspire everyone who attends to work toward their dreams as well,” Harbuck said.

Tognaci said she is honored to be a part of the event and cannot wait to spread the message of “Imaginary

Freshman Cambria Tognaci publishes novel to share a message on foster care

HANNAH READ student writer

Photo by LOREN WILLIAMS

Friends.”

EMMA VAUGHN student writer

Freshman Cambria Tognaci poses with her novel, “Imaginary Friends,” on Feb. 26 on the Front Lawn. Tognaci published “Imaginary Friends” last year in an effort to share a message about topics she is passionate about bringing awareness to, such as abuse, foster care and mental illness.

– Irene Crouch, PINS member

You can’t just sit down and do it perfectly your first time. The more you practice, the better you get.

Photo by RYANN HEIM

– Cambria Tognaci, freshman

Once I had my message, I finally got to writing and let my imagination take me from there.

Chi Sigs for Community

Getting likes, shares and service opportunities

Dogs from the Humane Society of Searcy play with members of men’s social club Chi Sigma Alpha. For the past week Chi Sigs for Community has posted pictures of adoptable dogs on their Facebook page.

KARLI WILLIAMSON student writer

Harding men’s social club Chi Sigma Alpha premiered a new public Facebook page called Chi Sigs for Community with the focus of outreach and service oppurtunities for those both in and out of Chi Sigma Alpha to participate in.

The first service project opened to the public was a partnership between Chi Sigma Alpha and the Humane Society of Searcy to call attention to dogs that are in need of a home. In the span of two weeks, one dog has already found a future home.

Junior Payton Smith, service director for Chi Sigma Alpha, created the page “Chi Sigs for Community” on Feb. 15. He said his goal is to get the Searcy community involved.

For years, Chi Sigma Alpha had a private Facebook page dedicated to service opportunities but has recently created this new public page.

“Chi Sigs has our stuff, but whenever we want to do stuff with the community and for the community, people can see it [on the Chi Sigs for Community page] and if they want to participate they will be informed,” Smith said.

During the week of Feb. 15-23, Smith made posts on the Facebook page, each post featuring a different dog from the shelter.

The posts are crafted individually to encourage people in the Searcy community to go to the Humane Society and adopt.

Smith said that for Chi Sigma Alpha members, the dog posts are ultimately an effort to serve the employees at the Humane Society. By walking dogs and raising awareness about adoption, they give workers a break.

“We totally care about dogs but … secretly, our mission is the people at the Humane Society and in the community,” Smith said. “I think sometimes the community thinks that the church doesn’t care about anything but whether or not people go to heaven, but we want to show people that, no, we care about dogs, and we care about the environment and we care about everyone in a communal sense.”

Chi Sigma Alpha, established in 1963, is a men’s social club that focuses on serving others, Smith said. He wants to spread his social club’s core value to the community, using tools like this Facebook page.

“We have prayer groups, and we try to think about ways that we can serve each other better … I think everyone needs people that really care,” Smith said. “We want to be people that can see what the world is lacking, and then put that good into the world. What we are for each other, we can be for other people in the community.”

Chuck Niementowski, a volunteer for the Humane Society of Searcy, said they primarily get dogs from the city of Searcy and are obligated to have an open admission policy with animals from Searcy.

“We do take dogs in from outside of Searcy when we have space to, although we usually are running close to or at capacity,” Niementowski said.

Because of the Chi Sigs for Community Facebook page, one dog has been adopted and another dog named Mikey is in the process of being adopted.

“One of my friends from the community, Marissa, her grandma needs a dog, and so they’ve gone out and played with Mikey a couple of times,” Smith said. “They really have intentions of adopting him; it hasn’t happened yet but I’ve had people be very interested in adoption.”

Junior Ashley Bettis said she found out about the Facebook page from Smith. Though Bettis cannot adopt a dog since she lives in a dorm, she is still telling friends about the posts.

“I am telling people that could possibly adopt that there are dogs available for adoption in Searcy,” Bettis said. “There are dogs already here that need a home.”

So far, the Facebook posts have raised awareness and inspired action, but Smith does not plan to stop there.

“I think it’s going to be a thing that only continues to grow in the future,” Smith said.

To learn more about adoption opportunities, contact the Humane Society of Searcy. For more service and community building oppurtunities visit the Chi Sigs for Community on Facebook.

National Eating Disorder Awareness Week

Shedding a light on the reality of eating disorders

Today concludes National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, a week dedicated to breaking down the stigma surrounding eating disorders. Eating disorders affect 10-15 percent of Americans and have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, according to Mirasol Recovery Centers.

According to Glen Adams, professor of psychology, an eating disorder is a disruption in the typical pattern of how people manage and respond to food and is classified as a mental disorder in line with Attention Deficiet Disorder (ADD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and General Anxiety Disorder, as they are defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Lisa Ritchie, professor of family and consumer sciences and registered dietitian nutritionists (RDN) expressed that eating disorders are disordered coping mechanisms that require the expertise of mental health professionals as well as nutritional professionals. Adams said eating disorders are not as simple as just adjusting one’s eating patterns but involve retraining thought patterns.

how broad the range of eating disorders can be — from more well-known disorders like anorexia and bulimia to disorders such as orthorexia: the obsessive control of restrictive eating and excessive exercising.

Our bodies are made to have fat on them, and a healthy body does not look like what society’s ideal body is.

In regard to promoting an atmosphere of healthy relationships with food, Sarah Oropeza, professor of family and consumer sciences, spoke passionately on why she believes rejecting diet culture and language that promotes such culture is key to promoting healthy eating habits. Both said diet culture and fad diets promote a toxic bingeeating and diet cycle that is not sustainable and can lead to eating disorders.

“What comments you say about dieting, about weight gain, about being fat, all of these diet-shaming, bodyshaming types of messages that we say out loud, that we put on social media, can be very devastating for someone who has an eating disorder,” Oropeza said.

Oropeza suggested the best way to combat this kind of language is learning to change the subject. Thompson also suggested complementing others’ admirable character traits or actions rather than their looks to help combat the promotion of an ideal body type.

“Our bodies are made to have fat on them, and a healthy body does not look like what society’s ideal body is,” Thompson said.

Junior Brittany Thompson explained the dangerous nature of eating disorders and her personal experience with anorexia and bulimia in high school.

“I think it’s important for people to realize how dangerous eating disorders are and that people literally die from it,” Thompson said. “I, for example, lost my period for two years.”

Senior Kathryn Forrester said she was surprised to learn

Thompson, Ritchie, Adams and Oropeza all spoke about the importance of intervention, even though someone may reject those efforts. Adams and Thompson recommended early intervention, Thompson adding that she wishes she had addressed her unhealthy habits early on. Oropeza said that if someone comes to you for help, the first thing to do is help them get help in the Counseling Center, which is free to Harding students.

Barbie Gets Real

In 2016, the toy company Mattel released its Barbie Fashionista line, showcasing dolls with different body types, skin tones, eye colors and hairstyles to reflect the diverse definition of beauty in today’s society. This summer, Mattel plans to add to this line with two new dolls, one who is in a wheelchair and another with a prosthetic leg.

The company said they had received many requests from their consumer hotline for a doll with a wheelchair and wanted to listen to their customers. Mattel also revealed they worked with a team at the University of California, Los Angeles and 13-year-old Jordan Reeves, an activist for the disabled community who was born without her left forearm, to make the dolls as realistic as possible.

Senior special education major Hannah Banowsky said she thinks these dolls are important because they can be used to help children with disabilities connect with others, as well as cope with their own disabilities. Banowsky believes a doll in a wheelchair is a great way to show children that even though there are people who are different in the world, they are also very similar.

“The more you know, the more you are able to sympathize and help, because they can do everything we can do, it’s just different how they can do it,” Banowsky said.

Another senior special education major, Katie Tracy, agrees these new dolls are a good step in the right direction

for disability awareness but thinks there is more that can be done in the future. Tracy said changes will start with children, and as new generations grow and are taught acceptance, disabilities will become more normalized and fought for.

“So many people struggle with disabilities,” Tracy said. “I think more and more people and children are being identified as those with disabilities so it is important to advocate for them.”

However, one of Tracy’s apprehensions to the new dolls is whether or not kids without disabilities will actually buy or play with them. Lisa Bryant, professor of special education, shares this concern. Her fear is that the only people who are going to buy the dolls are the people who have kids in wheelchairs or with prosthetics. Bryant thinks that as disabilities become more prevalent, it will open up more conversation and acceptance overall.

“I think anytime we allow a child to feel like they are more ‘normal’ … [or] anything that makes them feel accepted by society is a step in the right direction,” Bryant said. “I think there is still a long way to go, but I applaud Mattel for at least acknowledging there are people with differences and that kids who are different need to be included in play.”

Banowsky, Tracy and Bryant also noted many companies other than Mattel that have made efforts to support disabilities, such as American Girl dolls, Xbox with their new adaptive controllers and Tommy Hilfiger with their adaptive clothing line.

Photo courtesy of PAYTON SMITH

– Stephanie Oropeza professor of family and consumer science

... all of these diet-shaming, body-shaming types of messages that we say out loud, that we put on social media, can all be very devastating for someone who has an eating disorder.

– Brittany Thompson junior history major

SARAH BARNARD student writer

HANNAH READ student writer

Photo by LOREN WILLIAMS

Graphic by DARRIAN BAGLEY

by Emily Nicks

How does society grapple with 21st century technology and a constant desire to be connected?

Internet Addiction Disorder was first brought to light in a 1996 paper by Kimberly Young, a psychologist who became an internationally renowned expert on internet addiction. Since then, the topic has been researched extensively and thoroughly. The results are staggering: digital addiction is a fast-growing issue.

President Bruce McLarty, an avid social media user, said it best: “I think it’s a very opportune time for us to talk about and address some of these things.”

THE BASICS

Dopamine, sometimes referred to as the “feel-good hormone,” is a chemical in the brain that, when released, is associated with feelings of happiness. Positive social stimuli, such as affirming words and laughter, trigger the release of dopamine, connecting those positive emotions with a physical neurological experience. According to Harvard University’s “Science in the News,” digital exposure can essentially overwhelm the dopamine exposure within the brain.

“Smartphones have provided us with a virtually unlimited supply of social stimuli, both positive and negative,” states Trevor Haynes in a 2018 article on the website. “Every notification, whether it’s a text message, a ‘like’ on Instagram, or a Facebook notification, has the potential to be a positive social stimulus and dopamine influx.”

Professor of Communication Pat Garner is well-read on the topic of digital communication and its effects on people. Garner, who recently had to trade in his flip phone for a smart phone — which he detests — said he is wary of the impacts digital addiction can have on the human brain and psyche.

“There is [separation anxiety] when you lose your phone,” Garner said. “People panic when they lose their phone because it’s their life, and of course they’re addicted to it.”

In addition to affecting individuals, digital addiction influences relationships and communication within communities. McLarty said he has witnessed digital addiction walking across campus and elsewhere within the Harding community.

“[It could be] a beautiful, sunny day, and you’re here with 4,000 other young people, and what are you doing?”

McLarty questioned hypothetically. “Probably a concerning number of people are in a room, isolated, maybe with a friend, playing video games.”

McLarty said he has felt the draw of technology himself.

“When I’m out around campus, there are times I feel like I need to make a post or something like that, and I have my phone up,” he said. “I know there are people who walk by me, and I don’t engage with them.”

According to MarketWatch, Americans in 2018

spent over 11 hours each day interacting with the media. That is almost a two-hour increase from four years prior. This amount of almost constant exposure makes digital addiction a different phenomenon from other traditional forms of addiction.

While she would not have ever considered herself addicted to media, junior Rebecca Stratton recognized her unconscious habit of spending time immersed in her phone, especially with social media apps.

“I noticed any time I got a notification, I’d go to check it and then spend 10 or so extra minutes just scrolling around,” Stratton said. “I’d get on it without thinking about it at all and just mindlessly scroll.”

DIGITAL ADDICTION

From a generational viewpoint

With Millennials and those considered to be part of Generation Z engulfed by media for the majority of their lives, digital addiction may be thought of as a problem experienced only by the younger generations. But is that really the case?

Garner believes the problem runs deeper. In fact, he said younger generations may be even more aware of the all-encompassing nature of media than the older generations.

“I think more young people are … becoming more circumspect about it,” Garner said.

He went on to recall an experience he had while teaching a few years ago.

“I said, ‘How many of you find it irritating to be wanting to talk to your parents, and they pull out their phones and don’t engage you?’ And the hands went up,” Garner remembered. “And so the adults have a big problem with it. It’s not just young people, certainly.”

McLarty said he, too, thinks digital addiction is something that is felt by more than just young people.

“[A professor on the spiritual life committee] said he thinks you’d be surprised how many students feel that they have had to pay a price in their lives for their parents’ digital addiction,” McLarty acknowledged. “It’s not something that starts with this generation. It is a cultural phenomenon in modern culture that knows no age.”

Kay Gowen is the director of Abundant Living, an outreach from Harding’s office of church relations aimed at Christian senior citizens. As someone who spends significant time with both college students and senior citizens, Gowen has a different view of the generational gap, especially in regards to technology.

Gowen said she would classify seniors’ digital use as mindless but would hesitate to call it actually addictive.

“I doubt that too many overdo it, although I think it’s easy,” Gowen said. “I mean, you can start playing a game of solitaire and think you’re going to do this for 15 or 20 minutes. The next thing you know, it’s been two hours, and maybe the TV was on the whole time … and in a way, it’s kind of what you call downtime.”

DIGITAL ADDICTION

From a

SPIRITUAL viewpoint

According to McLarty, digital addiction is not just a societal issue, but also a spiritual one. He said Harding’s spiritual life committee read and discussed the book “Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked” by Adam Alter after McLarty became aware of the need for a conversation last year.

Garner said he feels the spiritual implications of technology use, too. He pointed to Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 10:23 as a reminder for Christians to use things without being mastered by them.

“I think it’s very important that [Paul] says ‘Everything is permissible but not everything is constructive, so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God,’” Garner paraphrased. “So, he’s calling us to say ‘yes, this is permissible, but not everything is good that’s permissible.’ Certainly, we need to be users of things in the world but not controlled by them.”

“The addictive nature of [technology] makes it especially insidious that we get drawn into a world where I think a lot of people get more negative and cynical than they realize.”

– Bruce McLarty, president

McLarty said he thinks the combination of technology’s addictiveness and its tendency to be mean-spirited makes it particularly dangerous.

“We can tear people down or build people up, and that’s the fundamental decision,” McLarty said. “The addictive nature of [technology] makes it especially insidious that we get drawn into a world where I think a lot of people get more negative and cynical than they realize … I think that’s part of why our culture seems so angry these days.”

GETTING PAST DIGITAL ADDICTION

Stratton, who found herself mindlessly opening her social media apps and scrolling without fully realizing it, deleted the apps from her phone for a month during the fall 2018 semester. She said this gave her a chance to get rid of the distractions they had become.

“I definitely would tap on where the icons used to be out of habit without even thinking about it, and that made me realize how mindless I was being,” Stratton said.

Although she decided to redownload the apps to her phone, Stratton said she is more thoughtful about her use of social media now, and she would recommend it to anyone who would like a chance to refocus.

“My relationship with social media is better now,” Stratton said. “When I redownloaded [the apps], I moved them to a page on my phone that I don’t scroll to very often, so I wouldn’t see them as often. I definitely got on them a lot less after this.”

If someone is worried about missing important information such as club announcements, Stratton suggested turning on email notifications for Facebook groups; she said this allowed her to get necessary information without being on the platform itself.

McLarty suggested finding an accountability partner to help monitor your digital use, similar to how his wife, Ann, helps him refrain from using sarcasm or potentially harmful words on social media.

“[Our phones’ screen-time features] would be a great accountability baseline for people,” McLarty said. “‘Our goal is no more than x amount, and every Monday night we’re going to check each others’ phone on that.’ You know? It would be a wonderfully, fairly non-intrusive way to help each other be accountable for something.”

Garner said he thinks being aware of your digital use is a good first step toward making changes in how you use technology. Once aware, he said you can implement strategies to monitor your usage.

“We can’t escape it — none of us can — but we really can begin to monitor how much we say and do,” Garner said. “There are ways. You will have to work to do it, but there are ways that you can navigate around some of this. I think we can do it. I really do.”

McLarty said while digital addiction may seem overwhelming, he thinks the Harding community is still socially engaged.

“For all the problems we’ve got, we’ve got a lot of good things going,” McLarty said. “We’re all in it together, and I think the conversation needs to continue.”

How does pornography skew God’s design for human creation and desire?

by Luke Humphrey and Kaleb Turner

Senior Jacob Chesney was only 10 years old when he first found himself victim to a new corner of the internet that would define his relationships and self-perception.

Years after he first discovered pornography, Chesney realized that his viewing habits might have started to become a real problem — a problem that would prove to be difficult to solve all at once and on his own.

“I was dating a girl, and I felt bad that I was watching porn while I was dating her,” Chesney said. “I tried to just put it away and stop looking at it. Over a few months, I just realized that I kept coming back to it no matter how hard I tried.”

The problem, Chesney said, was never as simple as a coldturkey approach — and it still is not that simple.

“Over the last two years or so, I’ve had times where I will go a month without pornography, which was great, but then I’d get back into it just as heavy,” Chesney said. “Over time, those long streaks grew. I think it is a war and not a battle.”

Also at 10 years old, senior Brennan Puryear found himself with the internet’s possibilities at his fingertips. Like Chesney, Puryear said he realized a problem existed when he was in high school, calling pornography the hardest addiction.

“With pornography, it’s so easy,” Puryear said. “It’s on your phone, in movies, etc.”

The “hardest addiction” was one that both Puryear and Chesney felt they could not fight alone and sought solace in others.

Chesney began seeking help for his addiction when he came to Harding. During his sophomore year, he sought counseling services at the Harding Counseling Center, and while he said that put him on the track to recovery, he soon realized others must become a part of his internal struggle.

“I thought I could overcome my addiction on my own, so that’s why it took me so long to seek help,” Chesney said. “It sounds simple — just don’t watch it or just don’t do it. But it’s way more complicated and takes so much more effort and thought. ”

Puryear’s road to a resolution also began by telling someone else, but in taking that step, he accepted a level of vulnerability he said was one of the most challenging parts.

“One of the harder things I did was tell my parents,” Puryear said. “For me, that was really rough. For the longest time, it felt like there was a barrier between us, but I think talking about it and acknowledging that you have a problem is a good start.”

After taking the first step in telling someone of their deep emotional and spiritual challenges, Puryear and Chesney found that their friend groups became a trusted resource in dealing with their years-long addictions.

Sharing their experiences made Puryear and Chesney aware that their struggle is not unique. Kraig Martin, assistant professor of Bible, talks about pornography and sexual ethics in his classes, and said the commonality of pornography addiction is found in 21st century technology.

“The literature suggests that with high-speed internet and easy access to high-speed internet, you cannot find college-aged or older males who have not consumed online pornography,” Martin said. “If that’s right, then that gives you a sense of the scale of this problem.”

As Chesney and Puryear found solace in their personal

A human problem

by Danielle Turner

While pornography addiction is primarily referred to as an issue for men, many women also struggle with pornography and feel too ashamed to talk about it.

Director of Upward Bound and Professor of Psychology Stephanie O’Brian said it is harder for women to speak up about their struggles with pornography because society does not view or accept women as sexual creatures in the same way men are.

“We always focus on guys and pornography and it is sort of labeled as a male issue, but in terms of the number of students who have talked to me about it, it is probably equal,” O’Brian said.

Isolation is a common struggle in addiction. O’Brian said feeling alone stems from unwillingness to have conversations about taboo topics. Junior Jessica Pigott said the main reason she never spoke up about her struggle with pornography is because of the shame associated with women watching porn.

“Women are not allowed to be sexual beings, but if you are sexual, guys are supposed to like you,” Pigott said. “You come from a place where you are trying to fill that void and

communities, Martin said a similar sentiment is echoed in seeing students embrace one another when discussion about the topic arises in his classes.

“When students find the courage to speak up, I’ve never heard anyone be shamed by it,” Martin said.

Chesney and Puryear said they wish they knew many things when they realized their viewing habits had become an addiction. They wished they knew they were not alone, and they wished the church would have been less taboo on the topic. They wished they knew to rely on strong relationships, and they simply wished they had known to do all of this sooner.

“In high school, I never talked about this,” Puryear said. “I put it into my head that I was the only one struggling with it. I don’t think I’d be willing to fix it if I weren’t at Harding.”

“We’re secretly out of control, nobody knows me; And my friends all addicted to porn can’t keep a girlfriend; Cause the great expectations got all us imitating.”

These lyrics from singer-songwriter Jon Bellion’s “Morning in America” hit home with Puryear when he first heard them. He found his pornography addiction crossing borders into other areas of his life and relationships.

“I remember listening to that song and thinking that was me,” Puryear said. “I had a relationship where I felt a lot of guilt because of the porn. It felt like I was in the relationship where I wanted other things out of it.”

His friendships suffered, too — specifically his relationships with women. Pornography had quickly become something that was no longer just a “me” issue.

“For a man, you see women differently,” Puryear said. “I have female friends now, but I had none in high school because there was always something in my head that caused that to not happen. There’s the part of your brain that seeks pleasure that I got used to so quickly.”

Seeing women differently is just the tip of the iceberg when considering pornography use, according to Martin. Under the surface, Martin said viewing pornography results in misconstrual of sex, desire and fulfillment in a way that is outside the scope of God’s original intent for creation.

“Sexuality is so broken in our culture that we don’t even have a vision of what it’s supposed to look like, so it’s hard for us to understand how it’s going wrong,” Martin said.

Understanding is a key part to moving past an addiction, according to Martin, and it finds root in acknowledging the parties impacted by pornography of any type.

“Sex — the way it’s supposed to be — is something that connects us to another person and fulfills our need to be known and loved. Pornography use is not that,” Martin said. “It’s done in isolation, alone and disconnected from other people.”

A MEANS TO AN END

So, for the nearly six in 10 young adults who, according to a Barna study, seek out pornography on a daily, weekly

then you realize what you've done, and you feel disgusting and shameful, and then that void gets bigger and deeper and then you're just repeating that cycle over and over again.”

The issue does not stop with the way women are viewed compared to men. Women are rarely addressed when having conversations about the harmful qualities of pornography and its long-term effect. Dennis Rine, a guidance counselor at Harding Academy, said many girls start watching pornography to learn how to be accepted by boys and in turn create a skewed, damaged view of sexuality.

Dennis said over the past few years, he has seen the church make strides in its willingness to have an honest conversation about pornography, but there is still hesitation to admit that the issue affects women as well. Pigott felt the same way growing up. In her youth group, church leaders would address pornography is a problem for boys and that girls needed to support the boys through their struggle.

Terri Rine, adjunct professor of Bible, teaches an allwomen’s section of the Christian families course and said they spend time looking at God’s plan for sexuality, and pornography is often brought up to recognize what is unhealthy for relationships.

“We’re not immune to this,” Terri said. “I recognize we don’t have as big of a problem as men, but we have a

or monthly basis, what is the answer to a problem that will always be just one click away?

Chesney, Puryear and Martin all say that one crucial step to the process is for society and the church to destigmatize the topic.

“By never talking about it or mentioning the word, we have given it a lot more power than it deserves and that it actually has,” Chesney said.

Personally, Chesney has found his experiences in the church completely lacking in any conversation from the pulpit or the youth group classroom — an unfortunate truth that he said only exacerbates the problem.

While Chesney said he thinks the church largely keeps away from the topic to keep from stepping on so many toes, he believes the negative repercussions of avoidance are surmounting.

“In doing that, it has put this false image in a lot of young people that people in the church do not struggle with it,” Chesney said. “It makes it seem like the preacher doesn’t know anything about pornography. When youth groups don’t talk about it, it very easily makes it seem like you’re the only one who watches it and that no one will understand.”

While Puryear found his church experiences to be plentiful in conversations about pornography — he said his pastor at home has been open about talking about addiction and never turns anyone away from the topics — he believes Harding has some strides to make, too, in removing the stigma.

“I just really want Harding to be a place where [it’s ok to] acknowledge that porn is a problem,” Puryear said. “It’s always ‘If you’re struggling, here’s a meeting.’ Sometimes, it’s difficult to just rely on God. Truthfully, you also need to rely on other people. With a group, you can do that for God.”

Although Puryear and Chesney have seen Harding and the church sometimes miss the beat, Martin said society, both religious and secular, have started to identify the real biological and emotional distresses rooted in pornography use.

“We’re hitting a stage where people inside and outside the church are starting to realize something is wrong with the pornography consumption,” Martin said. “The shift that I’ve seen is the recognition of something being broken. I think you can see that shift has happened by examining governments that are pushing for this to be a health risk. The language around it is changing.”

Chesney, Puryear and Martin also agree that capitalizing on society’s progress with the conversation around the topic is another big step.

That capitalization does not come easy, though. Puryear and Chesney said, having both struggled for years with a pornography addiction, that it will never be as easy as just saying no. It is an ongoing struggle — a war and not a battle.

“Eventually, it will get better, but it takes time,” Chesney said. “There’s probably a lot of days you want to quit, but it’s worth it to get away from it.”

And in putting in the hard work to move past it, Puryear said that he sees an understanding of sin and struggle as human nature is key.

“I know there have been a lot of chapel talks about how it’s sick and it’s wrong,” Puryear said. “Well, it is sick and wrong, but I think it should be approached as, ‘It’s sick and it’s wrong, but it’s OK.’ I want to talk to anyone who is struggling with it and say, ‘I know what you’re going through. It’s a long process, but it can be done. I’m still going through it.’”

problem. There are a whole lot more women involved in it than you think.”

A study done by Covenant Eyes, an internet accountability and filtering service, states 79 percent of men ages 18 to 30 said they watch porn more than once a month. In that same study, they found 76 percent of women ages 18 to 30 watch porn more than once a month.

In the Covenant Eyes study, research shows that women prefer romance sites and erotic stories over any sort of graphic sexual content. Sophomore Abbey Richter was introduced to pornography through erotic stories and said that she would justify reading it because it was different than watching it.

“I just sooner wished that someone had said straight to my face reading it, watching it, thinking about it. It is all terrible for your health and your walk with God,” Richter said.

Richter said one thing she loves about Harding is the Porn Kills Love signs around campus. Porn Kills Love, a movement by Fight The New Drug, an organization that aims to educate people about the harmful effects of pornography on individuals and relationships, said it best when they said, “Pornography is not a male problem. It is a human problem.”

‘great expectations got us all imitating’

‘a war and not a battle’

by Kaleb Turner

What fills the hole in the heart when drugs, alcohol and smoking don’t do the trick?

CRAVE

their circles and their parties once again.

But that mask would not cover up the real hurt.

For two Harding students, the reality of addiction is not one that is easily lost in the notion that addiction may not touch parts of the Christian community.

Junior Jake Gainey was a sophomore in high school when his parents found out about his use of weed and alcohol. In seventh grade, the Gainey family moved from inland Florida to the coast, uprooting what consistency young Jake had during a pivotal moment of adolescence. “ … I was trying to make new friends in whatever way possible,” Gainey said. “I was sacrificing some things I really wanted in friendships to just get to know people and hang out with them.”

That day he was caught by his parents was one Gainey remembers well, but it is also one that he and his family embrace.

“I got done with class one day, sophomore year, second semester, and I got a call from my dad,” Gainey said. “He was like, ‘You need to come home now.’”

He specifically remembers his mom crying that day. Giving thanks to God, Gainey said his parents were not afraid to confront him.

“After we discussed everything, and after my parents said, ‘You’re our son, and we love you,’ I think I felt almost a relief, like a burden was lifted off my shoulders,” Gainey said. “I was happy, in a sense, that I got caught just because I didn’t have to do it anymore.”

Gainey said what had transpired out of that pivotal move was a deep desire to feel loved. Instead, he put on a mask that covered up the human need for affection, but it was not until the wake-up call with his parents that he realized he was even wearing the mask.

“I do remember that feeling of relief, like I didn’t have to keep it up anymore or try to keep this mask on,” Gainey said. “It was kind of like someone took my mask off and said, ‘What is wrong with you?’ It was like I didn’t even know I was wearing the mask in the first place.”

fitting in falling away

The idea of wearing a mask is also a familiar concept to another Harding student, who chose to remain anonymous because his addiction is still something he is working to overcome.

“The pressure here to be somebody you’re not is immense, and it is overwhelming,” he said.

While he has seen struggle rampant within himself and his peers, his addiction began much earlier. He was just 13 years old.

His first exposure to drugs was his friend’s parents who were addicted to cocaine, weed and methamphetamine.

When high school rolled around, he moved in with his father — “new city, big suburb, bunch of rich kids.” Quickly, he found himself, like Gainey, in a place of desiring to fit in, which is when he started to compromise his identity.

“I would sell weed to all of the rich kids and my friends,” he said. “I was always high, and I was always smoking. That gave me an identity that there were a lot of kids behind it. I felt cool, and I felt justified.”

When he decided it was time for college, he decided on a state school in his home state.

“I majored in alcoholism, basically,” he said. “I was drinking bottles of vodka every day. I didn’t want to feel anything. I was snorting ecstasy, and I was taking acid. That was the worst of my addiction.”

His world eventually collapsed in on him when his habits led to his arrest during freshman year. His parents found out the severity of his addiction, and he found himself next at a treatment and recovery center.

After treatment, he enrolled at Harding, where, combined with his time at the treatment center, he had been nearly two years clean.

“I had come to Harding with this presentation that I kicked drug addiction in the rear, that I’m living great and living for the Lord,” he said. “And I was. I was living great and always in my Bible, always praying. I thought everyone else around me was that way, too. Come to find out, it was a lie. What had I been missing out on?”

A toxic relationship and isolation from a friend group brought two years of sobriety crashing in.

“When you experience something negative, it’s hard to not turn to something you’re used to,” he said. “It’s hard to experience people who you thought were one way and it’s a lie. So, I went back to my own vices and was doing x, y, z like I used to do.”

He specifically recalls one story where he felt completely isolated. He messaged one night in a group message that he needed someone to reach out, but no one did. The next morning, he woke up on the bathroom floor — cold and shaking — from his binge.

From that point on, he felt he had to wear a mask to be accepted in the groups where he once found familiarity. He began telling them he had been to parties again (including that night when he had actually passed out on his bathroom floor), and they started inviting him into

“I started realizing that the more I hang out with this group, that these are not my guys,” he said. “These are not people that care about me or that I really care about. They were the ones who rejected me.”

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Both Gainey and the other student said that while problems exist in personal habits and ease of access, the actual problem is much deeper.

“The reason you do drugs is to sedate the actual problem, so I never really fixed my issues, I just stopped smoking weed,” Gainey said. “My heart was slowly healing through hanging out with these guys and their families.”

At the end of the day, Gainey said the smoking, drinking and drugs cannot cover up a hole that exists in the addict’s heart.

“Through smoking, all I wanted to do was be loved,” Gainey said. “That’s all I was looking for — just some sort of love and affirmation from someone.”

When Gainey’s Harding experience started off on the wrong foot, he found himself falling back into old habits. Because of the bitter taste this left, he started to become bitter about Harding and its people.

Then one day, his friend set him straight.

“He was basically just like, ‘You need to leave. I’m tired of hearing this. If you want to dive into this and get better, I’m here for you, and I’ll set you up with good people, but if not, I can’t hang out with you anymore,’” Gainey said.

When it comes to someone who was willing to call out those in their lives who are struggling, Gainey said it makes all the difference.

“A lot of times, we don’t really know what we’re doing — we don’t see the different side of things until someone points it out to us,” Gainey said. “What I was doing was really just hurting myself, and he was willing to point that out, which was amazing.”

‘the actual problem’ out of darkness

So how does someone who is suffering from a substance addiction move past their harmful behaviors and into healing?

For Gainey, real change did not happen until his parents stepped in and completely cut him off from the harmful relationships and habits.

“... In taking me out of everything, they set me on a different path … and I’m thankful that they did that,” Gainey said.

But it was not as simple as removing all old vices for Gainey; he said periods of his recovery were dark and lonely when he was isolated from friends.

The other student said that time of isolation can also lead people back to their old vices. He found that out firsthand, and because of that, he said it is crucial to seek serious assistance.

“I know at our age, it is very difficult to walk away from everything and go to treatment if that’s what they feel like they need, but I would at least recommend finding a therapist,” he said. “You don’t have to go just talk to one and be done. I’ve been through three or four until I got to the one I’m with now.”

In addition to seeking treatment, he also sought counsel in the older mentors and role models, including his professors.

“No matter how bad you screw up, no matter what — to an extent — you do, the professors and deans are there for you.” he said. “Be careful with what you say, but if you let them know you’re struggling and need help, they will help you.”

He said many of Harding’s restrictive policies on issues like substance abuse are a good deterrent, but more work has to be done in raising healthy conversation with knowledgeable speakers and community discussions about the topics.

Gainey added that for any step toward policy or procedure to make sense in helping a student, there must first be a wholesome look at the person’s full story.

“How are you going to restrict me if you don’t even know me and know what my true struggle is?” Gainey asked. “I’ve been restricted my whole life, and this is not going to work.”

Ultimately, Gainey said the missing piece to curing addiction’s puzzle is for the addict to know that the present darkness does not have to be experienced alone.

“I want them to know that it’s not their fault — that it’s very easy to get trapped in your head, and I understand the darkness they’re in right now,” Gainey said. “wI just wish they would cry out to someone, to anyone.”

According to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights’ Foundation (ANR), there was a 900 percent increase in e-cigarette use among high school students between the years of 2011 and 2015, the most popular form of tobacco use among young people in the U.S. Those students from that study are now college students aross the country.

Anupama Kaul, pulmonologist and director of the medical intensive care unit and sleep center at Unity Health in Searcy, said there are several differences between smoking and vaping. Smoking is when a person smokes something like a cigar or a cigarette. Vaping, on the other hand, first started with electronic cigarettes. Vaporizers, or vapes, can be purchased in a variety of models; some e-cigarettes look like pens, while others are much bulkier. You can buy many different flavors to vape, unlike with cigarettes.

Traditional tobacco products are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration while vaping products are not. Kaul says that people are not aware of how much nicotine are in vape products because they all contain different levels.

“Initially we were telling patients ‘you can use them for getting away from cigarettes,’ but now we’re not really sure. Now we’re saying no, we’re just trying other things. We don’t know if they’re safe or not.”

– Dr. Anupama Kaul, pulmonologist at Unity Health

“Some [young people] are told … [vaping products] are free of nicotine, but we don’t know that, and some of them say that they have cartridges that have calculated nicotine in them … some of them made in China — I’ve heard of them from reports — that they contain more carcinogens than cigarettes,” Kaul said. “So initially we were telling patients, ‘you can use them for getting away from cigarettes,’ but now we’re not really sure. Now we’re saying no, we’re just trying other things. We don’t know if they’re safe or not.”

Kaul said vape users would probably experience the same health effects as traditional smokers due to nicotine, which causes tar build-up. These effects could include diseases such as cancer — and not just cancer of the lungs — but cancer that can appear in most other areas of the body, as well as bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Arkansas lawmakers are currently pushing a bill that would raise the legal age required to purchase vape products to 21, although those in the military could still purchase vape products at the age of 18. News Channel 3 of Memphis reported that the bill came less than a month after the American Lung Association criticized both the federal government and multiple states for poor prevention programs.

Kaul encourages young people to avoid smoking of any kind, including vaping. She calls the products “landmines” that will figuratively go off at some point if a person persists in using them.

“I tell my patients ‘you have a choice: choose lungs or cigarettes … or vapor. … When a person is dying of COPD, when the person is at the end stage, it’s a horrible death,” Kaul said. “And the person who’s dying at that time … many of them have told me, ‘I wish young people could see me like this, they would never pick up a cigarette.’ … Young people have to understand it’s a very very slow poison. Nothing will happen in one year, two years, three years — but it’s building up slowly, slowly. … It will get you in a bad way sooner or later.”

Kaul recommends using any non-harmful means possible in order to quit smoking or vaping: medications, psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, nicotine gum and patches, anything without potentially harmful side effects. People looking to quit smoking or vaping can contact 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) or a local physician as well.

Photo by EMILY GRIFFIN

seek

by Jessie Smith

Where can help be found for students with an addiction?

When students find themselves grappling with addiction, they can seek help at the Counseling Center, but they can often receive support from other places.

Craig Russell, director of Public Safety, said they rarely hear from people asking for help with addiction, but they sometimes have students who use their reporting mechanisms to voice concerns about someone else.

“We have a web-based reporting mechanism and a telephone tip line,” Russell said. “We just forward that information to the appropriate official on campus, so if it was dealing with alcohol or drugs or something like that, we forward it to the Office of Student Life.”

Most often, students go to the Counseling Center, according to Russell.

“What we get — the very limited amount that we

get through those tip lines, if you will — would deal with alcohol or drugs,” Russell said. “Alcohol would be the most common.”

Besides alcohol and drugs, other common addictions include pornography, video games, eating disorders and nicotine, according to Klay Bartee, an assistant professor who works in the Counseling Center.

Bartee defined addiction as an abnormal relationship with a substance, object, event or person in which negative consequences as a result of the relationship do not lead to a change in behavior.

“Nobody’s going to be arrested for, you know, playing too many video games,” Bartee said.

While the negative consequences in this case may not be legal, addictions other than alcohol and drugs can emerge as neglecting homework, diminishing relationships or suffering health. However, addictions to alcohol and drugs can look a little different.

“When they’re dealing with substances, drugs and alcohol, they generally won’t try to come get help until way deep in the process,” Bartee said.

Bartee said he occasionally refers students to somewhere else, but that rarely happens. He said addiction is typically a longer process, and it does not show up as much during high school and college years.

When students request to go off-campus for help, the Counseling Center sometimes refers them to ReGroup, according to Lew Moore, director of the Counseling Center. ReGroup is a counseling clinic in downtown Searcy.

“They have expertise in addictions and have a good reputation,” Moore said. “Most of them I know well, and the majority graduated from Harding.”

People fall into addiction when they dislike how they are feeling, and they prefer the way the object of the addiction makes them feel, according to Bartee. He said he typically advises good communication to these students.

“Being able to process and accept and feel what we’re feeling when it’s uncomfortable and something we don’t want to is kind of a foundational idea in recovering from addiction,” Bartee said.

Does policy prevent addiction?

“An addiction,” according to Zach Neal, dean of students, “is truly anything that you cannot stop doing without incurring adverse effects.”

Behaviors that occur on campus related to addiction are addressed with all students through Harding’s student handbook. Several sections in the 2018-19 handbook address the university’s policies related to substance use and addiction, including portions discussing pornography, tobacco, alcohol and the use of controlled substances. The handbook explains that behavior related to any of the aforementioned is “against the mission” of the university, and if caught, students may be subject to consequential disciplinary action.

What is the policy?

Harding’s mission, as stated on their website, is “... to provide a quality education that will lead to an understanding and philosophy of life consistent with Christian ideals.”

Due to the nature of his position, Neal said he plays a role in deciding what consequences follow a violation of handbook policy and violation of Harding policy.

“In the handbook, there are a list of the possibilities that may happen for any given situation — and then it’s the deans, lovingly and with discretion, and with the goal of treating all students with fairness — that would communicate a consequence,” Neal said.

Section Four, “Social Wellness,” discusses the university’s stance on pornography. Section Five, “Personal Wellness,” outlines policy related to the use of alcohol and tobacco, and these policies, as well as those regarding other controlled substances, are elaborated upon in Section 13, “General Information.”

Neal and the rest of the student life deans practice the stated discretion in an approach to addiction he described as holistic. While there are policies in place that hold students accountable for their actions, there are also options for students to receive help. Neal, echoing the handbook, said students struggling with an addiction can visit the counseling center to receive information, counseling and referrals to community resources.

by Nora Johnson and Erin Floyd

“Involving a student handbook and trained counselors allows a safe environment to receive support and also be held accountable,” Neal said. “To say which one is a deterrent more than the other would be hard to say.”

Stephanie O’Brian, director of Upward Bound and professor of psychology, said that there are many support groups available for students, both through the counseling center and the Original Rock House of College Church of Christ, although she believes these groups are not advertised as well as they could or should be. According to O’Brian, the need for formal support groups is there, but getting students to be vulnerable enough to share their struggles to a group of their peers is more difficult.

O’Brian said that if a student wishes to have a conversation about adjusting policy, there is safety in bringing it to Neal’s attention for discussion.

“As faculty, staff and administration, we may not always see things the way students do,” O’Brian said. “I am only 30, but in some ways, even I feel out of touch with some of the students. … We need students to advocate for themselves.”

O’Brian also described Harding policy as one that has been created over time to protect students but also allows them to have access to help.

“I think Harding policies have continuously been evolving the last several years in an effort to help students who need the most help without fear of discipline,” O’Brian said. “Is it perfect? No. But it is progress, and although sometimes progress is slow, I will take it. The best policies do not happen overnight and are not reactionary, but rather developed with a holistic perspective.”

How does policy relate to prevention?

O’Brian thinks that Harding’s policies on the subject have students’ safety in mind and are effective but only to the extent of the student’s free will.

“Harding’s rules are put into place to protect the students,” O’Brian said. “But like anything else, they

certainly are not going to be perfect. If a student really wants to look at porn, do drugs, drink alcohol or have … sex, they are going to find a way to do it. I do believe that Harding helps to curb many of those things though because the places those things can occur is limited, as well as the accessibility.”

The question of policy’s effectiveness in preventing addiction does not stop at Harding, as it is a national discussion. A 2016 report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration titled “Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health,” describes three types of preventative interventions used by public health officials to prevent substance addiction: universal, selective and indicated interventions.

Harding’s handbook policies most align with universal interventions, which attempt to reduce specific health problems across an entire community. The university’s nodrug, no-alcohol policies apply to the entire student body, and the Surgeon General reports that this type of policy “tends to have the greatest overall impact on substance misuse and related harms relative to interventions focused on individuals alone.”

The remainder of Harding’s policies, specifically those related to disciplinary action, fall into the category of indicated interventions. These policies are directed at individuals that have already misused a substance and may be on the verge of an addiction. The Surgeon General’s report refers to this type of policy as generally less effective in addiction prevention but does conclude that it can be beneficial over time.

There is no public record of the number of Harding students who have received disciplinary action due to substance abuse, and consequently, no record of the number of students that have received disciplinary action because of behavior related to an addiction. For Neal, he said he attempts to treat each situation that passes through his office on a case-by-case basis while carefully balancing accountability with intentionality.

“How do you help somebody with an addiction?” Neal said. “It’s all of the above: you love them, you counsel them, you support them and you hold them accountable.”

“How do you help somebody with an addiction?...

You love them, you counsel them, you support them and you hold them accountable.”

- Zach Neal, dean of students