Hannah Perry Student Writer
When Harding students hear the words “Searcy bubble,” most would automatically think about the Harding niche. It is little known that some people refer to the “Searcy bubble” as a protective tornado-free zone around Searcy.
Wayne Westerholm, deputy director of parking and transportation, said the “Searcy bubble” is a myth and urged students to be cautious, even though tornadoes are rare in Searcy.
On Wednesday, April 15, hundreds participated in Bisons for Christ, the annual day of service that invites students to go “beyond” Harding to serve the community.
The projects ranged from visiting with the elderly and baking cookies to cleaning up yards and working on housing projects to running athletic programs for kids.
The Rock House, a ministry of College Church of Christ, sponsors the event. Alumni coordinator Liz Howell helps to organize the event.
“The goal for us is to introduce people to serving,” Howell said. “Not for just a day but to develop a lifetime of serving.”
Junior Easton Cook was part of a group of friends that helped at Harding Place, led by freshman Madison Vanderheiden. They helped with simple tasks such as hanging curtains and organizing shelves: tasks that were too big of a strain for the elderly who live there.
The difficulty of the work varied from project to project, but students remembered that no matter how they helped it made an impact.
“I saw some of the guys who came in covered in green grass; they were dirty from head to toe,” Cook said. “And I thought to myself, ‘I haven’t done as much as I should have,’ but then I thought ‘maybe I did, maybe just sitting and listening was exactly what I was supposed to be doing.’ Whatever we do, both great or small, it matters.”
Sophomore Luke Dalton, who is in Sigma Nu Epsilon, was part of a project that his club started last year where members from the club go to Bethel Grove Church of Christ in Paragould, Ark. and clean up the property. Because of Bisons for Christ, the group now visits the church every third Sunday.
“It was something we really enjoyed doing last year and really connected with the people there,” Dalton said. This year,students completed more than 130 projects.
“Obviously, the biggest thing is be aware of it,” Westerholm said. “Be aware of what kind of weather you can expect in your environment, particularly for our students who are not from this area and are not used to this weather. It’s a good idea for them to be knowledgeable and to know what to expect.”
Westerholm also advises downloading a weather app on a smart phone and to
check several sources instead of relying on just one to stay up-to-date about the weather. Many apps now have predicted weather forecasts, radars and severe weather updates. According to AT&T, AT&T phone carriers are automatically updated with weather warnings with Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs). WEAs are free text messages sent to phone users about “imminent threat alerts, AMBER alerts or Presidential alerts.” Harding will also send a text message regarding the weather warnings to students.
Junior Kelby Czerwonka is from Joplin, Mo. and said before the devastating tornado in May 2011, many people in Joplin did not take the sirens seriously because of the frequency of tornado warnings and watches in the area.
“Living in that area, you get so used to hearing tornado sirens,” Czerwonka said. “My number one thing would be take that seriously.”
Growing up in Flower Mound, Texas, sophomore Caroline Robertson said during severe storms she and her family would hide in an inner room of their house and take supplies just in case.
“We went to a bathroom underneath the stairs, and we would bring flashlights just in case the power went out, a couple bottles of water and some blankets and pillows,” Robertson said.
Westerholm said using common sense is the most important thing to remember during a severe storm.
“If the warning sirens go off in Searcy, the first thing students need to do is get inside,” Westerholm said. “The worst thing to do is stay outside because you don’t know when the winds are going to pick up, the debris will start flying. Stay away from windows. The inside of our buildings have severe weather maps and most will tell you to go into first floor hallways away from windows.”
By Zach Hailey Head Copy EditorThe rock band NEEDTO -
BREATHE touring with Ben Rector will perform in the Benson Auditorium at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 18. This will be the band’s second performance on their Tour De Compadres. The concert will come to life for patients in Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Senior Megan Smith collaborated with the Melodic Caring Project (MCP), a non-profit organization in Seattle, Wash. to have the concert live streamed.
Baseball, page 1A
According to the MCP website, the company aims to bridge the gap between music, technology and patients battling serious illness by streaming live, personalized concerts for sick patients. MCP will live stream the NEEDTOBREATHE concert to Arkansas Children’s Hospital for those who are too ill to attend.
Smith learned about the MCP from a class project last falland this semester she thought the concert would be a perfect opportunity to reach out. Smith said she is excited to see the whole set up.
“There will be two cameras set up in the front by the stage and two in the back of the house,” Smith said. “They are working to figure out streaming Internet access because the wifi in the Benson isn’t strong enough, but they know what they are doing.”
According to Smith, MCP owner Levi Ware will be coming down from Seattle to speak at the ACTS conference this weekend.
“Levi and his wife run MCP, and they have a huge team with them,” Smith said. “He is going to be speaking about how he started
the company and how they have streamed from all continents except Antarctica.”
Smith said MCP jumped on the opportunity and collaborated with the university and NEEDTOBREATHE as soon as they were contacted.
Last Tuesday, NEEDTOBREATHE released their new album, “Live From the Woods.”
According to Broadway World, the band recorded their first live album in September in Nashville’s The Woods amphitheater. The album features “Washed By The Water,”
“Something Beautiful,” “Keep Your Eyes Open” and “Multiplied.” “Live From the Woods” is available in stores and on iTunes.
The doors of the Benson Auditorium will open at 7 p.m. for the 8 p.m. show.
According to the Campus Activities Board (CAB), tickets for students are available for $10 for the balcony and $15 dollars for the floor. With the CAB pass, tickets are $5 for the balcony and $10 for the floor.
Purchase tickets online at www. hardingcabtickets.com or at the door.
2A | Friday, April 17, 2015
Q: What is your name, year, major, hometown and one fun fact about you?
2B | Friday, April 17, 2015
A: My name is Steven Kyle Johnson, but I go by Kyle. I’m a junior Bible and Preaching Major. I’m a military brat but my family has lived in Tampa, Fla. for the past seven years. Going along with that, my fun fact would be that my parents are moving next month and they’re going to RV around America for a couple of years. Really, as of next month, I’m somewhat homeless. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but it’ll be fun.
the assistant director for the Knights Spring Sing show last year. That was the most fun on-campus experience I’ve had.
Q: Where do you see yourself in five years?
A: Eventually, I want to pursue a Masters in Divinity and then I want to preach. I don’t necessarily want to preach as a 22 year-old, so coming out of school, I would want to be a youth minister or college minster. Five to eight years from now, I want to be preaching.
Friday, April 17, 2015| 3A
Q: Who is your personal hero?
First Year Experience
will host the second annual (P)Reunion dinner for first year students on April 19 in the Ganus Athletic Center (GAC).
According to First Year Experience Director Kevin Kehl, the dinner is all about connecting with people one last time before the year ends.
able to do, though. Students will also get a chance to hear President Bruce McLarty speak, listen to music and play games. First year students who attend will also be eligible for one of several giveaways.
4A | Friday, April 17, 2015
Q: Why did you decide to come to Harding?
A: This question is a little bit easier for me to answer than others. I knew that I wanted to study Bible and ministry. My family lived so far down in Florida that anywhere I went would be far away. Proximity wasn’t really a factor; I just wanted to go somewhere to study Bible. My brother had come here for Honors Symposium so I did too. After going to that, I couldn’t not come here.
Q: What is your favorite memory while at Harding?
A: I could go a couple of routes with this question. Going overseas to Greece in the fall of my sophomore year was very fun. That was especially cool because it was a “Bible majors only” trip so there was a lot of focus. We went with (Bible professors) Monte Cox and Kevin Youngblood and those are some of my best mentors now. I’ve actually worked for both of them since. That was just a trip that gave me a lot of connections and inspiration. Then I was
A: I’ll have to be cliche and say my dad. We’re close in all of those “cool dad” ways, like a lot of kids are close to their parents. He specifically wanted to be a youth minister too, and we have the exact same personality type. We’re almost spitting images of each other. I get along with him really well because we’re so similar. I’ve learned a lot from him, like how to be myself but also be successful.
“People have gotten into clubs, into student organizations, they’re connected here and there, and this is really to help us bring everybody together, celebrate the year, help us reconnect with some old friends and remember and celebrate the fact that we did it,” Kevin Kehl said.
Friday, April 17, 2015 | 3B
Q: What is the first thing that you want to see accomplished?
improve the work that you’re doing, and that’s great, but if you’re not marketing yourself, then it doesn’t matter.
According to Kevin Kehl, there were more than 400 people in attendance at last year’s (P)Reunion. This year, he said First Year Experience is planning on having more than 500 people in attendance.
“Every year we want students to reflect, to celebrate this time and we want to have some non-cafeteria food,” Kevin Kehl said. “Those three things are never going to change.”
Q: What motivates you to work hard?
A: I’m obsessed with the Myers-Briggs personality types. My ENTJ personality, once you get to know it, is just this way. I get bored really easily, I don’t like playing video games or watching TV because I feel like I’m not doing anything. I have a very big desire to learn. I love learning random facts about people and I like learning about people’s stories as much as I like learning about the Bible. This gives me the desire to study, to work or even to run for SA president. I know I’m probably not the most qualified person but I know I can learn a lot from it.
4B | Friday, April 17, 2015
A: A specific thing that I’ll be pushing is academic advising. The academic advising at Harding is bad. We started working with that in the SA this semester and Dr. McLarty knows that it’s an issue and he’s totally willing to work with it. That’s something that we’d start brainstorming about early on. This doesn’t sound as fun to the people reading the paper, but I also mentioned in chapel how I want to rely more on the committees and make public those who are in SA. A lot of the things the SA does will be more successful if the students know who’s in it and understand it more. I want to work on the legitimacy and image of the SA along with making the other people in the SA feel valued. You can
Q: If you gave an acceptance speech after winning the election, what would you say?
A: It’s because of how well I know you guys and your talents, potentials and strengths that this is such an honor to me. I know that at anything I do or am, there’s going to be someone out there that’s better than me. It’s humbling to be the representative of a student body that’s more mature, talented and spiritual and it drives me to work harder for a student body that’s so good. I’m going to mess up and I’m not perfect but I’m going to try really hard. I’m not going to give you empty promises that are not achievable, but I will promise that I will work really hard and try my best.
Freshmen and transfers will be able to come together not only with their peers, but also those who helped with their transition to Harding. Admissions counselors, freshmen dorm resident assistants, Impact energy group leaders and Bible class peer guides will be at the dinner as well.
Junior peer guide Brooke Kehl said she is excited about the peer guides attending the dinner.
“I think that it kind of solidifies the end of the year,” Brooke Kehl said. “By being a part of this event it’s kind of saying, ‘We were happy to be by your side the whole year, and we’re happy to see you connect with everyone again.’”
Connecting is not the only thing students will be
The curtain closes, the audience cheers and eventually everyone goes home after a night at the theater, but for this weekend’s upcoming one act plays, it has been a process that started at the beginning of the year.
“It has a preliminary, kind of preparation course, that goes with it,” theatre professor Britton Lynn said. “Often times the process of figuring out what show to do and the process of figuring out what production problems the show might have and how to solve those problems takes a little bit more time than one semester allows.”
The one act plays serve as a junior-level project for theatre majors. Senior Alli Lee is directing the one act “Relative Strangers” and said it gives students the opportunity to step out of their comfort zones and manage all the aspects that go into making a show come to life.
“Basically you direct it,” Lee said. “You’re in charge of casting and getting together the technical elements like set, light and costumes. You have to sort of coordinate all of that. You don’t have to do it all yourself, but you have to communicate with people what you want your show to look like.”
Last semester, all the directors chose three options for potential one acts they
wanted to direct. Theatre faculty then decided from those three options which one acts would be performed.
“I have an extensive background in theatre,” junior Holly Cannon, who is directing the one act “The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet,” said. “I knew where my strengths were, and I’ve helped and been in a few different one acts as a student, so I knew I wanted to do a specific type of show, so I picked comedies.”
After scripts are chosen and approvals are given, directors start bringing it all together. The beginning of the spring semester was marked by the casting call, which was an event by itself. Due to there being so many one acts, directors had to negotiate who they wanted.
“We sat down, all seven directors and Lynn, and sort of divvied people up, which is really interesting,” Lee said. “There’s a lot of compromise when there’s seven shows trying to coordinate that many different directors trying to do different things.”
As soon as casts were set, rehearsals began. However, even this was not without its difficulties.
“You try and rehearse as much as you can, but with Spring Sing you really couldn’t do anything and that (took place) right before tech week,” Cannon said. “Tech week is really the only time when you have your lights
and your sound and your costumes and you’re putting everything all together and it’s usually a little bit hectic then.”
Most of the one acts have a small cast, and even planning around schedules for rehearsal with a small number can be challenging. However, with small casts, it ends up adding a unique element to the rehearsal process.
“When you have a small cast, you rely on each other a lot,” sophomore Penny Turpin, who is acting in “Seussification,” said. “Everybody carries a huge part of the show. Especially for this show, “Seussification” is a very company styled play. There’s no lead, everybody is a lead, everybody is a supporting character. The friendships and the chemistry that you develop with your stage partners, in that small of a cast, the bonds are really what make it and it’s what makes our show strong.”
Despite challenges that directors face throughout this process, the overarching goal is achieved.
“The thing that is the most rewarding to see is the directors come through this process,” Lynn said. “They are much more in tune, after having gone through the process, with what it means to work with a group of people to accomplish a goal.”
Students can attend one acts tonight and tomorrow night at 6 p.m. for $5.
Kevin Kehl said that by reflecting on the year, it brings closure, an important thing for first year students. The dinner provides an opportunity for students to do that in a light-hearted manner.
The Administrative Coordinator for First Year Experience, Holly Bohnett, said she is excited to see how students react to this event compared with other events.
“For the First Year Experience package deal from beginning to end, there is an event that touches points with students,” Bohnett said. “To see that evolve into a kind of larger-than-life event, it’ll be fun to see how students react and how it goes in general.”
To sign up for the dinner, students can RSVP with their peer guides.
arts, culture, technology, service
On Saturday, April 18 from 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m., 12 speakers will be on campus in the Lee Building to share advice and stories from their fields of study. The speakers’ presentations will be similar to TEDTalks. The seminar is free and open to anyone on campus.
Speakers include:
Jim White - the coach behind the Disney movie “McFarland, USA.”
Jeff Shinabegar - an author and entrepreneur from Atlanta. Jared Hankins - the creative lead at Rizon Media, a visual content company. Ben Dubose - owner of Holden & Company Salon in Searcy.
Nathan Mellor - CEO of Strata Leadership and a Harding graduate.
information from www.actsexperience.com visit the website for more details
the trial are scheduled to take place April 27.
MONTICELLO, IOWA
— The jury was selected Tuesday for the trial of James Holmes. Holmes could receive the death penalty for killing 12 people on July 20, 2012 at a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colo. According to the LA Times, jury selection began in January when over 9,000 summons were delivered, but only 25 were chosen for the trial. Opening statements for
— Hillary Clinton started on the campaign trail in Iowa after announcing her candidacy for president on Sunday. According to CNN, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio have announced plans to run on the Republican ticket.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
— President Obama announced Tuesday that he would remove Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism. According to NPR, Obama told Congress that Cuba “has provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism.” According to Al Jazeera, the Cuban government called the decision “fair” and said it never should have been on the list.
LINDA FERELLE | The Bison Senior Kyle Johnson was elected Student Association president in a runoff election on April 10. EMILY EASON | The Bison Sophomore Rachel McCready and senior Ben Lawrence rehearse for “This Property is Condemned” on April 14. Students started preparing for one act shows last fall.Injustice is an unfortunate part of human history. As humankind, we have dropped the ball on equality, and it is passed time we address injustice and inequality in a better way. The “religious freedom bill” in Arkansas should force us to raise fundamental questions in a public setting. We must recognize that the discussion considering a private business’s rights to refuse service is complicated, primarily because each side believes they are inherently right without exception.
It would serve us all well to try to see the other perspective. It is not okay for reporters to interview small business owners in an effort to make them explicitly state that they will not serve members of the LGBT community. But it is also not okay for people to feel so
compelled by the media that they threaten those same business owners, send hate mail or cause individuals to fear for their safety. We should all be asking the question: is our fight for freedom restricting someone else’s? Should people even be allowed to discriminate against LGBT people with claim of “freedom of religion?” Conor Friedersdorf, writer for The Atlantic, said that serving LGBT people does not have to conflict with your religious beliefs. You do not have to agree with someone’s actions to treat them as an individual. His article “Why Christian Photographers Should Work at Gay Weddings” reads: “… don’t Jesus’ teachings command us to associate with people even when we believe them to be sinners? Aside from sinning oneself, isn’t going as far as one
can to accommodate others exactly what Christ’s actions ought to inspire?”
My opinion on the “religious freedom bill” and the national question of businesses’ rights is that each side has contributed in some way to perpetuate the problem. By using violent actions and language to communicate, we allow injustice to persist. We need to create an environment that allows thoughtful communication. When that is the case, we can fight together the injustices that exist on both sides of this issue: because injustice demands action. Who deserves the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? We all do, so let’s act like it.
with the U.S. government to get here. The three years that I have been here have been great. However, during this time I have always had a concern of how Harding as a whole responds to international students.
Earlier this week, Hillary Clinton announced her intent to run for president. But I want to talk about Bill.
Bill Clinton is one of the greatest examples of a legacy being tanked by one infamous misdeed. I’m not trying to convince you that Bill Clinton was a great person (I’m not crazy). I don’t even really care if you think he was a good president. I’m not a Democrat (or a Republican, for that matter), I’m just a history major. But if my history teachers have taught me anything, it’s that there’s a lot more to consider than the starkest memory. There’s a lot more to Clinton’s presidency than misbehavior in the Oval Office.
Afew days ago, one of my teachers described me to another faculty member as “sort of international.”
That was the first time I had ever heard such a thing, and to be honest, I was confused.
I never thought there was a grey area when it came to a person’s status; either you are international or you are not. My teacher did not seem to think much of it, but this brief moment gave me a glimpse at how I, and possibly other international students, are perceived here at Harding.
For the readers who don’t know me, I’m a junior health sciences major from Freeport, Grand Bahama, which is an island in The Bahamas. I successfully jumped through all the hoops
By some unspoken standard, “real” international students are Asian,African or Hispanic.Granted, these international groups have a large presence on campus, but what about those of us from the Caribbean, Canada, Europe or anywhere in between? I can’t say how many times I have walked into the International Student office and had to reintroduce myself to the kind staff members. A friend of mine from Canada mentioned that they thought she was lost when she came in search of some assistance.
I would like to think this uncertainty about how international we are comes from what some people expect or assume about other cultures and countries.
I once heard someone make the statement that a Jamaican student should not have been considered international because
Jamaica’s culture was not any different from America’s. This statement is far from the truth of course, but it does represent a large misconception.
International is not synonymous with having a non-English native tongue, dressing differently or being constantly lost and confused about American customs. It means that we are not citizens of the country we currently reside in. If an American goes to The Bahamas, he or she is considered international because he or she is not a citizen of that country.
I guess some of us are only “sort of international” because we choose to assimilate into American culture in order to blend in as best as possible. I don’t speak with my native accent and dialect here because my first semester was full of people telling me how nice of an accent I had without actually paying attention to my words. I also had experiences with my roommate laughing at me because I sometimes used different phrases or pronounced words differently. As a freshman, I figured the best solution to avoid
these occurrences was to be less different. As time has progressed, however, I have realized that being different is quite alright.
Whatever the case may be, as I continue to pursue my degree here at Harding, I guess I’ll have to add “stepping my international game up” to the list of things to do. I want to encourage my American colleagues — staff and students — to get to know the international students on campus better. Ask us about our cultures. We have a lot to share if you’re willing to listen. Keep in mind that your ideas about our ways of life may be wrong, but that is OK, because we are here to give you the first-hand experience of learning about someplace new.
In the meantime, while I wait to level up from being “sort of international,” I’ll continue to be fully Bahamian, fully human and fully proud of who I am.
DOMINIQUE DEVEAUX is a guest writer for the Bison. She may be contacted at ddeveaux@harding.edu.
However, I have come to find people are giving way too much credit to the media for causing this. Yes, there are thousands of models who are skinny. Yes, people see them as beautiful and it seems that these thin women are always the ones on the runways, on the covers of magazines and starring in TV shows and movies.
know how highly God thinks of us and how beautiful we are to Him, nobody else’s opinion would matter. I understand that we live in a fallen world, though, and that the insecurities of women are not going to go away.
Clinton, capitalizing on Reaganomics, rejuvenated the economy of the U.S. Through fiscal conservation, Clinton presided over the longest period of uninterrupted economic growth in the history of the United States. His administration created more than 22 million jobs, which is still the most created by a single administration. Unemployment dropped to the lowest it had been in more than 30 years, and in 2001, the nation’s unemployment rate was at four percent. In 1999, there were seven million fewer people below the poverty line than when he took office in 1993. The median of family income increased by more than $6,000, and homeownership reached nearly 68 percent, which remains the highest rate on record. In 2000, his administration posted a surplus of $237 billion — the largest surplus ever. Clinton’s administration also revamped welfare. While working to aid Americans near and below the poverty line, Clinton reduced the number of welfare recipients by 7.5 million by designing legislation to promote employment over welfare. He provided funds to improve public transit, as well as better housing and nutrition for low-income families. By signing the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, Clinton expanded insurance to cover six million children who were not receiving healthcare coverage.
Clinton was also a tremendous force in restoring the image of the presidency by maintaining popularity throughout most of his term. By being elected for a second term, Clinton became the first Democrat to be elected twice since FDR. Despite the scandal that occurred near the end of his second term, Clinton left office with the highest end-of-office approval rating since World War II — yes, higher than Reagan’s. Between the assassination of JFK, Lyndon Johnson’s escalation of the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon’s scandal and resignation, and pretty much everything about Jimmy Carter’s presidency, the U.S. hadn’t seen much reliability in the White House since Eisenhower. Clinton’s popularity, however, was undeniable and sweeping, stretching across racial, economic, and political boundaries. He was even called the first black president.
It seems as though our world is on a fairly direct path to self-destruction. There is always the threat of war around the corner and there is always a new story of an abduction or murder. Through all of these current events, people still find a way to obsess over “controversial” topics that should not actually be controversial at all. The specific topic I am talking about is perceived standards of beauty in the media. I believe that there is an issue when it comes to how women perceive themselves.
Actually, I find it impossible for women not to care. Despite the confidence I may exude, I still am always concerned of people’s perception of how I look. I think this is something many women would admit.
However, this does not mean that we, as average women, are not beautiful. I am intelligent enough to understand that on a normal day the people I walk past are not comparing me to Karlie Kloss on the cover of a magazine they saw yesterday. I know that the men who saw the Victoria’s Secret fashion show did not come to school the next day and suddenly decide that I am not pretty since I do not look like those models.
In fact, the kind of people that do think that about women are not the kind of people I want to surround myself with. Biblically, everyone is made in God’s image and is beautiful to Him. We need to surround ourselves with people who are attracted to inner beauty more than outer beauty and to people who appreciate the goodness of a person over his or her looks. If we could
As a Christian, I think it is important to teach others that the media is not the model that we should base our lives on. Instead of focusing on what the media and Hollywood says is normal, we should focus on the Bible and on God. We should draw strength from being His children and take comfort in the fact we are made perfect in His image.
Just because there seems to be a trend in the body shapes and types of women who are being called beautiful does not mean that we are not. It is very important to stay aware of the effects media may have on women today and to be able to understand that the media comes with unrealistic expectations.
ADDISON HURST is a guest writer for the Bison. She may be contacted at ahurst4@harding.edu.
Obviously there is a lot more to the minutia of Clinton’s presidency than I can delve into in this column (like the fact that his administration launched the White House’s first official website), but that’s exactly my point. There’s often so much more to someone’s legacy than what they might ultimately be remembered by. Look at FDR: though he is now often considered one of the greatest presidents, contemporary critics accused him of being an anti-business, warmongering fascist. How would our historical context change if FDR’s legacy was defined by his seemingly-cordial relationship with Stalin rather than his role in establishing the United States as a world leader? Maybe you think Bill Clinton was a bad president, and that’s fine, but base that off the impact of his presidency.
This is a student response to Alexis Hosticka’s opinion, “Evaluating the ‘religious freedom bill’” published April 3.alexis hosticka
Determine your own privacy
I
April 17, 2015 Friday, April 17, 2015 guest writer 4A | Friday, April 17, 2015
paige mcneilly
In January, Catherine Higginson wrote an article for Mirror about how she discovered that her husband had been secretly spying on her through an app called “Ceberus: Private Data Protected.” According to Mirror, the app allows him to “track her movements, read her texts and even listen to her conversations.” Initially, Higginson had a negative reaction, but said that in the end, she had no issues with the app because she has nothing to hide.
Whether or not she has issue with it, why does her husband feel the need to track her every move?
It seems that social media and this type of technology has created a new type of distrust for those around us. If someone likes a picture, follows a new account or even has a conversation with someone new, it can immediately be considered suspicious.
Granted, it’s not like spouses should have anything to hide from each other. However, they should also have a level of trust that doesn’t require extreme stalking. What are you supposed to talk about after work in the evening if you already know everything the other person did that day?
But apps aren’t the only way people are concerned about privacy. According to World Magazine, Mattel is set to release a “smart” Barbie doll in the fall that will record the user’s voice and “transmit the recordings over the Internet to cloud servers.” The goal of this recording system is for the doll to have a “unique relationship with each girl.”
As a kid, I probably would have thought this was just about the best thing ever. But of course someone has to be against the toy. A child privacy advocacy group, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, does not want the toy released because they think the doll is “creepy.”
Quite frankly, I’m not quite sure what information recorded from a 5-year-old talking to a doll could be useful to anyone. Additionally, if a person is so against his or her child’s voice being recorded, then just don’t buy the doll. There are plenty of other toy options, and it’s not worth campaigning against a company over a kid’s toy.
Yes, privacy is a concern. But much of the time it is up to a person whether or not one puts himself or herself out there in the public eye.
Just don’t use social media, don’t buy the doll with the recording device and don’t use the tracking app if you’re that concerned about who knows what you’re doing and what you’re saying.
This year, April 4-6 was a weekend of remembrance, a weekend of hope, a weekend of celebration. April 4-6 was Spring Sing weekend. Wait, wasn’t there something else that was important that weekend, something that also had to do with rejoicing and devotion? Oh, that’s right, April 4-6 was Easter weekend.
I entered the spring semester of my freshman year with high hopes and raw talent … OK, maybe not so much talent, but definitely high hopes. I had heard all throughout the fall semester about Spring Sing and could not wait to be on that stage with a club that I had my heart set on joining. As most people who have ever performed in Spring Sing know, the rehearsals were awful. It becomes the best experience that you never want to have again. The weeks and practices drudged on and finally, show week happened. I choreographed, sang and smiled my little heart out. I loved every minute of it, but there was something about that weekend that bothered me, something that I still have never been able to get over: Spring Sing outshines Easter.
I’ve thought a lot about this over my four years here and even decided not to participate in Spring Sing my sophomore and junior year as my own personal boycott. This year, however, I agreed to play a small part in my club’s show. I thought maybe it was my own problem, maybe I was the one that let Easter fall to the back burner, but after this year’s show, I can’t help but believe that I might not be the only one on campus that struggles with this.
For me, the first and most obvious reason for this struggle is the not-so-friendly rivalries between the social clubs. Check Twitter, Yik Yak and any other form of social media and you will see the nasty comments and the obvious subtweets that I am referring to. Spring Sing breeds a certain level of disrespect and borderline hatred towards clubs that are not our own. On a weekend where we should be coming together to rejoice as a community of sinners who have been redeemed under the same cross and the same resurrection, we are instead separating ourselves by jersey colors.
Separation from family lands number two on my list of complaints. There was an estimated 1,000 students that participated in this year’s Spring Sing show. Sure, many of those students had family come to Harding to see the show and spend the weekend with them, but for those that did not, the option to go home and spend time with their families was not available. Being so far from family on any weekend can be hard, but it can be especially depressing on a holiday weekend.
While division of social clubs and separation from families bothers me, there is still a bigger reason that bothers me even more. When it is all said and done, when we know how well our club’s show did, when we finally get a chance to breathe, it seems that we have forgotten to celebrate the victory. I don’t mean the victory of a seven minute show, but the victory of the resurrection. Easter is the day that we set aside to reflect and give praise to our Savior who bled and died, but has given us hope through rising again. Are we really thankful for that or are we more thankful for the fact that we no longer have to show up for practices and that Super Saturday is a thing of the past? All of our energy is drained and Easter becomes an after-thought. We attend a university that places its entire mission on the Christian faith, yet we seem to fill the holiday that is the entire basis of our faith with trivial and meaningless things.
Spring Sing is a fun tradition and one that I would love to share with future generations. I love reconnecting with alumni who return to campus and participating in the activities. I just hope that we start understanding the implications of having it on Easter weekend. Are we worshiping God or are we worshiping Harding?
Just the Clax Uncles and ants
Over the years, my nephew Samuel and I have bonded over ants. Whenever I go home to Georgia for a visit, we sit in the rocking chair and sing his favorite songs, and one of them is “The ants go marching one by one — Hurrah! Hurrah!” It’s a counting song that goes from one to 10, and the tune is the same as “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again.” While Samuel also enjoys “The Wheels On the Bus,” “She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain,” and “Go Tell Aunt Rhody that her Old Grey Goose is Dead,” the ant song is a sure-fire hit. It seems the lad has impeccable taste in music. After all, he is one of the few people who cannot get enough of my singing. I suppose that technically makes him a hipster. But it’s one thing to sing about hypothetical ants marching, and it’s quite another to have them invade your bathtub, windowsills and kitchen sink. It is that time of year again, when I find myself doing endless battle with the ants. I am facing — as readers of this column well know — a three-front war. The moles have dug such an elaborate tunnel network underneath my house that it may only take one trumpet blast for my walls to come tumbling down. Meanwhile, the birds have decided that no other mailbox on my street offers such fine amenities for answering the call of nature. Every day it’s the London Blitz all over again. And now the ants.
I have to pause here to admit that my dignity has taken a severe hit ever since I became a homeowner. Outside of my one-acre
property, I am a respectable member of the community — a college professor, the author of a book that has sold well over 40 copies, and a folk singer with a very important fan base. But whenever I set foot on this small tract of land on Live Oak Drive, I suddenly turn into a laughingstock at the mercy of Mother Nature. The weeds grow rampant in my lawn, another branch of shrubbery passes away each week, the moles heckle me from their caves, the ants form a Conga line across my Formica countertops, and on top of everything else, I am reduced to squirting Scrubbing Bubbles toilet cleaner on my mailbox twice per week. Sometimes it is hard to get out of bed in the morning. I realize that some people may have stopped reading at “Formica countertops.” Do not judge me. I am positive that Formica will come back in style someday, and then all of those kitchenistas who look down on my counters will feel awfully silly for having put $4,000 worth of polished stone under their cabinets. You would think that Isaiah 57:6 would discourage such vanity. But alas,
somehow I doubt I will be asked to join the River Oaks Tour of Kitchens.
And while we’re on the subject of theology, I know that I should follow the admonition of Proverbs 6:6 and respect the hard-working ant. But my prejudices run deep. I come from a strong family of anti-ant people. I can remember a few times when my mother has done battle with these troublesome insects. Her first step is usually to petition her member of Congress to issue a declaration of war. But even without it, she launches a full-scale guerrilla assault. She first empties every drawer and cabinet. Then she scrubs the room ceiling to floor and back again with her own mixture of 409, Clorox, Lysol and Tabasco sauce. Next she moves the family into a motel for a few days while she douses the premises with Raid. Then rinse and repeat.
But alas, I am not as strong as my mother. As Hamlet says, “I am pigeon-livered and lack gall.” I hover over the sink with a Kleenex, squashing one little guy at a time and wiping him up. One of these days, the gloves will come off. The gauntlet will be thrown down. A man can only be pushed around so long by burrowing moles, poop-happy mockingbirds, and insects dancing the rumba. And when that day comes, the ants will indeed be marching one by one . . . straight to glory. Hurrah! Hurrah!
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
Shane Schock
East vs. West
This Saturday begins the NBA playoffs, and there is storyline after storyline about who is playing the right type of basketball at the right time.
In the Eastern Conference we have the Atlanta Hawks leading the way, just as they have all season. They will ride into the playoffs as the first seed in front of the Cavaliers and the Bulls who sit at the two and three seeds. The Hawks started hot but have mellowed out over the course of the season allowing me to think the window is open for multiple teams to come out of the East. The overall strength of the East isn’t what it used to be like back in the ’90s, so I really only see a few teams competing for a title come June.
The Cavaliers, Bulls and Raptors are three teams I think will push Atlanta to the brink. The Cavaliers, who I think are the strongest out of the conference, have Lebron James and Kyrie Irving who are playoff-caliber players and will make a run at the title this year. The Bulls got Derrek Rose back and look to ride him to their first finals appearance since the Jordan era, which will only happen if Rose can actually stay healthy. The rest of the teams are basically garbage outside of the Raptors, especially the Celtics and Pacers who have no business being in the playoffs with below .500 records.
Now on to the more exciting, fierce and competitive conference out in the West where the Warriors sit on top, but are looking over their shoulder at seven other teams who are just as scary.
First off, the Warriors have played outstanding with sharp-shooter Stephen Curry, and have a league best record with as good of a chance as any to win it all. The Clippers, Blazers, Grizzles and Rockets all seem to be on their game heading into the start of the playoffs this Saturday, but no one is on their game more than the Spurs who recently beat all the top seeded western teams listed earlier. The Spurs are the No. 6 seed and have won 21 of their last 25 games, moving them up in the standings after being in eigth last month. They are playing solid defense, which is key if you plan on winning the West.
Even though the conference is competitive from top to bottom, and any one can literally steal the West, the Spurs are the defending NBA Champions and are starting to look like they will make a serious run at another title. No one is on a hotter run than Tim Duncan and the Popovich-led Spurs.
My pick for the NBA finals matchup is the Cavaliers from the East, and the Spurs from the West. I believe James will fall yet again to ageless wonder, Tim Duncan, and the Spurs will win back-to-back titles. #SchockTalk
SHANE SCHOCK is sports editor for the 20142015 Bison. He may be contacted at sschock@harding.edu.
Twitter: @Shane_M_Schock
By Layton Moore Student Writer
The baseball team is second place in the Great American Conference (GAC) after winning the series against Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Okla. on April 10 and April 11. The team won 13-1 and 9-1 on April 10 and 13-6 on April 11, putting their conference record at 14-7, good for second place in the GAC standings behind Ouachita Baptist University.
The team’s hitting game was strong on April 11. The team had 17 hits overall and junior pitcher Collin Campbell said he believes that came from the team’s intense focus as of late.
“We have been playing really well the past few weeks and have put ourselves in a spot to have a chance to win the conference championship,” Campbell said. “We won both games Friday and
already had the series won going into Saturday, but we obviously did not want to stop there. We wanted to go ahead and sweep so we just carried the momentum into Saturday from Friday’s games.”
Throughout the three games, the team scored in seven different innings. It was junior catcher Jaxon Mohr who put the team ahead from 1-1 to 4-1 with his three-run home run. Mohr was not the only one who played well at the GAC Series Sweet. Red-shirt junior Zac Stewart went 3 for 4 with three runs, four RBIs, a triple and two doubles. Red-shirt juniors Davis Richardson, Jacob Stripling and Hunter Payne, as well as redshirt freshman Zach Beasley also kept the bat and home plate hot. Richardson, the starting catcher, said the team always wants to improve.
“Jaxon Mohr absolutely crushed a home run in the top of the second inning that gave us the lead
Harding’s cross-country and track teams have seen their fair share of athletes in the last 13 years. Some were All-Americans and some were walk-ons, but what they all had in common was head coach Steve Guymon.
Guymon grew up playing many different sports, but began competing exclusively in track and cross-country while in college at Oklahoma Christian University. It was also in college that Guymon first knew that he wanted to become a coach.
“I began to realize the impact my coaches had on my life and wanted to give back,” Guymon said. “I was very blessed with great high school coaches and have been fortunate to be around so many great coaches.”
Guymon received a phone call from Bryan Phillips, the former track and cross-country coach at Harding, and Phillips asked him to consider taking over the position. After his visit to campus and many prayers, Guymon felt like God was leading his family to Harding.
Senior track athlete Dallis Bailey said the best way to understand the type of coach that Guymon is by having the opportunity to be his athlete.
“Coach Guymon is the best coach I have ever had,” Bailey said. “There really are not words that do him justice to how well he treats us as his athletes. I feel like we are all a family. He cares more about us than just how
fast we are and the titles we may be capable of running.”
According to Bailey, Guymon first makes sure that his athletes are doing well mentally, spiritually and emotionally before worrying about their physical performances.
Guymon attempts to truly get to know each individual athlete he coaches in order to find out what motivates them to do his or her best. Every coach is different in how they interact with their teams, but Guymon describes himself as much more relaxed and makes time to ‘goof off’ with his athletes.
Senior Amber Priest said there are many qualities that set Guymon apart from other coaches she has worked with.
“Coach Guymon has personal experience in what he is coaching,” Priest said.
“He also is very dedicated and has everything prepared for us. He always does what is right for us.”
Guymon said he believes that he has been blessed with great athletes and that it is his job to make them believe how good they truly are so that they may excel in their sport and in life.
“My goals are the same as they always have been: to help these young people reach their goals and do their best,” Guymon said. “I have been blessed with great runners who have kept the traditions that Coach Clark, Coach Lloyd and Coach (Bryan) Phillips set way before I got here. I’m just trying to live up to their legacies.”
Senior
again after Northwestern Oklahoma University had tied the game at 1 after the first inning,” Richardson said. “Stewie, Zac Stewart, also had a big day with three extra base hits. red-shirt junior John Chapman had a really good weekend as well, and senior Kyler Offenbacker and red-shirt senior Shane Kinnear both extended their hitting streaks to 11 games each.”
The team won second place last weekend, but is training hard to take first at the GAC Championships, their final conference, this weekend.
“Something that I believe has fueled us to improving this season is believing that we can be as good as we want to be,” Campbell said. “We all work hard day in and day out and we carry that into the games, and it has really shown the past few weeks. I think we are getting hot at the right time.”
against Henderson State University
10 doubleheader. Softball had their last two doubleheaders against William Baptist University and Christian Brothers University canceled due to weather. The remaining schedule for the team consists of five doubleheaders. The first two are back-to-back doubleheaders against Ouachita Baptist University before playing Delta State University and then ending the season with another back-to-back doubleheader against Texas A&M University Commerce.
Football is a fall sport, but around this time of year there is something called “spring ball.” It is a time players and coaches can get together and fine tune their fundamentals before the summer break leading up to fall camp. That is exactly what the Bisons finished up with a few weeks ago.
“Spring is always about evaluating your team, because when spring comes around you always have a new team,” head coach Ronnie Huckeba said. “Whether you lose a bunch of seniors or not, it’s a new team.”
Every year teams deal with players that leave due to eligibility, graduation or simply transferring to another school. This year, the Bisons lost 21 players just in graduating seniors alone, promising that new and old faces will emerge into the spotlight as starters.
“It’s not like the cupboard was bare,”Huckeba said.“We’ve been fortunate to play a lot of people over the course of the last three years in a lot of ball games. So some of these guys have tons of experience; meaningful experience.”
Huckeba said spring is all about finding out what type of team this new group will be. He said every year he looks to see what type of personality the new group has and what type of character it will bring.
A player who will have a huge say in how the team carries itself is sophomore quarterback Park Parish.
Parish has big shoes to fill, replacing two-year starter, senior Keenan Kellett.
“I think Park Parish is going to be a stud; he had a great spring,” Huckeba said.
“Parish is a home run hitter running the football.”
Huckeba said teams tried to take away the pitch and make Kellett keep the ball because he was not as big of a threat running the football, but said teams will not be able to do that with Parish running the ball.
“I felt good about this year’s spring,” Parish said. “I felt comfortable running the offense and feel even
better about the guys I have around me.”
Parish saw limited time during the 2014 season as a backup, but this coming season he is labeled as the starter and ready to prove he has what it takes to be No. 1 on the depth chart.
Parish said the biggest difference in his role will be the leadership aspect. He said he did not play a significant role on the team last year and so this spring has been a major change.
Harding’s defense, which finished first in both scoring and total overall defense, is looking to continue its
dominant form.
“I think we have a chance to have a great defense,” Huckeba said. “I think our front six and linebackers are going to be really stout. Most of those guys are coming back from last year and we lost (junior) Matt Cain early in the year and he’s going to be back as well.”
One of those returning linebackers is red-shirt sophomore Daylan Skidmore. Skidmore ended the 2014 season with a team-leading 56 tackles. Skidmore and company will look to echo Huckeba’s thoughts about having a dominant defense
entering the 2015 season. “What we have done in the past is now seen as average and we really don’t like average,” Skidmore said. “Setting a new standard is our motivation for next year.”
The Bisons have finished 9-2 the last three seasons and look to continue their success and bring home a conference title in 2015.
“The success of this football team will hinge on how hungry they are, how hard we work over the summer, the work we get done in preseason camp and then prior to our first ball game next year,” Huckeba said.
The men’s and women’s golf teams competed in their last regular season tournaments April 12-April 14.
The men’s team hosted the Natural State Golf Classic at the Red Apple Inn in Heber Springs, Ark., placing fifth out of nine teams.
Head coach Dustin Howell said freshman Juan Luiz Sanchez was a standout for the tournament, leading the team for the first time this season.
“He was our bright spot this week,” Howell said. “He is an outstanding player and seems to be peaking at the right time headed towards conference.”
Sanchez shot 1-under on Monday and 1-over on Tuesday to finish at even par 142 for the tournament and place 10th overall.
Other team players included junior Alex Williamson who tied for 20th, freshman Mason Banger who tied for 24th, freshman Logan Handy who finished in 40th place and freshman Nick Jackson who placed 51st.
Howell said that the course was good preparation for the team leading into the conference tournament next week because of the similarities between Red Apple Inn and the course the conference tournament will be played on.
Freshman Mason Banger said that after this last tournament the team will be focusing on improving their short game to prepare for conference.
“We missed a lot of putts, which is a problem,” Banger said. “We played really well, but we just could not get the ball in the hole. I think we are going
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to spend a lot of time on the putting green.”The women’s team traveled to Springfield, Mo. to compete in the Central Region Spring Preview. The team finished 17th overall, shooting 362 and 356 for a 718 total.
Freshman Katelyn Walker was a strong point for the team, shooting her best 36-hole score of the season with an 85 in round one and 84 in round two for a 169 total. Walker, as well as senior Brittney Marquez, tied for 49th with Marquez shooting 87 in round one and 82 in round two for a team best.
Other players included sophomore CharlesAnn Freeman who placed 81st, freshman Kaleigh Ramey who placed 83rd and freshman Sarah Creeley who placed 89th.
Freeman said this tournament
helped the girls work on some of their weaknesses to prepare for the conference tournament next week.
“Always in golf we are trying to work on our mental game,” Freeman said. “We are trying to follow up a bad hole with a good hole instead of letting it get in our heads. It is a big part of golf. We just want to go out and do our best.”
Freeman said that this tournament also helped the women get a feel for the competition going into the conference tournament and work on their short game.
The Great American Conference tournament will begin for both teams Sunday, April 19 at 8 a.m. in Hot Springs, Ark.
Both teams must place first to advance to regionals.
We’ve all seen “Hoosiers,” “Rocky” I, II, III, IV and VI (save yourself the time and skip V) and “Remember the Titans” about 1,000 times over. All of these are great movies, but somewhere along the line they start to lose a little bit of their luster. Every now and again you have to change it up because, let’s face it, watching Gary get paralyzed over and over again is just depressing for all of us. These movies aren’t the best of the best, but they’ll kill two hours of your time in an enjoyable way.
“
Tin Cup:” Roy McAvoy (Kevin Costner) is a former golf pro who now owns a driving range in West Texas. He’s a big believer in always going for broke on the course, which is probably why he isn’t on tour anymore. When a current pro embarrasses him and starts dating the woman he’s interested in, Roy decides to get even and steal the girl by qualifying for the U.S. Open and winning it, which in Hollywood is totally reasonable.
“
White Men Can’t Jump:”
A black man who plays street ball (Wesley Snipes) and a white man who plays street ball (Woody Harrelson) team up to hustle other street ballers who assume the white man isn’t good. Hilariousness ensues.
“ She’s the Man :” Just kidding, making sure you’re paying attention.
Blue Chips:” A college basketball coach (Nick Nolte) falls on hard times because he’s the only coach who won’t pay his recruits. He sticks to his guns and does things the right way, until young Shaq and Penny Hardaway come along, at which point all moral apprehensions of illegal recruiting are thrown carelessly to the wind.
“
The Replacements:”Keanu Reeves plays a washed-up college quarterback who, along with other washed-up college players and a convicted felon, get a chance to play in the pros when the NFL players go on strike. If that one sentence alone can’t convince you to watch this movie, then there’s nothing else I can say.
Powerade
Cinderella.
Cinderella.
Spiders.
Losing someone close to me.
Snakes.
“The best thing about (KLIFE) to me is that it really does invite anyone and everyone,” freshman Lauren LeMaster said. “It doesn’t matter what your background is, we’re just there to be Christians and it’s as simple as that.”
LeMaster is one of many Harding students reaching out to the community to serve as a leader in Searcy KLIFE, an interdenominational youth ministry for elementary to high school aged students. At KLIFE, leaders and students participate in weekly and monthly events such as weekly “klub” activities and small group devotionals, monthly outings and mission trips.
LeMaster, a leader for high school sophomore girls, said she conducts the music at devotionals, attends her girls’ sports games and lets them know she’s there for them. Junior Nate Crowe, leader of high school junior and senior boys, said he is responsible for leading devotionals and building relationships with his guys.
According to www.searcy. klife.com, the main function is to build Godly relationships with the students who participate. LeMaster said that KLIFE benefits everyone who is involved because of the fellowship.
“For the kids who come, it helps them form a foundation (in God),” LeMaster said. “We provide a place where their relationship with God
can be formed.”
KLIFE ministries are connected to the Kamp Kanakuk organization, which has multiple summer camps and ministries around the country. Crowe said that he got involved after attending a Kanakuk camp as a child and spending a summer there as counselor.
“It’s a way to be involved in God’s kingdom,” Crowe said. “You wouldn’t think it’d be hard here at Harding to get involved, but my first two years here I felt like I wasn’t involved in much outside of club stuff. It’s a good way for me to make sure I’m trying to have an effect on God’s kingdom.”
Although KLIFE is connected to the Kamp Kanakuk organization, it is
not exclusive to leaders and students who have attended a camp. LeMaster, who has not attended camp, still wanted to be involved in the ministry.
“I got involved in KLIFE because I wanted to get connected with something,” LeMaster said. “I wanted to donate my time for something worthwhile, so I found KLIFE. I really liked the idea that it was interdenominational; it’s not just exclusive to one group of people. It’s all kinds of Christians being able to come together to celebrate Christ in whatever way they know how.” Searcy KLIFE has plans to grow and continue its work in the community. For more information or to volunteer, visit www.searcy.klife.com.
Students looking to fish
recreationally will be happy to know that there are several different options when looking for a place to cast a line or to learn about this pastime.
By Rachel Young Student WriterHarding University Tahkodah
(HUT) began operating in 2003 as an intersession course as well as hosting different groups for mission simulations.
HUT is located on the Camp Tahkodah property in Floral, Ark. It serves as the location for groups from all over to experience what it would be like to do mission work in another country.
Director of HUT, Oneal Tankersley, moved back to Harding after serving in Kenya for 20 years to take the role of director.
“It’s one thing to say water is heavy,” Tankersley said. “It’s another thing to actually carry it a half a mile to your house.”
When groups come to HUT, volunteers play the part of locals from a specific country by being market owners, guards, or random people on the street. One particular volunteer, senior Addie Hayes sais she has enjoyed her time volunteering with HUT.
“Fall of 2011 I went to Harding University in Zambia, and we are required to take the HUT course,” Hayes said. “That was the first time I had ever experienced HUT. After I came back, I realized that it was a place that was having weekend retreats and that they needed volunteers.”
Hayes has been volunteering on weekends ever since then, doing things ranging from cooking to leading groups through the simulations.
“It is a really good place that fosters really good conversations that are harder to have in other places,” Hayes said. “I love the relationships I get to form there, literally lifelong friends.”
Tankersley also said one of the biggest things HUT does is give individuals a respectful view of people from different cultures.
HUT not only offers weekend retreats, but it also offers an intersession course, “development ministries,” worth three credit hours. According to Tankersley, this course is designed for people who have an interest in cross-cultural missions.
something his grandfather and father instilled in him, and shared his advice for places to fish in the area.
Christians from the beginning have been known as people of mercy, so this is helping us integrate the teachings of Christianity and the practicality of Christianity together. HUT is one way, and a very unique way, of how we teach that integration with practical skills.
- Oneal Tankersley, HUT director“Christians from the beginning have been known as people of mercy, so this is helping us integrate the teachings of Christianity and the practicality of Christianity together,” Tankersley said. “HUT is one way, and a very unique way, of how we teach that integration with practical skills.”
To get more involved or become a volunteer at HUT, contact Tankersley at otankersley@harding.edu.
The fishing team on campus provides the opportunity for students to compete with one another. According to the Harding website, the primary purpose of the organization is to “encourage camaraderie, sportsmanship, integrity, conservation, and development of the skills and knowledge needed to be successful anglers through participation in activities, special interest meetings and presentations, and competition both intra-club and intercollegiate.”
Executive vice president and team sponsor, David Collins, fishes on the Little Red River and learned to trout fish as a student. Collins said he loves sharing the experience with students and encourages them to take part in the activity.
“The Little Red is accessible by boat and also accessible by wading,” Collins said. “For students interested in trout fishing, there’s a walk in access to one of the best trout fisheries in the country. That’s something I always enjoyed as a student. I had never trout fished, but because it’s right here, I learned how to do it and really enjoyed that.”
Freshman Lane Carger, a member of the fishing team, said he prefers bass fishing,
“There are many Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) nearby that provide many opportunities for fishing, such as Steve N. Wilson Raft Creek Bottoms WMA, and Henry Gray Hurricane Lake WMA,” Carger said. “Some of these WMAs have quite a bit of water and in some cases, a few lakes. A place that has easy access and is approachable to beginners is Bald Knob Lake. Fishing can easily be done from the bank here.”
A fishing license is required to fish in this area. To purchase a fishing license you can visit Wal-Mart. Collins suggests that students read the rules and regulations before fishing. You can visit the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission website at www. agfc.com to stay updated on current guidelines.
Senior Ray Zhang did not begin fishing until his arrival at Harding. Zhang has become an avid fly fisherman since, with the help of his friends, and said everyone should give the sport a try.
“The best way to start is to find a friend or faculty who likes to go fishing and talk to them,” Zhang said. “Most times they would love to take you and it’s really great for learning. For me, I can feel at peace when fishing and I can see God in nature. Early in the morning it’s really pretty, the fish are really pretty too.”
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More than two decades ago, a group of Walton Scholars started playing soccer on the lawn in front of the Ganus Athletic Center (GAC). Keeping with the tradition, a group of students gather on the GAC
lawn every Friday at 4:30p.m. to play soccer, unwind and have fun.
Senior Walton Scholar Isacar Racine said he has been playing with the group since the first Friday of his freshman year.
According to Racine, a group of Walton Scholar upperclassmen made sure to
inform the newcomers of the time and location, and encouraged them to join. Racine said being able to play helped him grow accustomed to living far from home.
“When I got here, soccer was something that reminded me of my home country,” Racine said. “The atmosphere of having your Hispanic family doing something together was something that helped me not to be so homesick.”
Senior Walton Scholar Cristian Ceren said he has also been playing since his freshman year, and has seen the group diversify. He said that there are normally at least five different ethnicities represented every Friday.
“It used to be only a Walton Scholars thing, but then more people came around,” Ceren said. “I think at the beginning people think that they have to play really well to play with us, but it’s not like that. When we play soccer we forget about all of the stress and troubles we have at school. We feel like the people we are playing with are like family, and it’s amazing.”
Sophomore Cameron Avery, a Nashville native, said he saw the group playing and eventually worked up the courage to join in.
“I just wanted to continue to play because I love (soccer) so much,” Avery said. “I would see them go out my freshman year, and I got to know a couple of them really well. I loved it because it’s just people going out to play soccer for fun. It wasn’t anything serious, and that’s how I like to play soccer.”
According to Ceren, three years ago, a few members of the group decided to get organized. They formed an official club, wrote a constitution, elected officers and set stipulations for membership. To be a part of the official club, one must play soccer on three consecutive Fridays, ask to be a member and pay the $15 fee. Once in the club, members are given a jersey and allowed to play on Sunday nights inside the GAC.
Although Sunday nights are reserved for members, anyone with a love for soccer is encouraged to join on Fridays at 4:30 p.m. on the lawn in front of the GAC. “I can’t remember a Friday we haven’t played,” Racine said. “We play even if it snows and even during club week. We play no matter what. It’s like a fever, you just want to play.”
KLIFE ministry allows students to mentor elementary, high school age youth through weekly devotionals, mission tripsALEX VALDES | The Bison Senior Jimmy Constantino Diaz (left) and another student participate in the Walton Scholar soccer club. A group of Walton Scholars play soccer every Friday and Sunday nights in front of the Ganus Athletic Center.
Yik Yak, a social media app that connects users in the same geographical location and allows them to post anonymously, was created in 2013 by two Furman University graduates. Since then it has taken college campuses across the U.S. by storm, leaving few states untouched. Last fall semester Yik Yak infiltrated the Harding bubble in a big way, garnering a variety of reactions from students and faculty alike.
I first ate at Huckleberry’s Catfish
Buffet in 2012 and hadn’t been back since — until this past weekend when I went again but quickly remembered why
I had forgotten about this restaurant.
Now I am not big on buffets in general, and this last visit gave me more reasons to slow my roll when in pursuit of food from a buffet.
When I arrived at Huckleberry Catfish Buffet, the parking lot was packed, which, to me, is always a good sign. At least I thought it was anyway.
As I exited my car I was hit by a foul stench that lingered in the air. I thought to myself “just hurry and get inside so that I can breathe easy again.”
I walked inside and the aroma was better than the smell outdoors, but this smell took me back to my elementary school cafeteria, which was not always appetizing.
I walked down a long empty hall and turned right; there a nice young lady, who wore a jazzy cheetah-print blouse, finally greeted me. Distracted
by all of the commotion going on, I glanced beyond this greeter and saw that there was a nice-sized dining area, probably good for hosting big parties, and I assumed that was what was taking place because it was packed and there were not many places to sit.
I decided to just pay for my meal to go, and the charge was about $10 without a drink. This covered two pieces of meat, two sides and a dessert. It was very busy and loud inside; the longer I stood at the counter inhaling elementary school fumes, the more my appetite continued to diminish.
As I proceeded to the buffet area, I discovered that there were about 15 options to choose from which included: catfish, fried chicken, shrimp, gumbo, French fries, hush puppies, beans, corn on the cob, fried okra, pickles and a few more selections.
The options were picked over, and what was available seemed to be scraps and this made a few customers complain. I don’t know how long the food trays had been bare, but I did notice an employee from the kitchen
staff come out and speak to some of the guests about refilling some of the food items that were lacking.
He went back in to the kitchen and returned within minutes to put out more fresh food.
Several of the food selections had somehow managed to end up in other food dishes, and I found it to be a bit disturbing that no one had come to clean up the messy countertops.
The food had been sitting under heat lamps in the restaurant, and once I got home it was still pretty warm.
I tried the food and it was edible, although I found it hard to swallow alongside the flashbacks of those messy countertops.
Huckleberry’s is not too far from campus and is located at 2613 Eastline Road. The restaurant is open Thursday through Saturday from 4-9 p.m. and Sundays from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
Will I go back a third time? Probably not, as this last time has left a bad taste in my mouth. I may have gone on a bad day, so by all means go and see for your self.
According to Cam Mullen, the lead community developer at Yik Yak, the app was initially created to offer three services: to give people the opportunity to post anonymously, to immediately connect people in the same area and to allow the curating of content by the community. Mullen said the anonymity the app provides is what makes the Yik Yak experience unique.
“Anonymity on Yik Yak is a really neat thing because it levels the playing field and content is judged on content alone, and not the person that’s saying it,” Mullen said. “On existing social networks before Yik Yak a lot of it mattered how many followers you had or who you were. On Yik Yak, it doesn’t matter if you’re the football captain with a million followers or the quiet guy in the back of the classroom. You post a Yak and everyone sees it.”
While that may be true, many people feel the anonymity is an unfortunate feature.
Junior Casey Stringer said he downloaded the app after being shown some humorous posts by friends, but was overwhelmed by the negativity and gossip and decided to delete it.
“The negative side to (anonymity) is that with every step away from interpersonal contact, you lose a level of accountability — what you can and can’t say,” Stringer said. “Once you introduce anonymity and give it to a mass audience, there’s danger in that. It’s a really good idea in its purest form, but so is communism. It doesn’t work as well as they would suggest.”
Mullen said misuse happens on any app, but the good that comes from it is not to be discounted.
“At Yik Yak we realize there are going to be people who misuse the app,” Mullen said. “It’s a process, and it’s something that we are working on constantly to reduce. There are tools that the community has through the app and tools at Yik Yak headquarters to limit this.”
Although Stringer said there is an abundance of negativity, he also said Yik Yak is not all gossip.
“During one of the ice days I saw someone post ‘hide-nseek in the science building at this time’ and I know three people who went and had a blast,” Stringer said.
Professor of Bible Andrew Baker said Yik Yak on Harding’s campus seems to be more negative than positive, but that it should not be blown out of proportion.
Baker said he compares Yik Yak to money in the sense that it can be used really well, but if mistreated, it can be destructive.
He also said the way one chooses to use the app, or even using the app at all, is a choice.
“At the end of the day, you don’t have to open it,” Baker said.
In the 15 years of the franchise, the Fast and Furious movies have grown from undercover cop storylines to plots involving world-class heists and high-tech terrorists. If “Fast Five” was originally written as the “last ride,” then “Fast & Furious 6” and “Furious 7” could be considered victory laps one and two, with the latter molded as a tribute to star Paul Walker who died in a car accident in November 2013.
“Furious 7,” rated PG-13 and released on April 3, features new villain Deckard Shaw, the revenge-seeking brother of previous villain Owen Shaw. Shaw, played by Jason Statham, is hunting down Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his team. Finally
connecting the “Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” to the remaining movies, it is revealed that Shaw is responsible for killing team member Han. After putting Toretto’s formidable FBI pal Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) in the hospital and blowing up the family home in the first 15 minutes, it’s clear that Shaw means business.
In order to find Shaw, Toretto and his crew partner with shady government official “Mr. Nobody.” Nobody’s quest to stop a tracking device from falling into the wrong hands takes the team around the globe. Although they are supposedly completing a mission for the resources to find Shaw, it seems that he’s the surprise twist that finds them everywhere they go.
In a world where physics doesn’t exist and traffic laws don’t matter,
“Furious 7” delivers several outrageous stunts that fans have come to expect. Although Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) tells his son that cars don’t fly, stunts in the movie lead you to believe otherwise. There are cars parachuting from planes, cars driving out of one building into the next
and cars taking out drones and helicopters.
Concerning the characters, a quality Dom-Letty plot line brings actress Michelle Rodriguez back into the fold after her amnesiac character kept her aloof in the last movie. The death of actor Paul Walker is heavy on the viewer’s mind, making the moves of his character all the
The music department has eight performances left in the month of April, ranging from individual recitals to an orchestra concert.
Many of the students involved with these performances are music majors or minors, but there is also a large portion of the students who are involved in these different music programs who are there fulfilling a hobby.
Sophomore Allie Cook is
a communication sciences and disorders major and Spanish minor. Cook has been active in choir since she was in the fourth grade and is currently in the chorus.
“Singing is something I enjoy so much,” Cook said.
“I find myself in my free time looking up old YouTube videos of past performances.”
Cook said one of the biggest events of the year for chorus is their performance Spring Sing weekend. Another big event for the group is the
tour every winter break for a week. Cook said she really likes how diverse the music selections are for the Harding chorus. Cook said she plans to stay involved with choir, even though she does not plan to change her major to anything music related, because she loves the art of choir and the family she has created within it.
Sophomore Sarah Kirkpatrick is an English major with a music minor. Kirkpatrick has been playing the violin
since she was 8 years old. She is currently in the orchestra and is fifth chair first violin.
“I really like to play classical music on the violin,”Kirkpatrick said. “Even when learning the music is stressful or difficult, I still enjoy it. Classical music is so relaxing to me because it’s always consistent.”
more touching and nerve-wracking. I was feeling all of the feels watching Walker’s portrayal of a loving dad and devoted spouse.
Thematically, Walker’s death has also had an impact. When Rodriguez repeats the film’s previous mantra “ride or die,” Vin Diesel replies “Why don’t you just ride this time?” Several characters express that there will be no more funerals for loved ones, and Diesel’s monologue closing the movie was clearly added as a salute to Walker. Characters walk away from brutal crashes without a scratch. Critic Matt Singer points out that although this could have backfired, it seems to be a fitting tribute to Walker “because the characters in the film can do what people in the real world cannot: defy death.”