March 2018

PULSE

M a r c h 3 0 , 2 0 1 8 • I s s u e 6 • Vo l u m e 5 • t h e s a u p u l s e . c o m

THE

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Anxiety.

Depression.

More on pages 10-13

PHOTO BY Courtney Rykse

PREVIEW

TAB LE OF

CONTENTS PASS ME A NAPKIN

DON’T CRY FOR ME QUESADILLAS

Why the DC moved the napkins from tables to food lines

PAGES 5

PAGE 4

THE LINK BETWEEN MENTAL & PHYSICAL HEALTH

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PROFESSOR SPOTLIGHT: MAGNUSSON PHOTO BY Corrie Emlet

PRISON GRADUATE PROGRAM PAGES 8-9

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COPING WITH COLLEGE: A DIALOGUE ON ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION

ARTIST REVIEW: THE DECEMBERISTS PAGE 15

PAGES 10-13

FLATLINE PAGE 14

IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD

THE MIRACLE WORKER

Breaking the mental barrier of running

SAU Hearts Drama produces fully accesible play for deaf and blind PAGE 16

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PHOTO BY Kayla Williamson

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PHOTO BY Massimo Sartirana

To Brian Kono Can we get some thank you writing music?

THANK YOU for being there to keep Angel punctual. Without you, Angel would talk to one person all day. - Boaz Gillette

THANK YOU for being the driving force of spirituality on this campus and for making incredibly surprised facial expressions. - Josh Underwood

SOMETIMES I think of having an emotional break down, then I remember you have to deal with chapel speakers and all that organization. My life feels instantly better. - Anonymous

I AM continually amazed by the ways in which you serve others, love without judgment, and stand firm when a storm comes your way. Thank you for showing me what it means to be Kingdom focused in any and every situation. - Taylor Dagenais

THANK YOU for showing us college students what a well-kept beard should really look like. Anonymous THANK YOU for being a triathlete champion not only in swimming/biking/running, but on campus too: faculty/chaplain/friend-to-all. - Anna Tabone THANK YOU for modeling what caring for both body and soul looks like.- Steve Castle

OVER the four and a half years I have known you, I have been astounded by your intellect, kindness for others, and mentorship in my life.

May God continue to bless you and your family in your ministry. - Andy Bridgeman ALTHOUGH you didn’t know me, thank you for listening to me as I cried over losing my church.

You are a blessing to SAU. - Olivia McRitchie THANKS for being nice to me. - Zak Rodriguez

The Pulse Staff 2017-2018 Editor-in-Chief Kayla Williamson

Video Team Manager Ryan Sisk

Associate Editor Elise Emmert

Sales Manager Kaelyn Hale

News Editor Nathan Salsbury

Design Editor Andri Hill

Features Editor Celeste Fendt

Designers Morgan Caroland Makana Geppert Emily Norton W. Cody Pitts

A&E Editor Liz Pence Sports Editor Alex Anhalt

Online Writer Caralyn Geyer Conner Williams

Staff Writers Collin Caroland Heather Clark Conner Williams W. Cody Pitts Sales Representatives Kelsey Brannon Katie Carroll Mitchell Hodson Cole McEldowney Caytie Sprague Marketing Coordinators Aaliyah Winters Kaleigh Bone Vincent Nowak Alexandria Fulton Alyssa Pluta

March 30, 2018 • thesaupulse.com

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News

New year, new Cougar Den Cougar Den renovations scheduled for next year Heather Clark | Staff Writer

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ext year’s students will have a whole different experience using the Cougar Den. Over the summer, the structure of the Cougar Den will be remodeled.

Many Spring Arbor University (SAU) students use the Cougar Den for more than just meal exchange. Whether it’s picking up a pint of ice cream for a Netflix night after a long week of classes, buying milk for that last minute meal you forgot you were cooking or grabbing a pizza for game night with friends, the Cougar Den has students covered.

The Cougar Den is getting a new look and new meal options for next year. According to Bob Brady, Director of Dining Services, the changes to the Cougar Den’s physical setup are planned to begin over the summer and be finished on or around the beginning of next school year. The Cougar Den

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PHOTO BY Andri Hill

will still offer similar options for quick meals, but the menu will be modified to offer more fresh, varied meals for students. The Cougar Den will still offer grocery and snack items for Cougar Cash purchases, and Brady said there are plans to expand the food and beverage options students can buy.

This change is the result of a longterm discussion Chartwells has had over the past academic year, since Brady became the Director. After conducting surveys over J-term and analyzing student feedback, Chartwells and SAU decided the most immediate dining option students wanted to address was the Cougar Den. So far, the Cougar Den is the only dining space planned to undergo remodels in the next year. However, Brady said the dining services as a whole are working toward an objective of changing some of their menu offerings

thesaupulse.com • March 30, 2018

in response to student feedback. More fresh foods, a focus on global and ethnic foods and evaluation of food-sensitivity and vegetarian options are ongoing.

Brady also said Chartwells is planning more special meal events like Easter and Thanksgiving dinners.

“We’re constantly evaluating the menu. We really appreciate the on-going suggestions and feedback from our customers,” Brady said.

With the Dining Commons having undergone an overhaul in recent years, the Cougar Den will now share a new look and updated meal choices. Brady said SAU is still considering discussion from students about other campus dining options. More changes may be coming to the DC and Ada’s in the future, but for this year, students can expect a new and improved Cougar Den for more of those late-night meal runs.

Nathan Salsbury | News Editor

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arlier this year, students returning from winter break and cross-cultural trips came back to school and saw that the Dining Commons (DC) had moved the napkins from tables to various containers throughout the cafeteria. The change caused some confusion for students.

PHOTO BY Corrie Emlet

Junior Rachel Patterson said that she and her friends always forget to grab napkins before sitting down and then have to get back up to find a napkin container halfway through their meal, a problem shared by other students, including senior Sarah Buttgen.

However, some students, sophomore Sam de Shano said, have gotten used to the napkins being moved and pick them up before sitting down.

Senior Katie Shotts, one of the student employees in the DC, said the change came earlier this year when Chartwells decided to create a more sanitary, less wasteful environment. By moving the napkins to bigger containers that were not on each individual table, the spread of germs becomes reduced. The move is also supposed to create less waste as students might only grab what they need from the new containers.

“Other [employees],” Shotts said, “feel that more napkins are wasted

because people will take handfuls now.”

Some of these students have taken stacks of napkins and placed them on various tables where the old napkin containers used to sit, which defeats the purpose of removing the original containers for sanitary reasons. Shotts said other students have admitted to not using napkins anymore because they forget to grab them and then just do not want to get back up to get some. For students, it is also a matter of convenience.

“Just yesterday, I had a bloody nose when I was eating dinner,” Shotts said, “and if someone else had not grabbed a ton of napkins, I would have bled all over myself and the floor.”

Over the past few months, the napkins getting moved has caused confusion among the student body.

Most of them have grown used to change, but opinions on whether the movement should have happened or not are still mixed.

News

Removing napkins causes confusion among students

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Features

The Link Between Mind and Body How you can promote health in various areas of life Celeste Fendt | Features Editor

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piritual, physical, emotional. These are the three most important aspects of health according to Associate Professor of physical therapy Mitch Zigler. Finding a balance between these three realms is especially important for college students, because they are still growing. College is also a time when many students make some of their most important life decisions, like who they want to be, what they want to do and what they believe.

When one of these three suffers, so do the others, Zigler said. That’s why it’s crucial to understand each of these three concepts in order to live a healthy life. Let’s unpack each one.

Spiritual Health In order to effectively carry out the purposes God has given us, we need to be in tune with Him, our bodies, and our emotions. Even though the three are so closely related, spiritual health is perhaps the most important because of the impact it has on our lives and others.

Having a healthy spiritual life means keeping a set of beliefs which all actions and decisions can stem from. Without this firm foundation to stand on, the other aspects of our lives would suffer.

Physical Health For someone who has never pursued an exercise routine, it can be difficult to find the motivation to begin. But without exercising and keeping our physical bodies healthy, we cannot act as the vessels we need to be for carrying out God’s purpose in our lives, Zigler said.

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By engaging in physical exercise, our bodies can be taught to perform to their full potential. People of all ages can find activities to help improve their bodies.

Strength training, increasing flexibility or range of motion and balancing are typical focus areas of an exercise routine.

Zigler’s tips for staying healthy: 1. Spend time with God 2. Find an exercise you enjoy and stick to it 3. Be open with your friends 4. Sleep

However, some people choose to exercise in order to meet a certain image. This can be detrimental if their motivation comes from an unhealthy source.

thesaupulse.com • March 30, 2018

“If you’re trying to fit into society and what it thinks is attractive, I think that’s the wrong pursuit,” Zigler said.

“But if emotionally you’re healthy, there’s no reason you shouldn’t have the body to go with that too.”

Emotional Health Emotional stress impacts all people.

Methods for handling this stress can be what separate a healthy and an unhealthy lifestyle. Zigler recommends using exercise and prayer to help with emotional stress.

“There’s a lot of biochemical changes that happen with exercise that helps to calm the body down and activate the parasympathetic nervous system which helps with emotional stress,” Zigler said.

“The prayer route is [another] way to process [stress].”

Another outlet is a close group of friends. It’s important to have a few people to rely on when in need of advice or a shoulder to lean on.

Reflecting on Legacy

W. Cody Pitts | Staff Writer

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n a typical day, you can find Associate Professor of Theology Eric Magnusson teaching classes, working hard in the library or biblically trolling Twitter.

Magnusson is known on campus for his wit, snark and gigantic heart for students. He is currently the director of the Master’s Program in Spiritual Development and Leadership andalso teaches several undergraduate courses.

As this semester is starting to wrap up and his master’s program is coming to an end, Magnusson is looking to the future.

“I’m in that weird limbo phase of knowing that one thing is coming to an end before I know exactly what’s next,” he said.

Magnusson started working at Spring Arbor University in the fall of

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It was really important coming here that I [found] ways to invest deeply in the undergraduate community.

-Eric Magnusson

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2012. His wife, Natalie, went through the Spiritual Development and Leadership program—the very same program he now leads—and described it as a “lifeline that was vital” in finding a “deep identity of belovedness.”

Inspired by his wife’s experience, Magnusson already had an eye on working in the program. When he got a text from Ken Brewer about an open position, he could see God working.

Magnusson started at the school only weeks after defending his doctorate dissertation.

Features

Professor Spotlight: Dr. Eric Magnusson Now six years later, Dr. Magnusson is reflecting on the legacy he is leaving behind.

“It was really important coming here that I [found] ways to invest deeply in the undergraduate community,” Magnusson said.

Dr. Magnusson is a self proclaimed introvert who has spent his time investing in students lives because he believes “that the presence of God is mediated to us through other people.”

An important part of Dr. Magnusson’s discipleship is hospitality, he explains, but not in the “Martha Stewart, southern living obsessed” meaning of the word. Instead, Magnusson referenced the scriptural context of the word, “the love for the stranger.” He said “there’s something holy about that strangeness” and to understand each other’s uniqueness is to understand “who God created us to be in all of that messy beauty.”

“I really hope people see both out of my teaching as well as for the relationships I have with students, faculty and staff outside the classroom,” Magnusson said.

PHOTO BY Andri Hill

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Features

History of the Prison Education Program Celeste Fendt | Features Editor

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ore than 1000 inmates received a collegiate education through Spring Arbor University’s (SAU) Prisoner Education Program (PEP). The program began in 1979 and continued through 1999.

The PEP was originally offered at the three Jackson complexes of the State Prison of Southern Michigan. The program was later implemented in two other women’s prisons as well.

Paul Nemecek taught in the program from 1982-1999 and served as director from 1985-1987. He had an office at the prison and coordinated matters between SAU’s financial aid office, registrar’s office, and business office along with academic advising.

The program was funded through the Pell Grant. In 1991, however, Senator Jesse Helms proposed legislation to end inmates’ eligibility for the grant. Nemecek said he believes the program should have continued. He testified before a subcommittee of the Senate to defend the value of the program. He also wrote and presented a paper about the program’s benefits to the Correctional Education Association.

“We saw real changes in the selfconcept and values of our students,” Nemecek said.

While the five-year recidivism rate for all inmates is 76% (according to the National Institute of Justice), the recidivism rate for students of the PEP was only 15% (according to Nemecek).

Professor of psychology Terry Darling taught abnormal and social

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psychology in the PEP. Classrooms at the prisons were traditional, similar to the ones on campus today. There were no barriers between students and professors.

“It was a little bit overwhelming the first time I went in,” Darling said. “I remember…walking down this semidark hallway and there were prisoners on both side of the hallways. And I realized a lot of these guys are in here for natural life, they have nothing to lose

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if they kill me right now.”

But Darling said that once he was inside the classrooms, everyone was eager to learn. He witnessed a sort of motivation in them that main campus students lacked because the prisoners wanted so badly to turn their lives around.

“They read the textbooks usually better than my students on campus,” Darling said.

Professors who taught in the PEP

“ ”

They read the textbooks usually better than my students on campus.

Terry Darling, Professor of Psychology

out to him and wanted to write a story about his case. The prisoner was from a small town in Northern Michigan where a murder happened, and he was arrested and convicted for the crime.

The student asked Darling to call the reporter and talk about what he had learned about him as his professor. The reporter called Darling back a few days

later and said, “I think he’s innocent.”

“That was a kind of sobering experience for me,” Darling said. “That was my exposure to the fact that maybe we don’t always get it right in our criminal justice system.”

Although the PEP ended in 1999, Jackson College started a new program called the Prison Education Initiative (PEI) in 2012. Their program still offers Associate’s Degrees for inmates but has also added General Transfer Certificates and a Certificate in Business Administration.

This new PEI was originally funded through a process called “Self-Pay.” This means that students who are ineligible for Financial Aid can work while in prison to pay for their schooling.

In 2015, former President Barack Obama announced the “Second Chance Pell Pilot Program” for people incarcerated in federal and state prisons.

This program provides another chance for inmates to receive an education and better their lives.

Features

did not receive any special training.

Helping students in the program was simply part of the university’s mission. SAU partnered with Jackson College to teach the necessary courses.

Students were able to earn Associate’s Degrees through Jackson College and Bachelor’s Degrees through SAU. Essentially, Jackson College taught for the students’ freshman and sophomore years, and SAU taught for their junior and senior years. The three degrees offered in the PEP were Business Administration, Psychology and Sociology.

Darling said that outside of the classroom, inmates were usually referred to by their numbers. But in their SAU classes, each student had the identity of being made in the image of God. They were treated as intelligent human beings.

One memory from the program that stood out the most to Darling was when an inmate approached him and said he had been wrongly convicted. The inmate told Darling there was a reporter from the Lansing State Journal who reached

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A MIND OF THEIR OWN Among the 60 million adults in the United States who suffer from anxiety and depression are SAU students and professors. They opened up about their everyday struggles and coping mechanisms.

Elise Emmert | Associate Editor Kayla Williamson | Editor-in-Chief

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hen associate professor of theology Tom Holsinger-Friesen started having panic attacks in his junior year of college, he wondered if he was experiencing a demonic attack.

The Christian college he was in at the time, he said, stressed a black-and-white, good vs. evil understanding of the world. If something bad happened, it directly correlated with your spiritual wellness. His initial questions were “What’s wrong with me?” and “Where are you, God, in this process?”

But Holsinger-Friesen felt comfortable enough to approach his psychology professor after class one day to ask about what he was feeling. The professor, he said, was gracious and loving and explained that it was not uncommon for anxiety to start in college.

“The way I imagine it is like a kettle that’s about to boil and let out steam,” Holsinger-Friesen said.

“It’s just your body’s way of getting your attention, of saying, ‘It’s too much, slow down.’”

That stress before a final or nervousness before a date is anxiety. It is a normal feeling. A little melancholy after watching “This Is Us” or leaving friends after graduation is normal. When those feelings are consistent, come out of nowhere and start to affect a person’s ability to function, those are the first signs of a mental disorder.

“The field of mental health has to draw this line.

It’s usually this arbitrary line between what’s normal and what’s abnormal, or what’s a mental disorder,” Associate Professor Psychology Terry Darling said.

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent of psychological illnesses in the United States. Over 44 million adults are affected by it, but a little under a third

seek treatment. Depression affects 16.2 million adults in the United States, and just under half seek treatment.

EVERYDAY LIFE

For different people, the everyday effects of mental illnesses and the more specific ways symptoms manifest are varied. When Holsinger-Friesen was having panic attacks, he had a racing heartbeat, dizziness, and a general feeling of “I’m going to die,” but not everyone experiences anxiety in that way.

Even if people’s mental illnesses are typically well-controlled, there can still be unexpected flareups of symptoms.

Over spring break, junior Colleen Anderson, who was diagnosed with anxiety and depression in her freshman year of high school, experienced an unexpected depressive episode. The day before the episode and the day after, she felt fine, but the day of, she wanted to withdraw from her friends and had to wait for the feelings to pass.

Depression, she said, is “a clouded version of you.”

Her friends, after the episode passed, told her it was as if they missed her even though she was there with them.

STIGMA

Freshman Annaliz Gill grew up with family members who had mental illnesses but hid her own struggles for years.

“I didn’t want to deal with it,” Gill said. “I didn’t want to be like my mom or my sister because of the negative things I saw.”

Gill said mental illness seemed to her to be something she was not supposed to talk about. She felt she needed

PHOTO BY Kayla Williamson

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Over

44 million adults have an anxiety disorder

16.2 million adults have depression

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to be “strong,” and pushed back at the stereotype of women being weak and emotional. Some of Gill’s friends in high school talked about their depression and mental illnesses, but she felt the discussion was not for her.

Since coming to SAU, Gill has found it easier to talk about her mental health. After going to the hospital for mental health in December, she was able to look closer at her own struggles and has been more open to talking about it since then. Now that she has been more open, she more often sees other people doing the same.

Holsinger-Friesen agreed that the culture is shifting.

“I think things are improving,” he said. “There may still be stigma out there, but it’s less. I find a lot more students are finding the courage to admit they struggle and to not keep that fear from preventing them from reaching out.”

A way to help fight stigma, he said, is to work on building empathy for others. While it can be true that anxiety, depression or other mental illnesses have a biological basis, using that to first define the struggle an individual is feeling does not always help other people empathize with them. On the other hand, describing symptoms or talking about different experiences with mental illness can help people relate and empathize through similar experiences.

COPING MECHANISMS

Despite advancements in understanding mental health, there is still much that scientists, doctors and psychologists do not know about mental illness, its causes and how to treat it.

Professor of psychology Terry Darling said scientists expected to find answers concerning genetic causes of mental illness after they mapped out the human genome.

But the answers, he said, are more complicated than that. Instead of a debate about whether mental illness is caused by genetic or environmental factors, it is about which is more important. Darling said most researchers agree it is a combination of both.

“Which is more important in a cake mix, the flour or the water?” Darling said. “It’s a weird question. It’s always going to be an interaction effect.”

Because of this, treatment for each individual may look different. This could be in the form of medication, therapy, gaining self-insight and learning to work through the illness or a combination of these, Darling said.

Medication can be valuable to some people, but not everyone. Around 50 to 60 percent of patients respond well to antidepressants, but even then, symptoms can return later. If the individual took medication but did not learn skill sets to help manage their symptoms at

the same time, they are more likely to relapse later and experience depressive feelings again.

For Holsinger-Friesen, understanding what was going on both physiologically and psychologically were a help to him, as was temporary counseling. While these things did not take the symptoms away, they gave him the confidence to face what he was feeling.

Anderson first went to a counselor for help before seeing a psychiatrist for a prescription for medication.

But the process to find something that worked for her was not easy.

The way I imagine it is like a kettle that’s about to boil and let out steam. It’s just your body’s way of getting your attention, of saying, ‘It’s too much, slow down.’

Tom Holsinger-Friesen “Being prescribed medicine is like being in the dark room [for film photography]. Anything can mess it up,” Anderson said. “It’s unfortunately trial and error, and that’s not a very good thing, not with someone’s mental health. But it’s kind of the nature of it.”

LOOKING FORWARD

Living with depression or anxiety can mean that moving forward in life require a shift in how a person thinks about their mental illness and how they deal with it.

“For me,” Holsinger-Friesen said, “it’s kind of a fact of life. [Recognizing that] helps me be a little bit more compassionate to myself and to others.”

Other things that help Holsinger-Friesen on a day-to-day basis are sleeping well, eating well and exercising. He also said that reaching out for help was important, as was getting over the idea that he should be able to do everything himself.

For those who do not experience mental illness but want to be there for those who can, Anderson emphasizes listening and responding.

“Don’t listen to me to be able to help me,” Anderson said. “Listen to me and empathize with me.”

Above all else, Gill said, avoid using a person’s mental illness to define them.

“It’s not your identity,” Gill said. “And it’s not anyone else’s identity.”

PHOTO BY Kayla Williamson

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FLATLINE

No country W for bare feet Conner Williams | Staff Writer

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ith Muffitt and Ormston closing, the students of Spring Arbor University have expressed great worry over what will happen to many beloved campus events.

With no Ormston, it is unclear what will happen to Porchfest and the Ormston Tabernacle Choir. With no Muffitt, the campus’s robust social discourse may simply die out. However, there is a more pressing matter on students’ minds: if Ormston and Muffitt close, who will walk around campus barefoot?

One student reports that the handful of people who walk around campus with their bare toes clutching the earth in careless abandon make him feel like he’s at home.

“They’ve been around for as long as I can remember,” he said. At first, I thought they were kind of weird. I was even angry about them. ‘Why aren’t they wearing shoes?!’ I would think.

But they’ve kind of grown on me. It’s basically the rules of Free Methodism that someone has to be walking around barefoot. I think it might even be in the Wesleyan Quadrilateral.”

The mysterious group of students who go about their days without shoes see themselves as a necessary social counterweight to the status quo.

“I’m kind of an iconoclast,” says a current Ormston student. “I see what the machine tells me to do and I say ‘you’ve got the wrong guy.’ Believe it or not, shoes are part of the machine.

I think I’m one of the few who has

thesaupulse.com • March 30, 2018

woken up and faced reality.”

With the impending closure of Muffitt and Ormston, several of the barefoot students have mysteriously started wearing shoes. One Muffitt resident reports that she recently stopped feeling the urge to feel her feet on the sidewalk and the library’s carpet. She woke up and simply felt that she wanted to put on shoes. Other Muffitt and Ormston residents report a similar transformation– they just started wearing shoes.

Not all students are disappointed about the loss of the barefoot-walkers.

“I don’t see why it’s a bad thing that everyone is going to start wearing shoes,” a Gainey resident says. “Isn’t it kind of unsanitary that they aren’t in the first place? I’m kind of at a loss for why students feel nostalgic about people who walk around barefoot. My nostrils and I are rejoicing.”

Though the barefoot walkers have their enemies, the majority of students mourn their gradual disappearance. The departure of the brave souls who don’t wear shoes isn’t merely the loss of a shallow campus staple. It’s the death of an era, the death of a movement, and the death of a people. The future–a future where every foot is covered–is uncertain.

PHOTO BY Andri Hill

A&E PHOTO BY Holly Andres

A review of I’ll Be Your Girl by The Decemberists Liz Pence | A&E Editor

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or those of us who are not the savviest of fans of The Decemberists (that’d be me) or for those who have never heard of them, the release of their new album, titled “I’ll Be Your Girl,” may have come as a surprise. Even for fans whose devotion ranges from casual to fanatic, there’s something new about this release.

The quirky indie rock band chose a different producer and studio than they have worked with for the past 17 years, in an attempt to free themselves from old inhibiting patterns. The result was simply refreshing.

In typical The Decemberists fashion, this album blends prophetic lyrics with an evocative surrealism. Dead Civil War generals – like Bill Tecumseh Sherman – appear to the narrator bearing cryptic messages on the track “We All Die Young.” Wayfaring “Starwatcher” speaks of a forthcoming calamity and a

people at unrest: “There are figures on the shore/At the laundromat, they’re whispering of war.” In the same vein, the album’s single, “Severed,” serves as a brooding indictment of political autocracy.

Ironically, two of the most important thematic songs are the simplest lyrically.

The opening track, “For Once In My Life,” repeats a refrain that a lot of us will be echoing around May 9: “Oh, for once in my/Oh, for once in my life/Could just something go/Could just something go right?” It contrasts melancholy lyrics with a fresh eightiessynth. The song “Everything Is Awful” repeats a similar sentiment over a lackadaisical chorus of “la-la-la’s.”

However, rather than being pessimistic, they are anthems of theodicy for a world at odds with itself.

In total contrast to these Lynchian predictions is the eponymous last

track. With steady strings and gentle percussion, it has a different tone than the rest of the album. The male narrator sings to the recipient of the song: “When fortune has long betrayed you/And you’re longing for an arm to stay you/I’ll be your girl.” This was an effort, front man Colin Meloy said, to subvert the “gendered” genre of rock and roll. It runs parallel – although not intentionally – to how the term “bride” is applied to the Church, regardless of its gender makeup.

In this time between Easter and Ascension Day, keep “I’ll Be Your Girl” in mind. Consider the eschatological groanings of the majority of the album.

Then, consider the sweet devotion of “I’ll Be Your Girl.” Consider the agony of Creation, the agony of Christ, and the love and resurrection we find in the aftermath.

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The Miracle Worker A&E

Fully accessible play explores the necessity of language Liz Pence | A&E Editor

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he year was 1887. Grover Cleveland was president of the United States. Nikola Tesla began experimenting with X-rays. The Yellow River, in the Qinghai province of China, took the lives of two million people when it flooded. The year was 1887, and Anne Sullivan made her breakthrough with Helen Keller, a girl from Alabama who was both blind and deaf. This is the moment depicted in the finale of SAU Hearts Drama’s upcoming production of “The Miracle Worker” by William Gibson at Spring Arbor University.

When it came time for Jen Letherer, associate professor of communication and director of theatre, to pick the show she would direct spring semester, she was led to this story for a number of reasons.

“Part of [selecting the play] was knowing I had some upperclassmen women who needed some meaty roles,” Letherer said.

Before Christmas break, Letherer approached senior Aleisha Prantera with the project and asked her if she would take on the lead role of Helen Keller. Senior Andri Hill was cast alongside Prantera as Annie Sullivan, Keller’s teacher.

The play follows Keller through her childhood, from the fever to Sullivan’s arrival, the climax of the

play and a pivotal moment in Keller’s life. Sullivan famously spelled “water” in sign language in the palm of Keller’s hand under running water.

This moment unlocked the world for Keller and Keller for the world.

“Without language, this person could be lost to us, one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century–a poet, philosopher and thinker,” said Letherer.

“

If you’re not making the story accessible, why are you doing it?

Jen Letherer, Director of Theater

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In honor of this triumph, Letherer hopes to make the show as accessible as possible for people of varying abilities. Theatre is often not accessible for people who are hardof-hearing, vision-impaired or both.

With the success of companies like the Deaf West Theatre, the demand for inclusivity is on the rise. It was only natural for Letherer to want to make a play about Helen Keller accessible. She is hoping to have interpreters and use instruments to make vibrations for any deaf audience members to feel.

“If you’re not making the story accessible, why are you doing it?”

Letherer said.

The show is timely in light of the anniversary of Sullivan and Keller’s breakthrough, which happened on April 5. One hundred and thirty-one years and a week later, the story of her life opens at April 12. The show is also timely in light of Holy Week, the celebration of miracles, of the blind seeing, the deaf hearing and the dead rising to life.

“It’s in keeping with Easter.

It’s very much about a rebirth,” Letherer said.

Performances of “The Miracle Worker” will begin April 12 and end April 14 in the Prop Shop on SAU’s campus.

PHOTO BY Kayla Williamson

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Sports

Going the Distance: Understanding the Mental Attributes of Running Collin Caroland | Staff Writer

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s the weather gets warmer, the runners come out of the woodwork to train for their distance runs. Some are newcomers, some are veterans, and all of them might seem crazy. Why would someone submit themselves to the mileage and effort these runs ask for? These aspects of competitive running can be intimidating at first, but every runner can set a different goal. A person who has never run before might be proud of finishing a single mile, while another runner might be thinking about how to increase their endurance beyond a marathon.

Mackenzy Kasper, a sophomore on the women’s cross-country team, has experience in long-distance running and offers advice to anyone who feels intimidated by it.

“There’s a lot of faith on God and on yourself,” she said. “You’ve trained for the race and you’ve prepared and trained hard for this and you can do it.”

Kasper thinks the benefits are not just physical; running is a psychological game, too.

When you start running, Kasper said, you need to find a “mental groove” and move past wondering if you are running too fast or too slow. In this groove, Kasper’s mind can sometimes go blank, which can help.

“Running makes you feel this runners’ high,” Kasper said. “You feel good and have this sense of accomplishment.

When you finish the race, you have all of

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these endorphins and hormones racing through you, and when I get the high, I can’t stop smiling and I know some of my teammates can’t either.”

For runners who are still scared, Kasper said it is possible to train the mind to keep the fear in check. She said

“ ”

Sometimes when I’m running my mind has actually gone black, which helped me at that time.

difficult spot for runners [during a 5k race] since you’re almost done, but not quite,” she said. “At that point, you’ll either want to give up or keep going.

You need to learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable at that point, since that’s when the body actually starts to get physically exhausted.”

The trick to overcoming this obstacle, Kasper says, is to just keep running, even if you want to quit. Anybody seeking some reward of feeling good and achieving something, while also chasing down a healthier lifestyle might consider joining the many other people who are out enjoying the nice weather on a run.

Mackenzy Kasper, Sophomore Runner

there will probably always be some level of nerves at the beginning of a long run as adrenaline begins pumping through the body, preparing the person for the run. These nerves hardly die down as the race begins and continues.

“The two-mile mark is the most

thesaupulse.com • March 30, 2018

PHOTO FROM saucougars.com

March 30, 2018 • thesaupulse.com

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Sports

Athlete of the Month Dylan Bentley Alex Anhalt | Sports Editor

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hen most of us heave a bowling ball down the tiles, it bounces off a bumper or two (don’t judge me), nudges three or four pins over, and pathetically tips into the abyss behind the pins. When Dylan Bentley lets a throw fly, he means business.

Freshman Dylan Bentley started his bowling career back in middle school.

While his classmates used bowling as a way to have fun and a few laughs, Bentley knew from the get-go that he was serious about bowling.

It wasn’t easy to jump into serious bowling. Bentley said most athletes throw 15 pound balls, and that took some adjustment for young Bentley.

Luckily, he had inspiration in his brothers and his mother, “a really powerful woman.”

And it paid off. He kept chasing his bowling career through high school, and thanks to a teammate who was already at Spring Arbor University (SAU), he ended up here at SAU pursuing actuarial science and playing for the Cougars.

So far, he has loved the chance to work alongside his teammates. Bentley said they have similar backgrounds and get along well. That’s good news for a team that works hard day in and day out to keep up with school and sports.

“We practice from 6 to 8, 5 days a week, but thanks to our commute, practice usually ends up taking longer than that,” he said. “Our schedule gets pretty bunched up.”

That’s why he and the rest of the team think bowling lanes on campus should

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come soon in the program’s future. The opportunity for tournaments, easier access to practice, new student jobs, and even campuswide...events would be well worth the effort in Bentley’s opinion.

One..of Bentley’s Q: What artist do you use to pump you favorite parts of up for a game? playing for the

A: Tee Grizzley Cougars is fan Q: If you could room with any celebrity, support.

He who would it be? loves his coaches

A: Will Ferrell and teammates, Q: If you could add any food to the DC but “you’d be menu, what would it be? surprised how

A: BBQ Babyback Ribs many people come Q: If you could bring any band to out to cheer us on. It campus, who would it be? gets pretty loud, and I

A: Florida-Georgia Line love that.”

thesaupulse.com • March 30, 2018

PHOTO FROM saucougars.com