BI-WEEKLY, FEB 19-MAR 4, 2014
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Serving Bridgewater and surrounding communities BRIDEWATER COLLEGE bridgewater.edu
“Changing Ourselves and Changing Our Community”
veritas.bridgewater.edu
A new feathered friend for BC Eagles The complete works of William Shakespeare (abridged) are coming to Bridgewater.
Photo by George Mclean
Full Story on Page 7
Tidewater Guitar Orcestra comes to Bridgewater Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014. Full Story on Page 9
“Even in a good year for snowy owl flight, it is much more likely to see these owls further east on the beaches. This is only the 4th or 5th record of a snowy owl in Rockingham County.”
Snowy owl makes a home in the local community Story by Dr. Robyn Puffenbarger
Men’s basketball comes together on a winning streak Full Story on Page 11
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n 2014, Virginia has hosted an incredible migration of snowy owls with one individual in Rockingham County being seen almost daily near the White Wave plant, just a short dis-
tance from Bridgewater College campus. One owl has been here in Rockingham County since late November 2013, and birders from Pennsylvania, Maryland and North Carolina have made the pilgrimage to see this bird. I have been out numerous times to see the snowy owl and have had the chance to take birders from college age to first grade students
out to see it. Even in a good year for snowy owl flight, it is much more likely to see these owls further east on the beaches. This is only the 4th or 5th record of a snowy owl in Rockingham County. As a teacher of ornithology, I have had lots of questions about what is happening with the owls, their habitat up north and if the owls will stay to breed here. So, let us
start with some basic biology and a fun new word – irruptive. In North America, irruptive species normally live way up north and with some frequency leave their normal habitat, sometimes in significant numbers, to invade more southerly environments. Snowy owls (snowies), great gray owl and common redpolls are known Please See Owl Page 6
Editorial
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FEB 19-MAR 4
2014
Snow day debacle By Brooke Thacker hether you call it “snow-pocalypse” or “snowmageddon,” a snow day is a snow day. It is a time when students, faculty and staff have a day to theoretically do nothing. Students can play in the snow with their friends, and then spend the rest of the day with hot chocolate and a movie marathon. Faculty and staff can do the same and spend time with their families while enjoying the peaceful snowfall. However, I have noticed that for students like myself, there are three options for snow days. We can either spend all day catching up on homework, ignore homework completely to enjoy the snow or have an internal compromise doing both actions. An article by Joseph Cerrone titled “Top five ways to be productive on a snow day (That you probably won’t do),” which I found on Saint Joseph’s University’s student news website The Hawk, describes how people can be productive on snow days. This article focuses on college students and what they should do on snow days. First is to catch up on reading. Many classes will give students more than enough to read in a days’ time, so snow days allow students to catch up. This past snow day, this is how I
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spent my time. While it was maybe not the most fun, it was the smartest option for me. Second is to clean your living space. With schoolwork and club activities, students’ rooms can pile up with clothes and trash. A snow day can be the perfect time to get things tidy again. Also included in this section, students could spend some time on any laundry that has accumulated. Another option is to research jobs or internships. Whether you are a senior or not, now is the time to look for a summer job or postgrad opportunities. The last option Cerrone suggests is to relax. If you are on top of your work, then take the day off to drink hot chocolate and play in the snow. While we may all want to do this last option first, it is good to be productive with time off in my opinion. While some snowy fun sounds like a good plan, remember that as students we are missing time from classes and our education. Colleges may not have makeup days, but primary and secondary schools do, which puts a strain on students and teachers. In an article titled “As the snow day closings pile up, schools debate measures to meet required class days” by Ted Roelofs, from the website mlive.com,
he discusses how Michigan schools are handling the loss of over six class days. Teachers should have 170 days’ worth of instruction and 1,098 hours of classes. When students miss school for snow days, the time can be added to the end of the school year or add minutes onto each school day, of which some teachers and administrators do not approve. Another option is to make a 200-day school year to make sure students in Michigan have enough instruction. When looking at every perspective of a snow day, it is easy to see what the “smartest option” is. Students should try to keep up with their work because missing school puts them behind on their education. However, we do not typically want to spend our snow days doing schoolwork, so often we opt for fun snowy activities. We need to keep in mind though how difficult it is for administration to choose how to handle snow. They need to keep students safe, but also keep them on track with their classes. I love snow, but I do not love having to make up class time. So, as much as we love a day off, remember all of Cerrone’s suggestions next time class is not cancelled.
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Veritas is a publication manged and produced by students of Bridgewater College. As a news organization serving the Bridgewater and surrounding communities, Veritas publishes regularly opinion articles and letters submitted by members of the community which do not reflect the opinion of the Veritas staff or of the Bridgewater College’s administration. We encourage members of the community to submit information, opinion, and critiques in order to promote a healthy dialogue. The Veritas Editorial team also reserves the right to edit, modify, or exclude any submissions containing offensive or innappropriate language or remarks. To reach the newsroom, contact the advertising team, or submt articles and letters, please send us an email at:
veritas@bridgewater.edu Editor-in-Chief: Brooke Thacker Business Team: Public Relations Director: Emily Nowak Advertising Manager: Emily Heacock Social Media Manager: Victoria Wilson Marketing Associate: Taylor Prillaman Office Manager: Kelsey Velandria Financial Manager: Katy Hutton Editorial Team: Managing Editor: Lacey Naff Head Copy Editor: Alyssa Pennington Layout Editor: Megan Ford Content Editors: Emily Higgins Melina Norman Katie LeBranche Sub-editors: Jason Manago Rianna Hill Senior Staff: Abgail Blair, Cyndi Wibe, Andrew Levin, Janelle Alexander, Jess Snellings Printed by the Daily News Record in Harrisonburg, Va.
FEB 19-MAR 4
2014
Campus
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Let’s talk Op Shop!
An “Intern of the Week” interview with Miranda Moss By Kathleen Herring
During her time at the first tasting we did fruits home to share with the cliShop, Moss noticed that and vegetables as well as ents’ families. At the end there were very few healthy Crystal Light. The second of the program, she gave eating guidelines in place week we did measure- out hand-made graduation for the clients. certificates Seeing an opto each cliportunity to ent who had put her Nutricompleted the tion major to program. She use, she asked also created a if she could guide book for create her own the program internship with copies program, and of each lesbegan drafting son and worklesson plans. sheet, which “I started the center will with an introcontinue to duction to the utilize to help food groups their clients and a workmake healthier shop on flu choices with prevention, their meals. then I had Miranda them do health hopes to find goals, and then a career workwe… talked ing with indiabout the imviduals with portance of special needs, water and why and hopes to sodas were take the Praxis bad,” Miranda II exam and explains. Senior Nutrition major Miranda Moss poses with an Op study sign lanEach week of Shop client. guage in adher internship, dition to her Moss created, designed ments, portion control… Nutrition degree so that and led two different les- we talked about manners. she can qualify to teach. Alsons for the Op Shop resi- The second tasting we though her internship has dents. At the end of the brought in the weight and officially ended, she conweek, she arranged a tast- everybody got so excited – tinues to volunteer when ing of some of the foods everybody cheered and it she can because she wants they had discussed to en- was fun.” to keep in touch with her force the lesson as well as Moss created work- favorite clients and watch bring a fun, hands-on as- sheets for each lesson, them progress. pect to the program. “The which could be brought When asked about her Photo by Miranda Moss
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he Arc of Harrisonburg and Rockingham is an organization that works to meet the needs of individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities in the community. The Opportunity Shop, or ‘Op Shop’ as it is called, was started in 1983 as a day program for adults with disabilities who did not qualify for other services. Through the Op Shop, “clients have the opportunity to earn a paycheck by making high quality craft items, preparing bulk mailings, doing small assembly jobs, and sharpening life skills.” (www.getconnected.uwhr. org). Senior Nutrition major Miranda Moss first volunteered at the Op Shop with her roommate as part of her PDP service requirement. Having grown up with a cousin with Down’s Syndrome and later babysitting two autistic children, Moss was exposed to disability at a young age and is not bothered being around people with functional differences. She says she has always been inspired by people with disabilities “trying to better themselves… their will to want to learn, that’s what made me really decide that I wanted to… work with special needs.”
favorite lesson, Moss cited the last tasting where they brought in scales and everyone got weighed: “We got on the scales and everyone cheered… everyone was encouraging and shouting out and cheering no matter what the number was.” One client in a wheelchair lost 11 pounds during the course of the program, mainly by switching from soda to Crystal Light, at Moss’s suggestion. Internships are a unique opportunity to ‘try on’ a career. For Moss, it was a game-changer. “I thought I was going to go one way, but the hands-on experience that I did [at the Op Shop] really showed me that I wanted to go in a direction I wasn’t even thinking about before,” explained Moss. In addition to helping her to explore a new career path, Moss’s internship created an opportunity for improvement of an existing service program and personally created the tools needed to bring that idea to life. Looking for a great internship experience? For more information on internship opportunities, contact the Office of Career Services at ocs@bridgewater.edu.
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Campus
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FEB 19-MAR 4
2014
Out with the old and into your room Residence Life modernizes housing sign-up system By Abby Blair
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he time has come once again to select campus housing for next year! When thinking about housing sign-ups, the images that come to mind probably go like this: Being crammed into the benches inside the Carter Center like sardines. Then waiting for what seems like forever for Dean Miracle to call your lottery number. And then, just before your number is called, the dream space you’ve been hoping for is taken. If that was frustrating for you, then you’re in luck. Bridgewater College Residence Life has been working hard and has successfully modernized this system of housing signups! Though we may hate to see the traditional way go, this new online housing system is much more efficient and convenient for residents and will allow BC to better serve all of our housing needs. The myHousing Portal is your online access to the 2014-2015 Housing Selection. The portal can be accessed at starrez.bridgewater.edu/StarRezPortal as well as at myBC on the Student Housing page. To login to the portal, use your Bridgewater username and password. A reminder to students: you need to pay your $300 Reservation Deposit to re-
turn as a student next year and complete the Housing Selection process. To avoid a late fee, the deposit needs to be paid by March 7. Students who do not pay their deposit by March 23, will not be able to participate in Housing Selection and will not be guaranteed a place as a student here next year. To begin the Housing Selection process, students must complete steps one through eight after clicking on “Housing Selection” in myHousing. This will complete the Housing Application, which is Part one of the Housing Selection process. Students can complete the Housing Application before their reservation deposit is paid. All students who could possibly live on campus next year should complete the Housing Application, including commuter students who are on-thefence about continuing to commute and seniors who are not sure if they will graduate in May. It is imperative that each student (not parents or any other individual), complete this information as thoroughly and honestly as possible to ensure the best possible roommate match and housing assignment. Students should not skip over this part assuming that their roommate situation is set in stone for
the following year. This information will be used if a student must be paired with someone other than their planned roommate, so play it safe and make it accurate! After completing steps one through eight, a confirmation email should be sent to your Bridgewater email. If you do not receive this email, your Application has not been completed. If this occurs, please log back into myHousing to complete the application. Completing the Housing Application is the first part of the housing process. Please note: You should only cancel your Housing Application if you will not be returning to Bridgewater. Canceling your application will result in the inability to restart it without approval from Student Life. March 17 will mark the start of “Selecting Your Roommate,” Part two of the Housing Selection process. This is where the process gets really interesting. Only those who have completed their Housing Application and paid their Reservation Deposit will be able to take part in this step. Students may search for a specific roommate(s) or choose one (or more) matched by the system. All this is driven by the profile responses from
Part one, with probability of a positive roommate relationship showing as the recommended roommates. Roommate requests must be mutually accepted in order to be recognized by the online housing system. There will be an option to request roommates as well as deny or approve requests that you may receive. You will be able to select a roommate at any time during the process except on March 26 and 27. You are not required to have a roommate to select a room, but you are HIGHLY encouraged to do so. All spaces on campus will be filled; therefore, if you do sign up for a room without a roommate, a roommate will be assigned to your room. Students who are able to fill a room/suite/apartment/ house will receive priority in selecting housing. In order to fill the room/ suite/apartment/house you would like to live in, you will need to select the correct number of roommates. Therefore, please ensure that if you would like to live in an Honor House, four or six-person apartment, suite, triple, or quad, you select the appropriate number of roommates. Please note that only one member of your roommate group will re-
serve the room/suite/ apartment/house. Generally the individual with the earliest selection timeslot will reserve the space. It is also important to know that just because someone accepts your roommate request, they still need to pull you into a room with them. If you do not get pulled into a room and assigned a space, you can still choose a different roommate or pick a space in a room as an individual later in the process. If you aren’t sure if someone pulled you into a room, email reslife@ bridgewater.edu to ask. Communication with your potential roommates is key. If anything changes in your housing plans that would affect your roommate(s), please tell them! If possible, it is ideal for all roommates to be together at the same computer during the actual selection. All returning students will choose a room between March 25 and April 4. There are four phases of selecting a room. Students will only choose a room in one of the following phases: Room Renewal AKA “Squatting” (March 25), Honor Houses, Wampler Towers, and Stone Village (March 27), Fill a Room (March 31 - April 2), and Please See Res Life Page 5
FEB 19-MAR 4
2014
Campus
Community
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Expanding cultural horizons
Res Life From Page 4
BC’s first Spanish film festival Story and photo by Melina Norman
Last Chance (April 4). Timeslots will go out to individual students during the week of March 24. Your timeslot is the earliest you may select housing, but you may select housing any time after that until that selection phase has ended. All selection timeslots are randomly generated within each class status (rising sophomore, junior, senior). For group housing, the member of the group with the earliest time slot should sign the group up at their time. Groups will only be able to sign up in spaces for which everyone in the group is eligible. If the person with the best timeslot for your group has a class during their timeslot, they may complete the Proxy Form at this address: https:// w w w. s u r v e y m o n k e y. com/s/HousingProxy. If this form is completed at least two hours in advance
of the timeslot, a Residence Life staff member will select your room in your absence. You should be as specific as possible with your preferences on that form, but realize that there is no guarantee that you will get the specific housing that you want. It is highly recommended that you have several backup plans agreed upon by your group in case you are unable to reserve your top room preferences. Prezi presentations and PDF informational booklets have been sent to all students. If there are any questions after reviewing the information sent out, please ask your RA or AC or email reslife@bridgewater.edu for further questions. As always with the housing lottery: Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor.
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Beginning last week, the ter. He says that it is a good Spanish film festival has way for students to expericontinued the new and ence things they have not exciting convocation series experienced and to learn that we have here at Bridge- about other people. water College. Last semesDr. Pierson fully intends ter Bridgewater students to continue the foreign film had the privilege of being festivals in the future, one introduced to the college’s each semester being the first attempt at a foreign plan. He says “I’m toying film festival; thanks to Dr. Pierson and those involved in the foreign language department the Spanish film festival has become the next installment in the series. The series of films were shown Feb. 5-14 at 7 p.m.; the titles of the films were “Despues de Lucia, The KCC displayed movie posters of film for the Spanish film festival. Post Mortem, Even the Rain, Wilaya, and The Return. with the idea of showing Dr. Pierson collaborated different movies from differwith the foreign language ent countries in one film fesdepartment in order to find tival.” Dr. Pierson likes the grants that would support idea of having a festival with the opportunity for Bridgea variety of movies from difwater to hold an educational ferent countries rather than convocation series in the just doing a specific festival form of a foreign film festi- for a specific culture. val. This semester the school The festivals have been was able to gain the grant getting a solid turn out, for the Spanish film festi“more than I thought I’d val and partnered with the get,” said Dr. Pierson. He Embassy of Spain to choose has gotten back some good a variety of movies for the and useful reviews from students to view during the both faculty and staff about event. “I wanted to interna- the film festival this semestionalize the convocations,” ter, which prompts him said Dr. Pierson when asked to want to continue with about the two film festivals putting on them on. “They that were held at Bridgewaincrease the level of empa-
thy and patience that the students have for foreign cultures, said Dr. Pierson. Overall the festivals bring the students closer to the cultures that they are being exposed to through the films. Dr. Pierson, having a particular interest in media and film has had the experience of attending other film festivals other than the two held on campus thus far. His interest in film has taken him to a number of different festivals in Virginia, New York and North Carolina. “Foreign each film isn’t categorized as distinctly as our films here in America. They aren’t pigeon-hole like American film can be,” said Dr. Pierson. A wide range of emotions can be experienced throughout the viewing of a foreign film no matter what the genre is. “Despues de Lucia” (After Lucia) is his favorite film out of the Spanish film festival, said Dr. Pierson. He claims that the “end just stays with you,” even after you finish the film it keeps you thinking. According to Dr. Pierson foreign films “tend to have more thought provoking endings and do things to get you to contemplate,” he said.
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Main Focus
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FEB 19-MAR 4
Owl From Page 1
2014
Photo by George Mclean
tion is likely a complex set of interactions that include successful breeding, changes in prey and an overabundance of younger birds. Snowy owls are well known to move great distances over the artic to find their favorite food, lemmings. A snowy owl can weigh up to four pounds, which is a pound The last time a snowy owl came this far south was 2009, and the 2013-2014 numbers are very high heavier than our for the amount of irruptive birds. more local great young birds are also darkly than a direct inability of the snowies, will use the southhorned owl, they eat over barred to match the snow- owl to find food. A number ern environs as breeding ter1,500 lemmings per year and free tundra of their birth. of snowy owls tagged by re- ritory. As the days get longer have up to nine eggs! One of The snowy owl currently searchers give a clearer pic- and warmer, the surge of sex the questions that scientists living near Bridgewater Col- ture that these birds come hormones seems to trigger would like to answer is which lege is barred, but I have not south, feed, survive and then the movement of all the irruptive species back to the owls are coming south? Are heard a definitive answer yet head back north. Is there any chance that north to find territory and the owls coming south male if this individual is a maor female? Females are gen- ture female or a juvenile that global climate change is driv- mates. So, enjoy the snowy owls ing the current irruption and erally a bit darker in their hatched last season. barring than adult males, but Once the irruptive species if the snowy owls here will while they are here. The curare here, what happens to stay to breed? This is an- rent irruption cycle has seen them? One of the myths is other complicated issue. At many snowy owls coming that the snowy owls found in least currently, the research south for winters since 2009 the south are not able to feed, I found does not implicate with 2013-14 numbers off in some numbers starve, and climate change in irruptions. the proverbial charts. The are unable to return north. Irruptions appear to be a last reports of numbers While it is clear that some of multifaceted behavior where this high are from the early the snowy owls get into trou- birds integrate their sensory 1970s, so unlike redpolls that ble while down south, scien- data to make decisions about invade on a four-year cycle in tists studying mortality have staying or migrating. It turns the east, it might be decades linked it to unintentional hu- out to call someone a ‘bird before the snowy owl count man interactions: owls are hit brain’ is not really an insult; in Virginia will be this amazby cars, eat poisoned rodents birds have highly developed ing again. Be cautious of and are electrocuted by pow- brain cortical regions and approaching any wild bird, er lines. Snowy owls brought they are adept at making which adds to its stress. View to rehabilitators are often low complex decisions. There is from a distance and enjoy. The snowy owl is an irruptive specieis, meaning it moves weight but that seems to be a no evidence that any of the with the weather to the north and based on seed production. side-effect of trauma, rather irruptive species, including Photo by George Mclean
irruptive species. So, why irrupt? Why leave the normal breeding or winter habitat to fly, sometimes hundreds of miles south where there are more humans and many other mammal or avian competitors? Turns out scientists only have some data on this phenomenon. In the case of the smaller birds like the redpolls, it looks like birch catkin (seed) production in the north is a strong predictor of irruption. If there is plenty of food up north, the birds stay. If the food sources are low, the birds leave, irrupting into the south to the delight of birders. Why do the larger birds like snowy owls irrupt? The data says they are not stressed and low weight from starvation. In fact, Project Snowstorm has data that suggests in a flight year, when the snowies head south, they are of higher body weight than non-flight years. An irrup-
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FEB 19-MAR 4
Main Focus
2014
7
Transporting Shakespeare
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)
Story and photos by Morgan Elkins
Seniors Nicholas Davies, John Oates and Garrett Schwalbach practice for their three-man performance of Shakespeare’s greatest.
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All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts…” is just merely the start of one of William Shakespeare’s famous monologues from As You Like It. This idea of many roles being played by one person is embraced brilliantly through this spring’s theatre at Bridgewater College performance of, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) which is set to go on Feb. 27 through March 2 in Cole Hall. Theatre at Bridgewater College will be presenting the renowned comedic play which was written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield as this year’s spring show. What makes The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) vastly different from any other Shakespearean performance is its boldness for three actors to
perform all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays in just 97 minutes. The show highlights Shakespeare’s most famous plays Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, while also braving those Shakespearean plays that are not as well-known such as Timon of Athens and Trolius and Cressida; allowing this performance to enlighten the audience on the inner layers of Shakespeare. Although the show will perform Shakespeare’s plays, the manner in which the plays will be performed is extensively different from how the Globe Theatre would have put on a Shakespeare play. While most find many of Shakespeare’s plays serious and or plot heavy, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), transposes the early English mannerisms of Shakespeare and transforms them into the new era. The play follows three actors who endeavor to do what
they believe have yet to be done, perform all 37 William Shakespeare plays within 97 minutes. As the trio goes along, they find they may not be the Shakespearean scholars they have made themselves to be. However, the three will not allow themselves to fail in their endeavor. With the help of cooking, rapping and football, the three actors strive to make sure the show does in fact go on. Taking on the incredulous endeavor of performing this comedic retelling of Shakespeare are seniors, Nicholas Davies, John Oates and Garrett Schwalbach. The show, which calls for much improvisation, has allowed the actors to take hold of the show and make it their own. Through rehearsals which started at the beginning of February, the show has transformed from mere words on a page to a world of live entertainment at its finest. The actor-generated movement is what director Scott Cole highlights and commends his actors for. During the rehearsal process, Cole said that, “It is a pleasure watching improvisational movements be created by the actors.” Cole also expressed how he hopes the audience will have an enjoyable and entertaining night at the theater watching
this witty and hilarious show. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) will not only entertain the audience from the stage, but will also encourage audience participation. During the performance the entire theatre audience will be incorporated into the show making the audience the secret fourth cast member of the show. Along with director Cole are several students who have dedicated their time to work show. senior Will Browning and junior James Custer are serving as assistant directors. An invaluable aspect of this particular show are the props that will be used throughout the performance. Property Master, Laine Mills has been working diligently to acquire props for this very heavily focused prop induced show. Mills says, “It has been difficult due to the strange props that are used by the actors in the show.”
Additional crew includes seniors Morgan Elkins who is serving as stage manager; assistant stage manager Jonathan Trejo; Jennifer Scalfani as assistant set designer; Bashar Murad as dramaturge, and Bekki Haines as assistant light designer. Three local community members have also stepped in to help bring this show to life. Shannon Dove is set designer, Holly Labbe is costume designer and David Vogel is light designer. While the show will be performed in Cole Hall, reservations for the performances are recommended and can be reserved by calling 540-828-5631. Show performances will be held at 8 p.m. Feb. 27 through March 1 with a matinee performance on March 2 at 3 p.m. The show will count as a convocation for Bridgewater students. Tickets will be $9 for adults and $7 for seniors and non-BC students.
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Commununity in Action
FEB 19-MAR 4
2014
RISE to live and love equally A United Methodist Foundation serving the community
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Megan Marker at markermr@ gmail.com. The event will be held at Faith Community Church, located at 1660 S. Main St. in Harrisonburg. Though RISE is in its slow season right now and not putting on a lot of events, Jen Landrein, a JMU graduate and leadership team member, said if someone does have an event they would like to put on, they can assist them. “If someone needs help or sponsorship, we will be willing to help out,” explained Landrein. More of RISE’s core beliefs are stated on their website and include, “Each of us is messed up. God loves us anyway. Nothing can separate us from God’s love. Nothing. We believe in the importance of taking risks. Together. God gives to us, so we give back.” This organization offers a variety of programs to help the community. Through their programs, our community is coming together to help those in need. Along with bringing people together, RISE provides spiritual services. They offer a weekly worship that takes place every Sunday morning at 10 a.m. located at Court Square Theater in downtown Harrisonburg. Services originally targeted college students, but accept anyone who comes. Landrein said, “If you look in, you will see families and a lot of homeless people.” RISE welcomes you to come as you are, whether it be “in your pajamas or your wedding dress,” with whoever you would like to join in the open armed worship and love of Jesus that they will have waiting for you.
Photo by Cyndi Wibe
By Abby Blair and Cyndi WIbe Receive love. Give love. nity. They have a Rise & Shine Repeat.” This inspirational program that collects hygiene motto belongs to RISE products for families that cana religious, United Method- not afford them. On the first ist Faith Community located Sunday of every month, they get in Harrisonburg, Va. RISE together at their Mission House focuses on giving love and ac- and put the products into packceptance with open arms to the ages for the families in need. Harrisonburg community and The second program is Love anyone who wishes to be a part Packs. It is a program through of their community. RISE in that provides meals on In response to the question, the weekends to about 30 kids “What makes you different from every other church in Harrisonburg?” RISE responds on their website with, “We believe that many churches say one thing and do another. We love you, but ...” At RISE, we believe in a love with no strings attached. Everyone means everyone. And we want to share that with our community.” RISE has a United Methodist foundation, but that does not mean that you must be a Methodist to go! It means that their overall theology of RISE is not just for college open hearts, open arms, and students, but for anyone who is open minds. The idea for interested. RISE itself was developed in in need at Spotswood Elemen2009 from a ministry group at tary. They get together every JMU who wanted to spread a Thursday night in the Mission love for Jesus. House to pack backpacks with What began as a church meals and give them to the kids group for college students in on Friday. Volunteers are always late 2009, quickly grew and has welcome to help out with these changed many lives. RISE be- missions! They also like volungan when the leaders from the teers for set up and clean up beJMU Wesley Foundation—a fore and after each service. campus ministry—that changes The next event they have were needed. They wanted to coming up is Open Doors. It answer the questions, “Who are is a week-long event, Feb. 17 we? Who are we called to be? through 24. They offer warm What are we called to do?” The meals to homeless and hungry answers were not found un- community members. The mistil they turned outward to the sion will not be complete withcommunity and saw what they out help. Food and volunteers needed to do, help the commu- are needed still. Volunteers will nity. be needed to help with dinner RISE works hard to make and overnight shifts. If students contributions to the commu- are interested they can contact
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This week’s events and opportunities Community in Action is a partnership between The Community Foundation, United Way and Veritas. For a fun-filled night of amazing bluegrass music, you do not want to miss Grammy-award winner Peter Rowan’s Bluegrass Band who will be at Harrisonburg’s Court Square Theater Friday, Feb. 21 at 8 p.m. Peter Rowan’s Bluegrass Band consists of outstanding musicians with over 100 years of combined recording and performance experience. Joining guitarist Peter Rowan are Michael Witcher, dobro; Keith Little, banjo; and Paul Knight, bass. The ensemble has graced the stages of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Grey Fox, Merlefest, and numerous other festivals domestically and abroad, entertaining audiences with original and traditional. This will definitely be a show you do not want to miss. Want to spend Saturday afternoon learning about the wide variety of cool birds right here in our local community? If so, “Feathered February: Get to Know Your Local Birds” at the North River Library is the place for you to be on Saturday, March 1 at 1 p.m.! Dr. Robyn Puffenbarger from Bridgewater College will be presenting about our local birds and it will be interesting and engaging for those who love the outdoors and want to know what they see when they are out and about. Come out and get a delicious meal on Saturday, March 8 that you do not have to clean up afterward, AND support the community all at the same time. For your dining pleasure, there will be a meal full of flavorful choices! Instead of choosing to go out to just any restaurant, join this delightful Our Community Place fundraiser. Bring a friend, bring family, bring the one you love the most and experience Our Community Place’s Second Saturday Night Out! Suggested donation is $20/person and 25 percent of proceeds go to help Nan Boukan, a community in Haiti, where folks usually eat one plate of rice every other day. If you’d like to go ahead and reserve a space, call 540-442-7727, or email OCP at info@ ourcommunityplace.org. For all you lovers of poetry and literature, we have the place for you! Come out to listen to poet and author, Dr. Sarah Kennedy at the Massanutten Regional Main Library. She will be discussing her book The Altarpiece on Monday, March 10 at 1p.m.
Arts & Style
2014
Not just stringing you along Tidewater Guitar Orchestra to perform on campus
By Cyndi Wibe
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ant to enjoy a one of a kind guitar orchestra? On Thursday, Feb. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Carter Center, the Tidewater Guitar Orchestra (TGO) will be preforming classical compositions, including pieces by Bach, Telemann and Mozart. In addition, they will also play a few modern tunes. Composed of a large group of musicians playing three different types of guitars, this classical guitar orchestra is a one of a kind here in the United States. It began with the Tidewater Classical Guitar Society in 1984. According to the Tidewater Classical Guitar website, the nonprofit group began with “a mission to provide cultural and educational opportunities to those interested in classical guitar.” Each year the Society does performances by many of the world’s best-known guitarists and lutenists. In 1996 Sam Dorsey—a professor of Music and Humanities at Norfolk State University—founded the Tidewater Guitar Orchestra. Inspired by a similar orchestra in Costa Rica, the TGO was formed based on the concept of a large group of musicians playing three different types of guitar. There is the classical guitar, soprano guitars, and bass guitars. A classical guitar is an acoustical wooden guitar with six guitar stings. The shape of the classical guitar differs from the acoustic. Classical guitars are more round while acoustics are squarer—the head stock as well—and have a piece of plastic next to the sound hole—the hole in guitar. Classical guitar strings are nylon and finger
plucked while acoustics use picks to strum the metal strings. Nylon strings create a smooth sound, while metal strings create a more crisp sound. The second type of guitar is the soprano guitar, also known as the requinto. Requinto means a smaller, high-pitched version of another instrument. A requinto guitar has six nylon strings. Introduced by the Mexican guitarist and vocalist Alfredo Gil, this little guitar has a pitch that is higher than a classical guitar. The third guitar, the bass guitar, plays a pitch range lower than the classical guitar. It functions as a supportive role creating a pulse and foundation for the music. Together these different types of guitars use an array of sounds that come together to create the contemporary works and classical compositions of TGO. The Virginia Commission of Arts (VCA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) are sponsoring this convocation, according to Dr. Jeffery Pierson, the Convocation Director. “The VCA and NEA are state and federal agencies that promote the arts by providing financial assistance to organizations that present fine arts to the community,” Pierson said. This year, the convocation department was presented with grants to bring TGO, along with several other musical groups, to campus. Going to miss out on the Tidewater Guitar Orchestra? Keep a look out for the next upcoming musical group, Iona—a Celtic group—coming to campus in March.
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Grateful Dead art exhibit “Helping the legacy live on” By Lacey Naff usic is art, and in former Grateful Dead member Bob Weir’s words, “It’s music and poetry and it’s art, and it can do what art can do.” On February 8, I was able to witness that mix in the purest kind at a Grateful Dead art exhibit in downtown Roanoke, Va. The exhibit featured the only licensed photographer of the Grateful Dead, a Grateful Dead painter and poster maker. I was so excited that I came home for the weekend to check it out and hoped to buy an authentic picture that is not sold in regular stores and accessible all. The Grateful Dead, a popular jam band that began in the 60’s, had a major impact on not only rock n roll music, but also made cultural changes we still have today. They were the evolution of tie-dye shirts, hippies, music file sharing and jam sessions. They are my favorite and most inspirational band to listen to. A group of loved ones and I showed up at the exhibit around 4 p.m. and spent about an hour flipping through all the pictures in a matte frame. There were larger pictures in wonderful frames, but the price range for those far exceeded the budget for this classic broke college student. We stayed by the bins containing pictures priced from $15 to $30, which was actually everything I could have hoped for. We spent our time showing each other the awesome ones we found and laughed at the ones that showed the famous goofy facial expressions of Phil Lesh and the short jean shorts
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Photo byLacey Naff
FEB 19-MAR 4
Display of pictures taken by Grateful Dead photographer Robbie Cohn in downtown Roanoke, Va.
of Bob Weir back in the 80’s. The one that wrenched my heart and won me over though was a picture of lead singer Jerry Garcia singing one my favorite songs “Row Jimmy.” Any Garcia fan knows when he is feeling the music because his eyes squint in a soulful manner and that look literally gives me cold chills. I grabbed that photo and did not let go. Being a huge Grateful Dead fan my whole life, I wanted to talk to Robbie Cohn, who was the photographer for the band because I knew that she has lived an extremely fun and interesting life thus far. I took my chosen picture to purchase and asked if she would sign it for me, as she graciously signed it and addressed it to myself. We talked to her for a few minutes and she explained to us how she started going to Grateful Dead concerts in 1971 but by 1980 or so she realized that she needed to do something in order to afford to keep seeing them. She had the idea to photograph them because she could
get paid to do what she loves. Cohn has been up close and personal at so many shows, and has even spent time with Jerry Garcia and the other members. I felt lucky to be in her presence, as I would be in the presence of anyone who has attended their shows or knows them. Cohn’s personality was so warm and welcoming and it was clear she appreciated anyone who appreciated her work. People like her are a great representation of the loving Grateful Dead culture and that made my entire day. I left the exhibit feeling thankful that, even though Jerry Garcia is no longer with us and the original Grateful Dead is longer together, that there are so many people out there helping make the legacy live on for those of us who did not have the opportunity to see them ourselves. The Grateful Dead family is still as strong as ever in this country and I am happy to be a part of it.
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Arts & Style
10
FEB 19-MAR 4
Inspired!
Writer’s Block
By Rianna Hill
By Jess Snellings
Featured campus poet: Whitney Debilzan
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his issue’s featured campus poet is sophomore Whitney Debilzan. Debilzan is a young poet, having started writing and recording her work her senior year in high school. “Yes,” Debilzan answered when I asked her whether or not she considered herself a poet. “A poet is someone who finds the best way to share their thoughts with the world is to put them on paper. That is exactly what I do.” Debilzan believes that her writing style stands out from others because she is bold. “No sugar coating,” she said, emphasizing that she writes exactly what she is feeling at that particular point in time. “Maybe I can inspire others to write too,” Debilzan stated when I asked her what she hopes to accomplish with her writing. Debilzan wants to be published “so the world can share my thoughts with me.” Debilzan is also in the editing process of her upcoming
book, “20 Tiny Details that I Never Factored In.” So as not to let the cat out of the bag too soon, Debilzan didn’t go into detail on what exactly the book is about, but she did say that she hopes to start the publishing process by May 20 of this year. Debilzan says “poetry can set you free and ease your mind.” She says she finds it best to write when she is troubled about something or anxious. “It’s the only way I know to let those thoughts out.” “This poem is for the people who look down on me… no matter what you do to me, in the end you are the one that is hurt with only yourself to blame,” Debilzan says about the piece, “Sidewinder”, that she chose to feature. If you’d like to be a featured poet in the next issue of Veritas, please contact me (Rianna Hill) at reh002@ eagles.bridgewater.edu, so you too can share your writings with Bridgewater’s campus and the surrounding community!
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Sidewinder By Whitney Debilzan
Sneaky thing you are, Twisting your body through the grass as words spill out of your mouth, Filthy poison to infect the earth, With your own personal brand of absolute disgust, We need to stay pure, We must stay clean, We must mean what we say and say what we mean, You rule the world, With an iron fist,
But even the greatest of tyrants must eventually fall, High from your lofty places, Hitting the ground with a sickening crunch, No little sidewinder, Do not blame me, For it was you who elevated yourself so far above the rest. And you only have yourself to blame, Enjoy the fall
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Finding Your Rythym
ince this past Wednesday, I have been trying my hand at horseback riding. This is something I have extremely little experience with and Wednesday was my first lesson. An incredibly significant thing to learn is how to find the rhythm of the horse. Once you find that rhythm, the two of you can move together, almost glide…in a jolted kind of sense. Unlike horseback riding, it has taken me about 21 years to figure out there is a natural rhythm in life. There comes a time for everyone when they start to make decisions that will follow them for the rest of their lives. This sounds intense and terrifying, but really it is all about following where our hearts lead us. It is not even up to us to decide where we go. Inside each of us is what is often referred to as personality. No matter where we are from, what life is like, we each have our own personality. We influence it when we need to, but generally that is what drives us in our waking lives. This is what works with our minds (somehow) to develop interests and passions. In the end, we never make a decision out of the blue. We follow an instinct. We follow our hearts. Hold your hand over your heart or press your index and middle fingers to feel your pulse in your neck or your wrist. That pulse is the rhythm of your life. Just like no two horses will have the exact same gait, thus causing every ride to feel different, no two hearts have the same pulse. Therefore, no one has the same life beat. We often like to ask for advice for different events or occurrences that pop up in our lives. There is absolutely nothing wrong with
this, as long as we understand that it is our decision to make in the end. One of the things I have been working on with riding is trotting. When the horse walks, each hoof hits the ground on its own beat. There are never two hooves that hit the ground simultaneously while a horse is walking. When it gets into a trot, the rhythm is cut in half. Now there are two hooves hitting the ground at the same time, so the beat goes from four counts down to two. While the horse is trotting, the riders tend to post. This means with every beat, they will rise or sit on the saddle. There is one motion per beat. In one beat, the rider rises; in the next beat, the rider sits. This sequence is repeated however long the horse is trotting. This is where it is vital to be able to find a rhythm and follow it. Without finding that rhythm, figuring out when to post would be extremely difficult if not impossible. In the same sense, while moving through life it is important that we find the rhythm and find a way to move with it. When we miss a beat or find ourselves offbeat altogether, we feel an incessant sense of discord in our lives. To get to this point, we tend to take a path our feet have never travelled and do not navigate very well. When we find ourselves here, we have stopped following the rhythm our hearts beat for us. The solution to being offbeat in both the saddle and in life is to take a moment, slow your mind, and find the rhythm again. While finding a rhythm on a bouncing horse might be somewhat easier than finding it in a not-so-tangible organ, there is a way to find both. On
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a horse, I can find the rhythm by staying down on the saddle for a beat or two, regaining a sense of where the beat is, and resume posting once the sense of rhythm fills me. In life, if a decision or circumstance causes me stress or immense displeasure and I start to feel utterly hopeless, I can assume I am not in the groove of my heart’s rhythm. Weighing out options helps, and when I come to one that makes the extra weight on my shoulders lift away completely, I can count on that being the route I need to take. Because this matter is so subjective, it is impossible for me to give a perfect description of being on or offbeat that will apply with everyone. Generally speaking, from listening to friends and family, family of friends, I have found that symptoms of losing rhythm are about the same. The feeling that comes with falling back on beat comes in various forms. I have heard many say it is a removal of weight, a clearing of the mind, a brightening of the mood and/or an overall better attitude towards life. In my own experiences I have found that the world, perhaps even the universe, seems to have a rhythm that drives it. We all fit into it somewhere. Our job is to find out where each beat is, let it flow through us and then follow it. We can even count it out in our heads if we need to. One-two, one-two, one-two… No one can tell us where our cadence carries us: we are the only ones who feel it. As long as we take a moment to make sure we are following that heart beat and follow it to the best of our abilities, we are following our hearts and there is no way we could ever be happier.
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FEB 19-MAR 4
Sports
2014
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Men’s Basketball: Band of Brothers Eagles hope to make it to the tournament after a winning start athlete. Ronnie is always intense and whether it is a game of NBA 2k14 or real life, he wants to win at all costs. “If you don’t win, you lose. Simple as that,” Ronnie said. However, he has had the biggest impact on his counterpart Tavis Stapleton from Carthage, Texas. Tavis is a proud Texas native and it will not take long at all for him to remind you of that. As a basketball player one of his idols is an NBA player by the name of Paul George, Number 10, Tavis Stapleton, dribbles around a VMI defender. an All-Star for the is definitely a great teammate to while also shooting 77 percent Indiana Pacers, who also go to battle with.” from the free throw line. He has came out of the state of This past summer, Ronnie been helping his team in any evTexas. encouraged Tavis to stay in the ery way this year whether it is Ronnie and Tavis are four area to work out and sharpen with his jump shot, rebounding, year starters for the Eagles their skills on the court which or playing tough defense. and have grown and ma- strengthened their relationJunior, Ed Reddick has cartured together as not only ship along with their basketball ried the scoring load for the teammates but as men. In skills. Due to the fact that I lived Eagles this year by averaging fact, they have such a com- nearby, I had the opportunity to 14.6 points per game while petitive edge against each witness the practice those guys also Kenneth Waugh has been other that in practice they put in all summer while work- scorching from the three-point won’t spar or defend each ing on campus 40 hours a week. line. Daniel McClain has also other to avoid any tussling. For starters the sun showed no forced his presence in the post When asked of this re- mercy each day they were out- as well as knocking down that lationship with Ronnie, side working hard to help keep mid-range pull up. Tavis chuckled and stated, the maintenance of the campus The Eagles have faced some “That’s my brother, we in great shape. ups and downs this season but work out and shoot toDeciding to stay in the area with the help of their winggether all the time but it’s over the summer with Ronnie man Tavis Stapleton, Captain something about our will to work on his game was one Ronnie Thomas, and the other to win that will make us of the best decisions he made seniors the Eagles look to finfeel like foes on the basket- according to Tavis. He feels ish the season strong heading ball court … I’ve learned it contributed to a new focus into tournament play. Be sure so much from Ronnie and energy for this season as a to show your support on senior without him even having whole. night Eagle fans! to say anything; his work Tavis is averaging 12 points ethic speaks for itself and and six rebounds on the season
Photo courtesy of Tim Leester, Director Athletic Media Relations
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time they put on a uniform. Though at times they were plagued with injury, they continued to believe and support each other which are the definition of true teammates. For as long as he has been on campus, team Captain Ronnie Thomas has been a leader on and off the court for his teammates. His hard work, preparation, and dedication to the game of basketball have influenced many people around him, and have gained him the upmost respect from his peers. Humility and humbleness aren’t traits that you find every day in a lot of people but most students and staff will affirm that Ronnie is a well-mannered student-
Photo courtesy of Tim Leester, Director Athletic Media Relations
By Jason Manago-Graves he Bridgewater College Men’s basketball team is on a three game winning streak and look to continue this success on Feb. 19, when they host their cross town rivals Eastern Mennonite University. Not only is this a rivalry and conference game, this will be the last regular season home game which denotes senior night. There are seven seniors on this year’s team by the names of Ronnie Thomas, Tavis Stapleton, Kenneth Waugh, Daniel McClain, Romie Powell, David Larson, and Kyle Van Orden. These gentlemen have worked hard over the years and contributed heavily to their team each
Captain, Ronnie Thomas, concentrates as he takes a shot against a VMI player.
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Sports
FEB 19-MAR 4
2014
Senior Spotlight: Carrie Crowther
Things do not always work out the way you plan By Emily Higgins
Photo Credit: Emily Townsend
sponded, “I don’t think my success is owed to just one person. I started swimming because of my older cousin, and when I decided to try it again at Bridgewater, Fran Smith was willing to see what I had to offer … she continued to work with me so I could get faster… And of course my parents have been supportive of me the entire time.” Now that her swimming career has come to a close she is mostly happy about how it turned out. “For the most part, yes [I am happy]. At my last ODAC championship, I placed higher in each of my events than in previous years, so I was happy with that. I wish that I had been able to bring back an individual first place to Bridgewater, but I tried my best and that’s all I could do,” Crowther said. Even though swimming at Bridgewater was not what she had planned on, Crowther would not go back and change anything. “Sometimes I think about where I might be if I had not taken a break from swimming. I may have ended up at a different school, who knows, but I wouldn’t trade the experiences that I have had at Bridgewater,” Crowther said. Crowther made the best of her experience here at
Bridgewater and now looks to achieving other goals like being a physical education teacher at an elementary school. As she will no longer be a college athlete she does have some advice for any incoming freshman athletes. “Sometimes things don’t work out the way you had planned, but don’t be discouraged. As long as you work hard and balance athletics and academics it is all worth it. Being a college athlete is special because you have your friends you meet through classes and around campus, but you also have your team as another family,” Crowther said.
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Photo Credit: Emily Townsend
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enior, Carrie Crowther a great race and improve on Crowther began swimming is now considered to my time. It wasn’t all about when she was five years old be the most decorated breaking records, but I am but stopped when she was swimmer in Bridgewater Col- proud of my accomplish- 12 years old. During middle and high school she played lege history after the ODAC ments,” Crowther said. Championship meet took Besides holding so many field hockey and soccer inplace the weekend of Feb. records, Crowther is the stead. She did not competitively start 7, which was the s w i m last meet of her m i n g swimming career. again until In the ODAC she came Championship, to BridgeB r i d g e w a t e r ’s water. swim team finAfter ished fifth overdeciding all. At the meet, to attend Crowther earned Bridgethird in the 200 water beyard freestyle, cause she fourth in the 100 wanted yard freestyle and to go to fifth in the 50 yard a small freestyle. Those school performancand she es earned her Bridgewater Col- Crowther shows her love for swimming with a huge smile r e a l l y lege Performer of in this underwater photo. Crowther says she loves swim- liked the ming because “it keeps you in great shape and is just a lot c a m p u s , the Week. Crowther “To be honest, I of fun.” didn’t even know I had been only Bridgewater swimmer planned on playing field named Bridgewater player of to earn All-ODAC honors hockey for the school. “I had originally tried out the week! I am really hon- three times and she is still letfor the field hockey team. ored to have been selected,” ting that fact sink in. Crowther said. “It is a lot to take in … I When I didn’t make the Currently, Crowther holds hope the team continues to team, I decided I wanted to 21 combined school records grow and get faster so that swim again,” Crowther said. Instead of being discourincluding new records in the more people can achieve the 50, 100 and 200 yard free- same thing,” Crowther said. aged by a change in her origistyle events and the 200 meWhat is even more as- nal plans, Crowther decided ter freestyle. tonishing than her achieve- to set her sights on swim“When I swam, I didn’t nec- ments is that Crowther did ming where she achieved essarily go out to break re- not plan on being a swimmer much success. When asked who she might cords every time I got in the at Bridgewater College or pool. I just wanted to have any college for that matter. owe that success to she re-
Crowther smiles while standing on top of the podium after taking third place in the 200 freestyle event at ODACs .