Read about a new student-led group advocating for change on campus, students who go barefoot, and get some opinions on awards season. Also, bring a copy to the basketball games against CBU on Saturday - we've got a special insert for the games!
SPORTS CHECK OUT OUR SPECIAL INSERT FOR THE CBU GAME! 5 LIFESTYLE BAREFOOT BEAUTIES ROAM AROUND CAMPUS 11 OPINION IS AWARDS SEASON TOO MUCH FOR OUR CULTURE? 9 Clause WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18, 2015 – VOL. 51, NO. 11 – WWW.THECLAUSE.ORG student voice of azusa pacific university since 1965 PREVIEW Tennis teams gear up for new season 5 @gracielou6042 | Grace: If you need me I’ll be nomading around west campus H lot in search of my car #iheartapu @ItsYaBoyMikeyG | Mikey: Today in chapel, I learned that taking a girl to McDonalds on a first date is okay. #iheartapu @maleahanne11 | Maleah: my 45 year old professor just said ‘Jesus is my homeboy.’ wow so much yes #iheartapu weets To see your tweets here, hashtag #iheartapu. @apuclause Student group calls for change on campus Brooke Seipel staff writer Katie Richcreek sports editor Student-led group sparks conversations about race and ethnicity on campus The status of racial and ethnic minority students on campus has been the subject of many recent con- versations sparked by a student-run movement known as Activate. THE MOVEMENT The group appeared on cam- pus the final week of January with a written declaration posted around campus. It read, “We, ACTIVATE, pursue freedom for students of color spiritually, academically, culturally, and psychologically by demanding institutional support and the creation of racial consciousness at Azusa Pa- cific University.” Activate has since created a Facebook page, released additional handouts and hosted various events. More than 50 students attended a "speak-out" hosted by Activate in Seven Palms on Feb. 5. Senior sociology major Casi- miro Jesse Peña, president of the Latin American Student Association, opened discussion by reading the movement’s proclamation. “Activate is a coalition of stu- dents passionate about bringing jus- tice and freedom to all members of APU,” Peña said. “We strongly be- lieve that injustice for one student is an injustice for all. This movement promotes unity amongst the entire student community.” The speak-out was followed by an organized chapel walkout on Feb. 6, which ended with a prayer circle in Kresge Plaza made up of students, faculty and administration — and was later joined by President Jon Wallace. Azusa PD and Campus Safety Department officers were present during the walkout to ensure both the civility and safety of students partak- ing in the demonstration. Activate published three resolu- tions to its Facebook page later that day. According to the post, each resolution was passed by majority vote within each ethnic organization represented by the signatures of the respective student leaders. These included LASA, the Black Student Association, the Asian Pa- cific American Student Organization and the Pacific Islander Organization. According to the documents, the resolutions were collectively au- thored by officials from the organiza- tions. The resolution “Increase in Eth- nic Organizations Budget” advocates for an increase in the total annual budget across the four ethnic organi- Brooke Seipel PHOTO Activate members gather for a prayer circle in Kresge Plaza after walking out of morning chapel Feb. 6. zations from $2,000 to $60,000. The resolution “Racial Discrimi- nation Policy” pushes for the adop- tion of a university policy and set of procedures regarding incidents of racial discrimination and calls for the involvement of student representa- tives in the creation. The resolution "Mandatory Di- versity Training” advocates for re- quired diversity training for faculty and staff members. STUDENT RESPONSES The voicing of the movement’s intentions has led to mixed reaction by students on campus and online. The college application YikYak has been a forum for this discussion both positively and negatively. While there have been posts in support of Activate, other posts about the walk- out were negative. One post said: “UMOJA has the ugliest black girls I’ve ever seen on campus. Why do they even exist?” Another post was under the name KKK and said, “Where the black people at?” However, not all responses to the movement were hidden behind anon- ymous posts. Junior journalism and photogra- phy double major Josephine Jimenez wrote a letter addressed to Activate and posted it to her personal blog on Feb. 12, which was later shared in the Facebook group Overheard at APU. Jimenez agrees the conversation should be started, but "not necessarily in the direction they're taking it." "I feel there is a lack of commu- nication between Activate and the rest of the university," she said. Jimenez said students told her they did not know what the Feb. 6 walkout was about. "There's too much demonstrat- ing and not enough intellectual out- reach," she said. Sophomore applied exercise science major Stacey Mendoza dis- agrees with the way some supporters have participated in the movement. "They create — whether they want to or not — the dichotomy be- tween white versus colored," Mendo- za said. "I don't think that's construc- tive to the movement they're trying to create because it's really not in line with what Activate is trying to do." Mendoza agrees with validating the claims made by the movement regarding racial discrimination, but says the experiences of those who have not experienced racism need to also be validated. "They're running on the assump- tion that everyone experiences rac- ism. I never felt uncomfortable be- ing a person of 'color' until Activate started," Mendoza said. "It was never really an issue for me, I never felt uncomfortable being a certain race. That isn't necessarily their fault, but that experience needs to be validated as well." Students involved in the move- ment, however, have varying views. “I think this movement is beau- tiful because it’s the first time all of the ethnic orgs have stood together to believe in a cause," said junior ex- ercise science major Zabrina Zablan, who participated in the speak-out and walkout. "Last night was a somber night of just telling people’s sto- ries and sharing people’s pains and standing together to be unified in one body of Christ. It’s amazing. It brings a lot of people to tears because it’s been years in the mak- ing.” Other students involved echoed a desire for these stories to be heard by the rest of the APU community. "I just want the student body to be aware of various situations that occur in our community," said Ayalet Brown, a junior communi- cation studies major. "I also want them to know that APU is a place to welcome everyone, regardless of their race/ethnicity." see ACTIVATE 4 SGA continues plans for the school year February is often flooded with Azusa Pacific University students' applications for studying abroad, getting involved in leadership posi- tions or working on campus the fol- lowing fall. For the Student Government As- sociation, this is not just a time of preparation for the following year, but of reflecting and focusing on the projects to finish out the term. Brooke Seipel staff writer Student group talks about campus changes, elections and surveys These are the projects SGA has worked on over the last semester, in- cluding ones now unfolding: THE DISCRETIONARY FUND One major development by SGA this year was the Discretionary Fund. Currently going through its trial semester, the fund was created to give on-campus clubs and ethnic organi- zations the opportunity to apply for extra funding for projects and educa- tional purposes. “[SGA] allocated an extra $4,000 into this fund and set up an applica- tion program for the ethnic orgs and clubs on campus to use this fund be- cause they currently do not receive a lot of funding,” SGA Controller Will Levegood said. The fund was the brainchild of Levegood and President Brian Jessup. “Ethnic orgs have already con- tacted us and they’re stoked to have opportunities to use the budget,” Levegood said. “We’ve limited it to just clubs and orgs. We’ve put a price limit on it, and we’re attempting to make it sustainable for next year and [the] next year. … It’s offered, but it's not set in stone [saying], ‘You will receive this money.’ It’s on a first- come, first-serve basis. Plan ahead. There’s still an application process online and a meeting with the finan- cial committee.” SPEAKING INTO GE REQUIRE- MENT CHANGES The university has been discuss- ing and planning changes in general- education requirements. Throughout the process, SGA has been present in meetings and discus- sions serving as a voice for the stu- dent body. “We’ve agreed with a lot of changes, but there are some we’ve questioned,” Speaker of the House Meredith Fann said. see PROPOSITIONS 2 APU Sports Information COURTESY SGA COURTESY
Transcript
SPORTS CHECK OUT OUR SPECIAL INSERT FOR THE CBU GAME! 5
LIFESTYLE BAREFOOT BEAUTIES ROAM AROUND CAMPUS 11
OPINION IS AWARDS SEASON TOO MUCH FOR OUR CULTURE? 9
Student-led group sparks conversations about race and ethnicity on campus
The status of racial and ethnic minority students on campus has been the subject of many recent con-versations sparked by a student-run movement known as Activate.
THE MOVEMENTThe group appeared on cam-
pus the final week of January with a written declaration posted around campus. It read, “We, ACTIVATE, pursue freedom for students of color spiritually, academically, culturally, and psychologically by demanding institutional support and the creation of racial consciousness at Azusa Pa-cific University.”
Activate has since created a Facebook page, released additional handouts and hosted various events.
More than 50 students attended a "speak-out" hosted by Activate in Seven Palms on Feb. 5.
Senior sociology major Casi-miro Jesse Peña, president of the Latin American Student Association, opened discussion by reading the movement’s proclamation.
“Activate is a coalition of stu-dents passionate about bringing jus-tice and freedom to all members of APU,” Peña said. “We strongly be-lieve that injustice for one student is an injustice for all. This movement promotes unity amongst the entire student community.”
The speak-out was followed by an organized chapel walkout on Feb. 6, which ended with a prayer circle in Kresge Plaza made up of students,
faculty and administration — and was later joined by President Jon Wallace.
Azusa PD and Campus Safety Department officers were present during the walkout to ensure both the civility and safety of students partak-ing in the demonstration.
Activate published three resolu-tions to its Facebook page later that day. According to the post, each resolution was passed by majority vote within each ethnic organization represented by the signatures of the respective student leaders.
These included LASA, the Black Student Association, the Asian Pa-cific American Student Organization and the Pacific Islander Organization.
According to the documents, the resolutions were collectively au-thored by officials from the organiza-tions.
The resolution “Increase in Eth-nic Organizations Budget” advocates for an increase in the total annual budget across the four ethnic organi-
Brooke Seipel PHOTOActivate members gather for a prayer circle in Kresge Plaza after walking out of morning chapel Feb. 6.
zations from $2,000 to $60,000.The resolution “Racial Discrimi-
nation Policy” pushes for the adop-tion of a university policy and set of procedures regarding incidents of racial discrimination and calls for the involvement of student representa-tives in the creation.
The resolution "Mandatory Di-versity Training” advocates for re-quired diversity training for faculty and staff members.
STUDENT RESPONSESThe voicing of the movement’s
intentions has led to mixed reaction by students on campus and online.
The college application YikYak has been a forum for this discussion both positively and negatively. While there have been posts in support of Activate, other posts about the walk-out were negative.
One post said: “UMOJA has the ugliest black girls I’ve ever seen on campus. Why do they even exist?”
Another post was under the name KKK and said, “Where the black people at?”
However, not all responses to the movement were hidden behind anon-ymous posts.
Junior journalism and photogra-phy double major Josephine Jimenez wrote a letter addressed to Activate and posted it to her personal blog on Feb. 12, which was later shared in the Facebook group Overheard at APU.
Jimenez agrees the conversation should be started, but "not necessarily in the direction they're taking it."
"I feel there is a lack of commu-nication between Activate and the rest of the university," she said.
Jimenez said students told her they did not know what the Feb. 6 walkout was about.
"There's too much demonstrat-ing and not enough intellectual out-reach," she said.
Sophomore applied exercise science major Stacey Mendoza dis-
agrees with the way some supporters have participated in the movement.
"They create — whether they want to or not — the dichotomy be-tween white versus colored," Mendo-za said. "I don't think that's construc-tive to the movement they're trying to create because it's really not in line with what Activate is trying to do."
Mendoza agrees with validating the claims made by the movement regarding racial discrimination, but says the experiences of those who have not experienced racism need to also be validated.
"They're running on the assump-tion that everyone experiences rac-ism. I never felt uncomfortable be-ing a person of 'color' until Activate started," Mendoza said. "It was never really an issue for me, I never felt uncomfortable being a certain race. That isn't necessarily their fault, but that experience needs to be validated as well."
Students involved in the move-ment, however, have varying views.
“I think this movement is beau-tiful because it’s the first time all of the ethnic orgs have stood together to believe in a cause," said junior ex-ercise science major Zabrina Zablan, who participated in the speak-out and walkout. "Last night was a somber night of just telling people’s sto-ries and sharing people’s pains and standing together to be unified in one body of Christ. It’s amazing. It brings a lot of people to tears because it’s been years in the mak-ing.”
Other students involved echoed a desire for these stories to be heard by the rest of the APU community.
"I just want the student body to be aware of various situations that occur in our community," said Ayalet Brown, a junior communi-cation studies major. "I also want them to know that APU is a place to welcome everyone, regardless of their race/ethnicity."
see ACTIVATE 4
SGA continues plans for the school year
February is often flooded with Azusa Pacific University students' applications for studying abroad, getting involved in leadership posi-tions or working on campus the fol-lowing fall.
For the Student Government As-sociation, this is not just a time of preparation for the following year, but of reflecting and focusing on the projects to finish out the term.
Brooke Seipelstaff writer
Student group talks about campus changes, elections and surveys
These are the projects SGA has worked on over the last semester, in-cluding ones now unfolding:
THE DISCRETIONARY FUNDOne major development by SGA
this year was the Discretionary Fund. Currently going through its trial
semester, the fund was created to give on-campus clubs and ethnic organi-zations the opportunity to apply for extra funding for projects and educa-tional purposes.
“[SGA] allocated an extra $4,000 into this fund and set up an applica-tion program for the ethnic orgs and clubs on campus to use this fund be-cause they currently do not receive a lot of funding,” SGA Controller Will Levegood said.
The fund was the brainchild of Levegood and President Brian Jessup.
“Ethnic orgs have already con-tacted us and they’re stoked to have opportunities to use the budget,” Levegood said. “We’ve limited it to just clubs and orgs. We’ve put a price limit on it, and we’re attempting to make it sustainable for next year and [the] next year. … It’s offered, but it's
not set in stone [saying], ‘You will receive this money.’ It’s on a first-come, first-serve basis. Plan ahead. There’s still an application process online and a meeting with the finan-cial committee.”
SPEAKING INTO GE REQUIRE-MENT CHANGES
The university has been discuss-ing and planning changes in general-education requirements.
Throughout the process, SGA has been present in meetings and discus-sions serving as a voice for the stu-dent body.
“We’ve agreed with a lot of changes, but there are some we’ve questioned,” Speaker of the House Meredith Fann said.
Fall 2015 is bringing in a new option for post-graduates as Azusa Pacific University launches its new Master of Science in Organizational Psychology. This is the first program of its kind in the Greater Los Ange-les area that will have classes offered both on campus and online.
According to Program Director Wendi Dykes, assistant professor of leadership and organizational psychology, "The demand is high for those who possess a master's degree in organizational psychol-ogy."
The degree has 39 required units, ideal for full-time students who will be able to complete their master’s degree in organizational psychology in 16 months. The program will be offered through a distributed learn-ing model, which is a learning pro-cess that has courses offered for adult learning and development.
"Work matters. People matter. The rapidly growing and lucrative field of organizational psychol-ogy prepares individuals to discover, shape and impact organizational health and wellness," Dykes said.
The program accommodates those with a full-time job and other
personal or professional responsi-bilities. Classes will be offered in the evening and some include online discussion forums and other distance-learning methods.
“This program is distinctive be-cause it engages students and fac-ulty in a process of discovering how the study of organizational behavior and change processes intersect with a Christian perspective of truth and
life," said Sarah Visser, chair and as-sistant professor in the Department of Leadership and Organizational Psy-chology.
Weekend courses will be held over a nine-week term period and will include three weekend sessions on Fridays and Saturdays. The eve-ning classes that students will at-tend are also on a nine-week term period and meet one evening each
week.According to Dykes, graduates of
the program will be able to diagnose, strategize and implement change ef-forts, employee motivation tactics, leadership development and more by conducting sound assessment, devel-oping strategy and providing genuine people care.
Dykes added that current re-search trends project two available jobs for every individual applying to work in this lucrative field. People with a master’s degree in organiza-tional psychology pursue careers in a variety of fields including academic and educational settings, business, churches, health care, government and nonprofits.
“We're eager to explore innova-tive ways of analyzing, dialoging and applying this learning both the-oretically and practically,” Visser said.
There are many career oppor-tunities available with this degree, including organizational develop-ment director, executive/leader-ship coach, human resources man-ager/director and organizational analyst. The program is enriched by Christian values and beliefs and prepares graduates to champion people, care and wellness within organizations.
The department will hold three different information sessions for students to attend. Sessions will be Feb. 24, April 16 and June 9 from 7:30-8:45 p.m. in the Felix Event Center VIP Room.
For questions or interest in the program, information or spot reser-vations, contact the Department of Leadership and Organizational Psy-chology at [email protected]
Graduate programming provides more opportunities for studentsPaige Smithstaff writer
APU opens new master’s program SGA finishes plans PROPOSITIONS, from P. 1
“Work matters. People matter. The rapidly growing and lucrative field of organizational psy-chology prepares in-dividuals to discover, shape and impact organizational health and wellness.”
-Wendi Dykes, assistant professor of leadership and organizational psychology
“They’re looking to add another writing course and we don’t all think that another writing course would be necessary if we made our already-existing courses more rigorous.”
The added class is only an idea currently being examined and not fi-nalized. Final GE requirement chang-es are still in the works, but SGA is involved in the conversations con-tinuing to unfold.
“Our influence over the general-education curriculum change conver-sation has been significant,” Jessup said.THE STUDENT SUMMIT
In March, SGA will be hosting its Student Summit focused on finances, a conversation not held on campus for several years.
“We are hoping to bring in an administrative panel of people who understand just what the APU finan-cial budget looks like,” Fann said. "What we’ve come to realize is a lot of students don’t know where their money is going and don’t understand what their tuition is being used for. … People don’t understand why tuition goes up every year, so we are hoping to shed light on what APU’s budget looks like and have a time for stu-dents to ask questions.”
The committee working on the Student Summit will be hosting Cougar Walk Talks in the upcoming weeks to hear students’ questions about finances. According to Fann, all questions and student stories sub-mitted will be made anonymous so that no one feels “singled out” by in-formation shared.
THE SGA SURVEY Each year, the SGA vice presi-
dent puts together a survey used to communicate students' feedback to administration, the board of trustees, faculty and staff.
“The SGA survey is a very valu-able tool … that we are able to use to evaluate students’ experiences and feedback on a more holistic level. For example, Dillon Recreational Complex is the result of consistent [survey] feedback reiterating student needs for more recreational space,” Ferrer said.
The group aims for a higher re-sponse rate this year and is looking into ways to motivate student partici-pation in the survey. Members have also added new questions to evaluate the campus climate. THE TABLE AND VISION
SGA creates a vision statement each year. According to Jessup, this year was very focused on listening.
“It’s been interesting to really re-spond to things in SGA versus react this year. I think at the end of the day we just want to be more present and for people to know what SGA does versus just to be known,” Ferrer said.
Another major focus has been "community and cultural definition and influence," according to Jessup.
“We’ve been really looking at facilitating a community that, one, realizes its potential of what it could be. Two, that realizes that potential comes out of us working together as a student body and a university, and three, that the way we do that is kind of learning to listen to one another in a different way,” Jessup said. “What came out of that was The Table.”
The Table is scheduled to come back in April to close the school year.
Master of Science in
Organizational Psychology
17241
Azusa Pacific’s Master of Science in Organizational Psychology program, slated to begin in fall 2015, equips students to diagnose, develop, and foster
a positive workplace environment. This program prepares individuals for careers as human resources professionals, workplace learning managers,
leadership coaches, and organizational analysts/consultants in a variety of settings.
Program Highlights Complete the program in less than two years.
Learn from scholar-practitoners who have worked in the field.
Establish ways to integrate Christian faith and practice people care in the workplace.
Learn more!Visit apu.edu/orgpsych or call (626) 815-6000, Ext. 5527.
The following are selected incidents as reported from the Daily Media Log from Feb. 8 through Feb.14, courtesy of Campus Safety.
■ SUNDAY, FEB. 8SEGERSTROM SCIENCE CENTEROfficer reported that two students were on the roof. Officers made contact with the students and counseled them about safety concerns.
■ MONDAY, FEB. 9ALOSTA CENTER OFFICESOfficer noticed a subject that was loitering and avoiding her presence. Officers responded to make contact but the subject left the area.
■ WEDNESDAY, FEB. 11UNIVERSITY PARK EXTERIORReporting party reported a subject who was looking into a vehicle in the area. The subject became nervous when he saw the RP and quickly departed the area. Officers resonded but could not locate the subject.
■ TUESDAY, FEB. 10ALOSTA CENTER OFFICESRP reported a suspicious subject in a classroom who became nervous when the RP walked in. Officers responded and determined the subject was allowed to be on campus.
■ FRIDAY, FEB. 13UNIVERSITY DRIVERP reported two males walking through the area. RP was suspicious due to the time of night. Officers responded and checked the area. The subjects were students.
REMEMBER 1. If you see something, say something. 2. Safety is everyone’s business. 3. Dial 911 for life-threaten-ing emergencies. 4. Non emergencies: Cam-pus Saftety (626) 815-3898.5. Lock all doors and win-dows to your dorm, apart-ment and vehicle. 6. Keep all valuables se-cured and out of plain view. 7. At night, keep to well-lit areas.8. Always be aware of your surroundings. 9. Utilize the trolleys, safety escorts or walk groups. 10. Avoid places where you are vulnerable and there are no exits. 11. Avoid texting or talking on the phone while walking as you may be distracted. 12. Avoid walking and jog-ging alone. 13. Secure your bike with a recommneded Kryptonite U-lock.
campus safetyreport
CALENDAR
Austin O’Brien COURTESYThe cast of the APU theater department’s Spitfire Grill demonstrates excitement for character Hannah Ferguson’s immense amount of mail.
compiled by gina ender
Friday, Feb. 20Grandparents DayThe Office of Alumni and Parent Relations is hosting Grandparents Day from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Grandparents will have the opportunity to take a campus tour, attend chapel, go to a luncheon with the president and visit their grandchild’s classes. The cost is $25 per person, including breakfast and lunch. Register at apualumni.com/grandparentsday15 or contact the office at (626) 812-3026 or email at [email protected].
Friday, Feb. 20One Voice PoetryOne Voice Poetry is an open mic night held in Seven Palms at 6 p.m. Contact [email protected] with any questions.
Saturday, Feb. 21Jazz Dance ClassThe ladies of Azusa Pacific Dance Company will be hosting a jazz class in the Cougar Dome. For $5, attendees will learn techniques and a routine, no experience necessary. Registration starts at 1:30 p.m. and the class begins at 2 p.m.
Clausemailing address p.o. box 9521-5165, azusa, ca 91702
business manager blake standal staff writers brianna rodriguez, sam
quintanilla, alex perez, brooke seipel, lauren duran, sydney potter, arianna ruvalcaba,
angel eleyae, kianna mourer FACULTY ADVISER dr. kyle huckins
The Clause is a student newspaper dedicat-ed to providing a realistic, journalistic educa-tional experience for students of Azusa Pa-cific University; to seeking truth and reporting it boldly, fairly and accurately; to enhancing the university community by providing a stu-dent voice imbued with truth, responsibility and accountability.
The newspaper is published weekly, ex-cept during examinations and vacation pe-riods, by the students of the Department of Communication Studies at Azusa Pacific Uni-versity. The newsroom is located on Cougar Walk in between the cafeteria and Cougars’ Den. The views expressed in all letters to the editor and all signed opinion articles are those of their authors, not the staff or university.
LETTERS TO THE EDITORPlease include a phone number for verifica-tion of all letters to the editor. Anonymous and unverified letters to the editor will not be printed. The Clause reserves the right to edit the letters for length and journal-istic style. The opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, staff or administration of Azusa Pacific University.
Tuesday, Feb. 24Lighthouse Campus MinistryThe Lighthouse Campus Ministry would like to invite students to fellowship and Bible study every Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in Wilden 228. For more information contact Paul Konadu at [email protected].
This Valentine's Day, America’s Christian Credit Union in Glendora hosted Pause for Paws, a pet adoption event for community members to find and adopt furry friends.
“We wanted to bring some dogs out for people to adopt that would already be registered, already be microchipped and already spayed or neutered,” said APU alumna Liza Lemkuil, current marketing specialist at the credit union. “We started call-ing people and everybody was really excited for the event. We ended up with six different pet resource ven-dors and seven different rescues and shelters. We thought it was best to have it on Valentine’s Day because nothing says ‘I love you’ more than saving a furry friend and welcoming them into your home. Our mission is to Reach, Serve and Teach and today we accomplished that.”
Many pets found a new home, including Harrison from Maltese Rescue California, who was the Valentine’s Day gift for Connie and Howard Hiwiller of Glendora.
“We have one dog, Honey, and we think she needs some friends,” Connie Hiwiller said. “We love dogs, so we thought we’d like to adopt one from a shelter. So now we’ve got Harrison. This is our gift to each oth-er for Valentine's day.”
Admission was free and each
guest received a welcome bag with dog treats, information on the shel-ters attending, coupons from different pet resource vendors and other ven-dor gifts.
The event ran form 10 a.m. to 2 p.m with over 100 in attendance. About 30 dogs, cats, iguanas and a bunny were up for adoption. Accord-ing to Lemkuil, 16 animals, including the bunny, were adopted. Many of the attendees, like Alisha and Damien Alarcon adopted not one, but two dogs.
"We did have a maltese, and we unfortunately lost her to congestive heart failure and kidney failure, so our hearts were broken and these lit-tle guys definitely have helped soothe and fill our hearts," Alisha Alarcon said. “We needed another member of the family to love and to spoil. We want to give them as much as we can to give them a good life and make sure they’re happy and healthy. These little dogs need homes, and we’re just here to do that.”
Vendors and attendees were ex-cited to see new homes found for the animals brought by shelters. In the first hour, several adoptions had already taken place, including a cat from Upland Animal Shelter that was adopted by the wife of a city council member.
"Most [animals here] are strays that were brought into the shelter from Upland," said Jon Knowlton, animal services supervisor at Upland Animal Shelter. "When you’re look-ing for a pet, always go to your lo-cal animal shelter and get a pet that is looking for a home that doesn’t have a home. There are so many great pets looking for homes."
Brooke Seipel PHOTOTop: Howard and Connie Hiwiller pose with their new puppy. Bottom: Damien and Alisha Alarcon adopt a maltese on Valentine’s Day at Pause for Paws.
The university administration has received Activate's declaration and resolutions, and administrators have been present at the events.
On Jan. 30, they released a writ-ten response, which said: "There is a disconnect between the environ-ment we strive for that demon-strates respect and value for people and that members of our commu-nity experience. We expect more from this Christ-centered commu-nity. You deserve more from us. We are ready to meet and collaborate with the Activate participants, to marry our collective wisdom, ideas, passion and strength to improve the state of students of color at APU, and to move closer to the positive future for APU that we all desire."
Feb. 16, the first official meet-ing took place.
Eleven representatives of Acti-vate, the administration and student leadership gathered to discuss how to move forward.
“Building a sense of community and communication is essential,” said Dr. Kim B.W Denu, special advisor to the president and provost and present at Monday’s meeting. “I think it’s not this idea of us or them.
If we, at APU, are going to move towards a common purpose so that all of our students feel valued, that means we are going to have to work together. Administration can’t do it alone. Students can’t do it alone.
"I think Activate has initiated a great process where we can col-laborate and we can work together. Some would say they would have gone about it a little bit differently, that’s really neither here nor there. It’s how do we build and work to-gether at this point forward," Denu said. "I think today's meeting was a great start."
SCRD Executive Director Ed Barron, Diversity Office Execu-tive Director Richard Martinez and Dean of Students Terry Franson joined Denu at the meeting.
Wallace also was present for part of it.
"Our administration is leaning forward from the top all the way through the ranks as far as taking the Activate movement serious and hearing students’ concerns,” Barron said. “The tone of the letters has been absolutely positive, and we’re eager to connect and join and bring to bear the full weight of our wis-dom, the full weight of our ideas to be able to rewrite these narratives.
Will we be able to eradicate every-thing? That’s not realistic, but we are leaning forward and are ready to give it our best shot."
According to the statement re-leased by administration in January, survey data from the Higher Educa-tion Research Institute shows APU senior students of color feel "less of a sense of belonging and more mar-ginalized than students of color at peer institutions."
As the university and Activate work together toward improving conditions, many students may wonder how they can contribute to a positive campus climate.
“Any of the students I work with will tell you I have a favor-ite question, ‘Help me to under-stand?’ rather than seek to be un-derstood—which we do when we make our own experiences first, when we make our own perspec-tives a priority, our own view a priority and try to convince some-one of that—it creates this sort of antagonistic, sort of polarizing dynamic,” Barron said. “But if we take the time to ask the 'help me understand' question, maybe a dia-logue can start up through personal responsibility and integrity of all students.”
ACTIVATE, from P. 1
Student activism provokes discussion amongst student body
Jan. 25 – Activate Facebook Group appears online with declaration; Flyers appear on campus
Feb. 5 — Activate hosts the speak-out in Seven Palms at 7 p.m.
Feb. 6 — Walkout during chapel followed by prayer circle and resolutions
Feb. 4 — Activate students chalk the campus
• ••
•
Brooke Seipel PHOTOActivate members gather for prayer right after their walk-out protest.
With academic advising approaching, students begin to select classes for the fall semester. Choosing a major becomes a large part of the process as it decides the amount of units needed to graduate and ul-timately determines how quickly one can graduate.
“Knowing your major sooner may give you an opportunity at graduating earlier or picking up a minor, or in some cases a double major, by planning out your semes-ters and summers early on,” said Michael Chrzanowski, an academic success coach in the Office of Academic Advising and Retention.
Isaac Da-wei Yeh switched from a business major to a global studies major with a minor in business this past year. His undergraduate career was supposed to be completed in 2016, but will now end in 2017.
“Because of my change to global stud-ies, I am now graduating a year late. Finan-cially and practically, it would have been nice to know I would be a global studies major, but if I hadn’t taken those business classes, I wouldn’t have the appreciation for what I do now. In the educational and self-growth sort of sense, I don’t regret it,” Yeh said.
Second-year freshman psychology transfer Aubre Ferrell looks forward to the rest of her college years, sure of her choice in major. She knew she wanted to study psychology long before she came to APU.
“At my church, a lady was telling
me about nursing and how she went into the nursing program, but before that she took psychology courses. I thought I should do that because I want to be a pediatric nurse,” Ferrell said. “I don’t want to take courses that are not useful; I want to use my time wisely here, so I decided to choose my major early.”
Along with graduating in a timely fashion, Chrzanowski outlines three reasons why choosing a major as soon as possible is beneficial:
1. Students can find out if they are really interested in pursuing a career in a given major faster than they would by waiting to declare and then realiz-ing they are not interested in that career path.
2. Students will also have earlier access to information about different opportunities within their major's de-partment (i.e. internships, research proj-ects, new classes, future changes or op-portunities and scholarships.)
3. Additionally, a student will be around others with similar interests and passions earlier on, which helps to sooner give opportunities for collabora-tion and potential future partnerships with like-minded individuals.
“If I had to give advice to my past self, it would be to probably just find out what you like first,” Yeh said, “try to find the balance between practicality and also doing what you enjoy.”
There may be an increased chance of doing well academically since you will start off by taking a balance of classes you are interested in, along with general-education courses, as op-posed to only taking GEs that don't necessarily interest you as much.
Students and staff discuss steps in decision Arianna Ruvalcaba staff writer
Choosing a major earlier proves better in the end
With prom season around the corner, high school girls all over America will soon be waiting for the seven words they're dying to hear: “Will you go to prom with me?”
According to a survey done by Visa Inc., the average American household spent nearly $978 on proms in 2014. While some have room in their budget for such a large expense, others do not. This is where My Sister’s Closet steps in.
“I saw the number of fami-lies that struggled with the cost of prom. We began collecting dresses and made them available to the students in need of them,” Guid-ance Program Coordinator Silvana Cavazos said.
The organization helps local teens afford the event by providing teens with dresses, makeup, acces-sories, shoes and any other items needed for the dance.
It began in 2007 when Azusa Pacific student and current Associ-ate Director of Academic Advising and Retention Stephanie Orona became interested in doing a major project. At the time, Cavazos was the homelessness liaison for Azusa School District. Together, they be-
Organization partners with university during prom season Social Work Department and nonprofit provide outfits for high school students Lauren Duran staff writer
gan impacting the community.Over the past eight years,
the organization has continued to thrive off donations from the area.
“This city embraced a simple project that was supported by so many individuals. It is the people that have made this project what it is today. We have had students from as many as 35 high schools participate in our event,” Cavazos said.
Last year the organization pro-vided over 200 girls with prom at-tire and plans to do similarly this year with the help of Cavazos, APU’s Social Work Department, Azusa Unified School District Family Resource Center, Azusa/Glendora Soroptimists and the Covina Assistance League.
March 21 in the Los Ange-les Pacific College Board Room, teens from all over the San Ga-briel Valley will be able to come and "shop” for prom. They will be provided with a personal shopper to help them pick out their favor-ite dress, accessories, shoes and makeup. A seamstress will be on site to alter the dresses to fit each girl perfectly.
“We really want it to be a one-stop shop where you can get ev-erything done,” said senior social work intern Reggie Cutliff. “We are collecting the dresses, acces-sories, a seamstress, getting vol-unteers and registering the girls.”
Volunteers are excited and hopeful for the impact this event will have. “It brings the whole community together when people see that APU is helping,” said se-nior social work intern Dominique Salido.
“It is not only APU, but it’s
Azusa,” Cutliff said. “It kind of al-lows everybody to come together and bring cohesiveness for the whole city.”
For those interested in donat-ing, the Social Work Department will be accepting donations until Feb. 27.
Volunteers will assist the de-partment in sorting and cleaning dresses, setting up the LAPC, helping customers and creating a positive experience for each girl.
“I think it's good for us to not just get the credits [service cred-its], but to really come out and want to serve if you have a pas-sion to help those who are less fortunate and those who wouldn’t be able to afford this opportunity otherwise,” Salido said.
For more information on the event and on how to make a dona-tion, contact Cavazos at [email protected] or Cutliff and Salido at [email protected].
Lauren Duran PHOTO
WOMEN’S TENNISThe No. 13 Azusa Pacific wom-
en’s tennis team is entering its first season as a full NCAA Division II member, but with a new look.
For the first time in its 20 years of existence, the program has a new head coach, David Goodman, who takes the helm while Mark Bohren remains on board as the director of tennis.
The Cougars have also added six new faces to the roster, four freshmen and two sophomore transfers from NCAA Division I programs. They also return four players from the 2014 team, which went 22-8 en route to the NCCAA Championship match.
The team will be led by Natalie Johnson, who will play No. 1 singles and doubles. As a freshman last year, she became the first player in pro-gram history to record 41 wins in a single season in doubles and singles combined.
Danae Ingwaldson will play pri-marily at No. 3 singles while also being a fixture in the doubles lineup. The senior captain has collected 34 of her 50 career doubles victories at the No. 1 position.
Ingwaldson and Johnson com-bine to make the No. 17 doubles pair-
Men’s and women’s tennis open 2015 campaign
Sports
Jared Pineguest writer
Teams welcome depth and tough schedules
ing in the Intercollegiate Tennis As-sociation preseason rankings.
Valeriia Kashina will be a key addition to the Cougars’ lineup. The sophomore transferred from Southeast Missouri State, where she played No. 1 singles at the Division I program. She was ranked No. 33 in Division II in the preseason rankings and will play No. 2 singles for the Cougars.
Azusa Pacific also added true freshman Jackie Resler, who in her first week as a Cougar won all three of her singles matches to earn Pac-West Player of the Week honors. Si-erra Troxel is the other addition who will see significant playing time after having a successful freshman season at Lipscomb, playing Division I op-ponents there.
After being one of the youngest players on the team each of the last few years, Lindsey Yeom will take more of a leadership role on the team as a junior. She collected 50 wins be-tween singles and doubles in her first two years at APU.
The team won’t have to travel much this year, with every regular-season match played in Southern California. However, the Cougars still have a very tricky schedule, facing three of the top six teams in the nation, along with three other teams ranked in the top 25 at least once each.
MEN’S TENNISThe Azusa Pacific men’s tennis
team is turning to a similar formula for success as it looks to convert its No. 13 preseason ranking into a spot in the NCAA Division II National
Tournament after consecutive NC-CAA National Championships. The team returns eight players who were part of those championship teams.
Junior Jan Meyer will fill the No. 1 singles and doubles duties for the Cougars, winning 42 matches last year at those positions. He is ranked No. 7 in the country in the ITA pre-season rankings and No. 1 in the West Region after winning 45 out of 49 singles matches to start his career.
Senior Ben Eger will return to ac-tion this year, playing No. 2 singles after redshirting last season. As a ju-nior in 2013, he went 25-1 in singles playing at No. 3 and No. 4. He is ranked No. 9 in the nation after tak-ing fifth place in the ITA/USTA Small College National Tournament. He will also play at No. 2 doubles.
Senior Gary Yam will be another key veteran presence for the Cou-gars. The native of Hong Kong has won over 100 matches in his career and will pair with Meyer as the No. 1 doubles team, while playing an im-portant role in the bottom half of the singles lineup. Yam, Meyer and Eger have 297 career wins entering the season.
The 2014 PacWest Conference Newcomer of the Year, Pascal Engel, will partner with Eger in doubles and bounce around the singles lineup. Alan Leahy and Tomas Aranguiz will also move around a lot in the order, but still play key roles in singles for the Cougars while trying to earn play-ing time in doubles.
Azusa Pacific has a packed schedule, facing top teams from Di-
vision II and III along with the NAIA while also facing some Division I op-ponents.
In the middle of March, the Cougars will have to go through the gauntlet, facing Armstrong, Hawai`i Pacific and Army on consecutive days. Both Armstrong and Hawai`i Pacific are ranked in Division II’s top five.
The matches are part of a stretch featuring eight matches in nine days
when the Cougars will have to rely on some added depth.
Sophomore transfer Shepherd Newcomb will play a particularly crucial part in the doubles action for Azusa Pacific, and true freshman Cameron Backman will see some playing time in singles. Randal Hseih and Sasha Kingsley also add to the team’s depth of talent.
APU’s next home match is Feb. 19 against Western New Mexico.
APU Sports Information COURTESYValeriia Kashina competes in the Feb. 14 match against Vanguard. The sophomore transferred from Southeast Missouri State, a Division I program.
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APU vs. CBU: Breaking down the rivalry
22
51
44
118
Conference championships
National championshipsAll-time winning percentage
*All sports
4741
65Student to faculty ratioGraduation rates
4 year 6 year
National ranking
All-time head-to-head
62%57
33
74
27
WBB MBB
14:1
18:1
Landon Troka GRAPHICS
58
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To Know as we are known
The CDL schedule will be available at apu.edu/cdl and via the APU Mobile app the week of the event.
Designer: Vanessa Esparza ’15, Candidate for the B.A. in Graphic Design, College of Music and the Arts
The William E. and Ernest L. Boyer
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Featured Keynote Speaker:
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Opinion
Jessie Gomeznews editor
Racial discrimination is evident at APUProving that my experience is legitimate
On an icy January morning in South Carolina, students at Clem-son University gathered at their university’s Center of Social and Athletic Life and marched to the school’s administrative offices to present a list of grievances and de-mands to Clemson President Jim Clements.
The group, A Coalition of Con-cerned Students, said its university as a whole and many students with-in it exhibited a pattern of social injustice that burst out last semes-ter after a fraternity gang-related “Cripmas” party and comments by Clemson students on social media.
For all of my fellow APU stu-dents who have no clue what a “Cripmas” party is, it’s basically a group of white students congregat-ed together drinking cheap beer, all while dressed in “gangster” clothes in order to spend a night as a ste-reotyped minority. Oh, and do not even ask me what gangster clothing is, because I have never seen that section at H&M.
Similarly to Clemson Univer-sity, many APU students and ethnic organizations have come together to create a movement called Acti-vate. According to the coalition, the movement aims to “legitimize the experiences of students of color.”
As a minority student and a member of Activate, I think it is heartbreaking that in 2015, almost 50 years after the Civil Rights Movement ended, college students nationwide have to prove that their experiences of social injustice at universities are valid.
There have been a vast number of instances where current APU
students have felt discriminated on campus. But there is no use in shar-ing these experiences if no one is willing to listen and understand.
I am not trying to blame you for the racial mistakes others have made but rather point you to the reason for discrimination.
Dear white person on campus, you are privileged. So, let me break down white privilege for you. It is an advantage in social, political and economic circumstances. Basically this means you will always see your race represented accurately in the media, your nation’s history taught
properly to your children and your ideas always validated because your race’s customs are considered “the norm” within the United States.
With that being said, the main problem many students and the ad-ministration have with Activate and its mission is the fact that they do not understand why we are so fed up with this institution’s ideologies. Well, it’s because the university’s programming is unwelcoming to students of color. Never in the his-tory of APU have minority students stood up for themselves, risking criticism and more discrimination from the student body.
We have finally stood up be-cause we are fed up with shallow conversations on diversity, we are done being your poster children for this institution’s supposed diversity-friendly campus and we are most certainly done being ostracized be-cause of our societal, cultural and racial beliefs.
Personally, I am not looking for pity or an apology for the ways I have experienced and seen racial discrimination on campus. What I, and other students in Activate, want
to see is progress and transparency on a campus that firmly supports Kingdom-like diversity.
Perhaps you as a student have never felt discriminated against or seen unequal representation here on campus. You might even be a mi-nority student who cannot attest to social inequality on campus. If that is you, I am grateful that you have not had to endure that, but that does not give you the right to invalidate my experience or assure me that I am over-exaggerating. If Martin Luther King Jr. or Cesar Chavez would have paid attention to people like you, we would still be living in segregation.
Galatians 3:8 says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is nei-ther slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” But unfortunately, we do not live in a colorblind soci-ety where sin and hate are foreign things.
I congratulate President Jon Wallace for showcasing his sup-port for Activate during our walkout from chapel this month. It was up-lifting to see our chief of diversity
Activate members chalk the ground on both east and west campus with prayer requests and their hopes for the future of Azusa Pacific.
Brooke Seipel COURTESY
Students of Activate and others from the student body huddle in a cir-cle praying for campus-wide unity during this month’s chapel walk-out.
Brooke Seipel COURTESY
Should award season matter?Rightful recognition for the film and music industrySydney Potterstaff writer
It’s that time of year when the entertainment business is all over the media as actors, singers and directors are receiving recognition for doing their best work in 2014. For an in-dustry always under the spotlight, is award season too much for our cul-ture?
The public swoons over fashion trends, its favorite celebrity crush steps out in a Giorgio Armani en-semble, the underdog actor makes a compelling acceptance speech and secretly hopes that Kanye West will make another unwarranted appear-ance.
Over the past couple weekends, my Twitter feed has blown up with people (including me) obsessing over every little detail of the most recent award show. For approximately two months, our culture gets to indulge in a season when we see our favor-ite entertainers from all areas of the
performing arts hopefully receiving another nomination or award to add to their collection.
As a fandom culture, we live for weekends like these, watching our favorite celebrity make a speech that inspires us to continue to strive for our goals. We are motivated to keep going, in hopes that there will be award for us somewhere down the line. We pride ourselves on recogni-tion. We pride ourselves on winning.
Is this a bad thing? For something like good, purposeful art, is recogni-tion justified?
As a society, if we can move past the “Best and Worst Dressed” awards and solely focus on films, music and artists being honored for their contri-bution to society, then the season is justified.
The Academy often nominates for the Oscars those films that have contributed to our culture over the past year. Whether it is honoring the life of the most lethal American sniper, shedding light on a man who changed history by leading a march or recognizing an individual trying to crack the enigma code in World War II, these films matter. These type of films should have their day in the sun. They should receive public recogni-tion.
The 2015 Grammy Awards Show ignited the twitter hashtag #ItsOnUs, bringing awareness to domestic vio-lence within our culture. Through the expression of music, we have the power to speak out against this issue. For reasons such as this, award sea-sons should exist.
Award season can be negative in our culture when seeking trophies outweighs the importance of the actu-al art and is solely to achieve positive feedback from an older-generation voting member. If award season’s main purpose is to play the compari-son game, then we can do without it.
One Oscar win and the honored actor’s career can take off. However, not all who win have the best influ-ence on our culture. Many have made public choices in their lives that do not reflect a positive role model’s agenda.
Award season should be set apart from the entertainer’s personal life-style, and only judged upon whether a performance was outstanding in telling an important story through music, film or television.
This season is positive for our culture when we honor those who have created stories and music that challenge our intellect, belief systems and lifestyles.
What I, and other students in Acti-vate, want to see is progress and
transparency on a campus that firmly supports Kingdom-
like diversity.
tell prospective students and fami-lies that the university is aware of the “broken pieces of the body of Christ” and that it is “aiming to fix these things on campus.” I do hope that Wallace’s remarks are true ac-tions toward administrative change on campus rather than a public rela-tions stunt to alleviate the tension of 50+ students leaving chapel.
So my question is: Can you, as a proclaimed Christ follower, handle cultural diversity? Can you really open your eyes to the margin-alized around you? Or do you need to go on mission trips to Africa or Latin American countries to feel as if you are making a difference in the world?
Stop ruling out the experiences of others but rather, sit down, lis-ten and understand that we live in a nation where social inequality is more than lynching people or seg-regation. It is systemic racism, ste-reotypes, neglect of other cultures and ignorance. I encourage you to take the time to immerse yourself in the things God has created and start activating yourself not only for this campus, but for the world.
Reese Witherspoon is nominated at the Academy Awards for best ac-tress for her role in “Wild,” a film based on the true story of Cheryl Strayed.
Wikimedia Creative Commons/Mingle Media TV COURTESY
The 86th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, Feb. 22 on ABC.Flickr Creative Commons/George Hernandez COURTESY
Taking away students’ freedoms or tapping into real truth?Finding value in the mandatory Bible courses
For many students, college is the first stepping stone on the path to in-dependence. The list of freedoms is endless, which makes college a time of growth and discovery. Universities are about education and self-govern-ment, yet Azusa Pacific takes away some of students’ rights by requir-ing that they relinquish 30 percent of your general education to 18 units worth of mandatory ministry courses.
The cost of tuition is currently $32,516 for a full-time freshman tak-ing between 12 and 17 units, not in-cluding on-campus housing or finan-cial aid. Each semester costs $16,258, and every unit totals $1,355. Based on the numbers given from the uni-versity’s website, I found that fresh-men are required to spend $24,390 on 18 units of required Bible courses in order to attain their degree.
As a freshman at APU, I knew before I officially committed that I would need to take a few Bible courses. However, after looking at how much these units cost and the sacrifice I was making to attend such classes, I was initially outraged.
I held the belief that general edu-cation was important for undergradu-ates because it could be used to help students discover their future career. Through my eyes, students were missing out on the chance to focus on the subjects of their choosing because of the biblical core requirements. I assumed that because some students were not taking electives based on their interests, they were not getting as much out of their Bible classes as
they could be if they were in a course they wanted to take.
I lazily blamed APU for taking away my freedom because it was easier than doing the research to re-ally find out why I disagreed with the requirements. However, after researching reasons why the univer-sity has decided that Bible units are a necessary part of education, I was surprised to find that I not only agree with having required units, I appreci-ate them.
Theological author Caleb Spen-cer, an assistant professor of English, explains how historical reason is suf-ficient for justifying mandatory Bible courses.
“Education is not largely about your choice,” said Spencer. “It is ac-tually something that is done to you by the people who came before you, and the people who are doing it to you had it done to them before they
got there and so on. The whole point is the person who is being educated in some sense is not aware of [the histo-ry that has gone before them] and that is why they need to become educated in the first place.”
Even though education is some-thing that is done to me, I still had the option to choose what kind of educa-tion I wanted to receive.
Prospective students are given the choice of the education they want to receive, either secular or private. Private universities like ours attract individuals by promoting a student-centered environment. I chose APU because of the interpersonal experi-ence it offered.
APU is not the only university in Southern California to require min-istry courses. At Biola University, all students are required to minor in Bible, taking a minimum of 30 units. California Baptist University man-
dates nine units, while Point Loma Nazarene University requires three classes totaling seven units.
Jennifer Buck, adjunct professor in the Department of Practical Theol-ogy, explains how it can be challeng-ing to teach students who don’t want to be educated in the Bible courses they are required to take. She thinks that a revision of the core curriculum may benefit both the students and fac-ulty.
“The goal is to make sure that ev-ery student who graduates out of here has an understanding of what Christi-anity is, and a basic understanding of how to study and understand the Bi-ble,” said Buck. “I see both of those as really good skills.”
For so long, I had separated the church from my scholastic educa-tion and felt that APU was dumbing me down by forcing me learn about Christianity when I could be learn-
ing about something a secular college would be teaching. In ways, I saw the education system at a secular college to be more valuable. However, after looking at the history of education I realized that biblical, theological and philosophical knowledge has every right to be a part of our education at Azusa Pacific University.
It was in the 18th century, dur-ing the Scientific Revolution, that the rapid growth in our knowledge of science and technology began to take root. It was during this time that uni-versities expanded and secular ones started to increase in popularity.
The fact that early scholars and teachers believed that theology ex-clusively constituted education justi-fies why Christianity being in class-rooms today is important. In fact, I think that every university, secular or private, should require a substantial number of Bible-oriented courses to attain a degree.
I believe that education should be characterized by the knowledge you gain and the reason for gaining knowledge in the first place. With-out purpose it is pointless. The con-crete, objective facts being taught in classrooms of secular universities have purposes that fall short of an ultimate, unchanging one, which, in APU’s case, is having a relationship with God.
One of APU’s four cornerstones is Christ. It is through this that every-thing is truly learned. I realize now that it is through a Christ-centered perspective that I am more likely to succeed.
This university prides itself in educating students to their fullest po-tential. I now understand that in order for APU to make its graduates well rounded, I have to give up some of my freedoms and trust that the uni-versity has my best interest at heart.
Kianna Mourer PHOTO
Azusa Pacific requires students to take 18 units worth of ministry courses as a part of the university’s core curriculum and attendance is mandatory at chapel three times a week.
The need for Snapchat newsApp adds ‘Discover’ as newest featureBrianna Rodriguezstaff writer
Snapchat recently released a new feature called “Discover,” which pro-vides daily, short news features from 12 different editorial teams including CNN, Cosmopolitan, Food Network, ESPN, Daily Mail and People Magazine.
Snapchat is easy to navigate, making it one of the most-used social media applications today. Until Jan. 29, when Discover was introduced, users were only allowed to take pic-tures or videos with the options to send them directly to friends or post them to their 24-hour story.
Discover follows Snapchat’s ba-sic structure, relating news stories from different publications by post-ing a handful of pictures or short vid-eos. To find out more about a story, users simply swipe up the featured graphic and the full article appears. Each one of the 12 sources provides new stories every 24 hours based on either what is most popular or most recent in the news or publication.
Many people in today’s society log on to their Facebook and Twit-ter accounts to see what is going on in the world. According to Pew Re-search, 30 percent of people in the United States get news from Face-book and 8 percent go to Twitter.
Tweets and posts are not bad ways to get daily news, as they are constantly being updated throughout the day and allow instant access to information.
I am a user of social media and appreciate the ability to obtain differ-ent stories through the browser and applications on my phone. I person-ally use social media to find out more about current world news and active-ly search hashtags to see the different perspectives on controversial topics.
When the San Francisco Fergu-son Protest happened in November, I unexpectedly found myself in the midst of protesters and policemen as I was crossing the street with my family. Without thinking, I began to capture the chaos that was occurring around me by adding videos to my Snapchat story.
My friends on Snapchat were able to see my experience through the videos I shared, which unintentional-ly served as a news source. Although it was raw footage that displayed a visual of what was going on in San Francisco, my Snapchat did not have informative descriptions about exact-ly what was happening.
Snapchat, along with other so-cial media sites, should be used by people so that they may be informed and never feel out of the loop. Social medias give a way to provide instant news to the public, and that will only continue to improve. If we have tech-nology that allows us to have the events of the world at the tips of our fingers, then we should not hesitate to make use of it and excel in our knowledge about the history that is currently taking place.
Although social media sites are great means to get our news, we should not rely solely on them to pro-vide information and details about events going on in the world. We must not forget the value of printed
newspapers and magazines as well as online newspaper, magazine and broadcast news sites.
Print articles, radio and TV news contain descriptive information about an event that took place and can be available to you at all times as long as you have the newspaper or magazine or access to the newscast. However, it might be a hassle to try to find these at certain times. Plus, they don’t al-ways guarantee the most updated in-formation about a story. That’s why people more and more are turning to the websites of these media for infor-mation.
Discover will boost the number of users on Snapchat by providing a convenient way to get quick news and entertainment. The new feature has definitely become one of my top news sources because I do not always have time to search the Web or buy a newspaper or magazine. Whether it’s running to class or sitting on the trol-ley, I usually open my Snapchat to get a quick idea of trending news topics. It has become a routine.
If you have thought about creating an account on Facebook, Twitter, Snap-chat or another social media site, do not think twice about it. It won’t hurt to get news instantly wherever you go.
Snapchat COURTESY
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LifestyleBarefoot beauties pad pavement at APUStubbed toes and dirty solesFaith Vander Voort copy editor
Many people have seen those brave students traipsing around Cougar Walk without shoes, and it seems the trend is becoming increasingly popular as the year progresses. But what is behind this Hobbit-like, even homeless-type look? It’s about time somebody found out what these barefoot beauties have to say for themselves.
Freddie Reid, junior sociology ma-jor, is not new to the barefoot scene, but has recently gone back to sporting foot-wear.
Q: When did you first decide to go barefoot?
A: Probably second semester [of my] freshman year was when I started.
Q: What prompted you to ditch the shoes?
A: I had just left San Diego, and in the summer, when it was hot, I would go to the beach without shoes. When I came to APU, it felt like summer [during the] second semester, so I just kept the trend going. It was so much easier to leave the house without them than to bring them.
Q: Why did you go back to wearing shoes on a daily basis?
A: Because some people were get-ting offended and very grossed out, so I was like, “I’ll just put on sandals to make people feel better.”
Q: What was the most interesting thing you stepped on while barefoot?
A: I stepped on a nail in the street once, but that was OK. I just took it out. It didn’t really get stuck in my foot, it just nicked me, so I just pulled it out.
On the other hand, freshman English major Millie Reese is rather fresh on the barefoot scene, and she’s not quite sure if she’s sold on it.
Q: Why aren’t you wearing shoes right now?
A: I’m not wearing shoes right now because I’m studying in the amphithe-ater and I went to pick up a package.
Q: How often do you wear shoes around campus?
A: I wear shoes, like, 98 percent of the time.
Q: What do you think about the people who never wear shoes around campus?
A: I think it’s kind of weird and kind of gross when people walk into food places without shoes. Or class... For class you kind of need shoes.
Reese’s hallmate and fellow fresh-man Lexi Subra was caught walking on campus without shoes as well. The global studies major was a little more in her element than Reese was.
Q: Why aren’t you wearing shoes right now?
A: To be honest, my sandals were giving me blisters.
Q: Are you a typical shoe-wearer?A: Well, there are some days where
shoes are just too much.
Q: Do people ever give you strange looks for going barefoot?
A: Oh yeah, but you’ve just got to do you, you know?
Q: Will this be the last time you
grace APU with your bare feet?A: Absolutely not. Some days you
just get blisters, or other days you just don’t feel like putting shoes on.
Lysh McAllister, a sophomore glob-al studies major, is a barefoot pro here at APU.
Q: When did you first go barefoot?A: I first went barefoot in high
school, but then apparently it’s against the California fire code, so I got in trou-ble. I had to wait until my freshman year here at APU. I was walking to class [with shoes on], and I saw someone walking in the opposite direction barefoot. I then got really excited and stopped wearing shoes to class.
Q: What prompted you to do so?A: First of all, haters gonna hate,
hate, hate, hate, hate. I’m just going to walk barefoot, foot, foot, foot, foot. But on the real, I love going barefoot because I get to feel the ground with my feet. In a world where we put as many layers be-tween ourselves and nature, going bare-foot is reversing that trend. It makes me think more about where I’m walking and I begin to appreciate the nature around me. I walk slower. I also grew up running around my backyard without shoes, so it feels more natural to be barefoot. Also, it’s easy. I don’t have to pick out shoes with my outfit.
Q: How do people react to your barefoot presence?
A: People don’t seem to understand going barefoot and everyone stares. I just smile. I like to break out of boxes that people try to put me in. However, I don’t try to draw a lot of attention to it. I don’t think it defines me.
Q: What is the grossest thing you’ve ever stepped in?
A: Gum. Plus every bacteria or mi-croorganism I cannot see.
There you have it, folks. Every bare-foot boy or girl on campus has a reason for choosing the stubbed toe and dirty sole life, so give the Cougars some cred-it!
Freddie Reid COURTESYFreddie Reid shows off his bare feet.
Faith Vander Voort PHOTOMillie Reese displays her toes on Cougar Walk.
Lysh McAllister COURTESYLysh McAllister puts her feet on the cement.
APU theater performs ‘The Spitfire Grill,’ selling out its entire run
Landon Troka assistant sports editor
Inside the intimate setting of APU’s Black Box Theater, the Department of Theater Arts put on its performance of “The Spitfire Grill” from Feb. 5-15. The musical is based on a 1996 film of the same name.
The show features 12 students from the de-partment performing in the story about recently released ex-convict Percy Talbott (played by ju-nior Morgan Reynolds), who looks to the small, dying Wisconsin town of Gilead to build a new life and home for herself.
“The irony of Percy simultaneously being a fish out of water and the only fish who wants to be there is just one of the reasons why I love the story of Spitfire Grill and why I jumped at the
chance to direct it,” said director Rhonda Kohl in the playbill.
Percy finds herself working at the only res-taurant in town, The Spitfire Grill. It’s run by Hannah Ferguson, who’s been trying to sell the restaurant since her husband died. Between the small-town gossip and the downtrodden nature of Gilead, Percy finds herself the center of at-tention.
“Percy is an outsider and she just doesn’t take crap from anyone. She’s there and says: ‘This is where I want to be and this is what I want to do. I’m just going to take the punch-es,’” said sophomore Andrew Bliek, who plays Hannah’s nephew and self-appointed caretaker, Caleb.
Caleb serves as the antagonist, being Per-cy’s biggest doubter and carrying much of the weight of the town’s hard luck.
Of course, in a small town, things are never as simple as they seem to be. Gilead is no ex-ception, featuring complex relationships and histories.
“It is very real to life and I love the dynamic in between each character,” Bliek said.
The best part of the play may be the in-timate venue. “The play was in only one set-ting, so it is perfect for the Black Box The-ater,” freshman Caitlin Slater said. “It created such an intimate setting, and you really felt like you were there and going through the struggles.”
One can’t help but be drawn in by his or her proximity to the stage. The small town of Gilead comes alive in the theater.
“As much of a challenge as it was, it en-hanced the performance all the more,” Bliek said.
Bringing some star power to the produc-tion is Sam Kriger, noted for his vocal coaching of Idina Menzel, Kristin Bell and Josh Gad on Disney’s “Frozen.” He brings his longstanding relationship with Disney to the performers at APU.
APU Theatre’s last show of the season, Pic-nic, opens March 19.
