Summer 2010 Issue

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What’s Inside...

By Jessie Knowles,editor-in-Chief

The First Annual Spring Leader-ship Retreat was held on May 20 and offered outgoing and incoming stu-dent leaders a chance to share their advice with each other, hear words of wisdom from business leaders in the Chattanooga area, and eat de-licious barbecue at a picturesque cabin overlooking the Tennessee River. Student led clubs and orga-nizations at Chattanooga State, like the Communicator, Student Gov-ernment Association, Multicultural Club and others offer a chance for students to get involved in extra-curricular activities that appeal to them – whether it be journalism, politics or gospel music. Students not only have a chance to do what they love, they have a chance to be a part of a group, organize activi-ties and hone skills that will help them become a successful part of the workforce after graduation.

The retreat began at the down-town Marriot, where panelists An-drae McGary, Stephanie Crowe, Bill Wilder, Dennis Blanton, Lisa Nausey and Paul Fitzgerald, all of whom have a list of accomplish-ments far too long to be named here, spoke about what it takes to make a great leader.

“Always start at the end and then start working backwards,” said An-drae McGary. His advice was in response to a question about what keeps him motivated. The idea he expounded upon was that the end goal must always be in sight. If you

know exactly where you want to be and what you want to accomplish, it is easier to chart a path to getting there.

“When people see that you are aware, organized and driven… they are willing to give you more,” said Stephanie Crowe. Crowe imparted the knowledge that knowing every-thing about your particular subject of interest is not as important as the attitude with which you work to-ward your goal.

“We are really at our best when we are serving, helping and en-couraging others,” said Bill Wilder. Wilder spoke about the importance of volunteer work and community service. According to Wilder, a great leader must give of himself in order to expect anything in re-turn. “When you get outside of

your daily workload, you get a better sense of your own value,” said Wilder.

“Be interested in what you are doing. I would rather talk to some-one who is interested, not interest-ing,” said Dennis Blanton. Many of the student leaders were impacted by the advice that it is more impor-tant to ask questions about the per-son to whom you are speaking, and to do research into the company for which you are interested in work-ing, than to boast about your list of accomplishments.

“When you are asked what you want to do, make sure you have an answer,” said Lisa Nausley. Many people are just interested in getting any kind of job that they don’t real-ly care what it is, but a good leader – and a good employee – is some-

one who knows what they want out of life and knows what they plan to do to get it.

“To the extent that you can help others meet their needs and listen and understand them, you will have your own needs met,” said Paul Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald also spoke about fol-lowing up with people that have helped you, a bit of wisdom that all the panelists agreed with. Later in the day, Brad McCormick, adviser to SGA, echoed the advice given by Fitzgerald to write a handwrit-ten thank-you note after meeting with someone and send it through the actual postal system, a concept that is often lost on our computer oriented generation.

The student leaders took this ad-vice with them into the second half of the retreat, where they were giv-en an opportunity to discuss what they thought needed to be done to improve communication between student clubs and organizations.

They also discussed Chatt-State’s new Quality Enhancement Program, put in place to encour-age students to improve skills like teamwork, integrity, initiative, and communication. We cheered on our own leaders Justin Booker, Boyd Copeland, Dorothy Chope, and Sandy Kluttz as created a cheer of their own. At the end of the day, it was apparent that everyone needed to work to improve communication between clubs and organizations - the first step is to CHECK YOUR TIGERMAIL!!!

From left: Justin Booker, Dorothy Chope, Sandy Kluttz, Boyd Copeland and Thomas Burge strut their stuff at the first annual Spring Leadership Retreat.

Photo by Jessie Knowles/Communicator

The Leaders of the Pack

By Matt nassar,senior staff writer

Jeffrey L. Rinkel, an associate professor of speech at Chattanoo-ga State since 1996, died Sunday, May 2, 2010, at his home in Hixson from an accidental fall. He was 52.

In the world of academia, Mr. Rinkel was an innovator who made lecture intriguing and was beloved by his students. In stark contrast to the traditional approach, he dedi-cated his career to improving un-dergraduate teaching in the field of public speaking. During his ten-ure at the college, he taught public speaking, nonverbal communica-tion and introduction to theater.

Throughout his entire career, Mr. Rinkel was unique because of his fundamental concern for his stu-dents. He greatly affected the lives of his colleagues and pupils with his unique combination of jocular-ity and candid sincerity. He was so simple, so natural, so modest, so destitute of personal pretension that everything good and fruitful lay near to him. He was a veritable treasure to all who were fortunate enough to have known him.

The encyclopedic range of his work, his familiarity with his dis-cipline and his mastery of so many diverse methodologies of public speaking stamped him as a figure from a richer age of scholarship. Despite the voice and manner of a patrician, Mr. Rinkel had a gracious sense about him that was a signal to the establishment that he was not to

be taken entirely for a certain kind of fellow. While his introduction to public speaking course was osten-sibly about bettering communica-tion, there was an underlying mes-sage as well: How do you behave with integrity? How do you speak in a way that begs other people to eargerly receive the message you are trying to convey? How do you share your passion with the world?

Mr. Rinkel was not only an emi-nent scholar, but also a much loved and inspirational teacher who nur-tured an interest in public speak-ing for generations of students, a significant number of whom have gone on to develop careers utilizing his teachings. He had an inviting teaching style that enticed students

to return to each of his lectures in anticipation of more. Amidst the tangled web of to-do lists and co-pious list of assignments, the voice of one earnest teacher standing at a podium talking about the inher-ent power of communication stood apart.

He could be an attention seeker - compounded by his boisterous voice and striking personality; he insisted on having a decisive say, was certain of his opinions, and was wistfully humorous. He could captivate an entire classroom of students by doodling energetically and moving his hands expressively as he spoke. He was the richest, the most delightful of talkers, and his face, his person, his temper, the

thoroughness with which he had been equipped for human discourse, make in the memory of his students an image which is completed by his capabilities as an instructor.

Students liked hearing Mr. Rin-kel’s anecdotes about the world and the quaint history of his child-hood spent in Iowa. Though he had become a cosmopolite by the force of his southern surroundings, his roots had never been loosened in his native soil of Iowa. He often joked about the peculiar assortment of characteristics that arose in him as a result of his localities - it was one of his endearing quirks. His hu-mor exercised itself as freely upon himself as it did upon others, and he told stories at his own expense with a sweetness of hilarity which made his peculiarities really sacred in the eyes of a friend. His lectures inspired me to be less circumspect about speaking candidly and to al-low myself to tell the stories inher-ent within me.

Mr. Rinkel had an enormous and lasting impact on Chattanooga State that will not soon be forgot-ten. His most defining character-istic was that he inspired strong responses in others. The vigor and clarity with which he expressed his views would impress upon anyone that he spoke to. His love of teach-ing, his sense of fun and his inces-sant charm marked him as an amaz-ing individual. He will be fondly remembered as having been a key contributing factor to our college’s intimate and genial framework.

A Rinkel in TimeRemembering Jeffrey Rinkel

Photo Courtesy of Vanessa Rinkel

Jeff Rinkel, seen here with his son, John, made a tremendous impact on the lives of everyone he came in contact with.

Golden Speech...pg. 2

Get Better...pg. 3

Good Friends...pg. 4

Godspell Review...pg. 5

Goodbye...pg. 6

Games...pg. 7

Campus Buzz

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Recently Rejected?By ryan tyler,

Junior staff writer

As the curtain falls on yet an-other spring semester, some of the actors in our everyday play affix their tassels and exit the stage of our lives. And while we all conjure hopeful words and wish them well on their journey into the real world, it falls each year to one person to give a speech that might touch us in some timeless way. The graduates of 2010 had the good fortune to procure Jason Taylor, president of the ChattanoogaTimesFreePress, to deliver just such a commence-ment address.

Named executive of the year in 2006 by Gannet Co. and becom-ing President at the young age of 35, Taylor is reminiscent of one Adolph Ochs, the 20-year-old who purchased the burgeoning Chatta-nooga Daily Times back in 1878. At a time when the population in the city of Chattanooga was actu-ally less than today’s student reg-istry at Chattanooga State, an am-bitious young man came out of the woodwork to rejuvenate the news-paper industry. And that’s just what Taylor has been doing more than a century later.

“I take the legacy of this job very seriously,” Taylor said during his interview.

As ink and pages readership suffers at the hands of Blackberry updates and online news blogs, newspapers all over the country are experiencing record average loss-es of eight to ten percent of their subscriptions, a fly in a worldwide web. Like his mythological name-sake, however, Jason appears to have found the Golden Fleece, as circulation of the Times Free Press has actually risen nearly five per-cent over the last year.

Taylor further explained, “I look at my job as very community-ori-ented.”

Born in Decatur, Alabama and spending the first few years of his print journalism career in Murfrees-boro, Tennessee, it is no stretch to call Mr. Taylor an honorary local. His hands-on work helping to re-build houses in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina demonstrates his penchant for humanitarianism, a trait fairly disguised as humility as he admitted his hesitance in giv-

ing our commencement speech.His advice to graduates was

breviloquent. When it comes to your life, your work, your future, or your errors, he simply said, “Own it.”

Taking responsibility for your actions is a classic maxim, one that prevails across all careers and walks of life.

It was one of several notions of nobility and honor that he empha-sized during the lesson he made of his own life. And Taylor delivered it all with a reverent smile, so his candor in discussing his turbulent childhood caught most of us off guard.

“I spent most of my childhood watching the dishonesty and vio-lence in my family,” he said. “So I was motivated to be different. I remember meeting my friends’ parents, and they were people you could be proud of.” He went on to jest, “We used to say that I was the white sheep of [my] family.”

Recently asked about the fate of print journalism, Taylor replied,

“There is an intimacy, if you will, that exists [between] a person and their newspaper that is not going to go away. We saw that with Obama when he won the election. People didn’t go download their front page and put it in a safe. They went and bought newspapers. Every day we provide a written piece of history, [and] there’s a credibility with put-ting it into print that is unique.”

ChattState graduates should re-member that as we take our degrees and venture into the world. Every day we add to the rich history of our state, our nation, our world. And with our speech, our actions, and the causes we champion, we can make it better. We can make it stronger. We can make it last.

On behalf of the students of Chattanooga State, Mr. Taylor, I thank you for your time and the timeless way you touched us. And from one surfer to another, keep carving your piece of the ocean, sir. You are not only an inspiration but a role model to many. - Ryan Tyler

The Golden Speech

Summer 2010 • Page 2

By ryan tyler,Junior staff writer

Well, Tigers, summer is upon us. And you know what that means! Sun-kissed picnics, a sparkling riverfront, and four-year universi-ties all across the nation are gluing stamps to the refusal of your long-term goals and dreams.

In 2009 and 2010, the United States has seen students graduating from high school in record num-bers. Certainly this is something to be proud of, but it is also slowly encroaching on our labor force. American colleges are being flood-ed with more applicants than there is room to consider, house or edu-cate them. And when added to the pool of non-trads and post-grads going back to school to escape re-cession, we are also seeing a record number of college rejection letters.

Said one such recently rejected student, “I poured my heart and soul into that essay. I’ve got good grades, great grooming habits, and extracurriculars coming out of my ears! I don’t know what else to do.”

So what is the next step when the last two semesters—or years of your life have only led you to a Dear Joe letter? The only thing you can do: reformat and reboot

your résumé. Try to raise your test scores (e.g., SAT’s or ACT’s), in-crease your extracurricular activity and assume greater roles of leader-ship in clubs and organizations, ask for help on campus rewriting your academic résumé, look into sum-mer classes or internships that ap-ply to your chosen major, and start saving up to expand the number and variety of college applications you fill out next year. If you have any friends or classmates who were ac-cepted to their first-choice school, ask to compare your applications or essays; figure out what they’re doing differently. Above all, don’t lose hope.

The Department of Labor Sta-tistics confirms, contrary to dismal Internet chatter, that college gradu-ates across all demographics (even those with only two-year degrees) are still finding it easier to get a job than applicants who dropped out of high school in pursuit of immediate employment. So keep your nose in the books and spend your energies wisely. Remember to focus on the decades you’ll enjoy in the career you’re building now, not the few frustrating years it took to achieve. As the saying goes, “If you want to conduct the orchestra, you must first turn your back to the audience.”

Praise for the PaperBy Betty ProCtor,

CoMMuniCator adviser

I am proud to announce that the Communicator received notice of winning two awards via American Scholastic Press Association (ASPA) for 2009. We have won awards every year since we first began submitting them in 1999. 1,000 points is the maximum amount of points a paper may earn. The Communicator scored 940 points, earning us a “first place award.” The two papers submitted to review for this award were April 2009 and November 2009. We have not won a special category in several years and never for an “outstanding cover or first page,” congratulations! The November 2009 issue led with the headline: “The Research Revolution” by Amber Lewis, while “We Got Willis Talking” by Jessie Knowles was positioned on the bottom half. The November 2009 was a very strong issue employing good journalism practices and layout principles. As advisor to the Communicator since 1997, I would like you to join me in congratulating the staff on a job well done. Staff members who worked on the November 2009 edition include: Jessie Knowles, editor-in-chief Ken Low, assistant editor, fall 2009 Jaye Harris, art director Margie Penn, assistant art director Abel Isidro, sports editor Charles Fannin, Web editor Chasity Masters, business/ad manager Isaac Craft, photographer Colleen Casey, senior staff writer Dorothy Foster, junior staff writer Amber Lewis, senior staff writer Lee Lunsford, senior staff writer Sgt. Brandon Diaz, contributing writer Staff members who worked on the April 2009 edition include: John Roark, editor-in-chief Landry Smith, assistant editor Kevin Green, art director Sterling Miller, assistant art director Jonathan Dean, illustrator Dale Grisso, sports editor Sandra Rek, photo coordinator Chasity Masters, business/ad manager Colleen Casey, senior staff writer Amber Lewis, senior staff writer Lee Lunsford, senior staff writer Aja Meers, junior staff writer Joda Thongnopnua, junior staff writer Shannon Lucas, contributing writer

Daryl Christopher Secretary 3 Business & Information Technologies

Linda Edwards Associate Professor Arts & Humanities

Gary Fisher Producer Media Services

James Garner Associate Professor Math/Sciences

Don Green Senior Instructor Tennessee Technology Center

Denise Heinly Associate Professor Arts & Humanities

Stuart Hilton Associate Professor Engineering

Bobby Ledford Painter Plant Operations

Roy Morris Associate Instructor Tennessee Technology Center

Merrill Parker Professor Business & Information Technologies

Charles Etta Pollard Technical Clerk Dual Enrollment

Rose Scalise Assistant Professor Business & Information Technologies

Duane Walker Associate Instructor Tennessee Technology Center

Dorothy Weathersby Professor Arts & Humanities

Napoleon Williams Assistant Director Security

The Communicator Would Like to Honor the Retiring Faculty and Staff

Photo Courtesy of ChattanoogaTimesFreePressChattanooga TimesFreePress president Jason Taylor spoke words of wisdom at this year’s commencement ceremony.

LifeStudent

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Get Better Business Skills:Massage Therapy Graduate’s Business is Blooming


By Jessie Knowles,editor-in-Chief

“Why not get better?” says Ga-briel Gardner, sitting calmly on the front porch of serene dwelling in North Chattanooga, which houses his business, Get Better Massage. Gardner is a graduate of Chatta-nooga State’s massage therapy pro-gram, a graduate who won a gold medal at last year’s SkillsUSA competition and was promoting his business at this year’s health fair, which is how the Communiactor caught up with him.

Gardner decided to embark on a career in massage therapy because of the benefits he experienced re-ceiving massages in his twenties. “I was blown away by how much it removed the stress that I was feel-ing at the time,” he said. He began giving massages to his friends as an experiment to see if he could help relieve some of their pain. “The sensation of the connection, there are no words,” Gardner explains. After the realization that he not only enjoyed giving massage and helping others to relieve their pain, but also was quite good at it, Gard-ner enrolled in the massage therapy program at Chattanooga State.

The best part of the program, Gardner says, was being “spoiled. There were 18 to 20 [students in the program] and half as many tables. So we practiced on each other. I was getting three to five massages a week for a year.” Gard-ner also enjoyed the fact that the entire program was taught by one teacher, Mr. Michael Matthews, un-like many other college programs, where students rotate to a different teacher for every class.

Gardner expressed that while

there are different aspects that one must learn to be a good massage therapist, they are all interrelated, like the body itself. The benefits of learning from one teacher in one environment helped Gardner to re-ally experience the wholeness of the process.

As the SkillsUSA competi-tion approached, Gardner says he “stressed.” But he researched the benefits and contraindications of his technique and practiced in front of his classmates, appearing “con-fident and fluid and fluent,” which is what the judges look for, says Gardner. He won the gold medal for job skills demonstration and his particular skill was drumming, “which I’ve been doing for years,”

he says. Having received one of Gardner’s otherworldly massages, which end with him drumming his hands on every part of the body, rhythmic and syncopated, it is very clear how he won the top honor. “In a stadium full of 16,000 people, they called us up there… I would have been happy to get a copper, but they didn’t call me for third place, they didn’t call me for second… it was surreal,” Gardner says of his experience. “It gave me a lot of confidence and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.”

After graduation Gardner’s plan was “to take the first thing that was offered and keep looking,” he says. He took a job at a full-service salon where they took a cut of his pay but

as he says, “having business with a cut taken out is better than trying to get a full charge for nobody.” He decided to open his own business, to be sure that he could “maintain his reputation and higher ethical practices.” He said it was nice to be able to be himself and not have to fulfill someone else’s require-ments.

The massage therapy program at Chattanooga State included assign-ments that required him to design a business card, write a business plan and even write a 30-second radio spot. “We did quite a bit of role playing.” Gardner says. He ex-plained that the students separated into groups where half portrayed clients and half portrayed thera-pists, enacting situations such as

a client coming on to a therapist, a client behaving wildly or perhaps a client who does not even want a massage but was given one as a gift. “It was good practice, quite a bit of it I have actually had to use in real practice,” he explains. “Be cool, be professional, remember what you have to do… yeah, that helped.”

The biggest challenge that Gard-ner has faced in his business is finding a steady influx of clientele. He has volunteered, passed out business cards, done a radio show called “A Day in the Life of,” which featured interviews with people in various professions – but has found that his being a male has put him at a bit of a disadvantage. “Four out of five massage therapists are female and it’s what people expect when they go to get a massage,” he says. But he has been steadily growing his business despite that challenge and hopes to find more clients in need of his therapeutic services.

My time with Gardner was a complete joy, both on the table and during the interview. I will be re-turning as a paying client, not just for the extremely effective mas-sage but also for Gardner’s attitude and refreshing outlook on his ca-reer and his life. “I’m doing what I love doing and I feel that this is what I’m supposed to do. Mas-sage itself is a gift. That I can do the job and perform massage and be effective is a gift. It helps. It helps those who are willing to try it out. Our bodies are capable of fascinating things and why not get better? I found what I wanted to be when I grow up,” says Gardner. Contact Gardner at 423-595-7571 and check out his Web site www.getbetter.massagetherapy.com

Photo by Ellen PooleGabriel Gardner performed miracles at the Health Fair.

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LifestyleSummer 2010 • Page 4


If you are interested in adopting any one of these adorable animals in need of a loving home please contact:

Tricia Sebes Volunteer & Rescue Coordinator McKamey Animal Care & Adoption Center 4500 N. Access Road Chattanooga, TN 37415 423-305-6503 office 423-305-6505 fax mckameyanimalcenter.org

Ari - 9 months, domestic medium hair, spayed female

Merci - 10 month old, domestic short hair, spayed female

Moon - 6 years, domestic short hair, neutered male

Max - 3.5 year old, golden retriever/lab mix, neutered male

Nico - 2 years, domestic medium hair, neutered male

Oreo - rabbit, spayed female

Seth - 4 year old, domestic short hair, neutered male

Millard - 2 years, domestic short hair, neutered male

Spooky - 1 year old, spayed female, lab mix

Gecko - 4 years old, English Setter, neutered male

Oasis - 2 years old, lab mix, spayed female

Orpah - domestic short hair, spayed female

Lucy - 10 years old, Himalayan, spayed female

Summer LoveAnimals in Need are

Friends Indeed

Photos Courtesy of McKamey Animal Center

By aMBer lewis,assistant editor

Most students simply know Timmy Sykes as a security guard at Chattanooga State willing to lend an ear and a word of kind, thought-ful advice. This is only a small view into the life of a man who has devoted himself and his life to ministry.

Sykes, known to many as Pas-tor Sykes, is the senior pastor at Pilgrim Rock Baptist Church. This is his full time job, he says. Sykes

says he enjoys helping people with their lives. “I am compassionate and passionate...working at Chat-tanooga State is only my part-time job...this is my calling,” says Sykes. The devoted pastor says he was blessed by God with many tal-ents, such as writing and art.

Timmy Sykes grew up on an island off the Texas coast called Galveston. With the town hav-ing a wealth of rich history, he grew up loving to read “all genres of books,” Sykes stated. “It was a rich historical culture. Galves-

ton was where the Emancipa-tion Proclamation was first read.” Galveston’s wealth of history, along with current events and other such reading material, inspired him to keep a journal through-out high school of his involve-ment and actions. After awhile he began to think, “If I can write a journal, I can write a book.” After graduating from high school, Sykes enlisted in the army. He was able to travel and see many places. The entire time, he actively kept a journal. Leaving the Army after four years, he took up his inter-est in law enforcement in 1989. Sykes says that in this job he was exposed to unimaginable things. As an officer, they were required to provide documenta-tion of the days events on the job. It further encouraged his writing. This job became a conflict when he was called to ministry in 1990. The issue sprung from the fact that people could not imagine a preacher wearing a firearm. It was significant, and led him to write his first booklet, Reverend Officer. It was qualified as a booklet be-cause it was less than 100 pages. This booklet was followed later by an abundance of booklets such as They that Preach, Have You Met Jesus, Always Praise, and The Keys of Faith. He has also written the children’s books The Adventures of Amoeba Boy, The Spiritual Journey of Yellow Dude, and Timmy Bear’s Big Surprise, along with a youth bi-ble study booklet called Who is My King?

Many have asked Sykes why he has not compiled his book-lets and assigned them chapters, but he decided against it. “I have been journaling my entire life. I find that the booklets are easi-er for documentation,” he says. He also mentioned that some of those who are avid readers prefer shorter, more concentrated mate-rial over more lengthy content. Sykes’ other talent, art, spans sev-eral types of mediums including watercolor, oil, acrylic and graphic art, to name a few. Sykes fondly

remembered one of his first artistic triumphs. When he first graduated from high school in 1984, he won an annual NAACP ACT-SO com-petition sponsored by Hallmark to design a national greeting card. He won first place, $1,000 and a tour of Hallmark’s facilities.

Timmy Sykes’ accomplishments are commendable and admirable. Chattanooga State and its many students and faculty applaud Sykes for being a valued member of soci-ety, his community, and the Chat-tanooga State family.

Photos Courtesy of Pastor Timmy Sykes

Pastor Timmy Sykes Gets the Word Out

Arts EntertainmentGodspell Gives Good News

Photo by Rex Knowles/Theater Dept.

The cast of Godspell, donning colorful costumes, reacts to an intense moment in the show.

By KiMBerly Carlton,ContriButing writer

In March, Chattanooga State’s Theater department presented an appropriately updated rendition of the 1970s musical Godspell inside the intimate arena of Chattanooga State’s C.C. Bond Humanities The-ater. A musical based on the Gospel according to Matthew (with touch-es of Luke), Godspell became one of off-Broadway’s longest running musicals. ChattState’s performance of Godspell not only held good weekend entertainment value, with ticket prices at a low $10 for the general public and free for students, it also delivered a message that could inspire a patron’s faith, or at least create interesting after-show conversation. Although Godspell originated from a college project performed by students, a parable-based musical about the last days of the life of Jesus Christ is a very unusual selection for a public and secular college. This lesson-filled production not only showcased the talent enrolled and employed in the theater department of Chattanoo-ga’s community college but spot-lighted the diversity practiced on the encompassing campus of Chat-tanooga State.

The theater department and Godspell’s success is due in part to the producer Rex Knowles and the direction of Sherry Landrum. Knowles is executive director and Landrum is artistic director of the Chattanooga State Repertory The-atre (CSRT) and the Professional Actor Training Program. Their ac-curate recreation of the production is no surprise since Knowles and Landrum were cast in Godspell the summer of 1972 in the eighth national company. The pair toured the United States with the company for a year, even playing the Tivoli Theatre here in Chattanooga. Later, they joined the San Francisco com-pany and participated in the 10th Anniversary production with many of the original cast members.

According to the playbill, Bren-da Schwab, resident costume de-signer at Chattanooga State, garbed the cast based on the original pro-duction. The choice of costumes for Godspell has always stirred emotions, as well as controversy. Known as a “hippie musical” be-cause of the generation it was born in and the vivacious, if not outra-geous garments intentionally cho-

sen for the cast, they are in fact not “hippies.” The costumes actually were designed to represent clowns. This idea was taken from Harvard Divinity School Professor of The-ology, Harvey Cox’s book Feast of Fools from the chapter titled “Christ the Harlequin.” Godspell’s creator, John-Michael Tebelak, had once considered becoming an Epis-copal minister and wrote Godspell to provoke parishioners into con-sidering a more relevant and au-thentic spirituality.

Schwab began her work by opening with the cast symbolically attired in gray sweatshirts so bland and non-defining it required each character’s name to be labeled on the front to give each person any differentiating identity, each repre-senting a philosopher arguing that their concept of God and spiritual-ity is the most logical and relevant. Donning only white boxers, Jesus sat almost unnoticed, keeping his back to the audience through the first number. In contrast, the audi-ence’s attention was immediately captured during the second number when a cast member marched down the aisle in a multicolored jacket, in great contrast to the colorless characters on stage. This new cast member came in singing about pre-paring the way for the Lord, remi-niscent of John the Baptist. As the character of Jesus took on his role of leader and Rabbi, the costumes and expressions changed from dull to brilliant. In fact, Schwab’s costume design and color choice held such an impact that it was impossible for the audience to look away from the vivacious and well thought out outfits. For the true Godspell pur-ist Schwab did not forget to attire Christ himself in the well-known Superman shirt and rainbow sus-penders.

First-year student Krysten Floyd was the stage manager of Godspell and the performance flowed seam-lessly. The sparse set design, cre-ated by Gary Lee Posey, was based on the original production and al-lowed for the focus to be on the actors and the message. Musicians, conducted by Jeffrey Parker, were mysteriously hidden behind the stage set of chicken wire fencing, meagerly decorated with metal-lic streamers. Godspell’s Grammy award-winning score features the much loved song Day By Day and the audience was definitely not dis-appointed with the singer Karley

Moon’s sweet, melodic and ap-propriately childlike rendition of this 1973 Billboard hit. The theater troupe delivered other Godspell fa-vorites with Prepare Ye The Way Of The Lord, Save The People, Learn Your Lessons Well, Bless the Lord, All For The Best, All Good Gifts, Turn Back, O Man and By My Side, All For the Best and All Good Gifts. Lindsay Fussell used the play’s music and the vocals to highlight her exuberant and engaging chore-ography.

The cast included Marianna Al-len, John Thomas Cecil, Cameron Goss, Amy Henricks, Caleb Hicks, Sydney Hooper, Cody Keown, Jes-sie Knowles, Karley Moon, Ro-man Penney, Howard Cecil Valen-tine III, Justin Wahlne and Jeremy Wilkins.

As heavy as some of the mes-sages from the New Testament are, the delivery was light and easily digested and remembered. Biblical New Testament message after mes-sage was delivered in an interlaced fashion using songs, dance, jokes, physical comedy and recognizable references to contemporary televi-sion shows like Barney and movies such as Silence of the Lambs. Char-lie Daniel and Beyonce references, songs about Georgia and commer-cials about modern day Check Into Cash businesses easily brought in the audience and their laughter. Intermission saw the chance to in-teract with the actors who served communion-style grape juice, as if to represent the Lord’s Last Sup-per. Although written an unbeliev-able four decades ago and based on a culture 2,000 years earlier, the play and its ideas resemble our cul-ture today. All three eras represent times of cultural turmoil with soci-etal questions and rebellion against government and traditional reli-gious beliefs. Through Godspell, the audience could see that these messages are not just pertinent to-day but, based on the history of hu-man nature, appear to be timeless.

The cast of Godspell is hoping to revive this stunning production in the Chattanooga area, perhaps right here at Chattanooga State. If you missed this iconic performance, expect it to return in the future.

Be sure to check out all that the theater department has to offer, in-cluding next fall’s musical, Little Women, based on the popular book by Louisa May Alcott.



The Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour, featuring 4,500 hotrods and performance vehicles, will be at Chattanooga State on Wednesay, June 9, 2010.

Presented by GM Performance Division, this event is considered to be the finest high-end automotive event in the world. it is a seven-day event, which starts in Newton, Iowa on June 5, winds around the midwest and ends in Mobile, Alabama on June 11.

Coker Tire will host day five of the Hot Rod Power Tour at Chattanooga State on Wednesday, June 9 from 12:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.

This summer, Chattanooga State Repertory Theater (CSRT) will bring professional theater to our campus. Helmed by Garry Posey, Rex Knowles and Sherry Landrum of the theater department, CSRT will celebrate its fourth year in 2010.

This summer, you can expect to see a production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It as well as a revival of the fully improvised two-act musical Luck of the Draw. Luck of the Draw will be playing during CSRT’s summer theater program for the third year in a row and will offer something to audiences that is quite unique.

Improvisation is typically seen as short form games and perhaps a song or two. But actors in Luck of the Draw use suggestions from the audience to create a fully realized story in two acts complete with songs that are relevant to the plot.

The performers of course attempt to be comedic, as is the expectation with improvisation, but the stories can be quite touching. Be sure to mark the last three weekends in August on your calendar. Since improvisation is never the same, every one of the performances of the Luck or the Draw will be unique, never to be seen again!

Luck of the Draw

isBack!

Days are getting long

BirDs singing sweet morning songs

Honeysuckle calls

no neeD for alarm

tHe sounDs of Bees awake me

mating witH flowers

graDes are suBmitteD

we Hopefully succeeDeD

see you all next year

Balmy summer nigHts

tHe scent of fresH Dewey grass

pleasant summer Days

HaikuBy Jessie knowles and amBer lewis

Editorials Opinions

Published by the students of

Chattanooga state

Editor-in-ChiefJessie Knowles

Assistant EditorAmber Lewis

Business/Ad Manager & DistributionChasity Masters

Web EditorCharles Fannin

Staff WritersMatt NassarRyan Tyler

ContributorsKimberly Carlton

Isaac CraftEllen Poole

AdviserBetty A. Proctor

AddressCommunicator

4501 Amnicola Hwy., Room S-216

Chattanooga, TN 37406(423) 697-2471

[email protected]

The opinions expressed are those of the author only and not of the entire Communicator

staff.

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STANDSSeptember 1, 2010

M E M B E R S

Chattanooga State Community College is a Tennessee Board of Regents institution and an Equal Opportunity/

Affirmative Action college.Pub. No. 9-75-504003-30-5/10/bap

1,500 copies



When working in a group situ-ation, conflict is inevitable. It is helpful to have a plan for how to deal with conflict when it does arise, so that everyone involved al-ready knows the procedure and the steps to be taken to solve the con-flict. The members of a group need to develop a plan that they can all agree on, that should help them to handle the situation when the inevi-table conflict occurs. I have devel-oped a conflict resolution plan that has worked for me in the past. Per-haps it can help you to solve some of your inevitable conflicts.

The first step in the plan is to separate the people involved in the conflict and not discuss the matter at hand for a few minutes, taking time to cool off and allowing time to gain perspective on the issue. This separation will allow all the group members a chance to consider their thoughts on the issue and develop a way to effectively state their views to the rest of the group.

After a few minutes of cooling off, everyone in the group should write their statements down on pa-per. These statements will include a point by point interpretation of the conflict, how and when it began, how they saw the conflict escalate, and their opinions about what they think should be done to solve the issue.

It is important for everyone in the group to remember the strategy of focusing on the issue at hand and not the people involved in the con-flict. This is not an opportunity to place blame or make accusations. The statements should be about what actually happened as each group member saw it occur and not necessarily the feeling about it. That is not to say that feelings should not come into play, but it is important to stay away from plac-ing the blame for those feelings on another person.

After all the group members have written their individual state-ment about what happened during the conflict, each person should read their individual statement aloud to the group, including how they feel the conflict should be re-solved. There should be a short dis-cussion following these readings about how the issue should be re-solved, coming to a compromise so that everyone feels their needs are being met in some way. Should this strategy not succeed in solving the issue, a third party mediator, possi-bly a member from another group, should read each person’s statement and make a decision for the group on how to resolve the conflict.

-Jessie Knowles

Conflict Resolution

Ah, summer…an in-between pe-riod of relaxation and restoration for most students - and a third se-mester for those over-achievers. Do not be offended at the latter remark. I am one.

Summer is a blissful time of year when some rejuvenate their worn out internal rechargeable batteries. For others, it is a painstaking time of deciding your next step in life, how to better use your now avail-able time, and frenziedly attempt-ing to correct errors brought on by simple human nature and procras-tination.

This is the boat I find myself in - not that I am alone out here in my own sea of panic. No doubt there is a titanic-sized ocean liner full of students in the same situation. I just missed the boat.

If you do happen to be a student who has missed important dates and such, do not fret. There are so-lutions to get you back on the cor-rect path, and no, life is not out to get you. It just takes practice.

The first key thing to understand is to know where you are going. Take the time to relax (relax) and set a goal of where you want to be. If you do not know your destina-tion, it may get pretty difficult to get there. This may require some soul searching, maybe a bit of self-realization and yoga-philosophy as Jen Aniston prefers. Sounds crazy? I had to Ask Jeeves to figure it out.

After some self-realizing, the next step is planning. You have to plan how to get there. This is the axis of any trip, physical or meta-phorical. You cannot get where you are going if you do not know how to get there. I know. Profound. Plan out all possible paths, and get ad-vice from those you respect around you. Multiple opinions are always a good thing to have in your think tank, good or bad. At least that way you can see your path from all an-gles, the pros and cons, etcetera.

Once you have decided your location and determined a path, you must think of what might hin-der you as you go along your trail, what may help you excel and what things you have to do to execute the process of following the route you have chosen. It may seem to run parallel to the planning step, but it is an equally important part of your master plan that must be evaluated.

Take these brief tips to heart. If you remember nothing else, at least remember to breathe and re-lax. It gets a bit difficult to think if your heart is pounding in your ears. While I am not allowed to write a smiley face in each paper, know that I am smiling at you, reader. I wish you good luck in all future en-deavors, and pray that you continue to read this newspaper.

-Amber Lewis

Missed the Boat?

It seems there have been a lot of people that like to complain about the issues in the Communicator: “I feel this wasn’t objective,” “That information was incorrect,” “That superlative doesn’t belong there.” All these complaints I hear about the paper and not one bit of mail, not even the slightest bit to blow our nose with before we grind it into the ground with the toe of a shoe and back over it with a car (that’s the standard procedure taken with stu-pid comments, and no, a comment daft enough to be run over with a car truly isn’t even worth the gas. We just do it for kicks).

Seriously, people, if you have comments on an article or the pa-per, would like to have a discus-sion with one of the reporters, or would like to put in a complaint (or maybe a compliment once in a while, for Jesus Christ), send an email to [email protected].

This is Amber Lewis, bravely signing out and hoping to be offen-sive enough that I get fifty emails from affronted readers. Yes, I’m insulting you. I hope you throw down this paper, walk stiff-backed to your computer, and send a long letter to me…which I will promptly edit and send back to you with my own complaints. Cheers, ciao, and much contempt.

-Amber LewisThe time has come to say good-bye. I have been the editor-in chief of the Communicator for the past year and it has been...fun? No re-ally, it has been fun. I have stayed here on campus all weekend, losing my eyesight, staring at a computer screen, squinting, trying to discern the difference between a comma and a period. I have made a com ical video about life on the Com-municator staff, a la The Office, which I have not had time to edit or publish because...you guessed it, I have been in the office, editing and writing all the articles that tens of people read every month.

I have covered issues from ho-mosexuality to fashion, okay, so I guess those to are not very far from each other on the issue spectrum. I have won some awards, okay, WE have won some awards. I have ar-gued with every member of the satff as well as my wise and won-derful adviser, Betty Proctor. I have laughed with every member of the staff and we have become a fam-ily. I have called security to let me into the locked student center on Saturday morning, Saturday night, Sunday morning and Sunday night,

oh yeah, and holidays - so many times that they inveritably know my name and even joked that they should make me a key!

I willingly step down as the overworked editor of this paper, in an effort to broaden my hori-zons and move to greener pasture. Across the office to the Macintosh computer where the art director sits. That’s right. I plan to be the art director next year. Jaye Har-ris is moving to even greener pas-tures somewhere far away from our flourscent paradise. And since I can’t imagine anyone else filling his very large shoes, I will try to do it myself. Plus, I stared over his shoulder long enought to develop a love for the job. I promise that I will use clipart sparingly. although you will find plenty in this edition, which I laid out myself, giving Jaye a much needed break.

I have poured my soul into the paper this year. In fact, I only came back to school full-time to become the editor of this paper. And I will be very sad when my two years are up. But that won’t happen for an-other year. I hope that you will con-tinue to read the paper - or start to read the paper. I will try to continue to put myself into the Fashion For-ward spread as much as possible in the coming year. Unless someone would like to send me a photo...anyone??

The truth is that an editor ages much like a president during their office and this picture doesn’t look anything like me anymore. But it was in the first issue I edited and now here it is again. I won’t put in a current photo. No one would ever read the paper again for the night-mares it might give them.

-Jessie Knowles

TTFN C U L8R BTW ROTFLMAO

Send Us Packing

My time at ChattState carries many memories. I have met many friends and learned more about my-self than anything else.

I still remember when I was called in to interview for the Mid-dle College program. My mother and I went to the office, my grades were reviewed, and my character was observed as I spoke to then principal Mrs. Whitehead. Several weeks later, I received notice that I was accepted into the program.

Anxiety filled my first day; what to wear, where to go, what to do. Having only one year of pub-lic high school and the rest of my grade school career behind me, I was used to being herded here and there in elementary school, less so in middle school, and having rela-tive freedom in high school.

This was unlike anything I had experienced. I was not remotely watched by supercilious or uptight teachers, not told what to do in any form or fashion, not made to go anywhere. There were no constant-ly chiming bells telling me I ought to be somewhere.

I was left to make my own deci-sions, choose whether or not to go to class, catch a bus downtown or hangout and make new friends. If I did, no one would mention it, since it wasn’t their concern either way. I went to class and did a survey of the room, confirming my indepen-dence.

Over the next few years I chose a path to self-discovery, taking the change in scenery to explore the boundaries of my youth and mold myself into the person that I want-ed to be with three goals in mind: leaving behind my introverted per-sona, becoming a model student, and balancing everything in life with planned ease.

I focused on being a model stu-dent the first year, finding the learn-ing styles best for me and constant-ly developing studying strategies to enhance my academics.

The next year, I was somewhat an extrovert. Finding myself hang-ing out every weekend, going to movies, out to eat, dating, and parties back to back, I saw a 0.6 decimal point drop in my GPA, I

realized I had to get serious again and learn how to integrate studying and personal life. The reality check came just in time. I had arrived at the next chapter: balancing the du-ties of life with ease.

I was involved in five clubs at one point, which later dropped to the four where I held officer posi-tions. I enjoyed being someone people could count on. I added a job and a relationship onto that work load. While there were failures, I successfully dealt with stress by regarding obstacles as challenges rather than blockades. Organiza-tion was the key. I had discovered a solution for my last goal.

As I graduate, I go into my first year at a university eager to use ev-ery technique and solution I have learned in my school and personal life. To say that being here at Chat-tanooga State was not educational would be a lie. While I would not backtrack, I would still do it again if I were the same silent, distant girl from Atlanta I was when I arrived in Tennessee.

- Amber Lewis

A Fond Farewell

Photo by Andy Still

Puzzles



Jumble

IRYAN _ O _ O O

LOISS _ O _ O _

REALY _ O _ _ _

MUDTA _ O _ O _

ETRIG O _ O _ O

DEDAR O _ _ _ O

Every year, the beakers celebrate their

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

By ryan tyler

Graduation is a time of unprecedented joyousness, when you finally leave the college bubble and go out into the real world, starting illustrious new careers in exciting new places amongst interesting new people. And to honor this exciting time, here’s a graduation word search with clues that are as promising as your future. Congratulations, graduate. For you, anything is possible. We hope that you have as much fun with this endeavor as we had creating it..

INSPIRE HOPE

CHANGE PLANS START

YAY NEW

FUTURE

Word SearchBy Matt nassar

MazeBy isaaC Craft

1. I am leaves without branches, Words without sounds, A spine with no ribcage, And a jacket unbound. 2. I’m very deep-rooted in my beliefs But am always branching out. The air that I breathe is poison to thee. And it’s said when I fall, that I’m not very loud. 3. What has walls but no floors, Halls but no doors, Breaks in one piece, And flutters without wings? 4. He is buried at birth but not when he dies, Cannot sleep but won’t open his eyes, You can cut him and burn him but he never cries. 5. A bark not in common with trees or dogs, A cannon with live ammunition, Lions and bears and walking on air All free with the price of admission.

6. Layered like an onion and green at the start, I’m good for your health but you’re bad for my heart.

7. In life, there really isn’t A warden worth the mention Like this builder on a mission For the softest little prison. 8. I look left, right, left, but I don’t cross the street. I pop and I lock, but I don’t have a key. Do not, my appearances, judge me by; It’s not as important as what’s inside. 9. A scale that weighs nothing, A major that outranks no one, A bridge that leads to nowhere, And a minor that needs no guardian.

10. Three arms, one shoulder. One face, twelve expressions. 11. I’m often found in milkshakes and bowls of cereal, too, But I don’t need to be refrigerated to be used.

12. You can find it in the ocean but not at the beach. You can find it on the road but not in the streets. You can find it in boulders but not in the dust. And you can find it in love but can’t find it in lust.

13. Emma has two of them, but Mo found only one. Momma owns three, but then Jim has two...of what? 14. A fire burns of its own volition No mere man could drown. So we argued ‘til we took position Pacing, it, around. 15. What has boots but no feet, a belt but no pants, Sleeves without arms, and a head but no hands? 16. Copies exist, I am not very rare. I’m inside your body, the soil, and air. Plenty of footprints but none of them man’s, I’m hard as a diamond or sift through your hands.

1. A book, 2. A tree, 3. A heart, 4. A potato, 5. A circus, 6. An artichoke, 7. A spider, 8. A safe, 9. A song, 10. A clock, 11. A spoon, 12. the letter “o”, 13.

Consonants, 14. The sun, 15. A car, 16. Carbon

RiddlesBy ryan tyler

For updated informa-tion about Chattanooga State Sports, please visit

our Web site at Communicatoronline.net

RAINY, SILOS, EARLY, DATUM, TIGER, DARED, GRADUATION DAY


WWW.CHATTANOOGAsTATe.eDu WWW.COmmuNICATOrONLINe.NeT

Documents

Summer 2010 Issue