Vampires. Werewolves. Christ. Does Twilight present Christian themes in its latest installment Breaking Dawn Part 1?Features 4

PBA’s Oratorio Chorus prepares for performance of Handel’s ‘Messiah’ tonight.

By Cash W. LambertNews Editor

It was 1741; the streets of London bustled with noise as George Frideric Handel sat inside his room for 24 days

rapidly composing countless musical notes through hundreds of pages of manuscript.

Fast-forward 270 years. A.J. Titus, a Palm Beach Atlantic University sophomore, while hunched over, scribbles notes in between music lines in his score of Handel’s “Messiah.”

He is preparing for PBA’s Oratorio Chorus rendition of Messiah, which will take place tonight at 7:30 in the DeSantis Chapel. Titus and 134 other singers, joined by 16 orchestra

members, will fill the chapel with some of the most powerful and most loved music the world has known.

“It’s a difficult piece of music,” said Titus. “We’ve been working on it all semester.”

“All the text is taken from scripture,” said Dr. Geoffrey Holland, conductor of the Oratorio Chorus. He explained that Handel wrote the music to Messiah, while an Englishman named Charles Jennens compiled the text using the King

James Bible.“To quote Jennens,” said

Holland, “‘the subject excels all other subjects.’”

“Focus on the text and how Handel sets the music to it,” said Holland. “Let that wash over you.”

Many listeners will recognize the chorus “For unto us a child is born,” taken from Isaiah 4:6.

From Revelation 19:6 comes the most famous part of Messiah, the Hallelujah Chorus. By longstanding tradition,

audiences stand to their feet when the chorus begins, and remain standing through its familiar strains.

The oratorio concludes with “Worthy is the lamb that was slain,” a favorite chorus for Holland.

“I think it’s especially uplifting and especially satisfying and powerful when you get to the last chorus and finish the final amen, because the music broadens

See Messiah, page 3

The Student Newspaper of Palm Beach Atlantic UniversityVolume 8, Issue 10 readmybeacon.com Monday, December 5, 2011

Still Snapping PBA Alumni discuss their current photography business endeavors.Features 8

+$5 million to Heifer International

+$9 million to Clairity Water

+$500,000 to Soul4Soles

+$1 million to Save the Whales

+$2 million toNature Conservancy

provide 1,000 families in need of nourishment

serve 450,000 kids safe drinking water

provide 500,000 pairs of shoes to children

40,000 endangered whales could be adopted

2 million trees could be planted in the Atlantic Forest

of Brazil

What a Kardashian Wedding Could Buy

Wedding cost:$27.9 million

What could have been

The Beacon Monday, December 5, 2011

By Chris Hernandez for the Beacon

The Beacon Monday, December 5, 2011 2 news / opinion

Corrections for 11/21:In “Holidays come early,” Greg Bromley’s name was misspelled.

See something that needs to be in next week’s Corrections? Contact the editor of the section.

www.readmybeacon.com

Chris HernandezMANAGING E DITOR

Chris_hernandez@pba.edu

Cash W. LambertNE WS E DITOR

Cash_Lambert2@pba.edu

Charlotte RakestrawFE ATUR E S E DITOR

Charlotte_Rakestraw@pba.edu

Joshua ReidS PORTS E DITOR

Josh_Reid@pba.edu

Christina Cernik P HOTO E DITOR

Christina_Cernik@pba.edu

Rocky DeCell G RAPHIC ARTS E DITOR

Rocky_DeCell@pba.edu

Jenny HendriksenWE B E DITOR

Jenny_Hendriksen@pba.edu

John SizemoreE XE CUTIV E E DITOR

John_Sizemore@pba.edu

Duane MeeksP UBLISH E R

No part of the Beacon may be reproduced without permission. The opinions expressed in the Beacon

are not necessarily those of the Palm Beach Atlantic University administration, staff or faculty.

A wasteful wedding

As the 2012 presidential race heats up, Florida residents have less than a month to register for the Republican primary.

With the primary on Jan. 31, Florida will be the fourth state to vote for candidates.

For many students at Palm Beach Atlantic University and other colleges, 2012 marks their first opportunity to vote for president.

Jan. 3 is the last day to regis-ter to vote in the primary.

To register to vote, go online to the Florida Division of Elec-tions website and fill out the voter registration form. A voter identification card will then be mailed to you two to three weeks after your application is processed. You may register with or without a party affilia-tion.

The frontrunners for the Republican party are Michele Bachman (U.S. representative from Minnesota), Herman Cain (businessman and politician), Newt Gingrich (former speaker of the House), Rick Perry (cur-rent governor of Texas), Ron Paul (representative from Tex-as) and Mitt Romney (governor of Massachusetts).

By Saudia AliStaff Writer

On Aug. 20 2011, Kim Kar-dashian found marital bliss marrying Kris Humphries. Only 72 days later, the couple found themselves divorced with a wasted wedding of $10 million under their belts.

A shocking number of Ameri-cans are extremely wasteful with money; spending on items they do not even need. So, why are so many Americans squan-dering money away when they could be aiding someone in des-perate need?

“We definitely need to be more aware of global needs, but international nonprofit organi-zations can be wasteful as well. We need to do our homework,” said Dr. Gerald Wright, chair of Palm Beach Atlantic Univer-sity’s department of cross-cul-tural studies.

This is an extremely valid point; you cannot just assume you are doing the right thing by giving money to any charity. You must make sure the organi-zations you are donating to are legitimate, that they are actually giving the money to people in need and not to themselves.

As Wright said, “We also struggle as Americans with the idea that we can solve every problem if we just throw enough

money at it, but sometimes the best solutions are non-mon-etary. Even so, eliminating wasteful spending and thinking more about the needs of others should be at the forefront of our thinking as Christians.”

It just isn’t justified that ce-lebrities waste their money on frivolous items. You can do so much more. So many families out there are struggling to make it by in life, while these celebs are out buying their 100th pair of shoes.

Fortunately, there are a few celebs that do choose to invest their money wisely in a good charity. On some occasions, these celebs start their own charity. If more and more ce-lebrities would just help sustain a well-intentioned charity, that would be an incredible accom-plishment.

It is vital to watch out for the phony organizations that are a sham. They will swindle your money away for their own de-sires not the needs of the people who really require the money.

If you want to do the right thing you must first discover a charity that is trustworthy. As for celebs, those legitimate or-ganizations that help the less fortunate are right at their fin-gertips. There is no excuse for them to be wasting away their money on items that they do not even need.

Kardashian / Humphries wedding expenses could have helped out charities and points to larger truth about wasteful habits.

Opinion

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

By Rocky DeCell for the Beacon

Registerfor Fla.primary

Walking up and down Clematis Street, you may have noticed a few new sand sculp-

tures. The sand sculptures represent 12 destina-tions in Florida from Tampa to West Palm. They were crafted by World Champion Sand Sculptor Mark Mason and Team Sandtastic.

In addition to the sand sculptures, there have been many other Holiday events to hit West Palm Beach. From Dec. 3 to 11, Ann Norton Sculpture

Gardens is hosting “Festival of Trees,” an event featuring Christmas trees decorated by some of Palm Beach’s premier designers. This year’s tree inspirations were drawn from movies such as Gladiator and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Other events include a showing of Polar Express in the City Center on Dec. 9, a Holiday Horsefest at the Meyer Amphitheater on Dec. 11 and Jazz on the Palm Dec. 16.

The Beacon Monday, December 5, 2011 news 3

Scholars challenged to do better work at ETS conference

MessiahFrom page 1

at the end and it just takes on this majestical brilliance and beauty and breadth of expres-sion that is just wonderful,” said Holland. “It’s very powerful.”Joining the PBA Oratorio Cho-rus will be high school students from His People’s Choir of Kings Academy.

The soloists are professional singers: Moon-Sook Park, so-prano, who has over 200 per-formances as a soloist; Sonia Santiago, mezzo-soprano, who serves as the director of vocal arts at the Kings Academy; By-ron Grohman, tenor, who has performed with the Palm Beach Opera and S. Mark Aliapoulios, baritone, who has participated with the Boston Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra.

The camel strikes back?FBC will not use live animals in this years production of ‘Project Christmas.’By Brianna DunganStaff Writer

Christmas songs, nativ-ity scenes and camels falling on people? That’s right, once again it is time for First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach’s annual Christmas production, Project Christmas.

FBC will be holding a free viewing of this year’s Project Christmas to all Palm Beach Atlantic University students on Thursday, Dec. 8.

Along with this free perfor-

mance, the show will be open to the public on Dec. 9, 10 and 11 at 7 p.m. Tickets for this year’s production are 13 dollars.

Many viewers had attended First Baptist Church’s produc-tion in the past, and they got what they expected; music, dancing and animals.

Last year, however, audi-ences got a surprise from Lulu Belle, one of the camels in the production, when she fell on un-suspecting students as she was walking down the church aisle.

This incident was not quite the surprise ending viewers were anticipating. Bev Bon-ner, director of assimilation at FBC, said that after the camel incident, ticket sales soared and the church became a YouTube

phenomenon. Bonner later re-marked, “The camel was our biggest promo stunt ever. It was awesome.”

The people of FBC are curious with what this year’s unplanned promo stunt could be and if it could ever compete with last year’s fiasco. Christian Ramos, worship leader at FBC, said that this year will be more of a con-cert and worship experience.

Project Christmas will last for one hour and 15 minutes in con-trast to previous years, when it ran for three hours. The Christ-mas concert will consist of an 85 person choir. Along with the choir, there will be a 25 person orchestra to bring viewers their favorite Christmas songs.

Even though they will be per-

forming Christmas favorites, Ramos explained there will be “carols, but we’ll amp it up a little.”

What really makes this year special is that all the money brought in from this year’s pro-duction is getting donated to Highland Elementary School.

Highland Elementary is a public school in Lake Worth in need of school supplies and re-sources.

Unfortunately, this year there will be no camels or other live animals in the production.

Ramos said this was not due to the camel incident, but was a “general decision to change, be-cause times have changed.”

County stalls Maritime diningBy Michele KappasStaff Writer

The Palm Beach Maritime Museum is attempt-ing to get approval to put in a restaurant on Pea-nut Island, but it hasn’t been the smoothest of processes.

The island-based museum is located on the In-tracoastal Waterway. “We want to add a restau-rant in order to build and maintain relationships,” said Antony Miller, the manager for the museum.

Many museums have businesses with cafés, bookstores and gift shops, but Palm Beach County officials oppose the restaurant plan here, citing zoning laws that restrict commercial activity on the island.

Right now there is no food available for tourists on any part of the island. Miller used to sell hot-dogs, hamburgers, chips and water, but now, he said, the county will not even allow vendors.

“I’ll have 100 kids and no food for them or their families,” said Miller. “Were just trying to run a museum, and the county acts like were trying to build a Hooters.”

Miller believes that the addition of a restaurant would result in more of a family oriented atmo-sphere. He doesn’t understand why the county isn’t in favor of it because of the tourists and tour

ships the Maritime Museum brings in for the is-land.

According to Miller, a charter written for Palm Beach port before its opening in 1903 gives the museum freedom to do as it wishes without the county’s permission.

Miller is the 45-year lease holder for the muse-um. He insists that the lease with the Port of Palm Beach, which owns Peanut Island, states that the museum has a right to this restaurant because it is a museum.

A restaurant would provide future jobs for students at Palm Beach Atlantic University, said Miller. “We have a strong connection with PBA.”

PBA student Jon Mode is assisting Miller in the appeal process for the restaurant. “The museum needs something like this, and for PBA students it would just make going to PBA that much better,” said Mode. “This could get students to experience the beautiful island that is there.”

“Available food attracts more people to learn about history,” said Mode.

On the other side of the argument, as the Palm Beach Post reports on the controversy, some read-ers offered comments via the newspaper’s web-site. “Don’t commercialize Peanut Island,” was the theme of several comments.

By Michele KappasStaff Writer

For most ministry majors, excitement filled their minds two weeks ago when their pro-fessors told them that they were going to California for the week due to conferences for different societies.

One of the societies that PBA professors attended this year was the Evangelical Theologi-cal Society in San Francisco from Nov.16 to 18.

“The ETS annual meeting is the academic highpoint of my year,” says Professor Paul Copan. “I always come away encouraged and new writing projects and collaborations typically emerge from these gatherings.”

This was the 63rd annual con-ference for the ETS. The theme for this year was “no other name.”

The ETS is committed to the inerrancy and inspiration of scripture, along with the Gospel of Christ. During this conference, attendees have the opportunity to attend plenary sessions where speakers talk off of this theme.

“Everything new in theology is presented there,” says Pro-fessor Vic Copan, who also at-tended this year.

In addition to plenary ses-sions, there are small group sessions on issues such as Old Testament, New Testament and systematic theology. In these groups, various scholars, professors, pastors and even students can present papers to the group and share research.

Paul Copan presented a pa-per on servitude in the Old Tes-tament and has been attending ETS since 1993.

“I heard a review on Jesus’ research that was very helpful,” says Vic Copan. “Jesus research has been very skeptical in the past, and lately it seems to be moving away from skepticism and trusting the New Testa-

ment Gospel accounts, which is very exciting to see.”

In order for a student’s paper to be eligible for reading at the conference, the student must be a member of the society and enrolled in a doctoral program. The papers that relate to the theme of the conference have priority in presentation over ones that do not connect to the theme directly.

The conference is open to all members in the ETS, affili-ated society members and non-members as well. Last year, since it was in New Orleans, a couple of students from PBA were able to attend along with graduates.

Professor Preben Vang also attended the ETS this year and found the experience ben-eficial. “There is a clear shift in evangelical theology among scholars to do better work,” says Vang.

He believes that this confer-ence is helpful because it allows you to keep up in your field and the latest research done in your area.

“Every publisher in your field is there, and it’s a good time to connect with scholars on a pri-vate level,” he said.

Paul Copan agrees. “While these are meetings attend-ing primarily by evangelicals, those from the Catholic and Orthodox point of view have presented or engaged in panel discussions. So if one has a par-ticular interest in philosophy or theology or biblical studies, it’s a great place to rub shoulders with scholars who have a high view of biblical authority.”

The Evangelical Theology Society meets for its annual meeting next year in Milwau-kee, Nov. 14 to 16.

Professors from PBA encour-age as many people who can go to do so.

“I think it’s a very significant thing for anyone who wants to do future studies,” says Vic Co-pan. “It’s a good opportunity.”

Mueseum fighting back: The Maritime Mueseum on Peanut Island is fighting for its right to provide food to tourists. Courtesy of Ruth Pelletier for the Beacon

4 features The Beacon Monday, December 5, 2011

The Twilight PhenomenonBy Becca StripeStaff Writer

NowthatanotherTwilightfilmhasbeenre-leased,thecontroversyhasstartedagainonwheth-erornotit’ssomethingChristiansshouldgotosee.Ihavereadallfourbooksandseenthefirstfour

moviesabouttheblood-suckingromance.Justbe-causetheremaybesomedebatablepartsthrough-outthewholestorydoesn’tmeanit’snotfittobereadorseen.TherearesomeChristianthemesthatrun through the fourbooks: love, sacrifice,unex-pectedpregnancy,andfacingtemptation.Thereareseveralcharactersinthestorythathold

totheChristianfaith,includingEdward’sfatherCarl-islewhowasonceapastorandcontinuestokeephisfaithandfightthelifestyleofavampirebychoosingtobeadoctorandsavinginsteadofslayingpeople. InthemovieBellaunexpectedlygetspregnant.Eventhough

Bella’s life is severely at risk throughout her pregnancy, she stillchoosestokeepthebabyandsacrificeherownlifeforthechild.Andlastly,Edwardshowsasolidresolvetokeephisrelationshipwith

Bellafromgettingtoophysical.AlthoughBellaisverywillingtojusthandoverhervirginity,Edwardexplainstoherthathedoesn’tapproveofpremari-talsex.Heencouragesandstressestohertheimportanceandspecialnessofthisactofwaitinguntilthey’remarried,whichiswhattheydo.TheintensechemistrybetweenthetwocharacterssetsanexampleforChristianteensthatjustbecausethedesireisthere,itdoesnotmeanyouhavetoactonit.

TherearedefinitelysomegreatredeemingqualitiesintheTwilightsaga.IthinkthatChristianshavetomakethecarefulandcautiousdecisiononwhether tocheckoutthisfantasyromance.

AsChristians,weneedtobeextremelymindfulofwhatweputinourmindsandhearts.SomeChristianshavereadandseenalotofbooksonwitch-craft,sex,violenceandmorewithoutiteverevendentingtheirfaith.

However,alotofotherChristiansaremorevulnerable,andthesmallestmentionofsomethingtemptingcanlurethemaway.YouhavetoknowwhereyouareinyourwalkwiththeLordandwhatyoucanhandleinordertochoosewisely.

ThebooksarenotinherentlyChristian,butthereare some Christian themes and values thatflowthroughthem.Discussion,prayerandstrong consideration should be givenprior tomaking a decision on thesubject.

Review

By Charlotte Rakestraw

features 5 The Beacon Monday, December 5, 2011

Winter trends

By Chris HernandezManaging Editor

Coats, scarves and boots flood the streets of places like New York and Boston during the winter fashion season. The warm win-ter weather in West Palm Beach, on the other hand, doesn’t per-mit these typical winter fashion trends.

“Since the weather doesn’t ex-actly get very cold here, you have to break down winter trends and make them work into your every-day wardrobe,” Katherine Lande, fashion editor at Palm Beach Il-lustrated, says. “A few examples would be to wear printed tights with dresses on chillier days and nights, booties with everything from jeans to skirts and dresses, and a great black blazer can get paired up with anything.”

Scarves and knitted fabrics are also a way to be on trend without getting overheated.

Another fun way to be on trend is to incorporate accessories. “My all time favorite accessory is nail polish. I probably switch my nail color at least twice a week. It’s the most affordable and easiest way to switch up your look,” Lande says. “I normally bounce between shades of gray, various metallics and a classic black. Lately I have been playing with blues, violets and rich greens.”

Investing in a handbag, accord-ing to Lande, is great since it is something you would use every day of the year.

When it comes to college fash-ion, Lande believes comfortablity is key. “I would say colored jeans and layers are a definite go-to for everyday. The loafer style shoe is also making a huge statement this season. This classic style flat has been updated with bold fab-rics and prints like leopard for an edgier and younger look.”

Though college fashion should be comfortable, Lande suggests going bold this season. “Digital prints and pastel shades are two major trends you will start to see, both of which are perfect for our market, “ she says. “I love the idea of someone young dressing to ex-press their personality, its really the time to play and experiment with fashion.”

Giving Christmas awayBy Olivia BaldassariStaff Writer

With Christmas less than a month away, it is time for the sea-son of giving. But for most college students, it is hard to shop for gifts because of the little money they have to spend on presents for family and friends. There are a select few, though, that go above and beyond to give to others, par-ticularly to those who live halfway across the world. One of these few is Alicia Stamm, a junior, who, for almost two years now, has been sponsoring a 12 year-old Indone-sian boy named Tegar. The spon-sorship comes through World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization that works in almost 100 countries to fight against

poverty and prejudice. “It was something I always

wanted to do and I love children,” said Stamm. “At the time I didn’t have a job and couldn’t afford it, but my bank account never went to $0.”

During the holidays, World Vi-sion asks its sponsors pay an ex-tra $20, on top of the $38 spon-sors to pay each month, to give their child a Christmas present. Twenty Dollars can go a long way for child in a third world country. It can provide school supplies and backpacks, a blanket, chickens, fresh water, and Bibles.

Stamm went above that amount and paid $40 to provide another child a present. “Here, we all want the new iPod, or the new iPhone, but all the children

want is a blanket,” Stamm said. “If they get a blanket for Christ-mas, they won’t care if they get anything else.”

Another student here, fresh-man Brianna Dungan, has in the past participated in Operation Christmas Child, which is an or-ganization that pro-vides kids with shoe-boxes full of needed items. These items can be anything from toothbrushes, soap, toys, and pen-cils and paper. These shoeboxes are shipped around the world to third world countries in need.

“It’s so amazing to see how little things we take for granted in America are the things that put smiles on children’s faces in other countries,” Dungan said. “It is so much fun picturing the kid you

are shopping for when picking out items.”

When in college, students have a pretty tight budget, which means they don’t have much extra spending money and when given

the chance, most wouldn’t spend that extra $20 on a child in poverty instead of buying a new pair of jeans they abso-lutely “need.”

Stamm has never regretted her deci-sion of sponsoring Tegar. “We should

spend money on the things we care about,” she said. Being an art education major, Stamm knows that money does not grow on trees, but that does not stop her from wanting to do some big changes in the world. “Everyone says that they want to make a dif-ference in world, but some don’t

know where to start,” Stamm said. “It is a lot easier to make a difference in the world than most think. Start by sponsoring a child.”

Through organizations like World Vision and Oper-ation Christmas Child, PBA students use the Christ-mas season to give more to the less fortunate.

“Here, we all want the new iPod, or the new iPhone, but all the children want is a blanket,” Stamm said.

Katherine Lande, fashion editor at Palm Beach Il-lustrated, dropped by “the Beacon” office with these winter trends she found in her closet. To see our in-terview with Lande, visit www.readmybeacon.com.

$275J. Crew

Darby calf hair loaferswww.jcrew.com

$48 - $128Anthropologie

Scarfwww.anthropologie.com

$58 - $98Sequin Newport

Gold Pendant Necklacewww.sequin-nyc.com

$9.50 - $14Sephora by OPI

Nail Polishwww.sephora.com

$170J Brand

Skinny Jeanswww.jbrandjeans.com

$40Missoni for TargetPrinted Blouse - Black

/White Zig Zagwww.target.com

“I would say colored jeans and layers are a definite go-to for everyday.” Lande on jeans

“Most affordable way to switch up your look.” Lande on nail polish

“I carry a scarf with me at all times. That extra layer helps add an instant winter element to my outfit. ” Lande on scarves

Sailfish

Sports

Dec. 5-16

Monday 12/5

Women’s Basketball 5:30 p.m.@ Lynn University

Wednesday 12/7

Women’s Basketball 6 p.m.Home

vs. Barry University

Wednesday 12/7

Men’s Basketball 7:30 p.m.Home

vs. Barry University

Wrestling club to start in springBy Joshua ReidSports Editor

A new wrestling club has arrived at Palm Beach At-lantic University. The club sport will start in spring, and members on the team will compete against members from other schools such as the University of Central Florida and the University of Florida.

“I’m really glad PBA approved of this,” said Mike Cruz, the president of the wrestling club. “When I first came to PBA I wanted to start a wrestling club.”

“I decided to join wrestling at PBA because I did it all four years in high school and my old college,” said transfer student Michael Murray. “After a while here I started to miss it. Getting back into wrestling will help get me back in shape and it’s something to do at PBA, as well as getting to meet new people.”

“I used to wrestle all my life,” said sophomore David

Leonard. “It’s nice I can get back into it at PBA. I’ve missed it a lot.”

PBA wrestling will be an actual sport that’s also fund-ed by the NCAA. The team will compete in the NCWA (National Collegiate Wrestling Association). While there is no cost to join the club, Cruz says that there is a $30 dollar fee for uniforms.

In preparation for the spring sport, the team will have practice on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6 p.m. for two and a half hours. There will also be “wrestle-offs”, where members will feel free to do “whatever,” ac-cording to Cruz.

“When two people want to do wrestle-offs, the en-tire team watches them,” said Cruz. “It’s like an actual match. No one talks and no one coaches. We will just watch the two guys have at it. They will be available at any time whenever two members want to have one.”

Each match will be a result of round robin tourna-

ment play where each member will face another mem-ber of each opposing team in the same weight class. There are 13 different weight classes, including 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 146, 152, 160, 170, 182, 196, 220, and 266 lbs. Each member will wrestle an opponent in his same weight class.

“In wrestling, people realize they can’t stay the same weight,” said Cruz. “That’s why there’s so many weight classes.”

At the meeting, Cruz said more than 20 people had signed up, but more people are still allowed to join if they want. A website will be coming soon as well, which will include the team’s roster, schedule, victories, and so forth.

“Currently, I’m using Facebook until PBA creates a website for me. It will be called sailfishwrestling.com,” said Cruz. “If anyone has any questions or wants to join, they can email me at michael_cruz@pba.edu.”

PBA hosts one day tennis tournament

6 sports The Beacon Monday, December 5, 2011

By Jessica WhartonStaff Writer

On Nov. 19 the Palm Beach Atlantic Uni-versity men’s and women’s tennis team hosted one of the 52 One Day Campus Showdown events occurring nation wide. The event was open to high school juniors, collegiate players, and adults, which was sponsored by the United States Tennis As-sociation’s Player Development Program.

Held at Gaines Park in West Palm Beach, the tournament consisted of a men’s and women’s singles draw as well as a men’s

and women’s doubles draw. It helped create bonding time for current

players as well as juniors to look into col-legiate tennis.

“I think is a great opportunity to scout out more talent, recruit new players, and build team morale by spending a day at the court together,” said Liddy Robinson, a member of the women’s tennis team.

Unlike most tennis tournaments which are strictly competition, the One Day Cam-pus Showdown is, according to the USTA website, designed to “get more American junior players on college campuses—giving them a taste of college life and a chance to

compete against college players.”The day consisted of compass format

draws of a single set played to 6, with a tie breaker to 7 being played at a score of 5-5. With only six courts at Gaines Park, partic-ipants watched matches, snacked on fruit, and enjoyed the cook out provided by head tennis coach Chi Ly.

Junior Johnny Kalis of the PBA men’s tennis team said, “I thought it was really nice that we could all play against each other in a friendly, yet competitive setting and then be able to eat together and cheer for our teammates between matches.”

The USTA, in collaboration with coaches

and colleges around the country, focuses on community outreach and advocacy in helping to build ties between college pro-grams and the local tennis community.

Assistant coach Austin Longacre said, “I think it’s a great way to give back to the Palm Beach community and also let them know about PBA and our tennis program.”

While PBA tennis team members took home the gold after the tournament, Lon-gacre thought it was “great that recruits can come and play with us; that we are so willing to humble ourselves as a team and give them the opportunity to see what col-lege tennis is all about.”

Friday 12/16

Women’s Basketball 7 p.m.Home

vs. Arkansas-Fort Smith

By Cash W. LambertNews Editor

Even though surfing is well known at Palm Beach Atlantic, it is an off-campus activity and not organized. Some surfers have been trying to change that.

“So many colleges are land locked,” said junior Ethan Park-er. “We’re not and we have great waves; why not use the ocean?

Surf clubs exist throughout the long stretch of East Coast colleges and across the coun-try to West Coast schools. At a select number of colleges, its a university-funded sport.

“Surfing has transformed,” said senior Andrew Beach. “It’s become so completive and ath-letic.”

“There’s so much unknown about the surfing community,” said PBA sophomore Cory Hib-bard, when asked if surfing should be taken seriously as a club. “Many surfers are very driven individuals with a lot of passion for what they do.”

Beach discussed activities that the club could enact to ben-efit the community and PBA.

“Beach clean ups are definite-ly an option,” he said.

Workship credits could also be available through cleanups to club members, and the club could partake in social events, such as giving surf lessons,

opening the club to more stu-dents.

“Clubs are how people con-nect,” said Beach. “It builds relationships; there’s so many good things that can come out of it.”

With surfing comes the dan-gers of sharks and shallow rocks, something Hibbard touched on. “It’d be safer for sure to have a group to surf with,” he said.

With PBA having a Christian emphasis, Parker acknowledged a Christian aspect that could be inserted into the club.

“We could definitely do devo-tionals before we surf,” he said. “And we could have worship, just in the water. It can be a very spiritual thing, being in awe of God’s creation. You can really connect with God just by being out in the ocean.”

Awareness is the first step that Beach, Parker, and Hibbard mentioned for the club to get up and running.

Clayton Kolb, director for Campus Connections, described how to get the club started.

“All clubs are student led,” he said, “but need a PBA faculty staff advisor,” he said.

When asked about the dif-ficulty of getting a surfing club approved, he said, “As long as there is student participation and good vision, and a purpose, it would work.”

Surfers hope for PBA club

Surfs up? Students such as Andrew Beach (above) are planning for a possible surf club at PBA

By Cash W. Lambert for the Beacon

sports 7The Beacon Monday, December 5, 2011

The road to nationals

By Joshua ReidSports Editor

This past week Palm Beach Atlantic University’s men’s soccer and volleyball have been competing in Nationals.

Tournament play was still going on as the Beacon went to press on Thursday night. To see final results, go to pbasailfish.com.

On Nov. 30 soccer’s quest at a second consecutive national title came to an end in a 0-1 loss to Geneva College.

Volleyball’s quest was still in reach, as on Dec. 1 it swept Southern Wesleyan University and Dallas Bap-tist University.

It continued play on Dec. 2 against Asbury Univer-sity and Trinity Christian College.

“I was very positive about us coming this far,” said volleyball player Mariela Quesada. “I could tell we were going to be very good because we had very good players all around.”

The road to Nationals was not an easy one for the Lady Sailfish as, despite its 25-3 regular season record,they had to go through a lot of adversity, such as injuries and creating a chemistry between a team primarily made of freshmen and seniors.

Junior Lewis Thomspson

Photo Courtesy of Michael Brown

Freshman Becca Accevedo

The men’s soccer team after winning its sixth consecutive NCCAA South Regional title

The volleyball team after winning its second straight NCCAA South Regional championship

“Most challenging was blending five seniors with eight freshmen and overcoming injuries to starters Allie Warren (out for 19 matches) and Lane Robinson (out for 2 weeks),” said volleyball head coach Bob White.

The team also had rough stretches against a few perennial powerhouses.

“The most challenging games this year were against the Division II schools like Tampa, Barry, Nova, and FT,” said Quesada.

“The final game in regionals was also chal-lenging because of all the pressure we had to win in order to come to nationals.”

Last season, the Lady Sailfish had a similar season and made a run in nationals before los-ing in the final four.

White feels this team was stronger and was

better prepared than before, primarily because of White’s unique combination of rotating seniors and freshmen.

“The five seniors have been great role models and mentors and the freshmen have stepped up to play significant roles in backrow defense, serve receive and serving and setting,” said White.

White also feels the team’s success have come through Christ.

“Our theme as champions for Christ had giv-en us a special blend of playing our best,” said White. “Realizing our talents and opportunity to represent PBA have came from Him.”

Photo Courtesy of Michael Brown

features8 Monday December 5, 2011

It wasn’t until after graduating from Palm Beach Atlantic University that Jes-sica Lorren Cornett decided to pursue photography. Eventually Jessica realized that she wanted to go forth and start her own business. Seventy weddings later, it is safe to say that Jessica knows a thing or two about wedding photography.

Brides are among her favorite subjects. “There is something so graceful, feminine and sweet about a girl on her wedding day and I find myself endlessly inspired when I get alone time with each of my brides,” she says.

It is evident in these photos that Jessi-ca truly knows how to capture the beauty

and elegance of a bride. Like many pho-tographers it took a lot of hard work and patience to cultivate her style and begin her dream of creating a business.

Jessica’s advice: “When I got started I knew nothing. I just took pictures and priced myself based on what I thought my clients wanted. It worked out for a little while but once I finally refined my craft and found my niche, my work was so much more consistent and my business really began to grow.

“So if I had it all to do over, I would be-gin by assisting other photographers of all kinds until I had a good idea of who I was as an artist and what it actually takes to run a business. Managing a business is a much larger portion of being a pho-tographer than many realize. A lot of tal-ented photographers drop the ball when it comes to running their businesses and they end up needing other jobs as a re-sult. So to sum it up, determine who you are as an artist and get as much field ex-perience in the business of photography as you possibly can before setting off on your own.”

With a creative family, it seemed natu-ral for Hannah Mayo to became interest-ed in photography as a teenager. Hannah knew that she wanted to pursue photog-raphy professionally, but at first was un-sure what road she was going to take “I knew before I graduated that I wanted to do photography professionally, but at that point I was still unsure of the direc-tion it would take,” she says. “I shot ev-erything I possibly could, and soaked up every bit of information I could find.”

She started a business and a family, and her business gradually grew after count-less hours and lots of hard work. One reason why Hannah loves photography is because she is able to capture people’s emotion and tell their stories through her photographs.

Hannah’s advice: “Learn as much as you possibly can; it is so important to have a solid technical foundation. Also, take some business courses - this is one thing I really wish I’d done while at PBA. Any business, marketing, and entrepre-neurship knowledge you can gain will be so, so valuable.

“Take any opportunity you can to learn from people in the industry. Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask if they could use an assistant, or even if they’ll let you take them for coffee and ask questions. I’ve made some amazing contacts and true friends just through emailing people whose work I admire. Workshops taught by well-known photographers are also an excellent way to learn and meet people.

“Most important: shoot a lot, and lots of different things. Have your camera with you as often as possible. Make your friends and family pose for you. Shoot-ing is the only way to find and refine your unique voice and style, and to figure out what you like and what works for you. In both your art and your business, make everything you do one hundred percent yours - look within yourself rather than at what everyone else is doing.”

Shea Christine worked at a five star ho-tel on Palm Beach for several years. After finding her love for photography at Palm Beach Atlantic University she finally de-cided to take the plunge during her ju-nior year at PBA, where she created Shea Christine Photography. “My dream be-came a reality a year and a half ago when I started my business,” Shea explains. She likes shooting many things, but she truly loves shooting engagements and wed-dings. Her career has just begun and it is clear to see that she has talent.

Shea’s advice: “Practice, practice, prac-tice and definitely don’t give up!”

It was in high school, after my dad gave me his old film camera, that I be-gan to learn the fundamentals of pho-tography. Throughout the years I have considered photography as one of my true passions in life, but it wasn’t until recently that I decided that photography is something I want to do professionally. I am not sure what road I will take, and the journey ahead seems daunting, but I am determined to become a profes-sional photographer. I found my love for photography years ago and haven’t put my camera down since, but it wasn’t un-

til I began working for The Beacon news-paper as the photo editor, that I really realized that I could pursue my dream of becoming a professional photographer. I am still unsure of what route or niche I will take, but I love shooting and every aspect of the creative process. Recently I have been infatuated with taking pictures at sunrise, like the one above.

I have a lot to learn and I am aware that there are many steps ahead that need to be taken to pursue my dream. After ac-quiring advice from others, working for “the Beacon” and starting my own web-site, I have learned to put my insecurities aside and pursue my passion. My advice: I encourage everyone at PBA to seek the one thing in life they love doing the most.

Stories by Christina Cernik