ver the summer of 2013, Mes-siah students, employees and alumni were informed that the

popular Messiah College Philly Cam-pus (MCPC) program was shutting down, effective fall of 2014. For many alumni of the program, this decision came as a shock and disappointment. One such individual is Jeremy Zim-merman, a participant in MCPC during the entire 2012-2013 academic year. “I’m obviously quite sad and torn up about MCPC’s closing and I remem-ber that on the day of the announce-ment, there were many Facebook sta-tuses and photos commemorating the good times and memories built dur-ing our time there. These great out-pourings of love and gratitude to the campus came not only from alumni from my year, but also from individu-als who were there years before me. It’s something that alters peoples’ lives and changes their time at Messiah. Zimmerman remarks that MCPC draws an eclectic group of people, all of who are of different majors. “We had a broad range of majors there last year, from education to math. ” But for Zimmerman, a broadcasting major, a major loss will be the lack of internships and employment oppor-tunities afforded to fi lm, broadcast-ing and journalism majors in Philly, of which he experienced fi rst hand. “In the spring of 2013, I had an intern-ship with Radio 104.5 in Philadelphia and right in the middle of fi nals week,

I had the opportunity to work on a gi-ant show for the radio station – their sixth birthday show. I was able to visit my favorite artists – Phoenix, Passion Pit, Twenty One Pilots – it was great to be professionally engaged at a student level. I was made to feel invaluable as a member of the radio team during that show. Closing MCPC is like taking a big opportunity off the table, especially for certain majors specifi c to the commu-nications department. It’s going to hurt the networking and career advance-ment opportunities for many students in the communications department. Zimmermann adds that MCPC’s closing will also lead to a lack of professional experience. “You’re looking at the loss of facili-ties and equipment that I feel Messiah won’t be able to replicate for another fi ve to ten years. For example, Temple has two fully-fl edged television record-ing studios, where you can shoot and edit a full video story in a sound stu-dio. We don’t have anything like that here. It’s going to take tremendous front-end capital on Messiah’s part, especially in obtaining equipment, fac-ulty, and part-time staff to effectively start and run what Philly had here.”Provost Randall Basinger, head of the prioritization committee, agrees that MCPC’s closing will be a tremendous loss to the communications depart-ment, but argues that due to economic diffi culties the prioritization com-mittee had to make a hard decision. “The main issue here is economic sus-tainability. The paradox here is that MCPC is a wonderful program, but it is economically unsustainable. It’s a real

MCPC: 1968-2014By Nicholas Tay

FEATURES EDITOR

Oloss. In times of prioritization, we have to make tough choices and this decision was probably one of the hardest I had to make. It’s important to realize that in prioritization, it’s easy to cut a poor pro-gram to save money. That’s not the case here. Philly did nothing wrong. MCPC was sustainable in a period of economic growth in society and at Messiah, as well as enrollment increases. When we get to a steady state or a loss, reduc-tions have to be made.” Many students don’t realize that Messiah pays Temple all the tuition fees that the students at MCPC pay Messiah. Right now, Mes-siah loses money every year through this program because the tuition paid at Temple is higher than the tuition paid at Grantham. In a period of economic growth, we can afford to sustain those losses. But in a time of economic chal-lenges, it’s hard to have an off-campus program with an overhead of three hun-dred to four hundred thousand dollars a year, without generating any revenue. Despite the potential losses to these majors, Basinger promises that Mes-siah has dedicated resources to these majors and plans to integrate them into the Grantham campus. “My main concern during the prioriti-zation review was to address the needs of the three majors – fi lm, broadcast-ing and journalism – embedded in the communications department. Even though we’re saving a large amount of money by closing down MCPC, we’re investing a good portion of the mon-ey saved into bringing those majors back to Grantham. We’re committed to those majors and we’re currently in the process of developing these three majors such that they’re completely in Grantham. That entails facility renova-

Photo Provided by the Messiah College Philadelphia Campus

tions, new equipment and new employ-ees. The dean and I are confi dent that even with these changes, the majors will be robust and just as effective as they were with the inclusion of MCPC. Some loss will be felt, but I feel that there will be gain by having the experience here.” For students currently in broadcast-ing, journalism or fi lm, Basinger assures these students will be al-lowed the opportunity to use Tem-ple’s facilities to fulfi ll their major. “Students under the old curriculum will be able to study at Temple. We’re mak-ing arrangements with Temple for our students such that those who need to fi nish their major through Temple will be able to do so. Only this year’s fresh-men and subsequent years will follow the new curriculum, so we’re trying as quickly as possible to consolidate those three majors in Grantham. We hope to get it up and running as soon as possible. While these efforts are promising, Zim-merman prefers to adopt a wait-and-see attitude. But he believes that the con-tinuing option of Temple for majors re-quiring it benefi ts the students involved. “It’s great to see that Messiah has taken the right steps. Yet, at this point, every-thing is still rather vague. Until we see actual numbers – the faculty, the labs, the TAs – it’s going to be hard to say for sure how long it’ll take Messiah to develop the communications program at the Grantham campus. However, I’m glad Messiah will continue to part-ner with Temple in the short-term be-cause it offers more resources, classes and professors. It’s good to see that they’re keeping that door open for now.”

Advice for the First-Year Soul

[page 5]

The High Center’s Inaugural Season

[page 4]

First-Year Games 2013

[page 12]Responses to MCPC’s Closing and Motivations Behind It

SWINGING BRIDGEMESSIAH COLLEGE//THE PULSE

THE

VOL. 94//ED. 1//SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

NEWSSeptember 12, 2013 News 2The Swinging Bridge

irst and foremost, the Swing-ing Bridge would like to ex-tend a warm welcome to the

fi rst-year and transfer students. We truly hope you are enjoying your fi rst weeks as a student at Messiah Col-lege as you take time to familiarize yourselves with the new surroundings.

To the returning students, welcome back! With at least a year under your belt, Grantham should mostly be famil-iar to all of you. That said, while you were away at your internship, job, mission trip or vacation, Messiah College had imple-mented quite a few changes around campus over the past three months.

By Huy NguyenNEWS EDITOR

Find Out What Took Place in Your Residence Buildings While You Were Away

Multiple personnel changes took place this summer in residence buildings around campus. Southeastern Uni-versity graduate Paula Hoffman has been named the new Witmer Resi-dence Director (RD), replacing the departed Mandy Hoffman. Paula pre-viously worked as a Youth Pastor and served as an RD at Southeastern be-fore moving to Messiah this August. Her husband, Rusty, is a Messiah graduate and is currently working on campus as an Admissions Counselor. Former Grantham and Smith RD Tim Ferret has moved to Bittner Hall and will serve as the Assistant Director for Residence Life - First Year Experience. The vacant spot as the Grantham and Smith RD has been assumed by Tera Dent, who previously served as an RD at Calvin College. She graduated from Calvin College in 2005 with degrees in Sociology and Spanish and com-pleted her master’s degree in Higher Education at Geneva College last year.

Michael Warari stepped down from his seven-year tenure as the Miller and Fry RD to embark on a new jour-ney as the Head Field Hockey Coach at Vassar College. He will be replaced by Glen Dornsife, a Marketing gradu-ate out of Roberts Wesleyan Col-lege. Dornsife also has a Master of Divinity at Northeastern Seminary. Apart from the personnel changes, Campus Events and Residence Life

teamed up to revamp few residence buildings over the summer. A few nota-bles: all three sections of Smith Apart-ments had been freshly repainted; Sec-tion D of Fry Apartments, all fl oors of Grantham Residence and Bittner Resi-dence received brand new mattress-es; over at Witmer Residence, a new fi re alarm system and a new plumb-ing system had also been installed.

The number of male-only dorm on campus has offi cially reached zero as Miller Residence, used to be Grantham’s lone remaining male-only dorm, has been switched to co-ed with female students occupy-ing rooms on second and third fl oor.

The bridge railing as well as the en-tire South Side Cafe patio deck had been reconstructed. There had been questions in the past regarding the safety of the area, which hopefully had been addressed with the overhaul. On an off-campus note, on May 22, President Kim Phipps sent a memo to Messiah students and faculty with de-tails concerning the college’s decision to close Messiah College Philadelphia Campus, effective May 2014. According to the President, this is part of the col-lege’s Focused Prioritization process to reduce expenses and keep tuition raise at a minimum. The decision has been met with mixed responses, which you can read more in our feature article: “MCPC: 1968-2014” also published in this issue.

F

By Sheki OlgunjuSTUDENT WRITER

What’s New?

he student-led Grantham Com-munity Garden has gone through

many important changes over the sum-mer. Led by work-study students Da-rin Horst and Abhishek Jacob along with a number of volunteers, a lot of hard work and sweat have been put into transforming the garden. At the beginning of summer, a number of problems preventing plant growth had been identifi ed. One issue was the high clay content of the soil. According to the work studies, clay lowers the soil’s fertility and makes it a diffi cult environ-ment for plants to germinate and grow.

To solve the problem, Horst and Ja-cob had to do what they call “double-digging” to break up the hard clay topsoil, which was as thick as six inches. Double digging is a garden-ing technique performed to increase soil drainage and aeration. This same procedure has been utilized by previ-ous summer workers to great effect; and this summer was no exception.

The Garden also experienced issues with weeds, forcing Horst and Jacob to spend a great deal of time carefully uprooting every single weed. They even went the extra mile to build raised beds in order to reduce weeds. For the most part, the issue was taken care of, with the only casualty being a squash vine. Pests presented another ma-jor problem for the gardeners. To counter the unwelcome visitors, Neem oil, a derivative of the Asian evergreen tree was applied to plants. Marigolds were also planted to take advantage of their strong odor in repel-ling insects. A bat box made of recycled wood was put above in the garden to ac-commodate bats who will greatly reduce the mosquito population in the garden.

With these problems eliminated, Horst and Jacob were able to focus on grow-ing the garden. They spent fi fty hours a week planting melons, honeydew, watermelons, cantaloupe, bell pep-pers, squash and many other seeds.

T

Growing a Community

Photo by: Danielle Gingrich

Grantham Community Garden’s Changes and Progress

Other than the new plants, one major change in Grantham garden is the trio of Helga, Gertrude and Phyllis, the gar-den’s chickens. Horst mentioned that the garden had previously looked to grow a few chickens but due to insuf-fi cient funds was unable to do so un-til this past summer. Purchased on Craigslist, the chickens are all in great condition and fed daily with grains, re-cycled weeds, and slugs. When healthy, the chickens are capable of laying at least three eggs every day. According to Horst, students can feel free to take a peek at the chickens and are even al-lowed to feed them if there’s a work study around. However, tampering with the chickens is strictly prohibited. The farm’s produce and chicken eggs are sold to students and teachers at a farm stand in Eisenhower. Any profi t is used for next year’s planting. The

remaining unsold items are then giv-en to Lottie Dining Hall. A hundred pounds of fresh vegetables and eggs are used in Lottie to prepare daily meals.

Horst and Jacob both stressed the importance of teamwork in growing the garden. They mentioned that dur-ing Service Day last year, over 60 stu-dents volunteered to help which was incredibly helpful. They also received help from faculty members such as Dr. Foster from the Biology Department.

During the school year, the gar-den is maintained weekly on Sat-urday from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. Stu-dents interested in volunteering to help in the garden can email the gar-den workers at communitygarden@messiah.edu for more information.

Photo by: Danielle Gingrich

September 12, 2013 News 3

New Learning Management System

New Learning Management System In Place at Messiah

anvas, Messiah College’s lat-est Learning Management

System (LMS), has been imple-mented in courses across campus as an eventual replacement for Sakai.

A number of online courses had previ-ously been tested with Canvas as the default LMS this past summer with desirable results. This fall, Informa-tion Technology Services (ITS) at Mes-siah has registered all courses taught during the semester into the Canvas system, with roughly 850 out of the 1600 registered courses published and currently running. The rest of the courses are either still using Sakai or do not have a LMS activated at all.

According to Neil Weaver, Director of Learning Technology Services at Messiah College, one of the main rea-sons that the college transitioned to Canvas was the consensus that Sakai was no longer a viable LMS option.

Weaver mentioned that Sakai had not received any support from their open-source community in recent times. Ad-ditionally, many of the main developers who pioneered Sakai in the very begin-ning decided to back out of the project. In turn, institutions using Sakai, includ-ing Messiah College, ran into major support issues with the outdated LMS.

“We were forced to go out and look for something different,” said Weaver.

After a year and a half of researching with multiple pilot projects and testing out different LMS, Canvas was selected.For good reasons.

Instructure, an educational technol-ogy company based in Salt Lake City, Utah, launched Canvas in 2011 with the goal of an innovative learning manage-ment system in mind. They incorpo-rated new technology on a regular basis to keep the system always up-to-date. The social media-integrated interface, which the majority of tech-savvy stu-dents are into nowadays, not only makes Canvas aesthetically pleasing but also much more user-friendly than Sakai.

On the practical side of things, Canvas has a host of features that can assist

both students and instructors in many different ways. For example, in Can-vas, the Calendar tab automatically in-cludes the assignments/tests/quizzes’ due dates of all your enrolled courses so students can have a pre-made elec-tronic weekly planner at their disposal. Also, Canvas allows students to submit online assignments in four different ways (text entry, file upload, website URL, and media) instead of just two (text entry and file upload) in Sakai.

Customizable notification is also an im-portant feature that Canvas offers. Stu-dents and faculty can choose which type of information they want to be notified of in the settings. The system also al-lows users to receive notifications based on personal preferences, be it via email, Facebook, Twitter, or even text messages. “It was one key thing that sold us on the product,” said Weaver.

In the future, Weaver believes Can-vas still has a ton of room to grow and expand in response to users’ feedback. “We were happy with Can-vas’ life-cycle and the quick updates from developers whenever they hear an issue about the product,” he said.

When Canvas was first introduced, Weaver was confident that the major-ity of students should have no prob-lem adapting to the new system thanks to their familiarity with social media platforms. For some faculty mem-bers, however, he believed Canvas could potentially be a challenge. How-ever, “so far the faculty have been do-ing well in training and their feedback has been mostly positive,” he said.

For students and faculty members who are experiencing difficulty with the new system, Canvas training ses-sions are being held at the Innovation Zone in Hoffman 106 on a daily basis. For a complete training calendar, visit http://www.messiah.edu/canvasinfo/. With a new system in place, the plan going forward, according to Weaver, is to transition Sakai into read-only mode by the end of this calendar year. Students and faculty members will still have access to material in past courses, but will not be able to add or make any changes. Starting next spring semes-ter, courses offered at Messiah College will be taught exclusively using Canvas.

CBy Huy NguyenNEWS EDITOR

he past few months have been a period of transition for Mur-ray Library. With the addition

of new upstairs study areas, the rep sitioning of Café Diem, and large remodeling and redesign projects

throughout the building, it would be hard not to notice what is going on. However, this semester, there are a few big changes you may have missed.

At the back of the library’s low-er level are five glass rooms. These were previously designated study spaces filled with carrels for student reservation and use. Since the ad-dition of the upstairs study areas, these rooms were no longer needed for study, and the library gave them a new purpose. Now, each of these ar-eas provides a unique and useful re-source for students to enhance their academic and social experience in the library. These spaces are now the Re-laxation Room, Artists’ Books Collec-tion, Graphic Novels and Zines, Mur-ray Theater, and Fiddlehead Forest.

The Relaxation Room is a space dedicated to giving your brain a break and chance to recharge during long study sessions. With a view of the calm-ing shade garden, this room features bean bag chairs, a variety of board games and puzzles, even coloring books to let students take their minds off the stress of academia for a while.

The Artists’ Books Collection fea-tures an entirely different book expe-rience from what one might be used to in a library. According to an official statement from the library, this one-of-a-kind collection shows off a “hybrid artform in which books and art inter-sect.” This unique installment shows

off one of the four collections that have been curated by Friends of Mur-ray Library over the past twenty years.

The Graphic Novels and Zines room shows off the library’s growing collection of comic books and similar media. This room is styled in an active and colorful art deco style, reminiscent of the golden age of comics in the first half of the twentieth century. Students may check out their favorite graphic novels ranging from the superheroes of the Marvel and DC franchises to col-lections from newspapers’ funny pages like Calvin and Hobbes or Garfield.

Murray Theater, though still under construction, will be a huge asset to stu-dents. This will be a space for students to access and view the library’s film collection of over 16,000 titles. What’s more, it supports a variety of formats, including VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, and streaming video. When the installment is completed, eight wireless head-phones connected to a large screen television will allow groups of students to view films while still respecting the policies of the library’s quiet area.

Finally, Fiddlehead Forest will provide a children’s reading area, fea-turing large format books, colorful and engaging reading material, and a fun and inviting space for youngsters. This space is meant to tie in with the Fiddlehead Statue and garden out-side the library to provide a full and enriching experience for children.

Jonathan Lauer, Director of Mur-ray Library commented on the space: “We hope that children whether homeschooled or children of faculty and staff will enjoy it, but students are certainly welcome to come dis-cover their inner child in the Fiddle-head Forest.” Though this section and the Murray Theater are still un-

Behind The GlassBy Dan Row

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Murray Library Continues Renovations With Five New Themed Rooms

The Swinging Bridge

der construction, Lauer said that stu-dents should expect to see these last two sections opening in coming weeks.

Of these five rooms, the Relax-ation Room, Graphic Novels and Zines, and Fiddlehead Forest will be open to any student whenever the Mur-ray Library is open. Given the value of some of the items in the cinema and the Artists’ Books Collection, these rooms will remain locked. However, students interested in gaining access to these rooms may do so at any time

by simply asking at the circulation desk and agreeing to the rules of use.

Lauer expressed his excitement with these new installments. “These areas are for everybody,” he said, “. . .the reaction so far has been very positive as things have been com-pleted over the summer.” He also wanted to remind students that three of the rooms are already finished and open for use, and he encouraged stu-dents to come explore and engage with these creative new additions.

T

Photo by: Danielle Gingrich

OPINIONS

Summer on Campus

uring the academic year, Mes-siah College is full of life and

excitement as students race from class to class, attend a variety of sport-ing events, and gain experience in their fi elds via practicums and in-ternships. For nine months, Mes-siah College’s mission is to prepare young men and women for lives of service and academic excellence, but what happens during the other three months of the year known as Summer?

Summer is a sweet time in the life of a college student. It is a time for re-laxation and rejuvenation. “[Sum-mer] is three months of freedom. It’s time to do what you really want to do,” said senior Lauren Landis.

Although summer is meant to pro-vide rest, there are an average of 175 students who work diligently at Mes-siah College in areas such as Dining Services, Campus Events, Murray Li-brary, Early Learning Center, Summer Music Ministry Team, Collaboratory, Grounds Services, Oakes Museum, Ad-missions, Laundry Services and many more. Students also hold positions such as offi ce assistants in various of-fi ces, research assistants, lifeguards,

DBy Shannon Cochran

STUDENT DIRECTOR OF THE PULSE

Summer Break Brings About A Change In Atmosphere For Messiah Campustour guides and conference assistants. The average pay for a student work-er is $7.85 per hour, but varies with the duties of each position. Full time summer workers are housed on cam-pus for free and part time work-ers are housed at a discounted price.

Many summer workers agree that the overall atmosphere of Messiah Col-lege during the summer is vastly dif-ferent than during the school year. Senior Matt Leber said, “The relation-ships between student workers was better than relationships during the school year because we were constant-ly around each other. A lot of people lived in Witmer so it really allowed us to meet and hangout. I loved it.”

Junior Phil Naegely feels similar-ly about the atmosphere being laid back. “Depending on the week and the conferences on campus, the cam-pus was either very lively or felt like a ghost town. But the summer over-all atmosphere was busy and re-laxed at the same time,” said Naegely.

Although this difference in atmosphere produces many positives, it also plays a role in the way students act on cam-pus. This summer there was, “an un-precedented number of incidents re-lated to poor behavior,” said Director of Human Resources, Amanda Coffey.

These behaviors include poor work performance (tardiness, absentee-ism, and not completing work), viola-tion of the Community Covenant and inappropriate interpersonal conduct (such as “creeking” and harassment).

When incidents in these areas occur, Messiah College takes very serious ac-tion to prevent reoccurrence. “Depend-ing on the rule broken, the student may be terminated from employment and re-quired to forfeit their summer housing on campus,” said Coffey. Disciplinary action varies on a case by case basis, de-pending on the severity of the incident.

If a student acts in a way that violates the Community Covenant, Messiah puts students through a disciplinary hearing as the behavior would likely violate the Student Standard of Con-duct. “All matters that relate to the Community Covenant and student behavior are overseen by the Associ-ate Dean of Students, Doug Wood, throughout the summer,” said Coffey.

These approaches to poor behavior are the same during the school year, but seem to occur more regularly during summer break as the atmosphere is much more laid back in several of the student’s eyes.Despite this perception, students are held to two accountabilities during the summer; they are both a student and

a college employee. “Behavior that vio-lates expectations for employee behav-ior follows an employee’s progressive discipline process. Egregious behavior and violations of the Community Cov-enant usually result in immediate ter-mination of employment,” said Coffey.

Incidents caused by student workers over the summer is only a small por-tion of the population and should not represent the overall student body. “The vast majority of students were excel-lent employees who helped tremen-dously this summer. Every student who is hired to live and work on cam-pus is an adult. The expectation is that if you accept a summer position and sign the commitment, you will honor your commitment and perform your job and behave in a way that refl ects well on you as an individual and Messiah as a Christian institution,” said Coffey.

Messiah tends to review both working and living behavior expectations. If a student does not think he or she can or wants to behave accordingly then the stu-dent will typically fi nd work elsewhere.

Overall, the atmosphere Messiah Col-lege during the summer is one of positivity and it is the duty of the students to refl ect the mission of Messiah through his/her actions.

The Value of Money

his summer I worked as a ca-shier in a little gift shop. At

some point between swiping credit cards and bagging sold merchandise, I had time to contemplate the coins in my cash drawer. I found myself won-dering as to their necessity. As far as I could tell, there were a few problems with the current coin and paper system.

TBy Lynda Heller

OPINIONS EDITOR

Is there a purpose to cash in a nearly card dominated

First off, coins pass through a lot of hands. I may be paranoid, but I don’t feel like it is silly to be worried about the transfer of diseases in an age where immunodefi ciency is a serious concern. Money is handled by uncountable num-bers of people. According to federalre-serve.gov, the average US dollar is in cir-culation for 5.9 years. I don’t even want to know where it has been in that time.

Secondly, due to infl ation the coins are worth very little these days. Pennies, for instance, cost more to make than they are worth. Yes, this means one could make a profi t from melting down pen-nies and selling the copper and zinc in-side. If that sounds too good to be true, it is: the US government made it illegal to melt down pennies in 2006. It is dif-fi cult to determine why a nation that is at a low point fi nancially is continu-ing to spend money making currency.

The idea of eliminating the penny is neither unpractical nor unheard of. In February, President Obama dis-cussed the issue saying, “Anytime we’re spending money on something people don’t actually use, that’s an example of things we should probably change.”

If the penny was retired, then stores would have to round sales to the near-est 5 cents. I don’t see any issue with this. Yes, it is possible that a customer will lose several cents every purchase. Several cents is inconsequential when compared to sales tax in most states. After all, it is United States citizens who are paying to mint coins, and it

is these same people who with save if they don’t have to pay for the mate-rial and labor to manufacture pennies.

There may be many negative effects of currency, but not everyone is able to go cashless. First off, using only a credit card requires everyone to have a bank account. This is not practical for those members of society with little or no in-come, or for those practicing a nomadic lifestyle. Furthermore, there is a danger to having all one’s assets in an account. Banks can fail, identities could be stolen, and people should be able to determine whether they want to keep their cash on hand or not. In addition, it would be dif-fi cult and tedious to make smaller cash transfers without printed bills. Quar-ters, specifi cally, are a lot more practical for use in vending machines and laun-dromats than a credit card would be.

In short, it is not practical for the US is ready to go cashless at this point. How-ever, I do believe that a cashless future is probable. At any rate, we could cer-tainly do without pennies, which cur-rently serve no greater purpose than to be wished on and thrown in fountains.

Provided by scadconnector.com

September 12, 2013 Opinions 4The Swinging Bridge

Advice for the First-Year Soul

Upperclassmen Share Their Wisdom And Experience With Those Who Are New To Messiah.

By Bree WhitelockSTUDENT WRITER

he start of a new school year consistently brings about feel-

ings of uncertainty and uneasy feel-ings of what lies ahead. This is espe-cially true for first-years, who begin to make the campus their home away from home. First-years quickly find themselves adapting to their surround-ing environment and the rules that fol-low. While first years are finding their way around, upperclassman seem to be easily executing their daily tasks. In an endeavor to help make the social, work, and daily activities easier, up-perclassmen Alissa Thompson, Kristyn Brier, Dan Christensen, Kyle McGov-ern, Ben Richter, and Katherine Edel-

Tman have offered advice to first years on how to make it through what may seem to be an overwhelming experience.

“Make friends with people with cars, especially for freshman who live far from campus.”

“Be calm. People here are really chill and laid back.”

“Don’t use a tray at lottie or wear your lanyard around your neck.”

“Stay ahead of your school work, not just on top of it; use your week-ends wisely and know what you’re up against. Classes are harder than high school, especially the science classes.”

A Closer Look at Syria

he United States deplores the tragic and needless loss of both

Iranian and Iraqi lives, especially through attacks on civilian population. We urge both states to respect their ob-ligations under international conven-tions designed to mitigate the human suffering of warfare, particularly those banning the use of chemical weapons.” Remember this quote issued in response to chemical weapons use in the Iran-Iraq War. It may come back to haunt us.

Let me begin by saying: in all honesty, I have waffled on military intervention in Syria. However, as more informa-tion on the looming conflict has sur-faced, I have formed a strong opinion on the issue. Initially, my hawkish - or at least interventionist - leanings were informed by a video on the website of the “avant-garde” and often subver-sive magazine “Vice”. The video was a documentary that featured interviews and footage of the Free Syrian Army. The documentary effectively captured the dismal state of affairs for Syrian citizens especially along the northern frontier with Turkey. A particularly poi-gnant scene showed a noncombatant doctor treating the injured at hospital in rebel-held territory. Later on in the documentary, the hospital was hit (read targeted) by Al-Assad missiles. At the time, the images of bloodied children were sufficient impetus to write my congressman something to the tune of: “Do something about this; back the rebel forces”. Already, we’ve furnished the Free Syrian Army with free satel-lite communications and body armor.

By Grant MeckleySTUDENT WRITER

US policies on chemical warfare have been defined long before its response to recent incidents in Syria

Provided by AFP AFP/Getty

However, my views began to change when I discovered that the so called civ-il war is a multi-faceted quagmire with no real winnable outcome for US for-eign policy or human rights. What the media neglects to mention is the reb-els come from many different factions. The largest and most well equipped of these is Al Nursa Front, a recognized terrorist organization. In fact, Al-Qae-da in Iraq (which didn’t exist until we

CONTD ON PAGE 7 //SYRIA

“Take David Schenk for philosophy!”

“Take classes with friends, you can study together.”

“Take online classes to get ahead.”

“Make solid friends, people you know you can trust.”

“Get creative with your weekends. There are so many times when it seems like the weekends just drag on because there is nothing to do but there are tons of things to do on the weekends, especially if SAB is hosting an event. You just have to get out of your room and find it.”

“It’s easy to get caught up in fun, mak-ing classes a second priority, be mindful of that.”

“You’re paying a lot to be here so make sure to put effort in.”

“Continue to make friends outside of your ‘group’ by keeping an open mind and being open to hanging out with new people.”

“Stay away from drinking and drugs, there’s a lot more to get out of college.”

“Add extracurriculars if you can, the resources are here so use them.”

“Futons and couches attract people to your room if you need help making friends.”

“Learn and practice time management and enjoy your time here!”

“Try and find the rope swing off cam-pus.”

“Go to chapel so you don’t get put on chapel probation.”

“Don’t take advantage of unlimited food at lottie because you’ll get stomach aches.”

“Each year goes by quicker than the next, trust me.”

As gathered from the information given by upperclassman, our time at Messiah will be proven to be short and it’s up to us as individuals to enjoy it and make the most out of our time here. Best of luck to all the first years as an adven-ture of new beginnings awaits you!

tore the place apart in 2003) has called Al Nusra their allies in the region. As conditions in Iraq continue to deterio-rate, the threat of Iraq and Syria merg-ing into a radical Jihadist superstate is not out of the realm of possibility. So why would anyone want to touch Syr-ia with a ten-foot pole? The answer is because someone reacted with chemi-cal weapons, which thickens the plot.

I say someone, because there is solid evidence that both sides have used chemical weapons though it’s hard to say who initiated the use of such arms. Members of the UN have known about the use of chemical weapons in Syria since March 2012 (y’know, when we were busy with elections n’ stuff). Whatever limited knowledge that was available was pulled from inspections

T

September 12, 2013 Opinions 5The Swinging Bridge

//SYRIA

that according to the respective na-tions, were heavily biased . For in-stance, in March 2012 , Russia (who is slightly pro-Al Assad) accused the Free Syrian Army of launching SCUD missiles with chemical agents. Later in April, Israel and the US called foul play after finding evidence that Al-Assad employed a sarin gas at-tack. However, the US was hesitant to react needing “much more time” to further investigate. A little over a year ago in August 2012, the US, France, and Great Britain promised that proliferated use of chemical weapons would result in “enormous consequences” if the “red line” was

The International Student Program:A Home Away From Home

f you were to ask someone which country has really good food,

they might tell you China or Italy. If you were to ask them where to find good art, they may recommend Spain or France. If you were to ask someone where you will be accepted for your race and unique style, they may ponder for a little before they hesitantly mention America?. While others may say otherwise, America is the first place I’ll think of when I think acceptance ever since I’ve en-tered Messiah College through the International Student Program (ISP).

I arrived at Messiah on August 24th feeling nervous, as it was my first time being so far from my homeland, Vietnam. As a freshman, I was wor-

I

By Hang My NguyenSTUDENT WRITER

The International Student Program welcomes those farthest from their homelands to campus.

Photo by Caroline J. Phillips

ried about people I’d meet, friends I’d make, clubs I’d participate in, and the ease at which I’d be able to do all of these things in the smoothest way possible. However, my concerns were eased when I was introduced to the ISP. The ISP was like an enthusiastic tour guide, helping me along the path I had been so concerned about. I remember being welcomed by some IMPAs (In-ternational and Missionary Peer Advi-sors) in blue shirts. They were interna-tional upperclassmen who offered to help all international freshmen. I was astonished at the amount of people wanting to get to know and help me.

In the next few days, I joined vari-ous activities including shopping trips, canoeing, and parties at Rafi-

ki House. We were also instructed on some administrative procedures during sessions. I played, I learnt, I laughed. And in everything I did, there was always someone to help and advise me, whether it was my mentor or the Intercultural Office Staff, like a life vest keeping me from drowning in a sea of worry and concern.

If asked to describe the ISP, most international fresh-men have positive things to say.“Useful, helpful, perfect. I think that the ISP has been helping many students to be adjusted to this new system,” says Renee Altez, a freshman from Peru. Haset Assefa agrees, “The ISP is re-ally nice, I like it a lot. Wish there was another chance to play games,

crossed. It’s now September 2013 and hundreds on both sides of the con-flict have died in chemical gas attacks.

The Obama administration has been careful to reiterate involvement would be limited in Syria, with bombing tar-geting chemical weapons storage and production. Unfortunately we lack the information to effectively carry out this mission without committing ourselves more in the region. It’s also clear the mis-sion is not regime change; it is to pun-ish Al Assad for chemical weapons use.

If you’re like me, you’re probably asking yourself how chemical weapons are any

worse than bombs and guns. They both do the same thing as we’ve seen since 2011, when Al Assad quashed protests with a heavy, authoritarian hand. We’ve seen both bombs and chemical weapons used as instruments of terror, so why is use of poison gas finally the catalyst for intervention? Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise: by staying out of Syria, we are not giving the green light on chemi-cal weapons. We’ve been doing that since the 80’s. Remember the opening quote? After that statement was made the US gave Iraq a slap on the wrist and then went along providing them with weapons for use against the Iranians despite extensive use of chemical arms.

Now is the time to show the world our willingness to return to non-inter-ventionalist foreign policy. Everyone can agree that Al Assad was a terrible leader, along with the Saddam Hus-seins, Konys, Kim Jong-Uns of the world. However, even if we had the resources to take these dictators out of power, what would we put in their place? What will fill the power vacuum in Syria? The conscious effort to avoid entangling alliances will send a much stronger message to the world than a misguided effort to police the world - something we have no business doing.

talk about stuff, be in a group, go on a trip and meet once a week”.

Upper classmen who contributed a large part to the ISP are also very ea-ger about the program. Bryan Leong, President of Asian Students’ Associa-tion expressed his gratitude: “The ISP this year have some amazing things in store. Mr. Kevin Villegas, the direc-tor of ISP, has brought in a fabulous mentoring program that I believe has greatly benefited this batch of interna-tional freshmen. This ensures they get the spiritual, emotional and physical support that is much needed during this transition phase into a new cul-ture and learning environment”. We could just feel the importance of the ISP through our “big boss” Kevin Ville-gas’ words: “[I] love what I’m doing!”.

September 12, 2013 Opinions 7The Swinging Bridge

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

THOR The Dark World

By Megan LaTorreSTUDENT WRITER

T

The High Center’s Inaugural Season

By Sam DoughertyARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

ince its January opening, the Calvin and Janet High Center

for Worship and Performing Arts has advanced Messiah’s arts pro-grams, and is now in the midst of its inaugural performance season.

Previous years at Messiah featured the music, theatre and dance depart-ments sharing the same space in Cli-menhaga Fine Arts Center. Areas such as Poorman Recital Hall or Miller Theater were hard to book. Now, after the construction of the High Center, all three departments are fi nding im-proved space that is readily available.

Dean of the school of the arts Rich-ard Roberson is pleased with the ad-dition, saying “Theatre now has two theaters. Whereas before they had one theater and shared it with mu-sic, they now have Poorman Black Box Theater which means that their Black Box productions can take

S

Photo by Caroline J. Phillips

place in a different room which gives them a lot of freedom for rehearsal space, building sets and so forth.”

The growing dance and music pro-grams are also seeing improvements. Dance with a new studio, allowing them to avoid previous dance ar-

eas like the basement in Witmer, and music with improved practice rooms and a new recording studio.

Beyond its help for the arts depart-ment, the High Center provides a welcome place to attend lectures and performances. Dr. Roberson is par-ticularly happy with Parmer Hall, calling it a “crowning jewel” and “the best concert hall in this region.”

Messiah hopes for students, as well as those in the region, to see up-coming events in the High Cen-ter. Advertisements have recently been sent to the local community

Asgard’s Avenger Returns to the Silver Screen

Provided by Marvel

Music, Theatre And So Much More to Quell Your Need For Culture On Campus

September 12, 2013 Arts & Entertainment 6The Swinging Bridge

hor: The Dark World, sequel to the fi lm Thor and another Mar-

vel Comics inspiration, is set to re-lease in theaters on November 8, 2013

This Marvel Studios sequel will be Marvel’s eighth installment in the movie industry. Directed by Alan Taylor, the fi lm once again stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, and Stellan Skarsgard.

The story resumes one year after the events of The Avengers. Thor, the Mighty Avenger, is faced with a new undertaking: to save the uni-verse – both Earth and the Nine Realms – from a shadow enemy. In-tent on engulfi ng the universe into darkness, Malekith and his follow-ers seek revenge. Malekith was ex-iled by Odin, Thor’s father, but was later freed; he then attacks earth

to get to Thor, knowing its impor-tance to him. No one is able to re-sist. Even Thor’s father Odin is un-able to overcome such an enemy.

Jane Foster, Thor’s love interest from the fi rst fi lm, becomes possessed by a dark spirit, which is connected with this army of darkness. Thor now has to assemble his own army to battle these dark forces, yet the only way he can is to cross over the Dark World. To his dismay, the only person who has access to the dark side of As-gard is his imprisoned brother Loki.

There is a twist to this story. For reasons that will be revealed in the movie, Thor’s quest to save Asgard and mankind also be-comes a quest of vengeance.

The fi lm was announced to be digitally re-mastered and is scheduled to release in Novem-ber into IMAX 3D theaters.

Blue Jasmine

By Derek SullivanSTUDENT WRITER

Woody Allen’s latest fi lm, already his 4th of the decade, is not

only one of the most engaging dramas of the summer, but also gives us Cate Blanchett’s most gripping and pain-ful performance in recent memory.

Our fi rst impression of Jasmine French, Blanchett’s character and the namesake of the fi lm, gives no in-dication of pain: elegant and sophis-ticated, she sits on a plane heading to San Francisco. She is fl ying fi rst class. She’s wearing Chanel. Her lug-gage is Louis Vuitton. She is speak-ing to another passenger – or rather, speaking at – with that sort of high class eloquence one only hears in the highest social circles of Manhattan. And then, she is standing alone, star-ing at a run down apartment build-ing in a middle class neighborhood with the demeanor of a lost child.

We learn that Jasmine (born Jea-nette) is in San Francisco to stay with her sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins) because she can no longer afford New York. Jasmine’s ex-husband Hal, played by Alec Baldwin, whose charm and money and sophistication whisked her off her feet while still in college, turns out to be nothing but a crook, squandering other people’s money in high risk and very illegal investment schemes. When he is ar-rested, she loses everything, her men-tal and emotional stability included.

Provided by impawards.com

Ginger’s soft-spoken and delicate counterpoint to Jasmine is impressive, if nothing else in that Sally Hawkins’ performance is not overshadowed by Blanchett’s tumultuous and forceful character. The past is presented in fragments scattered throughout the fi lm, and we learn that Hal and Jas-mine wanted absolutely nothing to do with her sister and her husband Augie while they were millionaires. However, when Ginger and Augie come into some money, Jasmine in-sists they invest it with Hal. When Hal loses their one shot at a better life, Ginger and Augie get divorced. Ginger is constantly asked why she should show compassion to Jasmine after what happened, and one gets the sense that she really doesn’t know.

The fi lm’s clash of classes is pre-sented plainly, making Jasmine an immediately despicable character to anyone who’s ever had to work for a living. In her fi rst conversation with Ginger, she says she has “absolutely no money,” only a few lines after say-ing she fl ew fi rst class. Things pick up when she decides to take computer classes to get an interior decorating certifi cation online. She works a day job as a receptionist to pay. Eventual-ly, she gives up both these things and does what she does best: she fi nds a millionaire to marry, a friendly and charming politician played by Peter Saarsgard, who has no idea who she really is or what she’s been through.

//THE HIGH CENTER’S INAGURAL SEASON

in the way of pamphlets, detailing the variety of events they can ex-pect to see in the High Center this during its inaugural Fall season.

These events include lectures, plays, and concerts. Among other notable performers and speakers is world famous trumpet player Wynton Mar-salis, who will be visiting to play a jazz and gospel celebration in Par-mer Hall on October 21st. Former New York Times science reporter

Dava Sobel will also be visiting Par-mer Hall (October 29th), with a free lecture entitled “Copernicus and Gal-ileo: Authors of the Moving Earth.”

To get more information about events at the High Center, go to Messiah’s ticket offi ce. Students interested in one day performing at the High Center are welcome to check out and audition for upcom-ing theater, music and dance shows.

Letters to the Editors

The Pulse accepts and encourages letters to the editor, but reserves

the right not to publish submissions, giving preference to

student writing. Letters containing infl ammatory

content or language will not be accepted for publication.

Woody Allen And Cate Blanchett Knock It Out Of The Park

With This Character Driven Drama

It satisfi es a sort of voyeuristic cu-riosity to watch a tragic fall-from-grace, especially when it’s seemingly deserved, but Blanchett’s character is thoroughly pitiable. We feel her anxiety, her nervous ticks; we an utterly broken person trying to live

an illusion in Blanchett’s almost constantly tearful eyes. Unlike Allen’s last few movies, includ-ing 2011’s whimsical Midnight in Paris, his directorial handprint is not nearly as evident. Here he is completely hidden as the puppe-teer; all we see are the characters.

“

”

September 12, 2013 Arts & Entertainment 8The Swinging Bridge

B-Sides: A Preview

By Sam DoughertyARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

B

Provided by thestepkidsband.

Everything You Need to Know About Your Wednesday

Night Entertainment

September 12, 2013 Arts & Entertainment 9The Swinging Bridge

-sides is a free concert series curated by the Student Activi-ties Board every Wednesday at

9:00pm in the Larson Student Union.

The Stepkids – September 11th

Jazz, soul and folk meet psyche-delic garage rock with the The Step-kids, A trio made up of Tim Walsh, Dan Edinberg and Jeff Gitelman.

The group has released two LP’s, with the brand new Troubadour out on Sep-tember 10th. The record openly displays its roots, channeling bands like Earth, Wind and Fire with complete sincerity.

Gitelman, who previously played with Alicia Keys and Stevie Wonder, brings smooth vocals to dense sounds built out saxophones, synthesizers and acoustic guitars. Songs like “Insecure Trouba-dour” is an indie ballad that somehow brings Queen to mind, while album opener “Memoirs of Grey” brings the best of what you would expect from R&B bounce and psychedelic synth-pop.

The Stepkids should be a fun show and you can check out Trouba-dour as well as their self-titled re-cord on Itunes or through their website thestepkidsband.com.

Pistolera – September 18th

Pistolera formed in Brooklyn dur-ing 2005, and have since released three albums. They are lead by San-dra Villia Velásquez, who brings vibrant vocals to fast Latin rock.

Accordions and dense guitars abound in Pistolera, whose music can range from fun dance tracks to atmospher-ic ballads. “El Desierto Y La Ciu-dad” is of the latter, featuring pow-erful vocals from Velásquez and compelling drum work from Ani Cordero.

The group has been featured on NPR, National Geographic, and even had their song “Nievos Ojos” played on Breaking Bad. Their inventive portrayal of Latin rock is every bit worth noting in the American cultural landscape.Check out Pistolera on itunes or through Pistolera.net and be sure to come out on the 18th for what should be a stellar show.

SPORTSSeptember 12, 2013 Sports 10The Swinging Bridge

Provided by Messiah College Athletics

t’s game day. You can feel it in the air: it’s a feeling that fi lls the heart

with a thirst for victory and a fear of defeat. I watch from the sidelines as my team, “We Came In a Prius”—full of en-ergy and with engines revving—gets sit-uated at the line of scrimmage. I grip the clipboard in my hands tightly as the tension builds. Seconds turn into minutes, minutes to hours, and hours to days as the anticipation builds a structure of suspense over the entire stadium. This mighty Jeri-cho of tension brutally shatters as the word, “Hike!” punches the air. This level of excitement can only mean one thing: it’s Rec-Football season.

Signing up to participate in Rec-Foot-ball is easy. A quick search of “Rec Sports” on Messiah’s website takes you to the Rec Sports homepage. Click on the box that says, “Register,” and print out the form. Then, all you have to do is assemble your team, come up with a crazy name, and drop off the form at Room 201 in the Union.

Practicing is paramount if you want to perform effectively on the fi eld. It also helps each team member establish an understanding of the other players on the team. Without this mutual appreci-ation, teamwork is virtually impossible.

Good sportsmanship is the crux of Rec Sports here at Messiah, and play-ers are encouraged to regard their fellow athletes with the utmost re-spect. This is not always easy, how-

ever. Every now and then a bad call or a shady action can cause anger and frustration to erupt in one or more players. In times like these, it is up to the teammates to keep each other ac-countable and to remind each other of why we compete in the fi rst place.

The gratifi cation of success. The sting of failure. They felt it all, and I, as the team’s coach, felt it right long with them. Even though I was not bracing myself for the crippling bear hug of a tackle or the sharp snap of a caught pass in the end zone, I sympathized with my players.

Sometimes we tasted the sweet fl avor of victory and celebrated like royalty. Oth-er times, we got smoked like a big bag of beef jerky that passed its expiration date. Win or lose, however, we did it as a team. The camaraderie we experienced created an atmosphere of constant sup-port and encouragement that ultimate-ly made winning or losing irrelevant.

My job as coach was to inspire my players to achieve to the best of their ability. I was thrilled to fi nd that as the season progressed, the team be-gan to cheer on each other, both on and of the fi eld! Through the sport of Football, we grew together as teammates, athletes, and friends.

Teaming up to accomplish a goal brings everyone involved to a new level of trust, reliance, and encouragement. I highly recommend participating in Rec Foot-ball, and I can not wait for game day.

risbee is like second nature to college students. It’s played around campus from Bittner

Beach to Miller Meadow; but it isn’t just an amusing pastime at Messiah.

“The amazing thing is that frisbee is everywhere,” said sophomore Chris Potter. The school offers club and rec frisbee for different competitive levels. Even the club team itself has two dif-ferent tiers. There is an A team and a B team depending on the level of compe-tition one wants. The A team is the top tier and they consist of about twenty guys. B team is about the same in size, whose players are A team hopefuls or simply want less competitive play.

Frisbee, Not Just A PastimeBy Celal KamranSTUDENT WRITER There is also a separate girls team that

plays in the same conference. The teams travel tournaments throughout the area to compete. They are part of the West Penn conference, which is part of an even larger conference in the United States. Last year, the Messiah men’s frisbee A team won the conference and went on to place third in the region. Meanwhile, the B team broke an all-time win re-cord with a total of three wins last year.

“We have a great chance to win re-gionals this year. Our goal is to move on to nationals,” said sopho-more Caleb Fugate with confi dence.

They have a great shot at it this year with over 75 coming out to the fi rst practice of the year. Many believe this

I

Fwill be the year for the club team.

“We have many freshmen out there that look great, it will be a great year,” said Fugate.

Their season doesn’t start till the spring so fans will have to wait and see what the team has in store. They have been actively building their team with a re-cruitment crew that is busy throughout the school year. They also made their presence known at the opportunities fair, marketing the club to fi rst-years to bolster their crew. More members will defi nitely be appreciated later in the year as players get injured or can’t make it to important tournaments.

When asked why they joined the team, Fugate said: “It’s awesome. There is a great sense of brother-hood within the club and I like how everyone just loves the sport.”

For Potter, it was as simple as, “I saw them at the opportunities fair, went out to practice, and loved every minute of it.”

Both Fugate and Potter are sticking around for their second year with the frisbee club and looking forward great things ahead for the team. When asked about commitment to the team, they said it isn’t to hard to balance with school. They meet up twice a week with tournaments on the weekends. The regular season is much antici-pated but for now we will have to just see how the exhibition tournaments go and how the team holds up till spring.

By Jonathan Barry WolfSTUDENT WRITER

Rec-ing Football

riter Mark Twain refers to golf as “a good walk spoiled.” If Twain had possessed the skills of junior Justin Sisson he

may have felt differently. Those that do not agree with Twain have most likely never tried to hit a 1.68-inch diameter ball into a 4.25-inch diameter hole from over 400 yards away. If this is not hard enough, the petite hole is also protected by menacing obstacles such as trees, sand traps, and water hazards.

For Sisson, golf is a good walk improved. His unrelenting love and passion for the game can be credited for his success.

Sisson, a Business Finance major from Skaneateles, New York, has been playing golf competitively since 9th grade. “My dad introduced me to the game,” Sisson said. “Ever since it has been something I love to do.”

Sisson’s high school career was very successful. He won the indi-vidual tournament in his junior year and his high school team was

also highly successful, taking home several sectional championships. On why he attended Messiah, Sis-son explained, “I chose to attend and play golf at Messiah because of Troy Boone, the team’s coach. What makes him special is that he pushes us to reach our full potential, not only as athletes, but also as Christians.”

Sisson stepped right into a starting role and showed signs of greatness in his fi rst two seasons. However, he did not take all the credit. He said he was privileged enough to have team-mates like seniors Matt Burkhart and M’Cheyne Farlling, who both had illustrious careers as Falcons.

“They taught me the way of the land for college golf and were great role models as I started this new step in my career,” said Sisson. Sisson’s highlight so far as a Falcon has been winning The Rutgers/Cam-den Invitational by fi ring an even par 70. This stellar performance and his Second-team All-Conference hon-ors in 2013 has given him a positive outlook on the future. The team’s goal this year is to win the MAC tour-nament and advance to Nationals.

“We have come close these last few years,” Sisson said. “I am hop-ing we can push each other as teammates to take the next step.”The Messiah Men’s Golf team kicks off their season on September 11th by hosting the Messiah College Clas-sic at Blue Ridge Country Club. Justin’s child-like love for the game epitomizes the point that as long as you love what you do, you can accom-plish great things, especially something as challenging and grueling as golf.

By Michael BrookhartSTUDENT WRITER

Player Profi le: Justin Sisson

W

September 12, 2013 Sports 11The Swinging Bridge

oming off dual Division III Na-tional Champions for the fourth

time, both Messiah’s men’s and wom-en’s soccer teams were ready to start their respective title defense. Both teams were ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA pre-season polls and started their cam-paign with games on August 30 and 31.

Men’s SoccerAfter giving up a goal to Utica 64 sec-onds into the game, Messiah came from behind and defeated the Pioneers 2-1. Reigning NSCAA Division III player of the year Jeremy Payne found the quick equalizer before Benji Kennel headed in the 72’ game-winner off a corner kick.

The next day Messiah scored early and often en route to a 4-0 victory over Me-daille College. Josh Wood gave Mes-siah the lead only 1:11 into the game. Danny Brandt, Benji Kennel, and Brian Ramirez added to the scoring as well.

After going 2-0 at home, Messiah trav-eled to Oneonta State University for the Mayor’s Cup Tournament on Friday

Sept. 6. Mike Kovach- best known for his game-winning goal during the 2012 NCAA Tournament Semi-Final match against Loras- gave Messiah the lead with a powerful shot that was deflected by the keeper, but still found the net.

Oneonta State equalized about ten min-utes later after Alex Winiarski’s shot deflected off keeper Brandon West and found the net. Messiah would have scor-ing chances to win the game in regula-tion, but failed to convert as the game headed into a sudden-victory overtime period. It didn’t take long for the Falcons to find the game-winner as Josh Wood headed the ball into the net just 2:15 into the extra period. Messiah won 2-1 and turned around for Saturday’s match against No. 9 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

In Saturday’s match-up, the under-classmen led the Falcons to a 3-0 vic-tory. Goals by Brandt, Bryant Myer, and Robby Johnson scored for Mes-siah with Carter Robbins earn-ing an assists on the first two goals.

After going a perfect 4-0, Messiah re-turns home for a Wednesday night

Men’s and Women’s Soccer Kick-Off 2013 CampaignC

By Philip NaegelySTUDENT WRITER

7:00 p.m. matchup against Get-tysburg before traveling to Catho-lic on Sept. 14 for a 1:00 p.m game. Women’s SoccerJust like the men, Messiah Women’s Soccer played two home games on opening weekend. On Friday, Aug. 30, Messiah took on head coach Scott Frey’s former college- Alma College. Before coming to Messiah in 2000, Frey started his collegiate career coaching Alma’s Men’s Soccer program and cur-rent women’s soccer coach Jeff Hosler.

Frey and company got the best of Alma and started their season off with a bang. Kylee Bridel and Nikki Elsaesser’s second-half goals lift-ed the Falcons over the Scots 2-0.

A day later, Messiah took on a differ-ent opponent, Scranton, but won by the same result, 2-0. Elsaesser put Messiah up in just nine minutes in and added another goal in the 79th minute.

After going 2-0 on opening weekend, Messiah faced two tough opponents in John Hopkins and William Smith. In front of their home crowd, Messiah found the scorebard first on a goal from Elsaesser, but Hopkins responded a minute later as Hannah Kronik’s break

away shot tied-up the game. The game went back-and-forth until the 73-min-ute mark, when John Hopkins’ Kronik scored the eventual game-winner, deal-ing Messiah their first loss on the season.

With the loss to Hopkins in the back of their head, Messiah faced another well-known national program and familiar foe in William Smith College. The Fal-cons out-shot William Smith 11-5 on the game and 8-2 in the first-half alone. However, William Smith found the game-winning goal off one of their two first-half corner kick opportunities. Zoe Eth headed home Emma Diehl’s corner kick and shocked both the Falcons and the national Division III soccer world.

With two losses on the week, Messiah falls to 2-2. Additionally, this is the first time ever that Messiah has lost back-to-back games under coach Frey. Even though Messiah lost two-straight games, look for them to respond next week and return to their winning ways.

Next week, the Falcons travel to Uni-versity of Mary Washington for a Wednesday 4:30 p.m. non-conference match before hosting Salisbury Uni-versity Saturday, Sept. 14 at 7:00 p.m.Photo by: Danielle Gingrich

Photo by: Caroline Phillips

Provided by Messiah College Athletics

By Michael BrookhartSTUDENT WRITER

Player Profile: Liz MacNeil

s a casual volleyball fan, I have a confession. When I used to

watch volleyball matches, I tended to disregard the “bump” and the “set” and focused my attention on the “spike.” There is so much more to volleyball than the “spike” that many people fail to recognize and give credit to. Vol-leyball is about every shot. Without a good bump, there is no set. Without a good set, there is no spike. In volley-ball, just like in any other sport, de-fense is just as important as offense. This is where junior Liz MacNeil comes in, as a Defensive Specialist for Mes-

siah Women’s volleyball team. Her main job is to “dig” the ball that is spiked by the opposition and has proven that she is an important tool for the success of the team. MacNeil started playing volleyball in high school, but she has loved the game be-fore she started playing competitively. Her interest for the sport exponen-tially grew as she watched her moth-er play when MacNeil was a child.

Two years ago, MacNeil decided not to play her freshmen season, but soon changed her mind after being away from her passion for so long. “I really missed the game. So in the spring, I decided to tryout for the team and I am really happy I did,” she said. MacNeil also enjoys how close the team is on and off the court. Her highlight was this

past season when the volleyball team got second in the MAC tournament. This year the team is vying for the MAC title. That is not MacNeil’s lone goal for the season as she said, “I am looking forward to doing more than winning games this season. I can’t wait to grow spiritually and relationally with my teammates.”

MacNeil is from Oakland, New Jersey and is a Psychology ma-jor with minors in Counseling and Business. She also is involved in Eyas, the Student Alumni Coun-cil, and works in the Career Center.

The volleyball team is off to a good start on the court, despite having a very young team, and is hoping to continue this streak heading into conference play.

A

September 12, 2013 Sports 12The Swinging Bridge

t was a hot and muggy noon, and the sun was high in the sky. The grass was cut, the speak-

ers up and the loft team was ready. It was time for the Res Life Games. After a slight delay with a soccer bus trying to cross the covered bridge the opening ceremonies were under way. Naugle came in first wearing blue and looking fierce. They lined the walls of the covered bridge in order to intimi-date the other halls. Witmer walked in undeterred by the Nauglets. Fa-miliar chants broke out, “Naugle ain’t never been scared” or “I believe that we will win”. As the freshmen halls clashed with their chants and rhymes the champions returned in yellow. Bittner came in looking cool as ever and ready to retake the golden cup. When asked what he expected from this experience, Larry Cannon said, “to get close to the floor and beat Bittner”. Another first-year, Lucas Acuna said he “expects to win”. The enthusiasm

By Celal KamranSPORTS EDITOR

of all the freshmen was overwhelm-ing. And just like that we were ready to kick off the 2013 Res Life Games! First came the spell-it-out game. The members of each hall had to use their bodies to spell out their building name. Not only that but it had to be done in five minutes - not an easy task for any hall. Confusion ensued. Halfway through, one could make out the forming letters bit by bit. Bittner, is usually a shoe-in considering their small size, but even they struggled. By the end of the five minutes Witmer had it all done and looked the best. One point to Witmer!

The next game was the glorious rock-paper-scissors contest. In this competition, first-years had to play rock, paper, scissors against their hall members in double-elimination style. By the end of it one champion emerged from each house. The cham-pions then played each other three-way with a three-strikes-you’re-out system. The beginning of this game was chaotic again with students run-ning around everywhere. Soon after, each hall had found their champions.

The first to strike out was Naugle, leav-ing Bittner versus Witmer, the show-down everyone wanted to see. Witmer out-witted Bittner and came out with the win. Another point for Witmer! Coming up was the dreaded water game where everyone lined up with their hall, passing buckets of water to fill a large bucket of water at the end. Everyone got wet from the water and Naugle emerged victorious with its first win. One point for Naugle. Soon we came to the final event: the relay. Starting with everyone holding hands, each person would then jump

I

through a hula hoop passed from per-son to person. As the hoop passed, each contestant laid down while people ran between them. When everyone had laid down, a mattress with a resident of the hall on it was passed down the line. Once he or she got to the end, they tagged their RD who had to run down to the creek. at the creek residents had to pull the RD on a rope with a tube attached to it. It wasn’t even a contest as Witmer won it all and celebrated by jumping into the creek. A classic end to another year of the Res Life Games.

First-Year Games 2013

Photo by: Caroline Phillips

Photo by: Danielle Gingrich

Photo by: Danielle Gingrich