A Newman student is spearhead-ing an project to donate money to relief efforts in his home nation of Nepal, which was hit by a massive earthquake last month.

Suwas Gautam, a senior, is cur-rently selling bracelets to help the mountainous Asian country. Gautam is from Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, located about 50 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake.

At noon local time on April 25, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked the area which approximately 2.5 million people call home. The quake destroyed many villages and historic sites in and around the capital. At the time of publication, the death toll was estimated by Nepalese officials to be above 7,500 with the prime minister predicting nearly 10,000 people dead.

“I was very much inspired by the lives of Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa when growing up in Nepal and believe that the greatest gift one can give is being able to help peo-ple that are in need,” Gautam said. “Being away from your birthplace, knowing that many innocent lives are in danger and not being able to do anything is heartbreaking.”

Guatam is receiving help from the Multicultural Leadership Or-ganization (MCLO), a club advised by Academic and International Advisor Ami Larrea. She said Newman has always had a strong Nepalese popula-tion, with over 240 Nepalese students enrolled at Newman University since Fall 2005 and more prior to that se-mester.

Bracelets will be sold for a suggest-ed donation of $4 each, with proceeds going to Salvation Army relief work. Sales will take place from 1:30 to 5 p.m. Friday in the Library Atrium and 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday in the same location. Bracelets will also be sold at Sunday’s Breakfast & Bingo event, Wednesday’s CAB Chair

THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015 VOL. 66, ISSUE 13

VantagetheSTUDENT VOICE OF NEWMAN UNIVERSITYsince 1968

Students sell bracelets to help Nepal relief

By ELLEN HEALYStaff Writer

WWW.NEWMANVANTAGE.COM

One is a journalist who will gradu-ate later this month but already has a job. One is a teacher who always dreamed of teaching elementary students and now does. The third is a nurse at Wesley Medical Center, who works in the Pediatrics Intensive Care Unit, saving lives.

These graduates agreed to share tips on how to prepare for the job market after graduation.

Matt Riedl, Crimes Reporter for The

Wichita EagleAs a fresh-faced 18-year-old, Mat-

thew Riedl enrolled in his fall classes at Newman and was most excited to take the Intro to Journalism course taught by Denise Neil, an adjunct faculty member and an entertainment reporter for The Wichita Eagle.

During the course, Neil recognized Riedl’s talent and as midterms were approaching, she asked him if he

would be interested in interning that winter break for The Wichita Eagle.

Riedl was complimented by her of-fer and signed up right away.

From then on, Riedl interned for The Eagle every fall, winter, spring and summer break, where he gained more connections and more experi-ences. Now, a senior at Newman, Riedl already has been hired fulltime as a crime reporter for The Wichita Eagle newspaper.

Riedl describes himself a lucky man and as one who was just “at the right place, at the right time.” Riedl said that coming to Newman Univer-sity was the best decision he made be-cause Newman prepared him for the working world by giving him connec-tions and networking opportunities.

“Coming to Newman was great be-cause of all the connections it afforded me,” Riedl said. “Wichita is a pretty big market. It’s a fairly big city, and being able to start making connec-tions in an industry that relies heavily on connections was phenomenal.”

When Riedl first came to Newman, he knew that he loved to write, but he wasn’t sure if a minor in journalism

was the right choice.“I liked being able to tell people’s

stories,” Riedl said. “And then I decid-ed, even if I don’t go into journalism, having a strong writing background will get you anywhere. But I really fell in love with journalism after working at The Eagle.”

Riedl said that Newman’s commu-nication program helped him make these connections because profes-sionals were brought in to teach the students. Riedl had one class taught by adjunct Jessica Freeman Bertapelle, the new advisor for Wichita State Uni-versity’s newspaper, The Sunflower. In another class, Todd Ramsey, who owns the advertising agency Apples & Arrows, taught about about social media and marketing.

Riedl said he advises Newman students preparing for the working world to find quality internships, to do some research on their own, and to learn how to prioritize.

“The key is to get good quality internships while you’re still an un-dergrad,” Riedl said. “You need to get

See “Advice” on Page 3

NEWMAN GRADUATE KAITLYN GRIGGS found a teaching job at St. Patrick’s Catholic school in Wichita. She credits Newman with her success landing this job. Courtesy Hang Griggs, Photo Editor.

Graduates share advice for students

By WESLEY WILLIAMSStaff Writer

GRIGGS’ KIDS

See “Bracelets” on Page 2

Employed NU alums look back on education

News BriefsTHURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015 NEWS 2

Scholars Day and Reading Day

Scholars Day will take place from 9 a.m. to 12:55 p.m. Friday in Eck Hall.

Scholars Day is an event where Newman students can present work from cap-stone and NSP courses.

There will be no classes Friday because of Reading Day.

Graduation Events

The Baccalaureate Mass will take place at 7 p.m. May 15 in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Concep-tion.

Commencement will take place at 10 a.m. May 16 at Century II.

Graduates and their families are invited to at-tend both events. Please see the Newman University website for more details.

From “Bracelets,” on Page 1

Breakfast and Bingo

CAB will host this se-mester’s Breakfast and Bingo event at 8:30 p.m. Sunday in Mabee Dining Center.

Students are invited to attend the free event, which includes breakfast food and bingo games for a variety of prizes.Massage event and Sloppy Joe show.

Additionally, at the closing meet-ing on Tuesday afternoon, SGA voted unanimously to donate $500 to Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States.

Guatam hopes that the Newman community will continue its support for the Asian nation, where much of his family is located, but are in good condition.

“I kindly request the Newman community to pray for Nepal and support this country of Mt. Everest in the time of need.”

NSP class raises money for kids’ campBy VANTAGE STAFF

Students in Newman University’s NSP 4503A: Cancer Treatments class completed fundraising for Camp Quality on Wednesday morning, rais-ing more than $1,200 in donations to the camp.

The students, who sold yellow “Band Together for Camp Quality” bracelets, presented a check for $1,200 to Theresa Vetter, Newman’s direc-tor of nursing, who also serves as a volunteer official with Camp Quality Kansas.

“We’ve stood here and received the big checks from Spirit (Aerosystems) and a few other companies, but this is probably the first that we’ve received that every single person contributed to,” Vetter said in the Eck Hall class-

room.Approximately 400 bracelets were

sold by the students in the class for $3 a piece.

Student Government Association sponsored the fundraiser by pledg-ing to provide capital costs of $200 to produce the bracelets.

“This project was an experience that I can take with me

for the rest of my life,” said senior Joe Molina, who helped lead the bracelet project. “I never knew that something so simple would make such a difference in the lives of the children involved with the camp.”

Other students in the class headed an art supply drive through the month of April for the Camp Qual-ity campers. It collected more than 30 books, five paint bottles and various

craft supplies. Slightly more than $100 from bracelet sales profits was used to purchase additional supplies for the drive.

Earlier in the semester, students also partnered with Campus Ac-tivities Board to host a “Stuff-a-Bear” event on campus to create bears for the campers. Fifty-eight bears were stuffed at the event and $98 was do-nated.

Camp Quality is a free, Via Christi-sponsored summer camp for chil-dren with cancer, billed as “letting kids with cancer be kids again.” The camp anticipates 45 children coming to camp this summer, which will be held from July 12 through 17 at Camp Tawakoni in Towanda. For informa-tion about how to get involved, visit www.campqualityusa.org/ks.

Inquire at 338 N. Rock Rd. OR(316) 260-8895

Looking for a cool place to work this summer?

Heat is now hiring full and part-time cocktail waitresses and servers.

BRACELETS that will be sold for $4 to help Nepal relief efforts. Courtesy Photo.

A total of 10 Newman University faculty members will not be return-ing next year according to Provost Michael Austin. Four members are re-tiring, and the other six are pursuing other various career opportunities.

Casey McNeil, assistant professor of biology will be attending medical school. Jay Nolan, visiting professor of psychology and Rich Bherens, visit-ing professor of physics will both end their one-year appointments in May. Pamela Pancake, assistant professor of

art and graphic design; Karen Boetch-er, associate professor of education; and Kathy Hammond, director of radiologic technology will be pursu-ing other career opportunities.

Deb Gowing, instructor of ra-diologic technology; Karen Rogers, director of elementary education; Guy Glidden, associate professor of educa-tion; and Carolyn Muring, associate professor of education are all retiring.

Austin said that all positions ex-cept Gowing, Glidden and Pancake’s positions have been filled. Direc-tor positions were filled by internal promotions. Megan Rucker, current

instructor and clinical coordinator of radiologic technology and CT coordinator, will become director of radiologic technology next year. Cindy Louthan, assistant professor of education, will become director of elementary education in the next year.

“We look for people who really want to be teachers,” Austin said. “[We want] people who accept and believe in the mission of the institu-tion, who want to be in the classroom and want to constantly improve their teaching.”

By KATI BUSHA&E Editor

Faculty members step down to pursue other opportunities

a&eTHURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015

3

As the end of the year approaches, CAB has offered several events in or-der of helping de stress Newman Stu-dents during finals.

Earlier this week, CAB had a Mud Volleyball tournament.

On Monday, it hosted: “Stressed Spelled Backwards is Desserts” which was a dessert bar set up where stu-dents created mini dessert pies.

On Tuesday,it hosted “Fishing for A’s” where students could go fish for goodie bags that contained snacks and useful materials to help them prepare and do well on their finals.

On Wednesday, it hosted “Wheel of Finals Fortune” in which students spun a wheel to win prizes from color-ing books to cups.

“We plan[ned] and [held] events that are aimed at lowering the stress that comes with finals week,” said Se-nior Corwin Nozari, CAB member

CAB will host Breakfast and Bingo on Sunday in the Mabee Dining Hall at 8:30 p.m. and free chair massages Monday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Library Atrium.

Question of the Week

SeniorSolis

What are your plans for summer break?“Get married, work, move, and start grad school.”

Austin

SeniorSigg

“Enjoying lots of base-ball, sun, and extra cash from work!”

AdrienneSenior

“Europe by Rail with Newman and then start my full-time po-sition at Koch Indus-tries.”Marcus

“I’m moving to Kansas City to start physical therapy school at KU Med.”

“Sunbathing and subt-weeting. “

Senior

AshtonJunior

MattinglyEmma

“I’ve taken a sum-mer internship at the University of Alabama - Hunstville in their student life office.”

Mic BrunnerLee

Somes

Student Life Coordinator

CAB plans stress-free weekMEI-MEI SENTHAVYStaff Writer

HONEST HOROSCOPES with Ruben Lerma

Aries: Stop being such a Deborah downer and try to be more of a Sunny Sue. It might brighten things up.

Taurus: Change is terrify-ing but necessary. Keep in mind that everything will fizzle into equilibrium eventually.

Gemini: What goes around, comes around. So don’t be a bad person.

Cancer: You’ve been work-ing so hard. Why don’t you treat yourself? Buy yourself something nice!

Leo: People will come and go in your life. Fight for those who you think are worth it.

Virgo: Been chewing over something in your mind? It’s probably time you spit it out.

Libra: You can do this. Nothing to worry about. One step at a time.

Scorpio: Nothing is for-ever. So it’s always good to remember the good ol’ times.

Sagittarius: Don’t take life so seriously. Otherwise you’ll find that you smile too little and glare too much. Sarcasm is only good in doses.

Capricorn: Don’t get your hopes up too high, oth-erwise they’ll burn up reentering the atmos-phere.

Aquarius: Plan ahead and don’t procrastinate. Invest in yourself as much as others invest in you.

Pisces: As the rain falls, look up at the moon and find comfort.

THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015 A&E 4

quality internships, not just anything that comes up.”

Kaitlyn Griggs, Kindergarten

Teacher at Saint Patrick’s Catholic

SchoolGrowing up in Tulsa with 10

siblings, Kaitlyn Griggs always knew that she was destined to be a teacher. She learned in her time with her siblings that she loved children and loved to learn.

Griggs graduated with a degree in elementary education from Newman in 2012 and is now in her second year as a kindergarten teacher for Saint Patrick’s Catholic School in Wichita. Griggs said that Newman fully pre-pared her for the working world and made her feel supported and ready for any job interview.

“The teachers were great at New-man,” Griggs said. “They helped me understand what to expect after graduation.”

When Griggs was a senior at New-man, she participated in the elementa-ry education program, which allowed her to do all of her observations her first semester at the same school that she would be student teaching at in the spring. Griggs was assigned to a first grade class at Saint Patrick’s, which was being taught by a New-man alum who had more than 10 years of teaching experience.

Griggs said she loved Saint Patrick’s and soon after graduation was disappointed to learn that the school didn’t have any openings. She found a permanent job at Epic Char-ter School in Oklahoma, an online school, but teaching online was not for her, she said.

Griggs continued to sub at Saint Patrick’s, and a year later was asked to apply for a kindergarten teaching position that just became available.

“Of course I was interested and excited that there was a possibility of me teaching at my first-choice school, but I tried to keep my cool and stay calm,” Griggs said. “A week or so later after I had turned in my applica-tion and handy dandy portfolio I had made in one of Karen Roger’s classes at Newman, I was offered a job there teaching kindergarten. I was ecstatic.”

Griggs said that she is thankful for

the guidance she received in college. Newman helped her become confi-dent when she started interviewing for jobs, she said.

At Newman, Griggs was a part of the Teacher Club, where profes-sional teachers came in and answered students’ questions about teaching. In another class, she made a port-folio that had all of her certificates and projects she had done within her student teaching classrooms. The portfolio showed principals what the teachers could do and who they were, Griggs said.

“I would still get nervous jitters at interviews but I felt confident in who I was and what I was capable of,” Griggs said.

Tiffany Mahoney, Registered Nurse at Wesley Medical

Center Tiffany Mahoney was a stay-at-

home mom for more than 10 years, raising her three girls with her hus-band William, when she started to se-riously consider going back to school to pursue a career in nursing.

“Once my girls were all start-ing school, I decided it was time to look into a career that I could love; one that would provide me security until retirement,” Mahoney said. “I decided then that I would become a nurse. No more jumping from job to job. I decided that helping others was just in my nature and that healthcare was a good decision for me. I love kids and have children of my own, so a focus in pediatrics seemed to be an excellent choice for me.”

Mahoney graduated from Cowley County Community College in 2012 with an associate degree in science. Soon after graduation, Mahoney searched for a new school that would help her continue her education. Ma-honey came to Newman and gradu-ated from the nursing program last December.

Newman sets up mock interviews for students to gain experience, and Mahoney got one with the nurse man-ager at Wesley Medical Center. That manager turned out to be Mahoney’s future boss.

“That nurse manager just hap-pened to be one of the interviewers,” Mahoney said. “I voiced to Professor (Teresa) Vetter that I would like to have my interview with that manager,

and I made sure to let that manager know in my mock interview that I was interested in a real interview for the position on their unit. A real inter-view followed not long after, where I was offered the position and gladly accepted.”

Mahoney said that she loves her job as a pediatrics nurse for Wesley and that she would recommend New-man’s nursing program to anyone.

“The professors at Newman do an excellent job of guiding nursing students in this chosen profession,” Mahoney said. “They have a wide

pool of contacts to pull from to help students get interviews and help guide them to where they want to go.

Mahoney said that she picked up skills and experience at Newman.

“I think that clinical experience is vital to the whole process,” Mahoney said. “Learning what it is like early on in a hospital environment helps to prepare you for what it will be like on your own. Through the mock interviews offered at Newman and through the capstone processes I went through, I had learned a lot and had practiced a ton.”

From “Advice” on Page 1

MATT RIEDL writes a story at The Wichita Eagle. Hank Griggs, Photo Editor

TIFFANY MAHONEY works as a pediatric nurse at Wesley. Courtesy Photo

We’ve got a blank space baby... And we’re going to use it to tell you...

WE HAVE A WEBSITE! www.newmanvantage.com

sportsTHURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015

5

Men’s tennis makes South Central Regional Tournament

SOPHOMORE EDUARDO SANTOS prepares to serve a ball back to an oppo-nent in his singles match at West Genesis earlier this season. Hank Griggs, Photo Editor

By DELANEY HIEGERTSports Writer

The Newman men’s tennis team made history last weekend when it played in the South Central regional tournament that feeds into the NCAA D2 national tournament. The team had never made it to this tournament before.

The team, placing second in the Heartland Conference tournament after a tough loss to Saint Edward’s, found out they made it into the re-gional tournament via the NCAA live stream tournament announcement following the completion of all D2 conference tournaments.

Newman was the fifth seed out of five in the South Central region and lost a close 5-2 match, with two match-es going unfinished, to the Cameron Aggies on May 2.

Director of Tennis Shella Augspurg-er said she was proud of how the team handled some bumps in the road this season and how they finished out.

“They lost some close matches throughout the season,” Augspurger said. “But they finished strong and were playing some of their best tennis towards the end of season.”

Augspurger said a key to the team’s success was having strong players that allowed the team to really expand its

competition base.“We’ve got some great players on

the squad that I feel could compete with any D2 team out there,” Aug-spurger said. “With the addition of Alejandro Gonzalez in our two spot, that really pushed us to a higher lev-el.”

The team was excited to make it to the regional tournament and be a part of something Newman has never been able to do before, said Senior Freddy Sanchez.

“It makes you feel very proud,” Sanchez said. “To be able to help lead the team to regionals and to ac-complish something that’s never been done before, that’s a great feeling.”

Sanchez said that the loss in the conference tournament was tough, but the news about regionals gave the team a new spark.

“It’s heartbreaking to have your heart set on a conference champion-ship and to not get it,” Sanchez said. “But finding out we got another chance to continue our season at the next level, that lifts your spirits.”

The season was full of excitement and a lot of great accomplishments, Sanchez said.

“I was lucky enough to play here at Newman for three years,” he said. “And this was a great way to go out. I got to lead my team to a new common

goal that Newman tennis hasn’t had before. It was truly exciting.”

The men’s tennis team will gradu-ate four seniors including Sanchez, however Augspurger said the squad still looks strong for next year.

“We’re losing some great guys,”

Augspurger said. “But we still have Eduardo (Santos) and Alejandro (Gonzalez) in our one and two spots next year, as well as some younger guys that got some experience under their belts rounding out the four five and six spots. We’ll definitely be able to make an impact again.”

The Newman softball team made it to the Heartland Conference Tourna-ment for the first time in five years this season. The Lady Jets, who went in the four team tournament as the fourth seed, lost their first round game in San Antonio to No. 7 St. Mary’s 6-3. In the elimination game against Texas A&M International, the team dropped the game 2-0.

Despite the early elimination, the team was excited to do something it hasn’t been able to in a while, said Senior Sarah Balderas.

“It was great to go to the tourna-ment and experience it for the first time” Balderas said. “To have New-man get recognized as one of the top

four teams in the Heartland Confer-ence was great for our program.”

The team had its ups and downs throughout the season, including a walk-off home run win against No. 20 Emporia State, but ended with a final record of 17-39.

Sopho-more Jensen Cromer said that although the tourna-ment didn’t go the way she’d hoped, she knows the team will come back hungry next season.

“Making it to the tournament just

Softball team breaks trend, makes conference tournamentBy DARIUS WALLERStaff Writer

shows that Newman softball is mak-ing strides toward a great program,” Cromer said. “It was disappointing to be the first team to head home, but

I think it was a great experience for us and we learned a lot from it.”

Cromer said she believes the program is only going to improve from this season on and has faith that her team will make an appear-

ance at the tournament again next year.

“It was important that we beat Oklahoma Christian to make it into

the tournament this year,” Cromer said. “Next year they will be eligible for the tournament along with Lub-bock Christian and Rogers State. Taking those games from them just gave us confidence that we can be in a position to have an impact at the tournament again next year.”

The Lady Jets will lose four seniors from their line-up, including out-fielder Kaitlyn Padilla, utility Sarah Balderas, outfielder Kaitlyn Buck, and pitcher/first baseman Kelsey Jones.

“The feeling of making it to con-ference was one I’ll never forget,” Balderas said. “Going down there was a great way to end my four years here at Newman.”

“Making it to the tourna-ment just shows that New-man softball is making strides toward a great program.”

JENSEN CROMER

THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015 SPORTS 6

ABOVE: BASKETBALL TEAM MEMBERS Nathan Veenis, Luka Verme-zovic, and Kevin Bryant pose for a picture at their table. Hank Griggs, Photo Editor

RIGHT: SENIOR RUBI TORRES thanks her teammates and coaches as she accepts the Jetspy for Female Athlete of the Year. Hank Griggs, Photo Editor

And the Jetspy goes to...

Mr. and Ms. JetCarissa Villaflor - Tennis

Jarrod Flax - Baseball

Scholar Team AwardWomen’s Golf

Men’s Cross Country

Athlete of the YearRubi Torres - Cross Country

Jermey Espinoza - Basketball

Breakthrough Athlete of the Year

Game of the Year

Comeback Athlete of the Year

Aaron Mack - Baseball

Softball’s walk-off win over ESU

Kaitlyn Buck - Softball

Rookie of the Year

Supporting Role Award

Play of the Year Award

Hank Griggs

James Hornsby’s hole-in-one at the golf Conference Championship

Kesha Buckner - BasketballTyler Mies - Wrestling

Maverick Award

Humanitarian of the Year

Best of the Best Award

Laura Hageman - Volleyball

Women’s GolfMen’s Tennis

Kendall Anderson - GolfJohn Senseman - Soccer

Bounce Back Award

Community Outreach Award

Ghost Rider Award

Wingman Award

Volleyball

Easton Julian - Basketball

Men’s Soccer

Brianna Caldwell - Basketball Jeffery Wherrit - Tennis

Top Gun AwardKelsey Jones - Softball

Ryan McCarthy - Basketball

Newman University held the first ever Jetspy Awards last weekend on May 3. This was an athletic banquet for the entire athletic department and all of the sports teams on campus.

Athletes were first nominated by students, faculty, and staff for the Jetspy awards, then the final nomination pool and award winners were chosen by a board of various athletic department members. The athletic de-partment and SAAC sponsored the Jetspys and plan to make it an annual event.

I performed in my last choir show this weekend. It was another event in a long list of “last” activities that have been racking up in my life recently.

First, there was the last time I at-tended a Jets for Life club meeting. Then there was the last time I gave a group presentation at Newman. The last time I filled cap and gown orders for the bookstore. The last time I started an opinion column for The Vantage.

But my last choir show was different. My eyes watered up, but others ac-tually shed some tears. The students in Chorale became very close during show week and it was hard for some of us to realize that the graduating seniors would not be singing in next year’s shows.

I thought I would be one of those breaking down before the show, but I handled it quite well, thanks to a real-ization I’ve been keeping in mind.

We all say goodbye to Newman eventually, but I’ve never found any goodbye to be truly definitive. Forgive me if I get a little cheesy, but I’m glad I’ve made the discovery that I don’t have to cut myself off from NU at graduation.

No, I won’t be coming back on cam-pus every day once I graduate. I won’t see the same faces every few days in class. I won’t be concerned by ap-proach of too-friendly squirrels.

But, the university will never be closed off to alumni. We can still come to watch basketball games and catch up with old coworkers. I’ll be back to watch choir concerts, even though I’ll be on the other side of the stage.

Even students who move away af-ter graduation can still connect with their alma mater. With just a few clicks, graduates can find out what’s going on at Newman or check up on the stats of their old sports team on-line.

Jessica Sponsel

Deuces Gooses!

Since my freshman year at New-man, one of my bucket-list items has been to take a long shower in the De Mattias dressing room showers.

Why, you may ask?I really don’t

know. Sometimes our bucket list items are weird like that.

However, bar-ring any unforeseen finals-week late nights, it looks like that bucket list item will remain in the bucket, so to speak.

And that’s not a bad thing.

That example may be a little trite, but I have always believed that it’s healthy practice to leave something unaccomplished in whatever one does. That is not to say that you shouldn’t constantly strive to do everything you can, but there is something to say for striving toward that one thing that was never accom-plished.

In most senior-editor-leaving col-umns I’ve seen, the writer focuses on his or her successes while at New-man, and how excited (and yet sad) he or she is to be moving on to the “real world.”

It’s been a year of ups and downs

for me personally, and though it’s ending on an extreme, extreme high (hello dream job!), I think it’s impor-tant to remember the lows. That way, we remember where we came from and can strive to be better.

A lot of things toward the end of the school year did not go exactly as I had hoped; however, that disappointment has been nothing but a boon for me in the past few weeks. It may be hard to swallow, but I do believe that in many cases, failure is a better barometer of character than success.

I didn’t land a leading role in a play my senior year. I didn’t win Journalist of the Year for a second year. I really didn’t win any of the awards seniors fantasize about winning when they are at the cusp of graduation.

But that has made me hungrier, and hungrier in an arena that will impact the rest of my life: my professional ca-reer.

Being met with disappointment has given me that extra push to want to pursue tough stories at my job at The Wichita Eagle, to enter into difficult situations, and to be compassionate toward those who do not get their way ever.

I would be totally remiss if I did not express my gratitude for the people

opinionTHURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015

7

I’ve yet to hear this song on the ra-dio, because I’m still on a concert high from seeing Maroon 5 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City about three weeks ago and cannot stop listening to ‘Animal’ on repeat (awoooooo!!!) but recently my girlfriend brought my attention to Meghan Trainor’s latest sin-gle “Dear Future Husband” which is catchy, quirky, and boasts a terrible message.

My first exposure to this song was the music video, which is cute and reminis-cent of the 1950s. The tune is toe-tap-pingly familiar, but being a child of the 90s, the music vid-eo just reminds me of “Grease.” I’m sure older listeners would catch the true 50s vibe, and the song has a mes-sage that is similar to the 1950s views of how men and women should act in a couple but flipped on its head.

Essentially the song tells the story of a young woman who is contemplat-ing how she wants her marriage to be and speculating to her hypothetical husband how that should work. In-stead of the 1950s’ “women-should-be-in-the-kitchen” mentality this song has a lyric that says,“So don’t be think-ing I’ll be home and baking apple pies. I never learned to cook.” Other lyr-ics in the song continue this twist on traditional 1950s’ views on marriage, except Meghan Trainor’s voice makes the message come across as a whiny, spoiled female complaining about how she wants her marriage to be.

The song does not come across as a young girl hoping to find a gentleman, but a brat telling all men to be this way or they won’t get that “special loving.”

I believe Meghan Trainor to be on a fast track to disappearing just like Lorde and many other young pop stars that have come and gone. Each with a few catchy hits that then fade away into being remembered as noth-ing but a young, immature singer with songs that we curse for getting stuck in our heads.

Dear Meghan Trainor... stop

Justin Ralph

I’m not all about that bass.

Don’t let the cold showers get you down

I’ll see you when I see you, Newman

See “Farewell” on Page 8

Matt Riedl

I’ve come a long way.

See “Shower” on Page 8

SENIORS MATT RIEDL AND JESSICA SPONSEL graduate this year after serving as Editor-in-Chief and News Editor, respectively. Courtesy Photo.

that have made this past year (and all the years before it) not just bearable, but some of the best years of my life.

To the returning staff of The Van-tage, you have clearly proven that you will continue to thrive without me, as evidenced by (largely your) perform-ance at the Kansas Collegiate Media conference this spring. To Kati, John, or whoever the next editor-in-chief may be, know that your work is ap-preciated and needed. You may never get kudos for it here on campus, and sometimes you may even get a highly marked-up, sticky-noted copy shoved through the door to the newsroom, but know that it’s worth it. So don’t give up. The same goes for the returning writers to The Vantage’s newsroom - it’s going to be up to you not only to feature the highlights of our institu-

tion, but also to hold people account-able for their actions. That’s what I’ve tried to instill, and I hope that culture continues to survive up in the Mac Lab.

Thank you to Denise Neil, the ad-visor of The Vantage, because without her I would still be working as a jani-tor at St. Vincent de Paul or Botanica. She has given me brilliant life advice and over the years she has become one of my good friends.

I also have to thank my girlfriend, Sydney, for helping me get through this year. I don’t know how I could have done it without her.

So what do I have to say for myself?Some things are better left unfin-

ished, like that shower in De Mattias. Maybe one day.

But that might just be a little weird

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THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015 OPINION 8

Published every Thursday, except during University breaks and the summer session. De Mattias Hall, Room 266 3100 McCormick Ave., Wichita, KS 67213.

About this paper — The Vantage is a weekly stu-dent produced newspaper serving Newman University and the surrounding community. The content of the opinions page does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Newman University, nor the opinions of the entire paper staff. The views expressed by columnists are their own.

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Opinions Editor, The VantageDeMattias 266, 3100 McCormickWichita, KS 67213or e-mail: vantage.nu@gmail.com

John DennyEditor-in-Chief

Jessica SponselNews Editor

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Delaney Hiegert Sports Editor

Hank GriggsPhoto Editor

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Denise NeilAdviser

Tre’ BlountStaff Writer

Ellen HealyStaff Writer

Rachel MyersStaff Writer

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From “Farewell” on Page 7

Schools out in two weeks.Say good bye to your friends now.They are gone for good.

HAIKU ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

Partly Cloudy

And for all of us who move on from Newman – student, teachers, staff – we get to carry away all the great memo-ries we made while we were here. We take away the knowledge we gained and the lessons we learned.

Thank you to everyone at Newman who has supported me and taught me. Thank you for being friends or men-tors.

Thank you for being with me dur-ing my last days at Newman. Now I’ve got to get back to my list of last things.

I’ve got to go to my Thursday class-es for the last time. I have to prepare for my last finals; turn in my last paper for a Newman class; worry about Ap-plied Statistics for the last time. And now, it’s time to sign off of my last Vantage opinion. Jessica over and out.

From “Shower” on Page 7

Thanks for reading! - The Vantage Staff

See you next year!