BSU Prepares for Presidential Debate

By: Nic Yonter

Attendees of first meeting.

Officers elected for this edition of BSU.

Officers discussing ideas.

     With 18 people attending the first meeting, BSU seems primed for a big year. On this day, the organization was announcing the officers that had been previously voted on.

     The main topic of discussion of the meeting was the events that would be hosted by BSU over this upcoming academic year. Some of the events included the annual BSU social, which is where Avila connects with other groups from other schools with the purpose of meeting new people, the gospel fest, where singers and dancers come to Avila to give a taste of something different than the usual mass, and the debate between the presidential candidates that takes place on Oct. 3. With the large number of attendees at this meeting, BSU is confident this will be directly proportional to their success.

     “I’m pretty excited about this year. If participation stays like it was at this meeting, we will have a very successful year,” said Cierra Coleman.

     “I think we are off to a very good start. As long as our participation stays up and stay committed, we will be a great group on campus,” said Adrian Foster.

     Coleman has been elected president and Foster serves as the treasurer.

     The debate on Oct. 3 will include refreshments and a time for discussion after the dispute has concluded. This event on campus, along with others is something that is exciting for the group.

     “I think it was a pretty successful meeting. We learned about a lot of events going on around campus and who all of our cabinet are,” said Elijah Ming.

     “I think we will be a good organization this year. We will have our hands in more things on campus this year and it is going to be all good,” said LeAnn Harrison.

     Ming is the vice president this year and Harrison is the secretary.

            

Learning About the World Through Food

By: Nic Yonter

 

Food from the Ethnic Food & Culture Celebration.

     Free food! This is a term that college students will go to extreme lengths to obtain. That explains the turnout for the Ethnic Food & Culture Celebration that was held on September 20, 2012.
     The event was held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and was in the Marian Dining Hall. The dining hall was filled with students who were hungry and ready to learn about the different cultures. A vast majority of the students enjoyed their time at the event.
     “It was good. It was interesting to have a completely different variety than the cafeteria for once. I enjoyed the spaghetti and meatballs the most, which isn’t necessarily something that is uncommon. I also liked the Mexican cuisine; it was tasty as well. I did like the music involved too,” said Ryan Nace.
     Nace is a freshman at Avila University and is a member of the football team.
     “I thought it was enjoyable. I did get my picture taken and I was excited by that. It was on Facebook and I was tagged in it. I tried all types of foods. I tried a spring roll, some sushi, and a salad with Italian dressing. I also had spaghetti and meatballs that was very good. The tables were nicely decorated and I learned a lot about the cultures there. The person I talked to said that Saturday and Sunday were work days. I liked the band too,” said Alex Ghan.
     Ghan is a freshman at Avila University.
     “I thought it was pretty neat. We got to see other foods that other cultures get to eat. I think it is a good idea to get different cultures and ethnicities together, especially here at Avila. The tree and ants was my favorite food there,” said Andy Meyers.
     Meyers is a freshman at Avila University and is a member of the football team as well.
     This was an event that brought the students of Avila together through food while mixing in facts about various parts of the world.

The Day the World Stopped

By: Nic Yonter

Andrew Hostler

Dr. Carol Coburn

Gina Scaletty

      The United States of America stood still. Flames arose from two buildings. Two monumental buildings. It was the World Trade Center. Everyone that was alive at the time of the bombing of these two buildings has a story. Each story is unique, but each story is similar because it is based around this horrifying event. This is known as 9/11.
     September 11, 2001 was a day like any other. The sun was up and every day routines were taking place. Everyone has a story of this day that was anything but normal.
     “I woke up, played some video games, and then I turned on the TV. I really didn’t know what was going on. I saw that something had happened. I went to school, and when I got there, my friends started telling me what happened. I found out my teacher was in New York at the time, and she couldn’t get a flight out. The rest of the day was traumatic. I couldn’t believe why the hell someone would do that,” said Andrew Hostler. “How could this happen with such a great country? It was terrible. It really was.”
     Andrew Hostler plays football at Avila University and was in 5th grade when the crash happened.
     “I had a religious history class at 9:30. I was sitting in my office and a faculty member said ‘Have you had your radio on?’ I told her no. She said ‘Well you better turn it on.’ I didn’t know what she was talking about at the time. I turned it on and heard what was going on. I wasn’t able to see anything until I got home later that day,” said Carol Coburn. “There was no way to ignore it. Some people did, they just went about their lesson plans. It was better for me to use it as a teaching tool. The best thing I could do was let them process it all. It was stunning in every way.”
     Carol Coburn is a professor at Avila University. She is a religious studies teacher. Coburn said that the Kennedy assassination was similar to the shock of 9/11.
     “I was in class that day. It was messed up for people to just come and kill our civilians when we hadn’t really done anything to deserve that,” said Gina Scaletty.
     Scaletty is a cheerleader at Avila University.
Every year that passes, the sting lessons a little bit. But for many people, 11 years is not enough time to clear their heads and forgive the parties involved.
     “It changed how I looked at those types of people. Naturally, you become a bit suspicious. I’m not disrespectful toward them, but I do look at them differently,” said Hostler.
     “I probably do look upon people of that ethnicity differently, subconsciously. I don’t look down on them; I just look at them differently. I don’t associate anyone who is Muslim to be a terrorist,” said Scaletty.
But not everyone’s thought process has changed after the plane hijack.
     “There are zealots in every religious tradition. A lot of people will kill other religions in the name of their god. To me, it was a group of extremists. I was able to put it in that type of context. As a historian, you would be able to go back and find so many examples throughout history of different groups and the fanatics that surface,” said Coburn.
     After the smoke had cleared and the sirens had ceased, it was deathly silent. Americans tried to make sense of what had happened and tried to find a way to move on from the day the world stopped.

Bonded By Football

By: Nic Yonter

Starting at lower right and moving clockwise: Utah Findley, Tony West, Robert Johnson, and Kyle Spain.

 

Four new friends. Four new people linked together by a sport, football. All four of these guys did not even know of the others existence until they were teammates at Avila University.

            These four guys were miles apart from each other their entire lives. Utah Findley is from Marshfield, Missouri, which is about 175 miles southeast of Avila. Tony West is from Florissant, Missouri, which is about 250 miles east of Avila. Robert Johnson is from Willis, Texas, which is about 700 miles south of Avila. Kyle Spain is from Springfield, Missouri, which is about 150 miles southeast of Avila.

            They were all brought to the central area of Kansas City, Missouri to play football and embark on a new journey.

            Getting a much needed break from sports and classes, Findley, West, Johnson, Spain and the rest of the Avila students joined each other for the AU Kickoff on Thursday, August 30. They meet at the Student Organization Fair and free picnic that was held after the Mass of the Holy Spirit.

            “I thought the student organization fair was very informative in multiple ways. It informed me of the certain clubs and organizations that are offered by the school. It also told me of different activities that I can attend while being here at Avila University. I enjoyed the break I had from football at the fair,” said West.

            At the Student Organization Fair, the students had the opportunity to check out a majority of the clubs that Avila offers. There were sign-up sheets and information packets at the tables. There was also a free meal provided by the cafeteria.

“The food was delicious. The chicken was cooked very well. There were some great activities. I liked the license plate table. It was a great time to meet the new people at Avila. I was interested in the student ambassadors. The break from football was great,” said Findley.

There was also a balloon artist, a caricature artist, music, masseuses, and a license plate table.

“The student organization fair was fun. I liked the cartoon pictures, the balloon hats. It was just a lot of fun. I was interested in campus ministries. I really liked the ministry and outreach they offer. I enjoyed the break from football. It was very relaxing and very casual. It was a good break,” said Spain.

This event allowed for those living on campus and those living off campus to converse.

First Beat for BSU

By: Nic Yonter

Spokesperson, Meika Nwaomah is pictured on far right. Photo taken by Avila University facebook photographer.

On a bright, sunlit day, BSU introduced themselves to the new students at Avila University.

     BSU stands for Black Student Union, and is an organization offered to the students of Avila. At the student organization fair, BSU was trying to get the thoughts of what their group should focus on for the upcoming year.

     “We are trying to get ideas on what people want to do on campus, so that way we can implement those,” said senior Meika Nwaomah. “That’s why we are doing surveys today.”

     Nwaomah was the spokesperson for the group on this day and she has played a prominent role for BSU in the past, as she has been in charge of the PR and has been the vice president.

     The survey had three questions to try to get a feel on the likes and dislikes of all the people they are trying to reach. The questions included: How much free time do you have? What are some events you would love to see on campus? (Responses included parties, mentoring and community events, talent showcases, networking events, hangout sessions, forums, guest speakers, and homework sessions / career building events.) Would you be interested in being an officer?
     There are other events that are sure to take place this year for BSU.

     “We will be trying to do a BSU social. That’s where we invite BSU groups or African-American groups or African study groups or sororities and fraternities from other schools. We all meet up at a general area, hang out and eat food. Basically we talk about events that happen at our campus,” said Nwaomah.
     There is also a new acronym that BSU will be trying to implement this year.
     “BSU now means Be Simply You. Anybody can come. It’s just an organization for the students,” said Nwaomah.