Kat Stutzman (left), with Hannah W. Miller at El Iguanario, an eco-tourism site and conservation biology project in the Dominican Republic. Hannah interned at El Iguanario this past summer. Photo contributed.

Raising rhinoceros iguanas for an eco-tourism organization isn’t the first thing that pops to mind upon hearing the word “internship,” but for Hannah W. Miller, a senior in Goshen College’s environmental science program, that’s just what it meant.

In the summer of 2009, Miller spent six weeks at El Iguanario, an organization in the Dominican Republic that raises Cyclura cornuta (rhinoceros iguanas) with the hopes of releasing them into the wild sometime in the future.

El Iguanario is operated out of a single small house in the village of Los Tocones, on the Samaná peninsula of Hispañola, the Caribbean island that is comprised of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.  The iguanas are kept in pens in the back yard, where they eat, sleep, mate and lay eggs in the sandy soil. The first 12 iguanas at El Iguanario were acquired from the Santo Domingo zoo as adults, and they breed once per year, adding new iguanas to El Iguanario’s collection.

The organization was founded by a Peace Corps volunteer, but for the past two years the project has been led by Kat Stutzman, a GC alum.  Stutzman did the study portion of her Study-Service Term with El Iguanario, and after graduating from college, she received a Fulbright grant to return to the Dominican Republic and continue to work with the iguanas.

Miller’s connection to El Iguanario was formed as she was searching for an internship to fulfill a requirement for her environmental science major.  When nothing seemed to be working out, she sought council from Jodi Saylor, her academic adviser.  Saylor contacted Stutzman, and the internship came together.

“About a month later, Kat emailed me,” said Miller.  “[She] said, ‘I would love to have you, just come on down if you are interested,’ so we emailed and set it up.”

In addition to the conservation work she was doing with the iguanas, Miller said the living situation and community structure were a big part of her learning experience.

“It was so different from living in America,” she said. “It was out in the middle of the country and we collected our own rainwater that we used for showering and dishes and stuff.”  She continued:  “You’re just super aware of your resources.  It was a completely different culture.”

El Iguanario’s primary goal is to increase the numbers of rhino iguanas, which have been disappearing due to habitat destruction.  This mission is primarily funded by

Cyclura cornuta, or rhinoceros iguana, is an endemic species to the island of Hispañola, where Hannah W. Miller went to do her environmental science internship. Photo contributed.

eco-tourism.  People pay to see the iguanas and hear about their history, and that money goes back to feeding and raising the iguanas.  Since the species is endemic to Hispañola, meaning it only exists naturally on that island, interacting with rhino iguanas up close is a rare opportunity.  No iguanas from El Iguanario have been released into the wild, but that goal is still central to the organization’s mission.

Stutzman has now returned to the U.S., after handing her responsibilities at El Iguanario over to locals in Los Tocones.

Miller isn’t planning to go back to the DR anytime soon, but says that her work and lifestyle at El Iguanario has changed the way she views conservation biology.

“[I had] the realization that conservation is directly tied to the community around the species you’re trying to preserve,” Miller said. “People had different ideas about the way the Iguanario should be run or advertised…It’s just such a community effort.”

Carl Haarer's stories of his father's college time, his own decision to be a reporter and why he incorporates poetry into his news reporting on radio WBZ in Boston. Photo by Angelica Lehman.

Carl Haarer, one of Boston’s top radio reporters, can play the guitar and piano, sing, write poetry and speak theology. He did all these things – and talked about journalism — on Tuesday in his Umble Master Class keynote address.

Haarer, who works for WBZ, said he had no idea he would become a journalist when he graduated from Goshen College with an English major in 1979.

He described his job as a radio reporter as similar to being a student: you listen, learn, process and try to find meaning in new-found knowledge. The key, he said, is to be awake.

“There’s always something greater than what we see and what we hear,” said Haarer. “We just have to be awake enough to see and hear it.”

Over his years as a reporter, Haarer has seen both joy and tragedy. Regardless of the situation, he believes God to be ever-present. When covering a house fire, he said,“I have to believe that in those ruins, in the walls of that charred house, that God is there.”

Haarer told the story of Tiffany Moore, a 12-year-old girl killed in the crossfire of a gang shooting. After she died, her mother, Alice, would stand for hours at the place she was shot—the blue mailbox on the corner.

“Something like that creates its own music of sadness,” said Haarer, .

Haarer incorporated piano and guitar music into his lecture. He played on guitar “I’ve got my feet, I’ve got my shoes,” a song he wrote for the Moore family. He also played on the piano the hymn from which he drew the title of his lecture: “Breathe on me, Breath of God.”

Whether covering the killing of a child like Tiffany or the death of a firefighter like Steve Minehan, who went into a burning building in search of trapped colleagues and never returned, Haarer said he poses the question: Where is the Kingdom of Heaven in the moments of darkness on earth?

“Regardless of the moment in which I find myself, I always feel that there’s something greater than the headlines that are spilling out,” said Haarer.

Haarer read excerpts of poetry throughout the lecture. On-air reporting doesn’t mean just stating the facts, he said, but sometimes also providing an additional commentary through Dr. Seuss-like poetry. Events such as the Super Bowl, the championship season of the Boston Red Sox, visits to Mother Teresa or a beer summit at the White House Rose Garden have all inspired poems.

Over 50 years ago, Haarer’s father, David, took the Umble Center stage and gave a speech talking about the importance of roosters to farmers. Haarer recalled the image.

We are all farmers, he said, but we can’t do our work of sowing and reaping the soil if we’re asleep.

“Thank goodness for that rooster within us all, that spirit, that clarion that forces us to be awake,” said Haarer. “A new day is always dawning, but you have to be awake, alert, for God is always breathing.”

Michelle Kauffman, right, a senior nursing major, was one of several nursing students who administered H1N1 vaccines at Goshen High School on Friday. Photo by Emily Miller.

The last time it happened, it was smallpox and polio in the 1960s and 70s.  Now, decades later, the public health system is back–the schools are giving mass inoculations—this time because of the H1N1.

Six Goshen College students in the Community Health nursing course have had the opportunity to be a part of this history-in-the-making, as they do their clinicals with the local health department, schools and with agencies that work with vulnerable populations.

As a part of the course, these nursing students are required to spend some time at the Elkhart County Health Department.  This fall, the health department asked the nursing students to be prepared to go out to school clinics; the department needed all available personnel to help distribute and administer the H1N1 vaccine.

All six students have had the opportunity be at least one school giving H1N1 vaccines, and several students have been to more than one school.  In the past two weeks, the students have given at least 700 vaccines at Goshen Middle School, 750 at Goshen High School and 900 at Memorial High School.  They have also given vaccines at the junior and senior high schools in Fairfield and Jimtown.

According to Sherry Wenger, Associate Professor of Nursing, they were at the schools for less than three hours, averaging about 400 shots per hour.

Anna Srof, a senior nursing student, said, “The students came in, sat down, got their vaccine and left all within a minute or two.”

Wenger estimated that about 50 percent of the student population received the free vaccine.  Next to be vaccinated will be the elementary school age group.

“The schools are certainly seeing cases of H1N1, but it seems to be at a manageable level,” said Wenger.

Wenger named staying away from others who are sick, coughing or sneezing into your sleeve, getting plenty of rest, eating right and getting the H1N1 vaccine as easy strategies to avoid the flu.

“It has been an excellent experience for this group of students to be able to see how the local public health department is responding to the flu pandemic,” said Wenger.  “It is really something for them to be part of this—they are making history.”

Peni Acayo, one of Goshen College's star volleyball players, jumps up for a spike in Tuesday's game against Bethel. Goshen defeated Bethel, securing the Leafs' spot in the MCC Semifinals. Photo by Martin Brubaker.

The regular season wrapped up last Wednesday evening for the Goshen Volleyball team where they were unable to pull off the upset against #16 ranked Taylor University, falling in four sets.

First-year head coach Jim Routhier thinks the team will take pleasure from some smaller victories.  The Leafs were able to win one set during the match. Taylor dropped just five sets during all of conference play this season, going undefeated. “There is a reason they are ranked No. 16 in the country,” he said. “They are very big and talented.  We played very well at times, but you have to be more consistent when you play a team as strong at Taylor.”

The Maple Leafs went 15-15 during the regular season and 4-4 during conference play, good enough to earn them the No. 3 seed in the Mid-Central Conference tournament.

The Maple Leafs beat Bethel College here at home on Tuesday evening in the MCC Quarterfinal game to earn the volleyball team’s third MCC Semifinal appearance in program history.  The victory also meant that Goshen remained a perfect 8-0 in matches played at home.

Goshen was 2-1 against the Pilots during the regular season, but the team was unable to earn a victory against Bethel College during conference play.

Goshen came into the tournament as the No. 3 seed and won the first set comfortably by a score of 25-18 before dropping the second set 22-25.  The Leafs dominated their No. 6 seed opponent once again in the third set 25-17 and took the fourth and final set 25-23 to earn a trip to Indianapolis this Thursday to face off against Marian University.  The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.

Glenn Gilbert, Utilities Manager at Goshen College, spoke in Monday's convo about GC's electricity expenditures and the US's over-consumption of coal. Photo by Angelica Lehman.

Students were held rapt during Monday’s convocation as Glenn Gilbert, Goshen College’s Utilities Manager and sustainability coordinater, walked onstage wearing a conductor’s hat and poured roughly fifty pounds of coal from a metal trashcan. He strode forward and announced: “This is coal.”

He then turned off all of the lights in the chapel and opened the blinds, allowing the current-day sunshine to break in and provide all of the light. Why use ancient sunlight when we can use today’s?

Gilbert then proceeded to illustrate Goshen College’s addiction to coal both historically and in the present day, using easily understandable examples. For instance, the college’s electricity usage in two weeks equals roughly one train car full of coal, which is about twenty seven cars of coal a year. Think about that next time you’re stuck behind a train!

He also explained that water fountains do not work by magic. The water is refrigerated, which requires electricity. The physical plant golf carts require electricity. Your microwave requires electricity. About 96 percent of Indiana’s electricity comes from coal, which means that our addiction to electricity is also an addiction to coal.

Gilbert also showed a clip from the documentary Burning the Future: Coal in America, which showed the devastation that mountaintop removal coal mining brings. According to the documentary, coal mining is a nasty, but currently necessary system that we perpetuate through our constant use of electricity.

So what do we do about it? Gilbert suggested that we advocate for alternative energies, become aware of our habits and choose to change them. This brief presentation was only a small part of the discussion about energy usage on campus. There will be more meetings and events in the near future to help change our energy-consuming culture and habits.

JR Burkholder, a student leader during the 1960s draft resistance movement, has more recently been working with GC's PAX club to organize a conference exploring the history of conscientious objection. Photo by Angelica Lehman.

Draft resisters from the 1960s will congregate at Goshen College this weekend to discuss resistance and peacemaking in Saturday’s PAX sponsored conference entitled ‘Resistance: taking a stand against war, 1960s to today.” Draft resisters who were student leaders at Goshen College in the late 1960s, along with resisters from other colleges, will reunite and engage in conversation with current student peacemakers in a weekend that is already drawing scholars from many states.

JR Burkholder, former professor of religion and peace studies, played a central role in draft resistance at GC in the late 1960s. He instigated conversation about holding a reunion this fall to commemorate the events of 1969, when the General Conference of the (old) Mennonite Church adopted a resolution stating that non-cooperation with the military draft was a legitimate stance for Mennonites.

“It all started when I sorted out papers from my past,” said Burkholder. “I was realizing how important the ’69 events were to that generation of students.”

Burkholder named Doug Baker, Devon Leu and Jon Lind as the student “ringleaders” of draft resistance at GC in the 1960s—all three will be on campus this Friday to speak in religion classes and share at the conference on Saturday.

The conference will take place in NC 19, beginning at 10 a.m., with stories and conversation with Baker, Leu, Lind and other 1960s draft resisters. PAX club members Daniel Foxvog, Hannah Miller and Annali Smucker, all seniors, will lead the session with some initial questions, after which the session will open up for questions from the audience.

“It’s important for us to learn from history how we can have an impact in society, and how we can communicate effectively with the church as college students,” said Foxvog.

After a complimentary lunch, three workshops will be offered on the themes of tax resistance, counter-recruitment and working with the military. Duane Shank, a draft resister who was arrested as a freshman at EMU during the ’69-’70 school year, will deliver closing remarks and summarize thoughts shared throughout the day.

“[The conference] is a two-pronged approach,” said Burkholder. “It’s a reunion and a conversation with today’s peacemakers.”

Perry Bush, history professor at Bluffton University and author of “Two Kingdoms, Two Loyalties” (currently on display at Good Library), contacted Michael Friesen, of the University of Toronto, about the conference. Friesen is focusing his Ph.D. work on Mennonite draft resistance during the Vietnam years, and he will attend the conference.

Those interested in attending the Resistance conference on Saturday should email Sylva Keenan at sylvark@goshen.edu. Those who would like the complimentary lunch must email Joe Leichty, at joecl@goshen.edu, by noon on Thursday.

Alana Kenagy, junior, spoke about her experience with emotional abuse at Tuesday's Take Back the Night vigil. Photo by Angelica Lehman.

T-shirts fluttered in the breeze in Schrock Plaza this week, created by victims and friends of those who have suffered from sexual assault or domestic abuse. Goshen College recognized sexual assault and domestic abuse this week through the clothesline project, the annual Take Back the Night vigil, and a women-only safety awareness training.

Although taken down earlier than scheduled, the clothesline project drew people to Schrock Plaza to view the variety of T-shirts hung each year, giving artistic representation to those who have encountered sexual or domestic abuse or know someone who has been affected.

On Saturday, about 30 GC women gathered in the Rec-Fitness Center for safety awareness training–a huge increase in participation from last year. The training was led by members of Peacemakers, a martial arts team from Goshen. Steve Thomas, director of Peacemakers, and Wes Higginbotham, master instructor in martial arts, split the seminar into two parts: verbal assertiveness and hands on martial arts instruction.

Students were given a chance to ask questions about situations they face in GC settings as they learned about self confidence in dealing with verbal assertiveness. Then, they learned martial arts with instruction from Higginbotham.

“We learned how to get out of a choke-holds and arm grips,” said Hannah K. Miller, a senior.

On Tuesday night, students gathered in Newcomer Center for the annual Take Back the Night rally, a movement inspired in the 1970’s by a group of women who wanted to recognize the fear the night brings.

A chime rang every two minutes to symbolize that a woman is assaulted every two minutes in the United States. Piper Voge, a senior, and Alana Kenagy, a junior, shared their personal stories amidst candlelight and interspersed Taize music. Voge’s story dealt with physical abuse, while Alana’s dealt with emotional abuse.

Kenagy articulated the difference between the two types of abuse; while both are traumatic, emotional abuse is the kind you don’t see.

“You don’t hear stories in the news about them,” she said. Due to the intimacy of the vigil, story details will not be printed.

After the vigil, the men who attended worked on a painting project called “These Hands Don’t Hurt,” and the women bundled up for a march.

Chanting “Women Unite! Take Back the Night!” the women walked the path down eighth street to New York street, and back towards campus along ninth street. Houses along the streets were invited to turn their porch lights on or light candles in solidarity of the march.

Miller commented that helping plan the Take Back the Night rally this year gave her a new perspective.

“It was more empowering this year,” she said. “I could see other people experiencing [the vigil] for the first time.”

Facebook usage on campus, via portable devices or home computers, is almost a way of life. Photo by Tim Blaum.

Since Mark Zuckerburg and three friends began the thefacebook.com for Harvard University Feb. 1, 2004, this social networking site has grown into an international sensation.

Not even 6 six years old, Facebook has grown from an informational host to an eruption of games, contacts, quizzes, groups and more. With over 300 million users, Facebook is no longer just a hub for social college students. Facebook’s popularity, along with both some skeptical users and non-users, give the Web site a complex place in today’s world, even here at Goshen College.

Like much of the U.S., Goshen College is also wrapped up in Facebook. Students had been using the Web site since early on, but Goshen College itself began using the site after realizing its popularity.

As of last Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, 1,634 people were members of the Goshen College network, while Goshen College’s fan page lists 1,758 fans. The admissions office began hosting groups catered to incoming classes and those considering attending Goshen about two years ago. The public relations office manages the Goshen College fan page and sends out event invitations for performances, campus open houses and even convocations and worship services.

Fun with Facebook: A two-way street

But before the college ever began using the Web site, students were posting photos, updating statuses and writing on walls.

According to an independent survey with voluntary responses, most of the Goshen College community on Facebook activated their accounts during high school or early in their college careers. Most people joined Facebook because they were curious, wanted to stay connected to family and friends, to network, or a combination of those reasons.

Interestingly enough, not everyone agrees with the idea of Facebook as a social networking site.

In an article by John Cassidy in the May 15, 2006 issue of “The New Yorker,” Columbia University Sociologist, Duncan Watts tells Cassidy that Facebook isn’t popular because of it’s networking possibilities at all.

“If I had to guess why sites like Facebook are so popular,” he told Cassidy, “I would say it doesn’t have anything to do with networking at all. It’s voyeurism and exhibitionism. People like to express themselves, and they are curious about other people.”

“You’re with your friends, but you’re also creating the possibility that you’ll bump into someone else, in which case you might meet them, or at least be noticed by them. So it’s not about networking (which is more instrumental), or even about dating (which is far more specific), so much as it is about mingling.”

This “mingling” is evident in some of communication that goes on. Facebook status updates are limited to 420 characters. Unlike sites like MySpace, Xanga or Wordpress, there is no way to publish a journal or blog front and center on your page, only a status, and the first few lines of what others have written on your wall.

On the other hand, Facebook has moved in the direction of greater communication. It now utilizes a chat feature, an e-mail-like system and is accessed by over 65 million people

A Goshen College poll showed that many GC students spend substantial time on Facebook each day.

on their mobile devices.

Julie Reese, professor of psychology, agrees with the idea that, while Facebook can be a useful social tool, it can often be voyeuristic.

“For people, students, who use it to stay connected, it’s a good thing,” she said. But in other cases, it can be less about staying up to date and more about “gaining satisfaction in other people’s grievances.”

“While people may enjoy looking at pages of people who they’re not deeply connected with,” she said, “most pages people look up are close friends.”

Reese explained that seeing the often “mundane details” of a person’s day, through their status updates, for example, seems to create a “cyber sense of physical closeness.”

“Seeing what people are doing on a daily basis, from the mundane to the exciting, makes it feel more like you’ve been with that person.”

But that easy access to ever-changing information can impact people’s time and non-cyber relationships.

Many GC students admit to checking Facebook multiple times every day.

“Being able to get information so quickly,” she said, “whether about people or things, with just the click of a finger, distorts our concept of time, for one thing.”

Not only that, but Facebook enables our fast-paced society, so that “we don’t need to slow down, but just create new means to allow us to continue,” possibly at the consequence of relationships off the computer.

Reese said research has not yet shown what the consequences of this are, whether they might include “the breakdown of what it means to have private and public lives, etiquette of relating to people of a different status [or] realizing that relationships do take time.”

“You can’t just chat with your child [online] and only see them [in the physical world], but feel comforted because you are spending time… [Facebook] cannot replace some things, but it gives the illusion that it does.”

One respondent to the independent survey wrote that she had felt frustration from Facebook, similar to what Reese described.

“ I knew it made me less happy,” the person wrote, “but held onto it for a long time. I don’t need one more thing to check, i.e. phone messages, e-mails, mailbox, Moodle, etc. Also, I recognized that Facebook is a powerful force that dictates how many people spend many hours of their lives without giving joy. It also gives a false sense of connectedness… It eliminates the need to get together with friends and show them pictures face-to-face and tell stories and spend time together. It allows people to construct an image of who they want to be rather than who they are.”

A friend is a friend is a faculty problem
Many students, faculty and others in the Goshen College community, though, seem to be able to maintain a healthy amount of Facebook use in their lives, whether that means not getting an account or whatever the user decides.

Being in a smaller, often more trusting environment, though, brings its own problems, larger, more formal colleges may not encounter.

Generally, Goshen College faculty and students are more comfortable with one another. Students call professors by their first names. Some students, and even professors, go to class in bare feet. Now, with the advent of Facebook, many students and faculty members are cyber friends as well.

According to Tom Myers, discussion arose at a teaching-faculty meeting a few weeks ago about faculty-student relations in Facebook and on-line in general, after a student wrote profanity on a faculty members Facebook wall.

Myers said that there is currently no protocol for student-faculty online relationships, but that after more conversations there likely will be some guidelines. Several faculty members have personal principles for “friending”  students online. Myers, for example, only befriends students after they have graduated. Some faculty members limit their friendships on Facebook like Myers, while others have several student friends.

Facebook will likely pose ethical and personal issues for many people, but despite it’s controversy, people continue to applaud the cornucopia of social and informational outlets that make Facebook.

Greg Thiessen, right, blazes by a Spring Arbor player in a conference game, Saturday. Photo provided by Sports Information Department.

This past weekend, the Goshen faithful came out in large numbers to support the men’s soccer team as it played the first round of the MCC tournament. The last time the two teams played, Goshen came out with a win from a very physical game. This time around was similar as both teams were very physical, but Goshen was able to pull out a 3 to 2 win with goals coming from Greg Thiessen, Juan Diaz De Leon and Daniel Martin.

The first goal came within the first six minutes of the game from a quick give-and-go combination between Thiessen and Nick Good with Thiessen driving a well-placed shot from the top of the box to give Goshen the lead. After that goal, the game became much more physical and intense as both sides moved the ball and tried to create scoring opportunities. The rest of the half ended with no more goals being scored, but both keepers were tested a couple of times.

Second half started the same way the first one ended: very physical. Twenty minutes into the half, Goshen went on the offensive with Thiessen coming up the field and Spring Arbor playing a high-pressure defense. Senior Juan Diaz De Leon was left by himself to break away unguarded from Thiessen’s pass. De Leon was able to beat the keeper and put away the second goal of the night as the crowd went wild and began chanting De Leon’s name.

With the game almost coming to a close, Daniel Martin ran the same route De Leon had run and received a very nicely placed ball from Thiessen to give Goshen a 3 goal lead and end Spring Arbor’s chances of continuing in the MCC playoffs. With five minutes left in the game, Spring Arbor was able to squeeze in a goal that caught everyone off guard. In the closing minutes, the physical and intense game almost broke out into a brawl as a Spring Arbor player dragged Connor Histand out of bounds.

The player wouldn’t let go of Histand as his teammates from the bench rushed over to pull him away from the player. Both benches began swarming around both players, and the tension was high. Tim Demant and Coach Thavisak Mounsithiraj, along with Assistant Coaches Tony Janzen and James Graber, broke up the situation before things could get worse.  As the game wrapped up and both teams shook hands and went their separate ways, Goshen celebrated as their season continues and their playoff dream lives on.

Sophomores Emily Bowman and Phil Stoesz struggle in a tangle of lust and loathing on the set of Big Love. Photo by Emily Miller.

When was the last time you attended a Greek wedding in a swimming pool involving fifty cousins? Big Love, written by Charles Mee and directed by Michelle Milne, opens this weekend: a fast-moving, contemporary show based on an ancient Greek play that includes themes of gender, power, refugees and revenge.

The play follows a group of sisters as they flee to Italy seeking refuge with Italian hosts in order to escape a marriage contract betrothing them to their cousins. A variety of opinions are expressed regarding how to deal with the marriage contract; the women argue that they were not consulted about the contract since it was drawn up at birth while the men claim that a contract is binding.

Emily Bowman, a sophomore, Beth Glick, a senior, and Brittany Lentz, a sophomore, represent the sisters as the three brides Thyona, Olympia and Lydia. Phil Stoesz, a junior, Nathan Stoess, a freshman, and Sam Jones, also a freshman, represent the betrothed cousins as Constantine, Oed and Nikos. The Italian family is played by Angie Noah, a senior, as Bella, Adriel Santiago, a junior, as her son Piero, and Patrick Ressler, a junior, as Piero’s nephew Giuliano.

Bowman describes her character as very angry and bitter.

“Thyona is a representation of any woman who has ever felt overshadowed, silenced, abused or objectified by men,” said Bowman. “She speaks out against this injustice in ways that may seem harsh, but in the end, we can all identify with.”

The play is a physically active one, and Milne chose to enhance this aspect.

“Many things are expressed that are not expressed in words,” said Milne.

Milne says the show incorporates underlying themes that help audience members evaluate what a refugee is and what a victim is—and furthermore, whom one chooses to help.

She also stressed the versatility of interpretations audiences can glean from the play.

“Whatever they get from [Big Love] will be right,” she said. “There’s not one way to interpret it.”

Love is one of the prevailing themes running throughout the play, even amidst tragedy. Bowman said that through her exploration of Thyona she came to some conclusions about love.

“Humanity is flawed and, therefore, our love is also flawed, but the question is: do we still cling to it?” she said. “My response would be yes.  In the end, it’s not about how beautiful and perfect it all was, but rather how you struggled, were bruised and clung to shreds of hope along the way.”

Big Love will open this weekend with performances on Oct. 30 and 31 at 8 p.m, in addition to a 3 p.m. matinee on Nov. 1. The play will run a second weekend with a performance on Nov. 6 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 7 and 8 at 3 p.m. The performance on Nov. 8 will include sign language interpretation. Tickets cost $5 for students and seniors, $8 for general admission, and may be purchased at the GC Welcome Center or by calling (574) 535-7566.

Tim Wise spoke on the fallacy of calling modern society "post-racial" in convo, Wednesday. Photo by Angelica Lehman.

How are a 36-hour-old pot of rotting gumbo and white privilege alike? “It doesn’t matter who made the mess, you live with the residue and heritage of the mess now, and are responsible for the clean-up,” said Tim Wise, an anti-racism speaker and author whose most recent book is titled Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama.

This illustration opened Wednesday’s special convocation about white privilege, as part of Goshen College’s endeavor to increase awareness of racism and diversity.

Wise’s convocation focused on the root of racism: white supremacy and its effects, seen as white privilege. “This nation was founded on a formal system of white supremacy,” Wise said as he gave examples of white supremacy from his own family’s history, “but it is not only ancient history or past, it is present.”

Wise challenged the campus to realize that we live with the legacy of white supremacy. We cannot ignore the manifestations of racism that remain. Despite the individual successes of President Barack Obama or Oprah Winfrey, “Job applicants with white sounding names are 50% more likely to get called back,” Wise mentions, “and white people have 11 times the net worth of African-Americans and eight times that of Hispanics.”

Wise closed convocation by encouraging people not to feel guilty, but instead to take action. “Although we are powerless to stop [the legacy of white supremacy], we are not powerless to respond to it,” he said.

Wise will remain on campus for another day for workshops with education students, meetings with CITL, MAO, student leaders and professors, and will speak in the Race, Class, and Ethnic Relations class on Thursday night.

The Beehive Design Collective uses collaboratively created posters to raise awareness about social and political issues. Photo by Molly Kraybill.

On Friday, four busy bees gathered in an Umble Center classroom to show off a year’s worth of hard work; but instead of honey, the fruit of their labors was a massive black and white poster, and instead of flowers, their intended audience was an eager crowd of Goshen students and faculty.

These “bees” are members of The Beehive Design Collective, a 100% volunteer-driven, non-profit organization formed in 2000. The organization’s mission is to produce collaborative artwork that features images symbolic to current social and political issues. Since the artwork is non-copyrighted, it can be quickly distributed to schools and organizations. In other words, the Beehive uses art as a creative, straightforward facet for explaining complex yet crucial issues.

The process of forming a Beehive design requires at least one year of cooperation and planning. First, a social issue is decided upon, often chosen by which topics are in popular demand. Next, ideas and sketches are formed through a massive group effort, as Bees talk to community members and hear about their personal experiences concerning the issue. Notes in form of a “mind map” are made so that every concept has a metaphor, and every metaphor a picture. Eventually each image is drawn in pencil by a group of Bees—which calls for cooperation and patience.

“We have really weird arguments!” joked Erin, one of the Beehive presenters, “Like, ‘What kind of hat should that bird wear?’”

When complete and covered in ink, the image can be copied and distributed locally, nationally and globally.

In the past, issues such as free trade, globalization and biotechnology have been depicted in Beehive artwork. Each image contains no human figures to avoid any risk of stereotyping. They also contain no language, which allows the pictures to be understood by many different cultures, especially those that may be illiterate. The Beehive has even traveled to Latin America to gather stories and share its images.

The Beehive’s current project is a graphic campaign called, “The True Cost of Coal.” Intricate black-and-white images are spread over a giant poster depicting the negative effects of mountaintop removal. When folded together, the poster shows an intact mountain with clean streams and native species. But when pulled apart, the poster shows what is actually happening: destruction of communities, deforestation, and loss of valuable resources. The sections tell stories of erosion, floods and pollution—results of removing mountaintops for coal mining.

When the story behind each poster is explained, it has the ability to empower one to want to bring about change. For this reason, the Beehive is linked closely with organizations and sponsors—they can refer viewers to the appropriate groups, allowing for more direct action. The hive’s recent stop at Goshen was just one of many as they continue to tour across the United States, sharing their work.

The Beehive Design Collective is located in Maine, but its membership is open and relaxed, so that anyone can help or participate.

“We are more of an organism, not an organization,” said Kehben, another Beehive presenter.

Currently the group is on tour exhibiting their coal project.  For more information on the Bees, go to http://www.beehivecollective.org/english/front.html.

Daniel Butler, GC's 24 year old basketball recruit, is expected to be an asset to the team this year. He was offered a full ride to play for GC. Photo by Tim Blaum.

When six-foot six-inch basketball player Daniel Butler graduated from Milwaukee Tech Community College in 2006, he never expected to play basketball as part of a team again. As it turns out, Butler’s career on the court did not end there.

Though he was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Butler was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and he calls it home. When he was little, his dad taught him to play basketball, but it was nothing more than a backyard hobby until Butler joined his first team as a sophomore at Milwaukee Custer High School. He finished out with a very successful high school basketball career, averaging 18 points a game during his senior season and being selected Honorable Mention All-State.

Post-graduation, Butler went to Milwaukee Tech Community College, where he took general education classes and captained the basketball team. During his final season, he was team MVP, all-conference and All-State Region 4.

“Some people wanted to outshine others, but overall we had decent chemistry,” Butler said of his Milwaukee Tech team. “We were a lot of fun to watch; students liked to come out to games.”

Following graduation from the two-year college, Butler spent some time working as a banquet cook at a hotel and as a lifeguard. Eventually, after three years of working to support himself, Butler began to consider going back to school.

“I think I grew up a little bit somewhere in there,” said Butler. “I didn’t want to be the one who waited too long to go back to school.”

Butler had never even heard of Goshen College until his cousin Kyle Davis, a first-year, was recruited to play basketball. “Kyle and another friend used to invite me to come along to open gyms at GC,” said Butler. “One morning they were like, ‘Hey, want to come to Indiana real quick?’ They needed some more guys to play.”

Men’s Basketball Coach Gary Chupp was impressed by Butler’s performance on the court, and he added him to his recruiting list just days before classes began for the fall semester.

And that’s how it came to be that Butler, at age 24, found himself registering for classes at Goshen College.

“I was offered a full ride to play basketball with a great group of guys,” he said. “It was a blessing. I was looking to get back into school, but I didn’t think I’d get to play basketball again.”

It’s taking some time for Butler to adjust to school again. Living off campus at the home of Kelli King, Coordinator of Alumni, Church, and Parent Relations for the college, allows Butler a relaxing and private retreat from the busyness of college life.

A desire to help people has led Butler to pursue a degree in Social Work. “My experiences in life have made me want to help and support kids,” Butler said of the motivation that fuels his career plans.

As for basketball, Butler is excited about the team. “It’s a really down-to-earth, humble group of guys,” he said. “And we have a good coach. Chupp knows what he’s talking about and works hard. I think we’re going to have a successful season as a team.”

For Butler, it’s just good to be back.

To retain a sustainable future, scientist estimate that we must keep the parts per million of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere under 350. Photo by Angelica Lehman.

Last spring, Bill McKibben, author and economist, personally challenged Goshen College students to take creative action on October 24^th. In nine days, GC will answer this call and join communities all over the world in rallies and movements that take a stand against global climate change.

On October 24th, communities across the world will highlight the number 350 in a unique way. Scientists say 350 is the upper limit of parts per million of carbon dioxide our atmosphere can retain for a sustainable future. Group photos depicting 350 will be compiled at the Web site 350.org.  Among other locations, the photos will be displayed in Copenhagan, Denmark, where the United Nations Climate Change Conference will take place in December.

On October 22^nd and 23^rd, the GC community is invited to call and write letters to Indiana state senators, representatives and congress members. For each call or letter, participants will receive a raffle ticket to win a custom-made bike from the local business Chain Reactions.

GC is planning a full day of activities for Saturday, Oct. 24^th. The day will begin at 9 a.m. in the Church-Chapel parking lot, where three days worth of trash produced on campus will be amassed. Everyone is welcome to help sort trash to extract recyclable items and form the refuse into the number 350. This number, along with the volunteers who helped sort it, will be photographed and sent in to 350.org and local media.

“The picture will be displayed in Times Square, the UN Climate Conference and 350.org,” said Alana Kenagy, a junior involved with planning events on October 24^th. “We’re working to get the community involved; this isn’t just a campus thing.”

The rest of the day will include a community lunch, drum circle, raffling the bike from Chain Reaction and a demonstration at the courthouse.

“I’m really excited for the action at the courthouse, making it a really public demonstration for the people of Goshen,” said Jeremy Good, a senior.

The courthouse demonstration will include acoustic music, petition signing and a march with people each holding a number counting up to 350.

To prepare for October 24th, GC students have signed up for “action pods.” There are five pods: a legislation pod responsible for contacting local officials, a media pod alerting local and regional media, an art pod creating signs and posters, a community pod reaching out to collaborate with the Goshen community and a 350.org pod in charge of the logistics of events on October 24^th.  For those still interested in signing up for a pod, contact Kenagy at alanask@goshen.edu. For more information on 350.org and events in Goshen, Ind., visit www.350.org/goshenindiana.

Sones De Mexico will play their second concert at Goshen college with Balet Folklorico on Oct. 23. Photo provided by Public Relations.

Balet Folklórico and the award-winning Mexican folk band Sones de México will perform at 8 p.m. in Sauder Concert Hall on Friday, Oct. 23. Tickets are free with the donation of a canned item to The Window, a food pantry located on Main Street in Goshen.

The concert is sponsored by Goshen College’s Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning (CITL) and by the Performing Arts Series.

Concertgoers are encouraged to drop off their cans at the Performing Arts Center that evening. Ed Swartley, executive director of The Window, will be present with information about the food pantry’s services.

CITL wanted to give everyone the opportunity to attend the concert, not only those who could afford it. In doing so, the idea for the food item-ticket exchange was born.

“What better way to serve the community than to provide support for locals?” said Rebecca Hernandez, director of the intercultural center, explaining the reason for the alternative ticket payment.

Last year, 700 people attended the concert by Sones de México, which was also sponsored by the intercultural center. This year, the music group returns and is accompanied by Balet Folklórico, a dance troupe. CITL is hoping to pack out the music hall with 1,000 people, not only from Goshen College, but from the surrounding area as well.

With 14 percent of Elkhart residents of Hispanic background, this concert is “a gift to the larger, diverse community,” with a specific emphasis on Spanish speakers and Performing Arts Series supporters, explains Hernandez. She hopes that the concert will draw a diverse crowd to the campus, some of them for the first time.

Funded by the Lily Endowment Program, CITL aims to make higher education accessible for more Latino students at Goshen College, to generate a diverse learning community and to research the changing ethnicity in the Midwest.

For years, Goshen College and The Window have partnered together. The Window has accepted Goshen College student interns, Celebrate Service Day workers have volunteered their time, and resident assistants have donated items from their halls. The Window offers a variety of services to the community, a few of which include Meals on Wheels and Katie’s Kitchen, a food pantry.

Swartley said that applications from volunteers who want to contribute are always welcome at the organization’s office at 223 S. Main St. “If you want to volunteer,” he said, “we’ll find a place for you!”