– Page 14 – student news at Spring Arbor University

Willkommen in Deutschland!

By Carly Thompson
Adventures on my semester abroad

Embarking on an Adventure

It is impossible to accurately put into words just how incredible my semester abroad in Germany was, except to say I have gained a second home in Europe.

On January 15, senior Allie Herkenroder and I embarked on a three-month journey in Germany for the AMBEX (American Bavarian Exchange) semester. I had never flown before, let alone been outside of the United States We had no idea what to expect and barely knew each other. Here we were, with 14 students from colleges on the west coast, trying to figure out a new life together.

Everything was new. Picture New Student Orientation (NSO) week, but thousands of miles across the ocean in Germany. Picture 15 people you’ve never met who you have to live and room with. Now, picture an unfamiliar culture, language and time difference. It was NSO on steroids.

The semester was structured in two week periods, the first week being orientation in Nürnberg. We then moved to Regensburg for the duration of the semester.

We had five two-week classes: Christian Worldview, Reformation Theology, Modern European Literature, Art History and German Culture and Geography. Following each two week class was either a free week to travel elsewhere in Europe (we had three of these), or an academic tour week (one was a Reformation tour through cities in Germany and the other was in Austria and Italy studying art). It sounds like a lot to do in three months—it was, but it was the adventure of a lifetime.

florence-italy — Florence, Italy (Photo by Carly Thompson)

Exploring Europe

During the first of three independent travel weeks I went to Greece, where we climbed up to the Acropolis and took in the view of ancient Greek ruins paired with the panoramic view of the entire city of Athens. We ate a gyro a day and swam in a cave lake with tiny fish that tried to suck on our toes.

My second travel week was spent in Barcelona, Spain. We visited the Futbol Stadium and the locations of the Cheetah Girls 2 film: the natural history museum where I held colored pigeons, the fountain and Park Güell with mosaic benches.

garmisch-germany-2 — Photo by Carly Thompson

Our final independent travel week was my favorite. It was the week of my birthday, which I spent in England and Ireland. We toured London in a single day. We awoke at 6:00 a.m. and saw the Sherlock Holmes Museum, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. We took a tour of the locations used in filming the Harry Potter movies– our tour guide dressed to look just like Hagrid. We finished the day by watching the musical “Wicked” at the Apollo Theater, my dream come true, and taking pictures at Platform 9¾ in King’s Cross Station.

We took a ferry over to Ireland for the rest of the week, staying in Dublin, Killarney and Galway. We stayed in both the countryside, with brilliant green grass and sheep, and in bustling cities. We visited the Cliffs of Moher, took meandering walks through the countryside and experienced the city life of street performers and Irish music while celebrating my birthday in Galway.

A New Home

We always returned home to Regensburg after our excursions. Living in Germany was like living in a storybook. Every cobblestone street, narrow alley and red-roofed building took us back in time to a history preserved tangibly in their culture. Regensburg is a quaint little town on the Danube River, with storybook Bavarian architecture, unmistakable red roofs, cathedrals and home to the royal Thurn and Taxis family living in their elaborate palace.

We lived in one wing of our Jungendherberge (hostel) in rooms that resembled standard dorms, except the windows didn’t have any screens.

On our trip we had 15 girls and one guy, so girls got to rotate roommates while poor Jonah was by himself.

Our classes took place in a conference room in our hostel down the hall from our rooms, and we would usually meet from 8:00 a.m. until lunchtime for class every day for two weeks. After lunch we had free time for the rest of the day to do “homework,” which meant explore the city.

Most days we would frequent cafes and listen to the locals converse while eating delectable pastries. In the winter, most of our exploring involved food. Bavarian pretzels, chocolate and gelato were staples every day. If we didn’t like the food at the hostel, our favorite meal

to grab was döner kebabs (pita stuffed with shaved meat, cabbage, cucumbers, onions and special sauce) and dürum (which is everything inside döner but stuffed into a wrap). Our spring explorations took us on walks down the river on paths lined with hundreds of wild flowers, or up the hill to a small chapel where we climbed into the largest tree I had ever seen. Every day was an adventure.

On one of our adventures at the ice skating rink I met my dear German friend, Maike. We were brought together by her longing to be back in America and my longing for a local friendship.

We skated and talked the entire night about our love of books, writing and cultural differences. Maike also attended Lifestream church where we went on Sundays, an independent “free” church which met in a bar. The congregation was so hospitable and friendly. Although the services were conducted in German, we were connected by our faith. Whether we sang in English or German, we were united in one language—God’s language. Regensburg will forever have a piece of my heart.

Follow the money and see where it goes

Ever wonder how the school makes money and where tuition money goes? President Ellis answers all your questions.

How does the school generate income? And where does our tuition go?

Kayla Williamson | Editor-in-Chief

One of President Brent Ellis’ priorities when he took the leadership role was fundraising and increasing endowment (the school’s savings and investments.) While the budget for Ivy League university Harvard is $78 billion and Spring Arbor University (SAU)’s rival, Indiana Wesleyan’s, 2016-17 budget is $178 million, Spring Arbor’s revenue and contributions in 2014 totaled $72 million.

As SAU continues to grow and expand, donor contributions, tuition and other supplementary projects are key sources of income, Ellis said.

The recent additions to campus–the new tennis courts, the E.P. Hart memorial for SAU’s founder, renovated locker rooms, English mural and nursing program–were all contributed by donors.

“Part of what you do within these donor relationships is people fall in love with the university and they have interests and they have passions that are focused in certain areas, so you really want to empower people to be involved in things they’re passionate about,” Ellis said. “I think every one of these gifts really is a manifestation of the person’s passion for Spring Arbor University.”

Ever wonder how the school makes money and where tuition money goes? President Ellis answers all your questions.

The Pulse (TP): You’ve actually worked in fundraising before you were president in Advancement right?

President Brent Ellis (PE): Yes I did. I still work in fundraising. (laughs) But for four years while Chuck Webb was president, I was the Vice President of Advancement. The chief fundraiser at the time.

TP: How do donations work? Do you go out and find donors for specific projects or do they come to you with projects?

PE: Both. At times projects are driven by the institution based on its needs. At times projects are driven by donors who have certain ideas of what they want to do, and then at times, like with the Kauffman Center, it’s, “I want to do something to honor Ken Kauffman, what could we do?” Really, it runs the gamut. And there are times we say no. I’ll just throw out a hypothetical. If someone says, “Brent we’re going to give you $20 million to build a science building, but we want you to teach these certain components of stem cell research” or something that could be controversial, we generally will say no. If it’s consistent with what we have set for priorities for the institution and allows us to fulfill our mission in greater ways, then by all means we’ll accept it. We will do that in a manner that it doesn’t impact student tuition, and we don’t divert tuition funds towards those projects.

TP: What does tuition actually go towards?

PE: The operations of the institution. Our operational budget is in the neighborhood of $70 million and tuition funds a portion of that broader operational budget. Tuition does not cover the full cost of running the institution. We have endowment dollars. We raise money. There are a variety of different things we do to have the income necessary to run the institution. The majority of the operational budget is personnel. Salary and benefits. It pays for our faculty and staff. The other big portions of it would be some of our licenses (i.e. Blackboard), computers we provide and infrastructure.

TP: Like Wi-Fi?

PE: Yeah, Wi-Fi. Athletic teams and coaches, it’s all through tuition dollars. Anything that is a consistent recurring cost on an annual basis, that is what tuition goes to, and nothing outside of that. I think tuition covers 85 percent of our operational funds. About 15 percent of our operational budget is outside of tuition dollars.

TP: One of the incomes of the school would be donors and tuition, and where does the rest come from?

PE: Endowment. It’s investments people make. We draw four or five percent on an annual basis from endowment to fund operational expenses. And then there are other auxiliary enterprises, like summer camps and leasing facilities.

TP: So tuition would be directly correlated with enrollment, and so as enrollment goes up or down the operational budget would go up and down?

PE: Yes.

TP: And so that affects how many professors we can hire or facilities we can update?

PE: Right. Some of the operational dollars go to what we call broadly deferred maintenance. It takes on different projects that would be helpful for maintaining facilities throughout their lifespan.

TP: How do you predict the budget? Do you know at the beginning of the year how many students come?

PE: We base our budgets on three year averages. So right now we already know what next year’s budget is going to be because we know what we’ve enrolled this year. Our new student class is up 20 students from a year ago, which is great. That then becomes the target for their recruiting efforts the following year.

TP: So it really depends on admissions, too.

PE: Absolutely. Enrollment is significant. Schools like Spring Arbor are often times referred to as tuition driven. We say we’re tuition dependent. Because we do depend on tuition dollars to run the institution. If all the students left, we wouldn’t have access to funds to be able to maintain the institution. There are some schools that would have significant endowments that say we’re really not tuition dependent. It doesn’t really matter what we charge, like Princeton or Yale or Harvard, they can charge whatever they want. Their endowments are so big that they can live off of their investments. It doesn’t matter. If they had years where they had zero students they could continue to operate. We couldn’t. We have to adjust our budgets based on our enrollments.

TP: So endowment is a really important part of your job as fundraising?

PE: Endowment is an enormous focal point to what we’re doing. When I came here seven years ago, our endowment was just under seven million dollars and our expectancies (potential future donations through wills) were about 18 million. Now our endowment has more than doubled, so it’s over 15 million, and our expectancies have gone from about 18 million to about 55 million which is great. We’re on our way, but part of the problem was, if you go back into the mid 80s, our endowment was about $250,000. There was a mentality for a lot of Christian institutions to say if you build endowment, you were removing your dependency on God to provide you on an annual basis what it takes to survive. I think God can provide endowment to provide, it’s still His provision. Whether it’s tuition dollars or endowment, it’s all God’s money. So I don’t agree with that philosophy so we’ve put a strong emphasis to try to build the endowment. The more we raise the better job we can do to keep tuition low. And I know it doesn’t seem that way. In the last several years the average increase has been at 3.5-5 percent, which is lower than the national average. I know it’s expensive, but we are in the bottom quartile of institutions. There are more than 75 percent of private Christian institutions that have higher tuition rates than Spring Arbor. We do intentionally try to stay in that bottom quartile to try and make it as affordable as possible.

TP: Why does it increase every year? Is it inflation?

PE: The primary driver to that is healthcare. It’s an issue institutions face outside of higher education as well. We don’t pay the highest salaries, so we try to provide more significant benefits. So, that’s what has been done. We know what our budget as far as targets for enrollment next year goes. We have no idea what the increase in our health care premium is going to be. So, all of that becomes very difficult to predict. That and technology are the two main culprits. As technology becomes better it costs more and people’s expectations of that increases. What was really rare and uncommon 15 years ago (i.e. Wi-Fi) is now expected.

TP: One last question, so all of these five dedications, they have nothing to do whatsoever with parking passes and paying $50.

PE: Absolutely zero have to do with that.

TP: So the $50 goes straight to campus safety and the new parking lot?

PE: Nope, has nothing to do with the new parking lot. The $50 only goes towards campus safety budget and allows them to have some funds to make sure that we are a safe campus.

TP: So where does the new parking lot come from?

PE: That was part of the tennis court project. One of the things that we were required to do by Spring Arbor Township is to replace the parking lot that we lost. That was part of the project cost.

Cougar Bowling

By Olivia Landis
SAU leads the trend by starting the first ever Crossroads League Bowling team

Bowling is a sport on the rise, and Spring Arbor University (SAU) is the first school in the Crossroads League to have a bowling team. Both are comprised entirely of freshmen, with six students on the womens team and seven on the mens.

The Cougars will be competing in the Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) this winter because none of the schools in the Crossroads League have bowling teams. When asked which team will be the biggest competition, Coach Michael Hall is quick to mention

Concordia.

“They have a really good program that has been there for a while now, but all our bowlers have a 220 or better average, so I am confident we will be able to compete well with them

[Concordia],” Hall said.

The Cougar bowling teams practice three times a week at Airport Lanes in addition to 6:30 a.m. conditioning twice a week. The conditioning the teams are doing includes lots of sprints, lifting and burpees. The muscle groups Hall wants to target are the forearms and wrists, which are the primary ones used when bowling.

“They are doing sprints because they have to get used to seven or eight hour long tournaments,” Hall said. “In high school they only went for three or four hours.”

In tournaments, the top five bowlers from the mens and the womens teams are chosen to bowl for the Cougars on the tournament day, and each player begins by bowling six individual games. After the individual games, the players get into teams to play a Baker Game, where five of the bowlers get together and bowl as a group, combining their skills for an even higher score. The first bowler bowls the first frame, second bowler the second frame, third bowler the third frame and so on until they have finished the game.

In the tournaments, players use different types of bowling balls to achieve different purposes. One ball is covered in resin and curves more. The players bowl with it first, because they can curve it and knock down more pins. The next ball is plastic and is better for spares because it rolls straight. And the heavier the ball, the harder it will hit the pins because it has more momentum behind it. The average weight of a ball used, for both men and women, is 15 pounds.

A challenge for the players lies in the oil patterns on the lanes. All lanes have a layer of oil, but it is smooth and uniform when people bowl for fun. For the more experienced bowlers,

there are oil patterns put down on the lanes to make it harder to get a strike on nearly every opportunity. The oil is laid down so there will be hooks, curves and smooth parts in the lane. This forces the bowlers to be creative with their releases.

The Spring Arbor bowling teams are sponsored by Ebonite International, which provides all the bags and bowling balls for the team. The teams also have an advantage over other schools because they have access to a machine called a Strike Seeker. This records the athlete as they bowl and breaks down their form.

Practice begins with some stretches to warm up, and then a warm up game for the bowlers. During the warm up game, the coaches are able to go around and talk to them about footwork, approach and the best angles to take. After warm ups, they will do more specific drills to work on endurance, form and the precision of hitting a single pin. Almost all of the athletes have been bowling since they were toddlers. Hall found his recruits through YouTube videos and tournaments such as the Junior Gold Tournament.

Hall started the bowling program at Cornerstone, and he heard about Spring Arbor when SAU contacted him asking for information on how he got the program started there.

“After the initial call, I was kind of intrigued. I was working part time and looking for a full time position, which Spring Arbor had. I asked if I could throw my name in the hat, and my family and I visited here four times before I took the offer,” Hall said.

Assisting Hall this winter is Coach Rich Bradley, who is currently coaching at Western High School.

“Their practices go 2:30-5:30, and we go 7-9, so I’ll be pretty busy this winter… but I love it.” Bradley said.

You can truly see the passion the coaches and players have for the sport. Practices are focused and intense, and Hall said the fans and teams get competitive and crazy at

tournaments. They have their own cheers, trash talk and dress in crazy

attire to support their team.

Hall is working to make the adjustment as smooth and comfortable as possible.

“I always tell them I live close to campus, and if you need a break and want to come hang out, the doors are always open.” He laughs and adds, “They definitely take advantage of that, but I love them.”

Lazeez overcomes obstacles with community support

By Kayla Williamson and Nathan Salsbury
This summer, Lazeez Flavors of India moved to Spring Arbor after a corporation bought its Westwood Mall location.

This summer, Lazeez Flavors of India moved to Spring Arbor after a corporation bought its Westwood Mall location.

After four months into their two year contract, Sangeeta Awan and her daughter Mehr, a former Spring Arbor University (SAU) student, began wondering what they were going to do next.

Mehr said after their contract was terminated, she and her mother were in a state of shock.

“We didn’t know what to do,” Mehr said. “The Lord led us here, and Mom saw this place. In two weeks we had signed the lease here and then in about a month we had moved over. So that was just a total God thing.”

kayla-williamson_9178 — Photo by Kayla Williamson

Since their move, the Awans said they have received support from not only SAU faculty and students, but also many members of the Spring Arbor community. The move into the area has also provided Assistant Professor of Marketing Allen Knight’s business classes with the opportunity to use what they are learning and apply it to a real-life business in order to help Lazeez succeed in this new location. Knight has been working with some of his classes this semester using Lazeez as an example of a real life business. He is having his public relations, marketing and small business classes work with them to look at to look at a real business and compare it to what they’re learning.

“The students can say ‘okay, here’s what the textbook is walking us through and here’s an example of a business and we as students can be involved, talk to the owner and see what issues they’re encountering,’” Knight said. “And at the end of this, maybe we can offer an updated or modified business plan.”

Taking the lead for three of Knight’s classes is senior Lacey Morgan.

“Dr. Knight has put me in charge of our public relations class, our marketing class and small business management with an entrepreneurial approach,” Morgan said. “So I’m the team lead in all of those classes for Lazeez.”

Through these projects, Morgan said they will do an audit, or business plan, then work on a marketing plan using their findings and, finally, further develop a business plan with a public relations standpoint.

kayla-williamson_9193 — Photo by Kayla Williamson

Professor of Communication Robert Woods, although not working on any projects for Lazeez, gave high praise of the restaurant.

“I eat there as often as I can and have as many meetings as I can there,” Woods said.

Woods also mentioned he suggests the restaurant to many people, both students and faculty. Mehr also spoke about how grateful she and her mother are that news of the restaurant is spreading so strongly by word of mouth.

Lazeez Flavors of India is now located in the Village Crossing strip mall on Spring Arbor Road. On Mondays they are open from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on Tuesday-Saturday they are open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. They are closed on Sundays.

SAU welcomes new nursing center

By Heather Clark
Oct. 1 marked the opening of Spring Arbor University’s (SAU) new undergraduate nursing lab.

Oct. 1 marked the opening of Spring Arbor University’s (SAU) new undergraduate nursing lab. On Homecoming Day, President Brent Ellis dedicated the Jaworski Clinical Simulation Center and Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Service clinic on the other side of M-60.

“We’ve had nursing for a long time, but this is a unique element,” Al Kauffman, chair of the department of nursing, said. “[our previous] nursing program we had was for people who were nurses already. Now you can enter as a non-nurse.”

megan-himebook_9197 — Photo by Megan Himebook

According to Kauffman, SAU has offered bachelor’s degree completion programs for those holding associate’s degrees since 2001. A master’s program followed in 2009, but both required a student to have at least an associate’s degree to enter the program.

Kauffman said the process to create the undergraduate program began in 2014. After creating a business plan, deciding on curriculum offerings and planning a budget, the program was required to seek approval from the Michigan Board of Nursing. The program also required approval from the academic and administrative committees at SAU, which it received last year.

Several other departments, especially in the science department, had to redesign their curriculum to be qualified to offer the necessary support knowledge for nursing majors, according to Raymond Jones, director of campus nursing. The increased rigor of the courses is meant to prepare nurses to pass the required certification exams with better scores and more knowledge.

The Michigan Board of Nursing approved the new program on May 5, allowing the university to select classes of 30 students to enter the program until two classes have

been graduated. Those two classes will then be evaluated based on a standardized test, the National Council Licensure Examination.

Jones has been involved in planning not only the educational aspects, but also new facilities that will open for the department. A portion of SAU’s Physical Plant building

has been converted to a simulation center containing lifelike practice mannequins. The center shares space with a physical therapy clinic that will be open to the public and used jointly by SAU’s physical therapy courses and the nursing department for training in therapy and safety practices.

Sophomore Jaydn Fuerst will be one of the department’s entering undergraduates for the class of 2020. She said she is most enthusiastic about the availability of the new programs and the ability to take all of her required classes at one school.

Another student entering the program is Jonathan Matwiejczyk, a 2015 graduate biology major. He said he had been searching for a job when he found out about the available

nursing program.

“I loved the idea of being able to return to Spring Arbor, not only for the community and it already being my home for the last five years, but also I already had great relationships I had cultivated with the professors over the years,” Matwiejczyk said.

megan-himebook_9202 — Photo by Megan Himebook

Jessica Khoury, a sophomore transfer from Michigan State University, said she is looking forward to the hands-on clinic.

“It will be a place where mistakes will be made, but better to made in the lab than in the hospital,” Khoury said.

Fuerst also expressed excitement for the clinics. She was able to participate in simulation equipment tests last year when the program was being set up, and practiced with a specially designed mannequin.

“I helped deliver a fake baby,” Fuerst said. “It was pretty awesome.”

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“Stranger Things” Review

By Michelle Bennett
Netflix just got a little bit stranger with its new original hit, “Stranger Things.”

Netflix just got a little bit stranger with its new original hit, “Stranger Things.” If there is one thing Netflix knows how to do, it’s originals. With each new release comes the thrill of another well-casted, well-directed, intriguing and entertaining story. It came as no surprise that the company that produced “House of Cards,” “Orange is the New Black” and “Daredevil” released another binge-worthy show to latch onto.

The story centers on the disappearance of a local boy, Will Byers, from the small town of Hawkins, Ind., in 1983. After Will vanished without a trace, his three best friends Mike, Lucas and Dustin are left behind to piece together a puzzle. They find the first piece of the puzzle with the girl called Eleven. Eleven’s past and abilities are the key to Will’s disappearance. While the trio does their best to figure out how Eleven fits in, they lack pieces of the puzzle. Some of these pieces are found with Jonathan, Will’s older brother, and Nancy, Mike’s older sister. This intermingling storyline begins when Nancy’s best friend, Barb, goes missing after a party with Nancy’s boyfriend, Steve. Nancy and Jonathan team up to try to find out what took Will and Barb and how to stop it. The remaining pieces of this puzzle fall to Will’s mom, Joyce, and the town Sheriff, Chief Hopper. They do their best to figure out how the government plays into the disappearance of Joyce’s son and how much harm or good they can do in their search for Will.

While the Duffer brothers, Matt and Ross, are relatively new to the directing world and the Hollywood spotlight, their inexperience is hardly noticeable. The Duffer brothers, with the help of their cinematographers, Tim Ives and Tod Campbell, created the familiarity of a small town with the constant use of bikes as the main form of transportation. The wildfire-like spread of gossip aided in creating this small town where everyone knew everyone and their drama. In an ironic contrast the majority of the main characters are able to keep secrets from each other. This is exactly what made the show so delightfully paradoxical. Despite the compact town and the closeness of the characters, they managed to keep their secrets and plans to themselves.

The acting brought the story to life with formidable talent such as Winona Ryder, who played the panicked and jumpy yet determined Joyce. David Harbour played the uninterested and tragic Chief Hopper whose sense of reason was found in his search for Will and the resolution of the mystery surrounding his disappearance. Young, new talent was found in Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven, who performed with such honesty and passion for her character that the role seemed only natural for her. She played the perfect scared and detached little science experiment that evolved into a little girl who longs for solid friendship and home.

The music lent itself to the nostalgia created by this show. With hits from popular eighties artists like the Clash, Peter Gabriel and Corey Hart, immersion in the world of the eighties

was an easy task.

The setting, plotline, cinematography, music and scene direction mixed to create a combination of X-Files, the Goonies and E.T. The mystery is what grabs audiences but the nostalgia, character development, plotline and constant cliffhangers are what keep fans returning. Audiences are so swept up in whether this boy will be found and with the past of characters like Chief Hopper and Eleven that the ending will come all too quickly. The eerie and ominous conclusion will leave fans waiting for season two due to be released in 2017.

Where the money for the five dedications comes from

Ever wondered why there’s a 30,000 lbs rock at the front front of the school? Or how these donors discovered Spring Arbor when some of them are not alumni? President Brent Ellis explains the stories behind each facility.

Kayla Williamson | Editor-in-Chief

The new tennis complex, renovated locker rooms, upstairs Sayre-Decan mural, rock entrance and nursing lab officially opened on Homecoming Day, Oct. 1.

Almost 100 percent of these five dedicated facilities were paid by donors, people who want to show their love and appreciation towards the school. None of the money to build these came from tuition.

The Jones Tennis Complex

Who: Ron & Marvelle Jones and other donors

What: $1.3 million tennis courts and $250,000 in scholarships

Where: North of Ogle Villages

The Story: “Ron Jones, a new board member for SAU, and his wife love tennis and have a long history with SAU tennis alumni. That began to influence their interest in Spring Arbor. It was a real natural gift.” – President Brent Ellis

Varsity Locker Rooms for Basketball and Volleyball

Who: Faith Small (women’s locker rooms) and anonymous donors (men’s locker rooms)

What: $185,000 to renovate locker rooms

Where: Fieldhouse

The Story: “Trent Allen, who the men’s locker rooms are named for, had a relationship with the donor couple, and he passed away, which is why it is named for him. The women’s locker rooms were funded by Faith Small who was a board member who just passed away. It was eight or 10 months before she died that she had given the funds to renovate the women’s locker rooms.” – President Brent Ellis

“Word & Image” Mural

Who: Joel Varland, Roger Varland’s brother

What: Donated labor to paint a mural highlighting some of the influential authors of the Christian faith

Where: Upstairs Sayre-Decan Hall

The Story: “Joel heard that we were doing [the DC] mural a couple years back. He worked with Kimberly Moore-Jumonville and the faculty in the department of English and came up with who would make the wall and who wouldn’t make the wall.” – President Brent Ellis

E.P. Hart Circle

Who: Hal Munn, board of trustees, and anonymous donors

What: $40,000 memorial for EP Hart, the founder of SAU

Where: EP Hart Circle

The Story: “Hal Munn was one of the catalysts for the memorial when it was first raised in 2003. Two weeks prior to Hal’s death, I went to go see him just to pay my respects and he said, Brent I need you to promise me two things: first thing have a tenure of more than 20 years, be the president for more than 20 years. I said well that’s going to be up to our board. And he was like yes—you be committed. I said I am committed to this place. I’m glad I’m here and I believe in what this place is and he said the second thing is I want to give a legacy gift to complete the construction of the EP Hart circle. I said Hal, we’ll find a way to get it done. He made a very generous gift from his family. That gave us almost what we needed to get it done. We’ve gone out and raised and additional 15-20k to fund that circle as well. It’s not just going to be a memorial, but also an entrance, and that’s why you see the brick façade that says Spring Arbor University, lights, when you come into that entrance, you’ll now where you are. It also will serve as a nice welcome, entrance into the university, which I don’t think we have a entrance, where’s the front gate, where the front door. Now that will be the front door to the university.” – President Brent Ellis

Jaworski Clinical Simulation Center and Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Service Clinic

Who: Joe Jaworski, retired professor of biology

What: Clinical space (labs) to kickstart a residential nursing program

Where: Across M-60 in the old Physical Plant

The Story: “As we’ve been doing market research and where we’re losing students, nursing continued to be a place where we continued to lose students because people wanted a nursing degree from a Christian university, so we were losing students to Indiana Wesleyan, Huntington, etc. I could name 10 people that I know that did not go here because of the nursing program. One of our professors, Joe Jaworski, a 30+ year faculty member in Biology, left a significant portion of his estate to the university with the caveat that it would go towards benefiting the sciences. Through conversations with our science faculty arrived at the idea if we started a nursing program that would provide a consistent stream of students into biology and into chemistry and allow us to recruit some students that we’d been losing.” – President Brent Ellis

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SAU Hosts Alumni Graphic Design Exhibition

By Emily Spencer
Ganton Art Gallery is hosting Spring Arbor University’s (SAU) first Alumni Graphic Design Show.

Ganton Art Gallery is hosting Spring Arbor University’s (SAU) first Alumni Graphic Design Show. Though Spring Arbor has held alumni shows before this is the first centered on graphic design. The show is up from Sept. 18 to Oct. 9.

In order to organize the alumni show, Associate Professor of Art, Brian Shaw had to contact the alumni and send out a call for entries. The art faculty then set up the show using the pieces sent in by the alumni.

Spring Arbor alumni, Kari Shimmel, class of 2003, spoke for the opening of the show. Shimmel worked for Daniel Brian Advertising in Rochester, Mich. for 11 years before going to work for another advertising agency, Campbell Ewald. Shimmel is now the chief marketing officer at Campbell Ewald where she oversees new business development. Along with a team of coworkers, she works to come up with a vision for the brand and pitch their ideas to the company. She has worked with many large brands, most recently, Travelocity and Harley-Davidson. Shimmel also oversees external as well as internal communications. This includes working on Campbell Ewald’s website, stationary and communicating the values of the company.

At the end of her talk, Shimmel gives four pieces of advice to the students. Her first advice was always try harder, stressing the importance of going above and beyond the work assigned. Secondly, said every class counts. General education classes Shimmel never thought she would need have proved to be essential to her job. Her third piece of advice was to impact culture. Her job in advertising gives Shimmel a great opportunity to make a difference in the culture around her. Finally, she said to be faithful. Throughout the course of her work, Shimmel has had to request not to work on certain projects because they did not coincide with her beliefs.

Shimmel is not the only alumni whose art pieces have made their way into the gallery. The other alumni participating in the show are, Lauren Nadrowski, class of 2011, Josh Smiertka, class of 2014, Beau Ulrey, class of 2013, Derrick Robbins, class of 2010, Emily Reed, class of 2011, Jake Fletcher, class of 2015, Kaitlin Lutz, class of 2015, Kevin Sharp, class of 2015, Kwade Joslin, 2013, Mackenzie Varnagatas, class of 2015, and Mark Adkins, class of 2013.

Shaw, class of 1990, also has a few pieces in the show. As an alumni of SAU, Shaw felt that it was important that he participate in the show.

“I felt like I should be represented,” Shaw said “I wanted to join my colleagues in showing work.”

Shaw said of his students, “I’m only going to feel successful if you’re successful.” Shaw feels it is important to showcase alumni as artists who have succeeded in SAU’s art program.

“I’m so proud of what they’re accomplishing out there,” Shaw said. This sense of pride and joy, Shaw said, is one of the main reasons that alumni shows are so important.

According to Lecturer of Art, Brianne Witt, another reason for holding alumni shows is it gives current students the opportunity to see what they could accomplish once they graduate from SAU.

“It’s great information for the students to just see the different ways they can take their skills that they’re learning within the art department,” Witt said. According to Witt, seeing the work of SAU alumni can provide direction for current students.

She said, “It’s good for them to see the different ways they can reach their ultimate goal.”

The show will run in the Ganton Art Gallery until Oct. 9 and a second reception was held on Oct. 1 at 3:30 p.m.

Our Ocean Conference 2016

By Amber Cekander
The Pulse had an opportunity to participate in a national conference call about the annual Our Ocean conference.

The Pulse recently had an opportunity to participate in a national conference call with other student publications from campuses across the country. The call was hosted by Judith Garber, who works in Washington D.C. as the assistant secretary of state for oceans, international environmental and scientific affairs. The focus of the call was to bring attention to the annual Our Ocean conference which gathers nations across the globe to discuss ocean conservation. Our Ocean was held Sept. 15 and 16 in Washing D.C. and included keynote talks from Secretary of State John Kerry, President Barack Obama and actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

“Secretary Kerry is fond of saying that nothing connects all of us but the ocean,” Garber said in the call.

After a brief introduction about the purpose of the event, the call was opened up to the students to ask questions about the conference and its goals.

Sarah Antozzi from the Marlin Chronicle at Virginia Wesleyan College asked Garber to communicate the one main takeaway she would like students to have from the call.

“That our ocean is under threat, that solutions are possible, and it’s all of our responsibility to take action to help our ocean,” Garber said.

oceans_factsv5_page_11a — Graphic from ourocean2016.org

The main focus areas of the conference were centered around marine protected areas, climate, sustainable fisheries and marine pollution. Different solutions and ideas were proposed at the conference along with monetary donations and commitments to aid in those solutions.

Since the international conference was focused on what countries as a whole can do for ocean conservation, Katie Gagliano from the Daily Reveille at Louisiana State University asked what role the national administration was encouraging states to play.

Garber responded by confirming that some states were actually participating at the conference. “This is an issue that can’t just be solved by governments or international organizations. It is something that needs state and local communities. We are trying to do outreach at every level,” she said.

But what about states like Michigan that aren’t bordering an ocean? Spring Arbor University’s Professor of Biology Chris Newhouse said that, in terms of effects from ocean pollution, there would be “relatively few negative impacts” on the Michigan and the Great Lakes.

5-ouroceanplastic — Graphic from ourocean2016.org

Both Garber and Newhouse mentioned the role plastic plays in ocean pollution. According to Garber, the “ocean is suffering from massive quantities of plastic waste.”

Newhouse said, “We can make plastics bio-degradable. Or we can do a better job of recycling plastics. If we can figure out how to remove them in the ocean most of the those [solutions] could be applied to the Great Lakes.”

More information from the conference can be found on the website ourocean2016.org

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The Dangers of Desire

By Heather Clark
Radio host Al Kresta visited SAU to discuss the dangers of loving a material world.

“What do you want?”

This was the foundational question Catholic radio program host and apologist Al Kresta asked at his lecture Sept. 13 at Spring Arbor University (SAU).

Kresta, whose daily program has an audience of nearly three-hundred radio stations, including the local Catholic station “Good Shepherd Radio,” has been a colleague and friend of SAU’s Professor of Communication Paul Patton for almost 40 years. The two have worked on theatrical productions and radio broadcasts together. Kresta was invited by the department of communication to speak and participate in a post-lecture reception.

For his audience of nearly one-hundred-fifty people, Kresta expounded on the dilemma Christians face in modern society. He cited seemingly conflicting Biblical messages that advise against loving the “world” but then tell us that God loves the world he created.

“Pleasure becomes hedonism, and enjoying food becomes gluttony. Kresta made me realize that one can worship through these things without worshiping the things themselves,” sophomore Trevor Tarantowski said.

Cameron Moore, assistant professor in English, said he hoped his literature students who attended the lecture would see parts of their own studies reflected.

“Loving rightly, ordering our desires, it’s very much like Dante [‘s Divine Comedy],” Moore said.

Many modern Christians, according to Kresta, rationalize their involvement and consumption of the world’s value system.

“They say, ‘God loves the world,’ so shouldn’t we imitate him?'” Kresta said.

This, Kresta said, indicates a failure to realize that the “world” spoken of in scripture has the dual meaning of the created order and also of the secular value system. There is an important distinction there that renders the seemingly conflicted passages understandable.

Kresta went on to illustrate his topic of remaining un-conformed through examples of three “illusion generators” that he said cause people to desire “the contradictory and the impossible,”. The illusion generators Kresta cited were the unattainable beauty standards set for women, media manipulation of “news” and ubiquitous advertising and marketing competing for attention.

Leah Rose, a junior advertising and public relations major, found Kresta’s talk very applicable to her own studies.

“I enjoyed Kresta’s talk because it was thought provoking; his statement about Jesus’ earthly “competition” being brands and materialistic objects changed my perspective on what and how I consume,” Rose said.

Kresta said for the church to remain ‘relevant’ in society, it must not succumb to the devices of modern culture but rise above them by remaining distinctive.

Junior pre-engineering major Abigail Owens remembered the following quote from Kresta’s lecture: “What you lure them with is what you lure them to.”

“As he pointed out,” Owens said, “the church was not meant to be just another economical good.”

“Brands need to make us feel good. They exist to distract people,” Kresta said. His vision of the church is a place that does not dismiss the uncomfortable and painful realities of life, but rather “Bear[s] witness in the midst of suffering to joy that goes beyond.” The community and belonging offered by the church, he said, is real, not an advertising gimmick to lure consumers, and should be the reason people decide to attend a church.

Phil Webster, senior Biblical Studies major, said the advice Kresta gave will change how he reacts to the information he finds in popular media.

“Advertisers focus on our wants of happiness, fulfillment and pleasure, but that’s only because we’re so carnally minded. I’m going to keep better inventory of my wants and see to it that they are both God pleasing and beneficial for the kingdom,” Webster said.

“His question, ‘what do you want’, is really key to your soul,” Charles White ,prrofessor of Christian thought and history, said.

Kresta, in a reworking of 1 John 4:4, summed up his statements of the church’s relevance in society: “Greater is He that is in us…than he who is over there at Starbucks or Nike or Google.”