Kevin O’Blenis: Local Hero

The following is based on a true story: “The car was on fire, and I knew that if I didn’t get those children out, there was going to be trouble,” was a reality for one Moncton man. There are very few men in our modern society who have accomplished such a feat, and none more manly than Kevin O’Blenis.

“It was just a regular day,” O’Blenis humbly claimed, “I was just coming back from babysitting a family of orphans and volunteering at the local animal shelter where I had just successfully revived a dying kitten after it choked on a piece turkey bone, when suddenly I came across a burning car. I figured that if I didn’t do my part I would have let the day slip by me. I mean, if nothing else I could use the story for a sermon at the church of homeless people that I

pastor on a weekly basis despite prior commitments with work and school.” [sic]

Indeed, Kevin embraced his girlfriend as if it would be the last time they would ever touch, then leapt from his car, and with no hesitation, ran into the fire. Noticing that there were houses nearby, O’Blenis ran to the closest doorstep, and alerted the family. He burst into the house, and rescued the children. He did this for all the surrounding houses before returning to the burning car. O’Blenis made sure that there was no one was in the car before witnessing its explosion.

“Wreckage was everywhere!” one bystander said, “I couldn’t believe it. Flaming pieces of car were going all over the place! Smashing into houses even, that was when I noticed [O’Blenis] emerge through the fire and the flames with several children safely harnessed to his side. I am confident that if Mr. O’Blenis hadn’t saved those children, lives would have been lost that day.”

Mohandas Gandhi summed up Kevin well in the last months of his life when he said: “[Kevin O’Blenis] is [the most solid guy, and he is most definitely a saint].”

BEACONThe

Vol. 2 Issue 5 Crandall University March 15 ,2012

Send articles to rkee669@crandalluniversity.ca

By: Taylor Murray and Corbin Birch

•28 March at 09:00 until 30 March at 12:00

Crandall University - Student Center

Get your Swap on!

Drop off your gently used clothing, shoes, and

accessories from March 19th - 23rd outside the student

association offices in the Student Center. Please include

your name and the number of items with your donation.

Then, on Wednesday, March 28th until Friday, March

30th, Swap it up! The Swap will run from 9:00am -

4:30pm.

How it works:1) Students will be able to swap their donated items for

the same number of Swap items.

2) If a student would like to take more than their

donated number of clothing OR if the student has not

donated but would like to take some items, Swap items

will be priced as follows:

Clothing items: $2Accessory items: $2Shoes: $3

All proceeds and any remaining items will be donated to

Nazareth House - a local emergency shelter.Cl

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What Grinds My Gears!Hey all, this is Sharilyn West, your future VP External, and Ian Pelkey, your future PREZZZ.

Ian: Shari, you know what REALLY grinds my gears?

Shari: The fact that your feet stink ?

Ian: NO… the fact that mandatory chapel takes place

Shari: Oh I knoowwwwww.

Ian: I don’t know Shari, mind if I call you Shari?

Shari: Sure thing Ian, you always do!

Ian: You betcha Shari, you Betcha. So, mandatory chapel, what do you think?

Shari: Well would you make someone do something that they don’t want to do? Like eat broccoli ? (SICK) Didn’t God give us free will in the first place?

Ian: He sure did Shari! Liberty all the way!

Shari: I think that we should come up with another alternative to mandatory chapel. Maybe a grade? Or a credit?

Ian: Or some cake!

Sharilyn: Excellent idea Ian! We all love cake, I make a deliciously mean chocolate cake!

Ian: Oh man, I want some of this cake, now!! If I go to chapel, will I get some?!

Sharilyn: I don’t know Ian, we’ll have to discuss that. What do you think Crandall? Should chapel be mandatory? You tell us!

This is Sharilyn & Ian telling you to stay classy Crandall.

*wink, cue finger gun. *

In 1932 and 1949, two books were published which offered competing, though similarly bleak, visions of the future. The more well known of the two in our day and age is George Orwell's 1949 classic, “Nineteen Eighty-Four.” Much has been made of this tale of an oppressive government that seeks to control its people, restricting information and monitoring their every move. It has inspired countless authors and directors since, no doubt planting the seeds for graphic novels such as “V for Vendetta,” all the way through the modern film revision of the story, “Equilibrium.” And its influence does not just end with the arts. With SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, and other such legislation seeking to violently restrict the internet as we know it, many see this as a sort of Orwellian grab for complete control, much akin to the censorship in Nineteen Eighty-Four, or even the burning of the books in another classic, “Fahrenheit 451.” People are constantly worrying about “Big Brother” looking in on them, invading their privacy, and seeking to assert further control on their lives. So many are terrified of this vision of the future that they tend to forget the other, earlier, and I believe, even more insidious evil. This book is none other than Aldous Huxley's, “Brave New World.” While Orwell's world was one of oppression and terror, Huxley's is one of unhindered hedonism. Reproduction and sex are completely divorced from one another, and thus sex is free and easy to attain. Drugs are not only legal, but encouraged. There was a genetically imposed caste system, where the higher levels had complete freedom to do almost whatever they wanted, and the lower levels were intellectually stunted so that they would be ideal for working the mundane jobs that they were literally bred for. Huxley's vision, when fully realized, is utterly terrifying. While Orwell saw a world where humanity was enslaved by the thing it hated most – fear, tyranny, and censorship, Huxley saw it enslaved by what it loved the most – pleasure for its own sake. As we look to our present culture, it seems like Huxley's dread has won out. We are the most highly entertained culture in the history of the world. Countless thousands of movies which have been released, with more coming out every year. The internet is almost bursting at the seams with stories, videos, silly cat pictures, fan fictions, addictive games, and social networks that grab our attention with the most useless minutiae of people's lives. Those who have satellite or cable will know the familiar refrain, “we've got hundreds of channels but nothing's on!” How absurd is that? And to top it all off, irony of ironies in a sense, we have a reality show called “Big Brother,” and yet unlike the vision of Nineteen Eighty-Four, the captives are not the contestants but the viewers. We as a culture have been entertained to the point of utter futility. Sure, there are still those who work, and work hard to keep the world running (thankfully), but yet look at the upcoming generations. Adolescence has been extended past the teenage years and into the thirties. Young men in particular are waiting longer and longer to grow up, get a job, find a wife, and contribute to society, and are instead simply focused on getting a higher gamer score on their XBOX 360. Now, believe me – I am not anti-entertainment. I'm not even anti-video games. Heck, I'm the first to admit that I spend far too much time on both and enjoy them thoroughly. But that's just the issue.

We need to wake up.We need to grow up.

We need to learn how to think, and we need to teach our children how to think, how to read, and how to grow up. How to take responsibility for themselves and others so that we, and they, might

avoid the meaningless pleasure of this Brave New World.

May God help us all.

I realize that this is kind of a sober ending, but I'm challenging you think – to honestly assess your world and your life.. As always, feel free to email me at czak567@crandalluniversity.ca with any questions or comments.

Living in a Brave New Worldby Chris Zak

BREAKING NEWSBY: Corbin Birch & Taylor Murray

Keith Bodner wins first ever Oscar for a book

Erica Nickerson loses ability to pronounce the letter ‘R’

Eggnog in March, Megan Clark Rejoices

Brennan Dixon laments over spilt milk

Josh Daigle uses 0.5 mm lead in mechanical pencils, Chris Zak baffled

Is Crandall getting funding for a Dry Sauna: “No”

Katie Hamilton on guitars, “They’re neat”

Crandall Library now home to new Virtual Boy game system

Laura Sutherland confused for Laura Santos, confused for Laura Waddell, confused for Laura Martin, confused for Laura Ells, confused with Laura Sutherland.

Crandall Students raid cafeteria, find food.

Crandall Tabloids

Our story left off last week with the unlikely squad from the island village of Koh Panyee who had the dream of playing soccer and built a floating pitch on which to play. “When we got to the tournament, we were all nervous; but once we got going, we realized we were better than we thought. Our skills had developed nicely on the wooden pitch and the big goals (nets) were a much easier target than our own little ones. We made it to the semi-finals, losing by only one goal, scored on the last minute of the game. All were surprised at how well we had done.” “After that, football became Panyee's #1 pastime. We built a smooth new pitch that has nails in it at all.” The end.Note: The team established a soccer tradition that continues today for this small village. The Koh Panyee club is one of the most dominant ones in the Thai League! (Youth champs from 2004-2010)

What an inspiring story for those whose challenges seem overwhelming, goals unattainable, and seem to have the odds stacked against them, whether it be athletes or in any area of life.

“Building a cruiser on dry land: When we obey God's will by faith, He will make a way/.”

Recalling the story from the last Beacon, we addressed three truths from the story of Noah:

1) Man's sinful nature2) God's promise of judgement3) God's promise to save those who

fear and trust HimAnd now finally,

4) The fulfillment of His promise to save “through the water” (and not “from” it) and establishing a new covenant. (Genesis 8:1, 3; 9:1,9,11-17)

Many books in the Bible such as Ezekiel, Hebrews, 2 Peter, and Matthew

viewed this story as historical fact. Jesus Himself (in Matthew 24:37-39) declarjes it to be so. He also warns that anyone who becomes His disciple through faith will navigate the “flood waters,” against the “current” of the desires of the flesh, the world's system, persecutions, and Satan's seductive and subtle lies, and yet in the midst of it all, promises them victory – eternal life with Him in heaven. “And you shall be hated by all for My name's sake. But He who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:22) Only a few entered through the door of the ark. The Lord cautions all: “Most assuredly, I say to you, He who does not enter... by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber,” (John 10:1) but said in verse 9 that “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, He will be saved.”“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go by it... Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14; also Luke 13:23-24 and John 14:6) For lack of space, I shall not include all of the things I discovered while doing this study; however, whether it be doctrinal, historical, scientific, or cultural, they were useful in helping me better understand the full meaning of this passage of scripture and how it can be applied in our day and age, because in the end, man's heart without God is still the same as in Noah's generation. “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord and He will have mercy on him.” (Isaiah 55:6-7)

May God bless you,

Jean

A true story entitled “Soccer on the Seas: Where there's a will, there's a way”

by Jean

Two Children You’ve Never Met Love You. Part of your student union fees go towards supporting Agenta and Francin.

Francin’s letter is on the next page--->