PAGE 8 * THE STERLING KANSAS BULLETIN * THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

The  offical  student-­run  newspaper  of  Sterling  College Volume  115  issue  9

Today.Softball @ Oklahoma Weseyan,

2 p.m.

Women’s Basketball @ Tabor, 6

p.m.

MaSC CD audtions@ 7 p.m. in

Wilson

Men’s Basketball @ Tabor, 8

p.m.

Friday.Convocation with Windell Middle-

brooks @ 10 a.m. in Culbertson

Indoor Track @ UNL, 10 a.m.

Baseball @ Grandview University,

10 a.m.

Math Game night @ 7 p.m. in

Cornerstone

Saturday.Baseball @ Grandview University,

12:30, p.m.

Nepal Breakfast Dinner Fund-

raiser @ 4 p.m. in Partridge, KS

Women’s Basketball vs. Friends

University @ 5 p.m.

Sunday.Chapel @ 7 p.m. in Culbertson

“God Answers Prayer”- Emily

Zerger

THISWEEK

“There are only three rules of impro-visational comedy: do not think, always say yes, and never laugh at yourself.”

Last Wednesday, freshman Lucas Knauss held auditions for Sterling stu-dents vying for a spot in the new cam-pus improv group called On the Spot. As early as when he visited campus last winter as a prospective student, Knauss had visions of bringing an improv com-edy group to Sterling College.

Drawing inspiration from the group he is a part of back home in Abilene and from the hit television show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Knauss has big visions for On the Spot.

“I kind of want it to be a rival to the plays, if you will,” Knauss said.

Much the same way as the entire com-munity comes out to watch the fall mu-sical, Knauss hopes that On the Spot becomes popular enough that the com-munity will come out and enjoy the shows.

“As for what I expect out of it,” Knauss said, “I really just expect it to be good clean fun!”

Acknowledging that improv comedy can quickly become inappropriate, be-fore anyone can perform with the troop, Knauss will have them sign what he calls the Christian Improv Creed (CIC), requiring members to keep jokes PG rated.

After reading the CIC to those audi-tioning, Knauss wasted no time jumping into the auditions. Simply enough, the auditions consisted entirely of the po-

tential troop members playing various improv games with the judges watching intently.

“And that is pretty much what we are going to be doing [for the shows],” Knauss said. “Playing some crazy games where people just make stuff up on the spot… hence the name.”

Once the group of thirteen is finalized,

the troop will begin weekly practices and even though the shows are com-pletely audience-based, it is still impor-tant for the performers to understand the games.

“You’ve got to think of it like you do

a play,” Knauss said. “It’s not nearly as demanding, but it is still important to know what you need to do and where.”

The troop will have to make good us-age of this practice time, because the first

show is just two months from now. On the night of April 16, On the Spot will perform their first live show in Upper

Wilson. After the initial trial run they will have two more weeks before putting on a big show on April 30th in Culbert-son Auditorium. Be sure to mark these dates on your calendar, because you can expect an evening of good clean fun and a sore stomach from laughing so hard.

As usual, this past Friday the Freshmen Class Organization was in charge of the February 10th Valentine’s Day Dance. Be-ginning at 8 PM, the dance started fairly slowly and as the cus-tom goes, the dance picked up after around thirty minutes as students quickly began filling Upper Wilson. The event lasted

3 hours, consisting of music DJ-ed by Scott Hicks as well as a swing dance competition.

While the event has come to be seen as mundane by some in recent years, this year’s dance was unique in that students were encouraged to wear just semi-formal attire, as per usu-al, but instead were also encouraged to wear costumes for a contest during the dance. While most of the attendees went to the dance in semi-formal attire, a few students came in some strange clothes that passed as costumes.

“It was interesting to see people in both costumes and semi-formal attire,” Grant Britnall said.

The music at the dance consisted of a combination of swing music, dance music, and Scott Hicks’ signature mash-ups. Hicks did well in providing music that students could dance to and kept the energy high. Many people can remember dances were DJs will play nothing but pop beats that no human alive can dance to, but this was not the case here.

“I enjoyed that you could dance to it,” Dance participant Jon Faulkner said. “It wasn’t just the typical rock like you find at

most dances, but was stuff you could actually dance with.” While the music provided a nice background, the center at-

traction of the dance was the swing dance competition. The competition was split into a beginner division and an interme-diate division. Three groups competed in the beginner com-petition. The winners moved on to the intermediate division. After pulling off some fancy swing moves, Nathaniel Boggs and Darsha Bechard emerged as the victors of the intermedi-ate division.

When asked how the competition went, the woman behind the curtain, Freshman Ashley Pannier who organized a large majority of the dance, replied, “Fabulous! We (Ashley and her partner) messed up a little, but it still went well.”

Later in the night was the costume contest. The singles divi-sion consisted mainly of Nathan West dressed as his room-mate, Trevor Ball, as well as a medley of oddly dressed Camp-bell men. Nathan West was the winner in this division. Next was the couples division. As there was only one pair of en-trants, Travis Norton and Janny Ourn (who came as a couple on their first date) won by default.

The Freshmen Class Organization was very proud of their work and were very satisfied with the turnout. “Overall, the

dance went way better than we expected,” Freshman Class Organization Secretary Gabrielle Reeves said.

Though Valentine’s Day is loved and hated, the Annual Val-entine’s Dance went well in the eyes of many students.

Changes are being made on the Sterling College campus. Faculty positions are being filled as one faculty member

passes the baton to the next. Though change can some-times be daunting, those in charge of making decisions are well aware of the atten-tion to detail that is required in the execution of their job. Candidates must be well qualified, have a faith-­based

mindset, and be interviewed extensively by the SC admin-istration.

The hiring process is de-tailed and engaged, accord-ing to Vice President of Aca-demic Affairs Dr. Gregory Kerr. The process begins with drafting the position descrip-tion, which describes the job responsibilities and lists the

required and preferred quali-fications. The college then ad-vertises through the Chroni-cle of Higher Education, the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, and various

other locations, depending on the discipline.

“The application process has a questionnaire the can-didate fills out that helps us

see whether they support our Christian mission and can in-tegrate faith into their teach-ing,” Kerr said. “They also submit their resume and tran-scripts.”

Dr. Kerr, Associate Dean Felicia Squires, and the de-partment chair then evalu-ate the information, select several candidates for phone interviews, and decide which of these candidates should be interviewed on-campus. The on-campus interview in-cludes meetings with faculty,

students, and administration. The candidate is also expected to give a presentation. Presi-dent Maurer also interviews all candidates, and everyone who meets with the candi-date is asked for feedback. Dr. Kerr then recommends a can-didate to President Maurer for approval, and a criminal background check is begun as the last step.

“Critical in this whole pro-cess,” Kerr said, “Is that it is organized and kept on track by my assistant, Renee Dod-son.”

One such search has begun in the Natural Science and Mathematics department.

“The Natural Science and Mathematics department is currently in the process of ad-vertising for a full-time math-ematics faculty position,” Doctor Jonathan Conard said. “When a pool of suitable can-

didates is identified, we will

conduct phone and on-cam-pus interviews. The plan is to have this faculty member hired prior to the fall semes-ter.”

The History Department has also recently had two candidates come to campus for interviews. “

Both candidates are ex-tremely qualified,” Assistant

Professor of History Doug Boardman said. “Either one would be a great fit for the

Sterling College History De-partment.”

The detail to which the col-lege goes to find qualified, ed-ucated, and faithful people to fill faculty and staff positions

is to be appreciated. Change at SC can certainly be em-braced whole-heartedly with the knowledge that our insti-tution is headed for a bright future.

Spring is a time for trying new things. Perhaps, this year, the new thing should be writing poetry. This is the time of year that the Great Plains Review staff is hard at work compiling works for the newest install-ment of this yearly publica-tion. For what, though, are they looking? Basically, any type of creative work could potentially make it into the review. The bulk of the submissions are consid-ered poetry, but they are not limited to those. Other sug-gested submissions include short stories, short screen plays, songs, raps, and just about any other written work of which one could think. Visual artworks are also accepted. Historically, this has mostly been photo-graphs. The entire review is in black and white, though, so that should be taken into account.

While editors are eager to see a big turnout this year, time is running short for submissions as the deadline is March 1st of this year. Anything submitted before that will be considered for the review. Submissions can be sent to Amanda Xy-dis at axydis01@sterling.edu. Any Sterling College students and faculty are en-couraged to submit. There are usually quite a few submissions, so those that haven’t gotten into previous issues shouldn’t be discour-aged from trying again this year. In fact, they are en-couraged to try again with new material.

While every year repre-sents a chance to spotlight some of the talent on the SC campus, this year is ex-tra special for the Great Plains Review as It is a spe-cial anniversary edition for the 125th year of SC. One thing that will help set this version apart from past re-views is a “best-of” section, including works featured in past editions. Perhaps even

By PATRICK WRIGHT

Staff Writer

By BAY BAKER

Staff Writer

By BEN WRIGHT

Staff Writer

By NATHAN EHRESMAN

Staff Writer

Natural Science and Math, and History among departments seeking applicants

Writers wanted for Great Plains

Review

Freshman Lucas Knauss pioneers improvization group ‘On the Spot’

Valentine’s dance for the costume clad

Sophomores Shiloh Duff (left) and Ryan Ehresman (right) were two of thirteen

individuals chosen to be members of ‘On the Spot,’ which hosted its first rehearsal

Tuesday night. Photo by Nathan Ehresman

See GPR, Page 7

SPORTS AND OPINION

THE STERLING KANSAS BULLETIN * THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012 * PAGE 9S!"#$%&' S!%#stir.sterling.edu

This story is a continuation of

the Top 10 Christian albums of

2011 printed February 9, 2012

in the Stir. To read the full re-

view look for Jon Faulkner’s sec-

tion on Altrocklive.com.

5. Needtobreathe: The Reckoning – Of all the albums to come out this year, this one spoke the most clearly to me. From the opening track “Ohhs and Ahhs” to the dy-namic “Drive All Night” to the countless strong ballads Needtobreathe has really put it together.

4. Abandon : Control – This album continues to be one of my favorites even though I think I’m on about the thir-teenth listen. From the Dance driven album opener “Feel It In Your Heart” to the strong message of “Under Fire” to the re-instrumentation of the

hit “Hero” Control makes a statement: Abandon’s going to be around for a long time.

3. Lecrae: Rehab – Deluxe Edition – It’s always good to be able to get all the bo-nus content in one box. Cer-tainly the best Deluxe Edition to come out in the past few years, it will give fans what they want: more Lecrae.

2. Falling Up: Your Spar-kling Death Cometh – This is the best independently re-leased album of the year. If fans are concerned about con-

tent they shouldn’t be as ev-ery song goes deeper into the heart of the Christian. Even the worshipful “Oceans” shows the band is not afraid to go deep. It will be interest-ing to see whether the band will return to hibernation or produce another album.

1. Downhere: On the Alter of Love – If you haven’t heard this, one of Christian Music’s all-time Gems then you’re missing out. From the open-er “Only the Beginning” to the rocker “Seek” it is evident the band never really misses a beat. The lyrics of “Glory by the Way of Shame” will move you to tears and remind you of Christ’s Love while the title cut “On the Alter of Love” will draw you to God as you are reminded by His everlasting love for you. Yes, this album is certainly worth a chance and an hour and a half of your time.

S!"#$%&' S!%#Established in 1889

Editor-in-Chief.................................................................................Tim Luisi

Assistant Editor.........................................................................Ryan Corwin

Sports Editor..........................................................................Katie McGrath

Staff Writers.............................................................................Patrick Wright

Bay Baker

Nathan Ehresman

Jon Faulkner

Ben Wright

Cartoonist.........................................................................Samantha Davison

Faculty Advisor........................................................................Felicia Squires

The Stir is produced by Sterling College stu-

dents and printed weekly in and by the Sterling Bulletin, Sterling, Kansas.

We seek to serve the Sterling College com-

munity with news and information. We work

toward goals of honesty and integrity while

always seeking the truth. We also work with

an understanding of service to a Christian

community.

Letters to the editor must be signed and

legible. Letters are subject to editing for style

and spelling and will be printed at the editors’

discretion. Letters should not be longer than

350 words. Letters must be received by 3 p.m.

the Tuesday before the print date (Thursday).

Opinions presented on the Opinion page do

not necessarily represent the views of Sterling

College.

Address letters to The Stir, SC Box 8, 125 W.

Cooper, Sterling, KS 67579.

The Freshman

51 By SAMANTHA DAVISONCartoonist

GPRfrom page 8

This story is a continuation of the Top Ten of 2011 printed Febru-

ary 9, 2012 on page 6 and 7 of last weeks Stir. To read the full review

visit ‘Tim Luisi’s Film Reviews’ on Facebook.

5. The Artist- Such a simple concept and yet delivered so beautifully, this silent black and white film, much like Rango,

shows a character at a major crossroads. Given life by stunning performances from Jean Jujardin and Berenice Bejo, this is one of the most delightful and beautiful films of the year. Equally

as impressive is director Michael Haznivicius.Unforgettable in so many ways, this valentine to the silent era manages to make

the genre seem new again. 4. Margin Call-­ This film is

not successful based on its story, but rather the mood that it creates. The stress that each employee in the film

experiences is palpable from the opening moments where some are fired to the middle

section of anxiety as each scrambles to figure out just

what exactly is going on, to the utter depression that each

faces at the end as the realization of of what they have done dawns on them. Including one of the best ensembles of the year as well as an incredibly tragic script, this mood poem by J. C. Chandor is perhaps the greatest representation of our sad economic reality to date.

3. Hugo-­ This is another film that pays tribute to the silent

era, allowing director Martin Scorsese to proudly show the au-dience what it was that first fed his cinematic addiction. This is

a movie for film lovers everywhere, full of references to classic

films, but also like so many of the other films on this list is a

powerful examination of one’s search to belong. Its final forty

minutes are unrivaled by almost anything this year and when they hit are like an emotional hurricane. Completely different from anything else Scorsese has done, this, perhaps his most personal film to date is a cinematic treasure.

2. The Adventures of Tintin- There are two sides to director Steven Spielberg: the uber serious man behind amazing films

like Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List and the almost Peter-Pan like director who seemingly never wants to grow up, creating amazing films like Raiders of the Lost Ark. While both

Spielbergs are great, it is the second, fun-loving one that I en-joy the most, and so it was that this December I unwrapped his latest thrill ride with tremendous pleasure. A technical won-der and a nonstop action extravaganza the film hardly ever

stops to breathe, including one chase sequence that is close to

the best thing Spielberg has ever done. Filled to the brim with humor, action, wit, and some genuinely moving drama, this was the best film that I had seen all year until last week when

I saw… 1. Drive- That thing about

some movies just being cool? Well some movies are awe-some and Drive is that word redefined. Perhaps a super-hero story, perhaps not, the only thing that is certain with this film is that each and ev-ery moment offers a new cinematic thrill with unfor-gettable characters, amazing action, and even more intense violence. It’s difficult to say

what makes this film so cool, but that is in large part because it

seems so effortless despite how obvious it is how much work must have been put in to make everything seem so seamless. The Driver is one of the great characters of our generation: his love story completely relatable, his toughness unquestionable

and his enemy equally compelling. Entirely unique, this is

the only film from 2011 that received a perfect score from me.

There is nothing like this, one of the greatest films I have ever

seen and easily the finest that 2011 had to offer.

Talking Cinema With Tim

Top Ten of 2011

On Saturday March 10,

2012 the Men and Women’s

Track team headed to Wichita to compete in the first ever in-door KCAC Track Meet. The Warriors competed against Bethany College, Bethel Col-lege, Friends University, Kansas Wesleyan University, McPherson College, Ottawa University, Southwestern Col-lege, Tabor College and Uni-versity of Saint Mary. Overall, the Women’s team took fifth

place with 37 points, and the Men’s team took eighth with eight points.

For the Women’s team Heather Simpson took sec-ond place in the women’s 400

meter with a time of 1:01.78

adding eight points to the women’s overall score. Jillian Linnebur led the women’s team with a first place fin-ish in the women’s 800 meter

with a time of 2:22.75, earn-ing the team ten points. In the women’s 1000 meters, Amber

Balvin took fifth place earn-

ing the team two additional points with a time of 3:22.88.

The women’s 4 x 800m relay

team took second place grab-bing another eight points for the team’s overall score. In the women’s 4000m Distance

Medal Race (DMR), the team shaved twenty seconds off of their last time, taking second place with a time of 13:09.10.

Sara Doll explained two weeks ago that she hoped

the team could shave an ad-ditional 20 seconds off before

conference picks up and they successfully did that on Satur-day. Although a 12:55 is what it takes to qualify for confer-ence, the team is now only 14 seconds away from qualify-ing, a goal now nearly within arms reach. The second place title in the women’s 4000m

DMR earned the team anoth-er eight points bringing their

final score to 37 points.

On the mens side of the competition, taking eighth leaves plenty of room for im-provement. Although the re-sults were not exactly what the men’s team wanted, they are excited about being able to work on their weakness-es. David Cesmat, the only male individual to score for the Warriors, took fifth in

the men’s 60m hurdle with

a time of 8.84, earning two

points for the mens overall score. The men’s 4 x 800m re-lay earned the most points for the Warriors with a time of 8:23.39. Also the men’s 4000m

DMR took fifth with a time of

11:27.80, bringing their over-all total to eight points.

Overall, Friends women took first place with 145

points, followed by South-western by 93 points and

Tabor with 89 points. In the

mens division, Friends again took first with 154 points, fol-lowed by Southwestern with 99 points, and Tabor with 98

points.

The Weekly Sports WrapBy KATIE MCGRATHStaff Writer

Jillian Linnebur, Amber Balvin, Sara Doll, and Bay Baker, women’s 4 x 800 meter relay team finished second at Wichita. Photo Courtesy of Hans Nickel

more significantly, the

launch of this year’s Great Plains Review is actually planned as a sort of kick off into a number of things that will celebrate the upcom-ing milestone homecoming weekend next year. The Re-view itself, though, is sched-uled to come out in April.

Overall, this is a very great opportunity for anyone at Sterling who is interested in writing. Getting published for the first time could do a

lot to help a budding writer. There is even a “Writing Night” scheduled to help perspective writers get sub-missions together, sched-uled for February 21 at 8 pm

in the student union. This is meant as a calm, relaxed environment for writers to work on their last minute projects or even just home-work. From then, there will be more than a week left before the deadline. So, get out there and get writing.

By JON FAULKNERStaff Writer

Top 10 Christian albums of 2011