Maintaining the DIII philosophy

Are academics and athletics integrated at BC?

“It is so easy to get up a tremendous enthu-siasm over a game of

football or baseball;; and then sometimes other things suffer. And these things that suffer are of-ten the things of higher PLEASE SEE PHILOSOPHY PAGE 6

Story by Emily Higgins

Federal Media Shield Law protects the press, but does it do everything it needs to?

FULL STORY ON PAGE 3

FULL STORY ON PAGE 9

FULL STORY ON PAGE 11

importance and value. For we should never forget, even in the highest surges of athletic fervor, the real purpose for which we are at college. We are not at college to play baseball or football … We are at col-lege primarily to develop mind and heart, while giving the body what it needs to help them,” boldly wrote John Wal-

ter Wayland in his book “Bridgewater College: Its Past and Present” all the way back in 1905. In today’s society where sports have such a major impact, it is even more important to remember John Wayland’s words. With the rise in popular-ity of college sports, ed-ucation seems to take a back seat especially at the

Division I level but what about at the Division III level? According to the NCAA website, Division III schools, like Bridge-water College, provide “a well-rounded collegiate experience that involves a balance of rigorous aca-demics, competitive ath-

VERITAS.BRIDGEWATER.EDUBRIDGEWATER COLLEGEbridgewater.edu

“Changing Ourselves and Changing Our Community”

BI-WEEKLY. APRIL 30-MAY 13, 2014

Serving Bridgewater and surrounding communities

FREE

NCP makes a difference to last a lifetime.

Bryan Sanderson is in it to win it with Bridgwater baseball.

Balancing academics and athletics at Bridgwater College is a key component to fulfilling the Division III philosophy. Phot

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Similar to the beginning of the year brought many changes, so does

the end to this 2013-2014 school year. All of the se-niors are leaving to go to graduate school or start their careers in the working world. The underclassmen are moving up the ladder at Bridgewater College, and a new class of freshmen is de-ciding on their decision to join our small community. The newspaper staff is also undergoing many changes this year. We have so many graduating seniors in our small group leaving us, and we will need people

my plug to join the news-paper team if you want to write, illustrate, take pic-tures, edit pictures, copyedit or be a part of our business and public relations team. In order for our newspaper to keep improving, we need more people to participate and more feedback on what you all want to read in each issue. If you are interested in joining us or just want to send us your suggestion, you can reach us at veritas@bridgewater.edu. However, I will get off my soap box about joining the newspaper to discuss other aspects of the closing of this year. For the last two

Apr 30-­May 13 2014 2

and a half years, I have been part of this newspaper. I have grown accustomed to the meetings, the people and the always hectic work-load. I will miss being a part of this paper next year, just as I am sure many seniors will miss Bridgewater when they leave in a few weeks. Of course this last editorial has to be sentimental and sappy, but I will try to keep it under control. Not only the seniors and the newspaper, but the col-lege itself has gone through many changes this year. We inducted our new president of the college and survived another Founder’s Day at this beautiful school. Not to mention, Nininger is well under way with the renova-tions, and I am sure we all look forward to seeing the

As these last couple of weeks wind down, I ask that

this year with a bang. We are

projects and exams, but I promise we will get through

that we can almost reach it. So whenever you have the urge to quit school and give up, remember that you are almost done (especially for us rising seniors). And on a last note, savor

every moment, especially for the graduating seniors. I know there are some of you who have already been tak-ing in every moment. I am asking that the others do the same. Whether you are excited or happy to leave this college, take time to

to make memories with friends and professors. Take time to leave your mark on the school that will be re-membered for generations to come. Realistically, I know that not many people read these editorials I write for every issue. I do hope for the peo-ple that do read them that they have enjoyed my writ-ing over the year as much I have enjoyed writing it. De-spite not doing other styles of writing, I have learned a lot about my writing style this year. I have become a better leader and team play-er as well. The one thing I will take away the most as editor is learning how to handle the stress that comes along with the title. I never realized last year how much I would learn as editor, and I am very thankful for this opportunity. I hope every-one has a great summer, good luck to the seniors and I will see y’all around!

...

Editorial

By Brooke Thacker

Learning the ropes and

Veritas is a publication manged and produced by stu-­

dents of Bridgewater College. As a news organization

serving the Bridgewater and surrounding communities,

Veritas publishes regularly opinion articles and letters

submitted by members of the community which do not

College’s administration. We encourage members of the

community to submit information, opinion, and critiques in

order to promote a healthy dialogue. The Veritas Edito-­

rial team also reserves the right to edit, modify, or exclude

any submissions containing offensive or innappropriate

language or remarks.

To reach the newsroom, contact the advertising team, or

submt articles and letters, please send us an email at:

veritas@bridgewater.edu

Editor-­in-­Chief: Brooke Thacker

Business Team:

Public Relations Director: Emily Nowak

Advertising Manager: Emily Heacock

Social Media Manager: Victoria Wilson

Marketing Associate: Taylor Prillaman

Editorial Team:

Managing Editor: Lacey Naff

Head Copy Editor: Alyssa Pennington

Layout Editor: Megan Ford

Content Editors:

Emily Higgins

Melina Norman

Sub-­editors:

Jason Manago

Rianna Hill

Senior Staff: Abgail Blair, Cyndi Wibe, Andrew Levin,

Janelle Alexander, Jess Snellings

Printed by the Daily News Record in Harrisonburg, Va.

A final farewell as editor in chief

Apr 30-­May 13 2014 3

Hope Distributed is a Community Devel-

organization in Harrison-burg that distributes food, clothing and furniture to families in need. Qualifying families can pick up food from the food bank once a month and can receive full

from the clothes closet ev-ery few months for each member of their family. The organization works with schools to distribute lunches to needy children, even during the summer, and there are also other projects including Homes to Homes (collects donat-ed furniture for families in transition housing) and

-tance. This spring, senior Busi-ness Administration major Zach Hosler performed an internship with the

learn how such organiza-tions are run. “I kind of have a heart for helping people, so I used to say I wanted to work in the non-

-ing what that meant,” said Hosler

Communication class during Interterm, he learned about the different types of orga-nizations in this category and decided to pursue an internship to deepen his un-

its impact on the community. During his time with Hope

By Kathleen HerringDistributed, Hosler has spent many hours helping to collect donated food from churches, Food Lions and the Walmart on Route 42. “I helped pick up the food that we distributed from the different locations and stocked the shelves with that,” Hosler said. “One of the main jobs that I did was checking individuals and cli-

ents in on food distribution days…checking income, checking family sizes, and communicating with clients.” Hosler also helped to plan a fundraising event and or-ganized a yard sale to raise money for the food bank. Working with the clients has helped Hosler to develop his Spanish language skills, which happens to be his mi-nor. “My favorite part was

Campus

Distributing HopeAn “Intern of the Week” interview with Zach Hosler

probably working with the Hispanic clients as they came and sat down, thinking that I wouldn’t be able to commu-nicate with them. Seeing the relief on their face when they saw that I was able to speak with them in Spanish and just make them feel comfortable;; being able to serve the com-munity in a respectable way.” Hosler believes that the de-

velopment of his Spanish skills will help him in his future career, as will the ability to develop commu-nication skills with a wide variety of people. “I think [internships] give a good real-world ap-plication and experience whereas classrooms are a little bit…constrained. When you’re working at an internship, you’re able to work with new people that you don’t know and to expand your knowledge in new subjects,” Hosler said of the process. In his

and obtaining an intern-ship, he says “it’s kind of a practice for a job search

– going out and asking ques-tions;; just showing that you have the initiative to be able to step outside of your com-fort zone…” Looking for a great intern-ship experience? For more information on internship opportunities, contact the

ocs@bridgewater.edu. ...

Senior Zach Hosler collects food at the Hope Distributed food bank.

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By Lacey Naff

Federal Media

“Journalists, and their sources, and a need for policy change.”

When it comes to the constitution, many aspects are

up to interpretation. This means that certain laws based off the constitution are up to interpretation as well. Considering the fact that laws are constantly changing and being amend-ed, legislatures are endlessly reevaluating what is best for the common good. Since communication in

-tion, it is easy to assume that communication law and policy is facing the same issue. A key law that is being discussed by legis-lators today is the proposal for a federal media shield law. There are many state shield laws or “reporter’s privilege,” but due to many recent events negatively af-fecting journalists in court, the idea for a federal shield law to protect all journal-ists from the requirement to leak their sources in court is back in the conversation. There are many consid-erations to make before such a law passes and those considerations far outreach those of the legislators spe-

what exactly will this poten-tial federal shield law entail and what will the effects be on all spectrums involved?

A shield law provides statutory protection for the “reporters’ privilege”, which are legal rules that protect journalists against the government if they re-

-dential sources or other in-formation. There are cases when a prosecutor or law enforcement agency who

sources as possible will sub-poena a reporter’s notes or the identity of a source to help them in an investiga-tion or prosecution. Former newspaper re-porter and editor Ronell Anderson Jones, served as the director of the 2007 Media Subpoena Study. She researches such legal issues between the media and the court. According to Anderson, “Protecting working jour-nalists through a federal statutory privilege would be an important step towards incentivizing investigative reporting that requires the

Because the constitutional privilege that currently ex-ists is not uniform across jurisdictions, a reporter can-not be certain, at the time that a source requests con-

have legal protection if she is later subpoenaed to reveal PLEASE SEE SHIELD LAW PAGE 4

4 Campus

the source.” Anderson explained that lack of clear cut legal pro-

reporters to make promises and likely chills both the behavior of reporters and the behavior of would-be sources. Because this pro-tection is provided by stat-ute, rule, or case law in al-most all 50 states, it really is the federal law that is creat-ing this chill. A major reason, according to Senator Tim Kaine, that this has become such an is-sue recently is because on May 13, 2013 the Associat-ed Press sent a letter of pro-test to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for seizing journalists’ phone records as part of an investigation into national security leaks. According to the letter, the Department obtained tele-phone toll records for more than 20 separate telephone lines for a two-month pe-riod in early 2012. Since there is no protec-tion, The Department had issued the subpoenas for these telephone toll records prior to notifying the As-sociated Press, and Kaine said that some in the media have argued that this action enabled DOJ to evade judi-cial review of its subpoenas. DOJ, on the other hand, claims that it had complied with its own internal guide-lines that allowed the agency to avoid negotiations with the Associated Press over the investigation. In order to prevent events like this from happening in the future, DOJ reviewed its own guidelines, and on July 12, they issued an updated

Apr 30-­May 13 2014

report of media guidelines for future investigations. They will now give notice in advance for subpoenas to news organizations, mi-nus select cases. However, where the problem still lies, the decision to give the same

liberties to journalists spe-

by the newly created New Media Review Committee. This controversy has also sparked debate about whether Congress should enact legislation to pro-vide journalists with spe-cial protection from gov-ernment investigation and interference as part of our nation’s efforts to protect a free press. While there is no federal “shield law” for journalists, 49 states offered

some protection for report-ers’ privilege. The Obama Administration has consis-tently taken the position of supporting a federal shield law, and now the law has been reintroduced. On May 16, 2013 Sena-

tor Schumer introduced bi-partisan legislation, the Free Flow of Information Act (S. 987), which, according to Kaine, “would grant a

-lege to reporters.” This bill would prohibit federal pros-ecutors, criminal defendants or civil litigants from sub-poenaing information from journalists unless they con-vince a federal judge that the need for the informa-tion outweighs the public

information. S. 987 is pend-ing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Kaine says, “I believe we do need to protect the free-dom of the press in our society. Any legislation that addresses this issue must build upon DOJ’s efforts to strike a proper balance be-tween freedom of the press and effective administration of justice, particularly in cases that involve our na-tional security.” Since the outcome of this law affects so many people, it is safe to assume that the sole decision should not be left up to legislators alone. It needs to include law makers in Congress, the president in the White House, state leg-islators, legal scholars, and journalists as well. If more people from different views have a say, then the decision made in the end could ulti-mately be the fairest for all. The focus on such a major idea cannot be focused on what the Supreme Court thinks alone. On the side of the journal-ist, Lynn Walsh is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has been working in investigative journalism for six years and is currently a National Digital Producer for the 30+ Scripps news organizations across the country. She explained the need for the a federal shield law and how most people think this law is just for journalists and the media, when they need to realize that it affects a much larger pool of people. “This law is for the pub-lic and for the beliefs our country stands for. This law

will make it possible for a free and independent press to continue to function without interference from the government. The key purpose of the law is pro-tecting sources’ identities if they come forward and pro-vide information that could expose corruption and abuse of power,” explained Walsh. The public should realize that this law will be protect-ing not only the journalist but potentially all of us. We never know on any given day that we could witness something, whether it is a crime or anything worthy of being brought to court, and maybe to the federal level. The person who witnesses a crime, for example, should be comfortable to tell a re-porter what they saw, know-ing that their name will stay safe because there will be a federal law protecting the reporter from giving up their name as a source of information. “If this protection is not here, then sources may be more reluctant to step for-ward. Stories exposing cor-ruption and government wrongdoing may never be exposed,” said Walsh. We as citizens are encour-aged to contact our local senators and explain the importance of the federal shield law in hopes of mov-ing it that much closer to being passed. On the web-site for the society of pro-fessional journalists, there are links to all of the state senators making it easier to access them and voice your opinion on the issue....

A photo designed to illuminate the protection of people and journalists in not having to leak their sources in federal court.

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SHIELD LAW FROM PAGE 3

5 Campus

It is funny how quickly time passes when you just let go and live your life. First

coming into college, I thought I had so much time on my hands before I graduated and now here I am along with many others in my class won-dering where the time went. Graduation is only a matter of weeks away and we are all moving into another chapter in our lives. Around this time is when we seniors all get hit with that question that people love to ask, “So what are you going to do when you graduate?” It is a question that I do not mind answering most of the time, but sometimes I loathe it. I wish that people would be more original at times and come up with a question that I have not been asked about 50 to a 100 times before. The thing that gets me is that most people already have a preconception in their mind before you even answer, and they throw it out there like they know what direction we might be going in. Since I am an English major, people always ask if I want to be a teacher, and the answer is “No!” I respect those who

back to the idea one day, but that is not the direction I am headed in at the moment.

direction, some of us have one and then some of us do not. I know I want to write, hopefully for a magazine or a newspaper one day. But as we all know, plans can change within a matter of minutes, so we just have to learn to go

By Melina Norman

Opinion: Leap of faith Then there are those who do not know what they want to do even at this point in life. Some of us are here at the take-off point and we do not

-ing, but that is okay. It takes some people a little longer to

to do in life, so keep searching for that niche. Remember this

-ure it out;; just because you are searching does not mean that you are lost. The questions that I would love people to ask me for a change is, “what are you pas-sionate about?” or “what do you love to do?” But these questions do not seem to be high on the list for people when they talk to others. In the midst of it all our passion is what really matters the most when it comes to what we want to do. We might not be able to do exactly what we want to do all the time, but whatever we do in life I believe we should be passionate about it. If your heart is not in it, then it will show in the re-sults of your work. So pursue your passions, and make sure you give it your all. Do not be afraid to take some risks be-cause if you do not you might end up regretting it in the long run, and we are too young to be having regrets. We may be the ones in charge of what we do in our future, but the people in our lives also

So, make sure that you have the right people around you, the kind that encourage you to dream and who have your best interest at heart. It is so easy to be discouraged when

you do not have the right peo-ple in your life. Never ignore that inner voice that tells you whether something is good or bad, it is most likely that your inner voice is right. This is also a time in our lives where we should really be having fun;; these are some of best years of our lives. Let us not allow fear, uncertainty and matters of the future hold

Graduation on the horizonWhat is planned for BC seniorsBy Andrew Levin

Graduation is upon us once again. Students who have called Bridge-

water College home for the last -

selves outside of its walls and storied halls and onto the next phase of life. However, before

from the nest, there are festivi-ties to be enjoyed. Among the festivities will be the annual senior ball, the traditional bac-calaureate service and com-mencement. The senior ball will be held on campus, as always. Al-though that tradition changed in the mid-2000s (the graduat-ing classes in these years would usually congregate at a Har-risonburg venue), Bridgewa-ter’s soon-to-be graduates have danced the night away at their

-cally, this year the ball will be held on Thursday, May 15 from 7:30-10:30 p.m. at 303 East Col-lege Street, behind the Alumni Relations House. There will be heavy hors d’oeuvres served and a toast at precisely 9:14 p.m. to commemorate the 2014 graduates. Senior Class President Troy Jackson has been planning the ball since this past October and expects a great turnout to the celebration. With around 400 planning to graduate, Jackson

believes that there will be many attendants, both due to the high number of graduates and those who have RSVP’d. Jackson hopes to see many of his fellow seniors there, adding “this is planned solely for us” and “ev-ery aspect of this has been very well thought out.” On Friday, May 16, the day after the senior ball, Bridgewa-ter will hold its baccalaureate service on the campus mall at 6 p.m. Baccalaureate is an inter-denominational worship service that celebrates Bridgewater’s graduates. The service will last one hour, include hymns, and give graduating seniors an op-portunity to wear their caps and gowns. Baccalaureate will feature pro-fessor emeritus Steve Watson, who taught in Bridgewater’s philosophy and religion depart-ment for 43 years before retir-ing in 2013, as keynote speaker, and dinner will commence in the KCC at 7 p.m. Graduating seniors, like Brittany Napoli-tano, are excited to take part in the event. Napolitano said that graduation would not be com-plete without the religious as-pect that baccalaureate brings. “It ensures that the religious component is still there, which is important to someone, like me, who is religious,” said Na-politano.

Apr 30-­May 13 2014

Lastly, commencement, will take place Saturday, May 17 at 10 a.m. on the campus mall. The speaker at commencement this year will be Reverend Jeff Carter, the President of Beth-any Theological Seminary and himself a 1992 Bridgewater College graduate. Seniors will rehearse commencement on Tuesday, May 13 from 2-4 p.m. in the Carter Center, and the class of 2014 picture will take place at 9 a.m. on May 17 on the

-ent weather, the picture will be taken in the Carter Center and graduating seniors will have four tickets for guests who will view the commencement under a tent on the campus mall. There will be remote viewing locations at designated places on campus that will be airing commencement for guests of seniors who will not sit under the tent. For seniors like Napol-itano, inclement weather would be an unwelcome addition to a monumental day because she “[plans] on bringing more than four people,” and does not want “to split up where my loved ones sit.” Regardless of rain, all of the events at graduation

-able end of students’ Bridgewa-ter careers. ...

us back from enjoying our present. We need to live in the now, not in the past or the fu-ture, and take full advantage of the moment. It is only a matter of time before we reach that day where all our loved ones are around us;; we are dressed in our best and ready to cross that stage into what people call “the real world.” Here is a

in the real world since we were born. The only new thing is that now we have control of the wheel, so do not fret over what is to come. We are going to cross that stage, grab that diploma, acknowledge our outstanding accomplishment, party hard because we deserve it, and take a leap of faith....

6

Maintaining the DIII philosophyAre academics and athletics integrated at Bridgewater College?By Emily Higgins

Apr 30-­May 13 2014

letics and the opportunity to pursue the multitude of other co-curricular and extra-curricular oppor-tunities offered on Divi-sion III campuses.” This is mostly achieved at the Division III level but it does take some effort to maintain this atmo-sphere. At Bridgewater College about a third of the student body is comprised of student athletes so it is very impor-tant for the college to integrate athlet-ics and academics if they would like to maintain the image of being a college that pro-vides an excellent education. In other words, student ath-letes are a big part of the Bridgewater campus. For Bridgewater College Athletic Director and Head Baseball Coach, Curt Kendall being inte-grated means “as far as their academic pursuits you want them going to classes and participating on campus. So integra-

tion is part of making it available for them to par-ticipate in clubs and orga-nizations on campus;; be leaders on their campus besides from just being

in sports. You just want them to be a student like everybody else with the exception that somewhere around three o’clock they are going to go to practice or whatever time practice is and on game days they

are going to go play and represent the college.”

believes Bridgewater is in-tegrated and already holds an integration mindset,

there are several ways Bridgewater purposefully tries to show integration and tries to maintain the

These ways include study halls for athletes who are near a 2.0 grade point av-

erage, having coaches be an active part in the edu-cation of their players, having a Council on Ath-letics and having a Faculty Athletic Liaison program.

At Bridgewater, when a player is around that eligi-bility line they are forced to attend study hall which is supposed to help them improve their grades. The football program takes it a step fur-ther and requires every freshman on the team to at-tend study hall for two hours on Sun-day nights. Foot-ball player, Jor-dan Hartman, and ex-football player Mitchell Parks em-phasize that they believe they would not have passed freshman year unless it was for

those study halls. While study hall is not fun this motivates many players to keep up their grades so they do not have to go back to study hall. Study halls are one way that coaches know stu-

dents are working on their homework. Other ways are emailing professors to ask about a student-ath-lete, having students have their professors sign a paper that says they have been in class or having

-ings. “For lacrosse we have academic meetings once a week or once every other week based on your grades where they make you put down any up-coming tests, quizzes and projects, that way they also know if you need to be doing your work rather than being at practice or if you need to be late to practice because you have a big test the next day or you need to be in lab,” said sophomore student athlete Caroline Fletcher who plays both women’s

Fletcher added that for

have the academic meet-ings but they do have study halls. Interestingly enough, the Bridgewater

-tained above a 3.0 GPA over the 2013 season to earn National Academ-ic Team honors and 12

PHILOSOPHY FROM PAGE 1

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Caroline Fletcher, who plays both field hockey and lacrosse, is in the edu-­cation program at Bridgewater College.

7 Apr 30-­May 13 2014

players were selected to the SGI/National Field Hockey Coaches Associa-tion (NFHCA) Division III Academic Squad. One reason why team GPAs are generally as high as they are might be because student athletes miss very little class time at Bridgewater because they have a committee called the Council on Athletics, set up in order to monitor how many classes student athletes will miss because of games. “We have faculty on our committee that oversees schedules. It involves fac-ulty, staff and students to make sure we are not putting schedules togeth-er athletically that takes kids out of classes a lot or goes against kind of what our beliefs are,” said Kendall. Athletes expressed that they missed very little

classes because of games and when they did miss class it was more because they were tired from all the work. Another way Bridgewa-ter tries to maintain the strong relationship be-tween academics and ath-letics that involves faculty is the Faculty Athletic Li-aison (FAL) program. According to Kendall, having a “Faculty Athletic Liaison program is a pur-poseful way of continu-ing to show integration. It gets faculty involved with our sports so they under-stand that our student athletes are just students playing sports. It allows for better understanding of more faculty that we are not trying to be dif-ferent or a separate en-tity over here on the side somewhere because we are playing sports.” Unfortunately, the

FAL pro-gram is one of the things Bridgewater can improve on related to in t eg r a t ing student ath-letes with the rest of the study body. Two profes-sors that are involved with the program say that they are not very involved. “For the most part we do not have a

so I guess we all do a lit-tle bit different stuff like I am certainly interested in what’s going on with the people that I am in-volved with but I have so many athletes as it is that it’s always been easy for me to do that so I think that’s how I kind of got targeted,” Dr. Hammil said, who is a FAL for the women’s lacrosse team. Dr. Tembo is one of the Faculty Athletic Liai-sons for the football team and he normally interacts with the team at breakfast before games on Saturday and he is also on the side line at most games wheth-er home or away taking pictures. The only time he gets to talk to players is at breakfast. While Dr.

Tembo has not had much

players he does enjoy get-ting to watch the games and cheer them on. “I am there just to see them play and I think they appreciate any faculty that are just there to see them play or see them practice. I suspect they enjoy that,” Dr. Tembo said. Overall, Bridgewater is very active in maintaining the Division III philoso-phy even though the rela-tionship between athletics and academics can always be improved. Bridgewater cares about their students and wants them to be as successful as they possi-bly can. For Dr. Hammill, the way to be most successful as a student at Bridgewa-ter whether an athlete or

not is to just get involved. “Just getting involved, being a part of a club at Bridgewater, organization at Bridgewater, something that uses the Bridgewater name, I think all of those are key to actually build-ing a relationship with the school and actually maxi-mizing your time here … unless you really experi-ence things away from home, new things, get-ting a chance to see other people’s brains work in a group, or a team, I think those are the things that are really important as far as building the com-munity, building athletic programs, building other organizations, it doesn’t matter. Just get involved,” said Dr. Hammill....

Photo by Dr. Tembo

This picture was taken by Dr. Tembo at the football game on November 16 against Catholic University. To see more of Dr. Tempbo’s photos you can visit his website at http://www.hungerforculture.com/?page_id=918.

8

Imagine yourself driving down a narrow, gravel path, far enough away

from reality that you are alone but not lonely. The red bud trees are in full bloom and the sun is shining through the trees that line the path. At the end of the road is a nook carved out of Massanutten Mountain. This nook is Camp Brethren Woods. Emily Van Pelt, the Program Director of Camp Brethren Woods, has been working for over a year here in the Shenandoah Valley. She explains that the land which the camp current-ly resides was purchased in 1958 and that there were no ideas for what to make of the land. She further explains that it was not until the 1970s and 1980s that a per-manent idea for the land was brought about. “The land was purchased because the Church of the Brethren went from having one district in Virginia to hav-ing two districts in Virginia.” The Church of the Brethren’s churches are divided into dis-tricts and most of these dis-

with the church. Van Pelt states that the Shenandoah District wanted its own camp to send its youth to, and because these youth had to drive two hours south in order to get a summer camp experience at Camp Bethel in Fincastle, Va. Van Pelt states that last sum-mer, roughly 600 campers at-tended Brethren Woods and

By Sam St. John and Kelsey Velandria

Brethren Woodsthat “things have been grow-ing [there] steadily for several summers.” More space has been cleared at the camp and she states that she “would like to see [camp], percentage-wise, still be able to meet or exceed what [it] had last year.” According to Van Pelt, last summer, Brethren Woods was

at an 82 percent capacity. When asked what she wants campers to take away after a week at camp, Van Pelt stated, “I guess I really want them to build relationships here, not only with people in their group but also with God.” Bridgewater College stu-dents can get involved with Brethren Woods. “Our Out-door School Program oper-ates in the spring and the fall,” said Van Pelt. Students can volunteer to take charge of different sta-tions around camp that are focused toward children from

grade. The programs are spe-

with what the students are learning in school.

“The goal is to try and have some sort of event once a month.” In August, there is a tubing adventure day, Sep-tember holds an event called “Golf Blast” and an event called “Scrap and Stamp Camp” where ladies come for a weekend and do arts and crafts surrounded by the

beauty of camp. In October, there is a father and child camp and a men’s retreat which Bridgewater stu-dents can attend and learn more about God. No-vember marks the opening of the high and low ropes courses on camp and in December, Brethren Woods

hosts a Christmas party. In addition to the various events that Brethren Woods holds, retreats are also includ-ed in the mix. A typical retreat at Brethren Woods consists of worship times, and various activities, depending on the participants and subject of the

-

bonding within the retreat groups as well as to enhance the relationship that partici-pants share with God. There are several things the camp wants for campers or anyone else who attends an event at Brethren Woods, to take away from their experi-ence. “One of the biggest things that they [campers and par-

Apr 30-­May 13 2014

ticipants] can learn here is how to get along with people whether it is table manners, or praying with people, or pray-ing out loud. There are a lot of things that they can learn here that they can’t really learn anywhere else,” said Van Pelt Recently, Brethren Woods held a Mother-Child retreat, which allowed mothers and their children to have special bonding times together, in-volving times of worships and bonding activities in a beauti-

-ting with some great food and company. This retreat was a one-night retreat, however there are other events that oc-cur for a whole weekend. Activities at each retreat vary depending on the desig-nated targeted group for that retreat. For example Van Pelt exclaimed that the upcoming men’s two-night retreat in-volves activities such as: corn-hole tournaments, participat-ing in “work day”, which is a day for manual labor around the camp such as cutting

‘manly’ activities. “Work day” is also a great opportunity for Bridgewater students or community mem-bers to give back to the com-

-ren Woods, which strives to share the teachings of God, and to teach others how to interact or bond with others, how to live off land, and to become one with nature. Van Pelt also encourages Bridgewater students to apply to be on staff at camp.

to be a Christian,” stated Van

Pelt when asked about quali-

member. One does not have to be an athlete in order to ap-ply and a full job description can be found on the camp’s website. Future plans for Brethren

newly built assembly hall, which will provide the camp with a large enough indoor area to move any activities from outside to inside when the weather is inconvenient. Further expansion plans have yet to be set in stone, and are currently just potential ideas. According to Van Pelt, there are longer term future plans which include adding better cabin housings and lounges for the staff, a family camp to go along with the new build-ing, and to further expand the camp. “As money comes and we can complete those projects, that’s kind of how we are tack-ling them at this point.” Ex-pansion is necessary not only for the business of the camp, but to further expand the mis-sion of Brethren Woods. The key part to the Breth-ren Woods mission statement is to spread “Christian educa-tional opportunities, facilities, and programs for all ages in an inviting woodland setting;; encouraging the formation of Christ-centered living.” When asked where she sees

down the road, Van Pelt ex-plained that she “hopes that regardless of how things may change, that people can still come here and meet God.”...

Program Director Emily Van Pelt in front of the camp pond at Brethren Woods.

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In Partnership with The Community Foundation and

9 Arts & Style

This issue’s featured campus poet is graduating senior

Melina Norman. Melina said that she started writ-ing in elementary school, but became more serious about it during her middle school years. “I consider myself a poet and in general a writ-er,” Melina said, adding that she writes a lot more than just poetry. She em-phasized how much she wants the words from her heart to have the power to touch another person’s heart, drawing from the rare connection that oc-curs between a poet and the readers or listeners. “I think the fact that I’m casual and not a preachy kind of writer makes me stand out,” Melina said about her unique writing style. She said that she strives to deliver a par-ticular message, but she is in no way an exception from that message. “I can

in my poetry as well,” she stated. Melina said, “I don’t want to come off like I’m talking down to my read-ers, but talking to them.” In the near future, Meli-

na hopes to have her own book of poetry published. She also wants to delve into writing children’s books, since her passion lies in creative writing. The poem Melina se-lected to feature in this is-sue, “Uncharted,” is a self-

and the people in her life. “I was thinking about how we all act differently with different people and we put on masks in cer-tain situations,” she said. The overall theme of the poem, Melina said, is the fact that you can never completely know a per-son as well as God knows them. Melina emphasizes to all people, poets and non-po-ets, that if you feel moved to write, don’t let anything stop you. “Put down what you’re feeling on paper because it can be very therapeutic,” she stated. Melina wanted people to know that the best part about writing is that once it’s written down, it can never be erased. “Writing is like leaving a piece of you for everyone to see,” said Melina....

Apr 30-­May 13 2014

Inspired!

Featured campus poet: Melina NormanBy Rianna Hill

You see me,But do you know me?

Seems like we all wear a mask.

At times I wear mine,Too afraid to let the real me

shine.I’ve learned to take it off more

often.It’s a courage that comes with

time,When we learn to put our

hearts on the line.You only live once so do it to

your utmost best.

There is the me you know,And the me I don’t show.

That me is the one God only sees.

It’s the core of who I am,The soul inside every man.

God knows all the pieces that make me.

He knows all my beauty and potential,

And all my faults that could be detrimental.

Despite all of this he still loves me.

Could you still love me,Could we still be?

Would you still be here if you saw all of me?It’s hard to say,

And fate could go either way.But I guess we will never

know.Because most of us are afraid

to show,Our true heart that lies below.Hidden behind the mask of

fear.

UnchartedBy Melina Norman

Have you ever wanted to make a difference in the world around you, but

didn’t know how? You can do this by joining The New Com-munity Project which is a global

-risonburg and a club on Bridge-water College’s campus. NCP is an organization that hopes to change the world through vol-unteer work, fundraising, and increasing awareness of global social justice and environmental issues. The subjects they try to address include global warming, educat-ing girls in other countries, mak-ing sure everyone has access to clean drinking water, replanting the rainforests, giving food to the needy, supporting fair trade goods, and cutting down on waste by encouraging bike riding, shorter showers, and efforts to reduce our carbon footprint NCP is an organization that serves to meet the essentials of those in need all around the world and is a wonderful oppor-tunity for people of all ages to get involved. Beginning as an idea by David Radcliff, a native of Blue Ridge, Va. and 1975 alumni of Bridgewater College, it has grown to impact many lives all around the world. Radcliff had been in-terested in religion and the good it can bring to the world since he was young, and initially served as the director of the peace witness for the Brethren Church, a posi-tion which focused on maintain-ing peace in the world. Although that position was downsized and later eliminated, Radcliff ’s passion for promot-ing peace never was. In August 2003, Radcliff founded NCP and by the year’s end had estab-lished NCP’s advisory board and

-ganization. Since then, NCP has

sponsored many programs to promote peace throughout the world Radcliffe recruited members like Emily Birr, the Publicity Manager for the Bridgewater Col-lege chapter of NCP, from the community and from the Church of the Brethren youth organi-zations. Other members, such as Malinda Britt who is a leader within NCP, joined the club due

friends already involved with the group. Birr says it’s really easy for students to get involved, “you can volunteer at the Harrison-burg NCP. They have Bike Buck-ets you can put together [and] they have the Community Gar-den that you can work at. There are all sorts of outreach going on there. They even have people that stay at NCP so you guys can volunteer and serve meals.” On campus, there are also op-portunities to host events, many of which help to raise funds for different projects sponsored by NCP. The club on campus works closely with the organization’s

As Britt explained, “we work closely with Teshome in the

the student body excited about different issues of sustainability. We’re also interested as a club on campus dealing with social jus-tice and environmental issues in the world, and that comes from our connection with the greater New Community Project organi-zation.” This past year, Britt went to Nepal as part of a New Commu-nity Project learning tour, where

By Lindsey Barnes, Kathleen Herring, and Andrew Levin

“Make a difference that will last a lifetime”

PLEASE SEE NCP PAGE 11

10 Arts & Style Apr 30-­May 13 2014

On May 3, 2014 at 7:30 p.m., Bridge-water College will

host its annual choir con-cert in the sanctuary of the Carter Center. Dr. John McCarty, as-sistant director of music and choral director insists

something to like” dur-ing the choir concert this weekend. McCarty, who

year here at Bridgewater, is enthusiastic about the upcoming performance. “We’ll have the concert choir, which is our larg-est group…we’ll have the chorale…then we’ll feature the acapella choir tune which is a brand new one. We’ll also have the handbell choir that will be performing.” According to Dr. Mc-Carty, “lots of different music from a wide range of historical periods, lots of different languages, lots of different styles” will be featured in Satur-day’s concert. Music rang-ing from over 700 years ago until today will be showcased in the perfor-mance. One of the pieces, which will be performed on Sat-urday, titled “Shoshola-za,” will be sung by the

By Sam St. John

BC prepares to host spring concert

choir and should be a crowd pleaser, according to McCarty. This South African folk song has “an enthusiastic feel to it,” stated McCarty, and is full of harmonies that will bring joy to the audience members. When asked why stu-dents and community members should attend the performance, Dr. Mc-Carty simply stated that “[j]ust about anybody who will come to this

music to connect with.” “Whatever music I’m working on in the mo-ment…I fall in love with,”

something you love about every piece that you do.” When selecting a piece of music, Dr. McCarty

-tain aspects. “I’m always thinking about skills that are required in a piece of music.” He further asks the question, “How can I use the skills that I have to apply to the piece?” He

“What’s the next step that we need to take?” At the beginning of each semester, Dr. Mc-Carty puts the year’s per-formances on Moodle so that students can start

early studying the pieces so that by concert time, each student has familiar-ized himself or herself with the pieces enough to

possible. Dr. McCarty is already searching for and re-searching pieces to in-corporate into next year’s performances.

joy and pleasure in his job as choral director and is hoping that people will be able to pull some deeper meaning from the pieces that will be performed on Saturday. Though many mu-sic majors make up the choir, almost 70 percent are non-music majors and anyone, whether he or she has a musical back-ground or not, can take part in the choir. Dr. Mc-Carty encourages Bridge-water students to join the choir in the fall and to not let nerves hinder anyone from becoming a mem-ber. Dr. McCarty encourag-es students to attend the performance on Satur-day, and he believes that it will be an enjoyable ex-perience for anyone who comes out. ...

Some may be unaware who the Pinion Play-ers are but they are im-

portant to the Bridgewater Community. The Pinion Players are a student-run theater group at Bridgewater College. The Pinion Players per-form plays for the entire community of Bridgewater. They wish to bring theater to the community of Bridgewa-ter and to the communities outside of Bridgewater. Those involved are not only actors, but stage hands.

weirdos” according to Nich-olas Davies. He’s not actually a part of the Pinion Players here on campus, but he de-cided to walk in and show them his sketches and they said yes to putting on the play. Their most recent play, “Across the Pond,” is a co-medic odyssey designed as a celebration of the artistic talents of Bridgewater Col-lege’s student body, incorpo-rating theater, dance, music and improvisation. The play took place April 10-13. The play was written by Nicholas Davies, who is a senior English major with a minor in theater. The play was directed by James E. Custer, a junior English ma-jor with a minor in theater. Cast members included: Christopher Potvin, James A. Murtha Jr., Everly Rinard, Garrett Schwalbach, Jessica Snellings, Elainna K. Mills,

and Chris Conte.

Davies chose to write his play, “Across the Pond” be-cause there are a number of loose ideas that he had com-piled in his head and he also

break them into one act or three acts for a play.” His ideas languished in the

-

to 10 minute sketches rath-er than an hour and a half show.” Davies then started to write down ideas that ac-tually made him laugh. The play is a sketch-comedy that can be compared to Saturday Night Live. The play is meant to have different scenes and different ideas that all come together in one show. The show has no agenda other than to make the audience laugh;; have a good time and on a very basic level it’s meant to help the audience forget the world. Performing close to the end of the semester with ex-ams and studying going on Davies hoped to help the au-dience to have some fun for an hour and 10 minutes. The play is one to just let the au-dience relax and have a good

-ing.

-ter that the Pinion Players sponsored is entitled, “The Bright Smile.” This play is in-tended for mature audiences as it sheds light on the sub-jects of physical, emotional, mental, and sexual abuse....

By Janelle Alexander

Pinion PlayersWho are they?

11 SportsApr 30-­May 13 2014

By Jason Manago-Graves

Bryan Sanderson: In it

ODAC Champions go all in

The Bridgewater Col-lege men’s baseball team was crowned

champions of the ODAC (Old Dominion Athletic Conference) after their win over Shenandoah Univer-sity in Lynchburg, Virginia

on April 27, 2014. After solidifying their spot in the NCAA Division III tour-nament being held in mid-May by Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia, they are taking a breath to enjoy their accomplishment be-

fore they get prepared and head off for further play. Having a team with 11 se-niors makes the Eagles a veteran team. One of those veterans, who made contri-butions to the team with his

-ing skills this year, is senior Bryan Sanderson. As a freshman coming in from Lynchburg, Virginia, Sanderson had no distinct

year of college baseball. He knew he would have to work hard to prove the coaches that he belonged on the diamond come game time but he didn’t fear the competition placed in front of him. “I was the young guy, I didn’t know very many peo-ple but my veteran team-mates were supportive,” Sanderson stated. It takes a lot of trust for a coach to start a freshman and Sanderson gave head coach Kendall enough rea-soning to reward him with the starting job at second base. However, just earn-ing the starting job wasn’t enough for Sanderson, he wanted to prove to his self,

PLEASE SEE SANDERSON PAGE 12

she worked with an anti-sex-traf-

According to the current chair of NCP’s advisory board, Bridgewater College’s Chaplain Robbie Miller, NCP promotes peace by focusing on three main goals: peace through justice, care for creation, and experiential learning. As Miller stated, peace through justice refers to NCP’s “desire to promote a more peaceful world by making it a more just world for the inhabitants of the plan-et.” Miller stressed the necessity of such programs in settings like this by asserting the necessity of education in allowing individuals

and productive life. NCP sponsors trips all over the world to educate those traveling of the cultures of these places and to help improve the quality of the lives there. On Tuesday, April 1, Bridgewater’s New Com-munity Project club hosted the “Give a Girl a Chance” dinner in the Boitnott Room. This initia-tive largely supports the educa-tion of women in less-developed countries. The event, co-hosted by NCP and the BC Dialogue Club, hoped to raise awareness and funds to help girls receive ac-cess to education in Nepal, Bur-ma and South Sudan. According to Birr, the event “helps girls get educated and trained in livelihoods and gives them sanitary supplies, because most of the time girls stop go-

grade when they start menstru-ating.” During this event, speak-ers shared stories of their time in countries such as Nepal and Burma and of how they helped positively impact the lives of the young women who lived there. Another one of NCP’s pri-mary goals is experiential learn-ing, which focuses on what Miller described as the “effort to take people from this country [America] to other parts of the world to learn about the people

and the cultures in other places and to collaborate with them in ways that help them have a more productive life.” This is done via learning tours to nations such as the Sudan, Ecuador, Nepal, the Dominican Republic, and Burma. The trips last about two weeks and are headed by Radcliff, as well as being under the guidance of different native leaders in the lands that are being visited. How-ever, despite the strong religious convictions of many NCP mem-bers, these are not mission trips, but rather educational and chari-table ones. As Miller explained, the focus of these trips is to “work to-gether with our partners in these countries” and “learn from them and work with them,” not Chris-tianize or otherwise impose for-eign culture on the people. Other positive impacts the New Community Project has made on Bridgewater’s campus include the removal of the trays in the din-ing hall to cut down on waste and water usage, the encouragement of the new composting program established this year, and the bike program. Birr stated, “There are bikes around campus that you can pick up and use. They are unlocked… we keep them maintained so peo-ple can just use them.” Birr’s favorite part of being in-volved with NCP has been “so-cial interaction and hanging out with people and having fun while also raising awareness for a really good cause… it kind of serves you and it also serves the orga-nization, and I think that’s why it works out well.” NCP is funded completely by private donations and only has one college chapter in the en-tire world- Bridgewater College’s chapter. For details about New Commu-nity Project or to learn how you can get involved, contact Malinda Britt at britt.malinda@gmail.com or Bridgewater College’s Chap-lain, Robbie Miller....

NCP FROM PAGE 9

Sanderson gets excited after sliding safely into third base.

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12 Sports Apr 30-­May 13 2014

the coaches and most im-portantly, his teammates that he was ready and excit-ed to be a part of the team. Are struggles expected from starting freshman? Sure, they have to adjust to the speed of the game physically and mentally while also being account-able for the plays they’re expected to make whether they have experience or not. On that note, to call Bryan Sanderson’s freshman year a learning experience would be quite an understatement.

He earned a solid batting -

ishing the season with 21 RBIs and ten doubles. He had a season high 3 RBIs in a 14-5 win over Guilford in that 2011 season. After his freshman sea-son, Sanderson continued to get better each year. He began to focus on aspects of the game that not only made him a better player but also a better teammate and leader. After just re-cently winning the confer-ence, Sanderson stated the

feeling as indescribable and pretty awesome. “Having eleven seniors on the team played a huge role in our success this year and Coach Kendall not allowing us to get complacent has kept us very competitive,” Sanderson said. When speaking of his head coach Curt Kendall, Sanderson expresses his upmost respect and grati-tude. He describes him as extremely knowledgeable of the game, relatable to his players and a role model

on and off the

When asked if there has ever been any decision Coach Kendall has made that he didn’t whole heartedly agree with he stated, “There’s always things Coach does that we as players don’t necessarily un-derstand at the time but he’s been around the game so long that when he makes ad-justments we follow suit be-cause they al-ways work out for the better.” Although

of Sanderson’s life he also thrives on being a student

-ing in to college time man-agement was his biggest problem and that once he got the hang of things life became much easier for him. Time management is an issue all incoming fresh-man have to deal with but being an athlete as well re-quires more discipline. Af-ter settling in, Sanderson

and in the classroom. The “All In” motto for the men’s baseball team has been something Sand-erson believes is the key to their success. They believe and encourage each other whether they’re up or down which is most certainly an important ingredient for a winning team. A key to his personal suc-cess has been his parents Edward and Teresa as well as his younger sister Ericka. He believes that without their consistent support over the years it would be unimaginable for him to be where he is today. Other motivation and inspiration comes from Major League Baseball player, Jose Reyes, who Sanderson wears num-ber seven in honor of, and baseball legend, Mickey Mantle. So far during his career at Bridgewater, Sanderson has played in 172 games, earned a .298 batting aver-age, hit 47 doubles and bat-ted in 126 runs. Sanderson looks to add to those statis-tics in the NCAA tourna-ment while the team looks to improve on their overall record of 31-12. Support the ODAC champs in their quest to bring home a NCAA Divi-sion III tournament title in Demorist, Georgia!...

SANDERSON FROM PAGE 11

Senior Bryan Sanderson has played in 172 games, earned a .298 batting average, hit 47 doubles and batted in 126 runs.

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By Jason Manago-GravesODAC Champions go all in