February 20, 2015 Vol. 90, No. 14
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NEWS
@HUStudentPubs April 25,The 2014 Facebook: Link Vol. 89, No. 18
online at thelink.harding.edu
@HUStudentPubs Facebook: The Link
online at thelink.harding.edu
GRANT SCHOL | The Bison
Freshmen Rachel Gibson and Kyle Spillan enjoy the day off of school on Monday, Feb. 16 by kayaking down the Benson steps. On Sunday night, Twitter was flooded with pleas for a snow day, and when it was finally announced, all of campus rejoiced. Here are some of our staff’s favorite tweets from the #icepocalypse.
“Twas the night before Monday, and all through the dorm, not a student was ready, but all prayed for a storm. #optionalMonday #justwantsnow” - @CanaMoore “@BruceMcLarty: you did give a chapel talk on rest.” - @Dillonh81 “Good call, Bruce, there was no way this old lady was getting out tomorrow! I hope y’all have a #blessedandhighlyfavored snow day!! :)” -@BlessedHFavored
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Searcy, Ark., 72149
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‘Scarlet Letter’ hits stage Searcy, Ark., 72149played by Light’s Dimmesdale, By Joshua Johnson off-stage boyfriend, sophomore Features Editor Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, “The Scarlet Letter,” may be a challenge for every ninth grader, but the Harding theatre department will share their take on the story with the community this weekend and next at the Ulrey Performing Arts Center. The production is senior Jenna Light’s senior seminar project, in which she plays the shunned outcast Hester Prynne. Light said that, because there is no stage adaptation of the “The Scarlet Letter” and because the story is in public domain, the cast and producers of the show have undertaken the challenge of writing the adaptation themselves. “We have really been able to tailor this show, line by line, to be exactly the way we want it,” Light said. Faced with the sin of bearing an illegitimate child, Prynne finds herself torn between the ideals of raising her daughter and wanting to be with the love of her life, the Reverend
Patrick Jones. Jones said his real-life relationship with Light allows him to react honestly to the painful moments in the show. “Sometimes I drop out of character and see (Light), not Hester, because I understand what Dimmesdale would be feeling,” Jones said. Light said it has been a challenge to portray a character who is dealing with so many stressors at one time. Light said throughout the story Prynne is always looking out for her daughter, Pearl, who is the constant representation of her sin and the reminder of why she can not be with the man she loves. “Hester deals with having to be a mother, wanting to be with her lover, dealing with a vengeful ex-husband who has it out for (Dimmesdale) — and there are very few moments in the show where she is faced with only one of these things at once,” Light said. The show is directed by
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Robin Miller, chair of the theatre department. Miller said the stage adaptation of “The Scarlet Letter” illustrates universal concepts that will hopefully focus on presenting the people and the storyline in ways that the novel cannot. “What we have here is a story about not only brokenness, but it’s a story about what happens when people find that they have made a mistake, how they choose to handle it and how it plays out over the course of their lives,” Miller said. While it may not be the kind of show that moves one to tears, Jones said that audiences should expect to walk away thinking about the different ways everyone deals with sin. “There may be a chuckle here and there, but mostly this show just says ‘here are emotions, feel them,’” Jones said. The show runs Feb. 20-21 and Feb. 26-28 at 7 p.m. in the Ulrey Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $10 or free with the CAB pass.
Professors, deans use texting to converse with students
Evaluating the best method to communicate professionally By Cole Mokry News Editor
In the last 10 years, texting has become one of the most convenient avenues of communication, which is making teachers, staff and students alike rethink how they interact with each other. The Office of Student Life has made texting the primary method of contacting students. Brandon Tittle, assistant dean of students, mden -- Henry said they will primarily text students to set up appointments to meet face to face, not to communicate information. “It started as a last resort because we found that a lot of people don’t answer their phones if they don’t recognize the number and very few people actually have a voicemail set up,” Tittle said. “More and more, it’s become our first resort because responses are almost immediate.” Even though cell phone numbers are no longer listed on “people search,” they are kept under the personal information tab on Pipeline, which the Office of Student Life can access.
More and more (texting has) become our first resort because responses are almost immediate. - Brandon Tittle, asst. dean of students Junior Kalyn Hunter has received a text from student life and said she had mixed feelings about it. “I appreciate the deans’ new way of communication because it feels more personal, but I find it like a parent and I’m not sure I like the idea of having to instantly respond to a dean,” Hunter said. Texting has become more prevalent between students and teachers as well. Some professors will put their cell phone numbers on their course syllabi — usually with a stipulation that students do not call or text during certain hours. SEE TEXTING, PAGE 2A
EMILY EASON| The Bison
Sophomore Patrick Jones, who plays Reverend Dimmesdale, and senior Jenna Light, who plays Hester Prynne, rehearse for “The Scarlet Letter” on Wednesday, Feb. 18. Shows began yesterday and continue through next weekend in the Ulrey Performing Arts Center.
HLC visits campus, completes evaluation By Alexis Hosticka Editor-in-Chief
For the entire duration of the Higher Learning Commission’s (HLC) decennial accreditation visit on Monday and Tuesday, classes were out of session and campus was essentially shut down due to weather. However, according to associate provost Dr. Marty Spears, the visit went well despite the weather. Because of the snow days, students, staff and faculty were not required to be on campus or at any sessions, but many people made an effort to attend meetings with the HLC in order to assist with the evaluation and accreditation process. Spears said the schedule was adjusted slightly and members of the HLC were not able to attend chapel. At a student session at 2 p.m. on Monday, the five visiting members of the HLC asked questions regarding subjects such as technology, food, housing, recreation, curfew, intramurals
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and job placement after graduation. Students responded with a majority of positive comments. Senior Julia Copeland attended the meeting and said she initially went because she was curious about what the team would ask and then was glad she could help leave a good impression with the HLC visitors. “Being a senior, I’ve loved the past four years at Harding and believe in what they stand for,” Copeland said. “I was hoping that maybe some of my input would help validate why Harding is so important and what makes it different than the rest. It was a great meeting ... It was clear that I’m definitely not the only one who’s proud of my school.” According to team member Renee Aitken, the purpose of the HLC’s visit was to ask questions regarding the Assurance Argument that the university has already compiled and submitted. The document “is where the institution provides a narrative that makes the case that
the institution meets the Criteria for Accreditation,” according to the HLC website. “We have questions about everything, but that’s not unusual,” Aitken said. “This is a peer review process and it’s always a positive process.” Reggies Wenyika, the only visiting HLC member from a private Christian institution, went and talked to various restaurants in the Searcy area on Sunday night and said what most impressed him about the university is the strong community. “The entire city is behind Harding,” Wenyika said. “Everyone has good things to say and that is to be commended.” Some of the topics addressed in the 112-page Assurance Argument include that, “The education offered by Harding recognizes the human and cultural diversity of the world in which students live and work” and that “Harding evaluates the success of its graduates.” For each statement that the university presented the
document provided information and statistics to back it up. The HLC visit was an opportunity for committee members to follow up with and investigate this information. One area that Spears said the committee was particularly interested in was the assessment of student learning, but this was not a surprise to him “It’s so important and we do address it but a constant theme that came out in a lot of their questioning was assessment of student learning,” Spears said. “It was nice that we had such a good turnout of our faculty because they would talk about specific ways …different departments were talking about the capstone courses that their seniors participate in and how they use rubrics to assess whether the students were meeting criteria that were expected of them. It was very important to have the faculty there talking that talk to make it clear that we do emphasize that here.”
Rock House review, page 4B
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Take a look at Searcy’s newest restaurant and find out how to get a free appetizer.
Learn about Harding’s latest workout class offering: a co-ed yoga class.
The entire city is behind Harding. Everyone has good things to say and that is to be commended. - Reggies Wenyika, HLC member
The university will not receive an official written response from the HLC for another four weeks. However, Spears is not worried about what they will say. He said he knows that there is going to be room for improvement, but that is normal because universities hold themselves to a high standard. “These things are difficult to go through because a team of people comes in and they have been given a document to read ahead of time and they’re able to spot anything they think might be a potential weakness,” Spears said. SEE HLC, PAGE 2A
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