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| Vol. 86 No. 18 | April 29, 2011 | thelink.harding.edu |
Robin Hood, Future shows make Spring Sing history by GABRIELLE PRUITT student writer Saturday, April 23, was a historic night in Spring Sing performances. The John H. Ryan Sweepstakes Award was presented to two shows this year due to a tie by Zeta Rho, TNT and friends’ show “Redistribution of Wealth: The Early Years” and Pi Theta Phi, Gamma Sigma Phi, Iota Chi and friends’ show “20/80 Vision.” According to the Director of Spring Sing production, Dr. Steven Frye, it has always been possible to tie, but this is the first year it has ever happened. Therefore, both shows will receive a $2,000 check for their charities, “a very unique and special win-win” situation, as Frye put it. Producer of Theater (which includes Spring Sing) Cindee Stockstill said that she was thrilled about the tie. Being able to contribute significantly to two different charities and make twice as many people happy is “always a good thing,” she said. PTP Spring Sing director of 20/80 Vision Katie Keese
said she believes a tie means the ultimate goal of Spring Sing was accomplished in providing a fantastic show and being able to give more money to charities than originally expected. “I think [the tie] is a good reminder for us to stop and think about what Spring Sing is really about,”Keese said.“Yes, winning is great and rewarding, but ultimately, everything we do needs to be for God and others, and winning is merely a small pat on the back in the great scheme of things.” “The emotions I had been bottling up for the past two weeks exploded when Dr. [David] Burks announced that it was a tie,” said Scotti Beth Lawson, one of the ZP Spring Sing directors of Redistribution of Wealth: The Early Years. “I was completely and incandescently happy.” Other awards included: Redistribution of Wealth: The Early Years won the category for Music; 20/80 Vision and Redistribution of Wealth: The Early Years tied as winners for Visuals category; and the winner for both Staging category and Entertainment category was 20/80 Vision. The Spirit Award went to Once Upon a Sitcom.
photo by JON YODER | The Bison Directors and members from “Redistribution of Wealth: The Early Years” and “20/80 Vision” gleefully hold their trophy and John H. Ryan Sweepstakes Award. This year’s tie was the first official tie in Spring Sing history, according to Spring Sing Director Steven Frye. Each group was awarded $2,000 for the charities they represented: Easter Seal (Redistribution) and Habitat for Humanity (20/80).
HU forms new academic structure by LAUREN BUCHER features editor Harding is undergoing an administative paradigm shift, streamlining its organization. “I think this is the biggest change since Harding became a university in 1979,” Larry Long, vice president for Academic Affairs, said. “And that happened in ’79, because we looked around and said, ‘We are no longer the small college. … Our programs have developed in diverse ways in scope and size.’ So we needed an organization to reflect where we were; that’s exactly where we are today.” The administration decided to add a new college, the College of Allied Health, under a new organizational entity, the Center for Health Sciences. The college will organize existing programs and provide a way for new health-focused programs to be added. Harding has grown since ’79 in both the number and diversity of programs and types of programs, Long said. This structural change is a response to that growth. “This structure matches what Harding looks like today,” Long said. “It apparently will allow us to shape the future through the structure, and it would allow us to enhance our opportunities to do that very thing, rather
than restrict that kind of growth. We have come up to speed to where we are, and we think [the structure] will engage us for some time in the future, not just to maintain but to expand what we have been doing.” The Carr College of Nursing, the College of Pharmacy and the College of Allied Health will fall under the organizational umbrella of the Center for Health Sciences. The College of Allied Health will encompass the Communication Sciences and Disorders Program, the Physical Therapy Program and the Physician Assistant Program. “They didn’t really have a place where their voices as Health Sciences could have its full range and a focus,” Long said. Now, there will be three separate tiers of organization: the undergradu-
Belles & Beaux turns heads
ate programs, the Center for Health Sciences and graduate and professional programs. With increasing focus on the health field, Long said there has been some concern about whether this growth will be at the expense of the undergraduate liberal arts foundation. “This structure will put a renewed emphasis on liberal arts,” Long said. “I am excited to demonstrate again that [liberal arts] is an emphasis. This allows liberal arts to have a voice too. We struggled to get the best for the most out of every single move we made.” Before the reorganization, communication disorders fell under the College of Communication. The Physician Assistant Program fell under sciences. Pharmacy was its own separate college. -SEE PROVOST PG. 2A
NEW ACADEMIC STRUCTURE LARRY LONG Provost
MARTY SPEARS
Undergraduate Programs
JULIE HIXSON-WALLACE Center for Health Sciences
CHERI PIERSON YECKE Research and Graduate/ Professional Programs
photo by ASHEL PARSONS | Petit Jean Belles and Beaux singer and guitar player senior Brandon Ragsdale and drummer junior Kyle Rowe perform during chapel on Monday. During the show, Ragsdale jumped offstage and interacted with the audience. The show’s intensity sparked campuswide controversy.
Students, administration discuss chapel attitudes by MONIQUE JACQUES student writer Any given weekday at 9:06 a.m. in the Benson, a number of sleepy students shuffle to their seats as others pull out books or phones, or begin casual conversations with surrounding attendees. When the song leader or speaker begins, phones come out and the chapeltweeting ensues. Although only a portion of the school even has Twitter, and a smaller number actually contributes to #chapeltweet, it has asserted a definite presence. #Chapeltweet was mentioned twice in student opinion articles in the Bison this year, and a few times in chapel itself. “When I get on Twitter and read the #chapeltweets, it reminds me of persecution,” senior Nathan Schandevel said in his April 14 chapel devotional. Is the cr iticism found on #chapeltweet a manifestation of
overarching cynicism that plagues the majority of the student body, or is it a few voices bitterly crying out while the rest sit contented in their seats? “It’s human nature to dwell on the bad things, so I think we often hear this negative side of chapel, but the thing is, they’re still talking about it,” Student Association President-elect Bruce McMullen said. “I think if you asked every student, one-on-one, for the most part they would say they really don’t mind chapel.” Will Reno, of the prominent Twitter voice “letskillrobots,” said he views #chapeltweet as a misunderstood outlet of angst. “Being outspoken and thinking, ‘I have a voice and a right to say whatever I want,’ is part of our mindset as a college-aged student,” Reno said of #chapeltweet contributors. “They think, ‘I’ll express discontent to show other people how it really is,’ and justify themselves with twisted logic for making rude
Something is dying within the student body in chapel, and that needs to be examined. Where are people’s hearts, and what have they been taught? ... Has Jesus Christ become that boring? -Jane Messina spiritual life director (Student Association) comments and thinking they’re being productive in some bizarre way.” He said while he sees potential in chapel, it has not been reached. Reno also said he believes people frequently misinterpret #chapeltweets that are made in friend-to-friend sarcasm by “jumping to a definitive conclusion about tweets that look rude but aren’t intended to hurt someone because they’re friends and have that kind of relationship.” Jane Messina, spiritual life director for the SA, said she believes the negativity of #chapeltweet is symptomatic of a deeper problem than boredom or virtual protest. “Something is dying within the
student body in chapel, and that needs to be examined,” Messina said. “Where are people’s hearts, and what have they been taught? Why aren’t people stirred by God? Why aren’t people stirred by Jesus? Why aren’t people moved by the gospel? Has Jesus Christ become that boring?” If this is the case, with whom does the fault lie? Chapel is not something that is simply thrown together at the beginning of a week, according to administrators. A chapel committee comprising select professors from across campus, the SA spiritual life directors and the SA president that meets throughout the year to plan and
discuss what connects most and least with students, which, Dr. Bruce McLarty, vice president for spiritual life, said are often the same things. “The fact that chapel is a gathering of 4,000 free-thinking adults, five times a week, makes it difficult to appeal to everyone,” McLarty said. But how much of the student body is not appealed to in chapel? In a recent poll conducted by The Link, 47.3 percent of voters described chapel as “not that bad,” while 31.3 percent said they “hated” it. While this is not a scientific survey of the entire student body, it is representative of student opinion. For the full poll, see page 4A. -SEE CHAPEL PG. 2A