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November 2, 2022 Collegedale, Tennessee
Opinion | 6
Religion | 6
Pros and Cons of the 'talking stage'
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Lifestyle | 7 'Accepting your part' and 'Dege at Dawn'
Southern Accent
Vol. 78 Issue 8
The student voice since 1926
Administrators stop plans for pepper spray giveaway due to liability concerns
Southern builds endowment for first-generation college students Amanda Blake Managing Editor
“When it comes down to protecting yourself in accordance with our school policies, I just [have] to make sure that [purchasing pepper spray] is a student's decision,” Moore said. “Now, those accidents can still happen. You could [still] have pepper spray go off in your car, and there could be people injured, but it's not the act of [the university] giving or encouraging the use of it.” Myint stated that Senate is in contact with Campus Safety and
More than 300 first-generation students currently attend Southern Adventist University, and over 1,000 have graduated since 2005, wrote Ellen Hostetler, vice president for Advancement, in an email to the Accent. A recent plan to specifically benefit these students was developed by President Ken Shaw and the Advancement team as they prepared for the university’s first “A Taste of Southern” gala, which took place in downtown Chattanooga on Oct. 2. The event raised $93,459.62, with proceeds going to Southern’s new First-Generation Student Endowed Scholarship, according to Donor Recognition & Records Coordinator Candy Reichert. Individuals will begin receiving the scholarship in the Fall 2023 semester, and the amount given to them will depend on the amount of funds available each year, wrote Hostetler. Students are identified as first-generation if their parents did not complete a four-year college degree, as defined by FAFSA. “Southern already serves many first-generation students, some from our local Chattanooga community,” Hostetler wrote. “As we planned an event for our local community, we wanted to provide a giving opportunity that would meet a need of current students and resonate with our local community guests. Hundreds of our alumni are first-generation students, and they are doing amazing things in our community — locally, nationally,
See PEPPER SPRAY on page 2
See FIRST GENERATION on page 2
Pepper spray canisters purchased by Student Assocation for distribution to students (Photo by: Adam De Lisser)
Alana Crosby Editor-in-Chief Due to liability concerns, Southern administrators have advised against a free pepper spray giveaway that was part of Student Association (SA) Senate’s “Stay Safe Initiative,” according to Htet Myint, SA executive vice president. According to a previous Accent article, Senate planned to pass out $2,000 worth of pepper spray to students at an event focused on raising safety awareness. In addition, Campus Safety officers were expected to be present to instruct students on proper procedure. According to Associate Director of Campus Safety Shawn Haas, Campus Safety, Talge Hall and Thatcher Hall also contributed money to purchase approximately 600 canisters The Senate minutes from Sept. 28 list the status of the “Stay Safe Initiative,” including the pepper spray aspect, as approved. However, Executive Director for Risk
Management and Leaseholds Justin Moore raised concerns regarding the liability of Southern. Senate purchased the pepper spray with money from its budget and is unable to return the items, according to Myint. He said the pepper spray had been approved and was later purchased before Administration heard of the plan and advised against it. “Campus Safety and Student Association enthusiastically supported this initiative,” Vice President for Student Development Dennis Negrón wrote in an email to the Accent. “We had done this giveaway before on a much smaller scale and believed it was a good idea again. However, subsequent to purchasing the canisters, we learned that pepper spray canisters have accidentally gone off in school buses and cars, placing the occupants in danger. The liability of sponsoring the distribution of pepper spray to our student body thus was too high for the university.”
Moore stated that upon hearing the plan to hand out free pepper spray, he contacted several colleagues and friends in risk management positions. Two friends told him of separate incidents involving pepper spray-related accidents at other schools. One instance involved pepper spray that went off in a bus and caused the driver to veer off the road, resulting in several student injuries and subsequent lawsuits. “My job is to keep Southern safe and make sure we don't have big lawsuits or things that could affect our ability to keep the school running,” Moore said. “Anytime you give out something that could potentially harm someone else, whether it's used for self-defense or [is involved in] an accident, like [it] goes off in a car type of thing, when the lawyers get involved, it comes back to, ‘Who gave you that and why?’” Moore, an alumnus of Southern and former member of SA,
Southern Smiths teach honor at Pathfinder Camporee Génesis Ventura Reporter Over fall break, members of Southern Adventist University’s blacksmithing club, “Southern Smiths,” went to Camp Kulaqua in High Springs, Florida, to teach blacksmithing to more than 350 pupils at the Southern Union Pathfinder Camporee. The club's staff sponsor, Dusty Miller, maintenance supervisor for Talge Hall, attended the event with club President Emily Freeman, a junior construction management major. Freeman wrote in an email to the Accent about why she chose to attend. “When I first came to Southern and joined the Southern Smiths club three years ago, the club had just been asked by the Southern Union to come to the 2022 camporee,” she wrote. “I grew up in Pathfinders, so I loved the thought of combining my love for blacksmithing with my love for Pathfinders. I knew I had to go, even though it was a few years down the road.” Freeman explained the different requirements and history of the blacksmithing honor, stating in an email: “The blacksmithing honor is a combination of practical skills and class work (famous blacksmiths, the essential tools, safety rules, Biblical connections to blacksmithing), which helps introduce the student to the wonders of this ancient craft. “The honor was actually written by one of our current club sponsors, Lily Brunner, when she was 14 years old, so it was pretty neat to see all the little kids' reactions when we told them that a girl wrote the honor,” she wrote. According to Freeman, the most impactful part of the experience was watching the kids gain confi-
expressed regret at the way things worked out.
"We learned that pepper spray canisters have accidently gone off in school buses and cars, placing the occupants in danger."
New School of Business building planned for 2025 Matthew Orquia News Editor
Emily Freeman speaks with camporee attendees. (Photo courtesy of Dusty Miller)
dence as they completed their two hands-on projects. Each pupil had to make a cross and hook. “While some took longer than others, most kept an amazing attitude even though they were learning a new, exhausting and often frustrating skill,” she wrote. “I had one group that had only one individual who spoke English, but they had some of the best attitudes despite the language barriers. It truly inspired me to keep learning about my craft despite the frustrations.” About 15 to 20 members have consistently participated in the Southern Smiths this year, according to Miller. He added that the most significant aspect of blacksmithing involves the many biblical parables and concepts, as well as sections from Ellen G. White’s writings, that draw inspiration from the trade. “One of the things that the Bible talks about is putting the metal in the fire to see what kind of [person] we are,” he said. “And that's very applicable because you can put [metal] in, and you heat it.
You get to know what it does, [and you get] a good idea of what kind of metal that is when you hammer on it and how it responds.” Miller said this was Southern Smiths’ second time teaching the honor at a Southern Union Camporee, which includes Pathfinder clubs from the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi. The club also taught the honor at the last Oshkosh camporee, which included clubs from all over the world. Southern Smiths is currently preparing to teach at another international camporee in Gillette, Wyoming, set to occur in August, 2024. The members are currently looking for more instructors to handle a large crowd of people. They are also trying to acquire more gear, which is very expensive. Miller said non-Adventist volunteers have participated in many Southern Smiths events, and he encourages anyone with an interest in blacksmithing, regardless of religous affiliation to join the club.
Southern Adventist University’s School of Business will have a new home once an upcoming building project is completed. July 2025 is the target date, according to Marty Hamilton, associate vice president for Financial Administration. Current plans include a fourstory, 40,000 to 42,000-square-foot building, Hamilton said. The budget for the new facility is projected at $15 million, he added, but the fluctuating prices of materials and uncertain start date can make projecting the budget difficult. The new building will be located in front of Mabel Wood Hall between Harmony Lane and Hickman Drive. “What we’re looking for is to anchor the entrance coming into campus,” Hamilton said. Visitors entering campus from that side of University Drive currently see the Talge Hall parking lot, the Southern sign and Mabel Wood Hall. Hamilton stated that the new School of Business building would
New business building mockup (Photo courtesy of Marty Hamilton)
help provide people with a strong first impression of the campus before they reach the fountain on Taylor Circle. A welcome center in Fleming Plaza is also being considered, Hamilton said. He added that the university plans to keep the design of the building cohesive with other buildings on campus, and Southern has worked with its own on-staff architect and will hire a second to help with the drafting process. “We want something that’s stately, that fits into the skyline of the rest of campus,” Hamilton said. “ … We’re looking to have a beautiful building on that corner. “These are still concepts, but there’s a lot of things that are probably going to occur. So it may not look exactly like this,” Hamilton said, regarding the mock-up of the new building. “ … There can be some slight changes and modifications as we move forward to get the floor plans all worked out.” Though constructing a new See BUSINESS BUILDING on page 2