There are mre species of fish in the Amazon River than the Atlantic Ocean. The youngest U.S. president to be in office was Theodore Roos-

If you could make a differ-

ence in the school, what

would that dif-ference be and

how would you go about doing

it?

Student Speak

BY ELYSSA MANNEDITOR-IN-CHEIF

On the afternoon of August 24, faculty, staff, and students trickled into the CSC Lecture Hall for this fall’s State of the College address. In the wake of numerous staff and faculty departures, as well as a failure to meet enrollment quota for the 2012-2013 school year, many had questions they wanted answered in President Barney Forsythe’s address. Dr. Michelle Vaughan, assistant professor of psycholo-gy, said she hoped to hear about plans for Westminster’s future. “I would say my ex-pectations for the State of the College are to hear a lot about the challenges we have faced in the past year or two and hear about some of the plans to face those challenges head on in the future, plan for the future, and hear about the future of West-minster in this changing time,”

she said before the address. In addition to hear-ing about the school, Vaughan, like many members of the fac-ulty, also said she hoped to hear about the future of Westminster students. “As a faculty member, issues near and dear to my heart are the challenges of meeting our enrollment goals, as well as retaining students,” Vaughan said. In his customary jovial manner, President Forsythe be-gan by involving addressees in a rousing chorus of, “It’s a great day to be a Blue Jay!” He then welcomed the 40 new fac-ulty and staff that have joined the Westminster team since the last State of the College ad-dress in January. Pleasantries aside, President Forsythe began by addressing the issues that are plaguing all of higher educa-tion—students and parents alike are concerned with af-fordability and the value of a college degree in the recover-ing economy. In order to keep up with new concerns while still attracting students to West-minster, President Forsythe

spoke of a “new normal.” “We have to think and act differently,” he said. “Business as usual won’t work anymore. This is the new nor-mal.” According to President Forsythe, this means doing what Westminster does best: teaching students how to serve and lead, offering a well-rounded liberal arts education, and inspiring students. In or-der to accomplish this holistic approach towards students, the college is already in the early development and execu-tion stage for the Westminster 20/20 strategic plan. “I believe there will always be a place in society for the kind of education we provide here,” said President Forsythe. Noting that financialprudence will be key in the up-coming academic year, Presi-dent Forsythe touched on the main goals that he hoped will foster an integrated student en-vironment on campus. These goals included focusing on student success, documenting the school’s claims to student success, and telling those sto-ries of success better and more

effectively. Harnessing the community’s talents and ar-tistic energy was a vital part of accomplishing these goals. Vice President and Dean of Student Life Stepha-nie Krauth gave her opinion on Forsythe’s words. “I think he hit the nail on the head with higher education and change and how we’re all in this together,” Krauth said. The address touched on a few other topics, such as the impending opening of the Mesa campus as well as attracting potential donors to the college, though President Forsythe was adamant that the most important focus this year was the student experi-ence. “Helping a student to make the choice of West-minsteristhefirstpartofsuc-cess, which is a different way of thinking about it,” he said. “How we relate every day is another part.” As faculty and stu-dents filed out, PresidentForsythe said that he intends to begin town hall-style meetings every month, dur-ing which he will address a

President Forsythe addresses the issues Westminster College is currently facing.

“A lot of what I stand for is already being worked on by the clubs. So I will just get

involved in clubs like ECOS and support them.”

The Columns

subject for the first fifteenminutes or so, but leave the rest of the time open for dis-cussion. These meetings, he hoped, will bridge the infor-mation gap between State of the College addresses.

Nathan FoxFreshman

“From the alliance perspec-tive, just having the campus be

more open towards different people. Not just the LGBT community but also people different from yourself with

different backgrounds.”

Eddie JacksonSophomore

“I will try to integrate the students better and that doing starts with me just by making

a point to say hey to other people.”

Nick FoxJunior

“The division between interna-tional and domestic students is a problem and we need to inte-grate better and end cliques.”

Emily VreelandSenior

Friday, September 14, 2012

Silent protest marks Congressman Akin’s visit On September 11, Westminster College wasn’t di-vided into women and men, or even students and faculty and staff. In anticipation of Rep. Todd Akin’s (R-Mo.) visit to the college, people from all over the campus gathered on the Hill for a silent protest. Numbering 50 strong, those assembled pro-

tested Akin’s position on sev-eral issues, including women’s healthandstudentfinancialaid. Dr. Cinnamon Brown, assistant professor of history, said, “I’m here today because of several issues with Todd Akin—comments about rape early on in his campaign, even though some say his comments

were misconstrued, and his vote to cut funding from Planned Parenthood.” Signs that lambasted Akin’s earlier comments on the biological functions that oc-curred when women are raped—namely, that when a rape is “le-gitimate,” the female body has ways of rejecting a pregnancy,were a common theme. “I’m here because I don’t agree that politics has a say over biological issues from a religious standpoint,” said se-nior Erica Smith. Other members of the Westminster community were simply there in solidarity. Senior Christopher Leonard said, “I am here to sup-port the Democratic process—I’m here to support the cam-paign from both sides.” In addition to Westmin-ster’s numbers, another small group assembled to protest for a separate reason, which they were adamant to point out—they were not a protest in oppo-sition of the one carried on by Westminster’s community. The group of five assembled weresupporting the election process. “We’re supporting the

election process,” said Daryl Bowles. Phillip Todd added, “A controversial statement shouldn’t disqualify him from running.” Protests aside, during his address in Hermann Lounge, Akin addressed issues such as healthcare and gun control. He said that Americans need to stand up to increased govern-mental control. The decreases in governmental control that Akin is referring to hit a place close to home with college stu-dents—federal financial aid.Specifically,Akinwouldliketoputanendtofinancialaid,lik-ening it to “Stage III cancer.” “Financial aid is in-tegral for students, and I am against any attack against that,” said Mark Boulton, assistant professor of history. The Westminster com-munity assembled for several reasons on Tuesday, but pre-sented a united front when Akin arrived at the college. “He has every right to speak,” said Brown, “but we have every right to disagree with him.”

BY ELYSSA MANNEDITOR-IN-CHEIF

Members of West-minster community take a proactive ap-proach to silent pro-test.

State of the College addresses the “new normal”

Silent protestors gather outside of Hunter Activity Center on the Hill to hear Akin speak.Photo by Kathleen McKinney

President Forsythe speaks at the fall State of the College ad-dress.Photo by Elyssa Mann

evelt at age 42. The can opener was invented 48 years after the can. At room temperature, the average air molecule travels at the speed of

News Friday, September 14, 2012The Columns

2

Blood drive battle coming to campus soon

Westminster College and William Woods University WANT YOUR BLOOD. For thepastfiveyearsWestminsterhas been in a friendly compe-tition with William Woods to have the largest percentage of their student body donate blood. This “Blood Donor Challenge” has been an way for Fulton’s two colleges to organize and contribute to a common, admi-rable goal: To beat the other col-lege by donating more. West-minster is currently undefeated and houses the official BloodDonor Challenge plaque. This handsome piece of rich mahogany and engraved

brass plates holds testament to Westminster’s dedication to donate and win. Last year the students of Westminster do-nated 220 units of blood, which equates to just over 19 percent of our population; whereas, Wil-liam Woods University donated 149 units of blood, coming out to 13 percent of their students being donors. Westminster em-ploys a variety of techniques to encourage students to donate blood. Blood drives are great opportunities for clubs and or-ganizations to co-sponsor an event which not only allows students to actively help facili-tate the drive, but also raises awareness and publicity for this noble cause. Westminster also counts blood donation as a way to clock in service hours, both working the drive and donating is considered a form of service and therefore merits service hours which are recorded on

MyWC. The blood drives will be mediated by the American Red Cross, which is the larg-est single supplier of blood in

the United States. Their trained professionals make the blood donating process as easy and painless as possible. From the donor’s per-spective it can all be summed up with four easy steps: 1.Reg-istration: Sign up sheets will be located throughout campus with times and dates. A small amount of paperwork is required right before the actual donation. 2.

KYLE KLAHSSTAFF WRITER

Phi Delta Theta and Student Ambassa-dors gear up for first blood drive.

Progress on West-minster’s Mesa campus continues at full speed.

BY KATIE NASSIF ASSISSTANT EDITOR

Westminster faculty and staff have collaborated since the announcement of the Mesa, Ariz., campus to develop the course catalog, internship programs, and technology to help fuse both locations. The Mesa campus building will be finished by July 1, 2013, andschool will begin in the fall of the same year. Many academic ele-ments of the Mesa campus will mirror those in Fulton. Dr. Rob-ert Seelinger, vice president and dean of the new campus, said, “Mesa’s school calendar will be similar, as will class prerequi-

sites.” Students at Mesa will be offered similar elective courses and must fulfill thesame tier requirements as those on the Fulton campus. Mesa will offer degrees in English, environmental science, inter-national business, and transna-tional studies, as well as minors in pre-law and pre-med. Along with academics, internships through the college are also strongly emphasized at the Mesa campus, accord-ing to Dr. Seelinger. “Intern-ships will be very important,” he said. “Students will have the option to intern through the Mesa campus.” Westminster at Mesa is going to collaborate with, Wilkes College, based in Wilkes Barre, Pa., to offer ad-ditional internships. “Wilkes specializes in engineering and creative writing, so we decided to reach out to them and of-fer a few more programs,” Dr. Seelinger said.

Some faculty will be utilizing technology to help with distance learning. Dr. Seelinger is going to teach a Latin course at Mesa, but will be making frequent trips to and from each campus. To keep up, the course will be classifiedasahybridcourse. He said, “I will be in Mesa for three weeks, then back to Fulton for one week. Between trips, I will use Sky-pe to help teach students.” Online courses should also be available over the summer and during winter break, and those classes will allow teachers to instruct at either campus. A few courses make it difficult for professors torelocate. According to Dr. Irene Unger, professor of en-vironmental science, students at Mesa will receive the same hands-on experience as those of Westminster in Fulton, but classes will be slightly differ-ent.

“Due to the desert en-vironment in Mesa, wetlands classes won’t be available. Instead, we may offer courses such as water resource man-agement,” she said. Dr. Unger plans to meet with faculty from both campuses and discuss degree requirements. “Class sizes are going to remain small, and we hope to set up an exchange program so that students can study the environments in both Missouri and Arizona.” Dr. Debra Brenegan, associate professor and chair of the English department, said she is excited for the new possibilities of a second campus. “We are all still in the process of developing the Mesa programs and deciding how best to serve students at both campuses,” she said. As far as English requirements, tier one and tier two English courses will still be required, but upper-level courses may

vary depending on the pro-fessors. “For example, the Fulton campus offers cours-es like Jazz in Japan, which has been developed by Pro-fessor Zade,” Dr. Brenegan explained. “A Mesa English professor might not have Professor Zade’s Jazz exper-tise, but might, instead, offer a course in Literature of the West.” Dr. Brenegan said she has high hopes for the level of education at Mesa: “It’s hard to predict what the Mesa students will experi-ence right now, but the goal is to provide an experience equal to that which Fulton students receive. Those experiences may not look exactly the same, but will, of course, provide the rich learning that Westminster College is known for.”

A look at Westmin-ster’s male to fe-male student enroll-ment ratio.

BY TYLER WILLIAM HANLOTTECONTRIBUTING WRITER

In nearly all states more women are going to college than men. On some campuses, the rate goes as high as three women per man. Westminster College is an oddity in this regard. More men than women enroll each year at Westminster, a statistic which is highly unusual for liberal arts campuses. This has been the case not only for this year’s 57 percent male enrollment, but for the past several years as well, and administrators are try-ingtofigureoutwhy. Dr. Debra Bren-egan, associate professor of English and coordinator of the Gender and Women’s

Studies program, explained her own perspective on gen-der equality at Westminster: “I see that it is open. It’s equal. But obviously because of our numbers, something is amiss.” First-hand experience from women who go through the enrollment process seem to suggest that Westminster’s ‘boys-only-club’ tag is fad-ing away faster than ever, and that the campus will likely see more women enroll soon, if it keeps up its pace. Several freshmen girls who shared their experi-ences expressed a feeling of welcoming when visiting the campus. Westminster fresh-man Claire Gibby said that the campus felt “very open” to women. Despite the mostly-male student body at West-minster, the college has made strides in gender openness. The Vagina Mono-logues is a forum where wom-en get to express their gender however they seefit,withoutfear of being seen as improp-er. It is a place where women,

not men, can define what itmeans to be a woman. What’s more, the MyVoice pro-gram allows women a forum where they can anonymously report any sexual misconduct without fear of judgment that is typical of those reports. The Remley Wom-en’s Center also does a lot to help alleviate gender op-pression, oftentimes fund-raising for organizations like CARDV, the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence. All around the campus wom-en have networks, organiza-tions, and institutions where they can express their gender and participate in a welcom-ing community. Dr. Brenegan noted that events such as these were effective in making a more open environment for women. “We had the wom-en’s history conference, Remley’s puts on a lot of events,” she said. “My feel-ing is that [women] don’t feel oppressed or anything, or dismissed. I think that it’s

just about getting the women here.” She added that West-minster’s history as a primar-ily male campus probably had something to do with the view that Westminster is mostly a men’s school, but

that “I think that we can al-ways keep working towards that equality – in not only gender, but all other area. I don’t think it will magically fix itself. I thinkwe need tofigureitout.” Yet, despite this op-timistic take on the status of women in academia, dis-crimination against women exists both on a cultural and individual level. More overt manifestations of sexism may

be mostly gone, but aca-demic beliefs, attitudes, and methods generated from pa-triarchy largely exist today. The ghosts of an age long past still exist to-day. This means that gender equality is still an impor-tant goal for academic in-stitutions, especially those striving towards openness. So long as discrimination exists, the marketplace of ideas remains forever closed and half of the view is lost.

High male enrollment baffles administration

Westminster continues new campus expansion

Health History and Mini Phys-ical: A physician will ask a se-ries of health related questions and run a few test to make sure the donor is eligible for donating blood. 3. Donation: Donating blood only takes 8-10 minutes to complete. 4. Refreshments: After donating refreshments such as juice and cookies will be available. So not only will a donor be help-ing others, they will also get a cookie. Sounds like a win-win situation. Blood donations are very crucial for patients. The blood donated from one stu-dent during the drive can po-tentially save up to three lives. Many people who regularly donate say the reason for their vigilance is out of a concern for others and an ableness to sacrifice a little bit of them-selves (about a pint or 473ml) to make a large positive differ-ence in the wellbeing of some-one else.

According to the American Red Cross’s website the two most common reasons people do not donate is simply having never thought about donating and having a fear of needles. Another obstacle for donors is the wait period of 56 days between donations. This time allows the body to recover and therefore make each dona-tion worthwhile. Donors must also be physically healthy at the time of their donation be-cause illnesses can affect the makeup and contents of one’s blood. Another stipulation is that donors must be at least 110 pounds (50kg) to donate blood; this is a rule to ensure the health of the donor. These eligibility requirements are set forth to ensure both quality do-nations and preserved health of the donor.

One donation of a pint of blood can save up to

three lives.

Westminster’s “boys-only-club”

tag is fading away faster than

ever.

Don’t forget!Backpacks and large bags will not be allowed in the plenary sessions during the Sym-

posium.

NewsThe Columns3

Friday,September 14, 2012

A preview to Westminster’s SymposiumStudents gear up for this year’s Westmin-ster Symposium.BY ANDREW FLANIGANCONTRIBUTING WRITER

When Churchill de-livered his immortal speech on Westminster’s campus in 1946, he forever changed this school. The college created the Churchill Institute in his honor,

many other eye-opening topics. He expressed his hope that nu-merous activities from breakout discussion groups to assorted lectures will address the topic sufficiently. The Symposium’s or-ganizers chose speakers based on their expertise in some aspect of religion that will provide a broader understanding, not just of the concept, but of how the concept plays a relevant role in the world.

because of its complexity and relevance in today’s society, mentioning that it might prove controversial. One of the goals of the Sympos ium is to address the central topic through multiple facets in an academic setting. The Institute’s webpage for the event gives a brief descrip-tion of the topic as being very diverse in the way it affects, to some degree, all of humanity. Because one of the aims of the

an organization that has in turn has been planning the annual Westminster Symposium. Each year, the Institute designates a planning committee, this year chaired by professor of reli-gious studies, Dr. Cliff Cain, to ensure its smooth execution. While the basic struc-ture of the event remains the same, each Symposium differs because of its central theme. Cain explained that this year’s theme, religion, was chosen

Symposium is to relate an issue ofglobalsignificancetoevery-day life, the selected speakers will be discussing how religion influencesseveralaspectsofhu-manity, from decisions regard-ing war and disaster, to personal issuessuchasmusicandfilm. Dr. Cain’s description of the two-day event includes planned discussions on assorted topics ranging from the relation-ships between major religions, to translations of sacred texts, to

a rifle bullet. The average human dream lasts only 2 to 3 seconds. Ferret comes from the Latin word for little thief. Clearwater, Florida has

How effective was Freshman Welcome Week?Mixed reviews from campus over week-long Freshman ori-entation

BY WALTER JUAREZCONTRIBUTING WRITER

Westminster College is an institution filled withexciting traditions. One of its biggest traditions is Welcome Week, the period that each freshman goes through at the beginning of the school year, starting with move-in day and ending with the first day ofclass. In the past, the length of welcome week has varied.

This year, it consisted of sev-en activity-packed days. Each year, Westminster has tailored these activities to help fresh-men transition into their new college life. The effectiveness of this transition is crucial, to say the least, for it pin-points one of the most important hur-dles that every successful col-lege students must conquer. Westminster performs several interesting and unfor-gettable traditions many of which are performed through-outthisfirstweek.Thebestex-ampleisperhapsoneofthefirsttraditions: The Columns Cere-mony. This ceremony consists of freshmen marching down from the Quad to the Hill. Af-ter arriving at The Hill, fresh-men listen to a few introduc-

tory and informative speeches. Next, they walk through The Columns, takingtheirfirststeptowards becoming a success-ful Blue Jay. During the cer-emony, the freshmen learn what it means to be a Westminster student and that they are not to walk through The Columns again until the day of their graduation, taking that last step towards the “real world.” Fail-ure to follow this traditional re-spect of The Columns can result on never graduating and also a fine. Most freshmen agree that Welcome Week was fun, challenging, and busy. It was fun because it included the re-nowned Westminster tradition: karaoke night. Other activi-ties consisted of a pool party, a

movie night, and let us not for-get the memorable play fair. For most freshmen, this week was also challenging due to the dis-tance between them and their families, along with the sched-ules that they had to follow. Going to The Leader Within class everyday caused many freshmen to feel busy and have homework every day, along with the many important lectures held throughout the week. Normally, this would notbeadifficulttaskbutmanyfreshmen had a hard time jug-gling all the mandatory activi-ties, class, journal entries, and sleep each and every day. Westminster shapes Welcome Week’s schedules for freshmen to taste what every high school teacher told them

college life would be like: “fun, flexible, homework, studying,and please do not forget about the homework!” So indeed, all the fun, challenging, and busy aspects of the freshmen’s firstweek in college were good ex-periences. Westminster has the privilege and freedom to plan a brand new and fresh Welcome Week each year; therefore, next year’s Welcome Week is ex-pected to leave out this year’s mistakes and it is expected to be more effective. Aside from a few technical and organiza-tional problems, it is safe to say that Westminster had a very ef-fective Welcome Week indeed.

Active members look forward to great things with help of new mem-bers.BY HAYLEE RETHMANLAYOUT EDITOR

Icecreamsocials,fielddays,andfinelydressedwomenand men walking to and from sorority lounges and fraternity houses. Everywhere a potential new member (PNM) turned, he or she would see something about a promotional event for Greek life and another person encouraging him or her to go through the recruitment pro-cess. The last three weeks have been filled with nothing lessthan a “Go Greek” attitude. The National Panhel-lenic Council (NPHC) sets the rules and guidelines for Greek women’s recruitment every year. This year, Panhel began advertising well before recruit-ment even started, and the

school year started off with a bang. Classes began on Aug. 20, and recruitment began Aug. 22 and went through Aug. 25. “I wasn’t even think-ing about going Greek when I came here, but I wouldn’t give it up now! I love my Kappa sisters,” said Brier Skogsberg, new freshman member of Kap-pa Kappa Gamma. Wednesday, Aug. 22 began the first of two nightsof open houses for the sorori-ties. During these open house nights, PNMs attended parties at each of the three different sorority lounges. Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Alpha Gamma Delta hosted these parties and invited the ladies to socialize, meet new people, get to know the active Greek women, and become more familiar with the ideals of each of the sororities. The third night of re-cruitment, the night of philan-thropy parties, was Friday, Aug. 24. During this night, the ladies learned more about each of the

different sororities’ philanthro-pies, or the charitable organi-zations for which they raise money.Thenextday,thefinalday of recruitment consists of preference parties in the morn-ing, and a Bid Day celebration later in the afternoon. After all of the parties are over, and before the Bid Day celebrations can commence, the sororities must first givebids to the new ladies of their sororities. Each of the sorori-ties gave sixteen bids to ladies of their choosing. The ladies then had to decide whether to accept or decline the bids, and the ones who accepted gathered with their fellow new members and ran from JCI down the hill towards home with a newfound sorority. “It was definitely anadrenaline rush,” said freshman Ashley Reisig. “I was excited to see my new sisters and glad I went through recruitment.” The Interfraternity Council (IFC) makes the rules and guidelines for Greek men’s

recruitment every year. Men’s Rush began on Wednesday, Sept. 5 and lasted until Satur-day, Sept. 8. The nights of rush week work much like those of women’s recruitment. The firsttwonightsconsistofopenhouses, the third is Preference Night,and thefinalday isBidDay. “I think this year we had a good turnout of young men who went through rush,” said IFC Treasurer Jonathan

Muff. “IFC’s goal this year was to get roughly 140 men to go through the rush process. Even though we did not reach that number, we had114 gen-tlemen go through, which is a great number.” The experiences were overall positive. The active members of the fraternities and the new members that have just completed rush said they have had a lot of fun. Cont. pg 8

Fraternities and sororities gain new members

New and active members of Kappa Alpha Theta dance on the Hill dur-ing Bid Day.Photo by Haylee Rethman

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the highest rate of lightning strikes per capita in the US. The roadrunner chases after its prey at a blurring speed of up to 25 mph.

International Affairs Friday, September 14, 2012The Columns

4

yourself to new things at col-lege. Get involved, visit friends, take responsibility, study hard but also party enough to make yourself happy. Be active and don’t ever be afraid of what people will think about you be-cause they do think and that’s not going to change. What’s going to change is the way you make them think about you. Give a good impres-sion because that helps a lot in the future when you need help, and for sure, you will need help at some point. And my last piece of advice: enjoy this experience because it is unique and special. Not everyone has the opportu-nity to have a college experi-ence in the United States.

cultures, people and places, and I started taking a role in school activities such as in Fine Arts and GlobeFM. These last experiences inspired me to take a more important role in campus activities, so I commit-ted myself to discover what it feels like to actually work to keep up with the school mis-sion and values. This year, I’m in charge of several clubs, and I participate in several others. Taking responsibility for and with other people, makes you realize how important is to connect with different kinds of people around you. It makes your life easier and more fun. So, for all the new students, especially for inter-national students, discover the genuine experience of opening

like a loser with my poor Eng-lish language. I did not feel comfortable enough to make English speaking friends be-cause I was afraid they would laugh at me. But those things were changing throughout the year. I realized that there is nothing to be ashamed of; actually coming to the United State and to Westminster Col-lege was a good reason to feel be proud. Westminster College is one of the best colleges in the Midwest, and its competi-tive program makes students competitive as well. As I approached the second semester of my fresh-men year, I started changing the way I saw people. From a shy person, I became more open-minded. I got to know

makes it even more difficult.I came here hoping to findeverything the same as back home, same culture, same kind of people, same belief, but sud-denly I realized that I was very wrong. People were totally different from me, from my friends, cultures were just not what I was expecting, there is a huge number of religions around the world that I did not even know existed. It certainly was a cultural shock for me. However, getting out of your comfort zone to discover new things makes a student’s life more interesting. For example, last year I did not get too involved in school activities such as clubs, debates or services because I was actually afraid of looking

Overcoming adversity through involvement

This is a good time to bring back memories from my freshmen year, and since many of you don’t know me yet, I want to start this article presenting myself. My name is Martin, I am from Paraguay and I am sophomore. Com-ing to Westminster was a huge change and challenge for all of us. Leaving home is not an easy thing to do, and even worse, leaving the country

BY MARTIN ROASTAFF WRITER

One international student from Para-guay shares his experiences with studying here.

plaints of the dining hall food, you wish they were open at least one a day. For you to cook, you need to shop for the food, you need to be creative and think of healthy ways of eating and as college students, we all agree that this is just too much work. Instead, the students rarely eat healthy, there can be a few cooking sessions, but most of the time, they go with fast food. Last but not least, students have a hard time over the summer because this is the time when everybody visits home, and staying here is emotionally dif-ficult. For all those who had their summers spent here at school working, we congratu-late you, and wish you a suc-cessful semester ahead.

dents; which were the major-ity of students working here over the summer. Secondly, the fact that we are in the hot-test season of the year, and in Missouri, things just get bad on your side. There is no way anyone wouldn’t take a day off to enjoy a hot day in the beach, a swimming pool or a river, but it’s just impossible. Again, we must agree that this is a big challenge for all the students who have to stay here during the summer, no doubt that these deserve great appreciation and respect. Besides the heat, there is also the issue of cooking that all students face during the sum-mer. Unless you are an expert on the matter, you will hate to stay here during the sum-mer because despite the com-

wasn’t that bad. I mean de-spite the fact that there is no dining hall, and you don’t get to see everybody, life is just stable. Emotionally speak-ing however, summer could be the worst time ever: Work gets boring, the heat is just too much, and you can’t cope with the cooking every single day; in addition you wish you had the chance to go home and see your family. No matter how fun your summer job is, there is always that one day that stu-dents wake up and feel like staying in bed all day long. I mean anybody would do that, especially knowing that you had to work 10 hours a day. We call this a challenge for college students, and in par-ticular the international stu-

share the story of folks that for financial reasons had to stayand work at school for three-months instead of visiting their families and friends. The time is up, exams are over and I have got all my bags packed for me to move out from my freshmen dorm. I am going to stay in SAE and share a room for three months, while I get to work 40-50 hrs a week. This may sound re-ally depressing, but in fact it’s just how life moves on during the summer. I mean students set a goal for the summer. They either stay and work all those hours to buy a ticket for the Christmas holidays, or they just have the school as the bet-ter option for the summer. Looking back, it

A look at Westminster during the summer

Often students plan their summer holidays way ahead of time. As soon as they register for the spring semes-ter, all is there left to do is let the days go by and wait for the beautiful summer holidays to come. The majority of them go home, some have intern-ships, others decided to take a trip around the country, and a couple of folks remain in school for financial reasonsor more. Today I am going to

BY GUIOMAR SAPISTAFF WRITER

An international student shares the pros and cons of living on campus during the summer.

Unique artifacts bring new interest to National Churchill Museum

A cigar humidor Winston Churchill inhertied from Franklin D. Roosevelt. Photo by Susan Young

addition to the museum, given to Churchill by Franklin D. Roosevelt when he visited him. Roosevelt was not a cigar smoker but knew that Churchill was and so received per-mission to give this humidor to him on his visit. There are also cigars set in Lucite. Churchill would light one andthensetitdownbeforeitwasfin-ished and then someone would pick it up and sell it. A collector had some of them and had them set in lucite be-fore donating them to the museum. Other artifacts include a clothing brush with Churchill’s monogram on it, a small bedside clock and four photocopies of Time magazines photos of Churchill paint-ing. In these photos Greenshields is standing near Churchill, watching him as he paints. These photos de-pict Churchill as he goes about his life. They are not posed photos, and show him as he works on state mat-ters, making them a rare glimpse into the man he really was.

The Winston Churchill Memorial and Museum is the site of some new artifacts that were received from the son of Churchill’s butler, William Green-shields. Churchill and his butler were very close and this shows in the photographs at the museum, in which Churchill is painting and Greenshields is close by his side. Churchill gave his butler many gifts during their time together, and Greenshields’ son from Kansas City donated them to the museum. Liz Murphy, Museum Ar-chivist and Curator, and Dr. Rob Havers went to Kansas City, Mo., to view the items he wanted to donate and, after looking at them, were able to get them passed through the collections committee and brought them back to the museum. One artifact is a cigar hu-midor from a 1946 visit Churchill made to Cuba. This is a signifi-cant artifact for the museum since Churchill acquired it in the same year he made his Iron Curtain speech at Westminster. There is a second humidor, which is a new

BY SUSAN YOUNGCONTRIBUTING WRITER

Greek LifeThe Columns5

Friday, September 14, 2012

Alpha Gam gains new members through women’s recruitment.

BY HAYLEE RETHMANLAYOUT EDITOR

Formal recruitment is an event that only comes around once every school year. During this time, young ladies decide to open their minds to going Greek and possibly join-ing a sorority. This process takes a lot of careful planning and organization, and each so-rority prepares for it differently. Alpha Gamma Delta was one of the three sororities gearing up for recruitment. A week before school

began and the new freshman class moved in, the Greek wom-en were back at the grindstone, preparing for the few days of formal recruitment. Usually a week of planning goes into what will take place over the four days of the recruitment process, and this year was no different. The women of Alpha Gam spent long hours the week before classes rehearsing and refining the routine of the fewdays that would soon come. “I think recruitment went really well this year with the attitudes of all the Greek women,” said Formal Recruit-ment Coordinator of Alpha Gamma Delta Kim Petiford. “We all get really excited for it and are happy to welcome new members to our chapters.”

The active members of the sorority participated in two consecutive open houses begin-ning on Wednesday, Aug. 22, and ending on Thursday, Aug. 23. The third night was a phi-lanthropy night in which the la-dies going through recruitment learned about their philanthro-pies: The Alpha Gamma Delta Foundation, their national phi-lanthropy, and Our House, their local philanthropy. The final day of therecruitment process consisted of the preference parties dur-ing the morning on Saturday, Aug. 25 and a Bid Day celebra-tion later on the hill for the new members of Alpha Gam. “My experience during recruitment with Alpha Gam was like entering a family that I already knew almost,” said

freshman new member of Al-pha Gamma Delta Taylor Gra-vatt. “Alpha Gam is my home away from home.” The Alpha Gamma Delta officers, members andnew members are all very ex-cited to have participated in recruitment and to have gotten great new additions to their so-rority. “We are super excited to have a wonderful new mem-ber class, and we can’t wait to have an amazing year,” said President Katy Braden. The feelings from the new members seem to be radi-ating positivity as well. “Alpha Gamma Delta is a group of girls who work together through charitable events and socials in order to better their community and

help the word around them,” said freshman and new mem-ber of Alpha Gam Meredith Bolen. “They have all been so nice and throughout re-cruitment have been trying to give the girls the best Alpha Gam experience they can. It is a group of sisters that seems ecstatic about the new ‘baby squirrels’ joining the sorority. I am so happy I was asked to go Alpha Gam!” The experience of re-cruitment is one that the ladies of Alpha Gamma Delta will not forget for a long time, and they will be celebrating the new members of their sorority until and continuing after ini-tiation in November.

Alpha Gamma Delta excited about new members

Fraternities welcome new members into brotherhood

The six fraternities here at Westminster, Beta The-ta Pi, Delta Tau Delta, Kappa Alpha Order, Phi Delta Theta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and Sig-ma Chi, prepared for rush in different ways. The Beta house wooed over potential freshmen with loud music and a kiddy pool where they all kicked back and relaxed, dipping their feet in as they enjoyed the day. Phi Delt was getting ready with their outgoing personalities making everyone feel welcome. While going through this year’s recruitment prepara-tions, sophomore Eddie Jack-son recalled why he pledged Phi Delta Theta his freshman year. “Out of all the houses, Phi Delt seemed to be a little more homey and diverse,” he said. The fraternity fieldday, sponsored by the Inter-Fraternity Council, allowed some of the freshmen to get a feel for the members of each fraternity before the big three days of recruitment actually ar-rived. Each house had an activi-ty, ranging from volleyball with Sigma Chi to a dunking booth at Beta. The hopefuls, under the watchful eye of the IFC, where able to meet and greet the members of each house and ask any question that they might have had. Questions like the cost to live in a particular house or the type of service projects that fraternities are in-volved in gave rush participants a good idea of the house they would like to be a part of. “In other houses,” Jackson said, “you can gener-

ally find a stereotype that fitsbut at Phi Delt, we don’t have astereotypethatfits.Wejustbeourselves but grow as a family.” In an informal survey conducted last week with male residents in the quad, about 6 out of 10 freshmen said that they are going to rush. Two out of the four remaining said that they were not sure and the other two said no. One of the biggest reasons that some of the fresh-men are not rushing is the cost. An anonymous source saidthat,“Itisnotthatthefivedollars to rush is expensive, it is the money you have to pay to be a part of the fraternity if a fra-ternity picks you. I do not want to pay money to maybe get into a house or pay to get accepted into a house and still have to pay a lot more money just to be a member.” However, many fra-ternity members say the high cost is worth it. They point to membership advantages such as scholarships to help pay the cost to be a member, the people fraternity members meet will be lifelong friends, and they begin to network with people and get things like internships more easily because a member of the house recommends them. “[It’s] Like living with a bunch of brothers--brothers born from the same mother but different personalities,” Jack-son said of his experience at Phi Delt.. “We may get into an ar-gument, but pretty soon we will be playing video games togeth-er.” He added, “And the food is amazing.” Many of the fresh-men say they want to form a bond with others members in a house. Many also agree that joining a fraternity will amplify their college experience by al-lowing them to not only party, but also by push them in their academics. Each house has an academic standard that may be hard for some of the hopefuls to obtain, but with the help of the

A look at the new members’ expe-riences during Men’s Recruit-ment.BY DERRICK STARKSCONTRIBUTING WRITER

IFC sponsors Fraternity Field Day-before Men’s Recruitment

Freshman interact with current Phi Delta Theta members during IFC’s first Fraternity Field Day. Photo by Elyssa Mann

A spider’s silk is stronger than steel. Cleveland, OH is home to the first electric traffic lights. An egg that is fresh will sink in water, but a stale

All three sororities pose with their new memebers.

Photo by Haylee Rethman

other members, they will learn to balance academics with fun. Ultimately, the finalchoice is up to those going through the process. “When go-ing through Greek life, don’t

join a house based off of the amount of drinking they do, the girls, or how good they are in intramurals,” Jackson said. “Find a house that speaks to you. You can get good grades

and do intramurals on your own. Do it for the brotherhood found within each house.”

New members enter the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house after receiving their bids.Photo by Kathleen McKinney

Friday, September 14, 2012The Columns

6Opinionmove out and get going with life.” Barack Obama’s plans for economic recovery in this country are not working—I would argue that they are nearly nonexistent. We can argue about the economics of proposed poli-cies, but when it comes down to results, Obama is not working for America. So many people want jobs, but the President is not getting America working again. Can we, especially as soon-to-be college graduates, afford four more years of failed economic policies that have no results? I don’t think so, which is why I argue we need a posi-tive change that will come with the election of Governor Rom-ney and Congressman Ryan. America desperately needs some R and R.

ment that will force schools to disregard race, socioeconomic status, religion, etc., and allow families and students to choose the correct school for their chil-dren.Thepartyisalsofightingtoget America working again and to make sure that a high school diploma and a college degree actually mean something in our society. National Chairman of the College Republican Na-tional Committee, Alex Schriv-er, voiced his concerns for our generation if Obama continues to lead the next four years. As Schriver stated, nearly half of today’s college graduates do not wake up in the morning and go to a job. Rep. Ryan also voiced his concern for our generation stating “college graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, star-ing up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can

our country today, and realize that something is terribly wrong with the nucleus of America: the family. Without a good fam-ily structure, our schools and neighborhoods cannot become safe, healthy learning environ-ments. It was not that long ago that nearly every neighborhood in America was fairly crime-free, and children could safely play in the neighborhood. Sadly, this is not the case in America today, and children are forced to have a greater role in the family household on decision-making and everyday household tasks. Those children that have a more difficulthomelifeareforcedtoattend,byfinancialconstraints,poorly structured schools more often than not. The Republican Party, voiced most eloquently by Gov. Bush at the convention, is try-ing to lead a national move-

vention, all with a common theme: Barack Obama and the Democratic Party have failed this country, four more years of continued failure will truly ruin this great nation, and a Romney-Ryan ticket is the only way to restore America to its rightful glory. Although there are dif-ferences within the party—Tea Partiers, evangelical conserva-tives, moderates, fiscal conser-vatives, social conservatives, Libertarians, etc.—the party can and will move forward from the convention as one unit. We now have the same platform, which electedofficialsofthepartywillpromote, and the same presiden-tial hopeful that all will help get elected. A main point of the platform is to build healthy families, great schools and safe neighborhoods. Who can argue with that? Anyone can look at

During the Republican National Convention, the na-tion was able to preview what the party had to offer this elec-tion season. Speakers included former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Ann Romney, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Clint Eastwood, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), former Secretary of State Condolezza Rice, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), New Jersey Gov. Chris Chris-tie, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Hayley, former Rep. Artur Davis (D-Alabama), and of course, the Republican presidential nominee former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. All the hot-button top-ics were discussed at the con-

BY KARI LENZCONTRIBUTING WRITER

A Republican’s view of the National Con-vention

The RNC: The home team’s take

The RNC: A view from the oppositiongard for the truth that is becom-ing ever more apparent. Don’t misunderstand me, this is not a strictly partisan issue. Obama’s campaign has been caught with its pants smoldering as well. The Democratic Na-tional Convention last week in Charlotte, N. C., may have lacked the entertainment value of a respected Hollywood leg-end talking to an empty chair. Maybe the more important is-sue is the fact that people today, in a general, nonpartisan sense, do not hold the truth in high regard. If you can manipulate facts to suit your talking point, well, why not? As Herman Cain said in a recent interview, “Here’s where we differ on the facts.”

Obama has ended the work re-quirement for citizens receiv-ingwelfare benefits. The factchecking website PolitiFact gave this statement its “pants-on-fire”rating,reservedforout-right lies. The facts? States are now allowed waivers that allow them more flexibility in con-structing the work requirements for welfare recipients. Repub-lican claims that the waivers make work requirements less stringent are simply not true. A standard still exists and each waiver must be approved indi-vidually. States now have the right to experiment with pro-grams that might allow more individuals to work. Two examples from the Republican campaign hard-ly do justice to the blatant disre-

office.Theplantwaseffective-ly closed in December 2008, although some workers did stay on until April 2009. Obama’s actual quote to the workers at the Janesville plant in February 2008 was, “I believe that if our government is there to support you, and give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition, that this plant will be here for another hundred years.” This is a simple statement that the auto industry could remain vi-able with government support. Obama was in no position at that point in time to control the specific fate of an individualplant. Another highly conten-tious point in the convention was Mitt Romney’s claim that

Any message of core values of the Republican Party was buried by the media frenzy respond-ing to the false claims made by speakers. Let’s take a look at a couple of the most prominent lies of the Romney/Ryan cam-paign. Receiving the most me-dia attention was a talking point made by Vice Presidential candi-date Paul Ryan. Ryan recounted the story of a closed auto plant in his hometown of Janesville, Wis., as an example of Presi-dent Barack Obama’s failure to follow through with promises. While Obama did make a speech at the auto plant during his cam-paign tour in February 2008, the decision to close the auto plant was actually made during Presi-dent George W. Bush’s term in

A Democrat’s per-spective on the RNC.

“We’re not going let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers,” said Romney pollster Neil Newhouse on the firstdayoftheRepublicanNa-tional Convention – a succinct statement to summarize the rest of the Convention, held this year in Tampa, Fla. National Conventions are not debates; rather they serve more as a pep rally for the upcoming election season. Does this mean that all traces of substance and truth should be shoved to the side?

BY KATHLEEN MCKINNEYCONTRIBUTING WRITER

The ColumnsStaff

Elyssa MannEditor-in-Chief

Haylee RethmanLayout Editor

Katie NassifAssistant Editor

Dr. Maureen TuthillFaculty Advisor

one won’t. Baking soda makes a great scouring cleanser, and it’s naturally chemical-free. Shakespeare invented the word “assassination” and

Above: Pro-testers await Todd Akin’s arrival.

Left: Todd Akin arrives at Westminster.

Right: Senior Erica Smith and junior Lynn Gerrity hold their pro-test signs.

Photos by Elyssa Mann

OpinionThe Columns7

Friday, September 14, 2012

Sitting in the dining hall as a junior gives me ample time to eavesdrop. While this may not be the most polite or ethical thing to do, I really can’t help it. I’ve always been an eavesdrop-per—I prefer to think of it as be-ing naturally curious—and since very few juniors actually eat in the dining hall, as most managed to escape such a fate by living somewhere other than a dorm, I spend no small amount of time waiting for my roommate to ar-rive so that I have someone to talk to. This time spent waiting has led to three conclusions: 1. I’m glad I’m not a freshman; 2. I wish the dining hall would serve carrot cake again because it’s my favorite; and 3. this world has some serious work-ethic issues. Now, this last conclu-sion comes from conversations you can hear just about any-where on campus. “Ugh. I’m not doing the reading. It’s like, sixty pages long.” Or even, “I just spent my whole shift at work on Facebook.” And this isn’t an is-sue just here on campus, it’s ev-erywhere. I had a conversation with my mother this summer about her job as a supervisor at a childcare center. The stories she told me about the teachers at the center made me cringe; habitual lateness, general laziness, and

Food service for your thoughts?A look at how food service might be the best thing that’s ever happened to us.

BY ELYSSA MANNEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

a complete lack of care for the job was abundantly clear. And these were adults who were supposed to be caring for children, not col-lege students who sometimes slack off when it comes to classes. Luckily, I have parents who both have a strong work ethic, and instilled the same value in me. But it didn’t just come from my parents. I had to develop my ethic on my own, and while I’d like to pretend that I am naturally freakishly productive, I can’t. It came from food service. It came from smil-ing through an eleven-and-a-halfhourshift,andfinishingashift at four in the morning at Pizza Hut this past summer. It came from coming into work three hours early because you have to have two people in Subway at all times. It came fromgettingfivehoursofsleepbetween shifts, and power-ing through sickness, and giv-ing myself carpal tunnel by squeezing dressing bottles too many times to count. It came from cutting myself on a microwave and falling so hard I got a goose-egg on my shin. It came from a deep hatred of olives, but hav-ing to deal with them anyway, seeing people without shirts on

that desperately needed them, smelling like Subway, studying for tests in the back room, do-ing piles of dishes literally taller than I was, and wishing that I wasnot in chargeof threefif-teen year-old boys, which is a lot like nailing Jello to a wall or herding cats. It’s strange, unnerving, aggravating, and sometimes rather unpleasant experiences like the ones I had in food ser-vice that are going to prepare me to be successful in the real world. With that kind of state-ment, you’re probably thinking, “Well, that’s a stretch, I mean, the professional job market is vastly different than food ser-vice.”

You’re probably right. But they don’t have to be iden-tical for the same principles to apply. If you’re late too many times for a food service job, theyfireyou.Thereareabouttwelve applicants waiting for your job, and they’ll be on time. You have to do things you want to do all the time (seriously, all the time), and at Subway, if you don’t want to mix the tuna and the mayonnaise with your hands, that’s too bad, because they’ll get someone else to do it instead of you. In the professional world, you have to work on projects with other associates (something our professors remind us of on a regular basis). In food ser-vice, all there is is teamwork;

otherwise there is no earthly way you’re going to go home at a decent hour. Sorry if it got preachy in there, folks. But this world, and most of us college students, needs a healthy dose of good work ethic, and a few months in food service will clear that laziness right up. So we have to suffer for a few months, or two years, in my case. Employers hire and reward hard workers, so it’s a small price to pay for future suc-cess. Yes, food service sucks, but at least we get something out of it in the long run. Think about that the next time you’re swearing up and down that you’ll never work with food.

“We WILL be watch-ing you!” To a freshman, these words sound silly and scary both at the same time. Let’s face it, we were seniors last year and we answered to no one. We were the kings and queens of the hill, or at least that is what many of us loved to believe. After our eighth grade year, many of us had a hard time starting from the bottom all over again as high school freshmen. Though most of us loved being seniors and having the many perks we had acquired from being the oldest after hav-ing paid our dues for the past three years, we could not wait to get out of high school and move on to start the beginning of the rest of our lives. Whether our steps took us to the workforce, military, or college, we thought little of the idea of “starting from the bottom” again. Little did we know, the middle school to high school transition was a piece of cake compared to what was be-ginning to happen right in front of our eyes. Regardless of our cho-sen paths after high school, we all realized that there we were again starting from zero. For those of us that chose to come

Skulls of Seven through a freshman’s eyesThe Skulls of Seven keep freshmen on their toes.

BY WALTER JUAREZCONTRIBUTING WRITER

to Westminster, we quickly discovered that there was an actual hill on campus topped by the Columns: Westmin-ster’s most respected symbol. We also learned that we were not kings of The Hill anymore, but that it already had kings, seven of them to be exact: the Skulls of Seven. Whenwefirstlearnedabout the Skulls, we did not understand what they were all about. But after being on cam-pus for a few weeks, we now understand that the Skulls are the backbone of Westminster’s set of core values: fairness, integrity, respect and respon-

sibility. We also learned that the Skulls will make sure to let us freshman know that they will always be watching us as we carry out our Westminster journeys. They abolished our self-claimed seniority rights by holding a meeting in Champ Auditorium the first day wearrived at Westminster. In that meeting, the Skulls alerted us that Westminster’s values were not a joke, and that we must follow them and that, well, they were going to be watch-ing us. During the meeting, theauditoriumwasfilledwithmixed emotions. Several of

us felt threatened, others felt creeped out, and many felt pranked. After that warn-ing we did not hear from the Skulls again until Aug. 30. Early that morning, they marched through The Quad leaving behind a list of the ten amendments that we must follow taped on every suite door. Through our eyes, the language seemed harsh and demeaning, so maybe that is why they waited for us to get to know Westminster’s val-ues before they dictated the amendments. Had they not waitedanddoneitonourfirst

day, we would probably have run to our parents and left Ful-ton right away. We are still just fresh-men and do not understand much about the Skulls, but then again, who does? They are a respectable group that some freshmen already wish to become a part of in a few years. But for now, all we can do is be careful and be smart about our actions because at the end of the day, they WILL be watching us.

“bump.” Louisiana is home to over 80% of the world’s crayfish. It takes an interaction of 72 muscles to produce human speech. The only food

Sketch by Kyle Klahs

A tuna and olive sandwich, much to the disgust of the author.Photo by Elyssa Mann

Friday, September 14, 2012The Columns

8SportsBlue Jays gear up for football season

There is reason to ex-pect a great year of football from the Westminster Bluejay team here in 2012. After a very strong campaign last year that included an 8-2 win loss record with a 7-2 record in conference, going 5-0 at home here in Ful-ton, and being close to winning theirfirstconferencetitlesincethe 2004 season. Over 50 players return with some form of experience

this year, including 14 seniors and 14 starters each, to compli-ment the new class of freshman joiningthemonthefield. However, hopes are not just high here in Mid-Mis-souri, the Upper Midwest Ath-letic Conference is full of other schools reaching for football glory this year. In the preseason poll for the conference, Westmin-ster finished in third place inthe votes – a scant three points behind the first place team.Greenville College (Greenville, Il.) and defending conference champ St. Scholastica (Duluth, Mn.) both placed in front of the Bluejays with 58 and 57 points

each in the poll. The interesting item though is that all three schools received3firstvotesbetweenall of them; and with the win-ner of the conference title earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Foot-ball Playoffs, the stakes are high and the games should be fierce. According to the conference’s preseason poll; Westminster fans should ex-pect a stingy defense that is especially tough against the run while also having an of-fense that should average somewhere around 30+ points a game.

This team could also providesomefireworksaslastyear’s team didn’t always punt the ball on fourth down – and they still ended up converting 50% of their fourth down con-version attempts for the whole year. Head Coach John Welty is entering his 14th year as head coach at Westminster, his 15th year being here and involved in the football pro-gram. He carries a winning record of 68-57 over his firstthirteen years that he looks to improve upon this year. The first game of theseason was Saturday, Septem-ber the 1st, in a road contest

against non-conference oppo-nent Rockford College (Rock-ford, IL.). This early season test proved to be very pass-able for the Bluejays as they cruised to a 40-0 shutout vic-tory to start the season with on bang. Home games will be on September 29th, October 13th, and October 27th, which is also homecoming and fam-ily weekend, against Eureka (Ill.), St. Scholastica, and Greenville. So, make a plan to watch all the ballgames (they all start at 1:00) and en-joy some competitive football right here in Fulton, MO! This should be a great year!

Blue Jays start the football season with a shutout win.

BY JOHN YORKCONTRIBUTING WRITER

Westminster finishes well in first cross-country meet

Another exciting year for the Westminster Cross Country Team has started. The Blue Jays have a great season ahead of them. This year, the team has twenty-four runners. The fifteen men rep-resenting are: Matt Allen (Fr.), Matt Borst (Jr.), Jake Burch (Jr.), Jesse Edwards (Fr.), Aus-tin Fiegel (Jr.), Nathan Fox (Fr.), Yuki Goto (So.), Steve Heim (Fr.), Daniel Lindaman (So.), Will Megl (So.), Myl-

han Myers (Sr.), Pius Nyakoojo (Fr.), Jared Patterson (So.), Victor Sticknot (Sr.), and Spen-cer Woodford (So.). The nine women rep-resenting Westminster College are: Michelle Aiello (Fr.), Kaily Downey (Sr.), Olivia “Claire” Gibby (Fr.), Sarah Koestner (Jr.), Lauren Lamzik (Fr.), Ash-ley Reisig (Fr.), Brier Skogs-berg (Fr.), Danielle Smulczen-ski (So.), and Anna West (So.). The team is being led by Coach Jim Marshall and the Assistant Coach Dave Tobey. The team had its firstmeet the morning of September 1. It was a meet against Prin-cipia College, and Illinois Col-lege. Waking up at 5:30 in the

morning, the team showed its dedication to Westminster and the sport. The women ran at 9 a.m., and the men ran at 10 a.m. Sarah Koestner said, “It was very muddy and slip-pery on an already difficultcourse.” It rained the entire day before, and there were spotty showers that morn-ing, but this did not dampen the team’s spirit or stop them from running. The women ran a 4K, which is approximately 2.5 miles, while the men ran a 6K, or 3.7 miles. The team to beat at the meet was Principia, ac-cording to Coach Marshall, “Westminster has never beat-

Westminster defeats Prinicipia for first time.

BY ASHELY REISIGCONTRIBUTING WRITER

en Principia.” After Satur-day’s meet, Coach Marshall can never say that again. The Women’s Cross Country team cameinfirst,beatingPrincipiaby 13 points. Five Westmin-ster women came in the top ten. Kaily Downey came in first,SarahKoestner in third,Sarah Ogar in fifth, LaurenLamzik in seventh, and Brier Skogsberg in ninth. For the men’s team, Westminster came in a very close second. Daniel Linda-man came in fouth, Steve Heim in fifth, Jesse Edwardsin sixth, Matt Borst in seventh, Jared Patterson in eighth, and Will Megl in tenth. With the team’s ac-

complishments at this meet, everyone is looking towards the future and how they can improve as a team. “I hope in the future the team can run as a closer pack and really work togeth-er,” said Daniel Lindaman. Koestner, Lindaman, and Coach Marshall all agree that if the team continues to run its best and work together, it will be a real contender for confer-ence this year. This is going to be a team to watch as the season continues. The team had its second meet Friday Septem-ber 7 at Central Missouri State University.

Women’s soccer prepares for a new seasongroup of newcomers as they get set to kick off their season. With 13 upperclassmen and nearly as many freshmen, the team is looking to have fresh legs on the field at all times.Being able to compete physi-cally would be a great step for a team that is trying to improve on its 3-13 record from last year. TheJays,whofinishedtiedforfifthinconferenceplay

last season, have been ranked sixth out of nine teams in the coaches’ preseason poll for the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Coach Dyson says she is eager to see her team compete against the conference, but each match is an important learning experi-ence. “Conference play is always an exciting part to look forward to,” Dyson said, “but

Women’s soccer plan to improve on last year’s records.

BY EMILY KESELSTAFF WRITER

each game until then is an op-portunity for us to compete.” Aside from improv-ing on their conference and overall records, Dyson says she would like to see her team come together as a unit. She’s looking to her returning up-perclassmen to take a lead-ership role in this endeavor: “All of them know what it takes to be successful and re-ally understand how to lead

onandoffthefield.” Overall, the team has high expectations for the season and believes it will be a good time for the fans that come out to show their sup-port. “This is an exciting group of ladies to see play,” Coach Dyson said. “You are lucky to have the opportunity to see such a great display of soccer on this campus.”

Coach Jen Dyson and the Westminster Blue Jays are excited about having many returning players and a good

that does not spoil is honey. The state of Florida is bigger than England The official color of California’s Golden Gate Bridge is International Orange.

Men’s soccer aims for a great seasonBlue Jays finished first in theSt. Louis Intercollegiate Athlet-ic Conference regular season, earning home-field advantagefor the conference tournament. Their season ended prematurely, though, when they suffered a 1-0 loss to Web-ster University in the semifi-nal round. Head coach Martin Clayes earned SLIAC Coach of the Year for leading the team to an 11-4-4 overall record. Several players also earned conference honors, in-

cluding returning sophomore Caleb Marquis (Newcomer of the Year, Honorable Men-tion), and juniors Jason Josh-ua, Zach Moore, and Tyler Walker (Honorable Mention). With the memory of last season’s success in mind and sights set on a conference tournament title, this year’s team is training harder than ever. The hard work isn’t going unnoticed, either. The Jays are ranked third in the

Men’s soccer team aims to emulate last season’s success.

BY EMILY KESELSTAFF WRITER

preseason coaches’ poll for the conference behind only Fontbonne University and Greenville College. Even though the team received four first-place votes, the third-place ranking allows them to play as underdogs with a little less pressure in their confer-ence matches. Despite only having one senior on the team, the Jays will have plenty of ex-periencedplayersonthefieldevery game. Much of the

team is made up of juniors and sophomores who had a con-siderable amount of playing time last year and are eager to see more of the same this sea-son. It would be a safe bet, however, that no matter which eleven players Coach Clayes has on the field, theywill all be hungry for a chance to prove themselves and help their team to a championship.

The Westminster men’s soccer team is looking to take the success they had last season one step further this year as they begin the year with several returning starters. The

Greek organizations gain new members (cont.)men on Saturday proud to go Greek, no matter what house they received a bid from. I amdefinitelyexcitedaboutthegreat group of men KA recruit-ed this year and the great things they can bring to our house in the future.” At 9:00 p.m., the new members of each fraternity be-gan running with their respec-

tive pledge classes and frater-nity flags towards the housethey had just joined. “I think Rush was re-ally physically draining, but it was completely worth it,” said freshman new member of Delta Tau Delta Nick Nelson. “I had so much fun meeting guys from every house, and I’m so happy to have chosen

the house that’s best for me because now I have a group of guys I can call brothers. I am looking forward to what this year and the next three hold for us!” Another new member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon also had positive things to say. “SAE gives me the opportunity to become a true

gentleman while having a great time at Westminster,” said freshman Joe Voltmer.

Cont. from pg 3 “This rush has been the most exciting rush since I’ve been here at Westminster,” said senior Adam Ross, Kappa Alpha Order President. “IFC, Jackie Weber, and Tara Fuller all did very well in planning everything and overseeing the whole recruitment process. It was great to see all the fresh-