March 22, 2018
THE
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WEATHER VANE
VOL. 64 No. 17
E A S T E R N MEN N ON I T E U N I VERS I T Y ’ S S T U D EN T N E WS PAP ER S I NC E 1 9 3 9
SIX-INCH SNOWFALL CANCELS CLASSES
Seniors Stephanie Slabach Brubaker and Rachel Shenk enjoy the snow at a campus-wide snowball fight hosted by CAC on Wednesday, March 21. Classes were cancelled Wednesday due to Winter Storm Toby, which covered the northeastern United States in snow.
Will Ewart
ATHLETE FEATURE: LUNCHES W/ LIESL: GRAY JAY JUNIOR SYDNEY REATH tough,” according to their website. Both Gagnon and Amsden originally hail from northern climes in New EnWith the sleet drizzling gland, bringing to their restauspring break trip and earned the world in crystals of ice this rant a tough-but-cozy vibe I the win in each, finishing 4-0 Tuesday, I could think of no have not found elsewhere in with a 0.60 ERA. better place to visit than Gray Harrisonburg. With no seniors on this Jay Provisions, a newly-opened This eatery found the balyear’s softball team, Reath is sandwich and soup eatery on ance between warmth and one of two captains as a junior. Route 42. With warm food, personal space, providing little The role adds a new kind of atmosphere, and huggable nooks for intimate converchallenge for the pitcher/in- mugs, visiting Gray Jay on a sations, but leaving enough fielder and she tackles the role gray day was a perfect way to room that the experience is not by setting a good example on spend my lunch hour. claustrophobically cozy. With and off the field for her teamMichelle Gagnon, EMU wood tones, yellow accents, mates. alumni ‘97, and Seth Ams- various couches, and a wall of “Being a captain has chal- den recently opened this food windows, the space invites you lenged me by making me step niche in an old convenience to sit and stay a while. out of my comfort zone,” she store next to where they used Gray Jay values commuexplained. “Leading by exam- to sell Christmas trees. Gray nity relationships, embracing ple is what I’ve been trying to Jay Provisions they named it, a slow-food model menu. do all season and just be sup- after a mischievous northern Options follow the seasons, portive of everyone and be gray bird that is “always ready sourced locally, and aim to to share a meal” and “stick[s] “nourish both people and Continued on page 5 it out when the going gets planet,” according to the webLiesl Graber, Editor in Chief
Savannah Olshove, Sports Information Intern
Junior Sydney Reath is known for her leadership abilities and consistency on EMU’s softball team. In a 9-1 win over Chatham, Sydney batted 4-for-4 with three doubles, driving in four runs and scoring two of her own. She had the walk-off RBI single in last Tuesday’s 3-2 win over Sage College. On the season, Sydney is tied for second in the ODAC with seven doubles and tied for the team lead with 13 RBIs. As a pitcher, she appeared in four games during the team’s
site. Because of this, the menu might be different every time you visit. “We don’t have a fast food philosophy. Everything Seth [Amsden] makes, he makes fresh, in-house,” Gagnon said. “We have a respect for food: where it comes from, the people who grow it, the land that it comes from.” Gray Jay’s inpermanent menu is written on a large roll of recycled paper, which they can easily tear off and re-write whenever the menu changes. I ordered a cup of lentil soup ($3.50), which came with a side of sourdough Amsden made fresh in-house, and a cup of coffee ($2). This was just enough food to satisfy my hunger — for food, but also for the soup-on-a-rainy-day Continued on page 4
INSIDE NEWS & FEATURE
REVIEW
SPORTS
OPINION
OREGON
JEFF GUNDY
GOLF
NOSTALGIA
“I went in thinking I hated writing and came out looking at grad programs that are heavily focused on writing and research...”
Gundy’s selections mixed anecdotes from traveling and teaching with humor, philosophy, and Mennonite themes.
The golf team teed off and began their spring season on Saturday, March 17, at the Eagle Invitational.
Going all-in will require a significant shift in how we fulfill our attachment needs, a re-definition of our relationship with our stuff.
CANVAS
GUATEMALA
This week’s Canvas page features photos and poetry from students on the Guatemala/Mexico Cross Cultural experience.
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March 22, 2018
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NEWS & FEATURE T h e We a t h e r Va n e
ON TRAINHOPPING, TUXEDOS, AND ORGASMS a job at Goshen College. After overcoming the shock of horses and buggies as well as Goshen’s “scary” atmosphere, Schmidt settled into a job at Goshen for five years. Siderhurst, a Goshen alum, also shared stories from his experience there, from train-hopping to sneaking into the school’s much-coveted hot tub. From there the conversation bounced around to the struggles of finding careers
James Dunmore, Staff Writer
and continuing schooling, as well as finding wives. Schmidt recounted his first date with his wife, where he had his friend’s overly-large tux on, an embarrassment considering her presentable dress. Despite the first encounter, Schmidt “church-stalked” her — as Siderhurst put it — the next day, continued to develop their relationship, and married her a year later. ISO hosted the storytime
as a pleasurable way for the organization to engage with students. In preparation for their upcoming gala, ISO has decided to host a monthly event for students’ enjoyment, but also as a reminder for the gala. The gala, which will occur on April 14, will raise money for victims of sexual assault in the Congo. “ISO is trying to do these really fun, interesting events that aren’t necessarily related to [the gala],
What happens when you invite Kris Schmidt and Matt Siderhurst to settle into some bean bags on a Friday night? Biology, the woes of Goshen, embarrassing dates, and a reminder that professors are people, too. On Friday, March 16, the International Student Organization (ISO) hosted their second Professor Story Time of the semester. Kris Schmidt of the Biology Department and Matt Siderhurst of the Chemistry Department got cozy in Common Grounds and shared numerous stories from all parts of their lives, ranging from college experiences and finding career paths to what is going through their minds during class. The audience huddled close to the Common Grounds stage, creating an intimate setting for conversation and interaction between the professors and the crowd. Schmidt and Siderhurst riffed off each other, sharing stories back and forth, using each other as reminders for the following ones. At the beginning, Schmidt shared his introduction to the Biology professor Kristopher Schmidt and chemistry professor Matthew SiderMennonite school system via hurst hosted ISO’s Professor Story Time on Friday, March 16.
Rances Rodriguez
but it’s leading to the bigger event,” said sophomore Donaldo Lleshi. “People need fun sometimes.” The audience remained engaged throughout the whole conversation, asking questions and providing a steady backtrack of laughter. First-year Zach Shifflet enjoyed the openness of the professors. “It was kind of cool to see how the professors had lives,” he said. “They used to have fun [and] they’re just like us.” Lleshi seconded an appreciation for the candidness of the conversations. “They’re really great at making the stories in class relatable and like the ... stuff they’ve done when they were kids,” Lleshi said. “They’re just fun people to be around and interact with ... because they understand.” A crowd favorite of the conversation seemed to be Schmidt’s fear of alternating “organism” for “orgasm,” a moment that had many still laughing after the conversation had ended. In the coming weeks, ISO will be hosting events on April 8 and 14. April 8, ISO will be co-hosting a concert with the Latino Student Alliance, headlined by EMU’s own Maleke Jones and the band Willow Run. A few days later will be ISO’s main event of the year, the Spring Gala.
WCSC JOURNAL: LIFE AS A DC AREA COMMUTER
Al Vanegas, WCSC Correspondent
Going from classes at EMU to a semester in Washington, D.C. and an internship at the Anacostia Community Museum was a major change in many ways. There are the obvious things like not having classes each day, and instead of learning new things, you are applying what you have learned from your classes into your work setting. However, the change that hit me the hardest was
having to commute a long way to reach my internship site. I was accustomed to going straight to EMU from my home and arriving there in about 15 minutes. Now I take a 10 minute walk to the nearest metro station, then take the metro south for a few stops, then get off and get on another metro to the station closest to the museum, and finally wait for a bus that will drop me off at the museum. All of that now makes my commute take around an hour. It was annoying at first to get up early and figure out
what time I would need to arrive to catch the bus, but I grew used to it. Despite that, I have had interesting moments on the commute to work. One time, a stranger talked to me about a book he was writing. With an energetic passion, he told me his book was about his own life and his mother’s life. When
the ride home. Things like that showcase the personality of the community that lives in D.C. Moments like those make waking up early, getting on a metro that is sometimes jam-packed with people, and waiting for 10 to 15 minutes for a bus that sometimes does not even arrive worth it for me.
WEATHER REPORT STORM CLOUDS
SUNBEAMS
his stop came, he left saying that he plans to release his book around Christmastime because that is his mother’s birthday. Unfortunately, he did not say what the title of his book was going to be, for fear of someone stealing it. Another cool but brief metro moment was seeing someone hip hop dance on
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Only two more weeks until the Feather Brain. Get ready for some sharply pointed satire, kids. We got a day off from school. If only it had been a Tuesday or a Thursday. To not have to sit through those hour-and-fifteenminute-long afternoon classes... Weather Vane production only took six hours this week instead of eight. Production was more productive, it seems. Shout out to La Morena for feeding our staff when Papa John’s decided to only deliver to JMU. Burritos are better anyway.
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Liesl only has one disc left in her binge of “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” It’s a shame that they never made a movie. There were literal storm clouds this week that dumped half a foot of snow on us. Are we allowed to like something and complain about it? There isn’t a compost bin in our office so all our orange peels are going in the trash. Looks like we have the same commitment to sustainability as EMU. Liesl is looking for jobs next year and it looks like she’ll be below the poverty line. Thanks, English major.
March 22, 2018
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NEWS & FEATURE T h e We a t h e r Va n e
LONGENECKER ON FALL OREGON EXTENSION Clay Cordell, Business Manager
The Oregon Extension (OE) is an intentional learning community in the mountains of Oregon, accredited through EMU and open to students from numerous Christian colleges. The OE centers around topics of nature, community, sustainability, and what it means to be human. Academic Dean and professor of the Oregon Extension Heidi Gehman was on campus Monday and Tuesday of this week, distributing information about the OE. Gehman held an information session Monday evening to discuss the OE and answer questions, as well as hosting a table in the Campus Center to talk with students. Senior Sarah Longenecker spent the fall semester of 2017 at the Oregon Extension and shared with us about her experience. Longenecker said that
her decision to attend the OE was influenced by her feelings about her relationship with school. “OE seemed like a more focused, more personal way of approaching learning,” she said. She noted that as a photography major, substantial reading and writing assignments are not a normal part of her curriculum, but are important to her in processing and expressing her beliefs. Time at the OE facilitated her work in these areas. Longenecker felt that the discussions and interactions with other students were engaging and meaningful because of the diversity of beliefs represented in the OE students. She also said that conversation and disagreement in a space of mutual vulnerability was positive for her. “I think one of the most valuable things for me at the OE was the inability to avoid conflict and to avoid confronting it. All of us had to learn how to communicate our frustrations in constructive
ways.” Some of the other highlights of the Oregon Extension for Longenecker included the outdoor engagement — backpacking, hiking, and exploring the nearby town of Ashland — and her personal growth as a writer. “I loved how intense the writing segments were and how much focus I was able to give to one single project/topic. I went in thinking I hated writing and came out looking at grad programs that are heavily focused on writing and research. That was the ultimate curveball.” While the OE provided enjoyable experiences, Longenecker noted that it was also challenging. “I wish more people knew how academically rigorous the OE is. It’s not just a relaxing semester, though there is a lot excitement/fun involved, and it is in a lot of ways a peaceful environment. But the reading is difficult and the expectations for students are high.” She ex-
The Walk for Hope sends a powerful message to people struggling with suicide and depression that they are not alone. The event lets everyone know that every day, we want to see you tomorrow. I do not support many causes publicly. The causes I do support publicly are typically those that relate to something that has had a direct impact on my life. Every year since arriving at EMU, I have publicly supported Walk for Hope. I take pride in having Walk for Hope shirts from the last three years. I wear them as a badge of honor. Participating in the Walk for Hope has been one of the most meaningful things I have done. Walk for Hope’s mission is simple: raise aware-
ness about depression and suicide as a community. But to me, it is much more than that. I have lived with depression, and I attempted to take my own life March 27, 2015. I attended my first Walk for Hope the very next day, on March 28. I have not tried to take my own life since. I do not know if that is just a coincidence, but if I tell you what Walk for Hope means to me personally, maybe the impact it has can be better understood. On March 27, 2015, I was having trouble. I felt alone. I had just moved to Harrisonburg a few months prior, and being a little older than most of the undergraduate students at EMU, had difficulty connecting
Senior Sarah Longenecker lounges in a hammock at the Oregon Extension.
Ember Rensel
plained that “the OE was hard because you go really in depth into one book or one topic at a time. It’s not easier, it’s just hard in a different way. And it takes a lot of self-motivation/teaches self-motivation.” Time at the Oregon Extension was valuable for Longenecker, and she said that she wished more peo-
ple would seriously consider the program. She said, “I know it’s not for everyone... and it feels like a risk to choose to leave campus for a whole semester. I was really hesitant to do it. In fact, I almost cancelled my flight two days before the program started, but doing the OE is honestly the best decision I’ve made in college.”
and making friends. I had roommates, but I felt like a guest in my house and did not interact with them too much. This loneliness was not new. I had felt it for a while and is probably the core reason I live with depression. When I attended the Walk for Hope, I walked with hundreds of people who wanted to send a different message than what I was feeling: you are NOT alone. There are people who care, even if they do not know you. There are people going through what you are going through, and there are people who want to give you a shoulder if you need it. There are good people in the world that care. I had never met any of these people, but the message they
sent was clear: every day, they want to see me tomorrow. The feeling of loneliness is still there from time to time, but I battle it with the knowledge that there are people who care. Even if I do not see them or speak to them, knowing they are there gives me a feeling of security that I did not feel until I attended the Walk for Hope and saw it for myself. Let’s show people that they are not alone. Somebody might be attending their first Walk for Hope looking for a reason to keep going. Come out and walk with us this Saturday and send this simple message to people who are struggling: we want to see you tomorrow.
TESTIMONIAL CALL TO LOCAL WALK FOR HOPE Ryan Faraci, Contributing Writer
This Saturday, March 24, the seventh annual Walk for Hope will be hosted at Bridgewater College from 11:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. Sign up for the Walk for Hope by searching for “Walk for Hope Harrisonburg” on Facebook to ensure enough refreshments and t-shirts are provided. Activities will include the walk, music, creative arts activities, and refreshments, including donuts and smoothies. This year’s guest speaker is Frank Warren, creator of PostSecret, a community mail art project in which people anonymously share their secrets on homemade postcards through the mail.
ON THE SIDEWALK with Adila Wahdat
“Which team do you think is going to win March Madness?”
“Villanova.”
“Villanova.”
“Kansas.”
“West Virginia.”
“Villanova.”
Cassidy Bush, first-year
Isaiah Sheppard Ewell, first-year
Justice Allen, first-year
Travis Clower, junior
Paul Kayembe, junior
March 22, 2018
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REVIEW T h e We a t h e r Va n e
“TOMB RAIDER” A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION Zachary Headings, Editor in Chief
“Tomb Raider” has finally done it. It is a film adaptation of a video game that is not completely horrible. Now, to be clear, it is not a fantastic movie. It has plenty of flaws. The plot could serve as the bare-bones example of the “buried treasure” story. The third act relies too heavily on tropes from other “buried treasure” stories such as the “Indiana Jones” films. The antagonist is a generic bad guy with a generic motivation, though he does serve as a fantastic manifestation of the male gaze. But we will get to that later.
“Tomb Raider” shines as a tiny beacon of hope among the turd-filled litter box that is the graveyard of video game films. It is not great, but it is not horrible. It blew past the admittedly-low expectations and has set a higher bar for video game films — hopefully one that will be exceeded again so this genre of films can actually claim to be a successful one, but we will take the small victories for now. Most of what the film does well surrounds the central character in the franchise, Lara Croft. The film did away with her professional archaeologist, female-counterpart-to-Indiana-Jones background and gave her a simple, human mo-
tivation: her love for her missing father. It really is a novel concept, that protagonists are more relatable when they have motivations and desires that audiences can identify with. Who knew? The film also humanized her in regards to her physical abilities. While they are still fantastic and unrealistic at times, she runs into situations that she cannot get out of. She cannot fight off three guys with knives by herself. She cannot swing from a chain and perfectly stick the landing while running away from men who want to kill her. She makes mistakes. She gets injured. It is a difficult thing to adapt when your source material would
fix a bullet wound or broken leg by taking four seconds to slap a bandage on it. But the film makes Croft seem less like a muscly superheroine and more like a person. Lara Croft has been a sex symbol for sweaty 14-yearolds covered in a thin layer of Cheeto dust since she was introduced in 1996. The most important thing about this film is that it firmly dispels that garbage by literally punching the male gaze in the nuts. It was clear from the beginning that Alicia Vikander’s Lara Croft was not going to be portrayed as a sex symbol. The film’s antagonist, a slimy man named Vogel, acts as a physical manifestation of the
male gaze. He is watching Croft sleep when they first meet, and he continually does that disgusting thing antagonists do: he grips her chin or strokes her cheek while she is on her knees and tied up. But she has none of it, eventually punching him in the gonads and kicking him off a cliff. It is justice, and well-deserved at that. All in all, “Tomb Raider” is a step in the right direction for the genre. It is not perfect, but it is finally an example of the genre that Hollywood can feel proud of. With a bit more effort and a lot of hope, maybe we will finally see a criticallyacclaimed video game film in the next few years.
tures. The coffee came in a comfortable white mug on a saucer, perfect for hand-hugging. Locally sourced from Long Oak, the dark roast was woody and strong, robust and warm. The portion size, white ceramic hardware, and the atmosphere of Gray Jay reminded me of my favorite cafe in Vienna, Austria. This should have been no surprise, as Gagnon lived in Austria
for 10 years. “No, not at all. I guess Austria just comes out of me,” she said, after I asked her whether the style choices were on purpose. While in Austria, Gagnon worked at a farmer’s market and did “a small stint on a farm” in Italy, where she began to realize the limitations of the food system in the United States. “I started realizing that, oh, people eat with the season. They don’t
eat tomatoes in the winter,” she said. Gagnon described this moment as an awakening, a realization that better food systems exist. In the United States food system, which is fueled by non-local non-seasonal food supplies, seasonal eating creates a challenge for restaurants like Gray Jay. But these owners have the gumption of the northern bird that inspired their name. “We
are committed to procuring items that are produced in ways that are ecologically responsible,” the website says. “I just think it’s a better way of life, to appreciate where the food comes from, to limit it to the season, which forces you to eat locally,” Gagnon said. “I think it’s a really great way to live life.” Check out the Gray Jay way for yourself, open weekdays 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
LUNCHES WITH LIESL: FOOD THE GRAY JAY WAY Continued from page 1
experience. With steam carrying notes of ginger from the brown lentils swimming in a rich broth, I found love at first bite. The texture was spot-on, not too mushy or grainy, the ginger hinted but not absent. The sourdough impressed me with its golden crust and spongy gluten structure, subtle in the “sour” flavor of yeast cul-
WRITERS READ WITH WITTY POET JEFF GUNDY
Kaitlin Abrahams, Canvas Editor
Jeff Gundy, who writes about everything from “the peaceful Menno code” to the question of “one true creek” and “the opposite of guitar,” presented in Common Grounds last Thursday, March 15. I arrived in the coffee shop and settled down on one of the cushy, red couches with my cookie, brownie, and nuts, ready for words. Kirsten Beachy, assistant writing professor, introduced our guest, highlighting the variety of his work and the adventures they had had together on a canoeing trip. Then Gundy stepped up to the podium, a short, older man with a charming smile, a coffee-colored velvet suit jacket, and a tie decorated with a guitar. Gundy grinned and told the audience, “This is gonna be more like a concert and less like a lecture.” Hence the guitar tie. Gundy’s selections mixed anecdotes from traveling and teaching with humor, philosophy, and Mennonite themes. As a prolific poet, he shared pieces from a variety of books, including his in-progress manuscript, taking us on a journey through the progression of his work.
Gundy’s volumes of poetry were directly inspired by his life experiences at the time he was writing. For example, he shared a poem called “Deerfly” that had been inspired by his time at a workshop in the woods for naturalists and writers. He also shared a whimsical poem for his time as a teacher, entitled “Fifty Billion Planets,” in which both Hemingway and Marie Antoinette come to visit his classroom, which muses as to whether or not the very wealthy are the same as you and I. Once again with the themes of nature, he shared a poem from his canoe trip, called “Contemplation on Lake Insula.” True to his promise that he was going to give a concert, not a lecture, Gundy suddenly picked up a guitar. He said that he had decided to put some of his poems to music. Although he had some technical difficulties, the music he had added to his words, which were sometimes sung and sometimes just spoken to the background of his guitar chords, gave his poems a whole new resonance. The audience clapped enthusiastically after each one, especially a satire of strict teachers entitled “The Opposite of Guitar.” Gundy then shared some poems from the book he compiled based on his time teaching at LCC International
Jeff Gundy with his Martin guitar at the Writers Read on March 15 in Common Grounds Coffee House.
University in Lithuania. One of these was in response to the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard, whose ideas were being taught at the university while Gundy was there. He revealed that even though his poems are in third person, often referring to “the traveler,” they are really about himself. Gundy opened the Writers Read up for questions. I was intrigued to hear him talk a bit more about his writing process. When asked how many drafts he had for each poem, he replied, “Between one and
fifty.” For him, it all depended on how easily the poem came out. He said that he usually wrote his poems out on paper and then typed them up on the computer. He added that poems that capture moments are much easier to write than poems with political themes. One of the more interesting things he said was that he has noticed an assumption in literary circles that poems will be like nonfiction. He likes to rebel against this by adding elements similar to magical realism, like he did in the
Rances Rodriguez
poem “50 Billion Planets.” His comment on this poem: “Everything in it is true except the things that aren’t.” I fully enjoyed the variety of his performance. He managed to incorporate both music and jokes into his reading, which is something not all poets can pull off. His constant enthusiasm and wit kept the evening moving. Perhaps there were less questions at the end than he had hoped for, but that might be because his “concert” left the audience too satisfied to raise any inquiries.
March 22, 2018
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SPORTS T h e We a t h e r Va n e
REATH REFLECTS ON UNITY OF SOFTBALL TEAM
Continued from page 1
there for them when they need me.” Over spring break, Reath and the team played 10 games in Myrtle Beach. Her consistency in each game helped the Royals win all 10 games. “We were successful in these games because we played as a team,” Reath said. “If someone was having a bad game, someone else stepped up and came through for the team. We had a couple of close games, but we came together as a team and pulled out some close wins.” For Reath, the trip to Myrtle Beach was also a valuable experience as it helped the team to bond together. “The beach trip really brought us all together,” she said. “We had a few emotion-
al nights and after that we couldn’t stop talking about how much we were a family. I love each of these girls and this was the best trip so far in my three years.” Coach J.D. McCurdy has been impressed with Reath’s performance in recent games. “Sydney’s ability to spot her pitches and change speeds makes her extremely effective against any D-III team,” he said. “Another quality is she is ‘ice cold’ in the circle; if you came to see her pitch you would not know if she was up five runs or down five runs! She has always bought in to the ‘team concept’ and our team feeds off her.” Looking towards the rest of the season, Reath thinks that there is always room to improve, and has been focusing on her hitting this season.
“I was upset about my performance the weekend before in North Carolina and so the week leading up to the beach trip I focused on my hitting and tried to find it,” Reath explained. “I still didn’t perform as well as I wanted to, but my teammates were always there to pick me up when I slacked in an at-bat or with a pitch.” For the rest of the season, Reath is setting a goal to win the ODAC Tournament and make it to the NCAA Tournament. She believes that this is possible because of the quality of players on her team. Reath said, “This is the closest team I have been a part of since I’ve been here and I’m excited to see what is in store for us the rest of the Junior Sydney Reath season.”
Ivan Harris
EMU GOLF TEAM LEANS INTO SPRING SEASON Liz Huffman, Circulation Manager
The golf team teed off and began their spring season on Saturday, March 17, at the Eagle Invitational. This two-day tournament was held at the University of Mary Washington in Stafford, Va. The roster includes two women and six men, all eager to see what is in store for them this season. Since EMU does not physically have a golf course on campus, the team is faced with the challenge of practicing on an off-campus site. This means that the team must travel to Heritage Oaks golf course, five minutes from EMU. These practices often vary from playing a ninehole game to going to the driving range or putting green. Sophomore Olyvia Longacre had an amazing start to her season in a record-setting way. With a promising season ahead, she finished second out of 29 women at the Eagle Invitational. Scoring the second lowest score in the history of the EMU
The EMU golf team started their spring season at the Eagle Invitational at the University of Mary Washington.
Scott Eyre
women’s golf team, she shot a 78 on Saturday. Coming into this season, Longacre said, “I hope to keep improving.” After 13 years of playing the sport, Longacre knows
her strengths and weaknesses. She said, “My strengths are definitely my long drives and overall distances. I know I need to improve my consistency and will continue to practice.”
After playing a little rough in the fall season, first-year Benjamin Shenk took some time to settle in and feels more confident coming into the spring season. After shooting an 86
and 6-0 in game two. Senior Adam Marston hit a home run for one of the few bright spots on offense. With the losses, the Royals fall to 9-10 on the season and 0-4 in the ODAC. Julian Bussells, The team’s next games will Staff Writer be this Friday against Washington and Lee (7-11, 0-4 Baseball ODAC). The game was origThe baseball team inally scheduled for Tuesday, lost both games over the March 20, but was delayed weekend to #9 Roanoke, due to winter weather conlosing 8-4 in game one ditions. The Royals will play
against Emory & Henry (6-5, 0-4 ODAC) this Saturday.
game two. The Royals are now 12-4 on the season. The team will play again this weekend against Roanoke (11-9). The team was scheduled to play a doubleheader against Virginia Wesleyan (18-0) on Wednesday, March 21, but the games were delayed due to winter weather conditions. They have not yet been rescheduled.
ROYALS RECAP
Softball The softball team was able to split the doubleheader over the weekend against Mary Washington, losing the first game 1-0 in eight innings before winning the nightcap 5-1. First-year Kelsi Martin allowed only one run and picked up the win in the complete game effort in
and 88, he said, “I think I am playing better and want to keep improving.” Coming into the spring season, Shenk hopes to feel more comfortable by mid-season and keep improving with his short irons. First-year Amy Troyer, who started playing the sport two years ago with her dad, hopes to see her game improve over the course of the season. When comparing the transition from high school to college, she said, “The college level is way more advanced.” Adjusting to the team has been easy for Troyer, which was comforting because she sees herself continuing her career here at EMU. She also noted, “One reason I play this sport is because it serves as a stress reliever for me.” Neither team was scheduled for any matches this past week, but the women are preparing for their next tournament at the Smith Invitational down in Glen Allen, Va. on March 25. The men’s team will compete next at the Lynchburg College Invitational on April 2 and 3.
picked up a couple of wins over the weekend on Senior Day as they defeated Thiel 3-0 and Messiah 3-2. Senior Tim Callahan picked up 30 kills between the two matches in his last home games. The Royals are now 18-8 overall and 8-2 in the CVC. The team will travel this Friday to play #5 Men’s Volleyball Marymount (15-6, 6-2 The men’s volleyball team CVC).
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OPINION T h e We a t h e r Va n e
EDITORIAL: NOSTALGIA HINDERS SUSTAINABILITY
Liesl Graber, Editor in Chief
I am writing my senior thesis on humanity’s ecological and emotional relationship with the Earth, each other, and progress, using speculative fiction to get there. Think: science fiction about sustainability. In the process, I have developed a hunch about the environmental state of our world and why we struggle
so much to fix it. When we try to tackle the world’s environmental crisis, there is one challenger that will always rear its head in protest: nostalgia, that feeling of intense longing for the past, triggered usually by memorabilia. Nostalgia is our favorite human emotion. Just look around at all the stuff we collect, the structures we have built to remember the past, the souvenirs we set on our desks, the old t-shirts we keep in our drawers, the photos we take to “document” special occasions. We are attached to our things in a real psychological-Attachment-Theory kind of way. We need objects for comfort, protection, and support in adulthood, much like we needed our mother-figures for such things as infants. There’s emotion in-
volved, and nostalgia is a big one. Tokens of our past fill the emotional gaps in our present realities, providing the comfort we cannot seem to find elsewhere. So what is the problem? Well, we are so obsessed with our stuff and our past and our stuff from the past that we simply cannot go that extra step to live in harmony with the environment. Some of us can, but as a whole we are struggling. Our materialism, fueled by nostalgia, always gets in the way of going all-in minimal and waste-free and off-grid and “green.” Going all-in will require a significant shift in how we fulfill our attachment needs, a re-definition of our relationship with our stuff. If we could transfer our attachment to material objects to the world around us instead,
then maybe we could fix the environment after all. In my thesis, humans decide that the only way to truly fix the world is to start over from scratch. They bulldoze everything, all relics to the past, all architecture, all tokens of human progress, and then burn it all. Just like a forest needs an occasional forest fire to stay healthy, so too does human civilization. Only then can humans make a fresh, ecologically-sustainable reality, cultivated from the ashes of their past. This is the idea, anyway. I am not saying that we should burn everything down and start over, like they do in my thesis. The new reality swings to the opposite end of the spectrum, condemning all forms of materialism, and everyone eventually starves emotion-
ally from having no outlet for their nostalgia. Somewhere in between there exists a balance, and that is what we need to find. As creatures of attachment, we need a relationship with something tangible. We need to attach to something that evokes our nostalgia — why not make it the Earth? What would the world look like if we all looked to the Earth for the comfort and support we crave, instead of turning to our cluttered souvenirs of the past? Could we “fix” it then? I am not sure what that future reality will look like, but it sounds better than the alternatives. Until we can find that balance, fixing the environment might just remain a dream of science fiction, an idea written down but never realized.
may be required to serve in the military for the country they do not have a voice in is another discussion entirely. But why are women not required to register? Not requiring women to register for the draft as men are required to do reinforces harmful stereotypes that women are not competent enough to be in the military. There is already a stigma against women being in the military at all, as some people believe women cannot be up to the physical standards that are required of the men. They believe women will not be capable of having their male colleagues’ backs. Two years ago, all military positions became open to women. Clearly, then, the government believes that women are capable of fulfilling the duties and requirements of military positions. So why has the law not been changed yet? The argument that women cannot fulfill the physical requirements is, honestly, ri-
diculous. The physical requirements should be gender-neutral, which they currently are not — although as of February it looks like the Army is headed in that direction. Many men who are registered for the draft cannot fulfill the physical requirements, yet they are still required to register. That’s it, plain and simple. Men and women both have all kinds of body types and abilities and skills. Thus, that argument is invalid. Interestingly enough, some women actually are required to register for the draft. Male to female transgender women are required to register. Oddly, female to male transgender men are not required to do so. The Selective System Service judges people by what gender they are assigned at birth. This seems extremely discriminatory for a government whose own federal court ruled in 2011 that “discrimination against a transgender individual because of gender nonconformity is sex discrim-
ination, whether it’s described as being on the basis of sex or gender.” Ruling this way and then upholding the law that requires transgender women to register for the draft due to the gender they were assigned at birth is downright hypocritical. The law is still in place, and may be for quite a while. Constitutionally, however, this violates the Fourteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment explicitly states that all citizens are entitled to due process of law and equal protection of the laws. Equal
protection. Requiring men and transgender women to register for the draft but not requiring women and transgender men to do so is absolutely, unequivocally not equal in any way, shape, or form. As a woman, I know it can be pretty scary — at least for me — to consider that someday, if the draft is reinstated and I have been required to register, I could have to serve in the military. But as a woman, I also expect to be given the same rights as any man. And with equal rights comes equal responsibilities.
DRAFT REQUIREMENTS VIOLATE EQUAL RIGHTS
Bethany Tuel, Managing Editor
Let’s talk about the draft. I realize it is probably not something you think about often — we are not technically at war and it does not look like the draft will be reinstated any time soon. Still, men between the ages of 18 and 26 are required to be registered for the draft. This extends not only to all 50 states, but also places such as Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands — and the fact that people who do not have voting rights
Live with purpose. Love with purpose. Serve with purpose. Mennonite Voluntary Service EMU alum, Jason Spicher, spent a year in Alamosa, Colorado, with MVS volunteering at Alamosa County Public Health Department.
www.MennoniteMission.net/Serve
Editors in Chief Liesl Graber Zachary Headings Front Page Editor News & Feature Editor Review Editor Sports Editor Opinion Editor Canvas Editor
Zachary Headings Aaron Dunmore Elliot Bowen Silas Clymer Rachael Brenneman Kaitlin Abrahams
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Will Ewart Joel Christophel Clay Cordell Liz Huffman Chad Gusler
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March 22, 2018
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OPINION T h e We a t h e r Va n e
GIVING GRACE TO INDIVIDUALS ON DEATH ROW
Rachael Brenneman, Opinion Editor
A few weeks ago, I had the great fortune of living in an intentional community in Georgia called Jubilee Partners, and there I found a type of community that I had never experienced before or even thought existed. Everyone truly wanted to be present, and nobody,
not even strangers, were left alone. It seemed to me that this state of community may be similar to the early church in Acts, the way I think churches are meant to be. The most significant experience I had at Jubilee was witnessing their acceptance and love toward those who were on death row. Death row is about as far removed from most churches as possible, resting firmly on the edges of society as they wait for the day of their execution. Most of the United States seems to be content to forget them, but not the people at Jubilee. Jubilee works closely to those on death row, visiting them, remembering them, and offering them a community which many have not had the opportunity
to experience in years. Every month, members of the community go to visit and build relationships with the men and women in prison. At Jubilee, a sign of simple card stock with a picture of a man, his name, the list of his victims, and the date of his execution was placed in the middle of the other papers announcing the activities of the week. This sign was not something that called attention to itself, but it did not hide, and no one over the course of the week took it down or tried to cover it up. Those at Jubilee did not ignore the crimes this man had committed, but they acknowledged him and his life. You see, Jubilee gives humanity and grace to those who arguably shouldn’t de-
serve it by human standards. A cemetery stands on Jubilee grounds, surrounded by trees deep in the forest, and within it lies past members of Jubilee and fifteen executed men. If members of death row do not want to be buried in the prison yard or their families refuse to take their body, Jubilee offers places in their own cemetery. Standing in that cemetery I felt as though I had failed those men through not knowing them. I did not know of their life, and if I had seen them on the news, I would have forgotten the next minute. How many other people do I do that to? The crimes these men on death row have committed are horrific and should not be ignored, but neither should we ignore the people behind
those crimes. Churches need to reach out to work with those in prison, even those who have murdered or committed other terrible crimes. Christianity was never meant to be a religion for the powerful. Jesus and his message meant to bring hope to the captives, bring sight to the blind, and to bless those who are persecuted. Those in our prison systems, even those on death row, and perhaps especially those, deserve grace. While it might be difficult, Christianity calls to all, but especially those who are on the fringes of society. Who is the Church to ignore the words of God? What defines the strength of a community is its interaction and acceptance of strangers and those who society has left behind.
the semester. It was a labor of love and of neighbors. Nameless, unknown people grew the wheat and made the flour. Chickens gave up their eggs. Cows gave up their milk. My professor made the starter. Someone helped me roll out the dough, while others helped me to make snakes out of dough. My fiancée helped me braid it. Many people helped me eat it. The body of Jesus is not in the physical bread, but in the relationship built through it. I was able to connect with so many people through this single loaf of bread. In eating that bread,
I and all the others were directly connected with each person who helped put it together. I think there is something very meaningful about the fact that Jesus did not bake the bread he broke for the disciples. His “body” was built by servants, people who do not even get mentioned in that text, and people we often do not encounter or respect in our world today. The people who pull their resources together to create this final product, bread — the people are what creates the body of Christ. We are active participants in his gift to us.
What does this mean for us as a campus? I think that intentional community is something that we talk a lot about but could always do more to make a reality. Parker Palmer wrote that community needs conflict and is destroyed by competition. I think this is absolutely the case. In order for us to be in community, we need to be in conflict, not competition. I think that one way to improve this community with conflict is for people who are groups of friends to get together as a whole and talk about what is wrong. This is something that takes
place in individual friendships and romantic relationships, why would it not take place in communal relationships? In addition, doing this over a meal would bring us together as that body. One idea is to have family-style meals at the cafeteria every so often. This would bring a greater sense of community and encourage sharing and dialogue. All of this to say, Jesus’ body is made of all of us. Let’s build that body strong and work on our communal relationships, and let’s remember that food brings us together.
Clinton. I am not going to tell you that you are not allowed to make these kind of statements. However, I do believe that this causes a much more damaging effect to society than simply losing some friends on social media. Social media already uses algorithms to feed us what we want to see. For example, if you pause on a certain post, Facebook is that much more likely to show you posts by the same person. This is very helpful in terms of making social media users happy, but means that we get a limited view of the world. This would not matter without the additional factor that the majority of my generation receives most, if not all, of our news from social media. Therefore, with the posts that we see being comprised solely of posts that we enjoy, or from people with like-minded views, we do
not see entire sectors of the population. This issue expands beyond social media as well. While it begins with a simple unfriending of someone supporting a Republican or a Democrat, it becomes a hatred for people who think differently from you. It also instills in us the idea that we can simply ignore people with opposing views and they will cease to exist. This is the most dangerous aspect of this new phenomenon because it means that there is no open discourse about big issues. For instance, during the past several weeks the gun debate has reared its ugly head on social media once more. I, for one, have only seen posts arguing for stricter gun control. While this makes me happy to see that people I know agree with my viewpoints, it means that there is no discussion and no changing of opinions.
If nothing else, I would like one takeaway from this article to be that this country is incredibly divided, and it does not have to be. Just because someone believes differently from you does not mean that they are wrong. Discussing the
problem with them is far more likely to lead to compromise and growth. There will always be people who disagree with you and it is far better to know how to have a pleasant discussion with them than to ignore and hate them on principle.
CREATE INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY WITH FOOD
Theophilus Jackson, Copy Editor
Jesus tells us that bread is his body. I think I experienced that for the first time while making challah for one of my classes earlier in
SOCIAL MEDIA LIMITS DEVELOPING WORLDVIEW
Thoreau Zehr, Staff Writer
In recent months I have seen much less of the behavior that inspired this editorial, but I have still seen some. The issue at hand is that during this past presidential election, many people took their politics to social media. While this is absolutely fine — in fact I think that it is generally better than apathy — it prompted many people to make statements along the lines of, “If you support Trump, unfriend me,” and vice versa with
We Want Your Letters! Hey, you! Yes, you! Do you have opinions? Do you like writing opinions? Did a Weather Vane article resonate with or frustrate you? If so, write a letter to the editor! We enjoy hearing your responses, and the more student voices we can include, the better. If you feel that you are underrepresented or that your voice is not adequately heard, tell us why in an opinion article of your own and send it to wvane@emu.edu. The editors reserve the right to edit letters for clarity and space.
March 22, 2018
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CANVAS T h e We a t h e r Va n e
I will miss you
The Wall: This photo of the U.S.-Mexico border wall was taken in Douglas, Ariz.; on the left is Agua Prieta, Mexico. It seems such an arbitrary barrier between two very similar expanses of desert, yet thousands have died trying to reach the United States, where the promise of better wages or asylum is a desperate hope for those fleeing extreme poverty and violence. ~ Kat Lehman, photographer, senior pre-med biology major
One week left And tears drip off my nose As I picture your faces Wrinkled and smiling Youthful but tired Bespectacled and laughing Greeting me everyday with a persistent “¿Cómo le fue?” until I give a good enough answer about the going-ons of my day. Falling asleep in the brown rocking armchair. Sincerely hoping for me to “find a good husband.” Eating dinner of eggs and beans and pan dulce and talking of matters little and big. Furrowing your brow when you’re worried I haven’t eaten enough, Or when I take a shower past 6 p.m. and my hair is too wet and I will catch a cold (in 65° weather), Or when I don’t wear sunscreen or a jacket. Studying with me at the kitchen table, our different tasks completed in friendly silence (until Mamá interrupts with an anecdote from a neigbor or the news or her childhood). Giving me a place in your home and your family. Mamá de Guatemala, Abuelita de Guatemala, Hermana de Guatemala. Each of you I will pray for, write to, and remember, But on this looming day, How do I say goodbye?
Vignettes
El Muelle: A view from the picturesque Lake Atitlan. ~Kat Lehman
Sebob in Altaverapaz, Guatemala: High up in the mountains, we stayed with indigenous Keq-chi families in humble homes that overlooked breathtaking views. ~Kat Lehman
Stilled scenes Repeat like a DVD’s title menu song. The same clips Backed by a somber, bittersweet melody. Incarnación’s giggles And her face soaked in exhaustion. José’s dancing And his surveying gaze over the cloud forest. Andrés and Luben getting haircuts in the garden And chasing after their malnourished dog. Happiness was not overtly evident, But daily life wore on, Survival with a hint of joy, Purpose behind each movement. A few steps away from thriving, But the tortilla-making Broccoli-farming Chicken-butchering Hill-trekking Continued day in, day out. Do you like living here? Not so much With the dangers of the mountain. That family of four Keepin’ on keepin’ on As they know how And as they wish for more. Poems by Anali Martin, sophomore English major