A proposal of a new pastoral academy was brought to light by President Anderson, Thom-as Burkman, vice president of academic affairs, and the Deans council at the beginning of the 2015 spring semester. This pro-posal is now in the works of be-coming a reality.

The new pastoral academy will consist of three new four-credit classes. Each course is equivalent to the different levels of credentialing aligning with the Assemblies of God.

The first course, Pastoral Academy I, will contain all the material a student will need to be certified in ministry, Pasto-ral Academy II would contain all the material needed to be

licensed to preach and Pastoral Academy III will contain all the material necessary for ordina-tion.

There are some restrictions on certified ministers, but li-censed and ordained ministers are qualified to pursue almost all ministry positions in churches and missions. The classes will be designed to prepare you for the test you would need to com-plete in order to receive your credentials. One must complete these courses in sequence.

Our goal is to make these courses extremely professional, dynamic and cutting edge, Burkman said.

Tracy Paino, dean of the col-lege of ministry, is currently in

the works of creating this new curriculum. According to Burk-man, North Central is looking to use its own staff and faculty to teach these courses. This new program will hopefully be put in place this upcoming fall se-mester.

When all of the small details are figured out these three cours-es will be offered and available to all North Central students and will count towards their bible minor. For incoming freshman pursuing a pastoral degree, these courses will be a requirement to graduate. Burkman said that this will not affect any students in a negative way and the 124-credit requirement to graduate will not

The NorthernerN O R T H C E N T R A L U N I V E R S I T Y - A P R I L 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 V O L . 5 6 I S S U E 8

The Somali Success School, currently located on 614 E. Grant St., will be moving to a new location in June. Admin-istrators and students say the school has been a location for any person learning English as a second language (ESL) to gain knowledge in a familial envi-ronment.

Basing operations from their Grant Street location since 2009, the school is looking for a new building in the downtown Min-neapolis area, as many of their students live in the surround-ing neighborhoods. Despite the inconvenience of the transition, operations manager Abdinur Ali said he is not worried.

Our school is not made of a building, but the people who come here, Ali said.

A majority of the students who attend the Somali Success School are new immigrants from East Africa. Most originate from Somalia, though there is a recent increase in immigrants from Ethiopia. While attending the school, students learn how to communicate in English and are given assistance with things such as medical forms, county paperwork, and citizenship doc-uments.

As the Operations Manager of the Somali Success School, Ali has worked in similar schools for 16 years. He originates from Somalia, but has been out his native country for over 30 years. With a bachelors degree in so-ciology from National Somali University and a bachelors de-gree in management from India Somali University, Ali sees continued on page 3

North Central introduces new pastoral academy

continued on page 3

Three new courses will be offered to help potential pastors become credentialed BY HOLLY PIEPER

Marissa Sipes stands proudly with her Ministry License and cords after being credentialed on April 20th, a pro-cess that will be made easier for students of the pastoral academy.

PHOTO BY LINDSEY SHEETS

It was summer time, and Stephen Witt and Jake Fel-stow were rooming together in Mensing Hall. They had been playing music and writing wor-ship songs together when they began to speculate. Felstow asked, what if we recorded an album this fall? Witt was hesi-tant. Costs needed to be consid-ered and people needed to be brought together.

I had been thinking about doing an album sometime in the next 10 years, Witt said, prob-ably after I graduate is when Ill have time. However, Felstow was insistent. After some time, Witt agreed to record an album.

Within three weeks of the

conception of the album, musi-cians and a sound engineer had committed to the project, and they had planned their Kick-starter launch, which was suc-cessfully funded. An impulsive thought had turned into reality. ten months later, the album is complete, the Stephen Witt Mu-sic website has been launched, and all is ready for the album re-lease party, which was on April 21st.

After the planning was fin-ished and the funding received, the process began. Witt col-lected all of his musicians and began executing his vision for the worship album. At first I was like, Oh, Im the worship

leader, Im in charge, what I think is what we should do, Witt said. But as the recording process began, Felstow con-tinually pushed back on some of Witts ideas. This led him to fall into a co-producer role. I didnt realize that what I was hearing in my head didnt have to be exactly what I thought it should be, Witt said.

With more time in the studio than in a traditional live worship set, Witt and his team took the time to explore creative options and made plenty of mistakes.

Do not be afraid to take risks and do things you have not heard done before, Felstow

From the first note to the lastNorth Central worship leaders Stephen Witt and Jake Felstow talk about Burn the Ships, their new worship album BY STEVEN CARVER

School of Social and Behavioral Science accreditation | page 2

Nice Ride bike stations return with the spring to Elliot Park | page 4

Unreal Madrid crowned intramural futsal championspage 8

Neighborhood Somali school looks to relocateLocal school teaches life skills to immigrantsBY KRISTIN WILEMAN

continued on page 4

PHOTO PROVIDED BY STEPHEN WITT

The album art for Burn the Ships and Stephen Witts new website were both designed by Caleb Schmitt. The artwork and album title reflect the theme of the album: total surrender.

NEWSPAGE 2

The Northerner | April 22, 2015

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Corrections from previous issue:

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Social work accreditation process continuesAfter past setbacks, social work program provides new opportunities for studentsBY CASEY BENISH

Although the social work pro-grams only professors resigned and the classes were taken over by adjuncts just two years ago, the department has recent-ly seen major growth. One of these major areas of develop-ment has been the decision to continue the process of accred-itation with the Counsel on So-cial Work Education (CSWE), officially beginning in 2010. The CSWE is the only social work accreditation program in the United States and is essen-tial to the social work licensing process, according to e-mail correspondence with director of the social work program Angela Volpe. Throughout the accredi-tation process, the CSWE sends site visitors to schools to com-municate with administration,

faculty, students and intern su-pervisors in order to assure the program meets the CSWE stan-dards. North Centrals social work program is currently in the fourth and final benchmark of this process and will be subject to the CSWEs vote of whether or not to be accredited in No-vember of 2015.

Currently, as an unaccredited program, social work majors re-ceive either a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in So-cial Work. Once the program is accredited with the CSWE, students can obtain their Bach-elor of Social Work, or BSW, which provides them with better opportunities for licensing and graduate school down the road. According to Volpe, students with a BSW looking to obtain

their Master of Social Work (MSW) have the opportunity to do so in one year if accepted into an accelerated program.

There are a lot of benefits to our students receiving BSWs, Volpe wrote in an e-mail. It really opens up a lot of employ-ment opportunities for our stu-dents in the work place.

Until the program is official-ly accredited with the CSWE, students cannot be formally licensed with the Minnesota Board of Social Work. How-ever, because the program is in the process of accreditation, students who are currently in-volved in the program will have the option to practice social work with a temporary license after they graduate. Once ac-credited, these and future stu-

dents will be eligible to receive their full social work license in the state of Minnesota.

In addition to this process, social work students have also recently had opportunities to ex-perience practical involvement in issues regarding the safety of Minnesotas children. Ac-cording to Volpe, Star Tribune reporter Brandon Stahl has been communicating with students of Beth Browns Generalist Social Work Practice II class about leg-islative changes regarding child safety and his investigation of child fatalities. Five students had the opportunity to also communicate with Minnesota Senator Bobby Joe Champion and Representatives Raymond Dehn, Carlos Mariani, and Tara

Mack about supporting a bill that would bring protection to children in the state.

One of the legislators was go-ing to vote no to the bill the day that our students talked to him, Volpe wrote. However, when the votes were all counted, the legislation was passed unan-imously. We believe that our students had a direct impact on that individuals vote.

Students of the social work program also joined other uni-versity students at Social Work Day at the state capitol on April 13 to hear more about the leg-islative agenda for the year. Ac-cording to Volpe, students and staff will continue to advocate for changes in child protection laws in Minnesota.

Our social work program wants to stress how important one persons voice can be when they are passionate about a sub-ject Volpe concluded. One person really can make a differ-ence.

The accreditation of the pro-gram will only continue to in-crease students opportunities in the field of social work. Though it takes a while to go through the process of accreditation, Volpe and other faculty from the pro-gram are very dedicated to the process.

The School of Social and Behavioral Sciences takes this accreditation process seriously because of the significant bene-fits to our past, current, and fu-ture students, Volpe wrote.

Beth Browns Generalist Social Work Practice II students visited by Star Tribune reporter Brandon Stahl.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY ANGELA VOLPE

The Northerner | April 22, 2015

A scholarship revamp in the financial aid office now guar-antees the children of ministers a 60 percent tuition discount scheduled to go into effect for the Fall 2015 semester.

We will examine what the need is of each individual ac-cording to the FAFSA, Hannah Helle, financial aid counselor, explained. Well look at the ac-cumulation of grants and insti-tutional scholarships, then what-ever is left uncovered below the 60 percent mark we will apply as a ministers discount.

The current scholarship, which grants ministers depen-dents $1,400 per year, was ex-amined by the financial aid de-partment and found lacking.

Ministers kids werent get-ting as much scholarshipping as they could, Helle said. The amount wasnt accomplishing the goals we wanted it to ac-complish.

The revised version of this scholarship is available to cur-rent and future full-time stu-dents who are dependents of credentialed ministers in the Assemblies of God, Church of God in Christ, Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada or other denominations upon approval. Students must also maintain a 2.0 GPA.

Helle, who has worked in North Centrals financial aid department for three years, sees this discount as an act of assis-tance for people in the ministry. To apply for this scholarship, students must fill out an applica-tion, which can be found in the financial aid office.

Were trying to give back to ministers and their kids, she said. Typically, ministry isnt very lucrative. Finding ways to assist people in ministry and see their kids graduate is the goal.

education as an essential tool for success in life.

Education is the best thing, Ali said. Many people come to the States and do not want to learn English, but it is so important. You need to learn so you can be independent and successful.

Ali has seen much success come from the school over the course of his time serving as site manager. People come here who have never touched a pencil or pen before, Ali said. They grow day after day. They learn how to read and write. They are able to go to the su-permarket and buy things for themselves. It is quite an accom-plishment for the individual and the school to see people become independent.

According to Ali, the Soma-li Success School is one of the largest Somali ESL Schools in Minneapolis and within Min-neapolis Adult Basic Education

(ABE). This is largely due to the fact that every teacher at the school speaks both English and Somali fluently. One teacher also speaks fluent Oromo, the most commonly spoken lan-guage in Ethiopia.

Accepting students of all ages, the diversity within the Somali Success School keeps the programs alive and excit-ing for people involved. Ali de-scribed the story of an elderly woman who immigrated, came to the school and wanted to learn. She could barely see, she was so old! he exclaimed. The school was able to assist her in learning English and earning her citizenship.

When she went back to So-malia and Saudi Arabia on a pilgrimage, he said, her fam-ily could not believe she was so smart! She taught her sons babies the ABCs in English be-cause she wanted them to know that education is important.

Students attend school Mon-

day through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Night classes are offered for individ-uals who work during the day. We want to make it available to everybody, because education is important, Ali said. Classes are offered in English, reading, math and computers.

Though they do not have a General Educational Develop-ment (GED) program, the So-mali Success School encourages everyone who goes through the school to pursue a GED. We have so many people who get their GEDs, then go to college, Ali said.

With children running around the building that has seen better days, a multi-gener-ational feel echoes through the sparsely furnished school. Ali is proud of the family feel of the program. Tantalizing aro-mas fill the school daily as the food is cooked for a lunch that everyone partakes in together. Children can frequently be seen

playing outside on fallen tree limbs, and their laughter can be heard inside the classrooms.

Ali has high aspirations for the future of the school, despite the move. Five years ago, the school operated a nursing pro-gram, but due to a funding with-drawal by Hennepin County, the program was cut. They are currently working to get it back. Ali also hopes to set up a GED program so students can pursue their degree at the school in-stead of going elsewhere to take the program.

Ali said that their long list of graduates now includes many diverse occupations, including teachers, nurses, doctors, and entrepreneurs who started their own businesses.

There is no limitation on what they can do once they leave here, said Ali.

NEWSPAGE 3

April 22, 2015 | The Northerner

North Central introduces pastoral academy

Continued from page 1change. Because it will be

required for ministry majors, the pricing will be the same as it is for any other block classes.

The idea is that all the min-isterial prep majors here on cam-pus will be taking those courses as a part of their program, Burkman said. So not only do they get credits toward a degree, but also have everything needed to be credentialed. They dont have to take any extra courses.

These courses will also be available to people outside of North Central who may be looking to get credentialed but do not want to pursue a degree. The cost of tuition is still in the works for these potential stu-

dents, but according to Burk-man, it will be lower than for a regular student.

The courses will eventually be offered online so a wider range of people can take them. The reasoning behind an on-line course is for an older gen-eration who might not want to go back to school or for people who dont live close to the cit-ies.

Were looking at the en-tire Bible and theology, how we can better serve our stu-dents and what we can do to make their experience more relevant to todays living, Burkman said. The pastoral academy is only a part of that.

Financial aid increases tuition discount for dependents of ministersSixty percent tuition discount set to financially assist ministry familiesBY KRISTIN WILEMAN

Neighborhood Somali school looks to relocate

Continued from page 1

PHOTO BY KRISTIN WILEMAN

Currently located on Grant Street, the Somali Success School operates four days each week.

Bill Ross, a CODA (child of deaf adults), learned how to use sign language before he could speak. Sign language has since become a central element of his life and career, something he never thought would happen.

Ross spent much of his child-hood slowly discerning the dif-ferences between his family life at home and the outside world.

I acted like a deaf person for a lot of my childhood. When youre a kid that grew up with parents who are different from you, what ends up happening is you that you adopt the norms that they model for you, Ross said, So, I thought the way deaf people acted was the nor-mal way of life. It wasnt until around age 10 that I realized this was not the norm. Not everyone has parents who couldnt hear. Its different for others.

As an adult, with his parents both deceased now, Ross sees how active and present their strong Deaf culture influences were in his life.

Growing up, how I did things affected me in a few strange ways. For example, I cant talk to someone unless I can see them. Like, if theyre in another room, I have to get up to talk to them, Ross chuckled, I can tell you that Im honestly grateful for the gift I got from my parents. I have a very differ-ent perspective on life than most people. Its different, but Im glad it happened to me this way. I would never be doing what I

am now if it werent for them. Those who know Ross well

know that he never planned on being an interpreter. In fact, he originally wanted to become a veterinarian. When I was younger, I never looked at inter-preting as a calling or a career. It was just what I did, Ross said, We did it because we could communicate that way, just as if your parents spoke Spanish.

After graduating high school, his life changed drastically. At age 19, he was sent off to Flori-da to look after his grandmother. I could not, for the life of me, find a job there, Ross said.

Eventually, he came across a newspaper job looking for a students interpreter. It was the weirdest interview I ever had, Ross said, I went into the school, was thrown into the middle of a Physics class, inter-preted for the student for maybe twenty minutes and got the job. A grin appeared on his face while he recalled the exact mo-ment in which his career started.

After working there for a year, he moved back to his hometown of Taunton, Mass. where he con-tinued interpreting and teaching.

During this time, Ross re-ceived his bachelors degree in deaf ministry at Central Bible College and his masters degree in special education with an em-phasis in learning disabilities from Missouri State University.

Later, Ross wound up in North Carolina, where he devel-oped two intensive workshops

for American Sign Language interpreters. Upon leaving five years later, he had developed 18. Coincidentally, those 18 work-shops that he created in North Carolina, now serve as the back-bone for North Centrals inter-preting program. I believe God has called me to teach work-shops to interpreters, and thats my ministry.

While in North Carolina, Ross also developed a mento-ring program that is now being used in several schools, includ-ing North Central. Im continu-ing my peer mentoring program and scholar apprentice program here, but were changing it up. The training so far hasnt been sufficient, so were adding more structure and resources so that those in the program will have something tangible to go off of, Ross said.

The ASL (American Sign Language) professor is extreme-ly invested in mentoring rela-tionships; in fact, it is one of his favorite things to do. Currently, Ross is mentoring seven differ-ent people, and is very inten-tional with each individual. Its a blessing, Ross said, Its one of the best parts of my day.

Krista Grosland, a senior in the interpreting program at North Central, and a student currently being mentored by Ross, said, Bill is an incredible source of support for me. He be-lieves in me when I dont, and he knows how to give me a little more perspective each time we

talk.Now married for almost 25

years, and with eight children, life gets a little crazy. However, Ross receives joy and energy from his family. He loves where he is at, and has every intention of staying until God calls him somewhere else.

My wife has always been able to see me better than I can see myself. She thinks I can do things I could never see my-self doing. She could see me at North Central, whereas, I never could, Ross said, My belief in myself has always hindered me. I believe I am where I am supposed to be, and I love what Im doing here at North Central. This is an amazing place. I get to talk about family, God, and interpreting, and I can do that here. And that matters. This is my favorite job.

Ross gives some advice. For people who have no idea what its like to be around deaf peo-ple or in deaf culture, just know that different does not mean disabled, and that people are different like you, not different from you. From a very young age, Ross mother really stuck this perception into the hearts of her children. Ross now realizes just how deeply it has shaped his views of people and deaf culture

On a typical day, Ross can be found shuffling through the many papers on his desk, an-swering the phone, jotting down appointment times and some-how making time to eat lunch.

Within his office are nearly 50 stuffed giraffes and seemingly just as many photos of his wife and children. Giraffes have al-ways been Ross favorite animal and the photos? Well, he loves

his kids a lot, too. Even though his life may seem crazy, he loves it, and he wouldnt have it any other way.

PAGE 4

FEATURE The Northerner | April 22, 2015Some highlights from the life of North Centrals American Sign Language professor Bill Ross

Still being heard: a look into the life of an ASL professor

PHOTO PROVIDED BY MARKETINGBY BOBBI HANSEN

advised new recording musi-cians. There are a lot of options inside a studio that are not avail-able in a live setting. You can take a salt shaker and play it as a shaker. You can play a table and mic it up. You can set something on fire and record the sound of it burning and that can be an in-strument in a recorded project, Felstow said.

Ultimately, Witt and Felstow found that as they worked on their album, experimenting with sounds and making mistakes made for a much better product. Be risky enough to make mis-takes. A lot of the best moments

on the album were originally mistakes, Witt said.

Four months, 11 tracks, 150 hours, and countless mistakes later, the album was recorded and mastering had begun. At this point, the album had been going by the name Heart of Flesh, which is the name of the last track on the album. But Witt just did not feel like it was the right name. We got to the sec-ond listening party for the final mixes of the album, and Witt said, I dont know if I like the name of the album anymore, Felstow said.

Witt felt that Heart of Flesh

did not accurately represent the message of the album, so the name needed to be changed. They brainstormed some ideas and came up with Burn the Ships.

The title comes from a story about Hernn Corts and his conquest of Aztecs in the 14th century. When the Spanish war-riors arrived on the South Amer-ican shores, legend has it that Corts ordered that all of the ships be lit on fire so that they could not go back home until the job was done.

Witt heard this story from his pastor, whose message was on

dedication to God. I have built this ship to try and find satisfac-tion in other places, Witt said, and the Lords really calling me to come back to His shore and burn my ship. This matched with the theme of Witts album: total surrender. The problem was that there was no track to match this new name.

The day after brainstorming the new name, Witt had written and shared the chorus of the new title track with his team. One week later, the entire song had been written, recorded, and sent off for final mastering. The al-bum of 12 tracks was complete.

The only thing left for them to do was to plan the release party and send the album out into the world.

From this point forward, the goal has not been for the album to sell well or to build Witts brand. In fact, Witts expecta-tions have already been met. This album is mostly about ex-pression, Witt said, I wanted to be excellent, but I wanted to see if I could get my brain into a recording.

There are also hopes that people can connect with God through this album. I hope it leads people to Jesus. I hope

it gives people words to pray, to sing, words to interact with God, Witt said. Felstow and Witt want to honor God with the best of their musicianship. I hope that people will be impact-ed in some way, Felstow said, even if its one simple lyric in the whole album that pushes their faith in God, then Im sat-isfied.

Burn the Ships will be re-leased on Tuesday, April 28th on iTunes, Google Play, etc., for $10.

From the first note to the lastBY STEVEN CARVER

Bill Ross is involved in the Deaf Ministries at Cedar Valley Church in Minneapolis

Continued from Page 1

The Northerner | April 22, 2015

PAGE 5

FEATUREThe Northerner | April 22, 2015

Nice Ride Minnesota, a local bike sharing service, has been located in the Elliot Park com-munity for the past four years. With the return of the bikes, El-liot Park residents and visitors once again have the opportuni-ty to feel the wind in their hair while exploring all that Minne-apolis has to offer.

With the return of green spring, its only logical to take advantage of the warm weather with the brightly colored Nice Ride bikes. Many students have taken the opportunity to enjoy the benefits that the non-profit provides for the community.

The company has been on the rise over the past five years. It started in 2010, initially plac-

ing 65 stations around Minne-apolis. In 2012, Nice Ride ex-panded its service to St. Paul. Currently, there are 170 stations located throughout the Twin Cities area with about 1,550 bikes circulating at any given time. The non-profit plans on creating an additional 20 sta-tions and 200 bikes in late May or early June, giving more riders the opportunity to do some extra exploring.

The two returning stations in Elliot Park are located on the corner of Eighth and Ninth Street as well as Grant Street and Portland Avenue. Up to 15 bikes slots are available at each location. With the return of these stations, and more in

the surrounding areas, many outdoor lovers are given the opportunity to feel the wind in their hair on the way to work or while exploring the surrounding neighborhoods of Minneapolis.

David Putman, an Elliot Park resident, has been a member of the bike-sharing service for the past year.

I purchased a membership last year and again this year, Putman said. A senior at North Central University, Putman raves about Nice Rides, saying he constantly recommends the service to others.

If riders are particularly pas-sionate about Nice Rides ser-vices, they can purchase a pass or a membership. A pass grants

access to as many 30-minute rides as desired for a 24-hour window of time. A membership is a monthly subscription, which charges $15 for 30 days of un-limited one one-hour rides.

A pass is available for pur-chase at any of the Nice Ride stations located throughout the Twin Cities. For a membership, a rider needs to register online. After registration, members re-ceive a key in the mail to access the bikes. Once that key is used at any of the stations, the rider is charged but only if the key is activated again after the first 30-day period.

Putman says paying $15 every month to use the service outweighs the responsibilities that come along with owning his bicycle.

I think my favorite part about [renting] as opposed to having my own bike is that I dont have to worry about it! said Putman. I dont have to worry about locking it. I just park it!

Other Nice Ride users seem to agree with Putman as the non-profit organization contin-ues to grow. The success over the past five years of operation has led to the expansion of the number of stations and vehicles each season. The seven-month seasons, lasting approximately from early May to early Novem-ber, earn the business hundreds of thousand of rides every year. Nice Ride director of site place-ment and customer service, Melissa Summers, said that the company tracks rides though the season.

Last year we had well over 400,000 individual trips and av-eraged a couple thousand ride a day, Summers said. Through August of last year, of all our trips, the revenue of 24-hour passes was 58 percent. The rest is memberships and usage fee.

Many riders use Nice Rides to commute instead of other means of transportation. A bike maintenance crew services the bikes from 7 a.m. to midnight most days, ensuring a safe and satisfactory ride for all riders. Though no helmets are provid-ed or required to use the bikes, Nice Ride encourages them for the safety of the riders.

Nice Ride has partnered with a local bike gear company, Free-wheel Bike, to offer a 20 percent reduction off the purchase of a Bontrager helmet to all member or pass holders of the Nice Ride system. Those who choose to rent one of the bikes must be at

least 16 years of age. However, in order to become a member of Nice Rides, a minimum age of 18 is required.

In addition to updating the Nice Ride website, the compa-ny has also released a free app called SpotCycle. This app is available for iOS and Android devices. The app provides cus-tomers with the nearest port lo-cations, number of bikes avail-able, different bike paths and tips for traffic. According to the SpotCycle website, the app ad-ditionally offers a feature called Reality+. This feature, accord-ing to SpotCycle.net, is an aug-mented reality overlay for locat-ing bike stations in live view.

I really enjoy it, Putman said. I think there are a lot of different things you can get out of it. It seems very versatile and theyve got a good system go-ing.

Nice Ride bike stations return with the spring to Elliot ParkThe bike sharing non-profit launches across the Twin Cities for the 2015 seasonBY KATIE LAPINSKI

PHOTO PROVIDED BY KATIE LAPINSKI

The Nice Ride stations can hold up to 15 florescent bikes.

Monthly members receive additional benefits to their usual bike ride, such as 30 extra minutes.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY KATIE LAPINSKI

PHOTO PROVIDED BY LINDSEY SHEETS

A Minneapolis biker rides down the street with his two children.

North Central students take advantage of the warm weather to play frisbee and lounge on the new turf field.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY LINDSEY SHEETS

REVIEWSPAGE 6

The Northerner | April 22, 2015

Periscope: A glorified Chat Roulette?Twitters new live-streaming app may have more negatives than positivesBY KARLIE GROVES

Live streaming is at a whole new level as the new app Peri-scope makes its way onto iP-hones around the world. This up and coming app, created by Twitter, connects people all over the globe instantly. This pro-gram takes communication to a whole different level.

When first downloading the app, the user is asked to sign in with Twitter. With access to the users Twitter account, Peri-scope follows those that the user already follows on Twitter. After this the user has full access the app and follows people, bands, and various accounts that they already have had interest in.

Periscopes home page al-lows the user to view anyone they are following that is live streaming at that moment. It also suggests users to view oth-ers that have recently begun to live stream. These suggestions are not based on interest, but rather provides access to those

who have recently begun to live stream. The bar on the bottom of the app allows the user to move from the home page, to the glob-al live streaming page, to the us-ers own broadcasting page, and finally to the users own profile.

The user can live stream their own life, with friends, followers, and anyone who wants to view it. The app offers the options of both the front facing and tradi-tional outward facing camera, in order to stream oneself or ones surroundings. Viewers are able to continually like the stream by clicking the heart in the right hand corner, and comment by typing the in the box on the bot-tom of the app. Comments and questions typed by views move up the live stream video for a short amount of time allowing other views and the host to re-spond. Once the live stream is over the host can choose to save the live stream to their account or delete it.

Performers can utilize Periscope to stream live perfor-mances in real time.

PHOTOS BY KARLIE GROVES

Pros: This free app caters to people around the world and their desire to connect with others. The simple and attractive design allows users to simply navigate through the app and begin their own broadcast. The app assists users in finding streams that they would be interested in. It is useful in sharing life with others, many have begun to use the app as a way to view concerts, connect with new friends, and communicate with celebrities.

Cons: Periscope is currently only available for iPhone users, sorry Androids. At first glance Peri-scope is similar to the infamous Omegle and Chat Roulette, both of which had the same purpose of connecting people all over the world. These sites became known for inappropriate use, and Periscope has the same potential. Nothing is filtered, which makes it questionable for some users. Overall, with so many similarities to Omegle and Chat Roulette, Periscope is not completely innovative.

The apps main page offers many selections of various live streams for users to watch.

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positive impact on our cultural awareness as an institution and our ability to minister to the people we are mere steps away from.

There are preliminary con-versations that are beginning all over campus regarding issues along this same line. How can we as North Central University become more culturally aware? What can we do to increase di-versity on campus? How can we ensure that North Central is a di-versity friendly university?

My question for you: Would an integrated class of global and local perspectives be a good an-swer to any of the previously stated questions? Would it be worth it to intentionally educate all students at North Central on a holistic global view, including our own community? Are those issues important enough for you as a current student to do some-thing about it to make it happen?

If the answer to that is yes, I encourage you to connect with any Urban Studies student, and start having conversations on how we can be better as a Uni-versity and as a community of people in general. Think for to-morrow. For many of you, this could never have any direct im-pact, but what are you doing to make this place better than what it was when you first crossed the threshold? How can we make North Central a better place for all people? And what can you do to assist in that process?

OPINIONPAGE 7

April 20, 2015 | The Northerner

Opinions expressed in the opinion section do not necessarily reflect the views of administrators, faculty or North Central University. Editorials reflect the views of the Northerner editorial board.

Respond to this article by emailing ncunortherner@gmail.com.

My mom told me not to pub-lish anything for the last issue that would get me kicked out two weeks before graduation.

This initiated thought on what I can say to lack offense to any-one and still fulfill my goals of running an opinions section that prompts discussion. I hope this works for you, Ma.

Working on the Northerner has been one of the most de-veloping experiences Ive been a part of, and this is largely be-cause of the various interactions Ive watched unfurl in response to pieces other writers and I have published. The amount of offense pulled out of many arti-cles that were seemingly inno-cent to me led me to think about how we internalize things that offend us. In a world where ev-eryones a critic, and especially when everyone has the worlds largest platform, the Internet, at their fingertips, this is easy to do.

Here we are at the forefront of the modern world, sending animals to space, creating robots that will sweep your floor for you, and wearing glasses that will project your cousins vaca-tion pictures a mere few centi-meters from your vision. Within this frame of mind in reference to technology, youd think wed be impervious from disaster, and yet if you look at this not-in-any-way scientific graph off of Google Trends below you can somewhat understand what the newest beef is in the back of everyones brains.

Microagressions (or slight/seemingly unintentional offens-es) are everywhere on Face-book, Tumblr, Twitter, and other

online media platforms. On top of all this, at least for me and the peer settings I am a part of, in-tersectionality has been added recently to the docket of what I have to process for every social interaction.

The line is becoming progres-sively more refined on whats culturally appropriate to say out loud in a mixed group of people. Its as though weve cinched the waist line of conversation until no one can breathe, let alone ut-ter a remark.

The foundation for the idea of microagressions is nested in that we (arguably) no longer have overt sexism, racism, ageism, or antireligious sentiments, and so the bigots of the world have resorted to passively allowing their loose end behaviors go unattended in how they talk and think about those around them, particularly those they might not be active advocates for.

Bringing up microagressions and intersectionality is divisive because everyone is either en-cumbered by it or over saturated in it, and I dont observe much positive discussion is coming out on how to deal with this new phenomena outside of brash instructions to recognize your privilege or from the other end to suck it up.

We are in too deep! We la-beled our labels that labeled la-bels because weve continued to not recognize peoples offense, and would rather tell them they are wrong than acknowledge others right to be upset - this only compounded our issues, and now were left with a more sensitive culture.

When we have a difference of

opinion, we dont want to talk to understand we want to talk to let others know why theyre wrong and make sure everyone else knows theyre wrong.

This isnt a particularly unique occurrence to our day and age, but it certainly has made a foothold in society when everyone has an entire internet to band together on for being offended and being offensive. Everything we communicate is a definitive post or send and theres no open air to what we talk about for thoughts to flow between.

This isnt to say positive dis-cussion cant happen online! I found the loophole to disengage from the never ending cycle of being offended or being offen-sive!

Ive been refusing to assume someone is trying be offended or offensive and instead only en-gaging in the content of the sub-ject. Which hasnt been all that easy, because of a desire to still acknowledge emotions without overly obliging them.

In a world where everyones a critic, we dont have to take ev-ery criticism as truth and we can apply things that we dont agree with to our ideas to either rein-force or alter what we already think, and the results are freeing.

To be clear, this doesnt work in imposing this idea on to oth-ers, we have to do it only onto ourselves.

We can tap into an out of body experience that will allow ourselves to rightly evaluate if we are approaching people right by acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly. People outside of North Central

achieve this clairvoyance with psilocybin and hallucinogens! How lucky are we that we can achieve a transcendent state by just obeying Micah 6:8?

People with differing opin-ions shouldnt be asking you to tailor your every sentence to be all encompassing (because thats nearly impossible), but the expectation can be that ev-ery individual is approachable to understand and be understood even if we have sacrifice our right to be correct.

Weve backed ourselves into online corners, and open ended questions almost have no merit in society anymore as our phys-ical interaction matches our online demeanor we need to take back critical thinking and discussion if we want to stop the madness of offense.

Lets reclaim social and ac-ademic liberalism by being a well-rounded campus that is not trying to cap what others can say and think, but embrace dif-ference and take the offense out of counter-thought.

The easiest trick to achieving this is to act justly in what we say and do, love mercy and find camaraderie in each others bur-dens rather than be divisive, and to walk humbly by realizing that what we care about isnt the end all say all for what matters.

If we focus on this above dwelling on others being wrong for how they feel, well be able to leave our human state and picture humanity for what it is, a collective of thought that ought to be criticized freely and reevaluated constantly with dis-cussion.

Micro-OffensesWe regularly miss opportunities to discuss and think when were more concerned with being right.BY CALAH DELAURENTIS

A Google Trends search of intersectionality feminism and microagressions shows these topics being at their peak for being searched for. Intersectionality applies to more than just feminism, but too many results about traffic show up when you just search intersectionality

Over this past year, I have been a part of an ongoing conversation with a group of incredible students who are passionate about bringing im-portant cultural topics into light, and I couldnt agree with them more. This group is made up of students from a variety of backgrounds and majors, but is unified around the intention of integrating a greater emphasis on local and urban ministries into the general core of classes for all students.

Due to its relationship with the Assemblies of God, North Central naturally has an em-phasis on foreign missions in its DNA. This group is not ad-vocating against this emphasis, nor do they have any intentions of changing it, however they are passionate about developing a more holistic view on North Centrals definition of global, to include our neighborhood, our community, and our city.

It is the desire of this group and myself to integrate a lo-cal perspective into the Global Perspectives class, which all students are required to take. This class would be changed to include units like a study of cultures and peoples who are in our community, a more in depth education on diversity and multi-cultural unity on and off campus, as well as discussion on cross-cultural communications, and cultural sensitivity.

Many of the students who are a part of this group are Ur-ban Studies majors. They have a strong desire to see a knowl-edge of our community have a

From the Desk of the PresidentA call to include cultural diversity and sensitivity in our educationBY CALEB BROSE

SPORTSPAGE 8

April 22, 2015 | The Northerner

Unreal Madrid crownedUnreal Madrid defeats Ramchester United on penalty kicks in the North Central intramural futsal championship matchBY JOSH HIGH

All eyes were on the North Central intramural futsal cham-pionship last Tuesday night as two juggernauts clashed on the hardwood of the Clarke-Daniel-son Gymnasium. The hype and magnitude surrounding the final rivaled that of the UEFA Cham-pions League final, and could be felt all over campus in the hours leading up to the match.

As the players took the court for warm-ups and fans start-ed filing into the bleachers, the

tension in the gymnasium was palpable. Unreal Madrid took the court dawning their clas-sic all-black kits, and with star goalkeeper Andrew Eliason in the net. Opposite was the pow-erhouse Ramchester United squad, looking heavenly in their pearly white kits, and with the veteran Blake Mayes in goal.

From the start, United con-trolled most of the possession and had a majority of the early shots on goal. Three minutes

in it was a defensive turnover that led to a Taylor Amiot goal, giving Unreal Madrid an early 1-0 lead. After the Unreal goal, Ramchesters pressure only in-creased, but Andrew Eliason was up to the task for Unreal making big saves to keep the lead.

Finally Ramchester was able to break through on an abso-lutely beautiful connection from Steven Klapak to Caleb Lefty Convey, who was able to get his

famous left foot on the ball and put it in the upper ninety, giving Eliason no chance while tying the match going into the half at 1-1.

Out of the locker rooms the two sides came out with fire, creating chance after chance, but goalkeepers Mayes and Eliason traded incredible saves to keep the match even and the fans on edge. With just six minutes re-maining in regulation it was star Unreal Madrid forward, Luke

Majerle, who was able to waltz passed two United defenders and slot home a left-footed shot, passed Mayes and inside the far post, to give Madrid a 2-1 lead.

With just a few minutes re-maining, Ramchester started pounding the Madrid net, with shots from Convey and Klapak coming from every direction. An equalizer was imminent. Katie Knitt connected with a dream strike, an absolute rocket of a shot that beat Eliason and tied the game at 2-2 with just two minutes remaining. The goal sent the 150 fans into com-plete hysteria and pushed the match into extra time.

Five minutes of back-and-forth play came next as both sides looked for the game-win-ner, but none came. The results of the entire season came down to a round of penalty kicks. The clock was fast approach-ing 11 p.m. as the two sides picked their five shot-takers, who would decide the fate of the futsal championship.

After three rounds of shots, the two sides were tied at one

goal apiece, with scores coming from Andrew Eliason of Madrid and Alex Rose of United. After an Abigail Schwinden shot was saved by Eliason, Ian Brekhus stepped up for Unreal Madrid and pounded his shot past Mayes for a 2-1 penalty shootout lead. Ramchester needed their next shot be a goal in order to ex-tend the shootout, but Andrew Eliason made the save, giving Unreal Madrid the win and the North Central intramural futsal championship.

It was a great game, said Ian Brekhus, who scored the game-winning penalty kick. It was a lot of fun being out there, and Im very proud of our team-work out there.

It was a game for the history books. Unreal Madrid emerged victorious after a hard-fought battle against the worthy Ram-chester United. Both teams look now toward the offseason and the promise of defending the ti-tle for Madrid, and redemption for United.

Ramchester Uniteds Caleb Convey swings his leg back for a strike, challenging Unreal Madrids Andrew Eliason.

North Central elementary education major, Abbey Erz-berger winds up to swing at a pitch from Martin Luther.

Ready to roundup season with runsNorth Central softball head coach Jesse Martens encourages a productive close to the seasonBY CALEB CONVEY

The North Central softball team alleviated a 16-game drought with a win against Northwestern University on April 14. North Central lost the previous two games against Northwestern, with 15 runs scored against on both outings. But North Centrals 9-7 win on

their third meeting was helpful in regaining some ground.

North Central head coach Jes-se Martens cites familiar faults as being critical factors in the first couple of losses.

We were not playing well on defense, and [Northwest-ern] was really hitting the cover

off of the ball, Martens said. One of the bigger differences with the third matchup against Northwestern was that we put freshman outfielder and infield-er, Amanda Roth, at pitcher.

Martens said Roth is a very different pitcher than freshman pitcher/infielder Kylee Bom-mersbach.

According to Martens, Bom-mersbach pitches significantly faster than Roth. This disparity in pitching speed was beneficial in throwing off the Northwest-ern bats, Martens said.

Martens believes this win proved they have the ability to score runs.

Our top six batters are very good, Martens states. Three of our returners have significantly increased their on-base percent-age.

Sophomore captain outfielder and shortstop Holly Pieper has around a .400 batting average and she is around .500 with her on-base percentage, which is very good; she has really stepped it up, Martens said.

Junior captain, outfielder and catcher, Megan Myers has added around 10 percent to her

batting average, from about .220 last year, to .330 this year, Mar-tens said. She has done a real-ly nice job of drawing a lot of walks, so she is around .500 for on-base percentage.

Junior infielder Amanda Johnson has done amazing, going 2-for-2 while batting in the ninth spot in the win against Northwestern, Martens said. She is batting about .300, im-proving upon last years average which was below .200.

All three of these returners will have plenty of pressure at the plate in the next couple of home games against the College of St. Scholastica on April 25 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Our goals are going to be approached inning by inning, Martens said. We will try to keep it together, there is just no denying that they are light years ahead of us right now with where their roster is at.

No matter how difficult, Mar-tens said it will be good for the freshmen. They will have a view of where we want to be in three or four years.

After these two testing trials against St. Scholastica, North

Central will close the season with four games against Ma-ranatha Baptist University 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on April 27, and 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. on April 29.

Our goal is going to be that we go 4-0, Martens said. Our first win of the season was against them. They are a pro-gram that is in a similar boat as us.

Martens admits that nothing will be easy, but he is confident that his team can play with Ma-ranatha.

If we can end the season with four wins it would be huge, especially for the returners, who could go out on a good note, Martens said. Looking back at the first game and first win of their season, Martens believes his team is far different, espe-cially when it comes to pitchers.

Bommersbach and Roth have taken huge steps since then, so I think that should pro-vide a pretty significant differ-ence in our capabilities.

In addition to the pitching staff, Martens sees development and promise on the offensive side as well, despite their small

and relatively inexperienced roster.

I like straight-forward of-fense, Martens said. I want us to be one of the best hitting teams in the conference next year, and I believe it is possible if the freshmen keep working hard in the off-season.

Though their record has been unfavorable, Martens appreci-ates his teams adaptability and positive attitude throughout the season.

Nobody on the team has played just one position all year, Martens said. They have all done a great job of adapting to different positions.

Martenss goal for the rest of the season is to be competitive in every game.

We are focusing on the things that we can control, said Martens. From creating good offense, to avoiding defensive errors.

While keeping a handle on the little details, Martens hopes to build a bigger and brighter program in the remaining in-nings of the season and beyond.

PHOTO BY LINDSEY SHEETS

PHOTO BY CALEB CONVEY