Research Symposium to showcase variety of student researchRonna Fisher, Assistant Editor The SNU Undergraduate Re-search Symposium (UGRS) is an opportunity for students to pres-ent their research before peers and professors. This year’s symposium is taking place on April 12 from 8:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. in the Royce Brown Building. According to Dr. Gina Weaver, one of the founders of the UGRS,

the purpose is for students to get a feel for academic conferences, present their research, and add to their resume or CV. “We want to show students that research is important and to let [students] see [themselves] as young scholars, not just students... It’s the real deal; you don’t have to wait until grad school to do that kind of thing,” Weaver said. Dr. Gwen Hackler agrees, “It

encourages our students to go out and present elsewhere.” Junior English major Tesica Starkey, who has presented since her freshman year, agrees. “I’m presenting because the UGRS is an excellent way to build experience presenting original re-search in an academic but not in-timidating setting . . . by discussing their research in front of peers and professors, [presenters] learn even

more about their topics and gain confidence in the academic scene,” Starkey said. This will be SNU’s 7th annual symposium. English professors Weaver and Hackler were on the original committee that started the symposium; the Honors Program then took over. “I just kept bugging people

Continued on page 2

The man behind the school: our interview with Dr. GreshamGarvis Long, Staff Writer You may have heard of him, and you may have even met him. But do you know Dr. Loren P. Gresham? Let me shed some light on Gresham, a.k.a. the man behind the school. In addition to be-ing the current president and a former professor, he is a former coach of the Bethany Nazarene College (BNC) men’s basketball team, which achieved remarkable success, including a national cham-pionship in the National Asso-ciation of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in 1981. Gresham has been the university president for 24 years and has al-ways given back to the Oklahoma City and Bethany communities. I caught up with the president to discuss his career, basketball and working with students.

The Echo: What is your favorite

color?

Dr. Loren Gresham: Blue. My wife says I look good in blue.

TE: Where were you born?

LG: I was born in Nashville, Ten-nessee, then moved to California.

TE: What is your biggest joy of being president of SNU?

LG: The observation of students is my biggest joy: seeing them four or five years and watching them change, mature, how they make contributions to the community and giving them a diploma... just getting to see lives change for the better.

TE: What is the thing you like least about being president?

LG: Trying to deal with a lot of

different inside groups. Every-body is trying to help you do your job.

TE: How long did you coach?

LG: Seven years. Great players help me look like a great coach.

TE: Do you keep in contact with any of the players?

Continued on page 2

Dr. Gresham poses with the school mascot at a football game in fall 2012. Photo By Brad Crofford

6612 NW 42nd St. Bethany, OK 73008 (405) 491-6382EchoApril 12, 2013

Volume 84 Issue 24echo.snu.edu

Student earns money in unique wayRead more on page 10

The library listens to youRead more on page 2

The

2NEWS4.12.13

LEAP Day in the library – you say, we listenKatie King, Library Director Some of you may be wondering what purpose LEAP Day serves, and why SNU has a whole day de-voted to it. If that’s you, keep reading. If that’s not you, keep reading anyways to see how the Library responds to student feedback. Essentially, LEAP Day is a day where all academic departments have space to ask themselves and you, the students, some important questions, including the following: What is it you need to learn in or-der to participate in the field of [fill in your major here]? In which ways does this depart-ment do a good job of helping you

learn this subject? In which areas could this depart-ment improve your learning (and professors’ teaching)? This year, for the first time, the SNU Library decided to participate in LEAP Day by asking you similar questions about Library services, staff, and space because we want to know how we’re serving your needs well, as well as what we can improve. We asked department chairs to send us anyone their departments weren’t assessing, and the depart-ment chairs responded (thank you!) by sending the Library forty-two of your peers.

Continued on page 3Library staff (left to right) Wen Zhao, Katie King, Joshua Achipa and Daniel Chesney pose for a picture. Photo provided by Katie King

The man behind the school, continuedLG: I try to keep in touch with them. We all spread out, so I have only really kept in contact with the ones who live around the area. We have a reunion of the team every ten years.

TE: How has coaching helped you with being a president of a university?

LG: Coaching has helped me in this job through three things. It helps me evaluate talent, helps me make decisions quickly and some-times under pressure, and helps me relate to different people.

TE: Your wife is huge in the Southern Nazarene Univer-sity community. How has she helped your career?

LG: My wife is a very smart per-son. I trust her a lot. We talk a lot, and more often than not she’s right. She loves students, loves being with students and is very understanding about my work.

TE: Who is your favorite bas-ketball team?

LG: The Oklahoma City Thun-

der. It’s great to have a basketball team in this city.

TE: Who is your favorite bas-ketball player?

LG: Michael Jordan. He was a great player.[Editor’s note: this interview is from re-porter’s notes and is not an exact tran-script.]

Continued from page 1

Research Symposium, continued

about it,” Hackler said. It has been a learning experi-ence for both of them. The sym-posium has gone through several adjustments, continually improv-ing the planning and experience of it. “One of the big struggles is always the issue of audience. We want to have something that every-one can come to . . . so that’s been an ongoing conversation,” Weaver said. Ultimately, the symposium has grown a lot and has become more diverse. This year, 35 students will present their research in fields such as the hard sciences, social scienc-

es, literature, science lab pedagogy, and intercultural research. Who is the UGRS for? “It’s for the students. It’s for all students, but it’s especially useful to students, I think, who are plan-ning on going to graduate school . . . it’s also for students who have done good research,” Weaver said. The symposium was also opened up to non-SNU students last year. The UGRS welcomes students from any year, major, or division. Johnnie West, senior physics ma-jor, said, “The UGRS is for anyone who has research or data to pres-ent. Everyone has always been welcome to present at the sympo-sium.”

What is presenting at the Sympo-sium like? “Initially it was frightening, but

after presenting I appreciated the chance to discuss my research in an academic setting,” Starkey said. West believes that the symposium provides an amazing opportunity for growth.

“For me, the practice is the best reason to participate in the UGRS,” West said. “I also think this is a great place for students to see how symposiums work at larger univer-sity or conferences. It is always a good idea to know what is going to happen at a symposium before ar-riving.” Weaver invites everyone to come watch their peers present their re-search. “We would love to have as many people from the SNU public as possible come and support their friends . . . we want you guys to see that students just like yourself can go on and do really impressive work,” Weaver said.

“We would love to have as many people ...as possible

come”

Continued from page 1

3NEWS4.12.13

LEAP Day in the library – you say, we listen, continued

So, here’s what we did: around Panera bagels and coffee, the li-brary team chatted with some of you about the library. We broke you up into groups, and, as we moved around the library together, we asked you questions like: What do you think of when you hear the word ‘library’ or ‘librarian?’ How do you start research, and what do you do when you get stuck? Have you had any experiences with student workers or staff? If so, what were those experiences like? Does our division of regular and quiet study space on the first and second floors work for your study habits? Have you used the SNU Ar-chives before, and, if so, what did you use it for? When you look at the furniture in this section of the library, does it meet your needs? How would you rearrange this section of the library if you could? As we asked those questions and others, we learned that we do some things really well. For example, we reaffirmed that we have great people in the library who care about your information needs, who serve you well, and who will take the time to work through problems with you so you get what you need to be successful students. We also learned that we divide, arrange, and care for our space well. Some of you really appreci-ate having room to talk and work in groups while others really enjoy working alone in a quiet area. Ei-ther way, we’re happy to be able to offer good space for both those needs in the library. Finally, we learned that we’re a flexible and functional space that you want to use for almost every-thing – you study, you research, you socialize, you print and share, you ask great questions, you browse the Internet, you connect, you do life. We’re honored to say you do all those things here, in the library.

We also learned that there are some things we need to change so we can better accommodate your needs. For example, many of you mentioned that there aren’t enough accessible outlets in the building, which is true. It’s hard to do sus-tained work on a paper or assign-ment when you can’t charge your

laptop or cell phone, and it’s frus-trating when all the tables near wall outlets are taken, making it difficult and awkward to find a plug. We get it, which is why we or-dered retractable extension cords you can use to charge your devices from any table in the library. Those are installed, and you can find those in each section of the library and on each floor (just look for large yellow wheels and cord ends that say “Pull me”). Next, we learned that those of you who use our individual study carrels on the second (silent) floor found them loud and uncomfort-able. So we investigated them and found that those desks had been around for quite some time (so long, in fact, that their lovely shade of mint is now back in style). We sat down in them and found that yes, they were both uncomfort-able and loud, and we also discov-ered that some of those desks were extremely unstable after years (nay, decades) of use. So we replaced them. Six study carrels feature comfy yet studious chairs. We added lap desks and a side table so you can sit down and still have your laptop and other books and articles handy; we also added coasters for your drinks and lamps in the spaces without natural light. In the other five carrels, we added sturdy desks and rolling desk chairs

(some of those have yet to come in as of April 5). We’ll be adding coast-ers and lamps to those rooms, too, and all eleven rooms will eventually feature fun artwork so those rooms don’t feel so empty, bare and unin-spired. You also gave us feedback about the differences in library hours and space. Some of you told us that, while you appreciate the quiet study space on the second floor, you were dismayed that the second floor closed at 11pm while the remainder of the library closed at midnight, which meant that those of you who need quiet study space had to go elsewhere for quiet space between 11pm and 12am. We heard you, and we agreed that it was unfair. So the second floor is now open until midnight, too. Finally, many of you asked about how late the library was going to be open during finals week and the week before that. You expressed a desire for the library to stay open later so you could achieve more

without having to go to Ihop or another place off-campus with later hours. We hear you, and we understand. So this year, we’re trying something new. We’re going to be open until 1am for both finals week and the week before. We’re taking a risk – we know that large groups of people who are running on precious little sleep (if any), a lot of caffeine and late-night carbs, and who are under pressure don’t necessarily make good deci-sions, but we’re betting that you all will make us proud. I hope you can see how the li-brary’s participation in LEAP Day illustrates that we care about your feedback. We plan on regularly asking you all these questions and others, and we hope you’ll keep talking to us and giving us your affirmations, ideas, improvements, and sugges-tions so we can continue to ensure the library is somewhere you want to be.

Sample study carrel. Photo from Katie King, Library Director.

“We hear you, and we

understand.”

Continued from page 2

4NEWS4.12.13

Brad Crofford, Editor-in-chief Members of SNU’s newspa-per and yearbook staffs attended and won numerous awards at the Oklahoma Collegiate Media As-sociation’s annual conference at Oklahoma State University on Friday, April 5. Students attended workshops related to media and then a key-note speech by Lynn Povich, one of the women behind a landmark gender discrimination lawsuit against Newsweek. “I really enjoyed Lynn Povich

and her story about being a part of the first group of women to file a class action lawsuit,” Ronna Fisher, next year’s Echo co-editor-in-chief, said. “It was interesting to hear about women in the work-place in the 70s.” SNU Publications was also suc-cessful in the awards competitions. The Arrow won 2nd place for overall yearbook, 2nd place for yearbook photography and 2nd place for yearbook theme. These awards were based on the 2012 yearbook.

The Arrow’s success was an in-spiration for next year’s yearbook editor, junior graphic design major Jeff Carden. “It was really exciting!” Carden said. “It has motivated me to do an amazing job so we can win some more awards in the future.” The Echo won 2nd place for overall excellence in the online category. The Echo’s writers also earned several accolades. Patty Juliuson won 2nd place for “Sixty-Four Crayons” and an hon-orable mention for “Geek Alert”

in the column category. Brad Crofford won 3rd place in the reporting portfolio category. This category incolved submitting five news stories. Jake O’Bannon won an hon-orable in the reviews category for his review of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The yearbook competition in-cluded both two-year and four-year universities, regardless of size. The newspaper competed in Division 1-A, which includes ten universities of similar size.

Publications staff attends media conference, wins awards

OPINIONSTheEcho April 12, 2013 Page 5

This advice from 1953 is still relevant for SNU studentsGrace Williams, Guest Writer Cordova Haigan wrote an arti-cle encouraging students to read the Handbook and make sugges-tions in the April 14, 1953 issue of The Echo, I wish Cordova Haigan was attending SNU right now. I know we would be best friends because her name and bandana are awe-some and because she shares the same sentiments about student involvement in campus policies. Brad Crofford and I started the Campus Conversations Club (CCC) to bridge the gap be-tween students and administra-tion about the lifestyle covenant, campus policies contained in the handbook, and overall proce-dures, but we are open to all sorts of problems that students want help with. I’ve really enjoyed hearing many different perspec-tives on issues and exploring dif-ferent solutions to suggest to the administration. The administration has been helpful in providing more infor-mation to help us understand issues holistically and has been receptive to suggestions thus far. We’ve been discussing the pro-posed study abroad scholarship changes, SNU security, recycling, off-campus housing, and more. Take Cordova’s advice and join our conversation!

Prehistoric legends: it’s the time of the seasonProf. Jim Wilcox, Guest Writer Let’s say there are three or four weeks of school left, hypothetically speaking. And let’s imagine that at least half your classes will have a final exam and the other half will have some kind of rinky-dink (as in written)

project due that final week. And we need to calculate your sleep time, hours that will surely diminish as exams and rinky-dink projects get closer to due dates. Then, for sure, you will spend untold hours on your cell phones, texting, instant messaging, be-

friending, chatting, posting, and creating hilarious notes, messages, chats and posts. Many need to feed the beasts of video game obsessions – smash-ing enemy armaments, undermin-ing enemy plots, transforming hu-mans into robot and Smurf-killing

machines, and , of course, picking up pieces of what was once the remote control and trying to re-assemble it before your scholarly roommate returns from the library. You’ll need to enroll for classes

Continued on page 8

Excerpts from the April 14, 1953 issue of The Echo provided by the Fred Floyd Archives.

6SPECIAL FEATURE4.12.13

JakeHometown: Tuttle, OKLife Motto: Keep on keepin’ onBiggest Fear: CaterpillarsFavorite Food: Mom’s cookin’

Trey Cloud

Jake Garrett

Chase Howard

Who

’s Th

e Man

Co

ntes

tant

s

ChaseHometown: Yukon, OKLife Motto: When some-one tells you nothing is impossible, ask him to dribble a football.Biggest Fear: Being forced to jump in a pool filled with needlesFavorite Food: Fresh rattlesnake

TreyHometown: Bartlesville, OKLife Motto: Live hardBiggest Fear: PorcupinesFavorite Food: Chicken fried steak

FelipeHometown: Atibaia, BrazilLife Motto: Don’t waste your lifeBiggest Fear: Flying platypusFavorite Food: Mac ’n’ Cheese

74.12.13

Andrew Leahey Demarkie Roy

Ben Siems

Steve StarkFelipe Simoes

SteveHometown: Oklahoma City, OKLife Motto: Be the best you can be!Biggest Fear: Being thrown back in time by a weeping angelFavorite Food: Fried chicken

AndrewHometown: Ardmore, AmericaLife Motto: Life is un-sure; eat dessert first.Biggest Fear: Seagulls.Don’t ask; it’s too painfulFavorite Food: Peanut butter and pickle onion sandwich (do not kiss someone after)

DemarkieHometown: Dallas, TXLife Motto: Death before the sun.Biggest Fear: DeathFavorite Food: Fried chicken

BenHometown: Stillwater, OKLife Motto: Be awesome!Biggest Fear: Glitter. It’s the herpes of the craft world.Favorite Food: Piñata entrails

SPECIAL FEATURE

8OPINIONS4.12.13

Prehistoric legends: it’s the time of the season, continuedfor next semester, an experience that could take hours, days, if not weeks, depending upon your advisor’s abil-ity to navigate the tempermental en-rolling programs, the new computer systems and the evolving course de-liverables. Most of you have jobs – part-time and full-time – or close to it, and you need those jobs to pay for school even though the jobs are the very cause of your miserable mid-term grades.

(Wow! If your boss or co-work-ers hate you for being smarter and better-looking or higher-skilled, you have to spend some of that job-money on counseling or buy-ing flowers and gifts or putting horsemeat in the chili.) Church! You gotta go to church, especially now that you’re no lon-ger going to chapel because you’ve got your 27. Choir practice, retreat planning, Sunday school lessons to write, benevolent ministries to pursue. All of that. Plus the time

and effort of washing and ironing your good clothes to impress the girls or get noticed by the pastor’s son, Billy. Kissy-facing with your soon-to-be fiancé(e), pranking thine en-emies, bike-riding, long-walking, returning unopened textbooks. Well, I don’t know how you’ve found the time to read this stupid thing. But thanks for doing it. Writ-ing is my only escape from reading papers and rinky-dink projects, an-

swering email, washing and ironing my out-of-fashion wardrobe, buy-ing flowers and gifts for my weary colleagues, enrolling my advisees (seven hours each because, frank-ly, I haven’t a clue how to navigate the new computer system or plow through the stresses of Univisor’s cranky eccentricities), kissy-facing with my soon-to-be widow and getting my necessary 12 hours of sleep a day. You’d better get busy. Time’s a-wasting.

Has America passed its prime?Kendra Nixon, Content Editor I drove a total of 24 hours over Spring Break, so it gave me plenty of time to think. And while I will spare you with most of my wandering thoughts, an interesting one that came to mind was the idea that America has passed its prime. For so long, we have been America the Great, or Home of the Free, or Land of the Brave. But re-cently, I’ve felt we no longer impress. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love that I am an American and I am a fan

of my country, but I do believe that we are on the decline. One thing that made me think this was the plethora of great mov-ies that just came out. I don’t think I need to go into too much detail on all the recent release, but if you want a recap, you can read Jason Hubbert and Jake O’Bannon’s Os-car predictions for a list of some of the latest and greatest. Thinking about where these movies take place and their philo-sophical depth really triggered my

epiphany. The following movies were nominated for best picture in the 2013 Oscar Awards. Amour- a French-language dra-ma, taking place in France, Germa-ny and Austria. Life of Pi- takes place in India and was adapted from a novel writ-ten by a Canadian. Les Miserables- based on a French novel, filmed in the UK. Django, Zero Dark Thirty and Lincoln were also nominated and each take place in the U.S., but each movie is based on a great event that happened several years ago. After looking at these films, it has made me realize that we haven’t done anything great and out of the ordinary for a while. According to infoplease.com, the U.S. is the 9th fattest country. And according to a Huffington Post arti-cle, we are ranked 17th in education. I believe that we are slowly on the decline to becoming an “average” country. I think it’s safe to say we are a military powerhouse and our political system is one of the most effective, but we lack in so many other areas. All great nations fall, and although I don’t think it will be in our lifetime, I think the U.S. has seen its glory years. We are no longer the land of the free, but the land of the tolerant. But we have become tolerant to a fault. We no longer take the respect of others into account.

If a person believes in some-thing, whether it be right or wrong, that person is right. And if you are against that person, then you are in-tolerant and offensive. It is almost as if we cannot have an opinion anymore, or else we will offend the people with a different opinion. We were a country built on pride, freedom and morals. We were a na-tion under one God and religion was something most Americans were proud of. Now religion has a negative con-notation. We have drifted far, far away from having any sort of reli-gious base, and we have become a sinful, fallen country like most of the world. Most people give into temptations with no regard for anyone else. We have stopped looking out for those around us, and we don’t care what’s in our country’s best interest. We only care about what is best for us at the time being. Whether this country can make a comeback or not, I’m not so sure. But at least while we are still around, I think we can make a positive im-pact. Even though it is difficult to change the country, it is possible to change our community. Just because our world is fallen, doesn’t mean our world has to be. If each person made an attempt to im-prove the community around them, only then could we have a chance at changing our country. Photo by Flickr user “ctj71081” used under Creative Commons license BY-SA 2.0

Continued from page 5

STORMSPORTS

Keepup

with results

and scores

at snuath-letics.com

TheEcho April 12, 2013 Page 9

SNU Softball looks up when times are downKendra Nixon, Content Editor Even though the SNU softball team’s record this season says los-ing, their attitudes say winning. With an overall record of 12-24, it obvious that they have ran into some trouble. But each loss was just a run or a pitch away from a win. The team is composed of talented players, but the transition into Division II has been more dif-ficult than expected. Sophomore captain Maci Lam-bert has high hopes for her team, even though they haven’t had the outcome she expected so far. “We are a very young team, fig-uring out all of our strengths and weaknesses as a whole,” Lambert said. “I believe we are finally be-coming cohesive and starting to shape up as a team, working more as a unit. I am excited to see how we end our season.” The season isn’t over, how-ever. There is more than enough time for the team to improve and win the Regional tournament, and even Nationals. “Despite what our record may show, we have developed as indi-viduals and as a team,” said Kaylee Allen, sophomore. “It is not how you start, but how you finish, and we believe this season has pre-pared us to fight and finish at the top of our conference.“ The team has been on the road a majority of the season so far, making it more difficult to play the way they are used to. Many factors can go into a loss, and traveling can be a big one. Losing can get a team down and leave them there. But the Crimson Storm is determined to get back up and keep fighting. “Our biggest problem this sea-

son is we don’t know how to lose,” said Kylie Lang, sophomore. “We got stuck in a hole and did not know how to climb back out. We are now learning from our mis-takes and growing as a team. We all came from winning programs in the past. The majority of us have state championship rings from high school.” Although the season isn’t go-ing as expected, they refuse to put their heads down and give up. “Currently we are working on execution on our team. The little things are what make the big things happen in any sport,” Allen said. “We are working on situational hit-ting, being able to hit behind the

runner and score every time we have base runners. Everyone un-derstands they have a job to do at any given situation in a game and we are all doing our best at com-pleting our individual tasks to gain team success.” “My favorite thing about play-ing for SNU is the family-like at-mosphere my team, other sports, and the whole school brings in my life,” Lang said. “I am able to make lots of friends throughout the school, not only on my own team, but from other sports, and

also non-athletes.” Even if the season doesn’t turn out to be a winning one, the girls won’t leave empty handed. The la-dies have come together despite their results and have learned that there is more to a game than win-ning. They have learned to rely on each other in the good times and the bad. “Being a captain of SNU soft-ball, I have learned the benefits of being part of a team,” Lambert said. “I love being able to lead my team and show them the dedica-tion I have to them. I enjoy being able to still play the one thing in my life that I have always loved. I am blessed to continue my softball career here at SNU.” As the seasons hits the home stretch in a couple of weeks, the team looks to each other and their coach for support and encourage-ment. They have taken advantage of their time together to build bet-ter relationships and have learned how to play as a team. “My favorite thing about play-ing at SNU is playing with 16 other girls who give the glory to God ev-ery time they step on the field and who play for their team, not just themselves,” Allen said.

SNU

Athletics

“Although the season isn’t

going as expected,

they refuse to put their

heads down.”

Amy Madden. Photo by snuathletics.com

Arts ENTERTAINMENTTheEcho April 12, 2013 Page 10

Student makes money during college in a unique wayBrad Crofford, Editor-in-chief What started as a way of raising money for Nazarene Youth Confer-ence in 2007 has turned into a un-usual way of making money. Mary Siems, senior biology-chem-istry major, started baking for NYC, and she now runs a small business called the Charming Cupcakery out of her mom’s kitchen. “I bounce ideas off my mom a lot. She’s kind of my assistant to bake and clean up because I do it all out of her kitchen,” Siems said. She made the cupcakes for this year’s Heartpal, and she also makes cupcakes, cakes, cookies and goodie baskets for birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, etc. Adapting the goods to the event requires some creativity. “If I know [the customers], it’s really easy to come up with some-thing they would like. Also, if they have an idea of something they like, then I can run with it. It’s kind of an outlet for me to use my creative side, I guess,” Siems said. “A lot of them kind of have my own little style to it. I really like pretty things, delicate things, and to make them unique.” Some of her newest flavors in-clude dark chocolate espresso and blackberry champagne. She comes up with her ideas for unique flavors by bouncing ideas off her mom, searching Pinterest, talking to peo-

ple about what they like and ex-perimenting with what she has in the pantry. “It’s like you start with all these simple ingredients and then you can make something that looks so cool. It really is like artwork in a way. If you’re gonna make just like brownies or something, you can’t do much with it, but if it’s like a cupcake or cake, you can make it something so cool and so pretty,” Siems said.

Balancing her coursework and baking business can be stressful at times, requiring occasional late nights and somtimes turning down order requests. “Just this past week I pulled an all-nighter. I had two tests that day, and after class I went straight to the store, bought all the stuff and stayed up ‘til 5:30 in the morning to get all that order done! But I got it done,” Siems said. Siems describes the Charming Cupcakery as a “season in [her] life” and a “unique way to make money while in college.” She will

be starting medical school in the fall and will not have time to keep operating it. “I’ve been really kind of de-pressed about that fact,” Siems said. “One day maybe I’ll open up

a bakery, a real live one when I’m retired from being a doctor some-day.”Editor’s note: visit our website, echo.snu.edu, to get Siems’ buttercream recipe and see more examples of her work.

Timara (Starkey) and Trey Stelling’s wedding cake. Photo from Mary Siems.

Macy Sliman, Staff Writer It’s the longest night of your life: that first date that is so awk-ward it hurts. You cringe every time you even remotely think about it. You know, the one where he talks about his mom entirely too much or she walked out of the bathroom with toilet paper stuck to her shoe. We’ve all been there. So in the spirit of distracting

ourselves from our own sad, may-be slightly scarring awkward dates, here is a lovely story from one of my friends. “It was my very first date after a two year relationship. One of the guys I had grown up with had reached out and confessed his feel-ings for me. He promptly asked me on a date and I accepted. The evening started out normal

with him picking me up and us driving to the restaurant. However, things started getting weird as soon as conversation picked up. He im-mediately started talking about my dad. Not even kidding. Cue awk-ward part of the night. But wait, it gets better. After about fifteen minutes of him going on and on about my dad and me doing my best to steer the

conversation elsewhere, I bluntly asked him if we could talk about something else. I mean I grew up with the guy. Did we really need to talk about him on our date? Seri-ously? My date agreed but then imme-diately launched into a “funny story about my dad I just had to hear.” We finally arrived at the Sushi bar

Dating column: the awkward date experience

Continued on page 11

“It really is like artwork in a

way.”

11A & E4.12.13

Cole Trotter, Guest writer Up in the trees, under the bunk beds, or even in the Honors Lounge - hammocks can be found all over SNU’s campus. Ham-mocking is a trending hobby for many students on campus and is growing in popularity. Many students find it a great way to relieve stress and to enjoy beautiful weather. Hammocks just have something special about them that allows loyal users to slip away from reality and happily swim in the tranquility of their hammock’s steady sway. Popular hammock brand Ea-gle’s Nest Outfitters (ENO) makes hammocking easy. The entire kit compacts into a little pouch half the size of a basketball. ENO re-tails genius “Slap Straps” that only need be looped around a base and clipped to the hammock with the carabiner to be ready for action. The strap is full of loops so as to fit any base in the hammocker’s mind.

ENO hammocks also come in multiple sizes, depending on the company of the adventure. Dou-ble-nests are popular around SNU

because they’re big enough for a partner to join. ENO fanatic Casey Myers owns multiple ENO products and acces-sories. Myers says that the combi-nation of the name brand quality with their two-year guarantee makes ENO unbeatable. Meagan Green, a freshman tack-ling nineteen hours this semester on top of being in ROTC, refers to her navy blue ENO as her “hanging ha-ven.” Green loves to stretch out in her hammock after long, tiring days no matter what the weather. She even enjoys lying out in the chilly wind if

she has her beanie and cozy fleece blanket to keep her snug in the “blue cocoon.” Hammocking is a peaceful hobby that can be taken to new heights if only the ham-mocker is daring enough. Place-ment of the nest is the key to the rush of the trip. Some adventure junkies enjoy the excitement in set-ting up camp at extreme heights or locations. Some say the higher, the better! The possibilities are endless with the versatility of hammocks. A hammock may be a comfy medium for a woodsy outdoorsman to get in touch with nature, a thrill ride for an

adventure junkie, or a cradling cloud for a weary college student. Regardless of what happiness it brings, the art of hammocking is an open and welcoming hobby that in-vites readers climb on in.

Hammocks are great for relaxation, adventure, enjoying nature

“an open and welcoming

hobby”

The greatest book on earth is now the greatest show on earthGarvis Long, Staff writer It was a Sunday evening with little to do. I had just come home from church with my brother, and we both crashed on the couch to watch television. One channel to the next with nothing but the same drama and same boring news sto-ries about Kim Kardashian’s baby. It seemed like a regular day, un-til I turned to the History Chan-nel and couldn’t believe what I was watching. Old stories of heroes from long ago which help shape

the world that we know today, sto-ries I grew up reading and helped change me for the better, stories of hope, determination and, most importantly, faith. The stories from the Bible have been brought to life through the History Channel’s riveting new se-ries The Bible, which shows stories from the Old Testament to the New Testament. This series brings everything from the greatest book in the world and puts it in high definition.

Most shows hold my attention as it is, but this series kept me wanting more. The story of Moses, King Saul, David and Goliath, Samson, and all the other stories from the Canon are told beautifully through a show that brings the words of the Bible to light. The stories are narrated by Keith David and tell several stories in one episode. The show’s actors are amazing as well, each one bringing their all in each one of the charac-ters.

This is not The Prince of Egypt or your average Sunday school video tape you show to kids. The Bible is for mature audiences, al-though I would let my little cous-ins watch this show because of the message each episode presents, in-stead of watching the crazy stuff that comes on now-a-days. In the end, I dare you to find a better show on television right now that actually has a message to it. The greatest book on earth is now the greatest show on earth.

Dating column: the awkward date experience, continued

and were seated. I guess he hadn’t noticed I was left-handed. Upon seeing this, he jumped up in his seat and shouted at the top of his lungs, ‘I’m dating a mutant!” Horrified and completely embar-rassed, I tried to ignore the entire restaurant as every person jumped

with me in shock at his outburst. Also, as if to make things worse, this particular Sushi bar was in the Asian district with an extremely high ratio of non-English speaking Asians. I cannot imagine what they thought as they witnessed this very strange young man leaping to his feet and shouting at me.

To top the night off, once we arrived home, he walked me to the door (still talking about my dad, mind you). There was a lapse in conversation as I wished with every fiber of my being that he would just leave. Nope. He wasn’t done yet. He asked if he could kiss me. That wasn’t the bad part. The bad

part was when he didn’t even wait for me to answer; he just dove in for the gold. Not only did he slob-ber all over me, but also he com-pletely missed my mouth, instead getting my nose and part of my cheek and upper lip. Ending the night with a high score of 10/10 on the awkward scale.”

Continued from page 10

Bunking hammocks. Photo provided by Cole Trotter.

12A & E4.12.13

The ECHO is the weekly student newspaper of Southern Nazarene University and is a long-standing member of the Oklahoma Collegiate Media Association. Viewpoints expressed in the paper are not to be considered official standard-bearers of the university or its sponsoring denomination. Editorials on the op/ed pages that are generated by the ECHO staff--and therefore have no byline--express the opinions of the editorial staff but not necessarily of the administration, faculty or staff of Southern Nazarene University. Personal columns with bylines as well as opinions reprinted from subscription wire services or other publications by permission express the opinions of the writer and not necessarily of the editorial staff of the ECHO or the administration, faculty or staff of Southern Nazarene University. The ECHO publishes a public forum called “Letters to the Editor” and invites readers to express themselves here. The editorial staff requests that letters not exceed 250 words and reserves the right to edit them for clarity and brevity. All letters must be signed. Send them to The ECHO through e-mail at echo@snu.edu. Letters will not be returned. Unless otherwise marked, letters received by The ECHO that deal with newspaper content or practice will be considered for publication. Information on advertising can be obtained by contacting the editor-in-chief at echo@mail.snu.edu

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Jake O’Bannon, Columnist Before I begin, I want to take a moment to honor the life of Roger Ebert, who passed away last week at the age of 70 after a long battle with cancer. Known as one of the greatest film critics of all time, Ebert’s words were a key factor as to why I began reviewing movies myself. The idea of a movie crit-ic can seem quite off-putting for most, but Roger Ebert made it fun. He had a way of looking at each movie he watched and find-ing something good. I think Tyler Huckabee put it best in his April 5 article on rel-evantmagazine.com when he said of Ebert, “He had a way of taking an unbearably pretentious field and making it accessible, relaxed, funny, and even exciting. And, unlike many critics, Ebert was not afraid of lov-ing movies.” This characteristic once inspired me to begin looking at movies in a new way, and I will always thank Mr. Ebert for that. As far as my review for this week goes, I must tell you some-thing up front. But before I do, I want to remind you of something. You and I are pretty good friends, right? I mean… you’ve known me for a year now, and some of you for

two. And because we are such good friends, there is no way you could be mad at me when I tell you that I don’t like Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, right? Okay, I am sensing some hostility from you. I feel like you all lost a bit of respect for me just now. But I am being honest with you; I just do not like Jurassic Park as much as history does. Though I don’t really like it, I chose to review this film because it is currently out in 3D in celebration of its 20-year anniversary. This is the part where I have to admit something else to you: last week was the first time I ever watched Jurassic Park. I know, I know, any respect you may have still had for me is gone now. Just think of it this way: I was still a dinosaur-loving kid like all of you, I was just more of a “Land Before Time kid” than a “Jurassic Park kid.” Now, I am not here to com-pletely trash this movie. In fact, there are some extraordinary aspects pres-ent. The most prevalent is how ad-vanced the computer animation was for 1993. Honestly, if that movie came out today it would be some-thing you would find on the SyFy network. But at the time, this film

was groundbreaking and set the precedent for years to come. For that I have genuine respect. Another positive quality of the film is that Samuel L. Jackson says, “Hold on to your butts,” twice. Saying it once just wasn’t enough, it had to be in there twice. And that’s more than okay with me. I think my biggest issue with this movie is that there is really no message present or no redeeming values being articulated. Our friend Roger Ebert said it well in his re-view of the film when he stated, “The movie delivers all too well on its promise to show us dinosaurs. We see them early and often, and they are indeed a triumph of spe-cial effects artistry, but the movie is

lacking other qualities that it needs even more, such as a sense of awe and wonderment, and strong human story values.” He was right in this cri-tique. I could not agree more. But I believe the lesson I learned while watching this movie is that I need to get over myself and not expect every movie I watch to have an awesome message that is going to affect me, and accept that some movies are just made to entertain an audience. “Jurassic Park” is cer-tainly one of these movies. So if you’re a big fan of the classic, or you just want to be enter-tained, go check this one out in 3D. It’s a wild ride, so hold on to your butts.

Jake’s Movie Review: Jurrasic Park

Photo by José María Pérez Nuñez used under Creative Commons BY-NC 2.0