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Water Issues Inundate Campus

Two separate flooding incidents involving pipe failure hit campus the past week, resulting in cut water access to one of the women’s dorms and damage to part of the dining hall ceiling.

The first incident occurred last weekend between 11 a.m. and noon on Saturday, January 18. According to Charlie Smith, maintenance building manager, a main supply pipe (10 inches in diameter) from the town “sheared off” near the front of the campus center. A pool of water formed directly above the area, alerting personnel that there was a leak. It is unknown whether the cause of the break was due to cold winter weather or to ground shifting. Regardless, the situation demanded immediate action due to poor drainage on the street and the potential flooding of the campus center basement.

pipebreakCollege maintenance employees first inspected the leak, but because the line was owned by the town, a town plumbing outfit was eventually called to do the repairs. To repair the pipe, however, it was necessary to shut off the water in both Gillette and the campus center for several hours.

Andrew Cahill, lead custodian, alerted both the dining hall and the RD on duty in order to prep both buildings to function water-less for the majority of the afternoon and evening. The Gillette ARD, Samantha Krzyzewski, senior, was on duty at the time. Krzyzewski described that her first responsibility when she received the call “was to alert Gillette residents as soon as possible” so that they could be prepared.

Throughout the day residents of Gillette were unable to turn on the taps in the kitchens and bathrooms and were unable to do laundry or take showers. The dining hall, in the absence of water to run the dishwasher, was forced to serve food on paper plates and plastic utensils for both lunch and dinner. Krzyzewski remarked that she was impressed with the can-do spirit among the Gillette residents on Saturday particularly. “I’m impressed that when this came up people were flexible and understanding during the situation,” she said, and commented on groups of residents going on “bathroom parties” to the nearby Campus Fine Arts building.

The second flooding incident occurred on Monday, January 20 when a boiler pipe burst in the cafeteria, unleashing a cloud of steam and hot water which flooded down the cafeteria steps to the lower floors. The humidity from the hot water and steam prompted the alarm to evacuate the building. Students shuffled out of the dining hall, some leaving their half-eaten plates on the tables and other taking their dishes to nearby buildings to finish lunch.

The cause of the second flood proved to be due to a broken pipe fitting which was quickly fixed within two hours of the incident, just in time for dinner. Unlike the Gillette incident, water access was not cut off to the Campus Center and dining hall. However, the areas of the ceiling which sustained significant damage are remaining open so as to fully dry.

 

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Math Department Attends Joint Mathematics Meetings

This past week brought the Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM) to Baltimore, Maryland for its annual run in 2014. Spanning four days from January 15th to the 18th, the JMM offers hundreds of talks presented by mathematicians, covering topics ranging from research in pure and applied mathematics to teaching methodology to career options for undergraduates. The conference drew nearly 6500 registered attendees and speakers from across the U.S. as well as from across the world, including three math faculty and nine students from Houghton. Professors Kristin Camenga, Rebekah Yates, and Jun-Koo Park presented original work at the conference, as did junior Samantha Fairchild.

MathWhile certain speakers are invited based on their expertise in a field and speaking skills, most submit their own abstracts for review and are approved to present at the conference. “They publish the call for papers with a list of sessions and a description of each of them in late spring or sometime early in the summer and then your titles and abstracts are due in September, early October,” explained Rebekah Yates, assistant professor of mathematics. “Depending on who’s in charge of the session, you find out within a few days or a month whether your talk has been accepted.”

Yates, whose talk was titled “Helping Students Overcome Discouragement in Real Analysis,” presented on her teaching methods in the subject. “It was in the special session on topics and techniques for teaching real analysis,” she explained. Besides presenting to others, Yates also used the conference as an opportunity to receive feedback on her ideas. “You maintain connections that you have and you talk with them about what they’re doing in the classroom and find out what kinds of things are happening at their college and get ideas,” she said. The conference also allowed her to further her professional development by meeting with collaborators for future research.

Math department chair Kristin Camenga’s talk “Developing community norms for proof: forum discussions of the nature and import of proof” also approached mathematics from an educator’s perspective. “I was talking about the forum assignments I use in my Introduction to Proofs class and how one of the goals of that is really to not just learn the mechanics of the proofs but understand why proof is important to mathematics and what it means to be proof,” she said. Like Yates, she also saw the JMM as an opportunity to further both the pedagogical and research aspects of her profession. “I was able to get together with someone I planned to collaborate with and start work on a project, so that’s going to be something that could very well lead to published math papers,” she said.

Meanwhile, assistant professor Jun-Koo Park’s talk, titled “Elastic Model Extensions for Predicting Protein Residue-level Fluctuation,” was included in the conference as part of the contributed paper session on mathematical modeling. It presented original research he began in 2007 as a graduate student at Iowa State University, drawing on his background in biology and mathematics. Still currently in progress, it focuses on “developing a mathematical model for predicting the dynamics of biological structures,” as he explained.

While the majority of the conference is aimed at an audience familiar with higher-level mathematics, various opportunities for undergraduate students are also presented. Recruiters for private and government organizations as well as companies and research programs often attend the meetings, seeking potential hires in well-rounded students.

In junior Samantha Fairchild’s case, the JMM offered her the opportunity to present her summer research. Titled “Rigid Tilings of Quadrants by L-ominoes and Notched Rectangles,” the project was undertaken with other student collaborators during a summer undergraduate research program at Penn State. Although the research had previously been presented at the Shenandoah Mathematics and Statistics Conference in Virginia, presenting in Baltimore allowed her to reach a wider audience. “… [I]t was fascinating seeing all the different projects that [undergraduates] did and realizing how many different areas people can do undergrad research in,” she remarked. However, the highlight of the experience lay elsewhere for Fairchild. “I guess what I was most excited by was that there were actually other girls there,” she explained. “… I was the only girl in my research program.”

Fairchild originally applied to present her research at the JMM after encouragement from Camenga, who saw it as a valuable experience for students wishing to continue with mathematics in graduate school or in a professional setting. Faculty from graduate schools are often judges in the presentations, awarding prizes for poster content and clarity in presentation. “I had a student who presented a poster a few years ago and actually, based on that, decided to apply to a specific graduate school and was known by that graduate school, so he could get in,” Camenga explained. “I think just an awareness of the larger mathematical community and what’s out there in topics that are of interest and having a broader understanding [of them] is another piece,” she added.

Yates echoes this statement. “I think [the JMM] offers a picture of how big the mathematical community is. I know that’s a word that might make Houghton students laugh, but it’s also a word that you might not associate with a discipline,” she said. “We always refer to ourselves as a community in math, but that’s not necessarily something you get to see when you’re just in your small department. …[S]eeing how wide it is and how varied it is is really helpful.”

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World Leaders Pay Respect at Mandela’s Funeral

Dignitaries from around the world flew to South Africa on Tuesday, December 10, to commemorate the life of former South African President Nelson Mandela. Mandela, instrumental in ending apartheid policies in his country, died on December 8 at the age of 95 after a persistent lung infection.

Courtesy of forbesimg.com
Courtesy of forbesimg.com

According to the Washington Post, huge crowds of mourners filled a soccer stadium in Soweto, South Africa where together they sang and clapped, memorializing Mandela as a racial healer, a figure so humble and transcendent that he felt comfortable with rich and poor, young and old, black and white. The service lasted for four hours with many emotional tributes and joyous song about a great leader lost. This all happened during an intense rainstorm which, according to tradition, symbolizes the passing of a great leader into the afterlife.

The venue of the memorial service, Soweto, is symbolic for many South Africans. The Washington Post writes that Soweto was the site of the 2010 World Cup tournament and the last time Mandela was seen in public. Moreover, Soweto was a formerly segregated township that was at the center of anti-apartheid protests in the 1970s and 1980s, a fitting place for South Africans of all backgrounds and color to unite to mourn a leader who fought against this segregation.

Among the mourners were over ninety presidents and prime ministers from around the world, including U.S. President Barack Obama, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and British Prime Minister David Cameron. According to the BBC, Obama, who was cheered as he took the podium to offer a eulogy to Mandela, remarked that “we will never see the likes of Nelson Mandela again. While I will always fall short of Madiba [Mr. Mandela’s clan name], he makes me want to be a better man.” Cuban President Raul Castro, whose brother Fidel showed much support for Mandela’s anti-apartheid cause, also stated during his eulogy address that Mandela was the “ultimate symbol of dignity and the revolutionary struggle.” Other mourners included many celebrities, such as Charlize Theron, who was born in South Africa, along with Bono, Oprah Winfrey, Peter Gabriel, and Sir Richard Branson.

While President Obama may have been cheered, the warm welcome was not spread to current South African President Jacob Zuma, who was booed and jeered as he prepared to give his closing address. According to Reuters, Zuma’s government is currently in the midst of numerous corruption scandals, upsetting many South Africans who view him as a fraction of the man that Mandela was. Undeterred by the booing, the BBC reports that Zuma stated that Mandela was “one of a kind…a fearless freedom fighter who refused to allow the brutality of the apartheid state to stand in way of the struggle for the liberation of his people.” Additionally, Zuma announced the renaming of a number of public buildings. This includes the Union Buildings in the capital Pretoria, where Mandela will lie in state until December 13, which will soon be known as the Mandela Amphitheatre.

The ceremony concluded with a speech by South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who asked the crowd to rise to their feet for a final tribute. On December 15, a state funeral for Nelson Mandela will be held before his body is interred in a family burial plot.

 

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Men’s Basketball to Play Against Division I

This winter break the men’s varsity basketball team will be up against a competitive rival, Radford University, in their upcoming game on Monday, December 30th. Radford, a Division I school, will be the first Division I school the team has played since their game against SUNY Buffalo in 2010. Although Houghton is currently a Division III school, athletics faculty are quick to point out that this is not necessarily a discouraging fact. “The perception that Division III is not serious is an incorrect perception,” said Skip Lord, executive director of athletics, stating that the top 15-20 schools in Division III are competitive against bottom-tier schools in Division I. “Of course, they want to bring in someone where there’s a higher probability to win,” he added, but maintained that this is still an opportunity for the men’s team.

Courtesy of houghton.edu
Courtesy of houghton.edu

The chance to play against a Division I school is considered a beneficial and constructive one. “There are a lot of reasons to go into it,” said Drew Hannan, head coach of the men’s basketball team. “Generally speaking, the reason for us to go is the opportunity to play against that level of competition. …[I]t’s an opportunity to really test yourself against a very good team, a very good program….”  Lord described it as a “unique opportunity … to play a game that you probably wouldn’t get to play otherwise.” Chris Enlow, junior and a member of the team, sees the game as an opportunity to show a moral victory to any spectators. “If we come away from it together and just stick together through it, we can sort of make a statement to the Empire 8 that ‘Hey, we can actually play basketball; don’t just look down on us,'” he said.

In addition to providing a substantial challenge to players, the college also benefits from financial compensation from competitors. The practice of scheduling “guarantee games” between a higher-ranked school and a lower-ranked one is not uncommon amongst institutions of higher education. Each game a pair of schools plays is contracted for a certain time and place and financial consideration is often included in such contracts. Talks for such a game between Radford and Houghton began last April even though the men’s team had already filled its schedule at that point. The decision to play against Radford was made in June after a space opened up.

In Houghton’s case, a “modest sum,” as Lord described, was provided to the college by Radford to cover travel and lodging expenses. As the team boasts 20 members, this allows them to travel with a bigger roster. “We’re not able to get any frills or extra stuff with it, but we are able to then travel with a bigger squad then we’d normally be able to carry,” said Hannan. In previous years, extraneous funds have been used for other team expenses. “Even if there is money left in the budget, it goes right back in the institutional kitty,” explained Lord. Added Hannan, “I know one year we were able to use the money to buy uniforms, at least partially. It’s not a huge amount that doubles our budget or anything, but it’s enough to help some.”

Occasionally upsets do happen; Houghton has won guarantee games against colleges in higher divisions before. The chance of winning is still present. Overall, players remain optimistic, albeit anxious. “[O]ur guys are excited about it,” said Hannan. “There are some nerves coming in terms of playing a team that you know is going to be extremely talented. …[G]enerally the first few minutes are very difficult in that game; then you just adjust to that style, that level of play.” “Anything can happen,” said Enlow. “Like they say in football, ‘Any given Sunday.’ Really, if we go down there and play our top game… who knows?” When asked about the possibility of an upset, he laughed. “If we end up winning, we better get a freakin’ parade when we get back here.”

 

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College Receives NetVUE Grant

Houghton recently received a $50,000 grant for networking for vocation in undergraduate education. This grant was given to Houghton by the Council of Independent Colleges, a group of which Houghton has been a part for many years. This grant is intended to help colleges who wish to expand on their vocational programs and services. “The overall goal of this grant is to help transform our authentic but often informal mentoring for vocation,” said associate dean for academic affairs Mark Hijleh.

Luckey_2Along with Mark Hijleh, the grant team which will be providing leadership to this initiative includes Robert Pool, vice president for student life; Professor Rich Eckley; Dan Noyes, executive director of alumni relations; Brian Reitnour, career services coordinator; Michael Jordan, dean of the chapel; and Mark Hunter, CASA director.

“Consistency” was one of Robert Pool’s choice words when describing the hopes he had for the vocational program. “I hope there is more consistency in the questions professors ask students as well as the answers they give them.” Pool hopes that when students meet with their advisors, discussions will be more along the lines of what the student’s strengths and weaknesses are as well as what they plan to do in the future. Through that the professor could connect them with alumni, as well as set up interviews and internships for that student. “We already have these things available to the students but we hope to make it more intentional.”

Currently, Houghton’s vocational programs include Transitions, sophomore retreat, HELP Day, guest executive dinners, Imitators of Christ, academic capstone projects, and alumni connections. “Houghton has supported students in vocational aspiration all along, but this project will help us bring together many elements of this exploration into a more coherent and effective whole,” said Hijleh.

“What we want students to be able to ask themselves is, ‘Who am I?’, ‘Who am I in Christ?’, ‘What’s my purpose?’ and ‘How can I use my services?’ We are trying to prepare students for lives of significance,” said Pool.

Current students as well as future students will benefit from this program. “We will be able to communicate the program’s coherence and benefits to prospective students and their families, which we believe will make the value of a Houghton education much clearer,” said Hijleh. Hannah Zgrablich, junior, said, “I’m interested to see how this program will develop. It would be extremely useful to focus more on our future careers while we’re in school so as not to be in complete shock when it’s time to face the real world.”

Hijleh, along with the rest of the grant team have high hopes for this program. “All of this will come together over the next two years in the form of ‘VOCA’ a new center for exploration of vocation. Students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members will have access to and be encouraged to make use of materials and programs that assist them with making connections between spiritual formation, Christian calling, academic advising, coursework and co-curricular activities, career development and professional networking in the context of Houghton’s mission to ‘to lead and labor as scholar-servants in a changing world.’”

 

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Houghton and Indiana Wesleyan Pursue Partnership

Houghton College signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU), beginning dialogue about their future partnership. Through this partnership, Houghton hopes to develop online and adult education and see Houghton thrive in this 21st century’s changing world.

Courtesy of houghton.edu
Courtesy of houghton.edu

IWU president David Wright and President Mullen signed the MOU on November 18, 2013. The MOU simply indicates that Houghton and IWU will be discussing this partnership. Specific proposals will be presented December 20th.

“There’s a really strong sense right now,” said President Mullen, “that we both have something to contribute to one another.” IWU has strong, established online and adult education programs, and it hopes to develop in global education and service, areas considered to be some of Houghton’s strengths.

President Mullen envisions people in parallel roles at the institutions potentially visiting the other campus, leading workshops in their expertise, and dialoguing with each other. She said, “The goal is for them to help us move faster and with greater magnitude than we could on our own.” IWU could assist Houghton with online and adult education coursework, templates, and curriculum.

This partnership will not, however, involve a merger between Houghton and IWU. President Mullen said, “This will not affect the governance of our institution, it will not affect our affiliation, and it’s not going to affect our athletics.” The partnership would merely be drawing on the two institutions’ collective resources.

Houghton College’s original mission when it began in the 1880s was to make high quality, Christian education affordable and accessible to students. President Mullen said, “The mission is the same, but the mediation of that mission cannot stay the same because the world is changing. That is what this moment is about at Houghton.”

Developing Houghton’s online and adult education programs could facilitate residential students taking more summer classes and graduating early, high school students having dual enrollment with Houghton, and non-traditional students enrolling more easily.

“If you look at where the growing populations are,” said President Mullen, “They’re in the cities, among the international students, among part-time students, and among adult learners. I see online and adult education opening more access points to Houghton students.”

President Mullen believes Houghton needs to face the realities of this 21st century time. She said, “If we do not find creative ways to enter these partnerships now, then we’re not going to be drawing the benefit that will strengthen the institution for greater prosperity in the future.… My confidence is in the mission of Houghton and in God’s faithfulness to call us and make us adequate for that mission.…This is something to celebrate.”

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Islamic Studies on the Ropes

As part of a recent series of academic budget cuts, Islamic Studies will no longer be offered as a minor or as a concentration in the Intercultural Studies major. Decisions to make such cuts began back in October, with various meetings with the Academic Council, faculty, and the academic affairs committee of the board of trustees aiding the decision-making process. Academic Dean Linda Mills Woolsey, in charge of making such cuts, stated that, “Ultimately, the decision is my decision as the dean, so I take responsibility for it even though I’ve consulted with other people,” adding that “the decision making for these things is a process.”

Courtesy of http://iqraislamicstudies.webs.com/
Courtesy of http://iqraislamicstudies.webs.com/

One of the driving reasons behind the cuts is a lack of student interest and enrollment in the program. The Islamic Studies program had managed to occupy a middle ground in terms of enrollment in the early years after its initiation in 2006; however, enrollment numbers have since dwindled. The minor has managed to maintain an average of 8.2 minors every five years between 2009 and 2013, but the concentration in the Intercultural Studies major experienced a decline in numbers between 2011 and 2013, averaging 3.6 majors with the Islamic Studies concentration per five years. This year the minor numbers three students while the concentration numbers two. Mills Woolsey cites an overall decline in college enrollment as one of the reasons behind the shrinking of the program, but admits that certain disciplines have suffered more than others. “As our enrollment has declined, it hasn’t declined proportionately across the board, so we’re investing a lot in really small majors.” Michael Walters, chair of the religion, theology, and Bible departments, takes a different view. “I know our numbers in our department have been down a little bit, so I think it’s reasonable to assume that the pool of students who would normally be interested in that sort of thing has been a bit smaller than it was in the past, but I don’t think that’s a sufficient explanation.” Mills Woolsey also expressed a sense of confusion at the lack of student interest. “I thought with the coming of the Arab Spring there would be a resurgence in student interest in Islam, so I don’t know whether it’s that our students aren’t interested in that or that there’s something about the way we framed the minor or the concentration didn’t have a broad enough usefulness for students.”

Further rationale for the cuts determined that the funds from the minor and concentration were needed more in certain under resourced disciplines such as finance, digital media, and biochemistry. According to Mills Woolsey, the cut of the Islamic Studies program is part of the college’s effort to deal with problem areas “where we need to make full-time hires and we don’t have the budget to make those hires, so right now we’re looking at, and will continue to throughout the course of this year, minors and concentrations that have very few students.”

Another problem for the program is its dependence on two part-time professors also engaged in missions work, a situation which creates potential for future career conflicts. “It’s just owing to the good generosity of the missions agencies that Drs. Hegeman and Little work with that we’ve been able to do what we’ve done,” said Walters. “I think that’s very unsettling to a college administrator. What happens if those missions organizations simply say, “we need you to be full-time in Benin or Morocco’? We don’t have anybody in our department who can teach that stuff.” There had been consideration of merging Islamic Studies with the religion department with religion professors teaching similar classes, but, as Walters further explained, “I don’t think we have faculty right now in the department that are qualified to do it.”

While various faculty members expressed regret at the cuts, there is some agreement that changes need to be made to its structure if there is any chance for its reinstatement in the future. Marcus Dean, chair of the Intercultural Studies department, attested to the diversity of the program in its applications, stating that “Some focus on developing an academic understanding of Islam and some are more outreach or missions focused.  This makes the content applicable in diverse areas of service. For example, one of the Islam courses has been an option for international development programs.” Walters also cited applications in international business.

Mills Woolsey wondered if more areas could be covered in the program to capture student interest. “Islamic Studies as we’re doing it is primarily the study of Islam as a world religion and a study from an apologetic, missiological perspective, which are very good things, but it may be that there’s not a big enough group of students who want that perspective on Islam. The other areas where you could study Islamic culture would be social, political, even the art and architecture of the Islamic world. Islamic Studies is kind of a broad field.” She added, “It’s obvious that Islamic Studies is an important field of study, but we haven’t framed it in a way that’s attracting a lot of students, so we have to go back to the drawing board and see what can be done to make this more inviting to students, more accessible to students… sometimes you do have to take something down to build it up again.”

 

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College Pledges to Assist with Loan Repayment

Houghton College has entered into a partnership with the LRAP Association to offer a Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) to incoming Houghton students. The program will officially begin with the arrival of next year’s first year class. After their successful graduation from Houghton College, the Class of 2018 will receive monetary assistance based on their fulfillment of certain requirements, such as fulltime employment within the United States and a maximum yearly income of $38,000.

campos_student_loans
Courtesy of diverseeducation.com

Houghton’s conversation with LRAP began with an e-mail announcing Spring Arbor University’s decision to implement LRAP at their institution. Spring Arbor experienced increased enrollment and satisfaction among its students and their parents. Houghton began discussing what it would look like to bring LRAP to its campus. “We looked at the profile of our students and at the students who did not matriculate this fall. 131 students responded to us that chose not to come to Houghton, and 79 of those cited debt and concerns about whether they would be able to get a job after they graduate,” explained Eric Currie, Vice President for Enrollment Management. “For the first time ever we had significant numbers of parents who refused to sign Parent PLUS loans.” From these developments, the team considering using LRAP at Houghton concluded that the program would be a good fit for the college. Ryan Spear, Associate Director of Admission, reinforced this reasoning, saying, “We’re responding to what people are saying they’re concerned about.” Houghton will be the first school in the Eastern United States to offer LRAP to all incoming students.

What this will end up looking like for incoming Houghton students is an ongoing relationship with LRAP representatives, starting from the moment they state their interest in receiving LRAP benefits after their graduation from Houghton. “In our financial aid package there will be a letter from the LRAP Association stating that the student is now able to participate in the LRAP program, and they will have paperwork that they will need to sign,” said Currie, “They meet as a group once a year and will come to campus to provide lunch for the students until they graduate, and then when they graduate they will connect with them in the first months to make sure that they have the proper paperwork, they understand how to file, and they understand the requirements.” As well as below $38,000 per year, those requirements include graduating from Houghton College and at least 30 work hours per week. Beginning four months after the commencement of loan repayments, LRAP provides quarterly checks based on an inverse percentage-to-income relationship. The program also allows up to 18 months for finding employment after graduation, and a three-year grace period for graduate school or overseas missions.

As this is a new partnership, LRAP will only be made available to incoming freshmen and selective transfer students, rather than all of the students currently at Houghton, something about which the team at Houghton is straightforward. “Students, you should not be upset,” said Ryan Trout, LRAP Association Training Representative, “There are a lot of staff that would like to have had this as well. This is Houghton College moving forward…. Be proud to be a Houghton College student, that your college is doing such a good thing.” Those involved with bringing LRAP to Houghton are confident about its possibilities as well as its alignment with Houghton’s goal as an institution. “It’s not just smart sense financially, but it fits with our mission. For years and years we’ve had the model of scholar service. Of the Houghton grads I know… they tend to have a bent and passion for serving others,” stated Spear. Houghton plans to use LRAP as a tool to engage students who are already interested in Houghton for other reasons, but who are held back by worries about finances. As Marshall Green, Community and Public Relations Specialist, said, “That’s not our selling point for this school. That’s an advantage to coming here on top of who we are as Houghton. Who we are as a college is our selling point.” In this sense, LRAP is intended provide a kind of safety net for interested students to pursue their passions regardless of income following graduation.

“We’re willing to invest in our students because we believe in the quality of our program and the life they’ll lead after this,” explained Green, “There are lots of other schools doing other things for incentives. Some schools are giving free room and board for the first year, or free books. Those types of incentives are great for that moment, but they don’t help you in the long run. This gives long-lasting security, until the student is either financially secure, or the loans are paid.”

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Women’s and Men’s Soccer Teams Compete at Nationals Tournament

As both the men’s and women’s soccer teams have finished their season play, they are headed to Kissimmee, Florida to play in the NCCAA regionals. Still in a transitional year to NCAA division III, neither team is allowed to compete in Empire 8 championship games.

Courtesy of houghton.edu
Courtesy of houghton.edu

The tournament is run like the World Cup in that there are three pools of three teams each. Seven are their respective region’s champions and two are at large bids. The top team that earns the most points from each pool will advance to the final four along with one wild card team. Three points are earned for winning, one point for tying, and no points for losing.

The women finished strong with a record of 13-3-1. They hosted Regionals against Mount Vernon Nazarene University, defeating them 2-0, to go on to Nationals. This is the eleventh consecutive year that the women’s team has headed to Florida for Nationals.

Houghton’s pool includes: Trinity Christian College and Azusa Pacific University. The other teams competing are Palm Beach Atlantic University, Lee University, Grace College, Judson University, Point Loma University and Dallas Baptist University. Houghton is the eighth seed.

“Since we have made it to the final site for Nationals in the past, we are really seeking to get past that first game in the tournament with a win,” said senior captain Amanda Zacchigna, “I’d love to see our team make it to the final four playing in our style that we have been working on mastering all season.”

Unfortunately, the women lost both pool play games.  The score of the first game against the second seed, Trinity Christian College was 3-1 and 2-1 against Azusa Pacific University. They finished well with a record of 13-5-1.

“We would like to play good, quality soccer and advance to the Final Four,” said Coach David Lewis.

“The players have been working exceptionally hard since the close of the regular season. Despite very cold conditions and occasional snow they have put in some strong training sessions. The level of improvement since the onset of the season is quite evident.”

The men concluded their season against Roberts Wesleyan with a score of 2-0. Their final record was 15-2-1. They are headed to Florida to compete for the NCCAA Division I national championship.

As the fourth seed, their competition for pool play consisted of Southern Wesleyan University, to which Houghton lost 2-1, and Campbellsville University, which won with a score of 4-1, knocking Houghton out of the tournament. The other teams competing were Fresno Pacific University, Lee University, Mid-America Christian University, Judson University, Spring Arbor University, and Mississippi College.

“Goals are to play as many games as possible…and make it to the final,” said senior captain Paul Seddon, “But really to play to our full potential.”

Seddon was honored at the opening banquet with the Kyle Rote Jr. Award. He was honored for his leadership skills, academic performance, and contribution to the men’s soccer team throughout his years attending Houghton.

“I can see why old people move to Florida for retirement.  It is so mild and comfortable this time of year,” said Seddon, “I couldn’t think of a better way to end my college career.”

“I am thrilled to have our season end in Florida. We did what we needed to do throughout the season to make it to this point and we’re exactly where we should be,” said Zacchigna, “We’re good enough to compete with the teams at this tournament, so anything less than making it to the final site would have been a disappointment.”

 

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Update on Student Government Activities

Recently, Houghton’s student Senate has been focusing on issues smaller and less apparent than in semesters past, but the work they have been doing and the conversations in their Tuesday night meetings are still relevant, and, arguably, increasingly more so, to the entire campus.

1452019_10152015908004173_341939960_nPresident Benjamin Hardy said one of “the most important things the SGA has done this semester [is] helping to distribute information about the recent budget cuts via word-of-mouth communication by senators and cabinet members to their peers.” This is one of the essential functions of the Senate: to distribute information on a personal basis, and increasing the amount of actual face time between students serving as senators and their peers was one of the goals of the restructuring of the Senate, which happened last semester.

Since, nothing quite so large or cumbersome has taken place, but Senate had been engaging in conversations about SPOT, the potential dropping of the Islamic Studies program, and, as stated above, the budget cuts that the college has been both contemplating and enforcing. These issues have come up during the open floor portion of Senate meetings, which is a time when any student may bring a concern or question to the SGA.

Though the student Senate cannot make the direct decision to, for example, keep Islamic Studies as a program, the members can engage in conversations with concerned students and then take those concerns into committee meetings.

President Hardy stressed the roles of students on committees. He said “[Senate has been] electing students to college councils and committees which service the present needs of students and help speak into the changes that are happening in meaningful ways. I think that a lot of students, even, sometimes, the students on committee, don’t realize how important this function is. Organizations are run part by committees and part by administrators and many of those administrators are closely advised or informed by committees.” Essentially, any student from the general population at Houghton can be a part of a committee, and they range from dealing with Houghton’s care for the environment to working with administrators in Student Life on concerns voiced by students.

Miriam Harms, a senior senator, feels that her involvement with Senate has made her better informed about the conversations and changes happening on campus. She participates on the Creation Care and Academic Council committees, and also thinks that Senate’s talks with President Mullen are educational and helpful. The President visits Senate once a month, and Harms said “You can really ask her anything you want. She explains what the college is doing, and we can even give her questions beforehand from students and senators so that she can prepare information for us.”

In the coming semester, SGA will be working with the Student Programs Office to streamline the event proposal process and forms for students. President Hardy explained the intended benefits of SGA’s work in this area. He said, “This will enable [students] to have a ‘one-stop-shop’ experience when coordinating their event, as the [potential new form] will be designed to forward relevant information to, for example, the person who coordinates the Houghton fleet, persons who manage room reservations in the intended building, or the custodians to be aware of chair or table needs.”

Other plans of the SGA include creating some sort of central, physical calendar, which should cut back on the amount of emails, posters, and slips in CPO boxes as advertising for events.

In addition to helping better organize, advertise, and support events, SGA has been working to negotiate a deal with Sodexo for a discounted price on coffee for student-run events. Java 101 and SGA had an agreement which allowed for student organizations to have coffee at events for a good price, and Sodexo has been convinced to work with students in this way.

Vice President Andiana Sidell said, “The accomplishments of Senate have been more laidback in terms of importance, but are working towards a more unified and complete support of what programs we do run … See You at the Pole and Operation Christmas Child were a hit this semester and Blood Drives continue to be something that students and Senate alike puts time into.”