beijing – Houghton STAR

Olympic Pole Vaulter and gold medalist, Jenn Suhr, began training in the Kerr-Pegula Field House (KPFH) on weekday afternoons. According to Athletic Director, Harold ‘Skip’ Lord, Rick Suhr, Suhr’s husband and coach, called the athletic department in late September asking about the KPFH as a possible place for his wife and him to train. After multiple contacts, the Suhrs offered to be present for the homecoming ceremonies at the KPFH, including the ribbon cutting ceremony. The couple wanted to support the new facility, as well as the sport as a whole.

According to Lord, Suhr’s ties to Houghton go back to her high school years. Originally a basketball player, Suhr did not participate in track and field until her senior year. She had been recruited by Lord to play for Houghton when he was the head women’s basketball coach, but instead played basketball games in a Roberts Wesleyan uniform on multiple occasions at the Neilsen Physical Education Center.

Shortly after, she began setting national records in track and field, improving over time until she reached her current status. At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, Suhr won the gold medal in pole vault. Then in 2012 Olympics, which took place in London, England, she received the gold medal in pole vault. Suhr also holds the world indoor record for pole vault, as well as five indoor and four outdoor pole vault records. In addition to being a two-time olympian, Surh also anticipates a third trip to the 2016 Olympic games.

Suhr and Mr. Suhr live in Rochester, but come to the KPFH about twice a week to train. As there are numerous field house complexes in the Rochester area, such as at Brockport University, Roberts Wesleyan, RIT, and the University of Rochester, Suhr choosing to train at the KPFH compliments the facility in many ways. Lord said, “This [the KPFH] is as nice as any one of them, if not nicer.”

The advantages of Suhr’s presence include increased visibility and publicity of the KPFH. Now that Houghton can now advertise hosting an Olympian on campus, Lord thinks filling up the building for both high school and collegiate indoor track and field events may be easier. “Prospective Houghton students still in high school, especially those we bring in for track meets, may be more drawn to the college because of this,” Lord stated. It is hoped high school track athletes visiting campus will be as impressed with the KPFH as Suhr is. Lord added, “This is a very good field house for a NCAA division three school.”

Increased visibility for the KPFH is a primary goal for the Athletic Department. Though, as Lord remarked, Houghton is still “learning how to get the word out” and use the facilities to the maximum benefit of the students and institution. The hope is with the events and visibility of the KPFH, it will expose prospective students to Houghton, create a stream of revenue for the college, and stimulate both the local economy and the surrounding community.

Current students can look forward to the possibility that Suhr may enter some inter-collegiate indoor track meets as an open, unattached competitor. Houghton pole vaulter, Judith Marklin, thinks it would be intimidating to compete with Suhr, but also would motivate her to be a better competitor, “I think that when you compete with people that are a lot better than you it really pushes you in so many different ways and seeing how she trains and just looking at her, herself, how much conditioning and strength training has to go into everything and how she really has to touch on all aspects.” She said, “ It’s not just focusing on pole vault technique, but everything. Seeing how to really focus on on all different aspects of your life , spiritually included, in order to become a good athlete, and then being able to compete against someone like that, you also have to step up your game and take into consideration all the different things you’re doing.”

Marklin also thinks competing with Suhr would also help people to get to know Suhr as person, not just an athlete, “I think a lot of times we like to put people that have achieved that amount of excellence on pedestals and not really see them as humans, but I think in competition you really get to see people’s strengths and weaknesses, so I think it’d be a good opportunity to see that in some ways we are just like Jenn.”

After nearly two and a half weeks of searching for a Malaysian Airlines flight that vanished on March 8, Malaysian authorities have concluded that all 239 passengers are dead. Flight MH370, which was supposed to fly from Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur to Chinese capital Beijing, mysteriously veered off course and into the Indian Ocean before its communications signals were cut. Since then, many countries continue to search for the Boeing 777’s crash site and finally bring closure to the hundreds of family members in Beijing who nervously wait for information regarding their loved ones.

Courtesy of http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/

Why and how Flight MH370 disappeared is uncertain. According to Reuters, partial military radar tracking showed the airplane turning west, thereby breaking from the route to Beijing, and flying across the Malay Peninsula. Based on a satellite analysis by the United Kingdom’s Air Accidents and Investigation Branch (AAIB), MH370 then flew into the southern corridor of the Indian Ocean, one of the world’s remotest regions, where it is presumed the plane subsequently crashed. Theories about why MH370 crashed include hijacking, sabotage or a possible suicide by one of the pilots, though none of these can be proven.

In an effort to discover the mystery surrounding MH370’s disappearance, numerous governments are providing technology and resources in order to recover the plane’s black box, which records the entire flight information and is specifically designed to facilitate the investigation of a plane crash. Washington Post reports that the United States Navy is sending a black box locator and is working in collaboration with the Australian Navy to locate the crash site. The problem, however, is that bad weather in the southern corridor is impeding the search. Also, much of the debris discovered that is hoped to be parts of MH370 is actually sea trash, ranging from tiny pieces of plastic to fishing gear and shipping containers. Furthermore, the search area is 1,500 miles off of southwest Australia and spans an oceanic area of up to 469,407 square nautical miles. All of these factors combined result in a prolonged search that may still not be in the actual site of the plane crash.

As a result of the slow process of the investigation, tensions are running high among the families of the crash victims. Out of the 239 passengers, 153 were Chinese nationals and their families have been living in a Beijing hotel waiting for news on search progress. On March 24, the Malaysian government sent out a text message stating that it assumed “beyond all reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and none of those on board survived.” The BBC reports that after the text was sent, dozens of family members protested outside of the Malaysian Embassy, demanding to meet the ambassador in a desperate attempt to find answers. Protestors held signs that said “MH370, Don’t let us wait too long!” and “1.3 billion people are waiting to greet the plane.” No significant violence broke out, however, and police were able to keep the protestors from entering embassy grounds.

Additionally, diplomatic strains between Malaysia and China are surfacing. China perceives Malaysia as withholding information that would lead to a speedier conclusion to the search. Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng issued a statement regarding the acceptance of the AAIB’s report, saying “We demand the Malaysian side state the detailed evidence that leads them to this judgment, as well as supply all the relevant information and evidence about the satellite data analysis.” In an attempt to abate the growing frustrations, Malaysia Airlines has promised to make arrangements to fly family members of the victims to Australia once the crash site has been uncovered. Moreover, Malaysian Airlines chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said that his company would offer $5,000 in compensation to the next of kin, along with hotel accommodations, transportation and food. Yahya did note, however, that money could never bring back any of the victims.