The Navigator

Derby Days Raises 10k for Cancer Research

Courtney Jimenez — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 01:05:40 +0000

Photo By: Taylor Fisher

The weather in Jacksonville is finally starting to brighten up and the students are enjoying it more and more. But while many of the students enjoyed the pool, sorority women of Jacksonville University and the International Student Association were hunting for the coveted Golden Derby.

The week of April 1, Sigma Chi presented their annual philanthropy week, Derby Days to raise money for the Huntsman Cancer Institute. According to their website, Huntsman Cancer Institute is a National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center, which means it meets the highest national standards for cancer care and research and receives support for its scientific endeavors.

Sigma Chi has been supporting Huntsman since 2005. A brother of the fraternity, Jon M. Huntsman Sr. founded the organization and now challenges his brothers to do the same. To support Huntsman, Sigma Chi nationally came up with Derby Days as a weeklong philanthropy event.

The entire week is filled with events such as a brother-auction, dinner, concerts, and of course, hunting for the golden derby. Each team in participation decorates a derby and hides it on campus, but the golden derby is the one that everyone is after. One clue goes out at midnight every night and the hunt is on.

“Looking for a place was hard because if it were hidden in central campus someone would have found it the first or second day,” said Ethan Wellhausen, the brother that put the entire week together.

By the end of the week participants were getting frustrated with the clues, but the search continued until Alpha Epsilon Phi announced they had found the golden derby. Some people were mad while others were relieved it was all over with.

“It’s actually a really stressful week so when we heard the derby was found I was upset it wasn’t us but relieved it was all over and I could finally go to bed early,” said junior Tala Farah, member of Delta Delta Delta.

Although finding the golden derby is important to some people, no one forgets the real reason they are all participating.

“Finding the golden derby was a huge accomplishment, but I think donating the amount of money we did for the reason we did was even better,” said sophomore, Rachel Kaslow, member of Alpha Epsilon Phi. “We all pulled our money together to reach a goal that was not only important to us, but is important to the world as a whole. We all just helped fight cancer.”

During the brother auction, Sigma Chi raised almost $2,500 and people still left ready to donate online.In total, Sigma Chi raised $10,000 for the Huntsman Cancer Institute.

“The more people realize that we are all coming together for one goal not to win individually, but win as a group, there will be a betterment of society,” said Wellhausen. “You can find out info about it on the Huntsman site and on the Sigma Chi headquarters page.”

The editor-in-chief of the Navigator is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

The Pond: 2013 Class Gift

Bryan Jones — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 01:05:14 +0000

Photo Courtesy of: University Advancement

The sunlight glistens off the meditating pond, mere feet from the multitude of green robed graduates and teary-eyed parents. That is the vision, at least, of Katherine Thomas, a graduating senior and chairwoman of the Class Gift of 2013.

“We will walk past our class gift at graduation, something that graduates in the past haven’t done,” Thomas said. “That’s something new this year.”

The class gift of 2013 will be a meditating pond, which is the choice that won out over several other options. Seniors were invited to a group on the Blackboard web site where they were presented with multiple choices, but the prevailing opinion was that the Jacksonville University campus needed another water feature. Past class gifts have included the infamous J’s, the swing benches and the circular benches found around campus. The President of the Green Key Honorary Leadership Society will present the class gift on May 4 at the commencement ceremony.

Thomas says that the pond will be added on to eventually, turning it into a “park-like area.”

According to the brochure detailing the giving options and soliciting donations, “this beautiful addition to our campus will be a great place to study, chat, read or have lunch.”

“The class gift is a great way for graduating seniors to say thanks and say goodbye to their university,” said Karen Jackson, the faculty advisor for University Advancement. “It’s a tradition on a lot of college campuses.”

University Advancement is the department in charge of organizing the class gift, and was behind the appointment of Thomas to the position of chairwoman.

“She’s Miss Class Gift,” Jackson said.

Donating to the class gift is very important for several reasons. The first is that it is a sign of appreciation from the graduates and it also contributes to the value of the university. The U.S. News and World Report school rankings look at the rate of alumni giving. They look at the amount of alumni that donate, not the amount of money that is donated, so it is more important to the ranking if a lot of alumni donate small amounts, rather than a few alumni donating large amounts.

“It’s the idea of giving forward and paying it back,” said Jackson.

Current alumni have already donated matching gifts, so if someone donates the minimum of the class year, $20.13, they are really donating $40.26.

There are three different levels of giving, green, gold and platinum. The green level is the minimum donation of $20.13. The gold level is $50. The platinum level is $150. Donations above $150 are welcome and accepted.

Individuals can donate the minimum to have their name on the pond, and organizations can donate at the platinum level to be included on the pond.

Thomas encourages everyone to donate, not just seniors.

“People who are not seniors have already donated.”

Donations are possible online at mydolphin.ju.edu/give.

Thomas says that in order to have the pond built in time for graduation, more donations need to be sent in, and encourages people to tweet about the gift using “#thepond.”

“You need to donate now.”

JU Hockey Hits the Ice

Emily Long — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:47:31 +0000

Jacksonville University students are not letting the sunny Florida weather prevent them from lacing up their skates and hitting the ice.

Meetings for a new ice hockey club team have been occurring throughout the spring semester on and off campus. During these gatherings, students have discussed where practices will be held, how much the dues will be and other team-related topics.

Although it might seem like an odd organization for the Jacksonville community, there has been a desire for a club team for some time, according to Joseph Shapiro, junior aviation major.

“There was a strong need for JU to have an ice hockey team,” Shapiro said. “Many students have been waiting for a team to start.”

Currently, there is no limit to how many students can join the co-ed club. There will be dues to pay in order to cover referee fees, ice time and insurance costs, which have not yet been determined. Practices will be held at Jax Ice and Sportsplex, which is located at the corner of Emerson St. and I-95.

“The more people that come out, the better it will be for everyone,” Shapiro said.

As of now, the club is still working out all of the details, but they say they will be ready by this coming fall semester. While the leaders straighten out all of the specifics, they will be updating their Facebook page, JU Hockey, as more information is decided upon.

“You don’t have to be wanting to play to join the Facebook page; it is for everyone,” Shapiro said. “We will be putting out a lot of information about the team and what’s going on through the Facebook page, so it would very beneficial.”

In order to be on the team you do not have to have any experience, and the team plans to play against big schools such as Clemson University, the University of Florida and the University of North Carolina.

The team is also looking for sponsors to help push their club to the next level.

“If anyone is interested, please go to our Facebook page and message us for more information,” Shapiro said. “One sponsorship opportunity would be to buy board space on the ice.”

Along with having sponsors support the ice hockey team, the soon-to-be team would like their fellow Dolphins’ support as well.

“Please let everyone know that we are starting a team and spread the word around,” Shapiro said. “This is going to be the next big thing at JU, and we would love all of the school’s support.”

An Entanglement of Theater and Opera

Lorna Kelso — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:47:15 +0000

Photo By: Lorna Kelso

Bursting onto the stage in a wildly wonderful dance of musical theater, the opening night of Street Scene, an American Opera filled Jacksonville University’s Swisher Theater nearly to the brim. On Friday, April 5, the audience buzzed as parents, friends and theater goers eagerly anticipated the less frequently performed but effectively moving melodic entanglement of theater and American Opera.

“I enjoyed it,” said Siera Patrick, a JU sophomore. “I’ve never been to an opera before and one of my friends was actually in the play, so, we were really excited to see him.”

Street Scene, an American Opera, was delivered to the awestruck audience in a way that was sure to capture their imaginations and transport them onto a Lower East Side, New York City street in the midst of the heat and humanity of 1946.

The play begins the same way it ends, a statement in itself, with a few women opening up the floor to gossip with the general words “ain’t it awful. the heat?” despite the heart-wrenching and tear-jerking events in between.

The Jacksonville University Orchestra lead the audience on an emotional adventure, molding the feelings with the melodies and moods of their music as the actors performed on stage. At the end of the show, a few excited musicians waggled their bows and earned an applause of their own.

“The dancing to Moon-Faced, Starry-Eyed, was my favorite part,” said sophomore Mya Adjamah, “I wanted to dance with them.”

With a stunning set that was painted in the bright yet rugged likeness of a multistory building with lilacs near the doorstep, an audience member could forget the dark drapes and carpets surrounding them and fall into the drama before them.

“The play was really good. This was my first time at an opera and my brother [L. Matthew Cox] was in the play, he was Mr. Sankey, who was with the married woman,” said Hilary Cox, a sophomore, “I was sad when he got shot but he did a great job.”

Due to the clever manipulation of lighting, including the swarming of colors that mirrored a slow but vibrant sunrise, the range of emotions felt by the players and onlookers where enhanced onstage, and the light faded according to the suggested sun in the show.

All in all, the happenings on this NYC street were well received. The age range of actors enriched the degree of realism that was adopted for this production and showcased the talents of young actors in the Jacksonville community. The jazzy, smooth waves of the music and high energy dancing helped balance the audience for the brewing tragedy and, eventually, it’s long shadow over the street in the end.

Active Minds Present How To Save A Life

Gabrielle Hickman — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:47:00 +0000

Photo By: Dr. Heather Downs

There are more deaths by suicide than by homicide, according to ProjectSPEAK, a suicide prevention program created by Daytona State College and Seminole State College. Because of this staggering statistic, and because college age students are the number one age bracket at risk, with the Jacksonville population having twice as many suicides than the national average, Active Minds, a student organization on campus that strives to raise awareness on mental health issues at JU, held a panel as well as a short documentary viewing with discussion as a resource and a call to action.

With rainy weather and other events on campus, attendance at the Gooding Auditorium was low on Wednesday, April 3. But those who were there engaged in the conversation and broke the walls that are sometimes built with the subject of suicide.

“I feel like issues about suicide haven’t really been addressed on campus,” said Jairid Pacileo, junior and president of Active Minds. “I think any event like this is going to help at least one person, which makes it successful. Hopefully it will warm people up to discussing these types of topics because there seems to be a lack of comfort when addressing these issues of mental health.”

According to the documentary developed by ProjectSPEAK, suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students, and approximately 1,100 college students are lost each year. Still, suicide is preventable, and approximately 80 percent of those who seek appropriate help receive the help they need. Sarah Pamplin, freshman aviation and vocal performance major, attended the event gained a new perspective on the problem.

“I learned the extent of the issue; I didn’t know it was such a huge problem, I didn’t know it was so common,” Pamplin said. “I also learned that people who are considering suicide aren’t set on killing themselves but crying out for help a lot of the time.”

Brittany Bush, freshman film major and an Active Minds officer in training stated a statistic on suicide along with other officers of Active Minds which included information about suicide and veterans, LGBT, college students, and more.

“When people were asking questions I was looking at their faces and I could tell it was helpful for them and the panel,” Bush said. “I think it was nice for [Katherine Segura] to share her story. You could see the relief in her eyes. When other students were asking questions I felt like they wanted an answer, and maybe they’re not going through that right now but they’re prepared if it happens. I think we reached some people.”

The panel who spoke after the documentary showing was Melissa Witmeier, Project Coordinator for Florida Youth Suicide Prevention Project, Dr. Pam Rillstone, Professor of Nursing and Active Minds advisor, Kyle Fessenden, Counselor/Outreach Coordinator for the Student Counseling Center, and Katherine Segura who was featured in the documentary. The counseling center located in the Sam Marks Annex and is free for Jacksonville University students.

Students, faculty and community members who attended the event were left with questions; some could be answered by the panel, but others could not.

“It makes me wonder why,” Pamplin said. “It gives me a lot more of an idea of what this transition in our life means and how shocking it can be to be out from under our parent’s for the first time in what can be a stressful environment.”

Irene Ryan Award:Tyson and Boucher Nominated

Gabrielle Hickman — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:46:41 +0000

Close to two months before the April Florida sun awakened students to another ending, the hot Texas heat of 1975 blazed through Swisher Theater. It lingered and continued to affect the audience and critics days after. Though the entire performance succeeded in the eyes of the commentators, two students stood out. Nick Boucher and Elaine Tyson have been nominated for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Irene Ryan Award in acting for their work in “Laundry & Bourbon” and “Lone Star.”

According to the Kennedy Center website, this scholarship provides “recognition, honor, and financial assistance to outstanding student performers wishing to pursue further education.” Senior and theater major Tyson says winning the nomination felt “pretty amazing” and sees the nomination as solidification for all she is working for.

“I think being able to work very closely in the field that I’m majoring in as well as having someone come in and nominate me will greatly help me when I graduate and go out in the real world,” Tyson said. “It just shows me that what I’m doing is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing for the rest of my life and that I can do my job. I don’t really see it as a job; I see it as doing what I love every single day.”

Tyson attributes much of her success to the department she was able to be a part of at Jacksonville University.

“I think our acting program at JU produces student actors with a firmly rooted acting process and technique, and also provides them with the tools to pursue further training on the graduate level,” said Deborah Jordan, assistant professor of theater, in a press release.

Before winning the nomination, Tyson and Boucher had to develop their characters, train and rehearse.

“After reading the script I found out that my character in a lot of ways caries my personality and characteristics so I tried to take my character and my own life and put it together and in the parts of my character that did not apply to me I found ways to apply them and found situations that I could probably understand to develop my character to the best possible ability,” Tyson said.

The nomination recipients also had the challenge and privilege of working with a smaller cast.

“Working with such a small cast is great because you get to know each other really well,” Tyson said. “I’ve worked with small and large casts at JU and you get to know each other on a more personal level and you get to see each other grow a lot more than if you work with a large cast.”

Along with the Irene Ryan Award nomination, Boucher and Tyson have also won other honors within the university. For the College of Fine Arts awards, Boucher won Student of the Year and Tyson won the award for theater. For theater awards, Boucher was honored Best Actor and Tyson Best Actress. Both students also won the 2012 Dean’s Award for Excellence.

“I’m glad to have had the opportunity to go to JU,” Tyson said. “It’s definitely been one of the greatest experiences I’ve had in the last four years. We have some great professors and they really want you to succeed once you graduate and I’m really blessed to have had this opportunity.”

Marine Science Benthic Ecology Meeting

Courtney Jimenez — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:35:25 +0000

Some meetings are held to gather with old friends and meeting new ones. Others are used to meet with people of the same interest.

From March 20- 23, the Hyatt Regency in Savannah, Ga. held the 42nd annual Benthic Ecology Meeting for those with a marine biology background.

Hosted by Georgia Southern University, the 2013 BEM had more than 600 registered participants, including a mix of the nation’s top marine ecologists as well as marine biology graduate and undergraduate students, according to the Georgia Southern website.

The four day event kicked off the festivities with a social event and scientific presentations. Poster sessions were also available as well as a film festival and the event closed with a banquet for all in attendance.

Five undergraduate students and three faculty from Jacksonville University participated in three oral presentations and two posters during the event.

The students included Jodi Coia, Laura Wenke, Tayler Massey, Stephanie Shankle and Anna McClure. The faculty included Dan McCarthy, Lee Ann Clements and Jeremy Stalker.

“My presentation was titled “Latitudinal Variation among populations of Phragmatopoma lapidosa along the east coast of Florida,’” said senior, Tayler Massey. “The project was an independent study I completed with Dr. McCarthy and basically it looked at differences in the characteristics of populations of a tube building marine polychaete worm at different beaches along Florida.”

Massey said the meeting was informational and she plans on going back next year.

“I feel as if the conference was a great networking experience and way to see what types of research is being done by other graduate students and professors,” Massey said. “It was very eye opening and I learned a lot from attending.”

The meeting for next year has not been announced yet but if interested, visit the Benthic Ecology Meeting page on Facebook.

Dolphins Take Two of Three From Kennesaw State

George Wahl II — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:34:23 +0000

The Dolphins baseball team headed back to Georgia, this time to take on A-Sun foe Kennesaw State.
Following a 14-4 blowout by the Owls on Friday which saw junior Chris Anderson struggle for the second straight week, sophomore Alex McRae dialed up a dominant performance as JU shutout Kennesaw St. 4-0.
The Dolphins got out to a hot start Saturday, scoring three runs in the top half of the second inning. Drew Luther and Nate Ricci each belted singles to lead off the inning. Garrett Ruckel laid down a sacrifice bunt advancing Ricci and Luther to second and third.
One batter later, Zac Houck singled to plate Luther and Ricci scored on a throwing error making it 2-0 Dolphins. After stealing second, Houck scored on an RBI single off the bat of Nathan Koslowski for a 3-0 lead.
JU would strike for another run in the eighth to make it 4-0 Dolphins. Koslowski walked and stole second before advancing to third on a wild pitch. Braddock Rowe then knocked home Koslowski with an RBI single.
McRae would need nothing more as he tossed a complete game shutout. McRae allowed just three hits while striking out five.
In the rubber match of the three-game set, the Dolphins struck for 10 runs in the first two innings, helping themselves to a healthy, early lead.
Dylan Dillard and Jake Huxtable got on with back-to-back one out singles. Dillard then scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Brady North. Braddock Rowe, Luther and Koslowski each followed with singles. Ruckel then walked leading to a bases clearing three run double from Ethan Loosen making it 6-0 JU.
The Dolphins used five more hits in the second to push across four more runs as the first six JU batters reached base, pushing the lead to 10-0.
The Owls struck in the bottom of the fourth where they added four runs of their own cutting the deficit to six at 10-4.
After Kennesaw added another run making it 10-5, the Dolphins got one back in the sixth as Ruckel singled bringing home North who singled earlier in the inning, making it 11-5.
After cutting back into the lead making it 11-6, the Owls were threatening when North started an inning ending 3-4-1 double play ending the push by Kennesaw.
The Dolphins struck for one more run in the seventh to push their lead to 12-6. Houck led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on a sacrifice by Dillard. Houck then scored on a sac-fly by Huxtable.
Kennesaw St. added one run in the bottom half of the seventh cutting the Dolphin lead to 12-7.
The Owls started a rally in their last at-bat scoring three runs on three hits but fell just shy of tying the game and falling to JU 12-10.
The Dolphins (13-23, 6-6) next action comes up this weekend as JU travels to Northern Kentucky.

Love Column- Closure

Emily Long — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:26:08 +0000

One of the biggest pieces of healing a broken heart is experiencing closure. However, sometimes closure doesn’t come immediately after a break up. This I know from very recent experience.

This past weekend was my birthday, my first one being single in the past three years. It was such an incredible celebration for me. I spent time with the most important people in my life that I am so thankful for. I ate the best I’ve probably eaten in the past month. Smiled and laughed constantly. I did everything and saw everyone that I wanted to. By the time the weekend ended, I was exhausted, but I was happy.

After our break up in July, I was curious to see if my ex would reach out to me on my birthday.

He did.

I was pretty bent on the fact that he wouldn’t. I honestly didn’t believe he’d let his pride down long enough to even think about what day it was. Apparently, however, he thought about it enough to send me a “Happy Birthday, I hope you’re doing well” text message.

It was a nice, yet weird memo. It was the first conversation we’d had since December. It began short, sweet and purposeful. We caught up casually and told each other that we’ve just been intensely busy with school.

Then, he moved on to the nitty gritty.

Essentially, he shared with me the fact that he missed me, made a mistake and apologized for all the crap he put me through, but didn’t “expect me to respond or care.”

I did both.

In my response, I said that I was not upset or bitter about the way things ended, and that I wish him the best in his new endeavors. It was as genuine and from-the-heart as I could make it without being incredibly emotional about it.

It was an abnormal experience. Not only did it happen completely unexpectedly, but it happened. I wasn’t ready for it. Partially, because I never thought it would happen.

With uncanny long messages and pictures of old things he found in his room that he messaged, emotions began to waft throughout my body. At that moment, I truly saw the situation as it was. Done.

Things ended up changing between the two of us. That epiphany hit me in a way I never anticipated.

Through this experience, I discovered that closure comes at its own time. No matter how well you think you’re prepared for it, you can never truly brace yourself for that moment. And occasionally, those ending moments come even, in my case, nine months following the termination of the bond.

Moral to the story? Be prepared to not be prepared. Understand that life throws you weird, unprecedented curve balls, no matter how long the time that has passed.

However, I have one piece of advice that’s bigger than just not being prepared. In that moment you will most likely become weak. Your emotions will be uncontrollable and thoughts will swim around your mind, recalling all of the laughs and things that you loved about that person. This is the time to make sure that you remember why you are now where you are in life. Why the two of you are no longer together and, although you miss those memories, that’s all that they are now. You are better without that person. When you’re mind is flooding and overwhelming you with emotions, battle back with conscious logic.

What’s Good on TV

Codee Fuquay — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:25:39 +0000

Television. The words greatest invention. The source of the most in-home entertainment and for some, the source of our own guilty pleasures. If you have cable, your possibilities for what exactly to watch can be endless. Luckily, with the guide below, some of the top television shows have been outlined to guide viewers to the most watched shows, good or bad.

Duck Dynasty

Duck Dynasty is a reality television series on A&E. Viewers follow the “country” lives of the Robertson family. The thing that makes this family a hit is that they are millionaires though some would not expect that just from looking at them. The family operates Duck Commander which operates in West Monroe, Louisiana. They make products for duck hunters, primarily Duck calling devices. Watch this show on Wednesdays at 10 PM on A&E.

Celebrity Apprentice

If you have ever missed celebrity apprentice or want to see some of your favorite celebrities appear again, tune into Celebrity Apprentice All-star Edition. This season has been filled with drama mostly because of the feuds between Omarosa and Latoya Jackson. Each viewer gets to follow the different tasks that the celebrities are given weekly. Ultimately those who win get the most money for their charity and the losers will be fired. Watch this show Sundays at 10 PM on NBC.

Bates Motel

If you are a fan of American Horror Story, then while you wait for the next season to begin, Bates Motel on A&E could suffice. The plot involves a disturbed mother and child combination who moves to a rural city and purchases a bankrupt motel. The true story is the history of the hotel and the supernatural activities that come along with it. The show is a definite must see for anyone who likes a thriller. Watch this show Mondays at 10 PM.

Dancing with the Stars

Seeing your favorite star do the merengue, bachata or waltz can be thoroughly entertaining. But what makes it better is the fight to win the Mirror Ball Trophy. The show takes us into the rehearsal times between the star and the professional along with the execution of the performance. The lowest scorers are sent home, with scores determined by the public and the judges. Watch this show on ABC Mondays at 8 PM.

If you find yourself not being able to find something to watch on television, check out those shows for thorough entertainment.