Campus Events

Wed March 25, 2009

Red Cross Blood Drive

(9am-2pm) -Baird Chapel

Baseball vs. TN Wesleyan

(2pm-5pm) -Woody Hunt Stadium

FCA Bible Study Luncheon

(2pm-5pm) -Woody Hunt Stadium

iWednesday Workshops (12:30pm-1:30pm) -Vise Library

Cooking With Chris

(8:30pm-10:00pm) -Dining Hall

Thur March 26, 2009

Intramural Basketball

(6pm-10pm) -Dallas Floyd Gym

Fri March 27, 2009

Divas W/ A Purpose Bake Sale

(9am-12pm) -Labry Hall & Memorial Hall

Softball vs. Lyon

(1pm-4pm)

Sat March 28, 2009

Cook Out and Cards

(4pm-6pm) -Outside Justin Potter

Sun March 29, 2009

Intramural Basketball

(7pm-9pm) -Dallas Floyd Gym

Mon March 30, 2009

Alpha Omicron Pi Bake Sale

(9am-11am) -Labry Hall Lobby

Tues March 31, 2009

Alpha Omicron Pi Bake Sale

(9am-11am; same location)

Soccer Tournament

(3:30pm-5pm) -The Quad

All Week Events

Priority Registration

More information on any

of these events can be

found online at,

http://www.cumberland.e

du/campuslife/calendar.

The Cumberland ChronicleThe Cumberland ChronicleThe Cumberland ChronicleThe Cumberland Chronicle

March 25, 2008 Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee Vol. IV Issue 7

Get Vicious Or Take The Dishes! By Ben Briscoe

We know the CU basketball team throws it down on the court, but what you might not be aware of is how they do it in the dining hall!

If you have ever seen a tall thin young man carrying a ridiculous amount of plates, cups, and baskets, you may have wondered where it all goes, but the interesting story is where it all came from. Don’t worry he isn’t blessed with a super high metabolism. In fact he is probably one of the least lucky guys in the room at the moment. The fellow carrying the plates is the ultimate loser of a very complex Paper-Rock-Scissors tournament that takes place amongst the basketball players at every meal.

DeCorey Young, pictured left, lost Monday’s battle, but was willing to relay the story of formation of the two presiding committees that manage the tournaments.

Young is the Corporate Operating Officer (COO) of the committee currently made up of junior and senior basketball players. The committee wished to keep their official name off the records, but agreed to be called the HC. The HC began this battle for the trash several years ago.

The system has since grown to be quite complex, with many subtle rules, but still operates basically as follows: If there are an odd number of players, then the last person to place their hand up in the traditional Paper-Rock-Scissors ready position must sit out until the final round. The even number of players then play a traditional bracket-system tournament. Each match is a best two out of three round. The losers play the losers and the winners sit out. The loser of the bracket rounds plays the odd man out, if there is one, for the final match. Finally the ultimate loser has two final chances to save himself. He has to beat each player at the table in a row. His first chance goes around the table from left to right, the second goes from right to left. If he even once on both of these last chances he must take the “walk of shame” all the way over to the trash can.

From the Margins By Rick Brown

Blood From a Border City

A mid-March influx of thousands of soldiers into the Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez may be unlikely to stem the flow of blood from the besieged border city. Early last week, Mexican president Felipe Calderón ordered five thousand Mexican Army troops to the city in an attempt at curbing the almost continual violence that plagues Ciudad Juárez. The city, positioned just over the border from El Paso, has become a veritable battleground, with nearly two thousand murders in 2008 alone, almost four times the number of murders in New York in 2007, according to Reuters. Even before such violence engulfed the city, however, Ciudad Juárez had a brutal reputation for its feminicidios, or “femicides,” a chain of barbarous, unsolved murders that has consumed the lives of hundreds of women. Standing at the precipice of anarchy, the city is now caught between the forces of the Mexican Army and the drug cartels, both of which fight to assert their control over the broken city. Once quite promising, Ciudad Juárez was founded in 1659 as El Paso del Norte (“North Pass”) by Spanish conquistadors. The city became a thriving hub upon the Rio Grande, and straddled the river until the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that tore the town into a Mexican settlement and the American city of El Paso. As Reuters notes, the remaining Mexican half of the city, later renamed Ciudad Juárez in honor of Benito Juárez, soon occupied a vital place in Mexican history, serving as the country’s provisional capital during parts of the Mexican Revolution and later, during the American Prohibition era, becoming an entertainment center catering to both ends of the border. The city’s population grew over time with an influx of maquiladora, or assembly plant, workers, eventually reaching what today is a large populace of nearly 1.5 million people. Ciudad Juárez’s prosperity has ebbed over the 90s and 2000s, however, and the town is now inundated with endless slums called colonias.

It was in such colonias that the drug wars that have now engulfed Ciudad Juárez were born. (Continued on page 4)

Editor’s Corner: Quote Challenge: From: Ben Briscoe

Each week the

Chronicle prints at the bottom of the first page a “Quote of the Week.” There is no particular rhyme or reason behind why we pick the quotes we pick.

Sometimes we pick a quote that we think is funny, sometimes it is a quote that sounds particularly deep an poignant to us that week.

What we want now is for students to submit quotes to us. They can be your own personal quotes, or simply your favorite quote from your favorite author.

The Cumberland Chronicle now has a Facebook page, and has created an event call the Quote of the Week Competition. You can submit your quote through e-mail, on the Facebook page, or on the event.

Quote of the Week

“What is given today may be taken tomorrow, and whether it is or is not is never as important as it seems.”

-Benjamin D. Briscoe

The Cumberland Chronicle March 25, 2009 Page 2

Fashion, Relationships, & Sage Advice

Kicking It Up A Notch By Savannah Nix

Over Christmas break, I was told I had a broken bone in my foot. I was prescribed a ridiculously hideous walking boot that closely resembles Frankenstein’s favorite kicks. It is heavy, hot and makes a loud clunking noise with every step I take. So, in a word, it is delightful. As of yesterday, I have been sentenced to suffer yet another long month in my nemesis, The Boot. Just at the peak of Spring fashion, no less. So, if you are like me and are stoically soldiering through life with a boot or cast or sling, fear not. I am here to help you make the best of the bane of your existence. It is like I always say, “When life gives you lemons… throw them away and go get some real fruit.” Here are some ways to perk up your downer: 1. Bedazzle, Bedazzle, Bedazzle. Sure,

you’re having flashbacks to acid wash jeans and side-ponies, but by today’s standards, Bedazzling is vintage, and vintage is all the rage.

2. Hot glue + plastic flowers = fun! 3. Tie-dye. Nothing says, “I’m hip!” better than a tie-dyed sling. 4. Attach a mini boom box to your crutches. You’ll need some

entertainment on your 45-minute walk from Labry to Memorial. 5. When you heal, put that old boot or cast to work as a planter.

What’s better than going green? Those are just a few options in a sea of possibilities. Experiment! You might as well do something while all of your friends are out Friday night freely moving their limbs and having a blast.

CU Science Camp Needs You!

Want a chance to help rising sixth graders with their science experiments and have great experience at the same time? If so, CU could use your aid. CU will host a science camp for rising 6th graders from June 8th – June 12th, activities lasting from 10am-12pm. As a volunteer for the event, you could be responsible for helping students with their experiments.

To volunteer for the Cumberland University Science Camp, please contact Dr. Sarah Pierce (615-547-1233) or Ms. Kim Atwood (615-547-1262). Don’t miss an exciting opportunity to experience science anew with rising students.

Fashion Corner With Sabrina Garrett

Workout Routines of the Stars

Attention ladies: Swimsuit season is not that far away. What better time than now to leave our dusty winter habits behind and kick our butts into gear-in other words — IT’S TIME TO WORKOUT! For years and years working out has been something dreaded by most females and some males. They do not know how to get started or even where to go. Thankfully, being a Cumberland University student gives you an all access pass to work and play at The Jimmy Floyd Center in Lebanon. The gym has everything from treadmills to cycling to yoga classes. With a little hard work and dedication, you will have that body looking fabulous in no time. However, if you prefer to workout at home, take a look at how these celebrities stay in shape: Gwyneth Paltrow: To prep for her role as Pepper Potts in “Ironman”, Paltrow went running to trainer, Tracy Anderson. Anderson set the actress up with one hour cardio workouts and an hour of toning six days a week focusing on her slender arms and legs. He also is responsible for her new healthier diet. Paltrow was once on a strict macrobiotic diet in which she refused foods that were considered toxic and ate mainly whole grains and uncooked vegetables. Now Anderson encourages fish, fruits, brown rice and even dairy in limited portions: “Anyone can have the body of a supermodel.” Pick up one of Anderson’s at-home workout DVDs ($30 tracyandersonmethod.com). Penelope Cruz: Cruz has a more mellow approach to staying fit. According to trainer Gunnar Peterson, “Fitness and body is only part of who she is; she’s get in, get after it, get out.” Whenever she is prepping for a role, Cruz does a mixture of strength training, cardio and stretching in addition to living a healthy lifestyle. “She sleeps well, hydrates and eats the right things,” says Peterson. Adding, “She has a balanced life and it shows.” Jennifer Aniston: Aniston owes her coveted Marley body to daily yoga sessions with instructor Mandy Ingber. On the set of her recent movie “Marley & Me”, Aniston and Ingber began training at 4 a.m. daily in order to get an hour of yoga in before filming began. “When I first started doing yoga with Mandy, I noticed many things. My legs getting leaner. My arms getting stronger, and most importantly I noticed an inner strength,” says Aniston. However, Ingber insists that yoga is not a replacement for all exercise. On her days off, Aniston accompanies yoga with 30 minutes of cardio and a short abdominal routine.

Editorials

Are We Alone? By Jeremiah Donnell

When the modern age effectively killed all of the classical conceptions of God, the disillusioned masses began scanning the heavens for some other higher beings to dispel the terrible and frightening sense of loneliness that descended upon them. The idea of extraterrestrial life-forms fit this need almost perfectly, and even managed to ensnare some of the so-called intellectuals. Basic reasoning seems to support the existence of these beings with the universe being so inconceivably large and ancient. Must “life” necessarily be organic requiring oxygen and liquid water, or may it develop suited to other environments, or even the void of space itself? Of course, this does not even approach the mystery of whether sentience happens inevitably, randomly, or uniquely. But, the unanswerable nature of these questions allows these hypothetical beings to be endowed with almost supernatural power and influence over humanity. A commonly asked question in this vein of inquiry is, “Do you believe in aliens?” My answer to which is usually another question, “Why?” Whether they exist

or not, they have not done anything worthy of my “believing” in them. That would be like believing in the mail carrier. Yes, he or she probably exists given the empirical evidence, but what does that possibly have to do with my faith. In fact, unless some apparent realities regarding faster than light travel prove false, the odds against our species ever encountering any other is astronomically small. However, none of this prevents some people from literally “believing” in aliens. And some like the notorious Heaven’s Gate some years ago committed ritual suicide so that the spaceship hidden in the tail of the Hale-Bopp comet would collect their souls. Perhaps slightly more mainstream, Scientologists believe in an evil galactic overlord named Xenu unleashed a torrent of dispossessed alien souls onto our planet, and our various neuroses are caused by these poor spirits continuing to linger in our minds/bodies. These examples obviously take belief to the extreme (i.e. religion), but dozens of irritated farmers worldwide also resort to belief in aliens to explain crop-circles ruining their fields. Even people who cannot accept aliens working around us or within us today, still credit them with

some of the unusual occurrences of the past. They see alien influence in the mythological works of ancient gods, essentially exchanging one for the other. But since the Pyramids do not hover over the deserts of Egypt, extraterrestrial involvement simply seems unnecessary. Space-faring watchers are also credited with inspiring the Nazca lines, which consist of huge strait-lines, as well as large outlines of birds, monkeys, spiders, etc. It could be, like the crop-circle artists mentioned above, that humans just have a natural propensity toward graffiti. Regardless of whether aliens exist or not, whether God exists or not, whether leprechauns exist or not, try not to place too much faith in any of them and accept human responsibility for the particulars of individual existence. Extraterrestrials provide convenient abstracts for science fiction writers to project all manner of curiously human characteristics on, but unless you are directly threatened or propositioned by such a being, maintain an intelligent amount of skepticism on the subject.

The Cumberland Chronicle March 26, 2009 Page 3

Reviews & Backtalk

THX 1138, Part I A Film Review by Rick Brown

Before George Lucas rose to cinematic immortality with the Star Wars trilogy, he released a quietly visionary work, THX 1138. Released in 1971, the film was the brainchild of Lucas’s 1967 student film Electronic Labyrinth: THX-1138 4EB, a short feature in which its eponymous protagonist desperately attempted to escape the surveillance of an omnipresent state. Having won a student film festival with 4EB, Lucas soon came to the attention of Warner Brothers, who offered him a chance to adapt his short work into a feature film. The product of that offer was THX 1138, a horrifically beautiful portrayal of a world having descended into stark, consumerist nothingness. Though a commercial failure and a movie often ignored or forgotten in Lucas’s body of work, THX 1138 is a magnificent film, and one with a host of startlingly prescient concerns for the modern era. THX 1138 presents a world transformed into a consumerist, collectivist dystopia. In an indeterminate future, humanity lives in a state of mindless sterility, drugged into obedience in a vast underground consumer society. Every human being, including THX 1138 (Robert Duvall), is classed and numbered, existing only to serve an omniscient state, producing to consume and consuming to produce in a largely featureless expanse of white and metal chambers. Faceless android guards roam the halls to enforce order, and every human action is monitored and recorded to ensure that drugs are taken, emotion is suppressed, and sex remains safely forbidden. THX is content to function as a drone, but his life changes irrevocably when his roommate, LUH 3417 (Maggie McOmie), switches his pills, allowing THX to experience life free of sedation for the first time. Emotionally overwhelmed, THX makes love with LUH, actions which are recorded by the state. When the couple’s sexual crimes and erratic productivity begin to accrue, however, the state acts to neutralize the two, and THX is soon forced to attempt an unprecedented escape. The film’s expression of a grimly homogenous, emotionally numb narcotics state is a fascinating and thoughtful one, particularly in light of modern developments. Though such conceptions of the future were hardly unprecedented at the time THX 1138 was released – Brave New World, for instance, had been out some forty years, the film is unique for the quiet despair with which it portrays its milieu. Throughout the film, radio operators, surveillance cameras, and numerical readouts dance across the screen and the world of the film, forcibly interjecting themselves into the lives of THX 1138’s hapless subjects in a disturbing portrait of government mass surveillance. The film’s clinical terror and extinguishing of the spirit is also singularly terrifying, as the enforced regiments of soul numbing medications and tranquilizing agents function disturbingly as little more than a better realized version of the modern pharmaceutical state. Rather than an improbable synthesis of extreme human fears, the film more closely resembles the modern world pushed several steps further, and is all the more terrifying for it.

The film also features moments of dry black humor, including scenes of consumer drones shuffling aimlessly to the sounds of corporate muzak and medical operators forcing THX to painfully contort his body simply to calibrate their instruments. Also amusing is the film’s state-sponsored deity, OMM 0910, who administers mindless “blessings of the state” to any who visit his confession booths. Perhaps the film’s most stunning and memorable image, however, is the face of THX as he looks dully upon an entertainment video that features an endless sequence of an android officer beating a detainee before his liberation from the medication of the state. In THX’s eyes at that moment, one can see an entire generation of proudly apathetic, violence-desensitized drones of the modern age,

and the quiet humor of the fact that THX only reacts angrily when the program is turned off would likely be lost on such an audience. THX 1138 is also bolstered by a number of strong performances, especially amongst the leads. Robert Duvall imbues THX with a confused vulnerability that belies his eventually sharp determination to escape the state. Check next week for the conclusion of the Chronicle review of THX-1138.

\CU School of Music & the Arts to Present

‘Nunsense 2,’ April 2-5

Due to the overwhelming popularity of Cumberland’s 2005 production of the original Nunsense, the CU School of Music & the Arts will present Nunsense 2: The Second Coming at the June & Bill Heydel Fine Arts Center on April 2-5.

According to Cumberland Professor of Theatre Dr. Larry T. Menefee, who will direct the performance, CU alumni Emily Keene-Reyes (2008) will return to the stage for the upcoming production and reprise her role as Sister Amnesia.

“We’re excited to have Emily back on our stage for this production. Her performance as Sister Amnesia won the hearts of our audiences in 2005 and kept them laughing throughout the show,” Menefee said.

Conducted by CU Professor of Music Dr. Brian Kilian and choreographed by Pam Atha and Amanda McReynolds, Nunsense 2: The Second Coming takes place six weeks after the events of the original production. The sisters return to present a “thank you” show for past supporters but with a bit more razzle and dazzle, having been “bitten by the theatre bug.” When the sisters learn that a talent scout is in the audience, hilarity ensues. From the hilarious duet “What Would Elvis Do?” to the rousing finale of “There’s Only One Way to End Your Prayers and That’s to Say Amen!,” the show, its memorable music and uproarious cast, Nunsense 2 promises to leave the audience rolling in the aisles.

“We’ve had a great time working on this production,” Menefee added. “It is best described as an interactive musical comedy, and it is filled with all of the puns, gags and tongue-in-cheek humor that made its predecessor a success on stages throughout the country. This is a show not to be missed!”

Show times are scheduled for 7 p.m. on April 2-4 and for 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 5. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and children age 12 and under. CU students, faculty, staff and CUFAC (Cumberland University Fine Arts Council) members will be admitted free of charge with a valid University ID. For more information or to reserve tickets, please contact the Heydel Fine Arts Center Box Office at 615.547.1380. Reservations are highly recommended.

For Sunday’s matinee performance, the Cumberland University Office of Advancement and the CU School of Music & the Arts will host a “Meet the Cast” reception immediately following the show. Slated to be held at the Catron Alumni House, the reception will include light hors d'oeuvres and drinks and an opportunity to meet and mingle with the cast. Alumni who RSVP for the free reception will receive one free ticket to the performance. For more information or to RSVP for the reception, please contact Justin Bradford, Coordinator of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving by April 1 at jbradford@cumberland.edu or by calling 615.547.1253.

The Cumberland Chronicle March 26, 2009 Page 4

Athletics & Issues

This Week’s Featured Sport: Baseball

Shaefer’s Shutout Leads Bulldogs

Shawn Schaefer tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out five, and Dave Weyer went 4-for-5 and scored twice in Cumberland’s 5-0 victory Friday over Mid-Continent in the TranSouth series opener at Ernest L. Stockton Field.

Cumberland (11-14, 2-2 TSAC) led just 1-0 heading to the bottom of the seventh but added a run in the seventh and three more in the eighth to give Schaefer some insurance. The lefthander (3-1) set the side down in order in six of the first eight

innings, allowing two one-out singles in the third and a one-out single in the seventh. He walked a pair of batters to start the ninth, but induced a doubleplay and a fly out to end the contest, ending a three-game losing skid for CU. Weyer was in the middle of the scoring for the Bulldogs in the first, seventh and eighth innings. He scored in the first and seventh and drove in the final run of the contest in the eighth. The junior had just two hits in 15 at-bats this season heading into the game. Mid-Continent Sean Aldrich (2-3) pitched well but took the loss, giving up three runs on six hits in seven-plus innings. He walked six and struck out five for the Cougars (7-19, 0-4). Weyer led off the CU first with an infield single, stole second, moved to third on a Blake Simmons single and scored on Matt Greener’s sacrifice fly. Greener was robbed of a home run on the play by MCU leftfielder Tanner Hall. The Bulldogs threatened in the sixth after Greener walked and Tyler Fisher singled to leadoff. Eric Mull moved the runners up with a sacrifice and Zack

Diekmann followed with a walk, loading the bases, but Clint Alexander fouled out and Evan Sanders popped up to end the inning. In the seventh Weyer had a one-out infield single and stole second. He scored on Greener’s two-out single to left for a 2-0 CU advantage. In the eighth Mull and Diekmann both walked before a sacrifice by Alexander. Sanders was then intentionally walked, loading the bases, before a two-run single from freshman Ryan Williams down the leftfield line. Weyer plated another run with a single to leftcenter for a 5-0 Bulldogs lead. Cumberland and Mid-Continent play a doubleheader Saturday at noon. The Bulldogs host Georgetown College next Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. and Tennessee Wesleyan Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Athlete Spotlight

CU Goes Back to England — May 2010 Eight Days! Nine Nights! In London with Day Trips to Stratford, Bath, & Kent!

Highlights include: Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Canterbury Cathedral, The National Portrait Gallery, The New Globe Theatre, The British Museum, Jack the Ripper Late Night Tour, 2 LIVE theater Performances, Stratford Upon Avon, The White Cliffs of Dover, Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Bath.

Memories for a Lifetime (airfare, hotel, entrance fees, & most meals included).

Make Your Reservations NOW! Payment plans available! Come One, Come All! Open to all CU students, faculty, staff, family, and friends!

To make your reservation and receive detailed information, contact: Dr. Michael Rex,

mrex@cumberland.edu, 615-547-1329.

Blood From A Border City (Continued from Page 1)

In the late 1980s, Mexican drug syndicates transformed from their earlier incarnation as drug runners for Colombian cartels and formed their own distributive organizations, which soon encroached not only on Ciudad Juárez but upon large swathes of Mexico itself. Well armed due to arms smuggling and continuously reinforced with recruits from slums, the drug cartels began to ravage Ciudad Juárez in the late nineties, fighting in two large blocs for drug turf in the extremely important border city. According to the BBC, such drug violence claimed the lives of several hundred people in the city, ranging from drug dealers and bystanders to prosecutors and police officials. In the 2000s, the situation in the city reached its nadir with the discovery of numerous mass graves, increasingly random homicides, and horrible public demonstrations of violence such as daylight executions and beheadings. Government responses to the violence were usually ineffectual or, far worse, even collaborative. Police corruption has become increasingly prevalent in Ciudad Juárez, and the situation has only slightly improved with the arrival of more than six thousand soldiers in February and March of 2009. Instituting random vehicle checkpoints, roving infantry patrols, and infrequent military raids, the Mexican Army has now imposed a form of order on the city, but it is a tenuous one at best. Most Mexicans support the deployment of Mexican Army troops, according to NPR and CNN, but reports of army irregularities and injustices have emerged, including random detentions, torture of detainees, and occasional killings. Ciudad Juárez lies in a vise between the Mexican Army and the drug cartels now, and the random, barbarous violence that plagues the city has driven many Juárenses from the city, and as many more into hiding when not commuting to work or traveling outside the city, according to CNN.

Such a newly acquired reputation for bloodletting is ironic, however, given that Ciudad Juárez had a horrific history of murder long before it was overtaken by drug wars. Las muertas de Juárez, or the dead women of Juárez, refers to several hundred women killed in mostly unsolved homicides in the city from the early nineties until the present. Beginning in 1993, a host of female murders emerged, often involving rape. What began as an anomaly soon became a regular event in the city, and according to Amnesty International, as of February 2005, more than six hundred bodies have been recovered, with a thousand women still missing. State and federal investigations have yielded little results, and in August 2006 the government simply dropped its investigation into the matter, despite the fact that it easily constitutes the worst, most continuous mass murder of women in a single city in both the Americas. Long before the dead of the drug war emerged into the popular media to be just as quickly forgotten, las muertas de Juárez gave their silent, bloody cry in unison from Ciudad Juárez. Ciudad Juárez stands on the verge of disintegration. In February the city’s chief of police quit after threats from cartel forces to murder a policeman each day he remained in office. According to the BBC, even in March five severed heads were discovered in ice coolers on the side of a road, and the city has become Mexico’s most violent metropolis. One hopes that the influx of the Mexican Army into Ciudad Juárez will put an end to the city’s violence, but the bloody history of the city does not easily lend itself to such hopes, especially if the Mexican Army’s answer to civil chaos is martial law. Nevertheless, Mexican government officials are hopeful: Senator Ramon Galindo Noriega, quoted in a report by CNN, stated that "In the last seven days, we've had no more than five reported deaths. Before that, the average was six a day." Such reports are promising, but one looks forward forlornly but hopefully, however, to the day when any death will be an event in Ciudad Juárez.

“Shawn Schaefer tossed a

complete-game, three-hit

shutout, striking out five

in Cumberland’s 5-0

victory Friday over Mid-

Continent in the

TranSouth series opener

at Ernest L. Stockton

Field.