The Trinity Western University Spartan men’s volleyball team got some good news last Wednesday. Their gift? A CIS National Championship schedule. The Spartans will begin their bid for a national championship this Friday at Kamloop’s Thompson Rivers University against Queen’s University. Among the field of eight teams, the Spartans earned the #4 seed in the tournament and will be taking on the fifth-seeded Gaels, who are sporting a 16-4 record heading into the tournament. The Gaels are led by 6’6 outside Joren Zeeman, who comes into the tournament with the second most amount of kills in the OUA with 270, averaging almost five points a game.

The road to gold for the Spartans will not be easy. Although the Spartans hold a higher ranking in their match, the Spartans could be in line to play the tournaments #1 seed, Laval, in the semifinal. Laval will take on eighth-seeded Quebec counterpart Montreal in the first round.

The Spartans will be lead by their defense, which ranks first overall in digs, second in digs per sets, and fifth in block assists. The key to their team, however, will be making sure their offense is with them. The Spartans rank second in kills in the country and will need their strong attack of Steve Marshall, Marc Howatson, and Rudy Verhoeff to continue their offensive dominance.

The Spartans’ quarterfinal game against Queen’s at 3:00 p.m. Friday will be webcast live on ssncanada.ca, along with the rest of the tournament’s matches.

Take Sean Avery for example: while he has been decently well behaved in recent years, Avery and the National Hockey League have had numerous battles as a result of Avery’s free speech. In 2008, Avery was suspended six games for making inappropriate comments towards Dion Phaneuf’s girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert. Avery has been accused of making a racial slur toward Georges Laraque, and trash-talking Jason Blake who was battling leukemia. While Avery seems to have learned his lesson, it is only a matter of time before he, or someone else, expresses an opinion that his or her league does not like.

In the NBA, Commissioner David Stern has already changed the way social media functions within his league. Stern has implemented rules that restrict the amount of activity that can occur. For example, players cannot “tweet” 90 minutes before a game, during halftime, or until their interviews are fulfilled after a game. In an article written on Yahoo Sports, Stern says, “You want to make sure that pop culture doesn’t intrude on what brought us here, which is the game, and that we show the right respect for the game.”

Teams and management will soon begin increase content restrictions for athletes. How they go about it remains to be seen; however, “The Eye in the Sky” will be watching very carefully to determine what is permissible and what is not. As Stern finishes, “We just need to make sure when it’s OK to Tweet and when it’s not OK to Tweet so it at least focuses around the game. It would look unusual for a guy sitting on the bench to pick up his cell phone, and I think we can agree that he probably shouldn’t be writing e-mails.”

If an athlete makes a comment that is deemed to jeopardize the integrity of a team or sport, there will be disciplinary action. For the time being, sports fans should enjoy the free speech as it lasts.

Monday’s and Wednesday’s 8 a.m. lifts: the price of ending a season prematurely. I’m more of a glass half full guy, so I look at it as an opportunity to get a little bit of a ‘pump’ before my 9 a.m. class. Although this rationalization is conveniently weakest when Death Row Records’ “Still Dre” booms from my cell phone at 7.a.m, it is certainly valuable.

Offseason has been going well. Our practices have watered down from 22 players to 12 and it’s making practices a whole other animal. Already our practices are becoming more of a cardio struggle; we spend a whole let less time waiting for our turn to take part in a drill. This offseason has started off well, it’s a little less stressful not thinking about upcoming games and scouting reports, and I’m noticing it in my energy levels and alertness in the classroom. This is a good thing, because with papers and final exams coming around, I could sure use the energy!

See you next week at the gym!

Have you ever earnestly prayed, “God can you please let me win, just this one time?” Every time I pray this prayer I lose. Therefore, I do not pray it anymore. I figure that if I am praying this prayer then I am being completely selfish, plus it doesn’t work. Well I have to admit I prayed the “God let me win” prayer our final game against Regina when the score was 14 to 12 for them in the fifth set. I thought we were going to come back and win it, I mean this game was our last ticket to nationals. God did not answer my egocentric prayer, we lost 15 to 12.

It has been a week since the huge disappointment and not a day goes by that I don’t ask God, “why are we not there? Why did we not win?” I know that God has a purpose for this, I truly believe this, however it still hurts. I am glad I feel hurt because I know I would rather work towards a goal with all my heart and not succeed than to not try and feel nothing. I am going to use this loss as motivation for next year because I know we will get there again.

I want to make a shout out to both my seniors, Kim Klassen and Carmen Dyck, who will not get another chance but who gave it everything they had. To Kim, I want to thank you for your perseverance, faith, and humility. To Carmen, I want to thank you for your encouragement, selflessness, and love of God. To my team, I want to thank you for your commitment, passion, and determination. Finally to my coaches, I want to commend you for your leadership, guidance, and heart. Thank you for the great year. Lata.

Winner 2: For creativity, humour, and good composition
“The way I see it, frogs are true gamblers” by Bethany Paquette

Winner 3: For creativity and humour
“The way I saw it, one may want to remain a safe distance away from the rocks AND the ice.” by Spencer Andres

The university is a place for growth, and at Trinity Western, a large component of that is intended to be growth as Christians. In our last issue an article examining the deconstructionism of the Christian faith spurred us to examine just what type of citizens TWU is producing, and how or if we as students are being developed into ‘godly Christian leaders.’

For most of us, we enrolled at Trinity to hopefully leave as these. After a few years, however, we thought it prudent to calibrate how this was progressing, which you can read about in our Spotlight (page 10-11).

The one thing about the Christian faith is that it cannot be lived for you. Our university does a tremendous job of encouraging its students to not only learn and become better citizens of our cities and countries, it also gives us a tremendous opportunity to grow in our faiths. For many of us, we use this time to explore areas new to ourselves – some of which include behaviour or philosophies that wouldn’t necessarily be biblical. Whether this is healthy or not is not what is being debated.

It is childish to expect to be shaped by our university in the way we intended without any effort from ourselves. What we should expect is to be in an environment where that growth in a godly direction can take place. We are in that environment right now. It is up to ourselves as individuals, however, if we want to become more godly.

With peace + love

John Hennenfent
Editor-in-Chief

Starting in the fall semester of 2011, Trinity Western
University hopes to offer a new B.A. Honours major in the humanities.

Communications professor Dr. Ned Vankevich has been working with English professor Dr. Jens Zimmerman and Elsie Froment, Dean of Academic Research, to create a new interdisciplinary program in “Great Texts.”

The goal of the new major is to explore many of the foundational literary, philosophical and historical texts that, according to Vankevich, have “deeply influenced and impacted the values, ideals and cultural practices of Western culture and society.”

Vankevich sees a strong need for such a program. “Given that we are, at core, a liberal arts-centered institution we owe it to our students to explore what this concept actually means. Unfortunately much of current day academe suffers from secondary-itis, that is, an emphasis on commentaries on the great texts and authors and not enough encounters with the primary texts themselves,” he said.

Great texts programs are nothing new to other universities. The origin is embedded within the liberal arts education tradition and its current emphasis dates back to the 1940s and ’50s, when Mortimer Adler and Robert Maynard Hutchins of the University of Chicago founded the Great Books Foundation. The idea behind such programs is to read and discuss the great works of Western civilization in order to better appreciate our intellectual and cultural heritage.

Such works in the program would include Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad, the dialogues of Plato, Aristotle’s Ethics and Politics, Augustine’s Confessions, Dante’s Divine Comedy, The Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers, Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Joyce’s Ulysses.

Vankevich defines a great text as any work that is superior to the reader in terms of its insight, cross-cultural and temporal perspectives, and accomplishment in challenging us to think beyond the myopia that continually entraps our psyche and soul.

Given that the potential new major is driven by a member of the Faculty of Professional Studies and Performing Arts and one from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the notion of Great Texts will also include art, music and film, as well as literary, philosophic, social science and historical works.

Vankevich sees two primary objectives of the course: “to provide a historical context and present a wider consideration of how an author’s text and ideas have had an impacting influence on Western thoughts and values and to do this within the perspective of the Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman traditions which have become inextricably interwoven in Western culture and civilization. Unless we do this we are committing the worst form of civilizational amnesia and thus will be condemned to repeat the social sins of the past that have so thwarted human flourishing.”

Overall, this new major will provide context and an outlook that is ideal in revisiting Western society in a balanced and holistic manner while avoiding chauvinism or pangs of guilt.

Last Thursday, third-year Dan Folkman was voted in as TWUSA’s President for the 2010-11 academic year.

The Red Deer native, who’s spent his last two years as an R.A., including his current posting in 6 Lower, is TWUSA’s third straight Business major President. Folkman’s entrepreneurial spirit extends beyond the classroom, as he’s also the co-founder of TWU’s Micro-Financing Club, which helps give small loans to individuals in Kenya.

Folkman was originally not even thinking of running for TWUSA President until a few weeks ago, when after several people suggested it to him, he finally gave in and threw his name in the ring.
“I had been looking at where I could get involved next year,” explains Folkman. “First I looked into Community Life, and then somebody asked me if I’d ever checked out TWUSA,” says Folkman in a casual but controlled demeanor – the kind you only see in an R.A.

After attending the information session and learning about the different roles on TWUSA, Folkman finally decided to run for the student council presidency.

“I just didn’t want to do nothing next year, and I wanted to apply what I’ve learned to my senior year. It could have been d-group, but it turned out to be TWUSA President, and I’m honoured,” says Folkman.

Once deciding to run, Folkman needed to spread the word. Candidates usually do this by plastering posters around campus, attempting to catch students’ eyes with a colourful or clever slogan. Using his connections he had cultivated from his years as an R.A., Folkman instead decided to run his entire campaign word of mouth – with the exception of a Facebook group and some campaign t-shirts.

“We made a bunch of t-shirts that said ‘Dan Fan,’” explains Folkman. “I gave them to my friends and they were on board with it, so they wore them all over campus in the days leading up to the election. That was fun.”

Since defeating Andy Sanche in the election, Folkman has had a busy schedule of meetings with this year’s council and his team next year, and is trying to prepare as much as possible for the coming year.

“I want to help our council be confident and for all us to be unified, so next year we can meet those challanges as they come,” says Folkman.

Rather than laying down an ambitious agenda just yet, Folkman plans on having a plan for addressing the issues as they come. “I want to build up strong qualities in our Executive, so however next year looks we’ll be able to take care of everything that comes up. That’s where I can use my R.A. skills – I got used to be being ready and available, and I want our team to be like that next year.”

Justin Baerg, third-year
As leader of the TWU biology club, Baerg spearheaded “Faith & Science Week” here on campus. This involved organizing speaking events and panel discussions with various professors on campus, to discuss the dynamics of science and faith. Additionally, Baerg serves as a Discipleship Coordinator for men’s d-groups at TWU.

Andy Casali, fourth-year
Currently an RA and for the previous two years an International Student Program leader, Casali is a dedicated team player who takes his roles seriously. He is an incredibly smart student and a down-to-earth person, and has also led a Habitat for Humanity team. Casali is known for teaching everyone on a team to play, and not being afraid to call people on things and stand up for what he believes in.

Katie Clogg, fourth-year
As an International Studies major, Clogg is actively involved with Professor Ruth Anaya’s development work in Mohanda, Kenya. She is known as a competent intern and contributor to helping the people of Mohanda achieve their goal of holistic community and economic development. Clogg also published an expository article in the Mars’ Hill on deconstructionism in the classrooms at TWU, which sparked discussion among many faculty and decision-makers at the university.

Dan Fama, third-year
International Development major Dan Fama coordinates and leads a missions trip to Tanzania for a number of weeks each summer. As the Global Projects Tanzania Team leader, he takes the time during the school year to develop the team, organize the trip details and facilitate the relationships with the host community groups. He can also serve up a mean dish
of ugali.

John-Mark Ferguson, fourth-year
If you’ve ever met John-Mark Ferguson, you’re unlikely to forget him. He lives life full force, whether he’s climbing a mountain, engaging others in an intense conversation, or enthusiastically describing a potential business venture. Ferguson is a real live entrepreneur with a keen business mind, and as one of his professors aptly said, “half of his business ideas are crazy, but one of them is going to make him rich.”

Hannah Jenkins, fourth-year
Current editor-in-chief of [spaces] literary journal, and former Arts & Culture editor for Mars’ Hill, Communications major Hannah Jenkins always seems to be at the forefront of something. Jenkins was featured in a Trinity Western Magazine article for her Facebook fast. She also organized a concert and local market last year, to raise awareness and money for primary education in Ethiopia, as part of the imagine1day campaign.

Vanessa Murdoch
From the Human Kinetics department, Murdoch is actively involved both on campus and in the community, doing things such as leading community youth and coaching elementary school sports. Last year she received an award from Physical and Health Education Canada for outstanding undergraduate leadership. She is described as having strong character values, dedicated work ethic, and a creative, positive personality.

Danielle Spampinato, second-year
Danielle Spampinato is known in the Theatre Department as a phenomenal force, doing everything from publicity to front of house manager, from acting to stage management and lighting. As an excellent student and a great person to be around, she does everything passionately. She recently pioneered her own missions trip to Bangladesh, where she spent a summer at an orphanage and put together an impromptu performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat with a group of young
students.

Diana Stobbe
From the Education Department, Stobbe is proactive in classes and in the community. She has organized several community-building events and has worked with numerous environmental initiatives on campus. The future Teacher Society president, one of Stobbe’s course projects was designated for a bog study done by grade six and seven students, who visit TWU as part of the Science in the Valley program.

David van Hemmen, fourth-year
It’s pretty hard to have a list on our most influential undergrads and not include our student-body president. David van Hemmen’s TWUSA team did such a good job encouraging students to vote in the election; voter turnout was around 33 per cent – compared to UBC’s rate of around three, van Hemmen is doing alright for himself. Additionally, van Hemmen has tabled a proposal to introduce health care to TWU students. If the proposal passes, van Hemmen will leave TWU having accomplished something for TWU students no one else has.

Sam Vanderveer, fourth-year
As TWUSA’s Vice President of Academic Relations, Vanderveer is actively involved in campus politics as well as the Foreign Affairs Society. Through his commitment to things like the TWU Model United Nations, Vanderveer, an International Studies major, demonstrates a high level of integration of his education and on-campus activism.

Priscilla Wingenbach, fourth-year
A current Laurentian Leadership Centre student, Wingenbach is passionate about helping those less fortunate and has co-founded a charity called Ham or Jam in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. She demonstrates a desirable style of leadership, one that is dedicated, unassuming and behind-the-scenes. Though she would likely not ask for or expect it, she deserves the recognition as one of TWU’s
most influential.

On February 11th, the elections for the executive team positions on Trinity Western University’s Student Association (TWUSA) were announced for the 2010/11 academic year. And the
winners are:

President: Dan Folkman (448 votes)
Vice President: Nathan Giede (362 votes)
Vice President of Finance: Jonathan Gibson (601 votes)
Vice President of Academic Relations: Katie Hawdon (594 votes)
Vice President of Student Relations: Danielle Rainsford (437 votes)

The voting polls were open for two days, bringing in a record-breaking number of 656 votes from TWU undergraduates, including part-time students.

“This is the most votes any Trinity election has ever gotten,” said Jason Brandl, executive vice president of TWUSA. In addition, TWUSA is a member of the American Student Government Association (ASGA) and had the highest student voting turn out in North America. “ASGA said the highest they’ve heard of is 33 percent, so that was our goal,” said Brandl.

“Having that kind of voter turnout is astounding,” said Nathan Tedrow, Vice President of Student Relations of TWUSA. Tedrow also confirmed that 36 per cent of TWU student participated in voting, a five percent increase from last year’s executive elections. “Most large universities get around three percent,” said Brandl.

Overall, Brandl says that this year’s executive elections were “the most involving” and had “the most positions contested for.” This leaves a reassuring feeling as the current and dedicated executive council steps down for other endeavours. Three students who were elected are currently on council, and Brandl believes that their new positions are something they can manage.

TWUSA’s vision for the 2009/10 is “students first,” however Tedrow says “it’s the charge of each executive council to figure out what the year’s supposed to look like. They might stick with ‘students first’ if the [2010/2011 executive team] feels it’s the mission statement they want to hold on to or they might figure out something that is more important.”

Whichever route the new executive team decides to take, TWU students can expect some great changes in the future. Congratulations to the winners.