LIBERTY CHAMPIONTuesday, September 18, 2012

Volume 30 • Issue 4

Today: T. Storms 74/57 Tomorrow: Sunny 67/51 libertychampion.com

INSIDE THE CHAMPION

Sheriff Brown’s “Finding Faith” incorporates LU students and alumni.

The Liberty women’s tennis team won 21 matches in their first tournament.

Xtreme Impact took several Liberty students around the world on missions trips.

SportsNews FeatureNewsOpinionSportsFeature

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Contemporary Landscapes Show to open Sept. 20 B8

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Jeremy Angionejangione@liberty.edu

While an eagle is born to soar, some Lib-

erty students seek the same opportunity to take flight by training in the univer-sity’s School of Aeronautics (SOA). Relatively new, the program started as the De-partment of Aviation within the School of Arts and Sci-ences, becoming the School of Aeronautics in 2008, ac-cording to Dean of the SOA and President of Freedom Aviation Gen. David Young.

The aviation program as a whole has seen considerable growth.

“In 2002, we started with four students, and now have more than 600 enrolled in all of our programs,” Young said.

Students in the program meet at the Airport Cam-pus, where they learn in a Liberty-owned academic and flight operations center.

Freedom Aviation is a separate entity from the SOA, but is still owned by Liberty, according to Young. Freedom Aviation handles SOA’s flight operations, provides fueling for aircrafts, aircraft maintenance, hangar storage space and several employment opportuni-ties for graduates. The two organizations are closely intertwined.

Every week, aviation major Diego Elliott receives multiple hands-on piloting sessions high above Lynch-burg. He receives real-world experience while perform-ing various maneuvers and training exercises in the air.

“Hopefully, I’ll be able to

fly commercial,” Elliott said. According to Young, the

SOA’s mission is not only to train outstanding aviators, but to prepare exceptionally strong Christians as well.

Students can choose to pilot in different concentra-tions, including commercial, military and missions avia-tion, according to SOA flight instructor Nate Johnson.

With the type of resources the SOA provides, being mission-minded is an oppor-tunity that the program uses to its advantage.

“The SOA fully supports Liberty University’s mission by placing Christian aviators in the aviation industry. We believe that wherever God places our graduates, he has put them in the mission field,” Young said.

According to Young, SOA graduates are currently serv-

ing in a variety of aviation fields including airlines, cor-porate piloting and military piloting.

“We have graduates serv-ing in the airlines, missions, corporate and military, (including the) United States Air Force, United States Army, Marines and the U.S. Navy,” Young said. “Many of our students remain at Liberty University to instruct within the program after graduation to build experi-ence and flying hours.”

The SOA partners with missions organizations such as the International Associa-tion of Mission Aviation and Mission Safety International, according to Young.

“We are also reaching out to international students as there is a great need for

See AVIATION, A3

Aviation opportunities expand

Liberty a top school

Ruth BiBBy | LiBeRty Champion

PILOT — Aviation student Steve Barkof examines his aircraft during the pre-flight check at Freedom Aviation.

Nicole Steenburghnksteenburgh@liberty.edu

Hard work, dozens of activi-ties and fresh ideas are all com-ing together to ensure that Lib-erty University’s first College For A Weekend (CFAW) of the year, Sept. 20-22, is exciting and suc-cessful.

According to Ericka Morris, Recruitment Events Coordina-tor, planning and preparation for CFAW never stops.

“Whether one of these week-ends has just occurred or is hap-pening in the near future, CFAW preparation is a year-round ac-tivity,” Morris said. “We are al-ready thinking ahead to Novem-ber.”

The weekend of Sept. 20 will showcase new activities along with the traditional events. Ac-

cording to Morris, this year will be introducing the first Aca-demic CFAW, which will specifi-cally target individual majors. A brand-new feature of CFAW will be the Academic Track: a list of classes that coincide with the major that a potential student is interested in. If a guest is un-sure about which track is right for them, or even which major might be right for them, multiple tracks can be picked up so that guests can compare classes.

According to Morris, as the CFAW guests browse through the various majors, they will have the chance to meet the chairs and faculty of the different de-partments.

As important as academics are, the weekend’s sole focus will not be on classes and admission. CFAW guests will be encour-

aged to enjoy an array of ac-tivities including home games for the Flames football and hockey teams and a concert by Jars of Clay, featuring Shane and Shane.

According to TJ Scott, one of Liberty’s campus guides, other activities will include horseback riding at the Equestrian Center, an art exhibit in the Studio and Digital Arts Department, the tra-ditional late skate at LaHaye Ice Center, a Fusion worship session in Towns Auditorium and of course, Hall Connect—a chance for the CFAW guests to meet the leadership on the hall where they are staying and experience the spiritual atmosphere of dorm life at Liberty.

Hosting students at Liberty so that they are able to experience

Visitor Center to prepare for first major CFAW

aBBy KouRKounaKis | LiBeRty Champion

CFAW — Thomas Scott and Travis Shirkman prepare CFAW welcome packets in the Hancock Welcome Center.

Melanie Oelrichmoelrich@liberty.edu

Liberty University was recently named one of the best regional universi-ties in the South. According to an article by the U.S. News and World Report, Liberty was ranked along with neigh-boring schools Lynchburg College, Randolph and Sweet Briar colleges.

Liberty was ranked as 65th among Regional Universities in the South in the magazine entitled, “America’s Best Colleges 2013.” Lynchburg College ranked 41st because of the school’s low student-to-faculty ratio. Sweet Briar ranked 100th, and Randolph followed in 112th under the Best National Lib-eral Arts Colleges category.

The magazine ranked over 1,400 ac-credited universities and colleges and in-cluded statistics on average tuition cost, admission rates, academic and student life and tips on the best ways to pay for school.

Liberty provided the U.S. News and World Report’s website with the schools’ mission and unique qualities for the ar-ticle.

“Liberty University has produced graduates with the values, knowledge and skills required to impact the world. The secret to its success lies in a rock-solid commitment to Biblical truth and morality,” according to the website. “Liberty has built upon this founda-tion a world-class university that offers excellent academics, NCAA Division I athletics, an exciting social atmosphere and an environment that encourages spiritual growth.”

According to the U.S. News and World Report, Liberty’s online gradu-ate nursing program is ranked one of the top 10 programs for admissions selectivity, right under Drexel Univer-sity, located in Philadelphia. The online nursing program ranked 25th in student involvement and accreditation and 63rd in student services and technology.

To view the full listing from “Amer-ica’s Best Colleges 2013,” visit usnews.com/education.

OELRICH is an asst. news editor.

f l i g h t t r a i n i n g e x e r c i s e

See CFAW, A2

A6-7Women’s soccer defeats GWU

Student loan campaign

issue addressed

1971 UNIVERSITY BLVD, LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 24502

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LETTERTO THEEDITORPOLICIES& INFO

The Champion encourages community members to submit letters to the editor on any subject. Letters should not exceed 400 words and must be typed and signed. The deadline is 5 p.m. Friday. Letters and columns that appear are the opinion of the author solely, not the Champion editorial board or Liberty University.

All material submitted becomes property of the Champion. The Champion reserves the right to accept, reject or edit any letter received—according to the Champion stylebook, taste and the Liberty University mission statement.

Send letters to:

Liberty ChampionLiberty University, Box 2000,Lynchburg, VA 24502

or drop off in DeMoss Hall 1035.

Tabitha CassidyEDITOR IN CHIEF

administrationDeborah HuffFACULTY ADVISOR

Ben LesleyADVERTISING DIRECTOR

Ashley McAlpinGRADUATE ASSISTANT

Shelanne JenningsGRADUATE ASSISTANT

contentTyler EachoASST. NEWS EDITOR

Melanie OelrichASST. NEWS EDITOR

Andrew WoolfolkOPINION EDITOR

Kyle HarveySPORTS EDITOR

Derrick BattleASST. SPORTS EDITOR

Greg LeasureFEATURE EDITOR

Tess CurtisCOPY EDITOR

photographyRuth BibbyPHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

designerElliot MosherGRAPHIC DESIGN

Kevin McAlpinWEB DESIGNER

LIBERTY CHAMPION

A2/Liberty Champion NEWS September 18, 2012

CFAW continued from A1

“College For A Weekend” is not a new idea. According to Joy Federico, the guest experi-ence coordinator, CFAW at Liberty has been around for more than 20 years. These week-ends attract large numbers. The number of current students at Liberty who experienced a CFAW makes up about 70 percent of the population, according to Morris.

Kimberly Higgins, a sophomore at Lib-erty, is one of the many students who were welcomed to Liberty by a CFAW. She says that after her CFAW experience, she went on to visit other colleges, but her thoughts kept coming back to how comfortable she felt at Liberty and how much she really wanted to be a part of this school.

“If I didn’t go to CFAW, I wouldn’t be at Liberty,” Higgins said.

For more information, visit libertycfaw.com.

STEENBURGH is a news reporter.

Brett Raszinskibraszinski2@liberty.edu

The Public Relations Student Society of Amer-ica (PRSSA) jump-started the new school year with a kickoff party Thursday, Sept. 6.

Guest speaker Carla Parks Wooley, head of pub-lic relations for B&W Nu-clear Operations Group, spoke to the students about the importance of public relations and clarified mis-conceptions about the pro-fession. Wooley explained just what a PR job is like.

“The beauty of the job is that no two days are alike. As a PR person, you really get to know your or-ganization—what makes it tick,” Wooley said. “Our true mission—the greatest value that we provide—is helping our organization or clients use communica-tions to reach their goals and accomplish their busi-ness objectives. We do that

by helping people feel con-nected and get engaged,” Wooley said.

PRSSA is just get-ting started with events, PRSSA President Kristen Gorsuch said. The organi-zation is planning on run-ning three main events this semester and will be avail-able to all communications majors. One of the events is the Homecoming Alum-ni Panel that Gorsuch said will give students the op-portunity to hear advice and updates from Liberty alumni. Gorsuch also said that PRSSA plans to host an Etiquette Banquet, which will be Nov. 8.

According to Gorsuch, this banquet will provide students with an oppor-tunity to “learn how to eat properly during a for-mal dinner, interview or event.” The last event is the Christmas Party Nov. 29. Gorsuch says the party gives students “a great op-portunity to build connec-

tions with other PRSSA members and celebrate the end of the semester to-gether.”

PRSSA’s mission is to bring in valuable hands-on professional experience and create connections between students and the world.

“Liberty PRSSA is one of over 300 chapters affili-ated with the Public Rela-tions Society of America, ‘the world’s largest and foremost organization of public relations profession-als.’ Our chapter organizes professional development events and we are also a student-run firm. Our student-run firm, Innova-tions, has several clients within Liberty and in the community,” Gorsuch said.

“PRSSA does not only target public relations stu-dents. We are seeking di-versity in majors so that our organization is well balanced,” Gorsuch said.

“Since PRSSA offers sev-eral professional develop-ment activities, we are seeking to attract students who want to prepare for life after college.”

Innovations, the stu-dent-run firm of PRSSA, gives students great hands-on experience. Firm direc-tor for Innovations Olivia Witherite described Inno-vations as “the nationally-affiliated, student-run firm under PRSSA.”

“It provides profession-al public relations work, enhancing both Liberty University and the greater Lynchburg community,” Witherite said. “The firm is split up into various ac-counts, including Special Olympics Virginia and His Vision, which is a lo-cal campaign that works to provide eye care to under-privileged children.”

RASZINSKI is a news reporter.

Students network with PRSSAPhoto Provided

PRSSA — Executive board members of PRSSA Kristen Gorstuch and Victoria Petrocelli pose at the club’s table.

National NewsTyler Eachotpeacho@liberty.edu

U.S. Embassy in Libya Attacked, 4 Americans Killed

Four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, were killed when protesters angry about an online film considered offensive to Islam attacked the U.S. diplomatic compound in Libya Tuesday, Sept. 11.

According to a CNN article, members of a radical Islamist group called Ansar al-Sharia protested near the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, where NATO jets established no-fly zones last year to stop ground attacks from the then Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Witnesses told CNN that the group clashed with security forces in the city, blocking roads leading to the consulate.

The attack ensued when suspected Islamic militants fired on the consulate in the eastern Libyan city with rocket pro-pelled-grenades and set it ablaze, accord-ing to the News Limited Network.

“I don’t want to talk about what hap-pened in other countries, but as for Libya, the operation was meticulously executed,” Mohammed al-Megaryef said to the News Limited Network. “The attack itself and the manner in which the attack occurred…confirms that this was planned and pro-grammed to achieve a purpose.”

According to ABC News, following the tragedy, President Obama reflected at a campaign rally in Las Vegas on what he said has been a “tough day” for the coun-try, mourning the loss of the four Americans killed in the attack, vowing justice for their killers and pledging that U.S. diplomacy would be unwavering “because the world needs us.”

In a statement Tuesday night, Sept. 11, Mitt Romney accused the Obama admin-istration of sympathizing with the Libyan protesters who attacked the consulate, according to the Washington Post.

McDonald’s to Add Calorie Counts to Menus for Customer Awareness

McDonald’s announced this week that they would begin posting calorie counts on their restaurant and drive-thru menus early next year.

According to the Huffington Post, the move pre-empts a stipulation that is part of the federal health care bill that requires restaurant chains with more than 20 loca-tions to post calories in their stores.

The national law is new, but McDonald’s has already posted calorie counts in some cities like New York City and Philadelphia. Some foreign countries require the same, including Australia, South Korea and the U.K., according to the Huffington Post.

The idea behind calorie posting is that it will educate consumers about how many calories they eat, in hopes that it will curb problems related to overeating, including obesity and diabetes, the Huffington Post said.

But some people are wondering if the move will actually have an effect on the behavior of consumers.

An article on policymic.com said that researchers have not found the dramatic reaction they had hoped for in New York City, where publicly listed calorie counts have been mandated since 2008.

Abby KourKounAKis | Liberty ChAmPion

CFAW — Welcome Center staff gets ready for CFAW students.

Champion correctionsIn an article about the observatory coming to

campus in the spring semester, published in the Sept. 11 issue, there were a couple of additions to the article that were never made.

In regards to the rezoning meeting with the board of supervisors in Lynchburg on Oct. 2, educational uses in Campbell County require special use permits

which require supervisor approval.Lee Beaumont, vice president of Auxiliary

Services, would also like to stress that the new observatory center will be open to all Liberty students.

The Champion strives to publish the most accurate information. If there are any errors, please

Liberty Champion/A3NEWSSeptember 18, 2012

Want to volunteer, or do you need Christian service hours

that you can get simply by staying at home?

Help us defend economic freedom in Lynchburg today!

•Web: www.afphq.org/virginia • Twitter http://twitter.com/AFPVA • Facebook: www.facebook.com/AFPVA

aviation training opportunities around the world,” Young said.

According to Johnson, missionary pilots often speak to students who hope to en-ter the mission field and learn to pilot in rougher areas as a type of “back country flying.”

“My concentration is missions,” avia-tion major Elijah Burton said. “The cur-riculum is great. It challenges and pushes

us to reach a higher standard. The pro-fessors have designed it so that when we graduate, there will not be any surprises in the real world.”

Not only does the SOA train pilots, but they also train students as different types of aircraft personnel.

“We have expanded from training pilots to training aircraft mechanics, unmanned aerial systems operators and flight at-

tendants. We now offer an online degree completion plan for already FAA certified pilots,” Young said.

To foster a hands-on learning atmo-sphere, Young stated that the SOA will have “state-of-the-art simulators” added to include a jet simulator.

According to Young, SOA programs not only ensure that students have a work-ing knowledge of aircraft operation, but

also an opportunity to enter into the avia-tion industry after graduation by partner-ing with companies such as ExpressJet and Dynamic Aviation.

“We will continue to add courses and curriculums to meet the demands in the aviation industry,” Young said.

ANGIONE is a news reporter.

FLIGHT LESSON — (Top left) Aviation student Steve Barkof inspects the propeller. (Top right) Barkof prepares for his lesson with certified flight instructor Hagan Lee.

AVIATION continued from A1

Ruth BiBBy | LiBeRty Champion

Ruth BiBBy | LiBeRty Champion

JeRemy angione | LiBeRty Champion

OPINION SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

Tabitha Cassidytcassidy@liberty.edu

Lives lost and U.S. em-bassies bombarded by extreme Islamic groups have plagued recent American history and, if at all possible, made the eleventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks that much more gruesome.

The death of U.S. am-bassador Chris Stevens and three embassy em-

ployees has only recently led to the arrest of roughly 50 people, Libya’s Presi-dent Mohamed Magariaf told CBS News. Over 800 miles away, the U.S. em-bassy in Egypt was also infiltrated. In place of a proud American flag stood a black Islamic banner.

Rumors from news services such as the Los Angeles Times have at-tributed these outrageous attacks as being a prod-uct of an independent film mocking the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Ac-cording to the Wall Street Journal, Libya’s new na-tional congress has cast the blame upon al-Qae-da-linked militants who were already planning at-tacks in the country.

As the blame is passed from person to person and the underlining cause of the a t t a c k s is inves-tigated, A m e r i -cans are r i g h t l y o u t -r a g e d at the death of their own and the threat, yet again, to their security.

So the question be-comes, who is to blame for this lost feeling of safety? Is it the trouble-some filmmaker “Sam Bacile,” who has yet to be given a face or true iden-tity? Or is it the extrem-ist group that slaughtered

the American ambas-sador through their own actions?

While I place the blame on the extremist Islamic group for launching the grenades and setting the fire that caused Stevens to die of asphyxiation, one cannot help but think that Bacile may have caused this seemingly unbal-anced reaction.

On one account, Bac-ile is protected under the First Amendment.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of reli-gion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…”

But freedom of speech is limited. You cannot

yell “fire” in a crowded theater, you cannot be obscene in public, you cannot provoke illegal ac-tivity, and you cannot di-vulge government secrets that could be a threat to national security.

Regardless of the sticki-ness of the First Amend-ment, what Bacile did was stupid. This stupidity does not excuse the barbarian-ism of those extremists in Libya and Egypt, but it does make you question whether the government, and what we are doing as everyday American citi-zens, is smart.

Gone are the days when our actions are viewed only by those in close proximity to us. Our words, actions and

images are now placed across the globe for all to see, including those who brew hatred in their hearts.

Instead of forging our own hatred for these indi-viduals and lashing back in violence, we should think intelligently.

When you come face-to-face with a giant, do you fight it with sheer force, or do you find a smarter, less violent way to bring it down?

As a young man, David brought Goliath down with only a strategically-flung stone, not with the violent force of a thou-sand men.

CASSIDY is the editor in chief.

FromtheDesk

CASSIDY

Whitney Rutherfordwrutherford2@liberty.edu

After two weeks of fierce party pride and calls to action, the last of the confetti from the 2012 presidential nominating conventions was swept into the trash. Like the wilted confetti, the parties’ bid to cap-tivate the nation quickly faded. In light of the massive cost of staging the presidential conventions and the dwindling audiences, the two weeks of speeches and cheering appear wasteful.

Parties begin convention planning over a year in advance. Long before delegates arrive, bills for transportation, catering, the arena, advertising and yes, confetti, accumulate. These bills are largely paid with tax dollars from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund.

According to the Federal Election Committee, Democrats and Republicans split $36.5 million from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund to convene their parties this year. In addition, Congress generously allocated another $50 million to each party for security measures. Thus, the aggregate cost to taxpayers was over $136 million for the 2012 presidential conventions. Both parties may laud tax cuts, but no complaints were heard over the millions of taxpayer dollars spent on the 2012 conventions.

Even after donations from corpora-tions, contributions from unions and the allotted funds from Congress and the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, parties left debt behind. Bloomberg an-nounced that the Democrats closed their convention $5 million over their budget. Speeches about fiscal responsibility smack of blatant contradiction when a party cannot even control spending for a three-day event.

Despite the gigantic convention bud-gets, audiences have dwindled. The Nielsen Co., the premiere audience rat-ings organization, reported that 8 million fewer people watched Mitt Romney ac-cept the Republican presidential nomi-nation than watched John McCain ac-cept the honor in 2008. The Democratic National Convention dropped to only 3 million in viewership, according to the Nielsen Co. American taxes light the stage and hire the cameramen, but Americans are not intrigued enough to watch.

With compounding budget problems and bored viewers, convention ratings have also fallen. TLC’s new reality show “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” received higher ratings than the second night of

the Republican National Convention, according to the Nielson Co. The same evening that Condoleezza Rice and Paul Ryan addressed the nation, cable audi-ences were more focused on a pageant child’s lifestyle.

While the “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” ratings may reveal an American in-tellect problem more than a problem with our political conventions, parties only make the situation worse when Clint East-wood interviews a chair or when President Obama’s address is lost in speeches from Eva Longoria and Scarlett Johansson.

The viewers who did tune in were not incredibly swayed by either party’s plat-form. Gallup data shows pre-convention voter preferences were 47 percent Obama

and 46 percent Romney. However, post-convention data placed Obama at 50 per-cent and Romney 44 percent. Gallup data revealed that even after their inspirational addresses, Obama received a historically low post-convention jump, while Romney gained no ground at all.

For all of the commanding speeches, teary-eyed crowds and predictions for America’s future, the presidential con-ventions did not captivate the nation. We are left with a close presidential race and more debt, wondering why the parties convened at all.

RUTHERFORD is an opinion writer.

Jacob TellersJtellers@liberty.edu

With just under two months left un-til the presidential election, candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are battling for every vote, each trying to find the critical message that will sway the in-dependent voter his way.

The reality is that political campaigns are not always about who has the best plan, but who has the best message. The party that is able to effectively communi-cate its goals to the American people is the party that is going to win.

“While much rhetoric in the public domain is rightly characterized as ‘cheap talk,’ a party’s messages (and those of the opposing party) do have tremendous po-tential to affect public opinion,” Tim Gro-eling and Matthew Baum of the online journal Political Behavior said.

This ability to deliver a specific and controlled message was key to Obama’s victory in 2008. Whether you supported them or not, Obama and his campaign strategist realized that fact and accom-plished their mission well.

“In their tactical view, all that was wrong with the United States could be summa-rized in one word: ‘Bush,’” Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker said. “The clear alterna-tive, then, was not so much a Democrat or a liberal as it was anyone who could cred-ibly define himself as ‘not Bush.’”

Another part of Obama’s core message

was healthcare.“I am absolutely determined that by

the end of the first term of the next president, we should have uni-versal health care in this coun-try,” Obama said, as quoted by a USA Today article in 2007.

Case in point. Obama was able to easily win his election be-cause he clearly defined himself and his goals.

The results reversed two year later with the Republicans controlling the main essence of the election. In 2010, they

won back the House of Representatives through a clear message of limited gov-

ernment and fiscal responsibility.“The 2010 election cycle will

be most remembered for the birth and rapid rise of the low-tax, limited-government tea party movement, which has en-

ergized frustrated conservatives nationwide heading into the Nov. 2

midterms, mostly to the Republican Party’s benefit,” Linda Feldmann of the Christian Science Monitor said.

However, in the last two years, Repub-

licans have had a harder time defining themselves. A recent article from Time Magazine describes Republicans as “the party of no.”

“They’ve defined themselves politi-cally by their opposition to Obama,” Time Magazine political analysts Michael Grunwald and Walter Alarkon said in a September article.

For better or worse, Republicans have been defined as the party of “anti” — anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, anti-sci-ence, anti-healthcare. While it is good for them to oppose policies, such opposition is viewed as harmful. It is not enough sim-ply to be “the party of no.”

There is nothing wrong with explaining why Democrats have not done a good job running America, but Romney’s message needs to have more substance than that.

It is not as though Romney does not have a plan. His campaign website, Rom-ney.com, provides an 87-page plan detail-ing his strategy to revive the economy.

But just having a plan is not good enough, because unless Romney is able to effectively communicate his plan to the American people, he will never get the chance to enact it.

If Romney and Ryan are going to beat Obama in November, their campaign needs to have a positive, clear and specific message that it can push forward.

He needs to define this election.

TELLERS is an opinion writer.

Party conventions fell flat for voters

Communication is key to Romney’s campaign

DonkeyHotey | Creative Commons

PARTY TIME — Between the massive spending sprees and low ratings, conventions seem to do a lot of harm and not much good.

Joeff Davis | Creative Commons

ROMNEY — Creating a unique identity for himself will be critical for Romney.

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Monsters, vegetarians and sapsTess Curtistcurtis@liberty.edu

I am a creature of the night, a true hunter.

A man walks home after dark — alone. Now is the perfect time to strike, to feel his hot blood fresh on my tongue. My throat convulses involuntarily, and the ev-er-present thirst grows unbearable. I pass my tongue over my lips, struggling to push back an overwhelming urge to lash out.

I draw a shaking hand across my mouth — slowly, almost absently — as I gaze down at the pale skin, the mangled throat. Every fiber of my being thirsts for blood, and sometimes the temptation is too much. I am only human.

But do not worry. I am usually a good bloodsucker…

What happened to that age-old portrait of a deadly, irredeemable monster that drank the blood of its innocent victims?

It has been replaced with what seems like a watered-down, pathetic version of the ancient legend. Authors like Stepha-nie Meyer and Richelle Mead continu-ously cater to popular culture’s seem-ingly insatiable obsession with the idea of “friendly vampires.”

We are all well familiar with the teen vampire love story. What is it that draws readers again and again to the forbidden love between human and monster?

Well, I suppose it could be an over-whelming fascination with the concept of everlasting love.

In Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga —which will soon reach millions of viewers once again as the final movie of the tril-

ogy, Breaking Dawn: Part 2, hits theatres Nov. 16 — a very weak, very human girl falls in love with a century-old vampire. But humans and vampires do not live happily ever after — they cannot. The human will eventually die, and either the love or the vampire will die with her.

Yet, what if both of them lived forever? When human transforms into vampire, love can live forever — never ceasing, never dying. It is the picture of the perfect relationship between two beings. But it is still a little unrealistic.

Or readers could be drawn by the idea

that every monster is redeemable, despite how evil he may seem.

L.J. Smith does not make the mistake of separating supernatural from horror in her best-selling book series entitled Vampire Diaries. Originally published in 1991, years before Meyer’s work ever saw a bookshelf, the series juxtaposes two very different takes on vampires: the vegetari-an, pathetically romantic Stefan Salvatore and his ruthless, deadly-powerful brother, Damon.

The female protagonist of the story, Elena Gilbert, immediately falls for the

broody, mysterious and initially unattain-able Stefan.

But she also struggles with feelings for Damon. Who would not? He is hot and dangerously attractive — not to mention his hypnotic powers of compulsion that can bend anyone to his will. But even more compelling is this lingering sense that there is some shred of humanity left within him. What if her love could bring this humanity out, could save him?

Despite a very distasteful habit for graphic images, the American version of the television show Being Human does a fair job of depicting the portrait of an irredeemable monster trying to be good. The show, which premiered on Syfy in January 2011, focuses on the lives of three roommates who are not all they appear to be.

The main protagonist, Aidan Waite, constantly struggles with his vampiric nature, but sometimes he falls back into temptation. He realizes that he is a mon-ster, but he still desperately wants to be good — to be a little more human.

Both reasons are possible, I guess. They are both symptoms of the fallen world. Love seems fleeting on earth, so we con-stantly yearn for that true, everlasting love that is not of this world. Because humanity has fallen, we also see countless examples of broken people who seem irredeemable.

Here is the true lesson taught by these “friendly vampire” stories: No one is be-yond redemption.

CURTIS is the copy editor.

laRkyn t. | CReative CoMMonS

TWILIGHT — The hit book series has changed the majority’s view of vampires.

Andrew Woolfolkalwoolfolk@liberty.edu

During election season, it is compelling to look back at the headline-grabbing, standout candidates of previous elections.

You know, the names like John Anderson, Ross Perot, George Wallace and Ralph Nader. All household names, right?

W r o n g . Over time, these men’s names faded almost entirely into obscurity. To most, their names do not pique the faintest of memories. They all ran as third-party candidates facing an uphill battle. All ultimately lost their election, most by a wide majority. For registered Demo-crats and Republicans, the third-party candidate is often avoided and ignored, but voters regis-tered as independent sometimes have more motivation to con-sider them.

Some voters look down on third-party candidates, accus-ing them of stealing votes from either the Democratic or Re-publican candidate, as if the third-party candidate is doing something wrong by earning the votes of the people. Some third-party candidates have indeed run shoddy campaigns, but the same could also be said for our two powerhouse parties.

Third-party candidates have some credible history as well. Theodore Roosevelt, who was rated in the top five presidents of all time by both CSPAN and

the Wall-Street Journal, actually formed his own party in 1912, four years after his term as presi-dent ended. Running against the Democratic and Republican candidates, Roosevelt managed to finish second and showed the country — for however brief a time — that third-party candi-dates matter and should be re-spected.

This upcoming election could hinge on how much attention independent voters pay to these unlikely candidates. Indepen-dents are as critical a factor now as they have ever been. Recent polls run by both Gallup and In-dependentVoting.org found that nearly 40 percent of registered voters are independent, which is the highest total recorded in his-tory.

This growing group of voters will soon be faced with a chal-lenging dilemma. Should the independent candidate deserve their vote, will they enter his name at the polls and join the small minority? Their alterna-tive is to accept the fact of al-most certain defeat and settle for the better of the two high-profile candidates.

Right now, Obama holds a nine-percent advantage over Romney amongst independent voters. Obama has a lot to lose if independent voters pay more attention to third-party candi-dates, yet both Democrats and Republicans seem about equally worried about third-party candi-dates stealing their votes.

Unfortunately, it seems most Americans only care about the feelings of the Democratic and Republican nominee, harbor-ing a two-party system that our

forefathers warned against. John Adams, our second president, told this to his fellow country-men in his book “The Works of John Adams,” which is a collec-tion of letters he wrote.

“There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great par-ties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other,” Ad-ams said. “This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.”

It does not get much more di-rect than that. George Washing-ton also served as a harbinger for the impending dangers of a two-party dominated system. In his

1796 farewell speech, he alerted his fellow citizens as to what would happen if that situation came to fruition.

“It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animos-ity of one party against another, foments occasionally riot and

insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corrup-tion,” Washington said.

Does that sound like a dead-on prediction to anyone else?

This is not to say that a vote for a Republican or Democrat is a vote towards the destruction of our Republic, but it is a warning against passionately aligning ourselves to one side or the other. Our job as voters is to give every party a fair shot, something that may not be happening anymore.

Ron Paul, who unsuccessfully ran for the Republican presiden-tial nomination, made the case for the existence of that very predicament occurring in poli-tics during a recent taping of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

“If I would have tried in the last several years to do exactly what I have done in a third-party, I probably wouldn’t have made your show. There is something about that — and if you ever come to a conclusion, heaven forbid — that the two parties aren’t all that different, then what is left?”

And while some may dismiss Paul’s claims as the venting of a frustrated and defeated candi-date, these statements are analo-gous to the problems predicted by Washington. If the two par-ties spend all their time attacking each other instead of creating ideas for progress, we all suffer.

Over the years, I have heard people offer their opinion on the matter of voting for third-party

candidates. The most popu-lar slight against it is that it is “a wasted vote.” I would argue that that is not really the case. A

wasted vote is a vote not cast. No matter the chances, a

candidate has to win or lose. A vote made with good con-science and a belief in that candidate’s worldview is a legiti-mate attempt made

by a voter to better this great nation.

The Constitution is clear in stating that it is our “right to vote,” and what makes that right so sensational is that it gives the power to the people. Voting is a privilege, and we must realize that, like with all privileges, it must not be taken advantage of or used carelessly. It is up to us as voters to research the candi-dates, not let the actions of oth-ers sway our views, and make the best decision possible.

All too often, people do not vote, consequently playing the role of the unruly student in the back of the classroom, com-plaining about the current state of affairs and offering halfheart-ed solutions to the problem while ignoring their best opportunity for input and involvement.

This election year, consider your choices, even the third-par-ty candidates. Ruminate over who stands by your convictions and pick who truly deserves your vote. Make your voice be heard.

May the best candidate win, and let their name be remem-bered.

WOOLFOLK is the opinion editor.

Voting: a right, research: a choice

“Voting is a privilege, and

we must realize that, like with

all privileges, it must not be

taken advantage of

or used carelessly.”

— Woolfolk

WOOLFOLK

VOTE20

12

A6/Liberty Champion NEWS September 18, 2012

Addressing educational costTabitha Cassidytcassidy@liberty.edu

Research contributed by Tyler Eacho and Ashley McAlpin

President Barack Obama and presidential candidate Mitt Romney are both focus-ing on education during their campaign trail, according to their campaign websites. Both men have addressed the issue of outstanding student debt.

According to a press re-lease from the White House, two-thirds of students seek-ing a bachelor’s degree are borrowing money to attend college, accumulating an average debt of more than $26,000 in federal and pri-vate student loans.

“Countless students I meet across the country feel like the first time they really un-derstood how much student loan debt they were in was when the first bill arrived,” U.S. Secretary of Educa-tion Arne Duncan said. “We must unravel the mystery of higher education pricing by giving students and families the information they need to make smart choices.”

Data released by the Fed-eral Reserve Bank of New York show that student loan debt reached $904 billion in the first quar-ter of 2012, an increase of $30 billion from the previous quar-ter.

Recent num-bers provided by finaid.org show that student debt has reached over $1.03 trillion, surpassing consumer debt. This credit card debt, ac-cording to a report released by the Federal Reserve Sys-tem in January 2012, was only $798.3 billion.

“Student loan debt contin-ues to grow even as consum-ers reduce mortgage debt and credit card balances,” Dong-hoon Lee, senior economist at the New York Fed, said to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. “It remains the only form of consumer debt to substantially increase since the peak of household debt in late 2008.”

To help battle the climbing student debt, both Obama and Romney have supported lower interest rates on stu-dent loans.

“Since 2007, former stu-dents have been able to en-roll in an ‘Income Based Repayment’ (IBM) plan to cap their student loan pay-ments at 15 percent of their current discretionary income if they make their payments on time. Legislation signed by President Obama in 2009 lowered this cap to 10 per-cent for borrowers beginning in 2014,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said.

At a campaign event with Sen. Marco Rubio outside of Philadelphia in April, Romney backed Obama’s decision to extend the lower

See DEBT, A7

Student LoansVOTE20

12

With 65.6 percent of four-year undergraduate students leaving college with some form of debt, both presidential candidates, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, have addressed financial aid debt in their recent campaigns.

Excerpts from their ideas on how to battle student debt are below.

Student debt plays an important role in 2012 election

…Under the terms of this program, anyone who makes his monthly payments for 20 years after leaving college is eligible to have his remaining balance forgiven. At least, this applies to anyone with Federal Direct loans, Stafford loans, and Per-kins loans. Those who take out their loans from private lenders such as Sallie Mae are still responsible for repaying their loans in total.

Individuals who spend 10 years in public service positions become eligible to have their loans forgiven at that point rather than having to wait 20 years. This means their debt is forgiven in half the time and their debt reduced significantly sooner.

It is also a part of the plan that monthly payments be capped at a level of 10 percent of the money that is left over when all taxes are paid and basic necessities taken care of. This cap has been at 15 percent, which takes a lot more money out of the pockets of citizens and out of the economy.

There are also programs in place that allow teachers to work for just five years in elementary or high schools that have been designated as low income schools by the Department Of Edu-cation. This applies to FFEL loans and to Direct loans.

Military personnel are also able to achieve forgiveness for their student loans if they have a degree. This program works for members of all five branches of service, including the Coast Guard and Reserves.

A final option is to apply for income-based repayment terms. While it is probably best to sign up for this early in the life of the loan, older loans may still qualify for this lower payment plan. Of course, the clock starts all over when one signs up for this option. That means that someone who has worked in public service for eight years and signs up for income-based re-payment must work another 10 years in public service instead of the two he would have had left.

…While nobody will see his loan just disappear overnight, payments have been lowered and the time shortened that one must pay before the remaining balance is forgiven...

Excerpts taken from Obamastudentloanforgiveness.com.

...America’s traditional community and four-year colleges are the heart of our nation’s higher education system. How-ever, a flood of federal dollars is driving up tuition and bur-dening too many young Americans with substantial debt and too few opportunities. Meanwhile, other models of advanced skills training are becoming even more important to success in the American economy, and new educational institutions will be required to fill those roles.

...Consolidate duplicative and overly complex programs within the Department of Education. Focus the department on giving students and families with financial need the ap-propriate information about completion and persistence, loan repayment rates, future earnings and other indicators to intel-ligently weigh the risks and benefits of the many options avail-able to them, rather than limiting choices through punitive regulations.

...Reverse President Obama’s nationalization of the student loan market and welcome private sector participation in pro-viding information, financing and the education itself.

...Encourage market entry by innovative new education models, emphasize skill attainment instead of time spent in the classroom and support research and development. Repeal consuming and unnecessary regulations that primarily serve to drive costs higher, and replace them with common-sense reforms that ensure appropriate student outcomes…

Higher education is becoming at once more important and more unaffordable than ever, stretching family finances and producing new graduates who have too much debt and not enough of the skills they need to succeed in the modern econ-omy.

Finally, in focusing on reform, we must not lose sight of those policies that are working. The long-term federal investment in basic research within institutions of higher learning has been a crucial engine for innovation in our economy, and one that could not be replicated through other sources of funding.

Excerpts taken from Romney’s A Chance for Every Child.

Obama’s vision for affordable learning Romney’s vision for affordable learning

“...anyone who makes his monthly payments for 20 years

after leaving college is eligible to have his remaining balance for-

given.” — OBAMA

“Reverse...nationalization of the student loan market...welcome pri-vate sector participation in provid-ing information, financing and the

education itself...” — ROMNEY

Melanie Oelrichmoelrich@liberty.edu

Voter registration is in progress all over Liberty University campus as students busily fill out their forms in preparation of Nov. 6.

Liberty faculty will be dedicating the last 10 minutes of class time today and tomor-row to allow students to register or reregister to vote if they need to. Even students who are registered elsewhere are being urged to register in the Lynchburg area so that local lawmakers will pay close attention to issues

that impact college students.Dean of Students Keith Anderson empha-

sized the importance of the Liberty commu-nity during this election season.

“It is our collective endeavor as members of the administration, faculty and staff to pre-pare every student to be great citizens,” An-derson said. “It is in this vein that we are being the salt and light of the earth as commanded by our Savior.”

During convocation on Sept. 14, roughly 2,500 registration forms were collected, ac-cording to the Liberty News Service. Many of

those registered to vote for the first time. Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. explained that

“as Christians, there is a responsibility to be a good citizen, and Liberty is committed to helping students do that.”

Professor Bruce Kirk hopes that students will take the election process seriously.

“As a student, if you don’t put in your two cents worth, how can you expect change?” Kirk said.

OELRICH is an asst. news editor.

Registration prioritized on campus

YouTube screenshoT YouTube screenshoT

FYI Student

debt tops $1 trillion.

Liberty Champion/A7NEWSSeptember 18, 2012

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Elliot moshEr | libErty Champion

FEDERAL LOAN DEBT — This map shows the average amount of debt for a student in each individual state.

Student loan debt nears $1 trillion DEBT continued from A6

interest rates on student loans for a period of time.

“Particularly with the number of college graduates that can’t find work or that can only find work well beneath their skill level, I fully support the effort to extend the low interest rate on student loans,” Romney said at the campaign stop.

These interest rates, according to U.S. News, were cut to 3.4 percent five years ago to help borrowers make payments more easily. The interest rates were expected to return to the normal 6.8 percent after July 1, 2012, but a “last-minute Congressional decision” mandated that the rates stay at the current 3.4 percent, US News wrote.

“Congress listened to students and their families and delivered a bill that stops student loan interest rates from doubling,” Rich Williams, a higher education advocate from the Public Interest Research Group, said. “Students already face unprecedented student loan debt and adding an additional $1,000 more would not only crunch individual borrowers, but would have further weighed down the recovering economy. We applaud Congress for coming together to pass this much-needed legislation.”

Despite the interest rates on all federal loans decreasing over this time period, interest rates on all new subsidized Stafford loans made from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2014 will no longer receive the six-month grace period previously awarded to students after they graduate or fall below half-time enrollment, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 stated.

“Interest will accrue during the grace period and will be capitalized if unpaid by the borrower.”

Both Obama and Romney have laid out their respective plans addressing these issues. See excerpts from their plan on A6.

CASSIDY is the editor in chief.

$22,717$15,550

Sept. 11 - Oct. 10Voter Registration Table (Green

Hall, Tilley, DeMoss Hall, Reber-Thomas)

Sept. 22 Voter Registration forms

distributed at SGA tailgate and

Commuter tailgate

Oct. 6 VR forms distributed at SGA

tailgate and Commuter tailgate

Oct. 10Dean of Students Voter

Registration form collection deadline

Oct. 15Voter

registration deadline

REGISTRATION EVENTS

FYI Data from

the U.S. Depart-ment of

Education shows that

Liberty University students received

about $445

million in financial

aid money in 2011, making

it the top recipient

in Virginia.

A8/Liberty Champion NEWS September 18, 2012

Kendra Alleynekralleyne@liberty.edu

Bestselling author and speaker Angela Thomas incorporated humor and color-ful stories in her address to the student body at convocation Wednesday, Sept. 12 with her message entitled “One Life to Live.”

Thomas spoke from Hebrews 12, focus-ing on spiritual hindrances and healing, often referring to her own experiences as a single mom raising four children.

She recalled her memories of when she was invited to be a parent chaperone for her daughter’s high school trip to Paris. Their trip was hindered by hurricane-scale winds that led to a series of unfor-tunate events, but she was encouraged by the thought that her group overcame the weather to climb the Eiffel tower.

“Most of these kids will only be seeing the Eiffel tower one time,” Thomas said. “The Lord said to me, ‘You’ll only get one time too.’”

Thomas encouraged students to live their lives serving God.

“You only get one chance to live for the glory of God,” she said.

“Some of you know my story. You know that I was a single mom to Grayson and his sisters and brother for seven-and-a-half years. We’ve walked a broken jour-ney too,” Thomas said.

After convocation, Thomas spoke of how she got her start in inspirational speaking.

“Honestly, I did not pursue speaking. It kind of just happened because, I assume, the Lord was taking me there,” Thomas said. “I had been teaching a women’s Bible study and someone gave my name to someone to do a retreat. Then I did another retreat, a Bible study group, and finally, the Lord just did it His way, in His time.”

Thomas offered encouragement to

Liberty students who wish to pursue a career in speaking or become leaders in their church.

“While you’re here at Liberty, get all the training you can. I did not know that that was in my future, so I did not get some of the training that I think would give you a really strong foundation and a sense of confidence initially, so I had nervous knees. I just didn’t have the confi-

dence or the training. Of course the Lord overcame that, but I would just say get everything you can.”

Thomas’ recent works include her book, “52 Things a Kid Needs from a Mom,” and her Lifeway Bible study for women entitled “Brave.”

Meanwhile, on Friday, Sept. 7, pas-tor of Epiphany Fellowship Eric Mason spoke to students at convocation in a message entitled “From the Inside Out.”

Mason coupled jokes with practical application as he connected with students and explained his “three stages of life.”

“You’re either going into a trial, getting out of a trial or in a trial,” Mason said.

Throughout the hour, Mason drove home a clear theme. Student’s lives should reflect Christ’s power.

“(God) wants you to be passionate for the right person at the right place at the right time,” Mason said. “The world can’t be changed unless there are changed people in it.”

In addition to his position at Epiphany Fellowship, Mason serves in the ministry “Thriving,” which reaches out to ethnic minorities who wish to be trained in the ministry.

For more information on upcoming convocation speakers, visit liberty.edu.

ALLEYNE is a news reporter.

Speakers seek to inspire students

Liberty University

CONVOCATION — Angela Thomas (left) and Eric Mason (right) addressed Liberty students to “be bold” and “thrive” in their faith.

Joy Huertasjjhuertaslandero@liberty.edu

Last summer, Xtreme Impact took 10 teams of high school-and college-age students on an overseas missions trip that im-pacted hundreds of people from all around the world.

Xtreme Impact, an estab-lished missions organization, has been seeking to spread the gospel through missions trips around the world for years. This past summer, Xtreme Impact had a total of 272 participants, 201 of which were high school or trans-fer students from across the west-ern hemisphere. Among them were 54 current Liberty Univer-sity students who served as small group leaders and 17 adults who served as team leaders.

“Xtreme Impact trips are designed to give young people a chance to see what God is do-ing in the world and how they can play a part in that work. We

are thrilled each year to see our teams come back with a better perspective on ministry and mis-sions,” Adam Bowers, Xtreme Impact Supervisor, said.

Students have the opportu-nity to build relationships with their fellow team members and to share the gospel wherever they are. In fact, teams complete training in-country to acclimate themselves to specific cultures in order to assist resident mission-aries.

“In addition to working through missionaries and trans-lators, teams share the gospel and serve through drama min-istry, street evangelism, con-struction projects, humanitarian aid, children’s ministry, youth ministry, sports ministry, teach-ing English and camp ministry,” Bowers said.

Many traveled to English-speaking countries, while others went to countries where individ-uals seek to learn English, such

as Thailand. “It was awesome, especially

serving as a group leader in Thailand. I would highly recom-mend it,” senior Jonathan Low-ery said.

“Our teams partner with local missionary contacts and trans-lators to assist their ministry in country. These individuals speak the local language and help to bridge this gap,” Bowers said.

Teams traveled to Guatemala in March, Italy in June and the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Guatema-la, Italy, Uganda, South Africa, Thailand and India in July.

Psychology major Diana Nel-son called the trips “a life-chang-ing experience.”

She was able to go to Costa Rica as a small group leader in charge of all kinds of evangelism outreach.

“This is an incredible and unique experience for college students who not only want to go on missions, but also that want to

work with youth.”According to Bowers, the trips

have also made an impact in the high school students who were part of the teams.

“About 60 percent of the high school and transfer students (who) went into the trips are at-tending Liberty University dur-ing fall 2012, and many more will follow in future years,” Bow-ers said.

Xtreme Impact believes that it is vital to show teenagers the spiritual and physical need in the world prior to their college edu-cation. “The Great Commission has no age limit,” is the group’s motto.

“No one is disqualified from the responsibility to lovingly share Jesus Christ with others,” Bowers said. “This life-changing experience not only changes their perspective of the world, but also allows students to be aware of the need, regardless of their future career.”

In addition, many students who participate in a missions trip prior to attending Liberty University build solid friendships that last throughout their college education.

“We’ve seen many friendships, and even marriages, rise out of the mission teams. Years later, alumni still share the impact that God had on their life through this mission experience,” Bowers said.

Xtreme Impact will continue to step out of its comfort zone to let others experience the love of God. Remembering, as Bowers quoted, “that if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved,” Romans 10:9.

HUERTAS is a news reporter.

Xtreme Impact: Summer missions in review JiLL springer | Liberty Champion

XTREME IMPACT — High school students partner with Liberty University to lead missions trips in places like South Africa and Italy.

Missions organization takes teams of high school and college students on overseas missions trips

SPORTS SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

Liberty 3Howard 2

Men’s SoccerWomen’s 2ndMen’s 3rd

Cross CountryLiberty 2Radford 1

Field HockeyLiberty 3Christopher Newport 4

Men’s D3 HockeyLiberty 2Virginia 3

VolleyballLiberty 2Atlanta Jr. 6

Men’s D2 Hockey

Derrick Battledbattle2@liberty.edu

An LU made a big splash in NCAA athletics this week. No, it was not the Liberty Flames. The Longwood University Lancers of Farmville, Va., have been inducted into the Big South Conference in 13 sports.

Longwood has competed as a full member in NCAA Division I athletics as an independent for the last five years. All sports combined, the university has compiled a 564-552-27 record — a 50 percent win-ning percentage. After much antici-pation, Big South Commissioner Kyle B. Kallander announced the Lancers addition to the conference last January.

“Longwood University will be an outstanding member of the Big South Conference,” Kallander said. “Longwood features strong leadership, an outstanding aca-demic reputation, a commitment to Division I athletic success, and values student-athlete wellbeing. These are all characteristics that are shared by Big South members and make Longwood a wonder-ful fit. We are excited to welcome the Longwood Lancers to the Big South family.”

Initially, the Lancers will compete in: men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’ tennis, men’s and women’s golf, softball, baseball and women’s lacrosse. Longwood’s field hockey team will continue to com-pete in the NorPac Conference, which is also where Liberty’s field hockey team competes. Longwood does not have a Division I football team.

According to Big South pub-lic relations representative Mark Simpson, several factors contribut-ed to Longwood’s admittance to the conference, including geography, academics, and competitiveness in sports such as men’s golf, women’s golf, softball and women’s lacrosse.

Other undisclosed factors were also involved with the Lancers join-ing the conference.

Since 2007, Longwood has made

See LONGWOOD, B3

Lady Flames bring the heat at tourney

Jake Mitchell | liberty chaMpion

CONTROL — Midfielder Hannah Meyers (28) looks to cross the ball in an attempt to score. Liberty won 1-0.

Coming soon:LU vs. LU

Lady Flames blank George Washington U.

ruth bibby | liberty chaMpion

TENACIOUS — The Lady Flames earned 21 victories in the annual Fall Classic.

Karen Blocker sets new record with 16th career shutout win

Hannah Kearneyhlkearney@liberty.edu

The Lady Flames tennis team is off to a positive start with 21 triumphs in the Liberty Fall Classic tournament Sept. 14-15 under first-year head coach Jeff Maren.

At the start of the event on Friday afternoon, the Lady Flames came through with nine solid victories. Eight doubles matches were held the first day, with Liberty winning five of them. In singles play, they came away with four wins out of six matches.

The tournament finished Saturday, Sept. 15, with a total of 12 wins for the Lady Flames. Nicola Wellman, Annisha Domenech and Valerie Thong had semifinal wins for the team, but they were defeated in their tournament final matches.

“Reaching five finals in our first tour-nament of the year is definitely a step in the right direction,” Maren said in an interview for libertyflames.com.

Juniors Cameron Richard and Jessie Boda, who reached the finals in their

doubles match against Appalachian State, won the first victory of the year. Saturday’s championship was won by Junior Rebekah Jenkins over Longwood’s Sarah Moomau.

“This is an opportunity for us to experiment with doubles, different pairings and partnerships. It gives me the opportunity to see who works well together, and gives us an opportunity to play against some of the conference and area teams,” Maren said.

Held at the Hershey-Esbenshade Tennis Courts at Liberty, nine schools competed in this two-day tournament: Liberty University, Virginia Tech, Appalachian State, James Madison, Longwood, Radford, Norfolk State, Christopher Newport and West Virginia State.

Tennis is mainly a spring sport, but the women’s tennis team will be competing in events all autumn in preparation for the upcoming season.

“The fall puts us in a position to be more prepared for the spring,” Maren said.

See TENNIS, B3

Jay Sir ysir@liberty.edu

Forward Jamie Bouffard scored the only goal of the game in Liberty University’s 1-0 win over visiting George Washington University Fri-day, Sept. 14 at the East Cam-pus fields. The lone goal came when Bouffard received a per-fectly-timed cross from junior Megan Warner and put the ball in the right corner of the net on a diving header.

“It was pretty exciting,” Bouffard said. “Megan can cross like none other, and all I had to do was basically stand near the net. It was a great team effort of a goal.”

Bouffard also mentioned that the defenders sometimes get overshadowed by the of-fense in soccer.

“The defenders just played a stellar game, and Lauren Stell and Casey (Norris) just

owned it back there,” Bouf-fard said. “So I think that they should definitely get some credit for that.”

The game was also a mile-stone for the women’s soccer team as goalkeeper Karen Blocker set the record for ca-reer shutouts with 16 games. The previous record of 15 shutouts was held by Natalie Mayer (2001-2004).

Something SpecialThe Lady Flames went into

Friday night with a record of 4-3, having scored eight goals in seven games. The Colonials entered with a 3-3 record, having scored eight goals in six games.

“They play a very similar style, and they have a simi-larly talented program with strengths that are similar to ours,” head coach Jessica Hain said. “I figured it would be a really close game, prob-ably a one-goal game.”

Hain’s expectations were on the mark as both teams had seven fouls and seven saves during the course of the game. The Lady Flames took 13 shots during the course of the game, which was only three more than the 10 shots the Colonials took.

“We knew that we were very evenly matched,” Bouf-fard said. “We knew that the only way we were going to win

was with details, and whoever could execute on those details was going to be the winner.”

The Lady Flames made ex-tra effort to pressure George Washington, and their ag-gressiveness paid off. The ball stayed primarily on the Co-lonials side of the field, and Liberty won 11 corner kicks compared to George Wash-ington’s two.

“At half time, we talked about how it was really going to take something special,” Hain said. “Megan’s cross was a good cross and Jamie Bouf-fard had a diving header to put the ball in the back of the net, which in my opinion was something very special.”

The Lady Flames next game will be played at home against Presbyterian College, Thursday, Sept 20. at 7 p.m.

SIR is a sports reporter.

“The defenders just played a stellar game, and Lauren Stell

and Casey Norris just owned it back there.”

— BOUFFARD

g e t t i n g d e f e n s i v e

Jonathan Pearsonjwpearson@liberty.edu

Liberty University’s rough start for the football program continued this past Satur-day, Sept. 16 as the Flames took on the Griz-zlies of Montana University at the smoky Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Mont. Smoke from nearby wildfires filled the stadium during the game, reducing vis-ibility for players. The Flames made several mistakes that Grizzlies were quick to capital-ize on, which cost them the game. The Griz-zlies came up with a 34-14 win, leaving the Flames with 0-3 record.

Admittedly, Washington-Grizzly stadium is a tough place to play – Montana has won nearly 90 percent of its home games since it opened in 1986. However this is the first since 2003 that the Flames have started the season with a three-game losing streak.

The first 10 minutes of the game was a de-fensive standoff as both offenses tried to put something together. The game seemed slow until Montana’s senior running back Peter Nguyen tore down the left side of the field on a 90-yard punt return to bring the crowd to its feet. That play set the tone for the rest of the game.

By the end of the first half, the Grizzlies had added another 17 points by a 32-yard run from fullback Dan Moore, a 6-yard push by freshmen quarterback Trent McKinney and a 42-yard field goal from the kicker, Chris Lider.

After the half, Liberty came out on a mis-sion and took advantage of a Montana turn-over. Flames quarterback Josh Woodrum found the end zone for Liberty’s first score of the day, hooking up with wide receiver Pat Kelly for a 14-yard touchdown pass. Wood-rum, playing in his first collegiate start, was filling in for the injured Brian Hudson.

Later in the fourth Liberty stopped the Grizzlies offense and answered with a drive down to the 33-yard line. However, their

comeback attempt was put to rest by a failed attempt on a fourth-and-one play that was made worse by a false start, and ultimately resulted in a sack. Montana countered with its longest drive of the day (13 plays - 54 yards) that finished in the end zone to bring the score to 31-7 with 12:20 left to play.

Woodrum domi-nated on the Flames next possession, com-pleting five passes for 92 yards. He capped the drive by connecting with Ryan Ferguson for a 34 yard touchdown to put Liberty just 17 points away from the Grizzlies with a little more than 10 minutes on the clock.

The Grizzlies ate up the remaining time with their next effort, leaving only four-and-a-half minutes for the Flames to work with. At the end of that 12-play drive, the Grizzlies put the ball through the uprights on a 46-yard field goal from Lider, bringing the score to where it would stay for the remainder of the game (34-14.)

Woodrum made it into the record books as the 11th quarterback in Flames history to pass for 300 yards in a single outing. He accounted for 322 of the 342 total offensive yards Liberty posted on the day.

The Flames looks to turn the season around this coming Saturday, Sept. 22 when they take on the Lehigh Hawks on their home turf at Williams Stadium at 7 p.m.

PEARSON is a sports reporter.

Courtney Sharpcsharp2@liberty.edu

The Liberty men’s DI hockey team took on the Atlanta Jr. Knights in the LaHaye Ice Center before a home crowd of 2,500

Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. The Flames won 8-4.

Off to a slow start, the Flames fell to an early deficit within two minutes of gameplay. The Knights pushed out in front, tallying the first goal of the game early in the first period.

Freshman Kyle Gar-cia responded for the

Flames scoring a goal shortly after, making the score 1-1. Liberty continued to ad-vance, with Rick Turner scoring two min-utes later, giving the Flames a 2-1 lead.

A missed opportunity during a power play allowed the Knights to push another puck past Brown, knocking him down in the process and tying it 2-2. The Knights scored their third goal on a breakaway to take a 3-2 lead.

Aggressive play turned violent when a fight erupted toward the end of the first period as both teams shed blood on the ice – causing a Knights player to be ejected from the game.

“I’m not proud of the way the Flames handled themselves in the first period, but they did improve,” Handy said.

After the fight, the Flames won the puck drop. Unfortunately, their luck ran out, as it was four-on-four hockey with no goals being scored during this time.

Flames rallied to score in the last minute, ending the first period tied 3-3. Both teams had 11 shots on goal.

The Flames were off to a great start in the second period as Rick Turner scored

within three minutes after the drop, giving the Flames a 4-3 lead.

Freshman B.J. Pirus scored his first of two goals two minutes later, making the score 5-3.

“Rick Turner and Baumgarten also did a good job tonight advancing the team,” Handy said.

Power plays stacked up against the Knights, giving the Flames the opportunity to continue to pound shots at the goalie. The Knights were eager for a fight, always in the Flames faces after every controver-sial call. However, the Flames remained composed and allowed the Knights to hit the penalty box.

The Flames went on to score another three goals, making the final score 8-4.

Liberty will keep a similar lineup for Sat-urday’s game on Sept. 22, Handy said.

B2/Liberty Champion SPORTS September 18, 2012

Courtney Tyreecntyree@liberty.edu

The Lady Flames volleyball team traveled to Charlottesville, Va, Sept. 15 in hopes of claiming a victory in the Marriott Cavalier Classic.

Liberty took the court at 1 p.m. to face the Virginia Tech Hokies. They fell short in a tough-fought first set (25-20), but pulled off a win in the second set with a kill from freshman Caroline Douglas (25-21).

The Hokies pulled ahead and won the third match (25-16), but the Lady Flames were not ready to give up. They stuck with the Hokies in the fourth match with a tie at 21-all. Tech ended the set on a kill from Samantha Gostling to win the match.

“I was happy with the way we played against Virginia Tech overall,” head coach Shane Pinder said. “We just had some moments where we didn’t convert some plays and had some chances to push it to a fifth set. We just fell short.”

Tech’s hitting average of .309 bested Liberty’s average of .234. Senior Loren Thomas and freshman Caroline Douglas both posted 14 kills. Junior Jade Craycraft had 41 assists in addition to seven kills on the match. Sophomore Gabrielle Shipe had a team-high 13 digs with junior Becca Haraf adding 11.

LU vs. UVAThe Lady Flames were

ready to redeem themselves as they faced the University of Virginia Cavaliers at 7 p.m.

They started the match on fire with a 13-5 lead in the first set. The Lady Flames pushed through the match with help from Douglas and her set-winning kill, gaining a 25-18 victory.

The second set was close, but the Lady Flames held their own and took the win (25-23), giving them a 2-0 lead over the Cavaliers. UVA started the third match with a 4-point lead, but Liberty caught up, taking the lead (18-17). Virginia ended the third set scoring the last eight of nine points, ending the game (25-19).

It was anyone’s match at the beginning of the fourth set with the score tied at 14-all. The set closed with a Cavalier win (25-23), forcing a fifth and final set. UVA started the fifth set with a strong lead, which helped them to a 15-8 victory.

“We had a chance to end it in the third, had a couple opportunities in the fourth, and didn’t put them away,” Pinder said.

The Cavaliers posted 70 kills in the match, while the Lady Flames posted 47. Liberty had 13 blocks compared to UVA is seven. Sophomore Ansley Gebben finished with 15 kills, while Douglas followed with 14. Shipe had a total of 22 digs on the night while Craycraft posted 33 assists.

According to libertyflames.com, Thomas’ four blocks gave her a total of 403 blocks in her career. She is the third player in program history to have 400 or more career blocks.

The Lady Flames will travel to Washington, D.C. Sept. 18 to take on the Georgetown Hoyas of the Big East at 7 p.m.

TYREE is a sports reporter.

Lady Flames falter vs. Tech, UVA

Grizzlies run over Liberty

Flames score 12 goals in weekend series

SHARP is a sports reporter.

Ruth BiBBy | LiBeRty Champion

AGGRESSIVE — In the first four games, the Flames have posted 31 goals. Bram Erickson (63) has scored twice this season.

Ruth BiBBy| LiBeRty Champion

FYI Michigan

native Rick Turner has

scored nine goals and two assists in four games.

Liberty Champion/B3SPORTSSeptember 18, 2012

Olivia Witheriteogwitherite@liberty.edu

Looking for revenge and their first win of the 2012 season, the Liberty Flames football team returns home to face the Lehigh Moun-tain Hawks under the lights of Williams Stadium, Sat-urday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m.

The Flames will be itch-ing for their first win under head coach Turner Gill. Last year, Liberty watched their game against Lehigh fly away. A missed field goal in the final minute of the game gave the Flames a 27-24 loss in their first-ever trip to Bethlehem, Pa.

While Liberty is still looking for its first win, Le-high is looking to improve upon its perfect 3-0 re-cord and to remain in first place in the Patriot League. Currently, the Mountain Hawks are perched at No. 13 in the Sports Network FCS College Football Poll.

With a week of prepa-ration before them, the Flames coaching staff must focus on various areas of their game before welcom-ing in one of the hottest football teams in the FCS.

QuarterbackAfter putting new quar-

terback Josh Woodrum on display Saturday, Sept. 15 at the University of Mon-tana, the Flames must dis-cuss who should start, res-urrecting the question that dominated the off-season and still has not been entire-ly addressed in the first four weeks of the regular season.

Junior Brian Hudson started the first two games at quarterback, throw-ing 20 completions for 263 total yards on the road at Wake Forest and twelve completions for 144 yards against Norfolk State in the home opener.

Facing No. 12 Montana on Saturday, redshirt fresh-man Woodrum made his presence known in his first collegiate start. Despite being sacked five times, he threw for an impres-sive 322 yards with two touchdowns, complet-ing 34 of his 44 passes.

Hudson has gained ex-perience backing up Mike Brown at the quarter-back position last season, but what Woodrum lacks in experience he makes up for with big-play abil-ity, as seen in Montana.

Shut Down the PassIn Lehigh’s win over

Princeton Saturday, Sept. 15, the team put up 276

passing yards under the leadership of senior quar-terback Mike Colvin.

“To be 3-0 going into Liberty is where we wanted to be, and it’s encourag-ing knowing that we left some plays on the field in all three of those games,” Colvin said to Fox News.

The Flames held the Grizzlies to just 95 yards through the air last week, but will have to continue to shut down their oppo-nents’ passing game to have a chance at their first win.

Bring the Running Game

In Montana, the Griz-zlies shut down the Flames running game. In 18 com-bined attempts, Liberty running backs SirChaunc-ey Holloway and Aldreakis Allen managed just 66 yards — something Gill clearly was not happy with.

“I’m a little disappoint-ed. I thought we would be able to run the ball

a little better,” Gill said to the Associated Press.

The Flames must fight for every yard against a Lehigh team that held its opponent to just 206 total yards last week.The game will be at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22 at Williams Stadium.

Before the game, five former athletes will be in-ducted into the Liberty Athletics Hall of Fame: Jesse Castro (wrestling), Mark Chafin (men’s bas-ketball), John Sanders (football), Sharon Snod-grass (women’s basket-ball) and Ryan Werner (track & field), accord-ing to liberyflames.com.

Prepare to get to the game early, as the Col-lege for a Weekend crowd will be in attendance.

WITHERITE is a sports reporter.

Liberty looks for first win vs. Lehigh

TENNIS continued from B1

It gives us the opportu-nity to see what we do well and what we don’t do well. It gives the girls the chance to work on individual rankings, regional rankings, and national rankings and really grow and improve to get ready to compete for the spring.”

They will compete in three events over the next three months, which begins with the Hokie Fall Invite in Blacksburg, Va. Sept. 28, the Atlantic Regionals Oct. 19. and the Houston Invite Nov. 2. Official team prac-tices begin January.

With Maren’s first season at the helm, the Lady Flames look for-ward to future endeav-ors to build from this past tournament.

FYI Coach Maren is in his first

season at Liberty after coming from North Texas.

KEARNEY is a sports reporter.

Jonathan Pearsonjwpearson@liberty.edu

Liberty University prides itself on being the most exciting Christian university in the nation, and with the recent addition of the ATV and Motocross facilities, it is clear that they intend to live up to their motto.

Mike Ellsworth is the Assistant Director of Student Activities and oversees the program. He is proud to offer this activity to the students.

“The ATV program was put in place to give students the opportunity to do some of the things that they wouldn’t normally be able to do at home and to provide them with an exciting experience while they are here,” Ellsworth said. “It’s something that not a lot of other universities are able to offer their students. It’s something that we take pride in, and it allows students to have a blast on all that property and be able to use it to its full value.”

There are three ATVs available to rent for an hour-and-a-half time slot, plus 10 to 12 miles of trails to ride. Any Liberty student can apply to rent an ATV, but they must fill out a few forms found on the Liberty University Student Activities

website or in their office at Green Hall. Each rider must complete a safety course as well.

Once all of the registration is completed, the student will get a membership card, allowing them to sign up for a time slot. If the student has their own ATV and completes the paperwork along with the safety course, they can

ride the trails on their own quad without having to get a rental.

The program’s popularity on campus has already grown from last year, and so has the amount of students applying to get registered.

“This week, we had 21 kids riding, and we average about 20 to 25 students per week,” Ellsworth said. “It has definitely

picked up this semester, even more than last semester already. I think the word is getting around, and that’s why we have gotten more traffic. We had over 70 kids at our safety meeting.”

The Motocross track is also available for students to ride on. However, there are no rental dirt bikes so, students must bring their own. The track is located beside the new Equestrian Center off Lone Jack Road. Paperwork also needs to be completed before anyone can ride the course.

The program is a great way to meet new people and start new friendships with students who enjoy the outdoors.

“It is a really great way to build friendships because you can meet someone at the course and ride at the same time,” Ellsworth said. “It is a lot of fun to be riding with someone that you have a friendship with. It’s a really good way to build relationships and get to know other people.”

Liberty has continued to grow every semester, and as the student population increases, so does the amount and variety of activates offered for students.

PEARSON is a sports reporter.

Going on an all-terrain adventure

Jill Springer | liberty Champion

RIDE — Liberty has added new ATV and Motorcross facilities this year.

LONGWOOD continued from B1

changes inside and out of their university to prove that they belong in a Division I Conference. With the Lancers offi-cially joining the Big South, the series between Liberty and Longwood has been renewed.

The addition of Longwood has the great-est impact on the land-scape of men’s basket-ball and baseball. Facing the prospect of 12 teams in one conference, the Big South has been split basketball and baseball into two divisions.

The names of these two divisions are North and South. The North will comprise Liberty, Longwood, High Point, VMI, Radford and

Campbell, while the South will be composed of Coastal Carolina, Charleston Southern, G a r d n e r - W e b b , Presbyterian, Winthrop and UNC Asheville. The changes to the format are effective immediately.

The Lancers have had winning records against Big South competition since joining NCAA Division I play in men’s basketball, softball and women’s soccer.

Over the past couple of years, the Big South has opened its doors to up-and-coming univer-sities. This time, they made room for one more LU.

BATTLE is the asst. sports editor.

elliott moSher | liberty Champion

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B4/Liberty Champion SPORTS September 18, 2012

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Liberty Champion/B5FEATURESeptember 18, 2012

Tess Curtistcurtis@liberty.edu

“Good morning, young champions,” professor Terry Spohn welcomes his stu-dents every morning.

“Good morning, Champion Builder,” the students reply.

Liberty University students Dana Emerick and Heather Campbell were re-signed to a day of long-winded introduc-tions and tedious syllabi when they took their seats in their respective biology and creation studies classes, but assistant pro-fessor of biology Terry Spohn was any-thing but boring.

“I thought he was hilarious, and I got really excited for his class,” Campbell said.

Each semester, Spohn opens his classes with a testimony that has the tendency to blow students away.

“The first day, he just began to talk about himself,” Emerick said. “He fo-cused on who he is as a child of God, and who we are. It was refreshing.”

“He’s so nonchalant about (his experi-ences),” Campbell said. “I probably won’t accomplish half of those things in my life-time. It’s crazy.”

Before beginning his speaking career, Spohn was a veteran in the Vietnam War, he tells his students.

“He was a sniper in the military,” Campbell said. “He said, ‘I’ve killed a lot of people, but don’t worry. I don’t do that anymore,’ which is…comforting.”

“He’s a sniper with over 74 kills, so don’t be late to his class,” Emerick warned.

Despite his impressive kill record, Spohn is most enthusiastic about his as-signment as a network controller for the Defense Communications Agency, under the code name Tango Sierra. With 123 communication stations from Iceland to Ethiopia to manage during the Vietnam War, Spohn certainly had his work cut out for him.

“I had this top secret clearance called Flash Override,” Spohn said, “which meant that I could preempt the Presi-dent.”

According to Spohn, the Flash Over-ride clearance gave him the ability to bump anyone off the phone, even the President of the United States.

“I never did, but I could have,” Spohn added with a little grin.

Jokes aside, Spohn really has a knack for inspiring students to learn.

“He’s very energetic and caring about the topic that he’s speaking on, which re-ally draws you in,” Emerick said.

“(Biology 201) is a fun class,” Campbell said. “It’s an 8:50, but I get up and go to it because he’s cool.”

“He’s been here forever,” Emerick said, and it is nearly true.

Spohn first began his career at Liberty University when he accepted a position as assistant professor of biology in 1987, and he has taught at the university ever since.

Science has always had a place in the professor’s heart.

“I liked it ever since I was a kid,” Spohn said, a huge smile spreading across his face.

He was always interested in how things worked and tried to get ahead in math and science courses when his dad’s posi-tion in the army had the family constantly moving around.

The secular schools Spohn attended taught only one view of how the human race came into being: evolutionism.

“(Evolution) was just something that was taught in schools,” Spohn said with a shrug. “I was never really challenged on it.”

It was not until Pastor Charlie Clough spoke in church on the book of Genesis, going through it verse by verse, that Spohn really started questioning his beliefs.

“(Evolutionism) doesn’t explain the data,” Spohn said with a shake of his head. “Creationism fits it better.”

The theory of evolution is waning, but it still has a place in the scientific commu-nity.

“It’s a heart problem,” Spohn said. According to Spohn, the theory allows

you to live life the way you want to, with no absolutes and every license to sin.

“Many evolutionists are absolutely up-set when you confront them,” Spohn said. “If it were just an ‘idea,’ why would they get so upset?”

Spohn was actually invited to Expo

’93, a conference held at the Korean Ad-vanced Institute for Science and Technol-ogy, where he spoke about the merits of creationism. He also spoke at the Russian National Academy in 1994 and had the opportunity to help start a Christian uni-versity in South Korea in 1995.

“God has an interesting way of bring-ing things together,” Spohn said.

Despite his many accomplishments, Spohn most enjoys spending time with the younger generations.

“Young people keep me young,” Spohn said with a shrug and a grin.

“He actually loves his subject, which makes (students) passionate to learn,” Emerick said.

Spohn is deeply passionate about his role as a “Champion Builder.” He finds his purpose in “educat(ing) a righteous remnant to carry the torch when we’re not here.”

After all, he said, “the only work that counts is kingdom work.”

CURTIS is the copy editor.

Biology professor builds champions

Ruth BiBBy | LiBeRty Champion

TEACHING — Professor Spohn’s colorful past makes him a student favorite.

Chase Smithcsmith13@liberty.edu

The Virginia 10-Miler will take place Saturday, Sept. 28 and Sunday, Sept. 29 in Lynch-burg, Va., giving central Vir-ginia residents a chance to be healthy and get involved in the community.

According to the event’s website, this year celebrates the Virginia 10-Miler’s 39th year of bringing in people of all ages to participate in a variety of races to promote commu-nity togetherness and physical exercise. Everyone is encour-aged to participate in the race of their choice, including the 10-mile race, four-mile race and the Amazing Mile Chil-dren’s Run.

According to the website, participants should arrive at Amazement Square in Down-town Lynchburg at 4:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 28, pick up their packets and enjoy the open-ing festivities. The main event races start at 8 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 29.

“The Virginia 10-Miler has received incredible spon-sors from the Lynchburg area to help coordinate the entire event,” Jeff Fedorko, Virginia 10-Miler race coordinator and Riverside Runners owner, said. “Liberty University is a major sponsor, providing over 100 volunteers who are currently working to help coordinate the event’s preproduction and the main event dates.”

According to Fedorko, vol-unteers from Liberty will be in-volved in everything from race setup the day before to registra-tion and traffic control at the event.

“Liberty is encouraging its employees to be involved to

promote individual health and wellness and to participate in a community event in the Lynch-burg area,” Fedorko said.

Fedorko also talked about the event’s success in years past to get people involved to help co-ordinate and participate in the races.

“When the Virginia 10-Miler first started, the only race par-ticipants could run in the was the 10-mile course,” Fedorko said. “Now, the event features a variety of course options with varying lengths for people of all ages and abilities. The event has experienced consistent growth in its 38 years of host-ing races. Liberty is so excited about the Virginia 10-Miler that they are reimbursing its employees (who) choose to help organize the event and run or walk in one of the races.”

This is not the first time this event has made waves in the community during its 39-year history.

“A number of world records have been set at the races,” Fe-dorko said. “We have had sev-eral Olympians participate in previous years because of the organization’s efforts to pro-mote community togetherness and human health.”

According to the website, more than 3,000 people will be participating in this year’s races. Registration for the event starts at $15 for the children’s races and up to $60 for the 10-mile race.

More information about the Virginia 10-Miler, includ-ing online registration, can be found at virginiatenmiler.com.

SMITH is a feature reporter.

Yogurt Yeti attracts students

Virginia 10-miler to hold 39th race

JoeL Ready | LiBeRty Champion

ONE-DAY DISCOUNT — Students enjoyed frozen yogurt and prizes at the Back to School Bash.

Josh Brandensteinjbrandenstein@liberty.edu

Secluded in the remote regions of Simon’s Run, the mysterious Yogurt Yeti called out to those who would venture to its Back to School Bash Sept. 8. According to staff, they had a good student turnout for the event.

The frozen treat shop featured buy one get one 50 percent off for students and teachers, as well as prizes including T-shirts, Old Navy and Famous Footwear gift cards and Yogurt Yeti coupons. With “fro-yo” already attracting many Lynchburg-area

students, an event like the Back to School Bash served to bring in an even bigger party to the store.

The event ran from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. For each cup of yogurt purchased, customers were entered into a drawing for the various prizes. Yogurt Yeti boasts an assortment of flavors ranging from Peach, Mango and Root Beer Float to Snicker doodle, Chocolate Macadamia, Cheesecake and York Chocolate Mint. The Yeti also offers coffee, spe-cialty muffins, gourmet pastries and yogurt-covered peanuts.

BRANDENSTEIN is a feature reporter.

Flavor ran wild Sept. 8 as customers participated in the ‘Bash’

B6/Liberty Champion FEATURE September 18, 2012

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Samantha Gumsgum@liberty.edu

After graduation each year, thousands of Liberty alumni go all over the world with aspirations of making a name for themselves.

Katie (Thomas) McCaffrey is one of those alumni. Currently in pre-produc-tion for the second feature film in which she has acted, “Secrets in the Fall,” Mc-Caffrey is well on her way to fulfilling her aspirations, and she is no stranger to act-ing and theater.

“My mother studied theater at Liberty during the 80s, so I was raised in it from birth,” McCaffrey said.

This home environment was what pushed Katie into the film industry.

“I always knew that I wanted to be an actress, but as a kid I wanted to be in mov-ies like ‘White Christmas’ and ‘Holiday Inn,’ doing big song and dance numbers,” McCaffrey said.

Although McCaffrey has been working

in this field for a number of years, film has not always been her primary focus.

“Over the years, I have done many different things such as voice-overs, ra-dio work, drama in the church, musicals, straight plays. I tried puppetry for a short moment,” McCaffrey said.

No matter what area McCaffrey works in, the stage is where she feels most at home.

“I don’t think that I can ever go very long at all without being on stage in a live show in some capacity,” McCaffrey said.

“Secrets in the Snow” was McCaffrey’s first feature film, and “Secrets in the Fall” is its sequel, both produced by Every New Day Pictures. McCaffrey landed a lead-ing role in the film as Camille, a character with an edgy gothic personality.

“This movie is like a modernized ‘fam-ily-friendly’ or Christian version of ‘The Breakfast Club,’” McCaffrey said.

“Secrets in the Snow” chronicles a re-lationship between six students who are stranded at their high school during a

snowstorm. Director Bethany Goodwin said that “wills are tested, friendships are created and secrets are revealed as they re-alize they must rely on each other to make it through the night.”

The second film, “Secrets in the Fall,” will be following some of the same char-acters, but will introduce new ones as well.

For McCaffrey, the movie holds plenty of new opportunities.

“This time around, I’m also more than just an actor, I’m helping to produce this film, which has been a learning experi-ence and a lot of fun,” she said.

The Liberty graduate also highlighted the importance of learning new things ev-ery day.

“I try to learn more about acting every day,” McCaffrey said. “I’m always asking more experienced actors for advice, and I’m always looking for ways to hone my craft.”

McCaffrey encouraged everyone, espe-cially those who want a career similar to hers, to continue learning, even outside of

the classroom. “In my time as an actor, I have learned

and worked in marketing, casting, set de-sign, research and being a rehearsal assis-tant. The more experience and diversity that you have, the more valuable you are to a production or company,” McCaffrey said.

Getting into the film industry was not easy for McCaffrey.

“Acting is a very hard career to choose,” McCaffrey said. “This is not for the faint of heart. If I had a dollar for the number of times that I have been told that I didn’t have what it took or that I’d never make it, I would be very rich. This is the kind of career that you only choose when you literally cannot imagine doing anything else, but as long as you are willing to work hard to find opportunities and are always willing to learn, you’ll be okay.”

GUM is a feature reporter.

Liberty grad to star on big screenKatie McCaffrey has been cast in her second feature film, ‘Secrets in the Fall,’ which will begin filming this October

Photos Provided

ON THE SET — McCaffrey will be playing Camille, a girl with an edgy gothic personality. She played the same character in her debut film, “Secrets in the Snow.”

Liberty Champion/B7FEATURESeptember 18, 2012

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TIME/DATE: LOCATION: Did You Know….the meaning behind a “siesta”? Siestas are midday naps, common in many Latin American countries and other areas of Hispanic in�uence. Since the siesta is the traditional daytime sleep of Spain, and other Latin American countries, the word siesta has been taken from Spanish, from the Latin hora sexta – “the sixth hour” (a reference to the hour of day counting from dawn). Historically, the purpose of a siesta is physical necessity for people in warm climates to avoid the hottest part of the day. It provides a good rest, especially a�er the intake of a midday meal in warm temperatures. In some countries, siestas are taken for up to 2 hours. Bene�ts that have been associated with a siesta in modern times include the following:

Increased energyReduced stress and the risk for chronic illness such as heart diseaseImproved productivity and alertnessReduced risk of workplace accidentsContribution to happiness and better Celebrating Spanish Cuisine well-being

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The second annual Rachael’s Paws and Purrs 5K and 10K will take place at Riverfront Park Sept. 22

in honor of the Rachael Horton Com-passionate Care Fund (RHCCF).

The emcee for the event will be Velvet Hall from Roanoke radio station WFIR, and after the race, there will be a concert by Lynchburg band Creeksyde.

The race is open to both runners and walkers, and if you have a well-behaved animal on a leash, they are always wel-come.

“The race will begin at 8 a.m., and we are still accepting registration forms. If somebody shows up 7 a.m. that Satur-day, they can register the day of,” Pearl August, the facilitator of the race, said.

The RHCCF was started in 2011 by the Gentle Care Animal Hospital in lov-ing memory of Rachael Horton, who died in an apartment fire at the age of 26.

“She took money from her own pocket if she saw that somebody was in need,” August said. “She never turned anybody away. A week before she died, she talked to the veterinarian she worked for and asked him to take money from her check to help animals who were in need.”

According to the RHCCF, “The mon-ey collected and donated from doctors, staff, clients and friends to support this fund will be saved for special cases and life-or-death situations where a little ex-tra money can make all the difference.”

The race is only in its second year, but RHCCF hopes to expand in the future in order to help the most amount of people that they can.

To learn more about the Rachael Horton Compassionate Care Fund and how you can make a difference, visit rhccf.org.

SKINNER is a feature reporter.

Race to honor memory of Liberty grad

Photos Provided

FOUR-LEGGED FRIENDS — Liberty graduate Rachael Horton was committed to helping people find the money to care for their animals in need.

FYI According to RHCCF’s website, prizes will be awarded

to the first, second and third place finishers in the canine division.

The first place finishers in the 5K and 10K will receive a year’s supply of Frontline Plus flea and tick control medication. The second place finisher will receive a

6-month supply, and the third place finisher will receive a three-month supply.

A one-night stay in the Craddock Terry Hotel will also be awarded to the person who brings in the most money

through pledges to RHCCF.

Melissa Skinnermjskinner@liberty.edu

Rachael Horton was a Liberty graduate and an advocate

for animals everywhere who worked as an assistant at the

Gentle Animal Care Hospital in Forest, Va. In her time at

the animal hospital, she felt a passion to help people who

were without the means to pay for their animals’ health

care, and she came up with the idea to put aside some of

her own money to help those people and their pets.

The fire that claimed the lives of Rachael, her husband,

Aaron, and their cat, Oscar, happened April 8, 2011, and

the animal hospital started the RHCCF later that year in

order to make Rachael’s dream of financially

helping people and pets a reality.

FEATURE SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

Melanie Oelrichmoelrich@liberty.edu

Hollywood producers and lo-cal actors converted Liberty Uni-versity and Lynchburg hotspots into movie sets this summer while filming the new faith-based movie, “Finding Faith.”

According to a Liberty News Service article, the purpose of “Finding Faith” is to educate families on the dangers of the In-ternet and to teach children how to not fall prey to online preda-tors. The movie is based on the true story of a teenage girl who was abducted after sharing ex-cessive information with a skilled online predator. The film records the events that take place before, during and after the abduction and features the challenges that the family will face.

The Safe Surfin’ Foundation is led by Sheriff Mike Brown, who holds 42 years of law enforce-ment experience, in addition to the Bedford County Sheriff ’s Department and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC). Under Brown’s guidance, the task force has maintained a 100 percent con-viction rate per strict guidelines that have targeted active Internet predators.

At an April press conference, Brown shared his goals for the film and the role that ICAC would play.

“To the sexual predator, we are the wolves,” Brown said. “We have, in a number of ways, set the bar for other task forces. For that, I am very proud.”

Thomas Road Baptist Church, Liberty Christian Academy and Liberty University contributed to the project and are highlight-ed in the film as a result.

“We knew this was the avenue we wanted to go — utilizing Thomas Road and Liberty Uni-versity for support — and they’ve been great,” Brown said. “We

couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

The majority of the people in-volved in the production were af-filiated with Liberty in some way, Jason Campbell, Liberty alum-nus and executive producer of the film, said. Around 400 vol-unteers were distributed among 12 teams, and more than 200 people were involved in the cast and crew. Some of those teams included prayer and encourage-ment, food services, production and post-production, wardrobe, set design and construction.

“We had so many people come out the first day of filming that I didn’t know what to do with

them all,” Campbell said.In addition to noted actor Erik

Estrada, among those starring in the film is Stephanie Bettcher, a senior worship studies major. Bettcher plays the lead role of Faith Garrett, a 14-year-old teen who finds herself in an unpre-dictable situation.

“My character, Faith, is the typical teenager,” Bettcher said. “She’s the head cheerleader, popular, loves the Lord, but she is also very into social media — so much so, that I start talking to this guy online who poses as a 16-year-old. It spirals downward from there.”

Because she played a character

six years younger than herself, Bettcher had the opportunity to work with a variety of people ranging from all ages.

“A lot of people (who) played my friends in the movie were ac-tually 14, so it was different, but fun,” Bettcher said.

Growing up, Bettcher partici-pated in a variety of theater piec-es — from middle school plays to high school productions. How-ever, since coming to Liberty, she has been focusing on singing.

“I do love acting. In fact, do-ing this movie rekindled some feelings of pursuing it in the fu-ture. If God puts an acting job in my lap, I’ll run with it,” Bettcher

said.Jessica Falwell, Pastor Jona-

than Falwell’s daughter, plays Bettcher’s best friend, Ashley Burke.

“Faith’s abduction really hit my character, Ashley, hard and affected the way she acted,” Fal-well said. “Because Ashley spent all of her time with Faith, you can imagine how hurt and up-set she was when she found out about the abduction.”

Even before the filming for “Finding Faith” had begun, Bet-tcher and Falwell had formed a friendship through participating in the Virginia Christmas Spec-tacular productions at Thomas Road together.

Those involved in the film are hoping that it will be a comfort to the public, especially to those who have been affected by online predators.

“I really want this movie to be an encouragement to both Christians and non-believers and to let them know God is there with them through anything that happens, good and bad,” Falwell said.

Bettcher added that in the movie, the Garrett family strug-gles to unite in such difficult circumstances and realizes the importance of God’s presence in their lives.

“The Garrett family under-stood that they had to trust God,” Bettcher said. “I believe this movie will be a great re-source to those wanting to know more about the dangers of sex trafficking and how to be safe against Internet predators. I’m hoping that it’ll open parents’ and teens’ eyes to be extra cau-tious.”

The premiere is set for mid-January at Thomas Road Baptist Church.

OELRICH is an asst. news editor.

Victoria Woodvwood7@liberty.edu

Using scenes of majestic waters, glori-ous skies and the sheer beauty of the land, this year’s featured artist displays his tal-ents on canvas in the form of landscape portraits, according to Liberty Universi-ty’s Studio and Digital Arts Department’s announcement.

The Contemporary Landscapes exhibit by Christopher Burch will be displayed at the Liberty University Art Gallery, room 4059 in the DeMoss Hall Learning Cen-

ter, from Sept. 20 to Nov. 3. Todd Smith, the director for the up-

coming free exhibit, described what this exhibit means to the university.

“It is always an honor to add to the list of Christian artists that display in our stu-dio,” Smith said. “As Christians, we are to cultivate top-quality artists that set out to express the glory of God. Our creativity is to reflect His creativity.”

With the opening of the art exhibition this month, Burch will have the opportu-nity to showcase his talent to his own com-munity. The exhibit will feature a total of

24 oil paintings, varying in size and color, with depictions including landscapes as well as people and animals.

Burch will soon join a group of noted artists who have had the opportunity to showcase their pieces in the university’s studio exhibit. Past fall exhibitors include Geane Ewing, Macel Falwell, David Heath, the Plein Air Painters and Diane Johnson.

Liberty frequently displays the work of various artists, and this fall it is Burch’s turn to take the spotlight.

“Our goal is to serve as a cultural hub

for the students and the community, offer-ing them the opportunity to experience top-quality artwork,” Smith said.

In the eyes of Burch, home is where the art is. Burch has spent his whole life in the Mid-Atlantic region of America. Born in Eden, N.C., he attended school at Radford University and currently lives in Lynchburg.

To find more information on the exhi-bition, visit the Department of Studio and Digital Arts page on Liberty’s website.

WOOD is a feature reporter.

Photo Provided

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION — Liberty and LCA provided filming locations for “Finding Faith.”

Lynchburg plays host to Christian movie

Liberty art gallery spotlights local artistPhoto Provided

SUNSETS AND SCENERY — Consisting of mostly of oil paintings, Christopher Burch’s contemporary landscapes will be displayed from Sept. 20 to Nov. 3 in DeMoss Hall.