Many events were planned on campus for this year’s Sibs & Kids Weekend, but one of the biggest events was the Save The World Fair, which was held in the Merillat Sports and Fitness Center. This event took place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. Students and their siblings had to register for the weekend prior to the beginning of the event in order for them to attend the Fair.

At this event, people could participate in face painting, caricature drawing, games like corn hole and sumo wrestling, and play on rented inflatables.

“I took my three little brothers to the save the world event in the Merillat” said junior Stephanie Pridgeon. “They played many games, but their favorite was the sumo wrestling thing. I really enjoyed seeing my brothers beat each other up. I could tell they really enjoyed themselves.”

Students of Adrian could also volunteer at this event to gain service hours. They could run games, monitor the inflatables, or do face painting.

When participants attended the fair, they got their choice of being a villain or a hero.

“My brothers all, of course, chose to be villains,” said Pridgeon. “They can’t wait until next year’s Sibs & Kids Weekend.”

The AC Dixieland band opened the show with “Sensation.” The band, comprised of seven members, then performed two more numbers, “Basin Street Blues,” which treated the audience to a kick line, and “It Don’t Mean a Thing.” They also made way for the next group.

The 6 p.m. jazz ensemble is made up of over 20 AC students. Their performances featured solos from vocalist and sophomore Jaelinn Soeltner and multiple instrument solos. They performed four numbers: “Blue Note Special,” “Cute,” “Don’t Know Why,” and “Sack of Woe.”

Finally, the 8 p.m. jazz ensemble set up its instruments. The last group of the evening, the band is made up of 18 students and performed six numbers with several instrumental solos. Opening with “That’s Life,” the band followed with “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” which featured junior Dan Steinkopf on vocals, then “Four Brothers.” The next song was a classic Ella Fitzgerald tune sang by Hannah Messerschmidt (“Tisket a Tasket”), followed by 1970s rock/funk/jazz piece “Oregon.” The band finished with “Spain.”

“This is just a lot of fun. This piece is ambitious and challenging. The band sounds great on this,” Ford said about “Oregon.”

Students, parents, grandparents, and children showed their support for all the hard work put in by the directors and students.
This concert was the last of the school year, which made for bittersweet feelings for the seniors.

“This was a wonderful, eye-opening experience that I’m sad to see come to an end. I’m really happy with how it went. The music was by far the most challenging of all [of] my four years in jazz band,” said senior Scott Fisher.

On Friday, a Heroes vs. Villains dodgeball game was held to kick off Sibs and Kids Weekend. The event was open to anyone participating in the weekend’s activities, or anyone who just wanted to come and have fun. It was sponsored by Campus Activities Network (C.A.N.).
Before the game actually started, a Hero and Villain training session was held. The training consisted of everyone being allowed to practice for a little while before things were moved over to the Performance Gym for the actual game.

“It was a pretty good turnout for the first event,” said senior Shelby Pushies. “They were playing for prizes, so that helped to make it a little more competition, but overall it was fun.”

There were several rounds, but in the end, everyone was declared a winner. Everyone who participated in the game received a gift card to Family Video.

Children of all ages participated with their siblings or parents. They could choose from either a purple shirt and represent the Villains side or a blue shirt and represent the Hero side.

“I thought it was a lot of unstructured fun for the kids,” said junior Amanda Inks. “They all seemed to have a lot of fun.”

For more information on C.A.N, visit the Student Activities Office in Caine Student Center.

During the awards banquet chapters were awarded for multiple awards including, outstanding campus leadership and involvement, president of the year, outstanding new member, scholarship and chapter of the year.

Adrian College Greek Week kicked off on April 8 with the opening ceremony on the Caine Terrace. This year’s Greek Week consisted of multiple events throughout the week. At the opening ceremony, all chapters received their flags for capture the flag. All chapters had the opportunity to cheer, with the most spirited chapters receiving points.  First place went to Theta Chi, second to Chi Omega and third To Alpha Sigma Alpha (ASA).

“I hope to have a fun week in which every Greek organization is able to participate. This is the only week during the entire school year that invites all Greeks in one, big social event and everyone is excited for it,” Amy Johnson, AC Panhel President “Also, I hope that this week will further strengthen the relationship between the IFC and Panhel executive boards, so that we can continue to create more all Greek events for next school year.”

Alexander Gettys, Dave Naperialski, and Delaney Andrews organized this year’s Greek Week. Approximately 200 Greek members participated in Greek Week.

“We have been meeting for several hours each week to finalize the details for Greek Week. We picked the schedule in February, so since then it’s been a matter of calling businesses, ordering supplies, and reserving venues,” said junior Delaney Andrews, who is a member of Alpha Phi.

Capture the Flag kicked off on Monday at noon. Each chapter was required to hide their flag somewhere on the main AC campus. Flags needed to be stationary with a small portion showing. Flags could be found by all Greek chapters. The more flags that a chapter found, the more points they received. If a chapter’s flag was found they lost points. Monday night consisted of the Olympic Games. The sororities played each other in dodge ball followed by the fraternities playing kickball. Points were awarded to the overall winner of each event. Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) won the fraternity kickball with Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) taking second. Chi Omega took first in dodge ball and Delta Nu Kappa (DNK) took second.

Tuesday consisted of another game of Capture the Flag and a movie night in Caine. Chapters were invited to watch “Old School” followed by a speech by David Napieralski, AC Greek Life Coordinator, on keeping AC Greek appropriate. Each chapter received a point for every member in attendance.

Capture the Flag continued on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Megathalon took place on Wednesday afternoon in the quad. Megathalon was a massive relay race. Each chapter needed to designate members to a task including egg on a spoon sprint, two liter chug, wheelbarrow race, eat a sleeve of saltines, and dizzy bat race to the finish. Points were awarded to the first five chapters to finish. First place went to SAE followed by Theta Chi, Phi Kappa Sigma (PKS), DNK and Chi Omega.

Greek Week involved multiple activities including Capture the Flag, a movie night, dunk tank fundraiser, awards banquet and toga party. Greek Week gave AC Greek chapters the opportunity to compete against one another while strengthening the bond in AC Greek life.

Thursday afternoon consisted of the Dunk Tank Fundraiser. A dunk tank was outside Ritchie giving students, staff and faculty members the opportunity to pay a dollar to dunk their favorite Greek. The chapter who raises the most money, with the most dunks, won the money for the philanthropy of their choice. Theta Chi won the event and raised $726.21 for The HOPE Center. The top three organizations also won points.

Greek Week ended on Friday with the can food drive, Greek Awards Banquet, and Toga Party. The chapter that donated the most can goods to The Daily Bread received $500 for house improvements. Pi Kappa Alpha won the event by donating 740 pounds to The Daily Bread. In total AC Greek Life donated 2,780 pounds of food.

The Greek Awards Banquet was held on Friday night. The awards banquet acknowledged each Greek chapter and the presentation of awards. Each chapter was given the opportunity to talk on the accomplishments they have had throughout the year. The top three winners of Greek Week were also announced. In third was Theta Chi, second Chi Omega and tying for first were SAE and Alpha Phi.

Awards given during the night included the Michael Kelly Thompson Award which was given to junior Cyle Rogotzke, Outstanding Campus Leadership and Involvement Award which went to Chi Omega, Philanthropy Award given to Chi Omega, and Community Service Award, which was awarded to ASA. Greek house manager of the year was awarded to junior Derek Owen of Theta Chi. Alpha Phi won the Chapter Scholastic Achievement Award with the highest overall GPA of all fraternities and sororities. The Outstanding New Member Award was given to a member of each organization. The recipients were sophomores Alex Toth, Brendon Szczepaniak, Emily Hlavka and freshman Dustin Long, Melissa Fannon, Dane Foster, Joey Schramm, and Abby Reeder.

The Panhellenic Council Member of the Year Award went to junior Delaney Andrews and the Inter-fraternity Council Member of the Year Award went to junior Morgan Emanuel. The Chapter President of the Year Award went to senior Tim Martuch. Greek Woman of the Year Award was awarded to senior Sarah Nietupski of Chi Omega, and Greek Man of the Year Award was awarded to Alex Gettys of Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE). Advisor of the Year Award was awarded to TKE advisor Ronald Reeves and Chapter of the Year went to Chi Omega. A slideshow of Greek Week photos was also shown. Greek Week ended with a campus toga party.

To learn more about Greek Life at AC visit http://www.adrian.edu/student_life/greek_life.

Taking time to choose the right foods and to be physically active in between all of your studying will help you to be less stressed during exam week. Research shows that exercising can help you to feel less anxious, feel more relaxed, feel better about yourself, and help you make healthier eating habits. When combining exercise with eating well you can build a strong mind and body.

It takes approximately 20 minutes of aerobic exercise a day to help control a person’s stress level. This can take place in the form of many different activities. Some activities include: walking, running, swimming, or playing soccer, lacrosse, and basketball. Taking the time to do an aerobic activity for only 20 minutes of your day will decrease your stress level and allow you to be better focused on the different tasks you have at hand.

Another way to help decrease your stress level, along with exercise, is to make sure to take breaks from school work every 90 minutes. Taking a 10-minute break every 90 minutes will help to control your stress level.

Exercising alone will not be enough to help take down your stress level during finals week. Eating healthy is also an important factor.  Ritchie gives students the ability to make healthy food choices. You can make your own sandwich with healthy options including lettuce, peppers, and different lunch meats. Ritchie also offers a salad bar that includes eggs, vegetables, and fat-free dressings. Students can also choose healthy drink options while eating meals. Ritchie has a juice station located next to the pop machines and different types of milk located on the breakfast bar. Also, on the breakfast bar are multiple types of fresh fruit. Trying to eat healthy, nutrient-dense, balanced meals will help you feel less stressed.

Watching the number of calories you are consuming each day will also help you to better understand the amount of exercising you need to do. On average (numbers can change depending on different factors) about 10 minutes of a brisk walk will burn 50 calories. Even walking for the 10 minutes you have between classes or taking time to exercise between studying and taking exams will allow you to burn the calories you are consuming during the day.

Model Arab League is a simulation of the actual Arab League consisted of 21 members that meet to find solutions to problems in the Middle East.

Last weekend a group of 12 students traveled to the nation’s capital to participate in the National Conference for Model Arab League (MAL). Adrian College has received the honor of attending nationals for the past three years. The group was led by their advisor and assistant professor of political science, David Takitaki.

The Model Arab League conference is a simulation of the actual Arab League, which consists of 21 member nations who meet to find solutions to problems that the Middle East faces. The model gives students a chance to research their country and represent the viewpoints of that country in a diplomatic fashion.

The National Council for United States and Arab Relations (NCUSAR) based in Washington D.C. runs the model. MAL is meant to give students practice in diplomatic relations and encourage students to research the Middle East. The program also provides participants with study abroad programs, internships, and other unique opportunities.

This year students represented the Arab Republic of Egypt, or as its commonly referred to, Egypt. Different students participated in different committees, which discussed various “hot topics” that are plaguing the region.

After talking with other delegates, students work with other nations to create solutions, or as they are called in the conference “resolutions,” which lay the ground work for action to be taken regarding a certain issue.

Head delegate and senior Wil DeYoung partook in the Heads of State committee, which included discussions on cultural preservation, protecting trade, and involving youth.

Sophomores Rachael Nicholson and Lee Schriber attended the social affairs committee where delegates debated about education, assisting those with disabilities, and providing for widowers and the elderly.

“It was a great experience that taught me more public speaking skills and how to utilize research to come up with solutions for foreign problems,” said Nicholson. “It put me in the shoes of a person from a completely different country.”

Senior Andrew Adams and junior Austin Wallace represented AC in the economic affairs committee, brainstormed ideas for a region wide telecommunication system, discovering economic practices that will gain exposure for the area, and finding ways to combat illegal trade activities.

Senior Sarah Almack and freshman Lynzi Miller were sent to the political affairs committee to represent Egypt’s ideas about defining the Arab League, addressing foreign interference, and creating diplomatic ties with African countries.

“Modern Arab League has helped me with my people skills. It has let me meet other students from all over the nation and also learn about problem solving in a diplomatic way,” said Almack.

Sophomores Emily Gesell and Akin Oluwadare were the delegates for the Palestinian affairs council, which consisted of debate regarding ways for the Arab League to aid its brother-state, and its conflicts with Israel.

The joint defense council discussed military issues and problems of social unrest. Senior Jordan Neill represented Egypt in this council.

“It was a truly unique academic experience,” said Neill.

Sophomore Meg Vandekerkhove was the representative for the Arab Court of Justice, where she represented Egypt in a case regarding the Nile River.

Among the exciting things the group experienced while in D.C. was a trip to the Egyptian Embassy. Students were granted access to visit the embassy, ask an Egyptian representative questions regarding the country, and debate various political issues with Egyptian diplomats.

The group also visited the Mall, the National Archives, and the White House.

MAL is a class, which is offered in the spring semester, however, the course also runs complementary with the club D.E.B.A.T.E. Now, students are preparing for the American Model United Nations Conference located in Chicago, IL in November.

Students interested in participating in D.E.B.A.T.E, Model UN, Model Arab League or any other simulational diplomacy programs at AC should contact Vandekerkhove at mvandekerkhove@adrian.edu or Takitaki at dtakitaki@adrian.edu.

During Alpha Phi’s semi-annual philanthropy event Cardiac Arrest, students could donate to put themselves or friends in the jail cell.

On April 10 the Delta Eta chapter of Alpha Phi hosted their new, semi-annual philanthropy event, Cardiac Arrest. The sisters of Alpha Phi set up a jail cell in the Caine Student Center and were in charge of “arresting” people from 12 to 3 p.m.

Students could pay the minimum donation of one dollar to be arrested or have their friends arrested. One dollar gave them five minutes in the cell. Any dollar added to the original cost gave them another five minutes. At the end of the day, all of the money raised went to the Alpha Phi Foundation which supports women’s cardiac care.

“Cardiac Arrest is still a fairly new philanthropy event,” said sophomore Tess Steedman, president of Alpha Phi. “We are still developing ideas to make the event as successful as possible.”

Throughout the day, many Greek, non-Greek students, and staff members were arrested. Greek Life Coordinator and Themed Housing Director David Napieralski, and Inter-Fraternal Council President Morgan Emanuel were among those arrested.

“I think Cardiac Arrest is a great opportunity for Alpha Phi to get Adrian College Greek members, as well as non-Greek students to help support the Alpha Phi Foundation,” said Steadman.

Alpha Phi members were required to put any extra time they had throughout their day into working at the event.

All money raised went toward the Alpha Phi Foundation which supports woman’s cardiac care.

“I spent most of my day in Caine watching and helping with the event,” said junior  Amy Johnson, who also serves as Panhel President. “I thought it was a lot of fun. I especially liked watching people I knew being trapped in the jail cell.”

This was the second time this year that Alpha Phi held this event.

“Last semester was the first time we tried the Cardiac Arrest event. We weren’t sure how popular it would be,” said Johnson.
Sophomore Matthew Pecek was one of the people arrested during the event.

“Seeing how successful the event was, we decided to do it again this semester and it went over just as well,” said.

The event also provided entertainment for the sisters who were working the event.

“I had a lot of fun working the event,” said sophomore Kassity Truxell. “At one point, there were four people in that tiny jail cell which was really funny to watch. I can’t wait until we do it again next semester, and hopefully it will be an even bigger success.”

Adrian College’s performance of “Titus Andronicus”  played in Downs Hall Threatre from April 11 to April 14.

“I really like the atmosphere that Downs Theatre has, both as an actor and a spectator,” said senior Teddy Drusell. “When I go to see a show, I feel like I am in the middle of the action, and as an actor, I feel as if it is easier to project and not worry about someone not being able to hear me in the smaller theatre.”

This Shakespearian production is surrounded by the controversy as to whether or not Shakespeare actually wrote it. If Shakespeare did write it, it was one of his first.

“‘Titus’ obviously has a different writing style compared to anything I have been in,” said Drusell. “The language was rather intimidating at first, but once I got an idea of what my lines were, the fact that Shakespeare writes in iambic pentameter allowed for me to avoid paraphrasing, because if I did, the line I tried to deliver would sound off.”

All scenes took place with no change of scenery in order to display the production as if a Renaissance-period acting troupe was performing “Titus” in the streets of Medieval Europe for people who pass by.

“The show was definitely for a more ancient audience, but I still enjoyed it,” said sophomore Danielle Whitley.

A couple major highlights from the play included the mutilation of Lavinia (Meg Kisch), in which the sons of the Queen of the Goths, Demetrius (Teddy Drusell) and Chiron (Tim Harkleroad) ravished her and cut off her hands and tongue. The blood was depicted with red streamers.

“This is an Asian form of acting, to use streamers as blood, and may not be recognizable at first, but [it] gets the point it is trying to make eventually as the audience realizes what it symbolizes,” said Micheal Allen, professor of threatre.

One of the main scenes portrays Death, Murder, and Rape coming to trick Titus (Ian Hugins), who is thought to be mad. Death, Murder, and Rape are really the Queen of the Goths and her sons.

This scene symbolizes Titus’s journey to becoming mad, but the impostors do not fool him, and he gets his revenge upon Demetrius and Chiron.

Another major highlight was the scene in which Titus had clearly reached madness and baked Chiron and Demetrius  into a pie, which he made the Queen of the Goths (Alisha Brink) eat. This set off a chain reaction of death in which Titus killed the Queen, and Saturninus (Matthew Pecek) killed Titus.

“I loved portraying my character. He was so childish and irrational; it was fun. There were times I could scream, cry, and laugh in all one scene,” said sophomore Matthew Pecek.

“Titus Andronicus” concludes Adrian College’s Theatre productions for Spring 2012, but there are many 2012-2013 productions to look forward to, such as; “The Drowsy Chaperone,” “Doubt,” “A Parable,” “Diana of Dobson’s,” and “Anatomy of Gray.”

“Social media is integration of technology, social interaction, words, photos and video,” said the presenter of the program, Janet Creque, the web content editor for the public relations office.

Some examples of social networking sites that Creque discussed during the brown bag included Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Skype, Youtube, and Google. Creque also played a video clip from socialnomics.com, which gave some insight into just how extensive the world of social networking is. According to the video, if Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s third largest nation. Also, if Wikipedia were made into a book, it would be 2.25 million pages long, and take over 123 years to read.

“The video was amazing,” said freshman Madison Cox. “I think it should be shown to students more.”

The clip stated that whereas 90 percent of customers trust online peer reviews of products, only 14 percent trust advertisements.

“I thought the video was very interesting, and very shocking,” said freshman Megan McPherson.

Creque explained that there are several ethical dilemmas that arise from the expansion of social networking. For her presentation, she focused on concerns of privacy and ethics in the workplace.

“There’s no real set rules on what is right and wrong,” Creque said. “It’s so new that nobody knows what to do with it yet.”

For instance, there is not a lot of privacy allotted by the Internet. People do not have to get someone’s permission to post a picture of them online.

Creque also addressed several questions concerning the workplace, such as whether companies should be able to ask their employees for their log in information into networking sites, and whether social media is a personal thing or if it should be shared with coworkers and employers.

“There’s been a lot of ethical concerns with social media in the workplace,” Creque said.

Creque also explained that managing your online reputation is important. She offered a bit of advice about posting online such as using common sense, being honest, and reading the terms of service and privacy settings for networking sites.

Oftentimes, adolescents do not realize how available and potentially damaging something they put online can be. No one should post something that they might regret.

“I’m a big proponent of educating kids about social media,” Creque said.

Right now, there is no way to absolutely delete something that is posted online. People should be careful what they post, because future employers and organizations could find information that might be deemed inappropriate.

“I feel like [this presentation] was an eye-opener,” Cox said. “I never really thought about the things I post.”

McPherson was also impressed with this final brown bag event.

“I found it to be very interesting, and it made me even question some of the things that I do,” she said. “I would definitely say that it gave me a different outlook.”

For those who wish to view the video that Creque showed about the expansion of social media, follow this link: http://www.socialnomics.net/2011/07/05/social-media-videos-2011/.

“It’s an event where we get students involved to help around the community,” said senior Heather Muylle.

Muylle is currently interning for the student activities office, and one of her responsibilities was to organize C.O.W.

“I personally think it’s a good thing to have on campus, because it gets students involved and brings more awareness of what’s happening in the community,” Muylle said.

Muylle got in touch with the presidents of the various student organizations on campus to see who was interested in participating in C.O.W.

“A lot of students contacted me,” Muylle said. “There were about 70 students [who participated].”

There were four different locations that students were able to volunteer for the week including the Humane Society, the Hope Center, the Salvation Army, and the YMCA.

Volunteers got to pick which one of the four locations that they wanted to work for.

Junior Clara Bauman, the president of People Against Animal Cruelty (PAAC), chose to volunteer at the Humane Society and encouraged her club members to volunteer as well.

“I got the C.O.W. list by email because I was the president,” Bauman said. “The Humane Society was on there, and I thought, by golly it’s time to go there.”

Bauman, along with fellow PAAC member junior Chelsea Howe, volunteered at the Humane Society last Thursday and Friday.

“The first day, we grabbed two dogs at a time and took them for walks,” said Bauman. “The second day we combed cats.”

The pair of PAAC members performed other tasks for the animal shelter as well.

“It was cool,” Bauman said about the volunteer experience. “They needed help with walking and playing with animals, which is what we like to do anyways.”

President of the Art Club, Shannon Kynion, also encouraged the members of her organization to volunteer. She chose the Salvation Army thrift store as their destination for volunteering.

“I liked their mission statement and what they’re all about,” Kynion said. “I thought it was good.”

Kynion, along with some other Art Club members, helped organize the store and hang up clothes. Kynion found the store employees to be very nice and welcoming to volunteers.

“They wanted us to come back,” she said.

According to Kynion, oftentimes college students get a bad reputation for not wanting to get involved within the community.

“It’s important to show people that we do want to get involved,” she said. “It’s important to give back. We are a part of this community.”

Kynion also said that she really appreciates the purpose of C.O.W.

“I think that it is a great idea, and I think they should continue it and maybe it’s even something we should do a couple times a year,” she said. “It reminds people we should be involved in the community.”