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Dr. Steve Shaw.......................................pg. 2President Alexander Cont..............pg. 3Money Matters......................................pg. 3

Senate..........................................................pg. 4Around the Globe................................pg. 9

Student Highlight..................................pg. 4Oh, the Places You’ll Go!...............pg. 5The Stand Club....................................pg. 6Mr. NNU.................................................pg. 7Campus Events.....................................pg. 7

NNU Crusader Newspaper

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sportsBaseball.......................................................pg. 10Indoor Track Conference...................pg. 11

guestsSpread the Word....................................pg. 8Wow, That Was Random...................pg. 8

arts and entertainmentTop Ten.........................................................pg. 12

volume 69 issue 9

The President and I: An Interview with President Alexander

Being the president of a uni-versity is a tough job. In many ways, it’s the most difficult job on campus. The role requires some-one that is willing to invest count-less hours of their time into the school and its students. So much is expected from just one person that it takes a person as dedicated and selfless as Dr. David Alexan-der to do it.

Since being elected in 2008, Dr. Alexander has been serving the university with his encourag-

ing words and kind spirit. He is a strong advocate for the NNU values of transformation, truth, service, and community. All six

vice presidents and the athletic director report directly to Dr. Al-exander. The rest of the professors and staff have other superiors that they report to.

Dr. Alexander’s favorite aspect of being the president is all of the people he gets to work with, staff and student alike. “Each and every day I hear another story of how a student or a faculty mem-ber or university staff member has cared for someone or has ex-pected something more out of a student than what they thought they were capable of…and they have a lightbulb moment where they realize ‘I really can do this.’”

The transformation-al aspect of NNU is what keeps Dr. Alex-ander going. Seeing a person’s personal growth is an incred-ible encouragement.

This desire to see a change extends to the university as a whole.

One of the most important things Dr. Alexander would like to see become stronger in the coming years is classes that will help stu-

dents make important spiritual decisions. It’s easy to associate these kinds of student-made deci-sions coming out of a Bible class, but he wants students to have the opportunity to think about their own spiritual issues in every class. “We have to provide curric-

ular and co-curricular that foster spiritual formation.” President Alexander was in college when he made the critical decision to fol-low Christ and believes that other students can use this crucial time of personal development to make that choice as well. Dr. Alexander

was willing to admit that not ev-ery student would take advantage of this system, and that everyone needs to make the choice if they want to just try out this “religion” thing or if they want to go in wholeheartedly.

please see President page 3

Photo by Brad Elsberg

Eric Ostynwriter for The Crusader

We have to provide curric-ular and co-curricular that foster spiritual formation.”Dr. David AlexanderUniversity President

“

2 | Monday March 2, 2015Volume 69 Issue 9

If you’ve ever had any ques-tions about MLK, Lyndon John-son, Robert McNamara, or Doro-thy Day, just drop into one of Dr. Steve Shaw’s classes on any given day, and you are bound to hear about one if not all of them. If you’ve never had a class with Dr. Shaw, you are missing out on his passion for political science and history, especially in the late 20th Century. Part of the reason he’s so interested in the events of that time period is that he lived them.

Dr. Shaw grew up in Shreve-port, Louisiana, which you can definitely tell by the way Looosi-ana rolls off his tongue. Growing up in the South, he has had the kind of experiences that most of us only read about in history books.

“In Louisiana, politics is ev-er-present, controversial, always interesting.” The political envi-ronment in which Shaw grew up was indeed very controversial, evidenced by a slogan he re-calls hearing: “2, 4, 6, 8, we don’t want to integrate.” His parents always stayed up to date on cur-rent events, and they would even take him to the voting booth with them when they went. All of this got him thinking about politics, government, and “human behav-

ior,” and after he “survived Loui-siana public education,” he got an undergraduate degree in political science at Bethany Nazarene Col-lege in Oklahoma (now Southern Nazarene University), followed by a master’s and doctorate in po-litical science from the University of Oklahoma.

If you’re one of those people afraid of getting caught in the Nazarene and/or Idaho trap, read no further. Dr. Shaw wanted to teach at a Christian university, so he applied to several places, got an interview at NNC, and started teaching here in the fall of 1979. Yes, he moved from Louisiana to Idaho—a place he “probably couldn’t have found on a map”—and stayed for thirty-five years. His wife’s family is from the area, and the inevitable happened: he laid down roots. Idaho and NNU sort of grow on a person, wheth-er you want it to or not, and folks that’s a lesson we might as well learn as soon as possible. You can’t escape.

But, you might not want to if you find something you love do-ing, which Dr. Shaw says he has. His favorite part of his job is the interaction with students and col-leagues. On top of that, he gets to read for his job. If you enjoy read-ing, that’s like having a job where you’re required to eat delicious dessert every day and savor every bite. Piece of cake.

But even if that doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, you should still pay attention to politics and history, two more things you can’t escape. According to Dr. Shaw, “The more you know about his-tory, the more you know about what’s happening in your day po-litically, not simply so much the better educated you’ll be, but the better person you’ll be. I really believe that.”

This professor has been in-volved with many things outside of NNU that prove his point. In 1984 he was a representative to the Democratic National Con-vention, the most large-scale political event he had yet expe-rienced. Not only did he get to hear Jesse Jackson and former NY governor Mario Cuomo speak, but he witnessed the first time a woman (Geraldine Ferraro) was ever chosen as vice presidential candidate for a major party ticket.

Since then, as part of his job, he has been able to go overseas several times, visit the White House, meet Supreme Court Jus-tices, and attend many confer-ences and conventions, such as a conference on Dorothy Day this summer at which he will be pre-senting a paper.

On top of that, he co-wrote a book with Dr. Grinder called “The Presidents and their Faith.” It was a chance encounter with a publisher on the campus of

Point Loma University that got him thinking about the book, and three years ago it was pub-lished. This same publisher has approached him about writing a book on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s idea of beloved community, 2018 being the 50th anniversary of his death.

But if you ask Dr. Shaw what his greatest accomplishment is, he will say it is being a father, “adopting 2 biracial girls, and watching them grow up.” He ad-mits it sounds a little sappy, but it’s the truth: “I’ve been pretty lucky, pretty blessed.”

featuresSarah Blum

writer for The Crusader

Photo by Brittany McCarty

Dr. Steve ShawThe Political Science Professor with a Southern Drawl

| 3Monday March 2, 2015 Volume 69 Issue 9

For many students, being able to attend Northwest Nazarene University is a dream come true. But that dream comes at a price, and a pretty monumental one at that. The financial aid office can help make that dream a bit more feasible by helping students get as much tuition money as possible. Their tireless work helps many of us keep the dream of a quality ed-ucation going.

Director Ann Crabb describes the financial aid office as “the best office on campus because we give out money [laughs].” The major-ity of the money that is distrib-uted to students is institutional money straight from NNU. These “entitlements” are based on what church the student attended, if their parents were missionar-ies, or if their grades met the re-quirements to earn them a cov-eted money grant. All of these

prerequisites can really add up in the long-run, making it just that much easier for students to see a college education as an at-tainable goal. The easiest way to get and keep scholarships is to do well academically. Typically scholarships require students to maintain a certain GPA in order to keep any money they have earned.

The fine people of the financial aid office do their best to get stu-dents the most money they pos-sibly can. If someone is having a particularly rough time finding scholarships, the office can give out smaller gifts like book schol-arships to help pay for the text-books the student needs.

The FAFSA, or Free Applica-tion for Federal Student Aid, is government money that is hand-ed out every year. By completing the FAFSA, a student is applying for grant money from the federal government—$100 or more can

be earned just by sending in the free form. The committee will come to a decision based on your financial situation and the cost to go to NNU. It’s critical to fill out the form every year if you rely on it for any amount of scholarship money since your financial sit-uation may change as the years

go on. Getting it done as soon as possible is important but not necessary. The financial aid office will accept FAFSA forms up until the day before the semester starts. However, the priority deadline this year is March 1st. Students will be able to qualify for better grants by getting their forms in

early.The financial aid office plays an

integral role on the NNU campus, and many of us wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for their hard work. If you have any questions about the FAFSA or other scholarship in-formation, be sure to get in con-tact with the financial aid office.

continued from page 1As for the future of NNU, Dr.

Alexander has a few plans set in motion that will hopefully come to fruition soon. “We’re still in the process of becoming a university,” said Alexander. “We’ll continue to strengthen the undergraduate/residential experience and in ad-dition to that, we’ll continue to grow in our adult and graduate offerings.” The options that are currently in the works include on-campus classes, but there is a big push for a more prominent online program. Coming to college is arguably

one of the biggest decisions a person can make, and Dr. Alex-ander talked about some of the advantages it can give to aspiring students. “College is a unique op-portunity that a certain group of people have in the world to pause and to think deeply and to reflect and to learn in a concentrated time unlike any other time in their lives,” he explained. He went on to say that the kindergarten through 12th grade experience is like schooling with a tour guide, but college is where you get to go off and explore on your own. This freedom allows the student to be-come who they truly want to be and customize their further edu-cation in the exact field that they

want to delve in to.NNU, he says, is designed “to

help people find their sense of calling.” Making money, although the primary reason for many to attend college, comes second to the fulfilled and satisfying life that they will develop on this campus. Statistics show that people that go to college make one million dol-lars more than those that don’t, but President Alexander explains that it’s not the only reason to go. It might be a nice additional bonus, but the personal chang-es and who a person becomes emotionally, spiritually, and even theologically are what matters at the end of the day. Jobs come and go; upstanding moral and spiri-

tual character is what lasts in the end, and Dr. Alexander recogniz-es that and encourages others to embrace a similar mentality.When all is said and done, and we’ve all earned our million dol-

lars, will we be able to say that we have the character to match that hefty sum? Dr. Alexander cer-tainly hopes so and wishes to see this university flourish by serving and honoring God’s kingdom.

President

Money MattersEric Ostyn

writer for The Crusader

Photo by Hannah WinchesterFinacial Aid staff 2014-15

Crusader Staff ContactAvery Russell Editor in Chief arussell@nnu.eduMarina Rose Assistant Editor mdaily@nnu.eduSara Wren Design Editor saraoliver@nnu.eduEric Ostyn Writer ericostyn@nnu.eduSarah Blum Writer sblum@nnu.eduWilliam Roemhildt Writer wroemhildt@nnu.eduAngela Monroe Photographer aarcher@nnu.eduBrittany McCarty Photographer bmccarty@nnu.eduCurtis Mostul Business Manager cmostul@nnu.edu

4 | Monday March 2, 2015Volume 69 Issue 9

SB15-2-1 “Frogger Avoidance Bill,” as outlined in the last is-sue, sought to acquire pedestrian

crossing signs that would be in-stalled on East Colorado Avenue. SB15-2-1, though, was unani-mously removed from the senate agenda, in effect being thrown out. It was found by members of the senate that any such signage can only be erected by the city of Nam-pa, putting the bill’s effectiveness out of NNU’s jurisdiction. In the conversation after the bill’s remov-al, it was suggested by Campus Life

Coordinator Miller that if NNU students still wished to see crossing signage erected on East Colorado Avenue, they could take the idea to the city of Nampa.

SB15-2-2 “Non-Discrimination Resolution” was passed. This reso-lution primarily acts as a document that the senate supports, though it holds no real power. Chief Justice Multop pointed out that it is a step in the right direction if the senate

judiciary committee wanted to put it into the code or constitution.

SB15-2-3 “EPIC VEX Funding” asked the senate for $1,000 in order for a group of four students from the EPIC Club to attend the Vex Robotics Competition in Tempe, Arizona. The bill was passed, but not without confusion over wheth-er giving the amount of $1,000 was constitutional. The ASNNU Code states that class “D” clubs (D stands

for Department) must receive over half their funding from their corre-sponding department. The inter-pretation of this clause in the code has been under much scrutiny lately, as both the code and consti-tution have undergone revisions recently. Nevertheless SB15-2-3 passed with the majority vote of 10 to 2. This is certainly not the last we will hear from the Class D funding debate.

It is not very often that a 20-year-old college student has the opportunity to design program curriculum for di-saster relief organizations. Liz Haunschild, who spent last se-mester in the Phillipines, got to do exactly that.

Before coming to NNU in 2012, Haunschild lived in Manila, Philippines, with her missionary family. Because of her connection to the Philippines, she was dev-astated when Typhoon Yolanda hit on November 8, 2013. At that time she was a Resident Assistant in Ford Hall, and although she really wanted to be in the Philip-pines, she knew that it would be flooded with disaster relief teams, and she had no specialized skills to be of use.

However, less than a year later, after a summer of 70 hour work weeks and a lot of collaboration

with disaster relief leaders in the Philippines, Haunschild found herself in Manila. She spent most of her time in Tacloban, one of the major cities struck by the ty-phoon, working with Nazarene Disaster Response [NDR], an or-ganization of Nazarene Compas-sionate Ministries, specific to the Philippines. Unfortunately, the first couple of weeks were rough for Haunschild.“The only time I called home cry-ing during my time in the Phil-ippines was during the first two weeks. I didn’t know what I was doing in the Philippines or what I had to bring to the table.”

Haunschild was scheduled to spend most of her time in the NDR office in Tacloban, which meant she would be sleeping on a concrete floor and surviving with no clean water. The conditions were so intense that she was not allowed to spend more than three weeks at a time in Tacloban. But Haunschild says it was definitely

worth it.After a lot of prayer,

Haunschild found her niche in creating a curriculum for tran-sitory sights in Tacloban. She worked closely with Pastor Leo, the head of NDR, to establish a program that would house dis-placed peoples. It was one of their goals to get volunteers to run the program after Haunschild left. As of December, the program had six full-time volunteers, and three transitory sites were established, housing 400 families.

While working in Tacloban, Haunschild got to work with a lot of children who had experienced the typhoon. She recounted the conversations she had with chil-dren and parents and their ability to find happiness in the midst of tragedy. Haunschild said the little moments of “social therapy” were amazing, just being able to talk to different people and establish relationships was rewarding for both her and those she came into contact with.

“You don’t have to be ordained to do great things,” Haunschild said. “One of the volunteers said to me, ‘Liz, you’re twenty years old and a missionary!’ And I said, ‘You’re twenty years old and a pastor!’”

Haunschild is proof that

young people can do amazing things, though not all of her ideas were implemented in the current NDR program, she was able to see the good that came from her ideas that were implemented. She’s not stopping with the Phil-ippines; it is her hope to go back

overseas after she graduates next year.

If you want to hear more about Haunschild’s experiences in the Philippines, ask her about them! She is very passionate about God’s work and loves shar-ing her story.

campusStudent Highlight:Liz Haunschild

Photo by Brittany McCarty

Senate

Marina Roseassistant editor for The Crusader

William Roemhildtwriter for The Crusader

| 5Monday March 2, 2015 Volume 69 Issue 9

The time of your life may be waiting right around the corner. Just ask Jen Seiders, a senior psy-chology and criminal justice ma-jor, what the “time of your life” means to her. After spending all last semester abroad in Manches-ter, England, through Arcadia University’s Global Studies Pro-gram, Seiders has nothing but good things to say about it!

After applying for scholar-ships and getting everything into place, Seiders was off to, ulti-mately, have the time of her life. She had her moments of doubt at first, but naturally set into the rhythm of life in a new and excit-ing place. Coming from a small

town herself, it was a culture shock to be living in a city [Man-chester and Greater Manchester] of 3.5 million people. Seiders smiled as she told me, “I had to tell myself ‘you have to own this or you’re going to fail, so step up and be an individual because you have no one else to rely on’ ”! So folks, that is exactly what Seiders did: she owned it. She found her inner strength and broke out of her introverted shell in order to experience all that she could while she was in England.

College in England is not the same as college in Idaho. Seiders explained that, “The level of pro-fessionalism and standard of learning is a unique experience. Getting into a university there is much harder than doing so in the

United States, so the expectations are a lot different.” Although she stressed it’s a different kind of hard work, she also wants ev-eryone to know that it is possi-ble to thrive in the environment that England provides. While the teaching style may be absolutely different and complex, she be-lieves that it helped her to learn and study in an effective way.

Seiders took classes such as Medical Anthropology, Philosophy of Religion, and European Histo-ry, while studying abroad, and she loved every minute of it! She spent every week immersed in her new culture, whether she was studying with her flat-mates, sitting in class lectures and seminars (lectures of 250+ students and seminars of no more than 12 students), or explor-

ing what her new surroundings had to offer.

When asked about what she loved the most while studying in England, Seiders laughed and said, “Well everything!” But if she really had to narrow it down and choose, she admits that exploring the metropolitan area and experi-encing the microcultures were her favorite. “The diversity of culture I would see and interact with was fun and interesting. I loved how you could walk around and not run into the same person twice.”

When Seiders wasn’t studying hard, she was traveling to oth-er places in the area as well. She spent some time in Scotland at the Edinburgh Castle and cata-combs, found herself wandering through Bangor-Wales, and tried

out all of the different tea shops in the city center.

She says that because of her experience, she now has a new perspective on her field of study and is now looking into grad schools located in England.

Her advice for anyone con-sidering to study abroad is “DO IT.” The enthusiasm Seiders had as she told me about her story, was enough to show me just how much cultural and academic fun she had. “It will be an experience you will not forget because you learn so much about yourself,” she exclaimed. So if you are interest-ed in hearing more, find Seiders and ask her more about her time in England. Think about all of the friends and experiences you will make; more likely than not, you too will have the time of your life!

Oh the PlacesYou’ll Go!London and Manchester and Scotland, Oh My!

Photo by Brittany McCarty

Photo by Jen SeidersCathedral in Bangor-Wales

Avery Russelleditor for The Crusader

6 | Monday March 2, 2015Volume 69 Issue 9

When you hear the name “Stand Club” what are the first images to cross your mind? For many of us a certain verse in Ephesians appears. For may-be an equal number, a western film comes to mind (Magnifi-cent Seven, anyone?). For myself, standing to say the pledge of alle-giance in elementary school and high school is right there, as is standing for hymns and liturgy in church, and also the image of Homeric warriors on the fields of Troy (that last one is a bonus, you’re welcome). Whatever the example may be, “standing,” or taking a stand, is something that is intentional, it is bold, heroic, and at its best, humble.

Those may be the perfect ad-jectives to describe President Kelsey Koberg and Co-Arrival Coordinator Kilen Multop of the NNU Stand Club – or not. I’ll let you decide. Their stand, as stated in their mission statement, is to “Stand For the Vulnerable,” the vulnerable in this case being ref-ugees.

Current NNU student Mi-chael Reimer founded the Stand Club at the beginning of last se-mester. Partnering with World Relief Boise to help refugees ac-climate to their new home, the Stand Club has continually been making a difference for one of the Treasure Valley’s most over-looked populations. Their func-tions include welcoming parties for refugees arriving at the Boise airport and numerous workshops and activities with World Relief Boise. Per capita, Boise has one of the highest concentrations of refugees in the nation; a surpris-

ing fact about the city for many people.

Refugees, by definition, are people who have been forced to leave their country because of war or for religious or political reasons. Unsurprisingly, the ma-jority of Boise’s refugees are from the Middle East, the most torn region on the globe. President Koberg highlighted that an ob-jective of the Stand Club moving forward is to reconcile the gener-ally negative Western perception of those from the Middle East and educate the community - our NNU community and the Trea-sure Valley community - about our new neighbors. “The goal is to tell refugees stories, and we’re focusing on the Middle Eastern culture,” said President Koberg, who interned at World Relief for a semester last year. “The plan is to go out and have coffee or go to refugees houses for dinner once every three or four weeks and just hear their story, hear about their culture, [and] hear about their religion.” This experience would then be written down in a blog post, or transposed into a video to accurately inform and build positive relationships for refugees in their new home.

As “Co-Arrival Coordinator,” Kilen Multop, who shares the po-sition with Sam Read, is respon-sible for coordinating greeting parties to meet refugees arriving at the Boise airport. “It’s a really nice way to come in there and help with something that’s imme-diate, short, and that you’re not committing to something you can’t do,” he says. For those who don’t have the most time to spare, this is something that they can easily get involved with. “We’re college students, we live in Nam-

pa, we don’t live in Boise, [a lot of us] have full schedules, we don’t always have the time to totally in-vest in someone’s life. But doing arrivals is a really good way to be a part of [the refugee resettle-ment] process.”

One thing Kelsey and Kilen stressed when I was interview-ing them was that you don’t re-ally realize the difference you can make in someone’s life until you’re there doing it, and I think that is the most powerful “side ef-

fect” of what the Stand Club does. Though what they do can be ex-tremely self-gratifying, they are not in the business of self-grati-fication. Standing for something, or someone, comes with the knowledge that things will prob-ably not always go as planned. There is a risk in making a stand and often the odds are against you. Loving complete strangers from the other side of the world, who probably speak a different language, have different customs,

and hold a different religion, certainly incurs much risk. The beauty of the Stand Club, World Relief Boise, and all humanitari-an effort, is that they are founded in love, which knows no barriers.

If you want to get involved with the NNU Stand Club, you can contact Kelsey (kelseyko-berg@nnu.edu) or Kilen (kmul-top@nnu.edu). Also, be sure to check out their Facebook page: Stand Club

The Stand: Loving Idaho’s RefugeesWilliam Roemhildtwriter for The Crusader

Photo from Google Images

| 7Monday March 2, 2015 Volume 69 Issue 9

Photo by Brittany McCarty

Upcoming Super-Late-Ive ShowsMarch 4The luck and magic of the Irish.

March 18Disney night / NNU the musical.

April 1There is no fool in this duel.

April 15Goodbye, farewell, and amen.

Senior Oscar Diaz

Cam

pus E

vent

s Dates to RememberBlack Tie: March 6th at 6pmSGA Elections: March 11th at ChapelServe Day: March 14th at 9am

Weekly EventsTimeout: Wednesday Nights 9pmBrick House: Thursday Nights 8:30pm

AND THE TITLE OFMR. NNU GOES TO...

8 | Monday March 2, 2015Volume 69 Issue 9

guest writers

This poem is in honor of Spread the Word to End the Word Day coming up on March 4th this year. The goal is to promote respect for people with disabili-ties by seeking to end the derogatory use of the word retard(ed). *If you are inter-ested in officially pledging to support the elimination of the R-word, go to r-word.org and click “Pledge and Be Heard” to join the thousands of people who are committed to speak respectfully. For the full story check NNU Crusader Newspa-per Facebook later today!

Hey ya’ll! I hope every-one has been enjoying the great weather recently…despite the fact that it is still technically winter. Along with the great weather, NNU has had some great events, such as Mr. NNU, Explore NNU, and multi-ple sporting events. If you happened to miss some, never fear as there are still more fun events coming that will give you a reason to procrastinate…I mean, er…take a break from studying. The biggest event that will soon be here is Black Tie, and since it is right around the corner, if you are one of the fellows that does not yet have a date, you better get going!

Now on to some totally random, hopefully help-ful, and unpredictable facts and some hopefully funny tidbits:

1. The Nile River is the longest river in the world, with an approximate length of 4,200 miles.

2. In 2014, Frozen won an Academy Award for the Best Animated Feature Film.

3. Sticking metal forks into light sockets is not safe.

4. Sticking metal forks that are cov-ered in water into light sockets is re-ally not safe. Just thought I would offer a safety tip or two.

5. The longest running television series in the U.S. is NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” which has been running for 67 years.

Related to the safety tips mentioned above, I have found myself in a number of electrifying situations in my life. While not a shockingly high number, it is safe to say that I have been zapped a few times, though I do not currently know the exact number. No, I have never been struck by lightning or anything serious. However, I have had multiple experi-ences with electricity.

For example, there have been times that I have been walking to a building or car with some friends and there happened to be a thunderstorm. At the flash of lightening, my friends walking with me took off like their lives depended on it. Their reasoning was that I was the tallest object

around them, and lighting liked tall objects.

Also, since I grew up in a rural area, I have had multiple run-ins with elec-tric fences. While a cheap and effective way to fence small areas, they can also serve as a not-so-great way to remind a person to pay attention. Needless to say, even if the fence appears to be off, do not grab it and stick your hand into a stock tank full of fish…it causes your hair to stand on end. Maybe that is why some people say I have an electric personality. Oh, and if you come across any electric fences when in tall grass: if you see the top wire is missing, and yet you cannot see the bottom one, assume the bottom one is there…I am just saying.

RetardedWow, That Was Random… Kara Flemingguest writer for The Crusader

Wyatt Thanstromguest writer for The Crusader

Doesn’t have all her brainsMentally handicappedIncapableBetter off institutionalizedKids, teachers, lady in the grocery storeWhisper it pernicious.

Intellectually disabledChromosomally divergentGenetically mutatedAnomalyThe doctors say it sterile.

Retarded

Burns deeper than rest,Bigotry’s favorite branding iron.

This same word you call yourself whenFumbling your books,Forgetting your keys,Miscalculating the change,You need a deprecation to cover your foolishness

As if this word could explain away a mistake.

A chromosomal mistake,A gene copy mistakeMaybeBut she is the furthest thing from“An error in action, calculation, opinionCaused by poor reasoning, carelessness, insufficient knowledge,Etc.”

And it is your MistakeTo call her anything butA gift,A blessing,Beautiful, wonderful, humanIn a body she didn’t chooseBut one she still uses to bring love and laughter and joyIf you’ll give her a chance,

Call her what she is—Freckle-faced, dancing-queen, always-front-and-center,Honor-student, life-of-the-party,Funniest-person-you’ll-ever-share-bus-seat-with.

Call her what she isBecause your insidious slang wordIs quietly blinding us allTo people who have been inescapably definedIn a word,Retarded.

Photo by Angela Monroe

Photo by Danielle Miller

| 9Monday March 2, 2015 Volume 69 Issue 9

Ukrainian Cease-Fire The fighting between Ukrainian

forces and pro-Russian separatist rebels intensified leading up to the meeting of Ukrainian, Russian, German, and French leaders in Minsk, Belarus; both sides trying to bolster their claims before any peace summit could be reached. The separatist offensive put pres-sure on two main points in partic-ular, the first being the airport in the city of Donetsk, and the sec-ond being the town of Debaltseve, a critical railway town. The city of Donetsk had been a site of con-flict for some time and has been mainly under the control of rebels for months. The airport, however, had been under Ukrainian control for the duration. That changed in early January as rebels launched an offensive to take the airport, which has become a base of opera-tions for Ukrainian forces. Taking little by little, the rebels gained full control of the airport on January 22nd. The airport was thought to have been utilized by the rebels for flying in hardware and munitions, but satellite images, as well as pho-tos taken on the ground confirm that the airport is far from oper-ational status. As leaders began negotiations in early February, the fighting in Debaltseve took a hyper-aggressive turn. The city serves as a rail hub between Do-netsk and Luhansk, the two east-ern-most provinces of Ukraine that have seen fighting. Citizens of Debaltseve had been evacuat-

ing the city since late January as the fighting intensified. Mean-while, on February 12th, leaders in Minsk declared a cease-fire would begin on the 15th – this sent both sides into a frenzy over who would hold possession of the city. As the 15th came and went, the fate of the city was still not decided. It was not until the 18th that the rebels would take control of the city. The Ukrainian government condemned Russia for the viola-tion of the cease-fire; but Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been denied direct Russian involvement from the very begin-ning, pointed the finger at the un-governable rebels. Ukrainian Pres-ident Petro Poroshenko reported that 80% of the troops in Debalt-seve had effectively evacuated, and cited as few as six casualties in the retreat, reports from the ground estimate a higher number.

Boko HaramAs military aid from neighbor-

ing countries has poured into the fight against Boko Haram, the radical Islamist group, Nigeria has seen the presence of Boko Haram shrink. On February 20th, 158 captives were reunit-ed with their families after Boko Haram was defeated. It is uncer-tain whether the captives were simply left behind in the retreat or released. Boko Haram, as well as their allies in the Middle East, have been notorious for taking captives and either holding them for ransom, or selling them into slavery. They are believed to have taken over 800 captives in Nigeria alone; 200 of those being a group of schoolgirls that were abducted in April of last year. This group of 158 captives was captured last December in the city of Katar-ko and consisted of 62 married women and 96 children. The ab-

ductees say the militants treated them humanely. This bright spot in the fight against Boko Haram was accompanied by victories earlier in the month. Nigerian forces recaptured the towns of

Monguno and Marte. Cameroon-reported killing 80 Boko Haram militants in recent clashes and arresting over 1,000 of their sup-porters. The fight against Boko Haram has not been all one sided though. Their leader, Abubakar Shekau, vowed in a recent video that they would stop at nothing to disrupt the upcoming Nigeri-an elections – and they have done just that. The threat of Boko Ha-ram and a string of terror attacks at political rallies have forced the Nigerian government to move the elections back six weeks, from the date of February 14th to March 24th. With Boko Haram in retreat on many fronts, the US Africa Command remains “ready to assist in whatever way [Nige-ria] sees as being practical.”

Greece Reaches Bailout ExtensionAfter marathon negotiations,

on February 20th, Greek Finance

Minister Yanis Varoufakis bro-kered a four-month extension with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This second exten-sion of a second bailout removes the risk that the Greek govern-ment will not run out of money in the near future and keeps them in the Eurozone. This extension is promising, considering the com-ments Varoufakis made earlier in the week: “from my standpoint we couldn’t even agree to disagree.” Along with the four-month exten-sion Greece is expected to submit a list of economic reforms in the weeks to come, which will be the subject of debate for the next few months. Greece’s economy has been in a five-year recession, un-employment in the country has reached 25%, and as mentioned before, has received two bailouts. The rest of the Eurozone has be-come increasingly impatient with Greece’s inability to recover from their recession. The new Syriza government, under the leader-ship of prime minister Alexis Tsipras and Mr. Varoufakis, has brought fresh new hope to the financial outlook of Greece. In a press conference after the Febru-ary 20th extension was complet-ed, Varoufakis said, “We are not in the business of short changing our partners.” Greece pledges to honor all of their 331-billion euro debt. In the negotiation process, which included the German Fed-eral Minister of Finance, Wolf-gang Schauble, and IMF Manag-ing Director, Christine Lagarde, Varoufakis said, they “genuinely and faithfully targeted one objec-tive and that was the interests of the average European.” The deal itself immediately boosted the worth of the Euro; the opinion of the “average European,” on the other hand, is still to be foreseen.

Around the Globeworld news

William Roemhildtwriter for The Crusader

Photo from CNN.comA Cameroonian soldier gaurds the El Beid Bridge into Gambaru, Nigeria, one of the strongholds of Boko Haram

10 | Monday March 2, 2015Volume 69 Issue 9

sportsTake Me Out to the Ball Game… Especially if it’s in Hawaii

You may have seen the pic-tures on social media of the base-ball team having chapel on the beach in Hawaii and thought, I hate my life. The team went on to spend the following weekend in California, and if you’re just a little bit jealous, you can hardly be blamed. But don’t be fooled–baseball is hard work.

Senior outfielder Kyle Thom-son says, “The greatest challenge playing college baseball is time management since our sport is so time consuming. It can be diffi-cult to stay on track with school. Also, taking care of your body on and off the field to stay in shape and build up stamina for the long season.” Between January and

May, the team will be gone on road trips seven different week-ends, but all the hours put in are worth it when the people you are working with share a common love and a discipline to achieve their goals.

Thomson says, “I really appre-ciate all the hard work our team and coaches put into helping us be successful on and off the field. Everyone works hard and wants to win.” One win away from the playoffs last year, the goal this year is to make it to the three-team conference tournament and ultimately win the GNAC Championship. Thomson, a ki-nesiology/sports management major, transferred from Yakima Community College two years ago, and he says, “I choose to play at NNU because I was offered a scholarship and love the school;

the environment and people are great. I also believe our baseball program is on the rise and I look forward to being a part of this journey.” The trip to Hawaii is definitely a perk, but now it’s past and the team must focus on each series one at a time, improving day by day to reach their goals.

The team has added a lot of depth this year, which Coach Musgraves says will create some healthy competition within the team, but also help them find better matchups for their pitchers and score more runs. “We have an interesting combination of newcomers and returners who I think will get better every week.” Kyle Thomson, along with Drew Helmstadter and Tate Glasgow, are three of those returners who also earned All-GNAC honors last year. Thomson led the team

hitting with a .308 average last year. This year, he was the first of his teammates to earn GNAC Athlete of the Week Honors after he went 9-of-17 at the plate (.529) with four doubles, five RBIs, and seven runs for the Crusaders in their first home opener. He also stole two bases, made 12 putouts defensively, and added an assist from the outfield without making an error. Since then, Jake Reppert has also earned weekly GNAC

honors for a shutout win at Ha-waii Pacific, where he struck out five batters and only allowed five hits. With these kind of awards showing the mettle of the Saders, there is no doubt they will go far.

The Saders open conference play hosting St. Martin’s University March 6-7, so grab some sunflow-er seeds and a pair of shades and come support them! Who knows, with a little sunshine you might even feel like you’re in Hawaii.

Sarah Blumwriter for The Crusader

Photo by NNU AthleticsFreshman Ross Clevenger

Photo by NNU AthleticsSenior Kaleb DeHaas

| 11Monday March 2, 2015 Volume 69 Issue 9

Indoor Track Conference ResultsThe NNU men placed fourth

and the women fifth at the GNAC Indoor Track Confer-ence Finals on February 21-22. Rimar Christie placed second in the 60m Hurdles Final, with a time of 8.20, also a school record. Besides Christie, four

NNU athletes made it to the fi-nals in that event - Peyton Lew-is, Kyle McLaughlin, and Drew Galbraith. Galbraith placed second in the men’s high jump, leaping 2.06m, after an intense tiebreaker with the eventual leader from Western Washing-ton. Lewis, who had already earned himself a spot at na-tionals in Birmingham with his jump of 17’0.75” the previous

weekend, won the pole vault ti-tle, followed by Zach McClana-han who took third in the event.

Allison Silva won the pole vault for the women, her sec-ond title in the indoor event and third overall. Chelsie Knott earned her first GNAC title, winning the 60m hurdles in 8.82 seconds. Taylor Deskins placed third in the women’s 60m dash with a time of 7.95,

and Taylor VanValey placed third in the shot-put as well as the weight throw. Caitlyn Cur-tis smashed her own school re-cord in the weight throw with a distance of 55’9.25”. John Van-Beuren placed third in the men’s weight throw with a distance of 52’11.5”.

To round it out, Micah Spatz placed third in the heptathlon with an NCAA D-II national pro-

visional score of 4,639 points, and Susanna Fleming placed third in the 8,000m race with a time of 18 minutes, 11.29 seconds. Eight NNU athletes earned All-GNAC Honors for their standout perfor-mances—Rimar Christie, Caitlyn Curtis, Susanna Fleming, Drew Galbraith, Chelsie Knott, Zach McClanahan, Alison Silva, and Taylor VanValey.

Sarah Blumwriter for The Crusader

Photo by NNU AthleticsSenior Andrew Galbraith

Photo by NNU AthleticsSophomore Carli Shaul

Hom

e Sp

orts Baseball vs. Saint Martin’s

March 6th at 3pmMarch 7th at 1pm

12 | Monday March 2, 2015Volume 69 Issue 9

a&eBy Marina Rose

Quote of the issueTop 10 Amazing Facts

Sudoku: medium

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

Robert F. Kennedy

1. The first wife of Feodor Vassilyev (1707-82), a peasant from Russia, gave birth to 69 children: 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets.2. The average four-year old child asks over 400 questions a day.3. Humans shed 40 pounds of skin in their lifetime, completely replacing their outer skin every month.4. The population of Ireland is still 2.5 million less than it was before the potato famine (1845-52).5. Jousting is the official sport of the State of Maryland.6. The longest interval between the birth of twins is 87 days.7. The world’s longest musical piece, As Slow As Possible by John Cage, is scheduled to have a duration of 639 years.8. The 50-star American flag was designed by an Ohio high school stu-dent for a class project. He received a B-.9. How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? The world may never know. But on average, a Licking Machine made at Pur-due needed 364.10. There is an opera house on the U.S.-Canada border, Haskell Free Library and Opera House, where the stage is in one country and half the audience is in the other.

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