Issue 2 | September 24, 2014

So Much To Do, So Little Time!How to get everything done if there’s not more than one of you.

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22nd Ice Cream Social - Front of Moss 7 p.m.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23rd Gameshow - Gatliff Chapel 8 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th SGA Free Movie Night Tri-County Cineplex Corbin, KY 9 p.m.

THURDSAY, SEPTEMBER 25th UC Worship - Gatliff Chapel 8 p.m.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26th Mad Chad - Gatliff Chapel 9 p.m.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27th Carnival - Band Field 10 a.m. Fireworks - Band Field 9 p.m. Movie: Disney’s “Million Dollar Arm” 9:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28th Picnic - Dining Hall 12 p.m. - 2 p.m.

Homecoming Week

Editor-in-ChiefTimothy Wyatt

Managing EditorNatasha Jones

Photo EditorJillian Carpenter

Sta ff WritersTylar Baker

Autumn CooneyAshton Rector

Christin RottenbergerMyriah Snyder

Faculty Adv isorJeremiah Massengale

Editor ia l Rev iew BoardLisa Bartram

Marianne Worthington

- 7609 College Station Drive Williamsburg, Ky 40769

(606-539-4172 /patriotnewspaper @UCThePatriot

*thepatriot@ucumberlands.edu

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5 How I see it

Editorial: Drinking away yourGPA

Review: ‘Unstoppable’

The Patriot is the biweekly student publication of the University of the Cumberlands. Our goal is to provide timelyand original content by highlighting campus news and views.

Award-winning member of the Kentucky Press Association.

Oh the places you’ll go... And go...CONTENTS

UCTHEPATRIOT

September 22-28th

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BY JILLIAN CARPENTER

Photo Editor

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Once upon a time, we all hadenough time to get eight hours ofsleep, complete everything on ourplates, and have a good amount offree time in between. Nobody wassleep deprived and we all walked offwith our great moods into the sunset.Sounds great, right? While some peo-ple may actually have a schedule thatpermits free time, the rest of us, un-fortunately, often find it difficult justto get the " Go here, do this, completethese, fill out this, pick up that" doneon time without having a mentalbreakdown. Whether it's juggling ath-letics and studies, work and studies,or some combination of all of these,finding a way to get everything doneand keeping it all on track is impor-tant. Following these simple tips canhelp tremendously when it comes togetting everything accomplished.

Scheduling is important. Whenyou have several classes and work as-signments and other responsibilities tocomplete, "finding the time at somepoint" stops being an option. Organ-izing your days so that you know ex-actly when you have the time to

complete a task relieves much of thatuneasy feeling that comes with havingso many tasks to complete. Fortu-nately, the schedules that your com-mitments already offer help thisprocess. For example, your classschedule can help you schedule whenyou're going to do your homework.You could choose any open time onthe same day of the class so you cancomplete it while the material is freshon your mind. You could also chooseto commit time the night before theassignment is due, but that can oftencause more problems.

Procrastination will be yourdownfall. You teachers and parentshave no doubt told you time after timethat procrastination is the worst optionout there. As much as you might hateto say it, they're right, especially whenit comes to having a tight schedule.As it is, you may not have the fiveminutes to spare at all, why waste itby procrastinating on your severalcommitments? The good news is,procrastination tends to be less of aproblem the busier you are. A normalweek for me includes classes, dance

practice, teaching two dance classes,rehearsal as an actor for UC’s produc-tion of “Little Shop of Horrors,” re-hearsal as a director for “The Choice,”and my work at The Patriot. I used toprocrastinate on almost every task Iwas given. However, the more I puton my plate, the less I find myselfthinking, "I could probably blow thistask off for a little while longer," be-cause I really can't risk losing the littlefree time that I have.

Always be thinking ahead. Yourday will go much more smoothly ifyou consistently keep your schedulefor the rest of your day or week inmind. It's so easy to get caught up inthe task you have in front of you at themoment that you may forget yourtime constraints and be late to yournext task. However, don't be so fo-cused on the task coming up that youlose sight of the task at hand. It's im-portant to balance the two, and to havea planner handy to reference at anytime.

Finally, keep everything separate.Having so many things on your plateoften also means that these commit-

ments are very different, especially inthe way you have to think about them.This means two things. First, it meansyou have to put anything, good or bad,that's happened during another com-mitment, behind you during your cur-rent commitment. If you got a badgrade on a test, you can't let that affectthe way you behave during practicefor your sport or the way you act atwork. It also means that you have tokeep the different ways you approacheach task separate. I can't talk to theactors I work with in “The Choice”the same way I would talk to nine-year-olds in my hip-hop class at theDance Centre. I have to be able tokeep the way I behave during eachone of my commitments separate.

Keeping up with all the tasks youhave to do in any given week can bevery difficult. Often times it's easy towant to stay in your room and try tohide from your commitments. But,with enough scheduling, commit-ments, and good habits, your hecticlife could be just a little bit easier.

Oh, the places you'll go...and go...and go...How to get everything done when it feels impossible

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“University of the Cumberlands expects its students to refrain from thepossession, or use of alcohol, whether legal or illegal…”

“A violation of these expectations may result in disciplinary action toinclude suspension or, in the case of a faculty or staff member, terminationof employment.”

Ouch, dramatic much? Or is it? Why does this university have such astrong policy against alcohol? Especially regarding use off campus, is it re-ally necessary to regulate that? Easy assumptions for why the Universityof the Cumberlands has this rule are because we are a Christian school ormaybe just that the administration wants to avoid being a “party school.”These and other factors that I haven’t mentioned are probably part of thereason UC has such a strict no alcohol policy. However, the school didn’tjust come up with these rules of the top of their head.

Actually, research shows that alcohol affects the way we perform inschool greatly. Any college student who wants to perform his or her bestshould rethink drinking, according to a collection of research recently sum-marized by Northwestern University.

There are three major areas that drinking effects academics, studies say.

• Class attendanceThe study says that binge drinkers are likely to miss classes and fall

behind in their work. Interestingly enough, it also says that the number ofdrinks someone has corresponds with the number of classes missed. Thisshould come as a caution to any college student. I know personally, as a

non-drinker, that pulling myself out of bed and making it to class on timeis not something that always happens. If these statistics are true, then howmuch more difficult is it to attend class regularly after consuming alcohol.

• Study timeAgain, the study says that the more you drink, the worse your study

habits will be. Personally, I don’t think that a professional had to tell us that.Have you ever seen someone who was clearly wasted try to study? Youranswer is probably no, because studying would be useless while intoxicated.Late night cram sessions don’t happen after a party; it’s just not a thing.

• G.P.A.Lastly, the study says that the probability of getting a high G.P.A. drops

with frequent heavy drinking. The research shows that there is a differencebetween the G.P.A. of a heavy drinker and a non-drinker. This is a no-brainer. If you are out partying all weekend, you aren’t in the library un-leashing your inner nerd. If you aren’t studying, then you aren’t makinggood grades (unless you are one of those geniuses who can just do that…).

College is consuming. Literally, it takes up four years of your life, anunmentionable sum of your money, way too much time, and, I believe, aportion of your sanity. Whether you think so or not, you are sacrificing tobe here. Why jeopardize that sacrifice you keep remaking every time youregister for classes by choosing alcohol? It really doesn’t make sense.

BY MYRIAH SNYDER

Sta ff Writer

An Editorial

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By now—whether you follow sports or not—you’ve probably heard about the Ray Rice incidentinvolving his then-fiancée, Janay Palmer, whichhappened back in February and has more recentlybecome the biggest topic in sports, trumping eventhe NFL’s opening week. (A surveillance video sur-faced last week from inside a casino elevator reveal-ing the Baltimore Ravens running back strikingPalmer across the face with a vicious punch thatknocked her out, causing her to fall and hit her headagainst the railing.)

Within hours of the footage being leaked, Rice’scontract with the Baltimore Ravens was terminatedand he was expelled from the league. (He’s evenbeen removed from the EA Sports “Madden” game.)Of course, the hefty punishment was more of a cau-tionary move on behalf of the NFL in an attempt tosave face after such halfhearted management of theissue when it initially became public. And while Iapplaud the league for at least making an effort todemonstrate something close to retribution for whathappened, I truly believe the wrong call was madehere.

Yes—in case you didn’t catch that—I’m sayingthat Rice should have never been penalized soharshly by the NFL, if even at all. Just hear me out,though. In no way am I condoning what Rice did. Itwas an appalling act. Moreover, the BaltimoreRavens and the NFL were Rice’s employers, yetthey somehow became judge, jury and executioner,standing alone as the only entity to deal out any sortof judgment. But where was, you know, the actualjudge and jury? Rice’s case was originally handed

up to a grand jury in Atlantic City as a felony charge,but that’s about as far as it got. Even equipped withthe damning surveillance footage, the prosecutionessentially sat on their hands throughout the entireprocess, making no real attempt at actual doing whattheir job title indicates. He somehow walkedaway—at least in the eyes of those involved in thelegal process—completely vindicated, with nothingmore than a mere slap on the wrist. (Rice was en-rolled in pretrial intervention, meaning he probablyhas to answer to some type of parole officer, and isattending counseling.)

How does such an egregious error even takeplace? Is it the system? Perhaps. Is it the fact thatRice is essentially a celebrity? Possibly. But it’seven more probable to predict that it is more of aproduct of the perception that many people haveabout the subject. Domestic violence can be a com-plicated subject to circumnavigate due to its delicatenature. We all have at least a basic understanding ofwhat it is, but for others, well, maybe they knowmore about it than they would care to. It’s not muchof a stretch to say that domestic violence has be-come so commonplace that it’s oftentimes thoughtof as “normal,” despite how destructive it is andhow unhealthy it is for all parties involved. Whilethat may be a sweeping generalization, I can’t helpbut believe it to be true. I’ve personally seen the waythese types of issues are treated, and most of thetime it gets the same type of treatment: “let’s justsweep it under the rug.” In fact, an article recentlypublished by Michael Powell in The New YorkTimes states that “prosecutors, defense lawyers and

domestic abuse experts the width and breath of NewJersey” admittedly agree that “this is how domesticabuse is treated.”

I think many people assume that most relation-ships involve some sort of domestic abuse—andmaybe to some extent they do—so when somethingof this nature happens there isn’t much time devotedto worrying about it. That is, unless it’s an incidentthat becomes as public and volatile as this Ray Ricestory has. No one wants to side with the unpopularopinion, regardless of their private, personal beliefs.But what this lack of perspective may boil down tomore than anything is pure selfishness. There’s atendency in our society to look the other way whenwitnessing another individual suffering. As long asit doesn’t concern us or the safe little bubble we liveour lives in, then no helping hand is extended.That’s something we all need to work on.

My definitive point here is that this should havenever had the chance to mushroom cloud into thegiant media circus that it’s become. Every singleperson responsible for serving some kind of justicein this case dropped the ball in a major way. Ulti-mately, the real loser in this whole situation is Rice.Not for the obvious reasons though. Sure, he mayhave managed to elude any type of criminal andlegal charges, but he wasn’t reprimanded by the sys-tem that exists solely for the very reason of doingso. If he had been, it’s very likely he would still havea job, but more importantly, he would have learnedto never lay a finger on a woman, in any mannerother than a loving one, ever again.

BY TIMOTHY W YATT

Editor-in-Chief

How I see it:The NFL shouldn’t have had the chance to punish Ray Rice

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I sometimes find myselfviewing Jesus in such a lofty po-sition that I forget He takes careof us like His sheep. John 10:1-18 tells us how Jesus is the goodshepherd. He knows His sheepand His sheep know Him. Noone can take them from Him.

Sheep have been known tohave mediocre sight. They cansee in color and have a largecoverage of peripheral visionbut have weak focus. Eventhough they can see most every-thing around them they still can-not get the right perspective.Therefore, dangerous situationscan be hard to determine basedon their sight alone. On theother hand, their hearing is su-perb. They are inclined to opentheir ears to new sounds to fol-low. As humans we don’t knowwhere to go or what to do on ourown, but we follow the Shep-herd’s voice. In John 10:27-30Jesus tells us He knows hissheep and they follow Him. Healso says they shall never perish;neither shall any man pluckthem out of His hand. As a bornagain believer, we are protected

by Him. Also, in John 10:9, Jesus

says “I am the door: by me ifany man shall enter in, he shallbe saved, and shall go in and outand find pasture.” Jesus didn’tsay only “good” or people witha clean slate, but He says anyman shall enter in. I had a friendonce say to me, “All God has towork with are broken people.”No one can live perfectly, yetknowing this God still sent Hisonly son to die for our sins sothat we may live. It is so amaz-ing that Jesus endured pain, suf-fering, temptation, and fear onearth just so we might have thechance to live.

Lord you are so intricate. Itseems as if I discover a new sideof you everyday! I can neverthank you enough for sendingyour son to die for our sins.Lord, you are the Good Shep-herd and you always stay true toyour word. Thank you for con-tinually revealing yourself to mein a new way every single day.In Christ’s name, Amen.

BY ASHTON RECTOR

Sta ff Writer

The good shepherd UC Worship: Truth revealed

BY TYLAR BAKER

Sta ff Writer

On Thursday nights, there seems to bequite the buzz going around campus. Youhave athletics going all week long, activitiesaround campus and so forth. But what mostpeople miss in the hustle and hurry that en-tangles with college life is a diamond foundin the rough--UC Worship.

What is it you may ask? UC Worship isexactly what it says it is, worship. It is a timeof reflection for some people but also a timeof renewal for others. The campus worshipservice has been a staple at the University ofthe Cumberlands for a long number of years,and today it seems to still have an impact onstudents all around campus.

In the melting pot that Cumberland of-fers, opinions are not always the same whenit comes to the events held on campus.Granted that some other beliefs are contraryto the Christian view of things, but that stilldoesn’t mean that everyone is not welcome.In overhearing of conversations studentshave regarding the topic, there are alwaysmixed opinions.

After talking with FCA leader CoryCrabtree about UC Worship, however, it’seasy to see a different side of worship fromsomeone who knows firsthand what it is liketo not be involved in church.

Crabtree has become a catalyst for min-istry in this past year but before then hadstruggles of his own when it came his in-volvement in ministry.

When asked about UC Worship, Crab-tree said, “I love the environment that is of-fered at UC Worship. I am heavily involvedat my church and the worship that is thereso it is comforting and refreshing to know I

have Christian brothers and sisters to wor-ship with while I am away at school.”

He continued, “The Lord is doing awe-some things for His glory on our campus,and I pray UC Worship will continue to re-main a vital part in that.”

While seeing his passion and dedicationto worship and to ministry, I could also seethe hurt in his eyes for the campus as awhole. In concluding the interview I askedhim one final question, “Why do you thinkpeople don’t come to UC Worship?”

His response was, “People may notcome for multiple reasons. For one, theymay not come because they don’t feel wel-come in a ‘churchy’ setting, or they may notcome because they are too ‘caught up’ inother events or things going on in their ownlife.”

“I would love for it to get the pointwhere my classmates made it a priority tocome and get time with God,” Crabtree con-cluded.

The object of UC Worship is to connectpeople closer to one another, but also so thatthey can have a real encounter with God forthemselves.

As a Christian myself, I attend worshipnot because I have to but because I need it.It is such a cool environment and there areso many people that are awaiting your ar-rival. UC Worship is open to anyone andeveryone no matter who you are or whereyou come from. It is every Thursday nightat 8 p.m. in the Gatliff Chapel each week. Istrongly urge you to at least check it out andgive it a shot. After all, you never knowwhat may happen!

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Where is God? We could all givethe generic Sunday School answer of“heaven” and be content with our re-sponse, but when hardships inevitablycome our way do we have the same re-action? We can’t see God or touchHim, and if God really is with us allthe time then why does he allow com-plications into our lives? In the newfilm “Unstoppable,” which is availableon Netflix, actor Kirk Cameron says toanswer these questions we must havea better understanding of who God is.Throughout the documentary,Cameron greatly recounts the storiesof creation and sheds a better light onthe age-old demands our minds aresometimes unable to comprehend.

Cameron has partnered with Lib-erty University in Virginia to create il-lustrations of the beginning stories ofthe Old Testament complete from cre-ation of man to the story of Abrahamin order to give the viewer a better per-spective of God and His handiwork.The scenes are all very well directed;however, a fair warning must be givenfor the act of the first murder betweenCain and Able because it is graphic. Asthese biblical events are reenactedCameron gives commentary andteaches how our unanswerable won-derings and God’s creation are related.

The questions addressed in thisfilm are what Cameron labels as“faith-wrecking,” because in ourhuman minds there seems to be no an-swer. Attempting to understand why

tragedy or suffering comes when weknow God can prevent them is asCameron says, “Trying to pour the en-tire ocean into this coffee cup, it justwon’t fit.” How do we then find a so-

lution? While the film progressesCameron further explains in order tofind the solution there must be a beliefthat everyone and everything has apurpose.

The motion picture also followsalong as Cameron breaks the sad newsthat a young family friend has lost hisbattle to cancer. During the documen-tary, we observe Cameron as he jour-neys to console the young boy’s familyand attend the funeral services. Al-though it may seem somewhat randomto include this situation to the film it isactually quite vital. The viewer seesand hears details of the young boy andhis family’s battles. Mindsets are thenchanged from merely inquisitive to asympathetic application to their ownlife.

When we stop to view unfortunatecircumstances of our own or others theidea that God is sovereign is as KirkCameron calls a “hard sell.” We feel asif God really doesn’t understand ourpain, confusion, or doubt, but He does.He took on human flesh and enduredan unimaginably tragic death for oursin. “I’ve already seen my God use themost horrific and tragic events in his-tory, for the greatest things in theworld,” states Cameron in the film.Therefore, we have hope in the midstof hard times. Cameron leaves the au-dience with encouraging proclama-tions such as, “I have hope that inevery tragedy in my life and in yours,every future tragedy, and every futurepain and struggle, and suffering anddeath, God can and will use thosethings for His greater glory and for ourgood. Because that’s what He’s beendoing all along!”

God is proven ‘Unstoppable’BY ASHTON RECTOR

Sta ff Writer