The Clause Blogs

By: Allyson Rodrigues

On Friday night, November 19^th, Sigma Delta Pi and students from Spanish 431 held an “Evening of Poetry.” The night consisted of students and faculty reading or performing poetry. However unbeknownst to me, all of the poems were spoken in Spanish. This was quite a surprise to me at first but I embraced it and was ready to call upon all my years of Spanish classes to help me through.

The event was slated to begin at 6:00 p.m. but at 6:30 people were still milling about enjoying the refreshments. Around 40 to 50 people filled Wilden Galleria to enjoy the night of poetry. A guitar player took the stage, which was decorated with green and white tulle, and played the audience a song before the event got underway.

There were two projectors up and when a performer took the stage, the title of the poem, who wrote it, and their name was displayed. Some of the poems words would be displayed and some had pictures that corresponded with the poem displayed.

Professor Marcela Rojas welcomed the audience and then the evening of poetry began. I unfortunately did not understand many of the poems since they were all in Spanish. However, the second poem entitled, “Piececitos” had the words in English displayed on the screens. “Piececitos” which is in English means, “little feet” was performed by Rachel Burnett. Music was playing softly behind her as she read her poem about children who are starving. Images of sick children and facts were also displayed throughout the reading. It was a very touching poem.

The rest of the night consisted of students either reading their poem or dancing. One performer danced to “La Guitarra” and another performer read a poem while others danced while she read. I do wish I understood what the poems were about but nonetheless it was beautiful evening. It was a different experience to sit in a room and listen but not understand. It was a low key event and I appreciated the art and creativity being expressed around me.

Students dance at Les Femmes!

 By Anthony Montes

Shoes? Check. Slacks? Check. Tie and coat? Check and check. It has been over two years since my last high school dance and it felt great to get back into that mood. Les Femmes was held Friday, November 12^th, on the Queen Mary this year and it was one amazing experience.

Now that it is mid-November, midterms are starting to slow and students have been in need of some fun. Les Femmes did just that and more creating memories to last a life time.

I haven’t been to the Queen Mary since I was in fifth grade and it was fun to be back. I never knew it had a dance floor and could handle such a large dance. One thing that became a problem was the ventilation. It got hot rather quickly but the outside patio helped cool those with crazy feet down.

The music was great and was conducted by the DJ who played at the, “Bring it Back” dance a month ago. He had a great and wide selection of songs that kept the energy flowing the entire night. The only real bummer of the night was paying 12 bucks to park your car, now that is just theft!

If you missed out this year be sure to go to the next one. If you have to, force a girl to ask you or simply pay her off. We all could use some cash as a college student.

By Pauline Hassan

Taking the idea of the game show and adding a twist of giving back, was APU’s new event Minute to Give It. 

Right before Midnight Madness, Trinity lawn was turned into a platform for a large crowd of students cheering on their peers to win prizes on Minute to Give It!

APU took the game show “Minute to Win It” and put a Cougar twist on it.  The game show “Minute to Win It” has contestants perform nearly impossible tasks in under a minute in order to advance to the next level and win money.  Although APU was not giving out thousands of dollars, contestants had a chance to win a fifty dollar target gift card and other cool prizes.

The twist on APU’s version of this game was that participants brought in canned goods in exchange for a ticket to go on stage to perform these tasks.  The more cans donated, the better the chances of winning was.

By Kelsey Bjugstad

Munson Chapel was full of laughter and excitement Thursday night, November 11^th for APU’s Jazz Ensemble performance. Music Department Chair Dr. Cathey introduced the band with a quote by jazz legend Duke Ellington, “Jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with.” Laughs between songs and excitement on the player’s faces after solos made the audience feel like they were part of the fun.

Just because they were having a good time didn’t mean they weren’t working hard. According to Director David Beatty, APU’s Jazz Ensemble has a great reputation, even surprising large college jazz groups with their skills.

Beatty humorously bragged about beating USC last year at the prestigious Monterey Jazz Festival. Monterey native and senior Katie Hazdovac knew of the popular festival but did not know APU’s Jazz Ensemble played and felt it was “quite an honor” because so few bands are invited to compete at the festival. She came to support a friend and was impressed with how much she enjoyed the concert.

If you are interested in hearing them perform, mark your calendars on February 13th for the ‘Swing Valentine’s Swing’ dinner-dance.

By Raquel Escoto

KAPU had their launch party on Tuesday November 9^th at Trinity lounge. Advertisements throughout the week consisted of posters, radio announcements and three male students dressed in suit and ties with black masks walking around campus to tell people about the free cookies and cider at Trinity lounge.

“The event is a launch party to raise awareness that KAPU has four stations now,” senior music composition major and KAPU general manager Austin Cross said.

The vibe to the lounge was an intimate, “jazzy” setting; with dim lights and lounge chairs facing a small platform where musical performers stood. A small lighting kit lit up the performer as he sang various songs accompanied by an acoustic guitar. Behind the performers were four banners advertising KAPU’s stations “Hits,” “Oldies,” “Christian,” and “Sports.” There was a good crowd in the room, some mingling and others enjoying the music.

To the right of the stage was a table lined with free sugar cookies with a huge poster that read “Cookie Mill.” Next to them were plastic champagne shaped cups to be filled with either apple or cherry sparkling cider.

On one side of the room were tables laid with free merchandise such as pens, Frisbees, beach balls, hats, mouse pads and even air fresheners that all promote KAPU.

According to Cross, event planning was done with freshman in mind in efforts to promote the longevity of the station.

“This event is mainly for the freshman. I knew the weather might be an issue so we did it indoors,” Cross said. “I figured the small ‘coffee shop’ theme was very successful; however since we’re doing a party, I figured we’d do the champagne knock off. We did it all on a very bargain budget.”

The new station, KAPU Oldies, which plays oldies hits all the time, will be playing Christmas classics starting November 25^th.

To listen to any four of the stations go to kapu.apu.edu to tune in.

By Lauren Belanger

Each year at the end of Global Vision week at APU, the Multi Ethic Programs office puts on the Multi Ethic fashion show. This year’s fashion show took place at the Global Fest on Friday, November 5th. Members of the APU community donate their clothes from around the world to be used at the event, and APU students volunteer to rock the runway. This year, I finally volunteered to model. I have been wanting to model at the Multi Ethnic fashion show since freshman year, and I finally did it!

Citrus Cosmetology students volunteered to do hair and make up for the models at 2:30 on Friday. So the models showed up and got dolled up for the big event! I had to work until 3:30, so I got dolled up very quickly. Then the models headed over to Trinity lawn for further instruction. The atmosphere was alive with jitters and excitement for the long awaited event. Students who work within the MEP office have been preparing for this event for a while and all their hard work was finally being fleshed out.

Around 5:40 all the models were ushered into our pop up tent changing rooms, where our assigned changing girls helped shimmy us into our cute outfits. The first shift of outfits was from the islands. I wore this awesome peach colored, embroidered robe from the Philippines. Between each set of outfits were performances from those areas of the world.

The second set of outfits was from Asia. This was my favorite section, because I got to wear these amazing metallic purple and gold harem pants from India.

The third set of outfits was from Latin countries. I didn’t have an outfit from this section, but all of the outfits were beautiful, fun and festive. Most of the girls had big, bright dresses that they flipped around and danced in down the runway.

Lastly were the African outfits. Since I studied abroad in South Africa, I was very excited about this section. My skirt was a fun, flirty, bright skirt from Nigeria. I had a lot of fun dancing down the runway in it!

“The global fest fashion show is a wonderful opportunity for different backgrounds to celebrate our diversity, enjoy various traditions and raise awareness in one event. It was a hit and I feel blessed to have been a part of it again,” Clare Berghorst junior theatre arts and music major said.

By Pauline Hassan

With a taste of flavor from every part of the world, APU celebrated culture at Global Fest Friday, November 5^th.  Trinity Lawn was turned into an outside venue which housed a stage of students displaying the many cultures of the world.

With a crowd of more than a hundred, the audience enjoyed a night of global festivities and food.

There were traditional songs and music performed by students as well as an island style dance party.  With every part of the world also came a fashion show displaying the different types of dress people wore. 

One of the performances that was a big hit was an Island dance tutorial, where students, alumni, and people who were apart of the audience participated in learning the dance. Afterwards they performed for themselves. 

One performer sang a Korean pop song that turned out to be a real crowd pleaser.

Students who participated in Global Vision Week turned in cards they had received in Monday’s chapel service with stamps from different events they had attended, which entered them in a raffle.

The prizes included gift cards, books, music, and a grand prize of international round trip flights.  The event ended Global Vision Week for APU.

By: Allyson Rodrigues

Midnight Madness took place on Thursday, November 11th. This event, which kicks off basketball season, was a night full of fun, laughter and of course basketball.

Before the madness began, students hung outside of Felix Event Center enjoying live music, $1 pizza, and free frozen yogurt from Golden Spoon.

Once the doors opened to FEC, students were greeting with loud music as they rushed to find good seats. The gym was packed with students filling both sides from floor to ceiling. Once most were seated, a video started that got the crowd hyped up and ended with, “The journey begins now.” After the video, fireworks were lit that surprised the audience with a loud BOOM!

Men’s and women’s teams were introduced. Some of the players danced their way in and as each player was introduced they threw a t-shirt out into the crowd. After the men’s team was introduced they huddled up and cheered. Blackout then taught the crowd popular cheers that are usually done at games. Both the Spirit Squad and the Acrobatics and Tumbling performed for the audience. The Acrobatics and Tumbling wowed the crowd and got everyone up on their feet with their awesome performance.

Blackout then played a short seven minute game against the women’s team. Then the winning name for our mascot was also announced, giving APU Freddy Cougar. Freshman from each team also performed a little dance for the audience.

The night ended with everybody’s favorite event, the slam dunk contest! It’s always a fun sight to see people jumping high in the air. It was an exciting night that personally has me excited for this season. Make sure you come out and support your Cougars. For game schedules go to http://www.apu.edu/athletics/basketball/mens/schedule/ and http://www.apu.edu/athletics/basketball/womens/schedule/ .