The Clause Blogs

Thick gooey caramel on my face and my clothing, holiday lights hanging low from the trees, and spaghetti and sausage between the toes on my feet, made the Shire Fall Festival experience.

The different activities at the festival left no part of fall behind.

The grass had leaves that could not be left uncrunched. Students wore their flannel shirts and sat fireside roasting marshmallows for their smores.

 The spirit of hallows eve filled Shire field. Hyper students, such as freshman nursing major Allie Baquiran, jumped up and down from either the many consumed roasted marshmallows or the excitement of taking a well-deserved study break after midterms.

After seeing the happy faces, I think students hope for more events where they can be bring out their inner child, just like they did during this festival.

By Anthony Montes

I believe it was around 10 years ago that I last trick or treated. I think after a while the idea of walking around late at night in a funny costume loses its appeal. APU instead offers a fun alternative to those who do not feel like leaving campus.

“The Event” was held in University Village on, October 29th. It was a large party filled with games, live band performances and a Pirate Cruise. The small carnival had 5-6 games. It was enjoyable but many of the “games” consisted of throwing something in a hole a few feet away. The bands that performed were actually decent, but sadly I did not catch their names as I went straight for the candy. We all deserve a little treat sometimes, especially around the time of midterms.

The other main attraction was the Pirate Cruise. It could be compared to a Hayride and surprisingly it was fun. It consisted of around nine different scenes ranging from cannibals attacking the car to pirates dancing around a double rainbow.

I did meet some fun people. I saw more than one Batman, police officers and even Lady Gaga; she is definitely a wild one.

Overall it was a fun, but rather crowded experience. This year it was decided to have both the pirate cruise and carnival at University Village. Usually the attractions are split up between University Park and UV. It was great to have both a few steps away, but the traffic caused some problems. Hopefully next year they revert to the old setting.

Now on to Thanksgiving break…

By Pauline Hassan

Open Mic Night was Thursday night, October 28^th, in front of Cornerstone Coffee Shop and Marshburn Library.  The entrance to the coffee shop was transformed into a performance stage, where many hidden talents of APU took center stage to show off serious music skills.  At around 8, the equipment was there, but there was no sign of anyone. After they sifted through technical difficulties and got everything working, the talent showed up for the night. 

The crowd grew to about 25 people in the first hour as well as students studying outside of Marshburn and those ordering drinks inside of the coffee shop. It was a great location, as students walking to and from night classes caught glimpses of the performances.

There were musicians of every sort there.  Popular songs were covered by various students, including Ne-Yo and Rihanna’s “Hate That I Love You,” as well as plenty other original pieces done by those performing.  

This was the second Open Mic Night of the year outside of Cornerstone Library.

By Raquel Escoto

On Wednesday, October 27^th, the recently formed campus club, Rethink, held their second meeting on the topic of gender. President Adam Daley, Vice President Melody Neves, and advisor Dr. Brooke Van Dam, formed the club to create an environment for students to freely discuss and debate their beliefs on all types of issues and topics.

Over 25 people, most of which were new to the club, gathered in room two of Wynn building to discuss the topic of gender. Some of the questions asked were: What are some of the perspectives on what defines gender? Is there a difference between gender and sex? And is there a difference in how Christians and secular society perceive gender? 

In response to these questions, gender specific roles and expectations were discussed and how significant they are in society. Some people pondered on how removing certain limitations could free us from the restrictions of gender specificity, but could result in further challenges for society.   

After some time, the conversation eventually steered off topic to other topics like fear, sexuality, Christianity and the Bible and it took conscious effort to return to gender.

At the end of the meeting, many of the attendees seemed visibly excited to have a club on campus where they feel comfortable to express their thoughts and ideas. According to Delay the purpose of these discussions are not to come up with a solution or have all the questions answered, but to abide by Romans 12:2 that says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

If you want to learn more about this club, or would like to participate in the next meeting, follow Rethink on twitter: www.twitter.com/rethinkapu or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/rethinkapu.

By Allyson Rodrigues

On Friday, October 22^nd, Communiversity held a 50 cent cookout for students to enjoy. The event was held from 5 to 7 p.m. at Seven Palms. When you arrived, all you had to do was pay 50 cents and they handed you a paper plate. From there you got to choose from either a hotdog or a hamburger for dinner.

When I arrived at 6p.m. there were around 40 people there. Many of them were in line and while a handful of them were enjoying their meal at the tables provided. It was a low key event with music playing softly in the back ground.

Communiversity intern Amy Pulpaneck said she was pleased with the turn out.

“It’s just meant to be a place to hang out. Most people will hang out, eat and then leave,” Pulpaneck said.

Communiversity was also selling tickets to the Les Femme dance at the event. Les Femme is a semi formal dance where the girls ask the guys. It will be held on Friday November 12^th on the Queen Mary. Tickets can be purchased for $22.

If you were looking for a way to spend your evening on Friday night then the 50 cent cookout would have been a good place to be, and how could someone go wrong with a meal for only 50 cents!

Linda King talking with audience members

The Clothes Line Project is a week long event to educate students on abuse. Tuesday October 19^th, guest speaker and president of the organization Fix the Hurt, Linda King, presented information on dating/domestic abuse. The event was held in Trinity Lounge to an audience of about 30 girls. Linda started her presentation by telling us about her daughter Lisa, a fatal victim of domestic abuse.

Linda posted a picture of Lisa as she told her story. Lisa was a sophomore in an Idaho college when she met her abuser Sam. Despite Sam’s bad past, Lisa justified their relationship as a means to change him. As time went on, Sam emotionally and physically abused Lisa. He also manipulated her to use drugs to lose weight. Eventually they got married and then divorced. After, Lisa joined her parents as they moved to Texas.

On July 1^st 2001, Sam showed up and begged Lisa to come back. A month later, Lisa was back with Sam and back on drugs. On August 31^st Linda’s last words to her daughter were, “I love you too. Be safe.” The next day, Lisa’s brother called Linda and told her Lisa had been killed.

After Linda finished her story, she put on a short video clip that documented her efforts to get justice on behalf of her daughter.

She educated the audience on the facts and myths of domestic violence, as well as the appropriate way to help an abused friend. One of the facts mentioned was one out of three girls in the room would be a victim of dating/domestic abuse. Several hands went up amongst the audience admitting they knew a friend who was abused.

The event concluded with two role playing scenarios. The first was an abused victim who cried out for help and was rejected by several people, including friends, family and religious leaders. The second scenario was the opposite, where the victim was met with appropriate services and support.

A few girls shared their opinions on the night.

“I think it’s really ironic that it’s her daughter’s birthday today. That kind of hit me more than anything else. She had the courage to come up here and stand up and speak on what she’s passionate about,” freshman applied health major, Christa Estrada said.

Freshman Jennifer Nicholas commented on what she learned from the night. “When you talk to [an abused friend], don’t try and pull them out of it. Don’t show judgment, be their support.”

If you want to learn more about Linda’s organization visit the website www.helpfixthehurt.org.