Biola University presents "Into the Woods"

http://chimes.biola.edu/content/article/2011/feb/16/biola-university-presents-woods/

With a deep voice and an elegant costume, senior Matthew Kellaway becomes Rapunzel's prince.

“It’s just that feeling,” Kellaway said. “As soon as I put on the sword, it makes me feel like royalty.”

Kellaway’s sword is one of numerous props adding to an extensive set -- much of it built by the cast -- that transports audiences to the world of Stephen Sondheim’s well-known musical, “Into the Woods,” a story about what happened after happily ever after. With an orchestra that magically came together in just two weeks of practice, costumes borrowed from a theatre company in Utah and choreography by Michele Stevens, this production is one of the most extensive the Biola Conservatory of Music has ever produced. Kellaway said he hopes it is the beginning of broader horizons for more musical theatre productions.

Production draws packed house

Along with the privilege of having two-time Grammy nominee Amick Byram as the guest director, the production boasted a sold out house for its first few performances last weekend. Cast members reached out to involve the community, putting fliers on cars outside the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and advertising the show with fliers around town.

Biola cast welcomes challenges

Distributing fliers was the least of the cast’s hard work preparing for the show. The cast spend much of the fall semester rehearsing and memorizing their parts. They met regularly to practice, with accompaniment on the piano by senior Trevor Gomes, who also plays the narrator and the Mysterious Man.

Sondheim’s music isn’t the easiest to sing, either, Kellaway said.

Junior Tyler Wigglesworth said much of Sondheim’s music is like “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” with groups singing different things at the same time and with different rhythms going at different times.

“There’s a lot of ensemble stuff you have to work together on,” Kellaway said. “Sondheim, he’s genius for what he writes.”

Guest director encourages cast to own the show

Byram joined the cast in January for a month of extensive, all-day, all-week practices. Many practices went as long as 10 hours.

“It’s been such a great rehearsal process,” said Wigglesworth, who plays Jack. “The expectation was laid before us and he really just pushed. It has been very professional.”

Wigglesworth and other cast members said they’ve learned a lot from Byram about theatre and using it for God’s glory.

“[Byram] pours in these nuggets of wisdom about being a Christian in the business,” Wigglesworth said.

Byram wanted the show to belong to the cast, Wigglesworth said.

“He knows how to get ourselves to create our own version,” Kellaway said. “He gives us an outline and lets us fill [it in]. It really is a fairy tale. Just like being kids and running around in a fantasy world.”

Singing to a cow

Wigglesworth recalled a time Byram told him to pretend he was a toddler playing patty cake with a cow. Jack, Wigglesworth’s character from the classic tale Jack and the Beanstalk, is a child at heart and is forced to grow up throughout the events of the show.

“Who would have thought I would be singing to a cow?” Wigglesworth said.

Gomes and senior Kelsey Seitz, who plays Little Red Riding Hood, also expressed their joy in taking on more silly characters.

“The Mysterious Man, he’s a nut who has lived in the woods for most of his life and is one with the vines and the trees,” Gomes said. “I let myself go, slouched, was awkward and dangly. The Narrator is straight-laced Masterpiece Theatre. It’s just reading more than anything. I take a deep breath, relax, and I’m the Narrator.”

“Into the Woods” offers a little bit of something for everyone

“[Sondheim] goes beyond the surface level and dives into a lot of characters and what they’re really made of,” Kellaway said. “He gives the audience exactly what they need, to feel the way they need to feel.”

“[The plot] is sophisticated, very clever, even slapstick,” Gomes said. “The music is gorgeous, a genre of its own, so well written and bordering on classical.”

Kellaway said he thinks everyone can come away with something, whether a life lesson or just laughs.

“It has a great cast, set, costumes, and an amazing director,” Kellaway said.

UCLA study explores cause and effect of college stress

http://chimes.biola.edu/content/article/2011/feb/16/ucla-study-explores-cause-and-effect-college-stres/

The emotional health of college freshmen was at it lowest in 2010, according to a recently released University of California Los Angeles study.

Conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute of UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, the survey was part of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program. Over 200,000 freshmen from just under 300 colleges were surveyed for the study, which found that only 51.9 percent of those surveyed ranked themselves among the top emotionally healthy students in their class, compared to the 63.6 percent of students who were surveyed 25 years ago.

Mental health awareness needed

“It is an important topic to be aware of, because it could lead to mental and physical symptoms,” director of Student Health Services Kristin Phelps said.

Phelps said such symptoms include headaches, weight gain, chronic digestive disorders, fatigue, increases blood pressure, insomnia, teeth grinding in sleep, general irritability, reoccurring feeling of hopelessness, depression and anxiety and low self esteem.

Dangers of college stress

Sophomore Julie Brown said she believes stress often affects the mental and emotional health of a student.

“[Stress] shuts you down, and when you try do work, you can’t focus,” Brown said.

Brown and sophomore Emily Irwin said they understand that freshman deal with more stress than they were used to in high school.

“There’s a lot more pressure when you’re at college,” Irwin said. “You have to act more responsibly. Now that I’m a sophomore, I know how to handle it.”

Irwin said she still is “insane” during the first few weeks of classes every semester.

The UCLA study also found that female students were less likely to rank themselves with high levels of emotional health than male students, with a 13.2 percentage-point difference.

Job market and economy impacting stress levels

The study also noted the role of a poor economy and high unemployment in student stress levels. It reported that 4.9 percent of students surveyed said their fathers were unemployed and 8.6 percent said their mothers were unemployed.

“There’s a lot more competition today,” Irwin said. “The economy, the lack of jobs.”

Phelps agreed and cited the economy, money concerns, increase in student loans and debts, school responsibilities and extra-curricular activities as possible causes for the rise in stress.

“Students are coming in with less coping skills,” Phelps said.

Technological speed of society unhelpful

West said the fast-paced nature of today’s society may affect students’ stress.

“Technology has gotten more developed,” West said. “People are generally being more productive, efficient. There’s a need to keep up with that. I assume that begins at the college level.”

West also said a lack of relationships in the technological world could lead to more emotional stress, and recommended students stay connected with friends.

Philip Lewis, a staff psychiatrist at the Student Health Center, agreed.

“I believe there is broad agreement on the fact that there has been a steady rise in mental health problems in the college-age population over the past several decades,” Lewis said. “The most probable reason is the steady deterioration of the nuclear family. In the absence of the security engendered by a loving, stable family environment, students find themselves unprepared to face the stresses of academic challenges in a new environment.”

Preparation and time management key

Lewis said the academic challenges are equally real.

“High school does little to prepare many for the demands of college-level courses,” Lewis said. “This is undoubtedly a stress-producing factor.”

West said that the degree of stress depends on how students go about handling course work.

“[But] the biggest concern, [especially on a Christian campus], is spiritual health,” West said.

"Into the Woods" tells stories

http://chimes.biola.edu/content/article/2011/feb/10/woods-weaves-serious-and-humor/

Once upon a time, the Biola Conservatory of Music decided to change routes, veering off its regular path of an opera production to take a trip “Into the Woods” of musical theater.

Musical spins a twist on a classic

Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” isn’t far off from an opera, however. Characters spend the majority of the show singing (in English, of course) with very little time in dialogue, while the plot includes dramatic elements found in many operas. Such elements leave Sondheim fans equally pleased and surprised at Biola’s choice for a musical.

With cheating princes, two babies born after undisclosed activities in Rapunzel’s tower–– but still implied–– and other questionable situations, the woods hold far more than a pristine, ever-after ending. In fact, the entire second act takes place after the “happily ever after” we all know from classic fairy tales including Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Jack and the Beanstalk, with a quick glimpse of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White.

"Woods" moments relate to real life

Upon second look, however, these “moments in the woods” are the very moments of real life. Sondheim, who also wrote the recent musical made into a film “Sweeney Todd,” has a talent for looking into the souls of men and women, portraying the struggles of life on stage in a way that makes his audience think hard about their own lives. Any Christian would do just as well to think about the Christian response to such struggles. The Bible never promises the perfect life. Neither do the fairy tales in “Into the Woods.”

The show focuses on how people deal with their journeys. While the first act contains familiar characters and stories, the plot goes beyond the books. It tells viewers about the Baker and his wife, who gave the magic beans to Jack in exchange for his white cow. They need the cow to help undo a spell placed on the Baker, one that makes his family barren. The Baker acquired the beans from his father, who stole them from the Witch next door. The Witch took her revenge by taking the Baker’s sister, Rapunzel, and raising her as her own. As the Baker and his wife go “into the woods” to undo the spell, they run into Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and other characters.

In the second act, characters are forced to journey back to the woods, after the giant’s wife comes to take her revenge on Jack for killing her husband. The princes are after new princesses, the stepsisters are on their way to a secret hideout, the Baker and his wife have to take care of their new baby and help Little Red Riding Hood and Jack through the woods, and all while the Witch tries to find a way to appease the giant. Meanwhile, Little Red Riding Hood and Jack struggle to cope with the deaths of family. Anyone who has lost a loved one will be especially moved by the “No One is Alone” quartet that Red and Jack sing with the Baker and Cinderella.

Lighter moments balance out the play

In addition to the more serious moments, “Into the Woods” has plenty of humor to balance the mood, and the cast does an outstanding job of lighting up the stage. The evil stepsisters ham it up; the princes agonize over their inability to find the women they love; and Little Red Riding Hood just loves her sweet pastries.

Though young, the cast impresses

For such a young cast, the singers do a great job with the odd beats and discordant tones that make Sondheim’s music difficult to sing. While not one voice is miscast, the Narrator (Trevor Gomes) and Jack (Tyler Wigglesworth) stand out the most with their silly faces and melodramatic characterizations. The Baker (Arnold Geis) and his wife (Kristen Tucker) fit their parts so perfectly, its hard to imagine them any other way. And the Witch (Danielle Evans) is so animated, you never know what to expect.

The costumes enhance, and sometimes outshine, the sets and characters of the show. From the Witch’s wart-covered face to the wolf’s long snout, it would seem no expense was spared in these extravagant clothes. And, as always, the bad guys get all the best costumes.

Unfortunately, the noisy sets sometimes overpower the actors and distract from the action. Transitions between scenes and a few stagings, such as the witch’s disappearance, can also slow and awkward. Despite these drawbacks, the sets make full use of the small stage space. Rafters transport viewers to towers and the tops of trees. The rafters look a little out of place, but thanks to their lush, green surroundings, they serve their purpose without detracting too much from the overall effect.

The first few rows of the auditorium were removed to accommodate a bigger stage as well, allowing for the edition of an orchestra. Backing up the show, the full orchestra plays behind the sets and a mesh screen, a nice change from the typical piano-driven opera production. And audience members will enjoy the small glimpses of players they receive during set changes.

The ticket prices of $15 for students, faculty, staff and senior citizens or $20 general admission may be too high for some, but is well worth it to see Biola’s production of “Into the Woods.”

Talbot and parking construction continue despite delays

http://chimes.biola.edu/content/article/2011/feb/09/construction-delays/

Parking and Talbot construction have fallen behind after a rainy winter and delays with city agencies.

Talbot building delayed two months

According to Ken Bascom, senior director of Facilities Planning and Construction, construction of the East Talbot building will not finish until Sept. 15, and fall classes are currently being scheduled without the building in mind. The building originally had a July 14 finish date, which was later shifted to Aug. 15. The projected finish date has now been shifted to September because of delays with Los Angeles County and because of what Bascom called the rainiest December in a long time.

Parking structure on target for fall

Similar delays with government agencies have slowed construction of the $8 million parking garage replacing Lot I near the baseball field. The garage currently under construction was placed between the baseball field and the pool with commuters in mind, Bascom said.

“We still feel we’re in a good position to be finished [with the garage] for the first day of classes in the fall,” Bascom said. “The only thing that could hurt us now is if we had an extremely wet spring.”

According to Bascom, La Mirada requires Biola to comprise 676 spaces for every 1,000 full time students.

“Right now we are below that requirement,” Bascom said. “The city knows that. We talked to the city when economic problems happened [in 2008]. We will have far more than required next fall.”

Traffic redirected through campus

Meanwhile, students are greeted by detours and “watch for traffic” signs by Horton, Hope and the Caf.

Bascom said the university has tried over the years to redirect traffic to the outer parts of campus in order to clear up other paths at the core of campus for students to walk on without worrying about cars.

“When I was a student here, vehicles could drive right by the bells,” Bascom said.

La Mirada has also tried to redirect traffic. Bascom said the city currently requires parking garages be built on the east side of campus to direct traffic onto La Mirada Avenue rather than Biola Avenue. Consequently, the next parking garage in the works, which Bascom said is a long way off in the future, will be next to the Alpha Chi dorm.

Temporary parking lot and off campus parking helps

Bascom encouraged students to use the temporary parking lot next to the fields near McNally. The lot adds 99 parking places.

“Students are just now figuring out about the temporary parking lot,” Bascom said. “At 1 p.m. Monday [the first day of classes] there were only three vacant spots.”

In addition to making the temporary parking lot available, Biola is compensating employees for parking off campus. According to Bascom, 80 employees are signed up to park at the La Mirada City Hall, 35 faculty and staff are signed up to park at Trinity Baptist Church, and 25 faculty and staff are signed up to park at the former Lutheran church up the street from Biola. Biola has also reserved a row of parking spaces under the soccer field for employees who sign up to park there. Bascom said Biola asked those who signed up for the spaces to come in groups, husband and wife, friend with friend.

Faculty spaces needed

“We have far fewer faculty and staff spaces than we have faculty and staff that need them,” Bascom said. “We get several requests a year to increase the number of faculty and staff spaces. We’ve resisted that for a long time.”

Biola has 301 parking spaces reserved for faculty and staff, though there are 900.

Bascom said finishing the new parking garage in time for the fall semester will be a close call, but there is additional money the university can use on overtime and other special measures as a last line of defense to speed construction. The money for the garage comes from some institutional funds put aside without a specific purpose in mind and Auxilary Services room and board funds that Auxilary Services will pay back eventually. The internal payment allows the university to keep all loans internal.

Dreaming about future projects

While current construction continues, Bascom said the university is still looking to the future, working on updating the university plan that involves tearing down single story buildings like Marshburn Hall to build multi-level buildings with basements and selling the Grove modules after all buildings on the plan are finished.

The university plan also includes the Arts and Science building and a multi-purpose building. Bascom said University Planning wants to make the building either an events center or a fine arts performing center. The building will need to hold at least 5,000 people. It would wrap around three parking lots near the Bookstore and Soubirou and would require the music and worship building to be torn down.

“It’s behind other buildings [like the Arts and Science building] in priority, no higher than fifth on priority lists,” Bascom said.

Great CA Shakeout at Biola

http://chimes.biola.edu/content/article/2010/oct/25/biola-safety-quake-californi/

As part of the Great California ShakeOut, La Mirada held its annual earthquake drill at Biola’s Facilities Services building last Thursday.

“Every year they choose a specific location,” said Carissa Brooks, emergency operations manager for Campus Safety. “This year, they chose us. It’s exciting for us.”

Participating alongside the city

In past years, Biola participated in the state-wide ShakeOut by holding emergency preparedness meetings and having practice dorm evacuations. Such activities were done with little contact with the city, but, this year, Biola held an actual drill side-by-side with the city.

“It’s different being able to work with outside agencies,” Brooks said. “Communicating, building that relationship; that aspect is really huge. We have a strong working relationship [with the city, but the] fire department, we don’t have them come out as often.”

Working with other teams

“It gives us a chance to work with their emergency response team in a real type situation,” said Justin Shelby, public information officer for Campus Safety. “We learn an awful lot just from the way they handle the disaster.”

Held on the morning of Oct. 21, the drill involved Campus Safety, Biola staff and La Mirada emergency response teams acting as they would if a 7.8 earthquake occurred. Volunteers planted in the Facilities building pretended to have been injured and trapped by an earthquake, and Campus Safety employees, city response teams and the La Mirada fire department responded to the scene with medical assistance and search and rescue. The inside of the Facilities building was also prepped to appear and sound like a real earthquake had happened, Shelby said.

Simulating realistic appearances

“It was a lot more realistic than I expected it to be,” Shelby said. “They did a lot of work trying to make it look like there’d actually been an earthquake, sound effects, lighting. It looked kind of like a disaster area.”

Shelby said the broad purpose of having such a realistic drill is emergency preparedness. Brook’s position came out of Campus Safety’s decision to focus on preparedness.

“The better Campus Safety can do its job, the more students can focus on being students,” Shelby said. “This is also a good opportunity to put the focus on what are you, yourself, going to do during an emergency. It’s so we can come up with a good plan.”

Planning for emergency

Although such plans are never set in stone, Campus Safety has made a continual effort to have plans, or guidelines and checklists, as Shelby called them, in place to give them a place to start and to remind them of their job in the event of a real emergency.

Campus Safety chief John Ojeisekhoba said Campus Safety employees receive “tactical map books” that give them such guidelines. Campus Safety has also partnered with Auxiliary Services and Facilities Services to buy three storage sheds for emergency supplies. According to Brian Phillips, senior director of operations for Facilities Services, the sheds cost about $25,000 each. One shed contains three days worth of food and water supply that won’t expire for another five years. Campus Safety calculated how many students would stay on campus in the event of an earthquake, Ojeisekhoba said, and purchased $11,000 worth of food, about 3,000 meals ready to eat.

The other sheds contain about $13,000 worth of supplies, Ojeisekhoba said. The second shed contains Facilities supplies such as regenerators, power tools and lanterns that can be used in major situations such as an earthquake or a power outage like the one that occurred last spring. The third shed has supplies for the Health Center that include IV bags, bandages, wheelchairs, stretchers, and other medical supplies.

Such supplies would be needed if a high magnitude earthquake occurred, an event which Brooks said is highly possible.

Keeping Biola safe

Brooks said last week’s drill was an important part of keeping Biola safe, especially in light of Biola’s earthquake-prone location.

“A lot of people have never been in an earthquake,” Brooks said. “The reality of being in one in four years at Biola is pretty big. We’re not taking this lightly.”

According to Brooks, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake is more than likely in the next 30 years.

“You’d be silly to think that it’s not going to happen at some time,” she said. “The reality of an earthquake hitting in our lifetime is something [scientists] are all virtually convinced of.”

Southern California lies on top of several faults, including the San Andreas fault. According to a 2007 Southern California Earthquake Center forecast, California has a 99.7 percent chance of having an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 or higher in the next 30 years. The likelihood of an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 or higher in the next 30 years is 46 percent.

Thanks to drills like the one Biola hosted last week, Campus Safety would be prepared if a major earthquake shook Biola.

Shelby said he was pleased with how the drill went overall.

“It went really well,” he said. “We had good participation both from our staff, La Mirada public safety, and other agencies.”

Pre-law dinner introduces new minor

http://chimes.biola.edu/content/article/2010/oct/08/pre-law-dinner/

Last week’s pre-law dinner introduced about 35 students interested in pre-law to four guest attorneys, as well as to the new pre-law minor, which is available for the first time this year.

Attorneys Josh Phelps, Alicia Dewey, Kevin Lewis and Riley Todd spoke on the evening of Sept. 29 about their own experiences and talked about how to survive as a Christian in the world of law. Hosted by the department of history, political science and social science, the dinner has been held every other year in the past without the minor, but was held for the second year in a row this year, according to Dave Peters, pre-law advisor and professor of political science.

Interest in pre-law has grown over the years, Peters said, warranting the implementation of an annual dinner and a full pre-law minor.

“There were those that felt that we needed to have something delineated, identified; something we could recommend as a good foundational basis for entry into law school,” Peters said.

Biola’s pre-law minor launched this year

The new minor, which has been in the works for at least 10 years, includes a maximum of 18 units. Students can choose from pre-existing courses such as Colonial Period American Revolution, American Democratic, Rise of Modern America, U.S. Since 1920, Economics, American Constitutional Law and Studies in Political Science. Peters said additional recommended classes may be supplemented as well.

Peters emphasized that anyone could enter law school with any degree, but said many parents of prospective students look for a college with a specific pre-law program. The need to bring in new students warranted the creation of a pre-law minor. While there is no pre-law major, Peters said the pre-law minor can work with any major.

Junior Steven Haddadian is one such case. Haddadian, a marketing major, said he wants to get his law degree for entertainment.

“[Law schools] want your mind to be a clean slate and they want to be able to train you in the manner that they have in mind,” Peters said. “You could be a biology major, sociology major, any kind of major.”

Students excited about the new minor

Students at the pre-law dinner, however, expressed their gratitude for the introduction of a pre-law minor.

Junior Havilah Steinman and freshman Bre Phillips said they’re considering becoming pre-law minors.

“They’re preparing us for law school, teaching us to read, think and analyze,” said junior, pre-law minor Sarah Jurkiewicz.

Steinman said she would like to attend law school and felt the pre-law dinner helps her and other students prepare for law school.

“It’s a great place to network and make connections to get there,” Steinman said. Peters agreed. The minor assures a certain degree of preparation in logic, reasoning, and other areas needed to succeed in pre-law, he said. It also prepares students to be Christians in pre-law, which is why Peters invited only Christian attorneys to speak at the dinner.

Law a divine calling for Christians

“Law school is a very liberal institution,” said Todd, who currently works in the L.A. county district attorney’s office. “Go in as a conservative, you won’t be having tons of friends on Facebook.”

Even in a liberal environment, there is still something to be held accountable to and a reason, as a Christian, to hold others accountable for their actions. Law provides a way bring justice, Lewis said.

“The Bible is divided into law and gospel,” said Lewis, who has his own law firm with his brother. “Both are divine callings because God hates sin, and you can help right a wrong. You’re doing justice.”

Dewey, who is also a history professor at Biola, said Christian integrity also plays a part in law.

“I think integrity is probably the most important opportunity for a lawyer,” Dewey said. “It’s a critical character quality to have. You have to be strong. You can minister to a person.”

Peters said he thought the dinner was successful.

“Students were asking meaningful questions and getting honest answers,” Peters said. “People were there until 10 [p.m.] staying and talking to panelists.”

Enrollment cap

http://chimes.biola.edu/content/article/2010/oct/06/biola-enrollment-cap/

Biola on-campus enrollment is coming close to the school’s set students limit with 4,878 “full-time equivalent” (FTE), on-campus students, according to final fall 2010 enrollment numbers released by Biola Institutional Research.

“There are procedures for increasing that [FTE] limit, and we are now considering whether we want to apply for an increase,” said Ken Bascom, senior director of facilities planning.

This fall, 3,907 undergraduates are attending Biola along with 1,239 total graduate students. According to Biola Institutional Research, this year’s incoming class marks the school’s largest incoming class ever, with 909 freshmen, 328 transfers and 56 reapplications, while a total of 2,614 continuing students are currently attending Biola.

With enrollment numbers so high, Biola is well on its way to growing beyond the set cap on full-time students allowed on campus. According to Bascom, that cap includes “full-time equivalent” students physically attending the 95-acre campus, although there is no limit on the number of students Biola can enroll worldwide. There are 6,123 Biola students worldwide this fall.

Set enrollment cap limits growth

“The cap is in place so that we can maximize our space without compromising the educational enterprise,” said André Stephens, senior director of undergraduate Admissions. “Biola will continue to work with city officials to determine the number of students we can enroll given the size of our current facilities and parking. Our growth up to this point is under the cap that has been set.”

Biola set the cap in the late 1990s when enrollment was about 3,200, Bascom said. It allowed city experts to create an Environmental Impact Report, which the State of California requires. The enrollment cap became law in a city ordinance in March 2005. The ordinance was part of a master plan developed by Biola.

“When the City Council approved our master plan, that approval was done in the form of a La Mirada city zoning ordinance,” Bascom said. “They classify our campus as a ‘Planned Unit Development.’ The standard procedure for any PUD in the city is that the development plan, or master plan, becomes a city ordinance.”

Sophomore Stephanie McEachen said she thinks Biola should be allowed to grow beyond the cap.

“But that means that the campus needs more space to put those students,” McEachen said.

Enrollment cap does not affect campus construction

Bacom said the cap on enrollment does not affect the physical growth of the Biola campus.

“Biola has several hundred thousand square feet of buildings that it can build without any problem,” Bascom said. “These have already been approved by the city; they are just awaiting donor funds. These include Talbot West, the Center for Science and Health, and the Center for the Arts. These three buildings would add about 250,000 square feet to the instructional space on campus; that is equivalent to more than eight Sutherland Halls.” Bascom said that Biola has permission to build several more buildings beyond the ones he listed. In reaching its enrollment limit, Biola would still be able to expand in building square footage.

“We have a total of nearly 400,000 [sq. ft.] of future building space that we are approved to build under our current plan,” Bascom said. “Most of this space is entirely new buildings rather than remodeling of old buildings.”

Biola continuing recruiting efforts

Despite the cap on enrollment, Admissions will continue to recruit new students, Stephens said. Ongoing efforts include Admissions staff recruiting locally and out of state, campus preview events and tours, student ambassador blogs, the Biola Ethnic Advancement Team visiting local churches and schools, and using Facebook as well as other online marketing efforts.

“I can't say that there is ‘one’ thing that we are doing differently that has made the difference for students choosing to attend Biola,” Stephens said. “However, I do think some of our social networking marketing efforts (specifically on Facebook) has helped, as well as the effort we made to pursue students who fit the Biola profile who initially did not respond to our letters. Biola's reputation in the marketplace as a strong, Christian university with stellar academics resonates with students and families as well.”

Freshman Andrew Cleary said his positive experience with Admissions was part of his decision to attend Biola.

“Admissions was great,” Cleary said. “My counselor did a great job of checking up on me and was genuinely interested in what I was doing.”

Sophomore Cydney Sinner said the community influenced her decision to attend Biola.

“I love this campus,” Sinner said. “I love how everybody comes from different backgrounds of church and can talk about it in a mature manner, and I’ve never been so involved with people just caring about you.”

Stephens also acknowledged the role of a positive community in bringing students to Biola.

“We know that Biola is successful not because of the work that we do, but because of the work of the entire campus community making it a place where students desire to come,” Stephens said. “Obviously, God is the one who directs our paths, so we trust that He is bringing in the increase.”

LA experiences record heat

http://chimes.biola.edu/content/article/2010/sep/28/los-angeles-record-heat/

Despite record high temperatures in the Los Angeles area this week, Biola students say the generally good weather of Southern California remains an attractive feature of the campus.

“It’s amazing,” senior April Gregory said. “I didn’t realize how perfect it’d be [until I got here].”

While Facebook statuses and local news outlets reported Monday’s record high temperatures, Newsweek recently named Biola one of the top “25 Great Schools With Great Weather.” Ranked at 23, Biola is one of three Christian colleges on Newsweek’s list, along with Westmont College and Pepperdine University. Several of the schools listed are in California, including Stanford University, UC Berkeley, UC Los Angeles, UC San Diego and Chapman University. Arizona State University came in at number one.

“I would agree with that assessment,” senior Hannah Tyer said of Newsweek’s decision to highlight Biola’s “perfect” weather. “We have very few bad days. It’s an appealing part of Biola. But I’m biased. I like the heat.”

According to Newsweek, Biola has an average temperature of 63 degrees, with an average of 186 sunny days and only 35 rainy days per year.

Monday was not so pleasant when temperatures hit a record high of 112 degrees in La Mirada, according to Weather Underground. At 113 degrees at 12:15 p.m., Downtown Los Angeles melted in the hottest temperatures since the National Weather Service began keeping records in 1877. The new record was one degree above the previous record of 112 degrees, recorded on June 26, 1990.

“Yes, I’d say Biola has good weather on any other day but today,” sophomore Francis Jones said while sitting near Fluor Fountain on Monday. “Today is one of those days when you stay inside. But generally, I don’t have to worry about snow or rain. I don’t recall it ever raining to the point where we weren’t able to go to class. And it’s nice to sit out and feel the breeze.”

The second floor of Sutherland perhaps took the heat the hardest. Facilities Services was already aware of air conditioning failures there, but [Monday’s] temperatures made the failures even clearer, said Chris Reyes, manager of environmental systems. Overall, however, Reyes was pleased with how the systems held up in the heat.

“We did not have any problems meeting the demand of the campus,” he said. “It was really to its max, but we were able to hold it.”

The systems in place at Biola and La Mirada as a whole are not designed to handle heat that extreme, he explained. But it isn’t economical to purchase massive fail-safe systems to meet once-in-a-century demands, Reyes said.

“We had angels around our equipment,” he added.

Sports teams also suffered from the high temperatures.

“It was hot, stupid hot,” freshman DJ Schwab said. “I had baseball practice outside and half the guys on the team almost passed out from dehydration.”

Other students, like freshman Lety Trujillo, said they enjoy the heat. Trujillo said the heat still kept her indoors Monday, however.

“I made sure I brought a water bottle to stay hydrated,” Trujillo said. “I stayed indoors to study and drank water the whole day.”

According to the Student Health Center, Trujillo had the right idea.

“In general, students should stay in an airconditioned room when temps are 111,” Kristin Phelps, director at the Student Health Center, said. “Or stay in a room with window blinds pulled with portable fans going. If outside stay cool by sitting, working, eating and taking a break in the shade during the hottest hours of the day.”

Phelps also suggested students wear wide-brimmed hats to shade their faces and necks. A portable hand fan or a wet bandana or scarf tied around the forehead can help avoid heat stress, Phelps said.

“Drink plenty of fluids like water, gatorade, or a drink with electrolytes,” Phelps said. “One can also suck on ice chips.”

Phelps also gave advice for athletes and those with respiratory problems on warm days. “If it is hot and the air quality is bad those students with heart disease, asthma or other respiratory disease should minimize outdoor activities and stay in an air conditioned room if possible,” Phelps said. “It is advised that students with respiratory disease or heart disease should not participate in P.E. or outdoor physical activity and should stay indoors as much as possible.”

Students examine the ethics of abortion

http://chimes.biola.edu/content/article/2010/sep/21/ethics-abortion/

Pro-life supporter Scott Klusendorf gave students key arguments against abortion Friday night at a class sponsored by the Biola apologetics department.

“You never want to be on the pro-choice side and have to debate this guy,” comparative religion and apologetics professor Craig Hazen said, introducing the night’s speaker.

About 25 students attended the three-day class, which was offered to the general public, graduate students, and undergraduate students for a $95 fee. The class was also recorded and is available for purchase through the Apologetics office. It will eventually be placed on iTunes University for free viewing.

Klusendorf was one of two speakers for the class entitled “Ethics at the Edge of Life.” Scott Rae, a professor of philosophy of religion and ethics at Biola, spoke at the Thursday and Saturday sessions. Rae brought light to controversies over reproductive technologies and end of life issues, while Klusendorf spent Friday night discussing stem-cell research and abortion.

“I think people are unprepared in situations like infertility or maybe someone thinking about [getting an] abortion, and how they answer them and guide them in what to do,” science and religion graduate student Noelle Delacruz said. “I want to be able to answer questions for people in my church and be a go-to person for them when it’s not being talked about.”

The basics of the abortion debate

Klusendorf said the abortion issue comes down to two questions: Is truth true? And what is it that makes a person valuable?

Several years ago, Nick Cannon wrote a song in which he imagined himself in his mother’s womb, pleading with her to make the right choice, to not “go through with the knife incision.” Klusendorf said people became critical of the song, challenging Cannon’s right to claim to know what would be right for his mother. Such criticisms show the popular assumption that truth is subjective.

Illustrating his second question on the value of life, Klusendorf told students about a time he met a mother in a park who said she was against abortion, but was glad it was legal because she didn’t think it right to impose her view on others. Klusendorf asked her why she opposed abortion, and she replied that she opposed abortion because it kills babies.

“If I hear you correctly, you oppose abortion, but you think it should be legal to kill babies,” Klusendorf said he told her. “‘You know what?’ [she told me,] ‘I’ve never thought of it that way, and it doesn’t sound good when you take the spin off it.”

Approaching the pro-choice position

Klusendorf said it’s important to clarify the issue as he did that day in the park.

“The abortion issue is not complex,” Klusendorf said. It is a matter of “what is the unborn? And can I kill the unborn?”

People who are pro-choice assume that the unborn are not human, Klusendorf said. He encouraged students to look for the assumptions in pro-choice arguments and to “trod out the toddler,” a technique Klusendorf said he uses in his debates.

“Your first words have to be, ‘I have a two year old in front of me,’” Klusendorf said, explaining that a baby in the womb is no different than a two year old.

A parent might want to execute his child in order to save money to pay the bills, but he can’t do that, Klusendorf said. Why? Because the child is human. The moral issue cannot be reduced to a matter of preference.

Responding to common arguments

Klusendorf also rebutted several common arguments that seek to prove the embryo is not yet human.

Many claim that the embryo’s ability to become twins several days after fertilization proves an embryo cannot be a whole human being. Klusendorf said a flat worm cut in two becomes two worms, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a living whole before it was cut. A twin can also be formed of any grown human, but that does not make the original not human.

Klusendorf said the high number of miscarriages cannot be counted as proof that an embryo is not human, either.

“Does it follow that because they die sooner rather than later they were never whole living beings?” Klusendorf asked. “Does it follow that because nature kills, I may deliberately kill [a baby]?”

Klusendorf also pointed out the difference between a car, which is constructed from the outside by parts, and an embryo, which has an inner nature that drives its development.

“From the earliest stages of development, the unborn are distinct, living and whole human beings,” Klusendorf said. “The sperm and egg are only part of a being. The embryo is a whole, living entity.”

Klusendorf said that, in addition to clarifying the issue and answering objections persuasively, Christians should teach and equip others on the issue.

“I think it is one of the issues that is important and timely, an issue that Christians often times don’t have answers to,” graduate apologetics student Rob Baird said. “[Klusendorf] is able to instill confidence in us to present evidence as efficiently and effectively as we can.”