Are you ready to curl up with some hot chocolate and popcorn? It’s time to take a look at Netflix’s binge-worthy TV shows and movies. This way, the next time a “snowpocalypse” hits, you’ll be prepared with a list of worthy titles.

Camp: At first-glance, this movie may seem like a cliché, “feel-good” movie, but it’s actually a really empowering film. It follows financial advisor, Ken Matthews, who signs up to be a counselor at a summer camp for children in foster care. Ken decides to volunteer at the camp to guarantee a huge financial deal with the owner of the camp. Enter Eli: Eli is Ken’s camper who comes from an alcoholic father and a drug-abusing mother. He is an angry young boy, and Ken couldn’t be more disconnected from him. What happens when Ken is forced to have a relationship with Eli? Check out “Camp” to find out!

Malcolm in the Middle: As someone who has watched the entire series more times than most people, I can guarantee that it is a must-see. The quirkiness of Malcolm and his family is so intriguing that you can’t just watch one episode. Each episode presents a new situation that will undoubtedly be solved in an unconventional manner.

Worst Cooks in America: You’re a college student, so it’s okay if you only know how to make Ramen and macaroni and cheese — you’re better in the kitchen than these people! These hopeless cooks learn about the value of a good meal. They think that a grilled cheese is made by literally grilling cheese…without bread. It’s entertaining and enlightening all at the same time!

Remember Me: I’m not a Robert Pattinson fan by any means, but this movie is so well done. The rawness in the lead performances is something that can be very hard to capture in a film, and the ending will surprise you. If you like movies with strong, convincing leads, this is definitely a movie for you.

Pretty Little Liars: Who doesn’t like a solid mix of romance, drama, and mystery? Captivating at every turn and a modern take on the classic “whodunit,” “Pretty Little Liars” is bound to keep your attention. It’s unpredictable, and with five seasons on Netflix, it will definitely keep you entertained.

On Jan. 14th, the Episcopal Church was officially suspended from the Anglican Communion for three years. This comes after several years of conflict between the Communion and the Episcopal Church over questions about homosexuality. In 2003 Gene Robinson, an openly gay clergyman, was elected bishop of New Hampshire, and in 2015 the Episcopal Church leadership decided to allow its clergy to marry same-sex couples. These and similar decisions have set the Episcopal Church apart from the rest of the Anglican Communion, which has in general kept a more conservative stance. The latter of these decisions seems to have been the final straw, moving the Communion to suspend the Church. As a result of this decision the 1.8 million members of the Episcopal Church will not have a say in Anglican Communion decisions for three years.

Anglicanism is an expression of the Christian faith, and the Anglican Communion is the largest body of Anglicans in the world, consisting of 38 member churches and 85 million Christians. The suspension of the Episcopal Church is therefore a suspension of American Episcopals from communion with the vast majority of other Anglicans.

At the end of this three-year suspension another vote will be held by the Communion to decide whether to readmit the Episcopal Church. Jeffrey Walton, Anglican Program Director at the Institute on Religion and Democracy in Washington D.C., has stressed that while the suspension of the Episcopal Church is significant, it does not represent a rupture or tension within the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church has not been kicked out of the Communion; it has instead been suspended as result of the distance that Episcopals have formed between themselves and the Anglican Communion at large.

Some members of the Anglican community agree with this decision, while others express outrage. The latter of these think that the suspension is cruel. Many Episcopals have begun to wonder what the Anglican Communion will do about the churches that treat LGBTQ people as outsiders. Will those churches be suspended as well?

Other Anglicans in the United Sttates, who have previously separated from the Episcopal Church but not been accepted into the Anglican Communion, have wondered whether this is the opportunity for them to gain membership. Will the Anglican Church in North America, for instance, now be accepted into the Communion?

Only time will tell whether the suspension of the Episcopal Church will continue or end, and whether this will be the beginning of suspensions or unions with other churches.

Sources: religionnews.com, anglicancommunion.com

Near the end of the fall 2015 semester, Eastern University took one of the final steps in the reorganization of its layout. This included the elimination of the dance major, the French minor, and teaching positions in various departments. Already in this new semester there have been at least six significant further changes, including several major faculty changes.

There have been five major staff and faculty changes so far this semester. The first change concerned Dr. David Bronkema. Dr. Bronkema is currently the chair of the International Development Programs in the School of Leadership and Development, the Campolo College of Graduate and Professional Studies (CCGPS), and The College of Arts and Science, as well as the Associate Professor of International Development and the Templeton Chair of Christian Service Through Entrepreneurship. In addition to his current appointments, he will serve as interim Dean of the College of Biblical and Theological Studies and Ministry to his job description.

The second change concerned Dr. Harry Gutelius, an education professors. He has had many leadership roles in the Loeb School of Education throughout the past few years, and he is currently serving as interim Dean of the College of Education.

The third change concerned Dr. Trish Reger. Dr. Reger is the department chair and director of the Exercise Science program, as well as Professor of Exercise Science. She will now serve as interim Dean of the College of Health & Social Sciences.

Amy Perez, formerly Director of Advising and First-Year Programs, will serve as Assistant to the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, and Augusta Allen is now the new Director of International Student and Scholar Services.

One last significant change was the creation of the Organizational Design Oversight Committee. The ODOC has been formed to ensure that the decisions that have been made, which includes the decisions made in the fall 2015 semester, as well as new faculty changes, will be executed in a timely manner. The ODOC will communicate with the ODTF in order to carry out the actions and make sure that they are handled correctly. The ODOC will be available in case of conflict that needs to be resolved and also to promote dialogue between teams in order to keep communication open.

On Feb. 5-7, 2016 in the McInnis Auditorium, the seniors in the dance department will be presenting pieces that they have choreographed and organized. The show is split over two days, with different dancers featured on each day. On Feb. 5 at 8:00 p.m. and Feb. 6 at 3:00 p.m., the works of Katie Green, Elky Fuentes, and Emilee Carey will be featured. On Feb. 6 at 8:00 p.m. and Feb. 7 at 3:00 p.m. the works of Rachel Travis, Lydia Adams, and Rachael Lyons will be featured. This event costs $5 with your Eastern ID card ($10 for general admission and $5 for senior citizens and children), and you can see both shows with one ticket! As it may be the last senior dance concert due to departmental job losses, the dancers have fittingly titled it  “Out With A Bang.”

Preparation for the show involved a lot of time and effort from the dancers. Not only did the dancers choreograph their own pieces, they also wrote research and self-reflection pieces on their dances. The dancers were also responsible for making decisions about performers, sets, costumes, music, design, and performance lighting. They had guidance throughout this process from their senior seminar advisor, Stephen Welsh. This show gives the dancers an inside look into what goes on behind the scenes of a performance.

Each girl in the show has created a unique piece revolving around something that is deeply personal to her. Lydia Adams will be performing a piece entitled, “Tending the Garden,” which relates gardening to one’s walk with Christ. There is a lot of growth involved in gardening, as well as patience, trials, and tribulation.

Katie Green will be performing a piece entitled “Balance.” Katie is an accounting minor, so she has incorporated themes from her business classes into her performance. Another dancer, Elky Fuentes, has choreographed a piece revolving around the relationship between biology and emotion. Emilee Carey choreographed a number inspired by Shakespeare, while Rachel Travis choreographed a piece about the horrors of child abuse. Rachael Lyons choreographed a piece inspired by her favorite series, “Pirates of the Caribbean.”

The senior dance concert, “Out With a Bang,” is guaranteed to speak to people of all ages. The topics are relevant and moving. This is a way for the dance department to communicate with their audience through their talents. Feb. 5-7, 2016: Don’t forget!

On Oct. 5, students at universities in and around Philadelphia held their breath, praying that the threat of violence at a university near Philadelphia was just going to be a threat. Students skipped classes and were adamant against leaving their rooms. Some classes went as scheduled, but it was evident that the campuses as a whole were a far cry from normal.

  This threat was made on the website 4Chan, which is the United States’ version of a Japanese website entitled 2Chan. It is an anonymous imageboard site where people can post images in discussion boards and converse with others about those images. Over the last decade, 4Chan has been linked to Internet attacks, animal abuse, child pornography, counterfeiting, cyber bullying, celebrity photo leaks, a murder, and many threats of violence. One such threat was made against a school in Oregon, and was followed by the shooting that took place at Umpqua Community College.

The threat against a Philadelphia university was another such threat. It was posted online after the Oregon shooting. The anonymous poster stated, “‘On October 5, 2015 at 1:00 PM CT, a fellow robot will take up arms against a university near Philadelphia. His cries will be heard, his victims will cower in fear, and the strength of the Union will decay a little more. If you are in that area, you are encouraged to stay at home and watch the news as the chaos unfolds. His sacrifice will echo throughout the nation.”’ The message was shockingly similar to the post that announced the Oregon shooting. So one by one, colleges in and around Philadelphia began to take precautions and heighten their security in case this threat also came true.

Then, 2 p.m. came and went without incident. However, the main campus of the Community College of Philadelphia was locked down on Oct. 6 – the day after the violence was supposed to take place. A young man threatened a student with a gun and then ran into the building. The campus was locked down around 9:30 a.m., and the police caught the suspect around two hours later. The suspect did not have a gun on him when the police found him. However, witnesses say that they saw him pull a gun on the student. Witnesses also state that the suspect and the student were spotted getting into an argument before the young man pulled a gun. No gunshots or injuries were reported. This event does not seem to have a connection to the 4chan threat.

Sources: nbcphiladelphia.com, nj.com

Managing College Life

“Solitude is very different from a ‘time-out’ from our busy lives,” said Henri Nouwen, a Catholic priest and prolific writer. It can often seem like a challenge to find time for solitude when I’m trying to balance classes, extracurriculars, and my own well-being. As a college student I often feel like I barely have time to take a breath, let alone to enjoy solitude. However, finding time to step away from the hectic race that is college is one of the most valuable things I have learned in my college experience thus far.

It’s important to manage your time well in college, because if you don’t have a clear plan of when and how you’re going to do your assignments, your life will be not only busy but also stressful. If you have two essays to write and 100 pages to read, do not wait until the night before to write those essays and read your assigned reading. because then you not only have a busy night, you also have a stressful night. Busyness does not have to be associated with stress, although it is often spoken of in conjunction with stress. Scheduling and balance are key to avoiding the feeling that the only thing you are doing is schoolwork. Designate a certain amount of time for homework, and then take a break. For example, you might say, “I will work on my homework until 7 p.m., and then I will take a 30-minute break to clear my mind.”

Now the next question is, once you take that 30-minute break, how will you spend your time? Take those 30 minutes and write in a journal or spend time with God through prayer, quiet reflection, or reading scripture. Take time to reflect on what your life looks like in its current state. Spend time experiencing solitude instead of watching your favorite show on Netflix because your favorite show is merely a “time-out” from your busy life. Netflix is a temporary solution, but I find it much more beneficial to take a step back and reflect instead of just blocking everything out by watching a television show.

While solitude can be beneficial to balancing the busyness of academics, it isn’t the only fix for when it seems like you have too much going on at once. I have found extracurriculars to be one of the best parts of college. They do take up some of your time, which does, in a very literal sense, make you “busier.” However, you cannot spend 24/7 in your dorm room regardless of whether you are doing schoolwork or something else. Extracurriculars make you a good type of busy. They help you form relationships with others who are going to feel just as overwhelmed and busy as you are.

Yes, you are meant to work hard in college, but you are not meant to become so busy that busyness becomes synonymous with stress. Balancing fun and academics creates a “good busy.” Busyness only becomes a bad thing when it becomes synonymous with stress or starts to affect your well-being. That is when it is time to step back and evaluate if something has to give in order for you to be busy without being stressed. For some people this may mean they have to spend less time socializing on the weekends and more time doing work. For other people this may mean getting involved in an extra-curricular activity in order to balance their academics with fun. There is not a magical solution to managing the college schedule, because the reality of college is that you will be busy. The key is learning how to balance academics and fun in order to be a “good busy” and not let busy become synonymous with stress.

Literature: it adds to reality. It is not merely  a question of whether to read or not to read, but rather a question of what to read. It can be a challenge when there are so many different genres to choose from. The two larger categories within those genres of literature are older literature and newer literature. We might define old literature  as written before 1800 and newer literature as anything written after 1800. Despite the constant debate regarding which category is superior, both old and new literature offer something unique to the world.

When reading old literature, the reader can become immersed in a culture that is completely foreign to them. In an epic poem like “The Odyssey,” the reader can be transported to an era in which great emphasis was placed on the mythical gods and their will, which is not a familiar concept for many people in today’s society. When one reads Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Hardy, or any classical writer, not only does it give a person a glimpse into old traditions, it also gives the reader a glimpse into what values and traditions have stayed firmly planted in our culture for years. Look at any Shakespearean play: it is evident that while Shakespeare wasn’t predicting the future he did bring up topics that are still very prevalent.

Now, in the opposite corner is contemporary literature. Contemporary literature includes world-famous books and series like “The Fault in Our Stars” and “Harry Potter.” Contemporary literature takes risks by traveling into the unknown and creating magical worlds that no one will ever actually see in the flesh. Contemporary literature encourages a reader’s imagination to run wild. The opportunities are endless with everything from a magical boarding school to a tragic romance.

Old and new literature are both very important categories that are able to help a reader channel many different aspects of life, both tangible and intangible. While it may not be apparent on the surface, “Twelfth Night” by William Shakespeare is an example of an older text dealing with a recurring societal theme. However if societal themes aren’t of interest, then maybe a novel dealing with historical context like “Cry, the Beloved Country” by Alan Paton would be a better fit. In this novel, Paton writes about a father in South Africa who goes on a journey across his country and experiences some hardships, which reveals some cultural background throughout his journey.

If classic literature isn’t quite the right fit then pick up a fantasy story like “Harry Potter” and dive into a new world that one can only dream about! Of course, if both sides seem interesting, try “Sarah’s Key” by Tatiana de Rosnay, which travels back and forth between the story of a young girl and her family who are captured and taken to a Concentration camp and a young female journalist who  seeks to rewrite their story years later.

Image courtesy of Matt Wolek/The Waltonian

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