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The King’s College April 20, 2012
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Associate’s Degree Next Step for King’s Online Education
By Meagan Clark
Empire State Building, NEW YORK–
Remember when President D’Souza
announced the possibility of offering
a King’s degree online? He wasn’t
kidding.
King’s Online may offer Associates of Arts degrees if approved by
the New York State Education Dept.
and the Middle States Commission
on Higher Education, according to
Interim Provost Calvin White.
“As proposed, the online A.A. will
require 16 of TKC’s Common Core
courses, plus four electives,” White
said. The full list of course options
has not yet been announced.
The A.A. would also feature a one
week visit to the King’s campus in
May, between students’ first and
second years. Students planning to
transfer to the King’s campus after
the two years would be required to
attend. The week may include opportunities to interact with professors,
an introduction to the city, activities
planned by Student Development
and assessment tests.
White says it’s “hard to determine”
exactly when the online A.A. could
become an accredited option. After
proposing the program to the accreditors, King’s must demonstrate
By Celina Durgin
Financial District, NEW YORK—
Residence Life has intensified its
search for additional blocks of apartments to accommodate the growing
student body, hoping to secure new
housing within a 10-12-block radius
of the New York Stock Exchange.
“The intuitive deadline for finding
new housing is Aug. 2013,” Dan Wo-
erner, Director of Student Life, said.
According to Shelli Cline, Assistant
Dean of Students, the ideal situation would be to house the whole
campus in a single building, but that
situation does not seem plausible.
The school has canvassed the
downtown area for buildings, mostly
those with one-bedroom apartments
in the style of The Vogue and the
Herald Towers. Residence Life is not
currently touring buildings with studio apartments like the Clark Street
housing. So far, little looks promising.
Woerner said the increased quantity of housing demanded in the
downtown area limits the availability
of apartments within the $3,000-permonth rent range. “The Financial District is beginning to revitalize itself. It
has been long enough after 9/11, so
a lot of businesses are moving back,
Story Continued on Page 7
King’s online students traveled to the campus to attend Interregnum. Submitted
photo.
Residence Life Team Hunts for New Housing
King’s cannot reserve any more apartments in the Herald Towers. Photo by Celina
Durgin.
Staff:
Editor-in-Chief: Meagan Clark
Managing Editor: Celina Durgin
Layout Editors: Robert Punchur and
Carly Calhoun
Section Editors:
News Editor: Rebecca Jacobson
Features Editor: Robert Punchur
Opinion Editor: Nicole Bianchi
City Editor: Carly Calhoun
Entertainment Editor: Katie Hay
an ability to offer quality education
online.
King’s Online started in spring
2010 with three classes and 10 students, hosted through the student
portal. Last spring, students could
take a full semester of classes online.
This year King’s Online (which may
change names to King’s Worldwide)
began offering one full year of Common Core courses. Other options
include high school dual enrollment
and elective credit.
According to online coordinator
and King’s alumna Bria Sanford, 20
students took classes online this
year. The same admission standards
apply to online students as campus
students, and the demographics of
both categories closely resemble
each other.
“We’re gradually expanding,” Sanford said. “[King’s Online] is in such
a developmental stage right now it
needs to be small.”
Sanford has been talking to online
Story Continued on Page 6
TKC Hopes
to Sign New
Lease Friday
By Meagan Clark
& Rebecca Jacobson
Financial District, NEW YORK–
King’s hopes to sign a 12-year lease
for the new campus space near Wall
Street on Friday, April 20, according
to Chief Executive Officer Duanne
Moeller. If signed, the move would
begin June 1 and take an estimated
three weeks.
King’s would occupy the fifth and
sixth floor and part of the ground
floor lobby of the new building, as
well as one floor in an adjacent building connected by a walkway. The
new space features 12 classrooms
that seat 20-45 students each, a
cafeteria, a 200-person auditorium, a
1,000-person auditorium that King’s
may use a few times a year and 8,000
Contributing Reporters:
square feet for faculty offices. There is
Meagan Clark
Carly Calhoun
no gym.
Celina Durgin
Katie Devorak
Moeller says the Internet in the
Rebecca Jacobson Nathan Deardorff new building would be “much more
Tiffany Klinger
Jack Cuidon
reliable.” The bandwidth to the camCori O’Connor
Emily Collins
pus would increase from 6 MB to 100
Robert Punchur
Katie Hay
MB.
News
1
Strumming into Stardom: Chambers Brothers’ Music Debut
contacts with a few bands and will
cess, the brothers write separately or by taking violin lessons for four
By Tiffany Klinger
perhaps do a summer tour.
sometimes tag-team.
King’s students Zach and Clayton
years, but it was not until his teacher
But
they
claim
they
are
not
in
it
Zach
said
he
has
two
types
of
writChambers plan to release an early
moved away that he realized how
ing. Sometimes he has a melody in
preview record with three friends this for the money. “We have a message
much he loves music. He then began
that’s true and meaningful,” Zach
his head, which he translates to the
fall.
teaching himself piano and guitar
said.
To
them,
music
is
one
of
the
guitar
or
piano.
He
then
develops
a
Zach and Clayton are trying to get
and sang in his high school choir.
most powerful ways to share that
song and adds lyrics. At other times
their music out and give people a
It took Clayton a little longer to
truth.
he forms a particular line of poetry
taste of what they do.
realize his love of music. In the sumThis is not the first time the Cham- or a special story, something that he
The brothers talked about the
mer of 2008, he was “really bored”
bers have collaborated to create an
wants to write or communicate, and
recording process and what they
because his brothers were away, so
album. Previously they recorded a
then adds music.
expect. “We will go into the studio
he picked up the guitar and learned
some basic chords. He
for like a week and
didn’t play again for six
a half and record
months.
around five songs,”
“It was weird learnZach said. “After we
ing to play guitar
record, we will then
because it was at a
mix the songs in a
time in my life when
couple of different
I thought I would go
keys and maybe add
insane if I didn’t play,”
some percussion or
he said. “It kept me
electric guitar. We will
sane as a person and
be mixing, matching
that’s why I really have
and adding sounds
a passion for the guitar
to really develop the
and writing music. It’s
songs.”
about dialogue and
Zach said developgetting words out.”
ing the songs takes
Together, the broththe most time in the
ers play the piano,
process of developing
banjo, percussion and
an album. He hopes
bass guitar. Senior
to record the songs
Charlotte Mayfield rein about a week and
cently helped shoot a
have the EP released
by end of summer.
music video with Zach
The Chambers Brothers play on an NYC rooftop. Photo by Tiffany Klinger.
“It will be good to see
and Clayton. As an MCA
worship album with a non-profit
Clayton usually focuses on a censome things that we have been workmajor, Mayfield has experience with
called Teenpact. Zach headed up the tral theme he wants to write about,
ing on completed,” Clayton said.
film editing and is pursuing a career
project and brought in a lot of musilike forgiveness or sadness.
After the record is finished, the
producing and editing wedding vidcians from the ministry.
They find inspiration from Jon
Chambers hope to upload their
eos.
The brothers say they focus on
Foreman, lead singer of Switchfoot,
music to a website called Noisetrade.
“I never did a music video before,
three-part harmonies and vocals.
as well as Josh Garrels and Mumford
The website allows up-and-coming
so it was fun to shoot it live and catch
While hesitant to label the type of
and Sons.
artists as well as established musithe little things they did in the song
music they play, Zach offers up “Indie
“It’s important for us to enjoy our
cians to get their music out there.
that made it cool,” she said.
Alternative Folk” as a genre.
music and know that every word is
Downloading the music is free, and
Mayfield and the Chambers
Clayton says much of their music is authentic and real,” Clayton said. “We
if you appreciate what you hear, you
went to Senior Alexander Bouffard’s
“pretty personal” and comes directly
ask ourselves, ‘Do we believe every
can leave a tip.
rooftop and shot a stripped-down
from their life experiences.
word in our . . . music?’ I think that is
The brothers mostly want to see
acoustic version of Clayton’s song
He describes it as “being on a
the goal in writing: to develop somethe reactions of their audience and
“Run Away.”
journey” and letting people join their thing that has honest lyrical depth.”
discover if their style is relatable to
Mayfield said she was happy to do
story.
The duo has been involved in
them.
the video, because she loves their
When it comes to the writing promusic for a while now. Zach started
Continued on page 3
For the future, the Chambers have
Literature by Loconte and other Summer Reading Suggestions
By Cori O’Connor
Professor Joseph Loconte
Five years of thought, more than
a year of writing and with what
Professor Joseph Loconte calls “Help
that came from beyond me,” The
Searchers will be available on Barnes
and Noble shelves June 5 (available
via Amazon May 15) .
Upon reading Luke 24, the conversation between the two disciples
on the road to Emmaus, Loconte
was captured by the remarkable
conversation that unfolded and
wondered why he had never heard a
sermon on the topic.
“Grief, struggle, and doubt are
coming. It’s the world we live in. We
need a theology of grief,” he said.
This theology of grief Loconte found
2
Features
in Luke 24.
He saw the great significance,
the depth, and the symbolism in
the story and thought that people
needed to hear more about it. Loconte also saw that this was “not just
an ancient story but a modern story,”
one to which people can still relate.
So with a spiritual but not a
religious audience in mind, Loconte
unpacks the story. He discovers “two
men desperate, out of faith, and
on their way to refuge.” He uncovers seven or eight universal themes
in the conversations, themes that
we all can relate to, such as grief,
confusion and doubt. Loconte then
connects the scriptural themes to
momentous cultural events such
as the death of Rudolph Valentino
and the remarkable story of the
Orioles baseball player, Cal Ripken,
and his 2,131 games. Each chapter
in The Searchers begins with a story
that tries to “imitate the way Jesus
taught and draw from the material of everyday life” in hope of an
“opportunity for the Word of God to
make itself felt.”
His desire to speak Christian truth
into the contemporary world in an
understandable language has burdened Loconte for the past 20 years,
and with this passion he wrote The
Searchers.
“We need to start by talking to
our great hopes and sharing the inconsolable secret: the way the world
ought to be, the memory of Eden
is in us,” Loconte said. The image of
God has not been destroyed in us.
Loconte sees our need to connect
the story of scripture with our own
story as a remaining expression of
the image of God.
With a brief reference to the current Hunger Games craze, Loconte
pointed to our desire to be like God
as the reason why we respond to
moral heroism. After acknowledging that we are indeed fallen people
Loconte said, “fallenness and sin
[aren’t] our whole story. The image
of God remains. Jesus told that story
because he knew we had the capacity to respond.”
The title of the book comes from
a John Wayne film about a relentless
quest to rescue a woman. Regarding
the theme of rescuing, Loconte said,
“At the end of the day this is the
gospel mission.”
The Searchers is one of several
books that will make great summer
reading material. Check out others
by King’s professors:
Keep Your Head Up by Dr. Anthony Bradley is about how “the black
community is in trouble.” The book
is a compilation of essays from black
scholars, pastors and other leaders
addressing the challenges of the
black church today, including issues
of family, hip hop culture and the
prosperity gospel. The book was first
on the list of the January 2012 Top
50 Black Christian Bestsellers.
Keeping Our Republic by Dr.
David Corbin and assistant Provost
Matthew Parks is about America’s
need to seek its republican roots.
Corbin and Parks suggest that for
our political situation to improve,
our nation must return to its Constitutional foundation through political reformation.
Also—A film version of President D’Souza’s book The Roots of
Obama’s Rage will hit theaters this
summer. The film, 2016, debuted a
trailer at the 2012 Conservative Political Action Conference. The trailer
has received over one million hits.
Food For Thought: The economics of a school with no meal plan
By Robert Punchur
Manhattan, NEW YORK—When
freshmen students first come to The
King’s College, there are two new
experiences that they are guaranteed: Professor Brenberg’s Intro to
Economics class and eating in New
York City without a meal plan.
While both tasks may seem daunting at first, students soon learn that it
is possible to survive, if not flourish,
in both situations.
After a few short months at the
school, students begin to realize that
lessons from one situation easily
carry over to the other. At the core of
the mealplan debate lie some of the
same economic principles covered in
Brenberg’s class.
Whether the lack of a meal plan is
economically beneficial or detrimental comes down to what students
value more: the convenience and
reliability that a meal plan offers or
the freedom and variety that eating
off-campus provides.
The student body is torn over this
issue. In a 50-student survey, 62
percent said that they would like to
see some sort of meal plan offered
on campus.
Others, however, feel that by
implementing a meal plan, the
school would be sacrificing a crucial
life lesson that many King’s students
value.
Nick Willeke (‘15) explained how
the lack of a meal plan helps to instill
a sense of personal responsibility in
many students.
“[Students] come to college to
grow and mature … Providing your
own meals can be a large part of that
process at Kings,” Willeke said. “It’s
just another way to help us transition
into adult life.”
Willeke’s roommate, Jason Craig
(‘15) added, “If we want to consider
ourselves young adults, we need to
learn how to act as such. By not having a meal plan, we learn to provide
for ourselves instead of being dependent on an outside source for food.”
Craig allots himself an approximate $50 food budget every week.
This is less than the $70 per week average that the 50 surveyed students
reported spending.
Craig explained how there are
some items such as rice, noodles,
pancakes and eggs that can provide
“tens of meals at pennies a piece.”
Many freshman males living in the
Ludlow residence buy rice in bulk
at the Chinese grocery next door. A
ten-pound bag costs $11 and will last
all semester, according to Craig.
For many of the Ludlow males, microwave cooking is their main source
of cuisine. Willeke explains that,
while this can facilitate an affordable
diet, the trade-off lies in lesser quality and variety.
“But if you’re concerned about
variety, you can’t ask for any place
better than New York City,” Willeke
added.
His point can be illustrated by
a Yelp search, which reveals 2,520
listed restaurants within a mile of the
“Strumming Into Stardom” continued from page 2
music and thinks their voices mix
well. “They know what they’re doing,
but at the same time, they have . . .
fun while they are preforming,” she
added. She believes they will go far:
“Their sound is what people want
right now. Clayton’s voice is folksy,
and Zach adds harmony. It’s like folk
indie.”
The brothers believe their New
York experience has facilitated their
ambitions, inspiring them to disseminate their music and make connections with influential people. “There
are so many people who could listen
to a song once and ‘hook you up.’
There are so many ways to reach
people,” Zach said.
Recently they have performed
at King’s open mic nights and plan
to play around the city. “We like to
entertain, but that’s not our goal—
we’re more like communicators. We
enjoy entertaining, but I feel a little
more awkward if I’m trying to entertain,” Clayton noted.
The brothers explained that they
came to New York City for music, but
they came to King’s to grow in their
knowledge of important liberal arts
topics, like philosophy and culture.
“There’s something to be said for
Ludlow Residence building. There
are 3,496 restaurants within a mile of
the two Midtown housing locations
and 637 restaurants within a mile of
the Clark Street Residence in Brooklyn.
For the majority of King’s students
living on-campus, eating out is an
option but not a necessity. All residence buildings come equipped with
a personal kitchen in each apartment, aside from Ludlow, which has
a larger community kitchen in the
basement.
Brandon Santulli (‘15) believes the
kitchens are an advantage of King’s
housing: “I love cooking my own
meals, and by having a full-sized
kitchen in my building, I’m able to
do this more frequently than I would
be able to do in traditional college
dorms.”
Some students at these more
“traditional” schools, however, view
having a meal plan as a worthwhile
tradeoff.
“With sports, classes, clubs, socializing and all of the other hectic
transitions that coming to college
entails, grocery shopping was the
farthest thing from my mind,” Penn
State University freshman Keegan
Walters explained.
Walters, like all PSU freshmen who
live on campus, signed a required
meal plan contract with the school
at the beginning of his first semester.
The plan provides Walters with a prepaid “id+ card” that he can swipe for
an approximate 17 meals per week
at any of the six dining locations on
campus.
The dining halls have limited
hours, and if students don’t take advantage of all funds by the end of the
semester, their money is a sunk cost
which does not carry over.
This sort of system is the norm for
most state schools as well as isolated
small-town colleges, who monopolize the food service provided on
campus.
Alyssa Olenick, a freshman at Lockhaven University in central Pennsylvania said that “all students buy into
a meal plan because there’s no other
option. Lock Haven is a small town
with a few fast food restaurants but
no real alternative for regular meals.”
Lockhaven cafeterias close daily
after 8 pm. Olenick explained that
this often makes it difficult for students involved in sports and other
evening activities to eat a full dinner.
She also noted that meal options in
the cafeterias can be repetitive.
Meanwhile, at King’s, Oralia
Espinola (‘14), enjoys “being able
to step outside at 1 am and choose
where I want to eat from any number
of places on my block.”
Espinola also sees the potential
benefits of a meal plan, however,
noting that “it would be nice not to
have to leave school every day in
order to get lunch between classes.”
In the end, the meal plan debate
at King’s will remain an issue of
economic goods versus bads, profits
versus losses and individual subjectivity when considering tradeoffs.
learning about culture and understanding how it works and what it is,”
Zach, an MCA major, said. For him,
music isn’t just about singing or playing well, but it is about having something to say, and more importantly,
having something worth saying.
Regardless of what careers they go
into, Zach says music will always be a
part of their lives. “If music could be a
life-sustaining career, I would go for
it,” he said.
Zach affirmed that his faith has
“everything to do with his music.”
He wants his music to communicate
what he’s learned about morality,
spirituality, life and truth.
“Does Jesus Christ play a role [in
my music]?” Clayton mused. “I think
sometimes. I see life as a big journey
that I’m on. My songs are struggles,
and trying to understand life as it is
and truth and reality. A lot of songs
deal with doubts and human emotions. I try to put those things on
paper. There’s a certain type of person in me that wants to look like how
Jesus was on earth.”
Clayton wants his music to be
genuine and relatable to human
experience.
Zach added, “It’s just like Peter
Kreeft said, ‘Music transcends reason
and goes straight to the heart.’”
Features
3
Hail to the chief:
Meet Your New House Presidents
By Tiffany Klinger
As the Houses enjoy their last days under the leadership of their current
Presidents, the newly-elected Presidents prepare mentally, emotionally and
spiritually for the challenges of the coming year. The Presidents-elect shared
some thoughts about their Houses and some information about themselves.
Congratulations, House Presidents of 2012-2013!
ten Boom -Christina Morgan
QEI - Kathryn Knowlden
colorful personalities and the dancing and music and purple.
Favorite spot in NYC: Probably the
Brooklyn Bridge or the Upper West
Side on a Sunday Morning.
Lewis - Michael Medeiros
picture not
available
aura of intellectualism and class.
Favorite spot in NYC: Anywhere
with grass and a soccer ball.
Favorite class: Western Civ. II,
although any class with Loconte is
phenomenal.
Favorite Spot in NYC: Riverside Park.
Favorite Class: Public Policy.
Churchill - Brandon Trotter
What you
love about
your house:
The focus
on fostering
community, the freedom to create
new traditions and the laughter!
Favorite spot in NYC: Cafe Lalo.
Favorite class: New Testament with
Dr. Rabinowitz.
What you
love about
your house:
The brotherhood. It’s the
Class: 2014.
Major: MCA.
What you
love about
your house:
The unique
qualities of
each girl.
Favorite spot in New York City: The
back courtyard at Saturday’s in SoHo
and the cafe at The Loeb Boathouse.
Favorite class: A tie between Western Civ. and The Postmodern World.
Class: 2013.
Major: MCA.
What you
love about
your house:
our obsession with
food!
Favorite spot in NYC: I can’t decide.
Favorite class: The APTAP series.
Truth - Chelsey Lamwatt
Class: 2013.
Major: MCA.
SBA - Clara LeFever
Class: 2014.
Major: PPE.
What you
love about
your house:
I love the
Class: 2013.
Major: PPE.
What you
love about
your house:
The tight
community.
Class: 2013.
Major: MCA.
Class: 2014.
Major: PPE.
What you
love about
your house:
The people
in it and their
Barton - Eliza Ohman
Reagan -David Dantzler
best in the school.
Favorite spot in NYC: Central Park
(any park really).
Favorite class: Digital Filmmaking
with Doc Salyers.
Bonhoeffer - Peter Flemming
Class: 2014.
Major: Business.
What you
love about
your house:
The mix of
compassionate and hard-working guys ambitious
about serving Christ and each other.
Favorite spot in NYC: Central Park.
Favorite class: Business Communications and Presentations.
Class: 2013.
Major: MCA.
What you
love about
your house:
It’s my home
away from
home. The
women in my house are some of the
most wonderful people I’ve ever met.
Favorite spot in NYC: The Strand.
Favorite class: Cultural Criticism.
Thatcher - Mary Pham
Class: 2013.
Major: PPE.
What you
love about
your house:
Our traditions, and
the genuine, supportive, loving community it provides.
Favorite spot in NYC: Sheep’s
Meadow in Central Park on a warm,
sunny day!
Favorite class: Public Policy.
International Ventures Teams Prepare to Depart
making connections, conducting
research and brainstorming plans
for future involvement that King’s
students can have in the country.
Students will meet with several
Hailstone, Jake Dinsmore, Alex
Nogy, Daniel Poeana, Elise Inman,
Rebecca Calhoun, Meredith Drukker, Ray Davidson, Emily Collins,
Elijah McCready and Dr. Rabinow-
develop relationships that King’s
student shave made in past years.
This summer, a number of King’s
The team includes Josh Craddock,
students will travel around the
Caroline Schuemann, Joshua Linder,
globe to complete the International
Samuel Tran, Gabby Hanners, Nicole
Ventures they have been preparRosales, Meredith Drukker, Bethany
Hennigh, Mandy Pating for this semester. Teams
terson, Christina Cartwill travel to China, Israel,
er, Professor Brenberg
Turkey and Uganda. The
and alumnus Anthony
China team will be writing
Randazzo. The Turkey
curriculum about western
team will be sharing
ideas and presenting them
updates throughout
to Chinese college students. the summer on their
“We want to engage
blog at turkeyventure.
them through Socratic
wordpress.com.
dialogues, excerpts from
The Africa team will
current and past art and
be conducting a reinteractive teaching styles
search trip in Uganda.
which will help them also
The details of their
learn English better,” Hope
mission are not comChavez (‘15) said. “Our goal
pletely decided on
is that they will ask us more
yet, but they will be
questions and understand
updating their inforthe differences in the way
mation periodically at
our two societies think and
http://eastafricavenwhy that’s important.”
ture.wordpress.com/.
Along with Chavez, the
The team consists of
china team also consists
Allyson Philobos, Naof Varut Chee, Catherine
than Deardorff, Lizzie
Ratcliffe, Anna Matthews,
Dunn, Abbey Clarke,
Greg DuBois, Sarah Hutchinson, Chris Svendson, Crystal Above: In March, the International Ventures teams went on a weekend long retreat to the frist IV Training week- Bethany Phan, Luke
end. The student traveled to Connecticut where they spent the weekend preparing for their summer trips. Photo Anderson, Sophie
Plum, and Brian Fancher
submitted by International Ventures
Simunek, Gabrielle
and Katie Teubl.The China
venture will set up a blog in May
Simmons, Annie-Jane Clark, Josiah
teachers, professors, college stuitz. Updates about the Israel vento keep everyone updated on the
Phan and Katrina Blank.
dents, King’s alumni and a few Pales- ture can be found at israelventure.
events of their trip.
For more information about Intinian Christians.
tumblr.com.
The Israel Venture, being a pilot
ternational Ventures, contact Elijah
The Israel team includes HanStudents going to Turkey this
venture, will spend a lot of time
McCready at [email protected].
nah Rawls, Amanda Burgess, Mitch
summer will continue to build and
By Carly Calhoun
4 Features
Springtime is Ringtime
By Katie Devorak
Carina Chavarria-Chairez and
Joshua Wright laugh about their first
conversation. “That first meeting was
full of riveting conversation: she told
me she was a vegan, and I told her
that nuts send me into anaphylactic
shock,” Wright said.
But these students are only two
of the people at King’s who have recently gotten engaged. Raina Lesser
and her fiancé Jesse Hickox, and
Anna Martin and her fiancé Joshua
Massey are two more couples who
will tie the knot later this year.
Wright says his proposal on October 11, 2011 got off on the wrong
foot when he accidentally stepped in
a six-inch deep puddle of ice water
in Central park. He “hobbled” away
from Chairez to find a spot to drop
on one knee. Chairez followed him,
concerned that he might be hurt.
Wright stumbled to one side of the
path and knelt down, but then he
“looked up and lo-and-behold stood
the entire fleet of Central Park tractors and bulldozers.”
Typical of King’s engaged couples,
Wright and Chairez were friends
a year before they started dating.
Their romance unfolded naturally,
as Wright lived with Chairez’s best
friend her freshman year. Chairez
knew she “had to be friends” with
Wright, but she definitely didn’t
think she would one day marry him.
Who at King’s doesn’t enjoy “hanging out with the boys, ordering pizza
and watching far too much Netflix,
and just walking about when we
start to feel too much like shut-ins?”
Chairez asked. Like many of us, their
favorite city nooks are The Strand,
Barnes and Noble, the Museum of
Natural History. They also like going
to Duane Reade, “just to look at all
that stuff.”
The couple said to “stay tuned” for
a wedding date, but they hope the
big day will be at Calvary St. George’s
in historic Gramercy Park on the
corner of Park Avenue between 22
and 21 Streets.
Anna Martin and Joshua Massey. Submitted photo.
Anna Martin returned from spring
break 2012 wearing a diamond ring.
“Orange juice and cheese sitting
beside each other in the fridge remind me of him, because he’s weird
and likes to eat those two things
together,” Martin said, who added
that everything reminds people of
those they miss when they’re far
apart. Martin is eager to welcome
her fiancé to New York City when
Carina Chavarria-Chairez and Joshua
Wright. Submitted photo.
he enrolls in September as a new
student at The King’s College.
The couple, who were engaged
Mar. 14 and began dating July 6,
2011, share the same hometown,
tastes in music, philosophical and
theological beliefs and are “different
enough in hobbies and personalities
to balance each other out and keep it
interesting.”
Jesse Hickox and Raina Lesser. Submitted
photo.
In the windy cold of Feb. 5, atop
the Empire State Building, Jesse
Hickox asked for Raina Lesser’s hand
in marriage. After dating for four
years, the couple is excited to move
to Denver following their marriage,
which will end Lesser’s time at King’s.
In Denver, Lesser hopes to aid the rehabilitation of sex-trafficking victims.
Lesser completed a paralegal
degree before she came to The King’s
College. Now after two semesters
of education in Politics, Philosophy
and Economics, Lesser plans to seek
training in social work or counseling
to prepare for her work with human
rights victims.
Lesser’s fiancé also wants to pursue a job that will enable him to help
those around him in a tangible way.
Hickox currently works at Phoenix Investigations, a fire investigation company that other companies hire to
determine whether a fire was caused
by arson, a mechanical problem or
other reasons. Phoenix Investigations
is a place where many ex-firefighters
work, Lesser explained, but it’s
Hickox’s dream to serve Denver as a
full time firefighter after they wed.
Hickox and Lesser met at a theater
group near Fort Wayne, where both
grew up homeschooled. The two
20-somethings share a passion for
the stage. Lesser said the first time
she fell for Hickox was when she saw
him perform in a lead role. Ironically
enough, in the play, Hickox proposed
to another female character.
Advice From Student Org Leaders
By Meagan Clark
Running a student organization is
tough. Starting one is even tougher.
Josh Encinias, president of The Tent,
and Mary Pham, co-president of
Mock Trial, know this to be true. They
share their experiences to help next
year’s org. presidents and perhaps
inspire rising leaders to start their
own org. in the fall.
What has been your biggest
challenge this year? How did you
overcome it (or attempt to)?
Josh: Re-starting King’s oldest
organization ... We came up with
simple incentives (free coffee, soda,
and water) but they were effective.
To keep the organization active and
healthy throughout the first semester we took every fourth week off.
This ensured that band members
and technology volunteers would
not burn out ... we brought in a lot
of guests, took strategic breaks, and
kept our purpose simple: music and
prayer. That’s how The Tent came
back to life.
Mary: It’s been really difficult being a leader of Mock Trial without
an advisor or coach, especially as a
second-year team. We had to teach
incoming members, organize trips
to invitationals and keep up team
morale in addition to our normal
academic, work and other commitments. As I’m sure every other
student organization can attest to,
it’s hard to find people who are willing to commit their time for the year!
In Mock Trial, we’ve tried to overcome these challenges by building
up a strong team community where
people enjoy being around their
teammates and competing strongly
against other schools.
How did you plan for succession?
Josh: Early on I noticed freshmen,
sophomores and juniors who volunteered their time. These were people
who cared about our success whether they had a title or not. From that
pool of people we chose the exec.
team, and it’s from that same pool
of people that we are choosing next
year’s leaders.
Mary: We hold elections for the
executive team positions in Mock
Trial, and are working with the newly
elected team as they prepare for the
coming year. Thankfully, Jonathan
Irwin is our only graduating member, and he hopes to stay in the city
as well—this makes the succession
process much easier.
How did you recruit and retain
members?
Josh: We took advantage of the
“hurricane” in August. We threw a
last-minute night of worship during
the storm which was a huge success.
That gave a people a taste of The
Tent. The following week we had a
“preview night” with some worship
and conversation about the organization. It was at these events that we
figured out who could do what and
when they could commit. We re-
tained members by not overworking
them and by allowing them to serve
in their areas of interest.
Mary: We recruit the majority of
our members during NSO and wordof-mouth. We’ve been able to retain
many of our members once we built
a community they enjoy being in—
Mock Trial is more than just another
extracurricular because you make
friends and want to stay! Traveling to
invitationals is another great way to
bond.
How did you handle disappointment?
Josh: Sadly, with isolation. This
year was my best and worst. I loved
being involved in my House, I loved
my internship at MSNBC, and The
Tent was a blessing. But my grades
were not always the best, and some
of my deepest issues with The Tent
and my friends went unattended
because I did not plan enough strategic breaks for myself to recollect my
thoughts. As Dr. Salyers says, “We all
make choices, Poppi,” so I will have
to sleep in the bed I made. That said
– I wouldn’t change a thing. Call me
brazen.
Mary: Personally, I vent to someone close and then move on. I’ve
realized I can’t change what has
already happened, but can do something about it from there. But don’t
forget to keep people accountable to
their promises.
What (if anything) would you do
differently?
Josh: I would have a better system
for membership; create standards for
worship leaders and exec. leaders;
throw two retreats for the leaders; raise cash for the future; and
ironically – I wish I had done less. The
more I do for The Tent the harder it
will be for people once I graduate. So
ponder that one for a while.
Mary: In general, I would try to
encourage more teammate bonding
at the beginning of the year through
things like movie nights, breakfasts,
etc. so people will want to stay. It’s
also helpful to have a clear idea of
where you want your organization
to head with specific time-centered
goals that you can actively be working towards.
What encouragement would you
offer to future org. leaders?
Josh: You won’t realize your vision for community. If you keep you
integrity and are led by God– he will
fulfill the vision he sets. Don’t be
surprised by the unexpected. The
unexpected is more consistent than
your expectations.
Mary: Starting an organization is
rough, especially at King’s. It’s also
worth it. Find a group of people who
are equally as or more excited about
the organization as you are, and
roll with the punches. Remember
to keep up constant communication with Student Development and
the Council because they’re great
resources!
Want to practice journalism? Want to write about the latest at King’s?
Then why aren’t you a part of the Empire State Tribune staff? The Tribune always welcomes guest writers, but we really need committed reporters. As a reporter, you would write for a beat, pitch story ideas or receive assignments, take pictures and write articles on a deadline. Any journalist will tell you that a job
on the college newspaper was invaluable for his or her resume. The five main sections of the paper are Features, News, Opinion, City and Entertainment.
Are you a Business student? The Tribune also needs talented students to design and sell ads!
Features
5
Debate Society Sends Five Teams to National Championship
He needed to know more specific
information about the way the Euro
Zone works and about the concrete
benefits and harms that could be
weighed against each other.
King’s student Sean Spurlock
judged at the tournament. Spurlock
was able to judge because he had
debated in tournaments before.
Each round needs three to four
from Patrick Henry College and is
currently pursuing a master’s degree
in Bioethics at New York University.
SALEM, Or.— Five teams from the
Previously, she debated in college
King’s Debate Society (KDS) particiand coached debate at the high
pated in the parschool level.
liamentary United
At the
States Universities
tournament,
Debate Championthe teams
ship Friday, April 13
received a
through Sunday,
new motion
April 15.
to debate for
Josiah Peterevery round.
son and Burk
Each team
Ohbayashi took
is allowed
14th, Noah Heinz
15 minutes
and Josh Craddock
of time to
took 19th, Hanprepare
nah Herman and
before the
Jeremy Cerone
first speech.
took 53rd and
They canChristopher Svendnot consult
son and Jacob
online
Cooper took 56th.
resources,
Teams John Sailer
but they can
and Karen Penica
bring and
and Eli Garvey
use whatand Greg Dubois
ever books
also debated. A
or printed
total of 157 teams
articles they
participated in the
want.
championship.
The
Heinz, who
government
debated for the
(or affirmafirst time after he The King’s Debate Society traveled to Oregon for the national championship tournament. Photo by Leanna Doran. tive) side
began attending
speaks first,
followed
by
the
opposition.
The 15
King’s, said he likes debate because it
Svendson learned much from the
judges per room, and each school is
minutes
during
which
the
govern“keeps you knowledgeable. Making
championship: “I learned that Orrequired to bring a certain number
ment side writes its first speech is
good arguments and giving a good
egon is a creepy place. But seriously, of judges. The head judge (Mr. or
“the most intense preparation time,”
speech can also be pretty fun.”
I learned a lot about all the different
Madam Speaker) is usually a coach,
Heinz explained. Although both
For Svendson, the most difficult
motions we debated, just from hearbecause he or she must be experiteams have 15 minutes to prep prior
motion of the tournament was, “This ing other people debate. Listening
enced in parliamentary debate.
to the round, the opposition actuhouse believes that the Euro Zone
to different sides really increases your
Katherine Teubl is in her second
has done more harm than good.”
Continued on page 7...
knowledge of the issues.”
year coaching KDS. She graduated
By Robert Punchur
& Celina Durgin
“Associate’s Degree Next Step for King’s Online” continued from page 1...
students about what they like and
don’t like about the structure of their
classes. She met with four students
enrolled in the King’s Online oneyear program when they visited for
Interregnum in March.
The group of students and Sanford sorted out glitches with downloading lectures and discussed the
importance of student-to-professor
interaction and peer interaction.
“Conference calls are important
to them,” Sanford said. Students can
also contact their professors through
instant message office hours, email
and for one professor, Twitter. “We’ve
discovered that variety is really the
best thing,” Sanford said.
The curriculum includes recorded
video lectures, slideshow presentations with voiceovers, audio lectures,
assigned reading with discussion
questions and a required number
of posts in class forum discussions.
Students have a window of time to
post assignments but can study and
watch the lectures anytime.
“I was actually a little bit nervous
about it,” New Jersey online student
Rebecca Au, 18, said about signing
up for online classes.
Au opted for King’s Online when
her fall internship with the Institute
for Cultural Communicators ran
two weeks past the first day of the
spring 2012 semester. She previously studied as a homeschooler and
says King’s Online is “pretty similar”
Speak out!
because she can create her own
schedule.
She has also taken classes at Rutgers University, which she describes
as having “really big classes” with “a
lot of note-taking.”
“King’s Online is actually way more
interactive,” Au said, mentioning
that unlike classes at Rutgers, every
student can say what they want
online. “There’s more interaction with
professors too,” Au said.
Au will attend the physical King’s
location this fall as she had planned
to do in January. She wants to major
in Media, Culture and the Arts.
“I’m always missing out on the
real community,” Au said. “Online
is a stepping stone. If I wasn’t mak-
ing that transition [to the campus] I
would feel lonely because you don’t
really know the students in your
online classes.”
Online student from Texas, Josiah
Chapman, 20, introduced himself
at Interregnum’s open mic night
before playing guitar and singing a
John Mayer song. “You guys don’t
know me, but I’m a King’s student,”
he said. Then he gave a shout-out to
the other three online students who
came for Interregnum.
Chapman plans to major in Politics, Philosophy and Economics and
become a lawyer.
Summer registration for online
classes will end April 28 and classes
begin June 4.
We ask TKC freshmen: “What would you
Ben Harrison - 2015
“Even though it can be a pain, I think
its good that we dont have a meal
plan because we are learning how to
be responsible through budgeting
and feeding ourselves.”
6
News
Tristan Kelley - 2014
“Not having a meal plan is one thing
that sets us apart as being more
independant... Also, with so many
great restaurants, why would you
want one?”
think about the school instituting a meal plan?”
Rosalind Mirabito - 2015
“Even if we had a meal plan, I’d still
prefer to cook for myself. I see how it
could be beneficial for some people,
but a meal plan shouldn’t be mandatory.”
Seth Parks - 2015
“Having a meal plan would be really
conveinant. I’d probably have a more
balanced diet. Not to mention- that
would be one less thing to worry
about.”
“Hunt for Housing” continued from page 1
...and in some instances, prices have
gone up,” Woerner said.
Additionally, many landlords have
received complaints about college
student residents in the past and
don’t want to house them again. “We
try to explain that King’s students are
different from the average college
kids, but it’s hard to convince people
of that,” Cline said.
Even when landlords are welcoming, Residence Life has been unsuccessful finding blocks of eight to ten
apartments in the same building.
Woerner said the school does not
want to scatter students all over
Manhattan.
The King’s staff is also trying to
find housing options for students
who are already on the waiting list.
The current King’s housing filled up
within five minutes after the applications became available online,
leaving about 50 students without
an assigned bed. “We are being very
proactive to make sure every student
has a place to stay,” Cline said.
Cline is working with Residence
Life to compile a list of alternative—
technically off-campus—housing
options students can pursue themselves. The list includes the Educational Housing Service, located
directly across from the Clark St.
residence, and The Salvation Army
housing in Union Square.
Despite rumors, Cline assured that
The Salvation Army residence does
not function as a homeless shelter
but rather houses working-class allfemale tenants. It also provides two
meals per day and a weekly cleaning
service.
King’s cannot reserve any more
apartments in The Vogue or the
Herald Towers because New York’s
updated college housing guidelines
require that apartments comply with
new fire safety regulations in order
to be considered student residences.
Other New York City schools face
similar issues with their campus
housing. Included in the regulations
is a requirement that the apartments
be equipped with sprinklers, which
neither The Vogue nor the Herald
Towers meet.
King’s originally reduced the
standard number of roommates for
Midtown housing from four to three
students per apartment as part of the
process of being “grandfathered” out
of The Vogue and the Herald Towers
altogether. For right now, students
who plan to live in the Herald Towers
will be placed in the A tower while
the B and C towers undergo renovations.
King’s has reserved about 260
beds for the incoming class of fall
2012. If the new class is smaller than
planned, beds will open up for waitlisted upperclassmen, but Cline said
it is still too soon to know. “What
we’re trying to avoid is having extra
beds. The apartments cost about
$3,000 each month, and even now
with all the apartments occupied, we
just break even with housing funds,”
she said.
Woerner expects the waiting list
to shrink as more students settle on
off-campus apartments. “The list
will shuffle as students take it upon
themselves to find places to live,” he
said.
TKC Retries for New Majors
By Celina Durgin
Empire State Building, NEW
YORK—The King’s College did not receive state authorization in February
2012 for the new majors it wants to
offer beginning fall 2013. The Board
of Trustees has since resubmitted
the proposals to the state and awaits
notification that the programs have
been approved and registered.
TKC’s creation of a School of Public
Service would broaden its list of majors to include Liberal Arts, Public Affairs and International Affairs. “I don’t
know when or if [state approval] will
come, but we still hope to have the
majors in place for next fall,”
Dr. Matthew Parks, Assistant Provost,
said.
Ideally, the state responds to
these proposals within a reasonable
timeframe, sometimes asking clarifying questions, and then notifies the
school about whether the program
additions have been approved and
registered in Albany. In reality,
however, the state is often slow to respond. According to White, the state
has handled TKC’s set of submissions
in this “typical” fashion.
If and when the majors are approved, the school may need to hire
additional teachers. Hiring is done
by discipline as needed, depending on the number of class sections,
Parks said.
If the majors are not approved,
TKC will “regroup as needed, pro-
ceed with new plans for curricular
development and submit required
documentation to the state,” White
said, adding that “it’s hard to imagine” that the majors will be ultimately
rejected.
The article “New School, New
Majors Coming in 2013” published in
the Empire State Tribune on Oct. 27,
2011 announced King’s intention to
create the new school and accompanying majors. In this article, Dr. David
Corbin, Dean of the school of Politics,
Philosophy and Economics, said of
the new majors, “These programs will
better enable us to fulfill our mission.”
White said the addition of new
majors is also part of TKC’s effort to
increase enrollment and “expand its
reach, particularly to transfer students.” The Liberal Arts major will
primarily serve transfer students,
improving their ability to incorporate their outside credits into King’s
distinguishing PPE core. The Public
and International Affairs majors will
focus on public policy and advocacy
classes in domestic and international
arenas, respectively.
Corbin said that King’s has four
basic goals: increasing admission
standards, enlarging the student
body, preparing students for elite
graduate schools and advancing the
curriculum.
National Debate Championships continued from page 6
ally has extra prep time during the
government’s first speech.
When developing arguments,
Heinz likes to be creative. “I like
thinking about things you wouldn’t
necessarily think about. The goal is
to come up with unusual arguments
and defend them well.”
KDS team Josiah Peterson and
Burk Obayashi ranked 25th in the
world for college debate. Peterson
and Obayashi recently competed at
the World Championship for Debate
where they debated international
teams.
KDS is concluding its fourth year of
existence. Greg DuBois will become
club president next year.
Noah Heinz (left) was 25th-ranked speaker and Josh Craddock (right)
was 14th-ranked speaker. Photo by Josiah Peterson.
New Provost Candidate:
Alumnus being considered
By Rebecca Jacobson
Empire State Building, NEW YORK—This week, The King’s College invites
David Newton, King’s alumnus and Business Professor at Westmont College in
California, to interview and guest lecture for the position of provost.
Newton graduated from the Briarcliff Manor location of King’s in 1981 with
a BSBA, where he majored in Business Administration and minored in Comparative Economics and has since earned his MBA and DBA. He has written
numerous books and articles and has taught at Pepperdine, the University of
Massachusetts and Westmont College.
He has spoken at universities, The Heritage Foundation, Republican assemblies, chambers of commerce, on CNN Radio (and other stations) and more.
Newton has served as academic advisor and reviewer for countless competitions and competitive papers and received 28 awards from publications
including Forbes, Freedoms Foundation and Pew Charitable Trust.
King’s hosted other candidates in the initial stage of the provost search
several months ago. Although candidate John Mark Reynolds had originally
been selected by the provost search committee, his later decision to accept
a position at another school reopened the search. Duanne Moeller, Chief
Executive Officer, said King’s did not know Reynolds was applying to other
schools at the time.
The school has known about Newton for a number of years and has previously invited him to come to speak. Although King’s considered Newton for
the business team position awhile ago, he declined due to other engagements and an initial reluctance to move to New York or leave his current
position.
“After we had another candidate that fell through, we began to think about
other people that would be a good match for us,” Moeller said. “[Newton]
came to mind, and the more we thought about it, the more it made sense.
He’s a really sharp guy, and I think he’ll be a good candidate.”
After some changes in Newton’s situation, he was interested when King’s
contacted him about the provost position. He will arrive Thursday night and
remain at the school through Friday, when he will present a lecture on campus at noon. The lecture will be open to students, and Moeller hopes to have
as many students as possible attend. Newton will also meet with student
government and the King’s Council Friday at 8 am.
News
7
Roommate Match Website Hosts Speed Roommating
By Meagan Clark
Hell’s Kitchen, NEW YORK– More
than 20 New Yorkers mingle their
way through the dimly lit bar, some
with a friend, some venturing alone.
Pink and white nametags labeled
either “need a room” or “have a room”
guide the search for living arrangements that many find stressful and
overwhelming.
SpareRoom.com introduced
“speed roommating” to Manhattan
in January, advertising its free events
on Facebook and Google. With more
than 2.1 million users, SpareRoom
is Britain’s most popular roommate
matching website.
One in four speed roommaters
in Britain report finding a match,
according to SpareRoom spokesman
Matt Hutchinson. The match success
rate is not yet known for the New
York events, which currently take
place every other Wednesday evening at Gossip Bar on 9th Ave. and
49th St.
Geneva School teacher Eunice Lee,
32, heard about SpareRoom from
her roommate, whom she found on
Craigslist two and half years ago.
While happy with the result– “We’re
soulmates,” Lee said about her
current roommate– the process of
searching, emailing and scheduling
visits took more time than she would
have liked.
“It’s just like dating,” Lee said.
“That’s why I’m going to try speed
roommating for the next couple of
weeks.”
Originally, the events resembled
speed dating. Participants who need-
ed a room would sit on one side of a
venue and those who only needed
a roommate would sit on the other,
rotating every seven minutes. But
the seven minutes were six minutes
too many for New Yorkers, and it was
inefficient for them to meet every
person when ages, genders, price
ranges and personalities can filter
the search from its start.
In Britain, speed roommating
(called flatmating there) has enough
attendees that events are held in
specific neighborhoods, attracting
more suitable matches in taste and
price.
“The plan is to do this in New
York once the numbers have risen,”
Hutchinson said. “Brooklyn and
Queens would seem to be the obvious places for neighborhood events,
so we’ll look at the ads on SpareRoom and see which areas are likely
to be most useful to people.”
Lee’s current roommate, Caitlin
Donovan, 27, has been using SpareRoom to find a new roommate in
London, where she will move in May.
“It’s just been nice to connect with
the same kind of people, people
moving to London from here,” Donovan said. “I was excited when I heard
they were doing [speed roommating]
here in New York.”
Lee is asking $1,300 a month for
her apartment on the Upper East
Side. “It’s a really nice apartment,”
Donovan said, who accompanied Lee
to a speed roommating event and
helped screen potential roommates
for Lee.
The next speed roommating event
is on Wednesday, May 2 from 7-9 pm.
Above: Eunice Lee (left) and Rahimeh Andalibian (right) discuss what they want in a roommate. “I’m looking for a potential friend,” Lee said. Photo by Meagan Clark.
Below: Friends Rubin Borges (inner left) and Jayde W. (inner right) have an apartment in
Harlem to rent for $830 a month. They talk to potential roommates. Photo by Meagan Clark.
MCA Alert: Four Summer Art Classes to Take in the City
By Celina Durgin
King’s students came to TKC because they knew they would get a
classical education. Some, however,
admit they’d like to take a couple
more hands-on, skill-specific courses.
If you plan to stay in NYC over the
summer, why not earn a few credits
at a local school while you work or
intern?
project. Basic color theory, composition, the building-up of surfaces and
museum visits will also be part of the
course.
Classes will be Monday-Friday
from 9:00 am-3:50 pm and will last
from July 2-Aug. 24. The tuition is
$3,190. Check out Parsons’ website
for more info: http://www.newschool.edu/parsons.
1. Fashion Institute of Technology—Graphic Design
Although MCA majors study about
art in classes like Arts and Ideas and
usually do some hands-on work in
classes like The Visual Narrative, you
may want to add another practical skill to your resume to make
you more qualified for a job at the
publication you love. FIT offers
two Graphic Design classes over
the summer. One lasts from May
29-July 2, and the other lasts from
July 3-July 25. Both will meet on
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1:10 pm-4:00 pm and cost
$332 in-state and $994 out-of-state.
Students will learn to design and run
their own websites using computer
markup languages, like XHTML and
CSS.
Other helpful classes at FIT for
Kingsians include Fashion Merchandising Management, Photography
and Computer Graphics. Check
out the FIT website for more info:
www.fitnyc.edu.
8
City
4. New York University—Period
Style Costume
Photo by Celina Durgin.
2. Fordham University—Summer
Musical Theater Workshop
For all of King’s aspiring actors,
who move in strange and mysterious circles—how about a summer of
musical theater?
The Fordham Summer Musical
Theatre Workshop lasts from May 29June28, during which students can
focus on improving their acting skill.
The workshop will address the multiple disciplines of musical theater,
such as song, spoken dialogue and
dance. Sans the stress of King’s academics, you will be able to dedicate a
large amount of time to the stage.
This year’s tuition for the workshop, including theatre tickets, is
$3,040. A non-refundable $300 deposit must be paid at the time of registration. The balance of the tuition
is due May 7. Check out Fordham’s
website for more info: www.fordham.
edu/academics/summersession.
3. Parsons The New School for
Design—Drawing and Painting
Does your doodling take up more
space than your lecture notes in your
notebook? Maybe you should look
into Parsons Drawing and Painting
class. Each student will experiment
with artistic techniques in order to
develop his or her unique ability. The
class is structured around individual
tutorials as well as group discussion
and critiques.
Instruction will be based on
weekly themes, such as the meaning of everyday objects, the experience of place and imaginary worlds.
Students must research and collect
materials and images before each
Now here’s a course you don’t see
offered everywhere. If you’re going
into film, an understanding of costume design could be a very valuable
skill.
Students will explore the function
and artistic purpose of movie costuming, particularly period costumes.
They will also view and examine a
chronology of film clips displaying
period clothing in familiar movies.
Students will compare examples
from different filmmaking eras and
designers. The class will take a trip
to a professional costume house and
will enjoy conversations with designers who work in film costume.
This four-credit class costs $5,156
and runs from July 2-Aug. on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:00 pm9:00 pm. Check out NYU’s website
for more info: www.specialprograms.
tisch.nyu.edu.
Top Ten Things to Do This Summer in the City
By Carly Calhoun
New York City, NEW YORK—
Many different organizations in New
York City are hosting free events
this summer. They are great opportunities for students staying in the
city who are looking for a few fun
summer adventures. The EST’s top
10 picks for summer events are as
follows:
8
Brooklyn’s
52-acre Botanic Garden
serves as a
great way to
get out of the
city for a day
without actually getting
out of the
city.
Admission is five dollars with a valid student
ID and activities include
guided tours, multiple
plant exhibits and several green contests. The
garden is open Tuesday
through Sunday from 8
am to 6pm. It also contains several café’s and
gift shops for browsing.
More information
about the Brooklyn BotanThe New York Public Library has a long summer reading
ic Garden can be found at
list. Photo by Celina Durgin.
www.bbg.org , including a
detailed map and information about which plants are currently
in bloom.
10
The New York
Public Library
will be hosting a series of
weekly book
discussions
at different
neighborhood
locations.
Discussions will be held at different
times every day of the week in 44 different locations.
Some of the books up for discussion include Beowulf, Stitches, Life of
Pi, Coldest Winter Ever, Project Girl,
The Namesake and many others. The
exact dates and times of each discussion are listed on the NYPL website.
Most book discussions require preregistration, and the dates and times
of each group are subject to change.
The library recommends that students call ahead to verify dates, times
and locations.
The NY
Philharmonic
will host six
free concerts
in various parks.
Three of the
concerts will
include fireworks.
9
The dates and locations are as
follows: July 11th- Prospect Park, July
12th- Great Lawn of Central Park, July
13th- Cunningham Park, July 15thCenter for the Arts (College of Staten
Island), July 16th- Van Cortlandt Park,
July 17th- Great Lawn of Central Park.
All concerts will start at 8pm,
except the concert on Staten Island,
which will start at 3 pm. The fireworks will follow both the Central
Park concert as well as the Prospect
Park concert. The NY Philharmonic
is an orchestra celebrating its 47th
season of performing.
7
On
Wednesday,
May 30th
there will be
a Revolutionary New York
Tour in honor
of Memorial
Day.
The tour will include a two-hour
walk to lower Manhattan’s Revolutionary War sites, including Federal
Hall and Fraunces Tavern.
The tour will begin at the School of
Visual Arts on the second floor at 136
West 21st Street (between six and
seventh avenues). It starts at 2 pm
and costs $12 for students.
6
Anyone
with a valid
student ID
can buy
reducedprice tickets
to select
Broadway
and OffBroadway
shows.
Tickets range from $30-$45
, and some shows include Sister Act,
How to Succeed in Business Without
Really Trying, Spiderman and many
others.
To get Student Rush tickets, one
must arrive at the box office when
it opens the day of the show with
cash and student ID. Each person is
allowed to purchase two tickets, as a
limited number of tickets are available.
Many shows also have general
rush policies for non-students. Show
times, box office hours and more
detailed information can be found at
www.studentrush.org .
Bryant Park
has a packed
calendar of
free events
they will
be offering
throughout
the summer.
5
Some events include fencing
classes, yoga classes, birding tours,
juggling lessons and ping-pong
tournaments.
One of the park’s more popular
summer events is the HBO Summer
Film Festival presented by Bank of
America. Additional information
about the film festival will be released on the website later in the
summer.
More information about other
events can be found at www.bryantpark.org .
4
This summer Rooftop Films will
host its 16th Summer Series showing
independent and foreign films on
various rooftops throughout the city.
Admission price varies for each
show, and shows generally begin
with live music at 8:30 pm before the
movie starts at 9 pm.
According to Rooftop Films’ website, it will host 45 outdoor events
between May and September, drawing large crowds into spectacular
venues. A schedule of the summer
calendar will be posted at rooftopfilms.com towards the end of April.
Rooftop Films also has internships
available and accepts submitted
films to be considered for showing.
3
One of NYC’s
most popular summer
events, according to
nycgo.com, is
Central Park’s
presentation
of Shake-
speare in the Park.
An attempt to make art more accessible in the city, Shakespeare in
the Park will host two free plays at
the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.
The first play for the summer is As
You Like it, which will be performed
June 5th-30th.
The second will be a performance
of Into the Woods held July 23rdAugust 5th. Performances will all
begin at 1 pm. Other Central Park
activities for the summer include
performances by the Metropolitan
Opera, photography classes, athletic
activities and various exhibits
2
Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center
Plaza will host three Swing-dance
Festivals this summer.
The first will be held June 26th30th, the second will be held July
3rd-7th and the third will be held
July 10th-14th.
Dancing begins at 6:30 pm each
night. The Midsummer Night Swing
is an annual event that consists of
“ongoing outdoor music and dance
party,” according to Timeout New
York.
The Park is located at West 62nd
Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues. There is no charge
to attend the festival but refreshments and souvenirs will be available
for purchase.
1
As the worlds largest 4th of July
celebration, Macy’s will host a fireworks show over the Hudson River
between West 24th and West 5th
streets.
The event will include 40,000
fireworks, live music and a television
airing. Thousands of people watch
the event from TV every year. Admission is free, and the show will begin
at sundown.
Student rush tickets for the New York Philharmonic cost $12.50 for select concerts up to 10
days before the concert. Photo credit: vulture.com.
City
9
Iron Sharpens Iron:
The benefits of Criticism
By Meagan Clark
We criticize each
other a lot at this school.
There are plenty of
opportunities for criticism– evaluating a peer’s
academic paper, judging
a student’s debate or
presentation, competing
against other Houses,
competing within our
own Houses, venting
on a professor’s endof-semester review and
sparring in a heated class
discussion, to name a
few. Quite often, the criticism gets
brutal. Just read a few comments
on the EST online: “this is one of the
worst articles I’ve ever read,” “you
should proofread” and “Kreeft would
weep” are a few.
As bloody as it can get, we should
criticize each other. As Prov. 27:17
says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one
person sharpens another.” But if we’re
not careful, we will blunt rather than
sharpen each other. Like sharpening an ax, receiving and dishing out
criticism with love (without drawing
blood!) requires practice and skill. As
Christians, we must continually work
on this skill.
Being honest with our peers and
ourselves is vital to our success as a
small Christian college with a mission
to change the world. We need some
sharp axes (axes are wise minds, if
you haven’t caught my drift). Here’s
why:
Honest criticism will reveal weaknesses we may otherwise overlook.
We often have a skewed perspective
of our own performances. Either we
rate ourselves too high (American
Idol tryouts anyone?) or too low. A
valid criticism should increase a person’s perception of reality, and then
he can assess and diminish the weakness. If someone is led to believe he’s
a stud (through an undeserved A or
an enthusiastic friend), but he’s not,
he’ll probably find out the truth on
harsher terms later. By being honest
with our friends and peers now, we
can gracefully lead each other closer
to the truth about ourselves.
Honest criticism will grant you
respect. If you can take criticism well
and learn from it, people will respect
you more. If you can honestly criticize someone with grace and love,
that person will respect you even if
they disagree with the criticism. As
aspiring leaders, we need the ability
to persuade with words and speech,
but so often, our words and speech
are tainted with personal attacks and
put-downs. Harsh words more often
push a listener or reader away than
persuade them to the author’s view.
When criticism is not received well,
it’s rendered useless, or worse, harmful. Although we cannot control how
a person reacts to criticism, we can
choose words that are edifying and
thus, more persuasive. Caustic words
do not communicate love. Without
love, we are nothing (1 Cor. 13:2). If
we cannot respect and be respected
by our Christian peers, how can we
hope to be respected outside of
our Christian bubble? How can we
hope to inspire, lead and transform
a single person, much less an entire
institution?
As Christians, we are called to
represent the truth, as the “salt of
the earth and light of the world”
(Matt. 5:13-14). We should not water
down truth and deceive others and
ourselves. We need to criticize each
other honestly, not compliment
insincerely or build ourselves up
with half-truths only to realize upon
graduation that we just don’t measure up to “the real world.” But once
again, we must use caution.
We’ve all been guilty of both giving and receiving criticism without a
spot of class, but we can learn from
our mistakes. Caustic criticism divides us and spreads resentment. The
last thing we need as a student body
is to harbor resentment towards
each other. We are one school with
one mission, and we should lift each
other up. Competition is healthy, but
success is not a zero-sum game. Criticism is healthy, but only with love
and grace. Iron sharpens iron, but
only with skill and practice.
Speak out!
Hector Sanchez - 2015
“Communication will ned to improve
between admissions and students
to make up for the uncertainty surrounding the new location.”
10
Opinion
The Unfairness of Fair
Trade Coffee
By Emily Collins
Most people who
buy fair trade coffee are
unaware of the handicap
fair trade growers put on
the economies they’re
supposedly helping.
The fair trade label is
so commonplace nowadays that hardly anyone
questions it. And, yet,
the “fair trade” phenomenon should raise a
whole slew of questions:
What does “fair trade” actually mean? What is the
unfairness we’re correcting? Why does “fair trade” only seem
to apply to agriculture? Sure, Americans are well-meaning. We think
we’re doing third world countries
a favor by offering artificially high
wages and growing their agricultural
sector, but there are many unintended consequences which follow. We
must be careful not to applaud our
humanitarianism too quickly.
The “fair trade” argument goes
something like this: It’s unfair that
companies are going to third world
countries and exploiting the poor
for their cheap labor, so those
companies should offer “fair” wages.
What most people don’t realize is
that companies offer lower wages
because people will agree to those
wages. The laborers agree that
they’re getting a fair wage. Further,
jobs in agriculture are entry-level
jobs. They’re not the end-all be-all
of economic advancement in these
countries, so they shouldn’t have
artificially high wages as if they are
the end-all be-all. Even low wages
increase the poor person’s wealth
and might enable him or her to seek
better jobs in the future.
Let’s see what happens when we
follow the consequences of artificially high wages. The higher wages
offered by Fair Trade Growers tends
to attract a larger pool of workers
than lower wages would. Typically,
this means the grower can hire more
skilled workers because the company
can pick and choose the best workers out of the pool. This seems like
a beneficial practice until we realize
that the higher wages are not going
to the poorest classes. The grower
will be more likely to hire a young
man with some education who can
shower and shave every day rather
than hiring an impoverished child or
a poor widow with no one to support
her.
Not only do “fair trade” rules not
affect their intended beneficiaries,
but these more skilled workers that
they hire have a high opportunity
cost. Instead of working in technology or entrepreneurial business or any
other job where they can be more
creative, they go to work in the agriculture industry where there’s not
much room for innovation or diversification. While agriculture may be
a good way to start up an economy,
agriculture is not the most valuable
business in the world market. The
types of workers who go into agriculture should be the unskilled workers
so that the skilled workers can use
their skills in more creative industries.
If skilled workers were allowed to use
their talents in other sectors, they
would grow the economy over time
because they would have room for
specialization.
Fortunately, there are other ways
to help third world countries grow
economically besides buying fair
trade coffee. In government policy,
we can end “fair trade” policies, stop
subsidizing production and encourage foreign entrepreneurship. And
for those who want to scratch their
humanitarian itch, there are many
non-profits which aid poor economies in a much more effective and
sustainable way. For example, an
organization called Kiva collects
donations to help entrepreneurs in
third world countries to build businesses. It takes immense pride to say
that we know coffee-growing is the
best way up and out of poverty. It’s
time for us to swallow our pride, stop
this “fair trade” nonsense,and donate
to organizations that will help these
people in the long-run.
Emily Collins is a sophomore PPE
major in the House of Barton.
We ask TKC students: “What do you think
Noah Heinz - 2014
“I’m excited for the extra space but
will miss going to school in an iconic
New York City skyscraper.”
about the school’s move out of the ESB?”
Julia Johnston - 2014
“It will be a pain adjusting to a new
location but I’m optimistic that the
higher quality space will make up for
it.”
Tim Wainwright - 2013
“I’ll miss the marketing opportunities
that come with being in the ESB...
Windows are ncie though.”
A Message from
New SBP Sam Tran
The end of the year is almost here, and
I hope you are just as excited about
next year as I am! As we wrap up another year at the college, I want to lay
out a few specific goals for next year so
that you can hold me accountable to
my vision. My three big goals for next
year are:
(1) Kaizen [or constant improvement]
-My plan is to have all meetings complete in one hour. Feel free to leave if I
go over, unless we agree to continue.
-Twice a semester, I will send out a
short survey with a couple questions.
I want to gauge your feedback on
important issues and make sure I am
representing you well.
-In December, I will conduct an internal
audit of our progress toward achieving
these goals.
(2) Engagement [or get out]
-We plan to have a City Engagement
Weekend during the first month of
school and hope all King’s students
will come to serve the community in a
tangible way.
-I will continue to pursue what I call
Idea Engagement. Over the past year, I
have been working on an undergraduate think tank called Ideas Forum (IF).
IF aims to showcase student work
(whether papers, art, music, debate,
poetry, etc.) and provoke deeper
discussion on four themes: wealth and
poverty, individual responsibility, faith
and reason, and the role of government. If you would like more details, I
would love to talk to you about this.
(3) Connection
-I want to foster a culture of gratitude,
so I plan to write thank you notes for
our hardworking staff, dedicated faculty, supportive parents and successful
alumni. If you would like to join me, let
me know.
-I will create a student body prayer
list, so that the cabinet, Council and
parents can keep you in prayer.
Next year will likely pose many unexpected challenges. I am praying that
my cabinet and I will serve you all with
excellence, integrity and humility. Feel
free to stop and talk with me anytime
(if you don’t know already, I basically
inhabit a corner booth in the café). I
look forward to a great year.
Regards,
Samuel
Sam’s 2012-2013 Cabinet:
Allison Bates (Dir. of Finance)
Josh Linder (Dir. of Communications)
Andrew Aran (Dir. of Student Orgs)
Sarah Doyal (Event Coordinator)
Right: Greg Baumann won the random
theme debate competition for Interregnum. Photo by Benjamin Gotchel, courtesy
of houseofbonhoeffer.com.
A Year in Review: TGIF April
By Nathan Deardoff & Jack Cuidon
Although the school year has yet
to reach the stressful pinnacle which
some call “finals week” and treat it
with the same level of dread as the
apocalypse of May 2011, here is our
year in review in reverse order.
church, even this scholarly Kingsian
event was a bit awkward.
Spring Break is rejoiced by all, and
it’s end is still mourned by most.
Mr. TKC was awarded to Churchill’s
freshman, Seth Parks. Despite the
runway, this event was the second of
at King’s, Student Services throws a
Speed Dating night. Invites to the
event are qualified with, “Oh, come
on, it’s just for fun.” As if King’s girls
were able to date just for fun.
The House of Bonehoffer thows a
Super Bowl Party with pizza, projectors and of course, live streaming.
One could log on to their site during
the game and see 30 or so Kingsians
watching the game, possibly the first
instance of someone breaking the
Fifth Wall.
April
This year’s
spring formal
has followed
the lead of the
King’s College
as a whole by
January
moving out of
In welcoming students back into
the ESB to a new
the city, President D’Souza takes time
location that no
out of his busy travel schedule to eat
one knows how
breakfast with the student body. This
to get to.
provides Ludlow-ites with their first
The Huffinghot meal in the city.
ton Post recently
The GPA Competition is anran a story in
nounced at the very beginning of the
which The King’s
semester. In hindsight, it is interestCollege is called Callista Gingrich delivered a speech on American Exceptionalism to 50
ing to note that Lewis placed first
students at King’s. Photo by Meagan Clark.
the 7th most
in this, but 10th over all, and the
conservative school in the nation.
last three places in this (Barton 8th,
But with the visit this Monday of Mrs. the semester to blatantly objectify
men, following the Israel internation- Churchill 9th, Reagan 10th) were the
Callista Gingrich we may hop up a
top three. #priorities.
al venture Team’s Man Auction.
few rankings.
The school provides a three day
weekend for Easter, which causes Dr. February
The House HisDru Johnson to remark in class, “Why
tory
was a parade of
is it called ‘Good Friday?’ It should be
unexpected
events, as
called ‘Horrible Friday.’”
Thatcher provided too
many details about all
March
the wrong things, SBA
The House of Barton sweeps both
tried to act and Reagan
Interregnum and House Competiactually showed up.
tion. Throughout the year they
In the race for Student
swapped places with Reagan and
Body President, Samuel
Churchill, who tied for second.
Tran wins the seat with
Churchill deserves props for being
Tristan Kelley hit the King's baseball team's only
54% majority of the 66%
the most improved house, rising
home run for the fall season. Photo by Kristen
of the students voting.
from 10th to 2nd in one year. (GodLee.
For a school where one
speed, The House of Lewis.)
can get into a heated debate about
King’s decides to provide Dr. Peter
Fall semester is hardly more than a
Kreeft, a world-renowned theologian libertarian policies while at a urinal,
dull memory now, yet here are some
one would think that more than just
almost unrivaled in both his liter28% of the total student body would highlights.
ary output and his critical thinking
The King’s Debate Society argues
vote for its own leader
skills, a venue to discuss the history
its
way to 25th best in the world!
The Ugly Bunnies, King’s improv
of Protestantism and Catholicism - an
group debuts beautifully and contin- Tables in the cafe and slounge are
issue very close to Kreeft, as he is a
pounded and slapped for days after
convert from the former to the latter. ues to perform for the remainder of
this announcement.
the school year.
The college decides to honor this
The Basketball Tournament is
Sy Rogers, a former gay man
event in two ways: by getting their
clean
and high energy, proving that
turned pastor, visits for a weekend,
basic church history wrong in the
academics
wasn’t all our school was
title of the event, and by allowing the providing students with theology
good
for.
In
fact, all King’s sports
and sex talks that proved far more
debate to go on for 30 minutes total
teams are now in the NAACC.
comprehensive and detailed than
(the time it takes for one annoying
King’s stance on sex, which is “Just
roommate to take a shower, or two
Supposedly only ten percent of the
episodes of Family Guy). Due to time don’t (not even in the stairways).”
students (The House of Lewis) read
As if length of time was the only
limits and the fact that Luther did
The Connecticut Yankee for the Interfactor in the lack of romance here
not leave, but was forced out of the
regnum test. One
student offered up his
opinion of the book:
“If Huckleberry Finn
is like The Beatles’
White Album, Connecticut Yankee is like
Paul McCartney’s solo
work in Wings.
The year started
with a hurricane and
earthquake, which
means something
truly horrible will
have to happen in
the Fall for the school
year to start off more
interesting (and coed) than this year.
Opinion
11
The Empire State Tribune’s Summer Movie Preview
By Katie Hay
As much as I would love to open
this preview with a sappy anecdote
about Nicholas Sparks’ latest, The
Lucky One, its release date doesn’t
exactly count as “summer,” and I
cannot allow myself anymore indulgences…but self-restraint never
stopped me before. Here’s what
you should go see if you don’t want
to look like me when fall comes
around.
The Avengers: Thor plus Iron Man
plus Black Widow plus Hawkeye
plus Captain America plus the Hulk
equals one heavy hero sandwich,
pun intended. Don’t forget the
yummy Pepper Pots! When Loki
threatens earth’s survival, Nick Fury
and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agency form
the Avengers in hopes to save the
world. Opens May 4.
Dark Shadows: Call the caterer.
Barnabus Collins is back for the
family reunion, and Tim Burton and
Johnny Depp are having another
anniversary! Johnny Depp’s eighth
film under Burton’s direction, the
two collaborated to create an ode
to the Dark Shadows soap opera,
which aired on ABC network from
1966-1971 and was controversial for
its supernatural content. This film
parodies the old show and could
serve as mockery of modern vampire tales, in classic Burton humor.
Opens May 11.
Take This Waltz: Michelle Williams
and Seth Rogan portray a couple in
scrutiny. Opens June 7.
Seeking a Friend at the End of
the World: It may take an asteroid
scheduled to hit earth in three
weeks to bring Kiera Knightley and
love, but maybe not the monogamous kind. This film has a noteworthy cast (although Williams usually
does independent films) but was
written and directed by Sarah Polley,
who holds only seven directional
titles to her name, three of which
are short films. The new director’s
style, which seems highly stylized by
her use of color, is sure to fall under
Steve Carrell together, but this unlikely friendship will be totally worth
it. Opens June 22.
To Rome with Love: Woody Allen
never disappoints. What’s different
about his latest is that he’s actually
in it, a first in almost six years, or in
Woody Allen language, six movies. A collection of love scenarios
in Italy, the vignette style script will
“a killer of women.” Since Lisbeth
is a woman and victim of rape by
men, she has motivation to respond
to Mikael’s calling. However, this
response would be vengeful, to right
wrongs done to her. The tragic hero
wreak havoc on the community.
Lisbeth’s and Katniss’ motivations are
not society-based; they choose their
battles based on personal interests.
Katniss fights for her family, and
Lisbeth fights to satisfy her anger
rights wrongs he has committed.
Furthermore, the tragic hero wrestles
with his own fate, rather than the
fates of others. Lisbeth’s calling from
Mikael is not to avenge her own rapists; it is to avenge murders of other
women. In this way, Lisbeth actually
resembles the antihero: revengeful
for a just cause.
Katniss of The Hunger Games
volunteers as tribute in the games
in place of her sister. Again, protecting her sister seems like a calling,
but Katniss did not bring the harm
upon her sister. Katniss’ sacrifice
would only be essential if she put her
sister in danger. Katniss’ sacrifice is a
voluntary act.
These vengeful callings distort the
modern view of justice. The tragic
hero’s mistake could potentially
against her rapists.
Katniss looks heroic because she
only kills in the hunger games indirectly or out of self-defense. Katniss
drops a bee nest on another girl,
making the kill inadvertent. She kills
two other times, once in self-defense
and once to save her lover, Peeta.
Lisbeth tortures her parole officer
after he rapes her. Does vengeance
retain heroism? If they do not kill
boldly, but only by default, then the
tragedy of their actions is cheapened.
Both Katniss and Lisbeth do not
allow love to grow and flourish. Katniss kisses Peeta, and Lisbeth strips
for Mikael. Love is not a force that
compels these heroines, but these
heroines manipulate the force of
love. This cheats the plot standard
surely complement Allen’s often
fragmented, specific bats of dialogue. Furthermore, watching Ellen
Page, Alec Baldwin and Jesse Eisenberg spat back at Allen’s conversational style will be easy to swallow.
Opens June 22.
People Like Us: A myriad of
up-and-comers in Hollywood are
showcased here. Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks and Olivia Wilde are
directed by a screenplay writing pro,
Alex Kurtzman, whose pencil hit
the page for Transformers, Star Trek,
Cowboys and Aliens and surprisingly, The Island. A story about family redemption, this movie should
provide a fresh perspective on your
own family. Opens June 29.
The Amazing Spider Man: Can
Emma Stone save the Amazing
Spider man from his decreasing
popularity? (Remember, he was not
invited to join the Avengers.) She
just might be able to, but she’s the
gimmick here for sure. Opens July
6.
The Dark Knight Rises: Liam
Neeson, Tom Hardy, and Anne
Hathaway are all attempts to fulfill
the void of entertainment left by the
late Heath Ledger. While this task is
impossible, failing at it is a worthy
calling worth watching. Opens July
20.
The 2012 Heroine Games: Women vs. Dragons
By Katie Hay
ABSTRACT: The roles of the Heroine and Hero are interchanging in
modern film. In both The Girl with
the Dragon Tattoo and The Hunger
Games, the heroines drive the plot,
but neither woman is truly successful. A heroine cannot be held to the
success standards of heroines when
her tragic journey follows the pattern
of a hero. Examining Aristotle’s tragic
hero reveals that these modern heroines in film are written to fulfill or
mirror the role of the tragic hero but
are insufficient as such.
In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,
Rooney Mara, who plays the heroine,
Lisbeth Salander, has transformed
herself into a genderless, gothic creature of sorts. Lisbeth is a bisexual,
motorcycle-riding, orphaned criminal. In order to portray her character
believably, Mara cannot resemble a
fair damsel in distress, which reigned
in classic Western art. She must embrace masculine qualities to attract
women and convince the audience
of her gumption for felony.
Katniss Everdeen, heroine of The
Hunger Games, hunts game and sells
it to provide food and money for her
family, essentially fulfilling a paternal
role. The feminine qualities of both
Katniss and Lisbeth are untraceable,
and their visible actions, unfeminine.
The calling of Aristotle’s tragic
hero comes when the hero makes
a personal, tragic mistake. He then
must offer himself to right his own
wrong and often, to die for it. It is
not a voluntary act; he has no choice.
Katniss’ and Lisbeth’s callings seem
unavoidable, but really, they choose
their battles.
In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,
Mikael asks Lisbeth to help him find
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for a heroine. A heroine is successful
when love befalls her in a true feminine state, at rest.
These heroines do not act as
saviors alone but in competition with
heroes. In both films, these heroines
are not the sole protagonists. They
only become protagonists when
their male competition falls.
In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,
only when Mikael, played by Daniel
Craig, is poisoned in a gas chamber
does the responsibility of killing the
antagonist fall solely on Lisbeth. In
The Hunger Games, Katniss only
forges the battle alone when Peeta
falls sick; he acts as her ally in every
other situation. These heroines do
not represent their own triumph, but
rather, they represent their triumph
over the hero, as the stronger protagonist.
Neither heroine finds true success. Katniss does not find a way to
win the hunger games. She chooses
to commit suicide with Peeta at the
end, but the government saves them
both from that fate. Lisbeth does not
actually get the privilege of killing
her antagonist. As she walks toward
him with a gun, he catches on fire.
Lisbeth does not find true love, and
Katniss’ love is more compulsive than
lasting.
The strength of a heroine within
any storyline comes from the accentuation of her feminine qualities, and
her necessity in the storyline is her
ability to solve problems in a way a
hero could not. Modern film portrays
the heroine as the hero. As the modern audience continues to accept this
replacement, they accept a distorted
set of values for those beautifully
brought to light by Aristotle’s tragic
hero.