By Christina Fernandez, reporter

For more than 200 years, the military hasbeen helping American troops with their spiri-tual and emotional needs. Even though societyhas changed, becoming more secular andhumanistic, chaplains in the army are still indis-pensable.

Currently, there are four Liberty Universitygraduates who are serving in Iraq and Kuwait aschaplains. In the Air Force, Liberty Baptist Fel-lowship Chaplain, Lt. Colonel Charles Davidsonentered Iraq with the first Marine Divisionshortly after his promotion to Lt. Colonel. In theArmy, Captains Timothy Smith and Alan Sav-age, also Liberty Baptist Fellowship Chaplains,are serving as well in the war. Their exact loca-tions cannot be given for security reasons.

Prior to his deployment, Davidson was sta-tioned in San Antonio, Texas. He has a wife Roy-dene and two children. Savage and Smith werestationed in Fort Eustis, Va., and Fort Bragg,N.C. Deployment has separated them from theirwives and children as well.

Most people may not be aware of the two-foldimportance of a chaplain. “Chaplains meet spiri-tual and military needs,” Lew Weider, endorser

of Liberty Baptist Fellowship Chaplains anddirector of Christian/Community Service, said.Chaplains meet the spiritual needs of the soldierand the soldier’s family by praying, holding reli-gious services, counseling and at times, evangel-izing those who desire a personal relationshipwith Jesus Christ, Weider said.

“A lot of the soldiers, before entering combatare concerned about the brevity of life. Our chap-lains have the opportunity to lead them toChrist,” Weider said.

Chaplains are trained to be sensitive to a sol-dier’s doctrinal needs. “A protestant chaplainwill never be asked to do a Catholic mass. How-ever, they would provide for the needs of thatsoldier by finding a priest who would serve thatperson spiritually,” Weider said. Weiderstressed the fact that while the military does pro-vide for soldiers spiritual needs, they do not inany way violate religious freedom.

“Coercion should not exist in the militarychaplaincy. It is not necessary becausethese young soldiers are looking for truthand they find it in the person of JesusChrist.” Weider said.

Please see CHAPLAINS, page 3

ChampionThe Liberty

LIBERTY UNIVERSITY • LYNCHBURG, VA • VOL. 20, NO. 21 TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2003

INSIDE�MINISTRY OF VOICES: TheFellowship Gospel Choir isexpanding their ministrythrough a trip to New York thissemester. See page 4.

�NEW EQUIPMENT: The NursingDepartmenthas madeimprove-ments intheir pro-gram andfacilities. Seepage 4.

�SEMINAR: This year’s annualCivil War Seminar featured afilm screening, lectures and his-torical music. See page 4.

�DAY TRIPS: Nothing to do onSaturday? Life! looks at funcities and attractions in Va. Seepage 9.

�TRACK MEET: Men’s andWomen’strack teamsdominate atLibertyInvitationalwith greatspeed anddistance.See page 11.

& OUT�TUESDAY Cloudy.High 56.Low 42.

�WEDNESDAYPartly cloudy.High 53.Low 37.

�THURSDAY Showers.High 46.Low 38.

�FRIDAYShowers.High 47.Low 43.

�SATURDAY Partly cloudy.High 63.Low 45.

LOOKAHEADIN NEXT WEEK’S ISSUE

�LU is hosting a rally to sup-port U.S. troops in the MiddleEast on Saturday, April 12. Therally will be held in the VinesCenter, and the public areinvited to attend.

�Bostic Brothers building com-pany is breaking ground up onthe mountain as constructionon the coming apartmentsbegins. Learn more about theprogress and proposed comple-tion dates.

FIND A HOME FOR THE SUMMER

�Looking for a place to livethis summer? Several apart-ments are available inLynchburg. Check out theChampion’s Classified sectionon page 13.

Bush provides moral support

HAND OF ENCOURAGEMENT— President George W. Bush and his wife Laura greet U.S. troops at Camp Lejeune, N.C. on April 3. The Bushes stopped to pro-vide moral support to the marines, who have lost 11 men in the Iraqi conflict so far.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY BAPTIST PRESS

Ashcroft speaks on IsraelBy Julleanna Outten, editor in chief

Attorney General John Ashcroft shared his sup-port for the State of Israel with hundreds of evan-gelical Christians and Jews gathered in the nation’scapitol on Wednesday, April 2.

“Israel is among countries most capable of shar-ing our pain and desire for justice,” Ashcroft said inreference to the events of Sept. 11, 2001. “In theface of almost daily terrorist threats, Israel hasremained.” He and numerous others spoke on thecurrent Israeli/Palestinian conflict over the Stateof Israel and the U.S. support for Israel.

Dr. Jerry Falwell was among several public fig-ures and government officials invited to speak thatafternoon in Washington, D.C.’s Mayflower Hotel.A serious chest cold impaired his voice and pre-vented him from being able to attend, according toDr. Ronald Godwin, assistant to the Chancellor.

However, more than a dozen Liberty students ingovernment classes attended the Stand for Israelbriefing hosted by the International Fellowship ofChristians and Jews.

“I had an amazing time, such a blessing. Seeing

John Ashcroft, that was just amazing,” junior gov-ernment major Sydney Moser said. “Here were allthese congressmen and senators, and we were justyoung college kids.”

About 600 affiliated with IFCJ listened tospeakers including national radio syndicateJanet Parshall, Israeli Ambassador DanielAyalon, Senator Sam Brownback, and Congress-man Eric Cantor.

During an evening banquet, the organizationpresented its first “Friends of Israel” awards toHouse Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-Texas) andRep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) based on their sponsor-ship of pro-Israel legislation last year.

“Today Israelis walk with gas masks every-where they go,”Ayalon said. “I’m very proud toreport, the Israeli spirit is not broken. We standtall; we stand proud.”

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein and Republican activistRalph Reed founded IFCJ 20 years ago with thehope of uniting Christians and Jews.

“True Bible-believing Christians are not ouradversaries; they’re our best friends,” Eckstein, anadviser for Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon,said at the briefing. He noted that in the last sevento eight years, Christians have donated $100 mil-lion to IFCJ.

Please see ISRAEL, page 5ASHCROFT —The Attorney General addresses thecrowd at the “Stand for Israel” briefing.

JOHN FISHER

Alumni serve as chaplains Caedmon’s Call,Jars of Clay playfor huge crowdBy Mariel Williams, news editor

Jars of Clay and Caedmon’s Call performed to apacked out crowd in the Vines’ Center Saturday,April 5.

The concert, sponsored by Resident Recruitingand Student Life, opened with a few songs from thenew duo GlassByrd. Husband and wife ChristineGlass and Marc Byrd sang songs from their recentlyreleased debut album “Open Wide This Window.”Marc Byrd also took time to share his testimony withthe crowd.

Caedmon’s Call sang songs from their new CD“Back Home,” as well as older songs such as “40Acres.” They also performed covers of songs by theBeatles and Shawn Colvin.

In between songs, lead singer Cliff Youngexhorted the audience to remember to live out theirfaith as well as preaching it.

Please see CONCERT, page 4

Students attend briefing inWashington, D.C. April 2

Page 2, THE LIBERTY CHAMPION APRIL 8, 2003

The Priceis RightBy Chris Price, columnist

I haven’t reached into the old bag of tricksand pulled out a random thoughts column in along time, so today seems like the perfect day todo so. Why today? Because it is 10:30 a.m. on aSaturday morning, and I am stuck doing home-work and writing a column before I go out oftown, and to try and put together cohesivewords to make sentences, and then the sen-tences make sense in paragraph form, and thenall the paragraphs relate to each other to form acolumn is asking way too much at such a ridicu-lous time to be awake on a Saturday morning.So, here is a bunch of rambling thoughts that Iam going to try to pass off as a column. (I haveno journalistic integrity).

•Where do some of the guys around here gettheir exorbitant amount of self-confidence thatis disproportionate to what they have to offer?A teacher here always talks about if you are an 8go after an 8, if you are a 3 go after a 3. If you are4, don’t try and land a 9, that’s stage skipping.Stage skippers are the worst. You almost won-der if they actually believed their mothers whenthey were told that they were the most hand-some little boy in the whole world. Guess what,you’re not the most handsome boy in the world,your mother is a liar and the truth is not in her.

Perhaps the most frustrating situation in theworld, is when a stage skipper actually landssomeone that’s at least a 3 digit superior to himor her. You have all seen the couples walkingaround that you assumed had to be brother andsister because they were unequally matched,and then they started holding hands. This is themost disheartening situation of all. Not onlyhas it taken the higher digit person off the mar-ket, it gives hope to all the low-digiters thatevery blue moon a successful stage skip is

accomplished. I believe the way to most suc-cessfully stage skip is to find that high-digiterwith either low self esteem, or is graduating in afew months and doesn’t want to leave single.There is nothing better than the graduatingsenior with the look of desperation in their eyes.Then they don’t have time to be picky and theywill inevitably settle for the first person whotalks to them. A quick note: I realize this entireparagraph left out character, similar interestsand how nice someone is in a relationship. Ionly did this because those things are notimportant.

•Are R.A.s trained to have an annoyingsmirk on their face when they write you up, ordoes it just come naturally? I would love to seetheir training. I picture a slide show in a darkroom showing slides of people out of dress codeaccompanied by an electrical charge thatteaches them to hate all hair touching the earsand belt loops without belts.

•Can someone do the world a favor andlock Vin Diesel in a room and not allow him tobe seen by the general public? He has to beone of the worst actors of all time. Every time Ihear him talk I want to go ape and just startsmashing things. If there was an award cere-mony like the Oscars for the worst actors, let’scall them the Teds, he would clean up. “Andthe Teds for the most annoying actor, mostmonotone performance and most moviesmade with the same plot, go to Vin Diesel. Vingo ahead and make your way up to the stage ifyou can figure out how to navigate the steps,and once you get up here try and stringtogether a whole sentence.”

Well, this has been another journey throughmy sleep-deprived mind. Hope you enjoyed theride. When it comes to random thoughts, ThePrice is Right.

By Christine Koech,reporter

A campus spon-sored SeventhAnnual Civil WarSeminar held April4-5 brought dozensof visitors to LibertyUniversity, includingHonorable Glenn F.McConnell, thechairman of TheHunley Commissionand musical duoPotomac Thunder(Tom and RosemaryLather). This year’sseminar, organizedby the Liberty Uni-versity Center for theStudy of the CivilWar in Central Vir-ginia, was entitled“The Civil War andthe Arts.”

“Educationally, what wewould like to do is bring peo-ple’s attention to the CivilWar and how it would relateto today’s society,” Dr. ClineHall, associate professor ofhistory and co-director of theseminar.

The first evening of theseminar featured a premierpresentation of the playRebel Cry written by LindaNell Cooper, Liberty’s awardwinning dramatist. RebelCry, a story focusing “on thefinal days of Petersburg andRichmond in the earlyspring of 1865” is a portrayalof actual historical eventsand people during the CivilWar Era, although some ofthe supporting characterswere fictitious.

Holly Sydnor, a juniorvocal performance majorfrom Winchester, Va.,played the part of Grace, ahumble maidservant fromLouisiana. “It’s been a greatexperience to be part of theoriginal play. I had no ideathat Elizabeth Van Lew (aUnion spy during the CivilWar) was the inventor ofinvisible ink. Many of thecharacters really existed. It’sreally great to be part of(portraying) history,” Syd-nor said.

The second day of the sem-inar featured “An Occurrenceat Owl Creek Bridge” a shortfilm based on the Civil Warclassic story of Peyton Far-quhar by Ambrose Bierce.The film was produced byBrian James Egen and SusanOdom of Owl Creek Produc-tions. Also present during thepresentation of the film wasthe Bradley M. Egen, whoplayed the role of Peyton.

Two presentations fol-

lowed the film, one by archae-ologist Shea W. McLeantitled, “Raising and Preserv-ing the C.S.S Hunley.”McLean showed slides of thehistoric recovery of the H.LHunley submarine in 2000.The submarine sank in 1864after a successful raid on theUSS Housatonic, a Unionwarship during the Civil Warbecoming the first submarineever to sink an enemy ship.

Senior Curator of theNational Firearms Museumin Fairfax, Va. Doug Wick-lund made the second andfinal presentation. Wick-lund’s presentation, enti-tled “Sharpshooter Arms ofthe Civil War,” highlightedthe different weapons andtechniques used by sharp-shooters.

“Attendance was morethan previous years. We’vehad several positive com-ments from people, some ofwhom come back year afteryear,” Hall said.

LU steps back in time

SEMINAR— Attendees at this year’s annual Civil War Seminar were ableto purchase books, memorabilia and other Civil War related items.

By Marianne Mims, reporter

This spring, the Drama Department is performing the musi-cal, “Rebel Cry.” The musical is unique for many reasons, thefirst of which is that Linda Nell Cooper, who directs and chore-ographs the plays and musicals here at Liberty, wrote thescript and lyrics. “ ‘Rebel Cry is not a ‘Christian musical.’ I’m awriter who is a Christian. My values and principles comethrough in my writing,” said Cooper.

The musical is based on the life of Elizabeth VanLew, whowas a spy for the North during the Civil War. She, however,was a Southerner, living in Richmond who operated her spyring in and out of Richmond. The story of her manipulation isattached to the Virginia 21st Infantry, Company F of Rich-mond. They were elite Southern gentlemen who went to battlethinking they would never see death. “ ‘Rebel Cry’ is a musicalabout betrayal, honor and love,” Cooper said. “It’s not really amusical about North versus South. It’s about a community inRichmond which had divided loyalties.”

Cooper spent an entire year doing the research for RebelCry. She met with the premier expert on Elizabeth VanLew andfound that what she had been researching was correct. “I trav-eled to Pennsylvania to spend a day with (the expert). It wasrewarding because I found out that my research was accurate,”Cooper said. From there, Cooper spent two months writingfrom midnight to three a.m. every night. “It usually takes mesix weeks of three to four hours every night to write the firstdraft. I put it aside for a month and then pull it back out andrewrite for three weeks.”

Cooper collaborated with a composer for six months to putthe music together with her song lyrics and said she is pleasedwith the outcome. “The students in the musical love the music,so I know the students who come will love it,” Cooper said. Nathan Lynch, a junior who plays a soldier, agrees. “The musicis incredible…it’s very powerful.” Lynch, who has been actingunder Cooper’s direction for three years feels that there areadvantages to Cooper being the author and the director. “Sheknows exactly what she wants and can explain what shewants,” he said. “As an actor, it’s an honor to say you wereapart of the original cast.” President John Borek, a long-timesupporter of the drama program, is looking forward to goodresults from “Rebel Cry.”

“Over the years Lois (his wife) and I…have been mostimpressed with the professionalism of Linda Nell Cooper andher ability as a playwright and a director,” Borek said. “It’s veryclear to me that she uses drama for His glory. She is truly agifted individual and a blessing to Liberty University.”

LU does not offer a drama major, and Cooper gets actorsfrom a wide variety of majors. “The actors come from differentperspectives and they bring their different walks of life withthem to the stage,” she said. “We have fun. It’s a lot of work,but you don’t mind the hours you’re putting into it.” Cooper’sother credits include: “April Morning,” “Ribs for Dinner,” andthe musicals written for Thomas Road Baptist Church’s “Liv-ing Christmas Tree” in 2000 and 2001.

Linda Nell Cooper:teacher, theaterdirector and author

LES SCHOFER, CAMPUS PHOTOGRAPHER

APRIL 8, 2003 THE LIBERTY CHAMPION, Page 3

Rebel Cry“Rebel Cry,” written and directed by LUEnglish professor Linda Nell Cooper, is amusical based on the true story of ElizabethVanLew, a Union spy in Richmond during theCivil War. The show is playing Friday andSaturday nights, April 4-26.

CHAPLAINS: Ministering to troopsContinued from page 1

The more secular duties of a chaplaininvolve keeping the soldiers focused on theirduties by counseling them through theirproblems. This is why counseling is consid-ered to be one of the most important jobs of achaplain. “If soldiers get off task and are notfocused, they could die. If a soldier worriesabout family or daily problems or is afraid,they can lose focus. The chaplain helps themstay on task and deal with issues that arebothering them. Military commandersappreciate that the most about chaplains,”Weider said.

Knowing that there are chaplains presentto minister and comfort soldiers while theyare at war can be comforting for familieswho have loved ones serving in Iraq. “I havea brother who is serving in Iraq and I cam

thankful for men who are willing to encour-age men like my brother with the gospel,”Mary Elmore, a senior biblical studiesmajor, said.

But explanations aside, the necessity andbravery of a chaplain can only be truly illus-trated by stories of their service in action.Weider spoke with one chaplain who hadbeen able to comfort a dying soldier inAfghanistan.

“While in a firefight, one of the soldierstook some shrapnel metal to the head andbegan bleeding from the forehead. He wentto his side, worked on the wound while pray-ing. The chaplain knew this man personally.He comforted the soldier and helped himprepare for death as he mopped up the bloodfrom his body. All the while he was praying.He watched the man die in his arms,” Wei-der said.

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4/19/03 - 8th Annual Minority Student Achievement AwardsBanquet - 6:00 pm @ Hotel Roanoke. Formal. Tickets are$25 and must be purchased by April 11th. Tickets can be pur-chased in the Minority&International Students Office. This isa formal event a photographer will be available that evening.We look forward to you attending the 8th Annual MSAA tohonor the achievements of Liberty University’s Minority andInternational Students4/15/03 - Poet’s Corner - 7:00 pm @ David’s Place. Pleasesubmit your poems to Dean of Women in building 13 or emaildeanofwomen@liberty.edu by April 7th at 4:30p.m.

Let everyone know about your event! The Campus Calendar is the place studentslook to find out what’s going on. All you need to do is drop by the Championoffice and fill out a form with the details of your event. So don’t delay - come byDH 1035 to let us know about your announcement. Or email your information toedpecore@liberty.edu Be sure to include the issue you want your announcement toappear in, the date, time, cost and how to get more information about the event.

Got an announcement?

Calendar

Page 4, THE LIBERTY CHAMPION APRIL 8, 2003

Choir visits Big AppleBy Amanda Smith, reporter

For the Liberty UniversityGospel Choir, this is an excitingtime of ministry. With manyupcoming concerts, newly pur-chased choir robes and a New Yorktrip quickly approaching, the choiris anxious to minister.

Freshman Amber Adger saidthat the motto for their choir is,“Ministers of music, that’s ourresponsibility, to set the atmos-phere and take it to the next level,”and that’s exactly what they plan todo on their upcoming trip to NewYork city.

The choir of 70 students will betaking their first trip of the yearthat the majority of the group willbe attending. A total of 51 studentswill be leaving early on April 11.Their first stop will be in Syracuseat a church called Eternal Hope.There, they will perform a full con-cert.

About ministering in churchesAdger said, “Ministering to God’schildren, that’s what we love.” Theywill then head to Queens to St.Mathews church to oversee a work-shop for the youth of the church.The seminars will cover topics suchas peer pressure, preparing for col-lege, and learning to live the Christ-ian life. They will have another fullconcert at St. Mathews. After that,the choir will attend a service andfellowship at the Brooklyn Taber-

nacle Church. Students may find it difficult to

attend any of the New York con-certs, but they can look forward toan upcoming performance at BassElementary School. Though theysing primarily religious music, thechoir has been able to perform atthis local public school since 1981.“We have an alumnus choir mem-ber who was able to make someconnections,” director Kimberly W.Jones said, explaining the unusualopportunity. On Good Friday, thechoir will also be performing at achurch in Martinsville.

After raising money for the pastyear, the choir was able to purchasea total of 65 new robes. “We soldeverything from bookmarks tocookies to raise the money,” Jonessaid. The new robes are silver,black and blue, and were worn bythe choir in its most recent per-formance in convocation.

The Gospel choir has had a verypositive influence not only on thepeople they minister to, but also toone another in their ministry. “Noprivate devotion, no public display”has been a phrase that has taughtfreshman Daniela Flood a greatdeal over the course of this schoolyear. Serving in the choir has chal-lenged Flood and Adger’s spiritualgrowth “tremendously,” they said.

“We love what we do. It’s not justministry—it’s family,” Jones said.

By Joe Leahy, reporter

The Liberty University NursingDepartment has just finished itssecond year with a Critical Care Cer-tificate Program (CCCP), and theresults so far have been overwhelm-ingly good. The department also hasa new Critical Care Lab to help stu-dents gain hands-on experience.

Dawn McKay, a nursing profes-sor at Liberty, said that the feedback,both from the graduates of the CCCPand from their respective employ-ers, has been very positive. Fourteennursing students have beenaccepted for the program next year.

The CCCP is a way for seniors,who apply and are accepted, to getcertified in Critical Care while theyare still in school. “This opportunityis great for students to have,” nurs-ing major Kat Riner said. “(The pro-gram) allows students to graduate

with the necessary certification to gostraight into work in those areas.”

The program is very taxing forthe students who apply, on top ofbeing a part of one of the most workheavy and time consuming majorsat LU. The additional requirementsof the seniors in the program are toparticipate in a preceptorship withassignment to a critical care unit. Inaddition to the preceptorship, stu-dents must take the additionalclasses NURS 460 (Critical Care)and NURS 465 (Advanced CriticalCare) during their senior year. Also,they must take part in Leadershipclinical hours in a critical care unit.There are also many more minorrequirements.

Nursing major Julie Cunningham

is glad to have the opportunity to gether critical care certificate while hereat LU. “Most nurses now, are goingback to get certification, so it’s greatto be able to get certified while still inschool,” Cunningham said.

McKay, who teaches NURS 460,is also proud of the new CriticalCare Lab. The most valuable newpiece of equipment is somethingcalled “Sim Man.”

“Sim Man,” is a mannequin whosimulates the human response incertain critical situations. Whenusing the manikin, students areactually able to see what the humanresponse would be to resuscitationattempts and the use of life-savingdevices such as defibulators andventilators.

IS HE BREATHING? — Nursing student Leah Collins takes the vitals of the new‘Sim Man,’ a manikin that simulates human responses in critical situations.

KENNY GIBSON

Dummyis smartmove forNursing

Concert: Bands draw students, CFAWs and localsContinued from page 1

“More than ever,it is time to live thegospel as much aswe preach thegospel,” Young said.

After a briefintermission, Jars ofClay followed Caed-mon’s Call on thestage.

Taking a slightlyinformal approachto the concert, theband came with no“set list” of songs toplay. Instead, theyallowed audiencemembers to pullsong titles out of ahat. “The hat is ourmaster,” lead singerDan Haseltine said.

The band also played a couple of specialrequests—“Flood” being the most requested.They came back for an encore performance, andbrought back Caedmon’s Call and GlassByrd tojoin them for their very last song.

Junior Sarah Lee attended the concert, butthought that the opening act was too long.

“I think the preshow was really long,” Lee said.However, she enjoyed the concert once Jars ofClay started to play.

A FLOOD OF REQUESTS — Jars of Clay played randomly selected songs as well as titlesrequested by audience members in their concert last weekend.

SUSAN WHITLEY

CAEDMON’S CALL— This group ‘called’ forChristians to live out the gospel.

SUSAN WHITLEY

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APRIL 8, 2003 THE LIBERTY CHAMPION, Page 5

Israel: Speakers say U.S. needs to support Israel

Virginia Press awardsChampion 2nd placeStaff report

In an annual competition open to the student newspapers of all thecolleges and universities in Virginia, the Liberty Champion won sevenawards, including second place for general make-up.

Placing first for overall newspaper in the competition held by theVirginia Press Association was James Madison University’s “TheBreeze” and behind Liberty in third was Virginia Tech. A total of sevencolleges in the state submitted material, including Washington & Lee,Mary Washington, Shenandoah University and Virginia-Wesleyan.

The Champion beat out the competition with first place awards forboth news and sports front-page layout and design. The Championsports section was declared to be the “winner by a mile.”

Individuals received awards for their work. In Sports, WesRickards' “Life of the backup” story was named the best sports story.Also, photographer John Fisher received a first place award for asports picture. In Life, writer Adam Austin earned first place for criti-cal writing with his music review articles. Opinion editor Ben Eppardwas awarded second place for his editorial cartoons.

The VPA required all articles and pages to be submitted from theFall 2002 semester.

The Champion has been in print for 20 years, while its steepestcompetition, JMU and V Tech, have been in print for more than 100and 80 years respectively.

Tuesday, April 1: Army Private Jessica Lynch rescued from POW status. Coalition forces pushon to Baghdad with heavy air explosions. A Navy F-14 plane crashes, both pilots eject to safety.

Wednesday, April 2: A Black Hawk helicopter carrying 11 soldiers crashes, killing seven. MoreRepublican Guard units surrounding Baghdad defeated by U.S. ground forces.

Thursday, April 3: Coalition forces begin attack on Baghdad, including Saddam InternationalAirport. The Thar Thar presidential palace raided, documents found. Iraqi Air Force headquar-ters bombed.

Friday, April 4: Three soldiers killed by a car bomb in western Iraq. Embedded WashingtonPost columnist Michael Kelly killed. Saddam International Airport seized. Video shown ofSaddam Hussein greeting Iraqi’s. 2500 Republican Guard soldiers surrender to U.S. Marines.

Saturday, April 5: U.S. moves into Baghdad, seizes capital city. Heavy bombing begins innorthern Iraq. A coalition plane kills 18 Kurdish soldiers. The bodies of nine Army soldiers found.

Sunday, April 6: Three soldiers killed by friendly fire. Embedded NBC reporter David Bloomdies of a blood clot while on assignment. All roads into Baghdad controlled by U.S.

Monday, April 7:Two soldiers and two embedded journalists killed by an Iraqi missile. SaddamHussein’s main presidential palace seized. Some chemical weapons found.

AMERICA AT WAR

Continued from page 1

Parshall, known for her Christianradio show Janet Parshall’s America,spoke out against press as having an anti-Israel bias, noting several examples. “Itseems at times the world is againstIsrael,” she said.

Parshall talked about her visit to Israellast year where she went in the hospitalsand talked to a woman who had shrapnelin her head from a terrorist bombing.Parshall asked her what she thought aboutthe people who had done this to her.

“She responded by saying, ‘I just want to live inpeace,’” Parshall said.

While the woman and hundreds of others havebeen killed or wounded by suicide bombers orother violent acts from Palestinians, the numberhas reportedly gone down, but at the same timethe Israeli army has attacked Palestinian villagesand killed several hundred Palestinians in recentmonths. One speaker at the briefing said that it isbecause of Israel’s heightened actions that terror-ist activity has recently decreased.

Israel Ambassador Ayalon said that the Pales-tinians have been given many opportunities for

peace but have rejected all. “We tried to give thema chance time and again, but they did not accept,”Ayalon said. He claimed that Palestinians teachmath by adding the number of Israelis they mightkill, while the Israeli government pushes forpeace. Most acts of violence are carried out byextreme Islamic organizations.

Cantor, the only Republican Jew serving in theHouse of Representatives, said that a strongIsrael is in the best interests of the U.S. Israel isthe only democracy in the mostly Arab MiddleEast and the only Jewish nation in the world.

“All want peace in the Holy Land, but we can-

not have peace without Israel being secure,” Can-tor said.

“Two things I learned,” Sydney Moser said.“Jewish people are coming to realize Jesus Christand all that he is, and Christians are allies. Also,how Israel over time has come to realize that theU.S. is an ally.”

Amidst the talk about Israel, the speakersrelated the conflict to the current war with Iraq.

“What we see in Iraq is another step indestroying the terrorism that seeks to disrupt thefabric of freedom woven around the world,”Ashcroft said.

A Brief Modern History-1948: Israel became a Jewish state,just over 50 years after mass immigra-tion of Jews into the region. War brokeout between the Jews and Palestinians,resulting in at least 600,000 Palestinianrefugees fleeing or being evicted fromhomes in Israel.

-1964: PLO (Palestinian LaborOrganization) founded to destroy Israel.

-1967, 1973, 1982: Years of warbetween the two sides for dominance ofterritory, changing land ownership.

-1993: Oslo Accords agreed on whenIsrael and PLO agree to mutual recogni-tion. Larger portion of land given toPalestinian control. PLO did not followthrough on agreement to revise charterto not include destruction of Israel.

-2000: Palestinians initiated riots thatquickly escalate. They kill over 700Israelis, who in return kill 2,000 of them.

-2002: Israel begins operationDefensive Wall to fight suicide bombers.

ECKSTEIN CANTORAYALON PARSHALL

GRAPHIC BY DANIEL JACKSON

TAKEN FROM www.mideastweb.org/timeline.htm

PH

OT

OS

BY

JO

HN

FISH

ER

Every once in a while I getstruck with the thought: Whyam I here and how on earthdid I get here? You knowyou’ve asked yourself that atime or two.

Sometimes you’ve got ananswer and you’re proud ofit; other times you know butyou regret it so that you don’twant to think about it.

Choices. Yeah, we’re hitwith them everyday, andthey do have an impact onour lives. But the thingsabout ourselves that havehappened without our choiceare usually the things that wehave the least control over.

Not one of us chose whoour parents would be, norwhere we would be born, orwhat nationality we wouldbe. Yet each of those is aguiding force in all our livesand directly impacts whoand what we are.

I admit, I have been soblessed, and sometimes Iwonder why. I especiallydon’t ever want to take whatI’ve got for granted when Ithink of some of the thingsthat others may be goingthrough.

I think of those who’veexperienced that rapidchange. The many who haverecently put a halt on theirdaily living to go to war.Their friends and familieswho miss them, and the oneswho will never see themagain on earth. The ones whoaren’t missed.

I think of the mother

whose husband just left herand the children for ayounger woman. The couplewho just realized they can’thave children. The fatherwho lost his job. The familieswho lost all they have in ahurricane, tornado, flood orother uncontrollable feat ofnature.

I think of the foreignerwho just moved to Americaand knows no one or what todo. The young athlete whosecareer was cut short by aninjury. The teens who justgot into a car accident.

Then I think of those whoweren’t surprised with a badturn, but feel as if they wereborn in a continual one.

The young adult strug-gling with the mental affectsof growing up in an abusivehome. The one born with adebilitating physical or men-tal handicap. The who hasalways felt like the social out-cast. The one who, throughthe course of life, lost allthose he loved.

The one who never, in allof life, felt loved.

I mention all of these cir-cumstances to make a point.Though life may deal you alosing hand or a painfultragedy, you are not alone.Though you may have littleto no control over some ofyour life circumstances, howyou choose to respond tothese makes all the differ-ence in the course of yourlife.

It’s easy to hold onto

grudges, regrets and ques-tions, but to do so perpetu-ates the struggle. You shouldmourn the loss of a lovedone, but don’t let their losscause you to grow bitter andangry.

Forgiveness,acceptance andgratitude neednot only to be inyour vocabu-lary, but also ineveryday life.Whether that’sforgiving afriend, a father,a girlfriend oreven letting goof bitternesstoward God, don’t let badturns from the past dictateyour future.

Accept your situation forwhat it is and try to be con-tent. Realize that your lifemay not be perfect, but noone’s is, even if they mayseem to be.

Have gratitude for the bigand small blessings. If youare reading this column, youare blessed to able to do so.Many in the world havenever had the opportunity tolearn.

I have seen peoplebecome stronger and grownin their faith because of lifedifficulties, and I have seenothers let them fester fordecades. The first areunquestionably the happier,more content people.

All of these things are eas-ier said than done. But doing

them will make all the differ-ence.

Then, I realized that youcan try with your very bestefforts to be forgiving,accepting and grateful butstill question why you are in

your currentsituation.

The diffi-cultly is thatthere is oftennot a goodanswer.

That is whenyou rememberWho is in con-trol of your lifeand knowsevery situation

you face.Though not everyone may

agree, it is often throughthese trying situations thatyour faith in God is testedand strengthened.

It is through these circum-stances that He reminds youthat you cannot face this lifealone. God desires that youlean on Him and allow Himto carry your burdens.

Ironically, that brings meback to my initial question:why am I here? I know thatnot everyone reading thismay be a Christian, but as forme, my purpose is to serveand glorify God. And one ofthe greatest ways that youand I can do that is by com-pletely trusting Him with ourlives and leaning on Him inthe good an d bad times.

That will make your lifeworthwhile.

OpinionPage 6, THE LIBERTY CHAMPION April 8, 2003

Southern pride? Yeah, I’vegot that. But beyond lovingthe South for its friendly peo-ple and lack of toll roads, Idon’t understand why somesoutherners occasionallyturn their prideinto real resent-ment. Franklymost southernpeople couldcare less about“the war ofnorthernaggression.”Most displaysof pride aremore comedicthan anythingelse. Of course,it’s funny to holler “the southwill rise again” in a room fullof Yankees, but occasionallythe fun loving LynyrdSkynyrd style south folk takeit a little too far.

Such was the case with ademonstration last weeklampooning the debut of astatue of Abraham Lincoln,reported Newsday. Thestatue, which was beingunveiled outside the Rich-mond National BattlefieldPark Civil War Visitor Cen-ter, (Yeah, I thought the

name was a little too longtoo) was designed to com-memorate the 16th Presidentof the United States and hisonly visit to our state’s capi-tol. The monument’s creators

may havepicked a betteraudience, how-ever, consider-ing that Rich-mond was thecapitol of theConfederacyand a city whereLincoln islooked at in lessthan glowinghues.

In fact, Lin-coln’s one visit to Richmondcame just after the end of thewar when his popularity inthe city couldn’t have possi-bly been any worse. Manybelieve he came to Richmondin an effort to help withrestoration. “He came as aman of the people among thepeople, not as a conquerorbut as a friend,” said histo-rian Harold Holzer, co-chair-man of the U.S. Lincoln Bi-centennial Commission.While this sounds nice, youwould be hard pressed to find

a Richmond native that saw itthat way. “We feel that Abra-ham Lincoln came to Rich-mond as a conqueror, not ahealer… You don’t buildmonuments to conquerors,”said Bragdon Bowling, Vir-ginia Sons of ConfederateVeterans Commander.

Nevertheless, proponentsof Lincoln’s legacy wentahead with the monument.So in lieu of their situation,Richmond natives toutingthe stars and bars did whatall good activists do when itappears that they can’t wintheir cause in a court of law,they protested. Just a mileaway, members of the Sons ofConfederate Veterans gath-ered at the grave of JeffersonDavis to express their disap-proval of a statue, which theydeemed an insult to thehonor of the confederacy.

And for approximatelytwo-dozen of the protestorsthis was not enough. Insteadthey walked down the streetto the statue’s commence-ment ceremony, some ofthem dressed in Confederateuniforms, and unsuccessfullyattempted to disrupt the cer-emony by loudly whistling

and chanting outside theNational Park Service site.

Personally, placing astatue of Lincoln in the city,which most abhorred him,seems like a slap in the face.It comes across as a point-less attempt at rubbing saltin the wounds of otherwisepeaceful people and it gal-vanizes a community that attimes is already overly eth-nocentric. But what’s doneis done. Not only does thisphrase epitomize my opin-ion of the war, but of Lin-coln. We need not picketand yell, because a manwho died before my grand-father was born may or maynot have wronged us. Andwhile the statue’s place-ment was questionable, abust of any American Presi-dent would seem sufferablein a nation that has much tounite over.

Why can’t we as southern-ers sit peacefully on our frontporches and relax in the freshspring breeze fully confidentthat the south is better. Per-sonally, I don’t need a picketsign. I can find moreresourceful ways to expressmy cultural pride.

SPEAKUP:

“Martin Luther’s ninety-five the-ses being nailed to the churchdoor to start the ProtestantReformation.”

—John Welborn, Jr.Atlanta, Ga.

“The day Jesus fed the mul-titude of people with fiveloaves and two fish.”

—Robert Hillman, Jr.Atlanta, Ga.

“The day Jerry walked everystep of the mountain.”

—Phillip Kelly, Jr.Kansas City, Kan.

“The final perfomance of ‘AChorus Line’ in New York Cityon Broadway. ”

—Fran Garcia, Sr.Jackson, Fla.

“I would like to have seenMartin Luther King Jr. givehis speech on the mall.”

—Ruth Gilbert, Sr.West Branch, Mich.

“The fighting at Lexingtonand Concord which startedthe Revolutionary War.”

—Ryan Marshall, SeminaryGranville, Ohio

Wouldn’t it be great to see...

beneppard

jullesoutten

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ChampionThe Liberty

Southern pride without the picket lines

Things to like about spring1. Flowers.

2. Easter eggs.

3. Longer days.

4. Warmer weather.

5. The smell of grass being mowed.

6. Thunderstorms.

7. Baseball.

8. Picnics.

9. Birds singing.

10. The thought of summer break.

ChampionThe Liberty

Top 10

Look for a lovely thing

and you will find it.

-Sara Teasdale

“

”Life: some choices, some not

When I was younger Irecall reciting the Pledge ofAllegiance at school. Everyday I’d sleepily enter myclass, put myright hand overmy heart and saythe pledge. I wasproud ofAmerica. I lookedahead to my dailyrecital, as did myclassmates.

I’m sure we’veall had fond rec-ollections of ourquotidian recitations of thepledge. Unfortunately, itseems that the adoredPledge of Allegiance is injeopardy. The Federal Courtof Appeals in Californiaruled that the pledge isunconstitutional because itmentions God. Despite ahuge public protest and achiding by President Bushand Attorney General JohnAshcroft, the courts say noto reviewing their decision.

California Governor GrayDavis declared that theSupreme Court would surelyhear this case and added, “Atthe start of every court ses-

sion, the Supreme Courtinvokes God’s blessing.” Sowhat has caused this nation-wide disturbance?

It is the par-tial misunder-standing of whatis sometimesreferred to as the“Separation ofChurch andState.” In theConstitution itstates, “TheCongress shall

make no lawrespecting an establishmentof religion or prohibiting thefree exercise thereof.”

Obviously, this article pre-vents the formation of anational religion and pre-vents the government fromtargeting any alternative reli-gious groups or excludingconflicting sects. The“Separation of Church andState” phrase is, in short,freedom of religion, not free-dom from religion. Nowheredoes it prohibit the use of theword God in our govern-ment’s dealings.

Our founding fathers werespiritual men. In fact, the

Bible was foundational to ourConstitution. There are manyreferences to the Lord in theirwritings. Does this ravage theConstitution? Absolutely not.

Our money is sprinkledwith the Lord’s name. So isthe Declaration ofIndependence and theEmancipationProclamation. I highly dis-agree that Abraham Lincolndefiled the very attitude hefought to defend.

Discontinuing referencesto the Word of the Lord willnot only make us like therest of the world, but wouldunsettle the very base ofour country.

In October 1961, theSupreme Court ruled inopposition to public schoolprayer, even unbiasedprayer, in the case Engel vs.Vitale. This ordinary prayer,“Almighty God, we acknowl-edge our dependence uponThee, and beg Thy blessingsupon our teachers, ourcountry, and us” enthused acommotion in New York,where the prayer was recit-ed every day.

The argument was sent to

the Supreme Court; theprayer was deemed unconsti-tutional as the prayer sug-gested New York Stateapproved religion.

The Pledge of Allegiance,conversely, is not a prayer,nor is it a religious policy.It is just our affirmation ofour loyalty. In the back-ground of the pledge,“under God” means that thegovernment is submissiveto personal rights and is notall-powerful. The pledge is aworldly declaration.

When the national appel-late court announced its ver-dict, the American publicresponded with anger.Letters swamped the courts.Not only does a huge portionof Americans love reciting thepledge as well as our lawmak-ers, it is completely withinthe realms of constitutionali-ty. Our legal structure has tostop its judicial clumsinessand start using commonsense. Now, more than ever,Americans should standjointly behind our flag, ourAmerican customs, includingthe Pledge of Allegiance, andour nation.

The red carpet was rolled tight, blackdresses and neatly pressed tuxedosadorned the members of the audience.The press didn’t seem to speak as loudly,and the camera flashes seemed a bit dim-mer as thecelebritieswalked into theAcademy Awardsfour days afterthe war on Iraqbegan.

I was baffledfrom the begin-ning when peo-ple suspected thatthe celebritieswould be a target for terrorist. Whywould they? Does Saddam hate beautifulpeople and think by striking them downthat it’s an act of terrorism? He wouldn’tdo that, with the current state of mostcelebrities’ political opinions. That wouldbe doing a favor for our own country!

Some of the celebrities came adornedin dove pins to promote peace, and adash of red white and blue was spottedon the collars of a few select members ofthe audience to “support” our country, orat least to appear to.

Before the awards the group ArtistUnited to Win without War was handing

out little green buttons that would laterbe seen on the lapel of Michael Moore,the man who proverbially moonedAmerica, while some of the others wentunadorned, without statements of oneinfluence or another.

Many celebrities were on the accept-ance speech blacklist, meaning that theywere to be monitored for political con-tent. People were on standby to drop themicrophone on anyone that went over ormade political statements, yet somehowmore than one statement slipped out.

The most memorable of these politi-cal statements was by Michael Moore in

his acceptance speech for his anti-gunfilm “Bowling for Columbine.” I havetaken the liberty to print the speech asfollows: “... I have invited my fellow docu-mentary nominees on the stage with us,and we would like to — they’re here insolidarity with me because we like non-fiction. We like nonfiction and we live infictitious times. We live in the time,where we have fictitious election resultsthat elect a fictitious President. We live ina time where we have a man sending usto war for fictitious reasons. Whether it’sthe fiction of duct tape or fiction oforange alerts we are against this war, Mr.Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame onyou...”

Fiction Mr. Moore, fiction? I don’tthink so. What is fictitious in these timesare people who believe that we can live ina world that can exist in total peace. Whatis fictitious are people believing that peo-ple with wealth, and beauty and a warpedsince of truth hold enough power in theirhands alone to stop people from dying allover the world, to stop hate, when theythemselves are the creators of it.

You want to see a celebrity? Do youwant to see someone truly worthy ofapplause? Do you want to see a trueAmerican hero? Travel with me for amoment to the front lines, through thethickening sand storms, past the droughtthat comes when there is a lack of wordsof love, through the heat, and fear, andreality, there you will find a true hero,someone to truly be honored. A mandying for you and yes, even you Mr.Moore.

That is not fictitious, death is never fic-titious, but for some it is eminent, even ifit is for the cause of the likes of peoplelike you. You will not find a wealthy orbeautiful or popular man there. You willsimply find an American, an Americanwho will fight for honor for his land andfor his people, however unworthy theymay be.

This week, in spite of a war beingraged against Iraq, life seems to becontinuing as usual forAmericans. March, themonth when women loseinterest in all men, hasbeen just like last yearand the year before.March Madness contin-ues, NASCAR had a racelast Sunday and MajorLeague Baseball still hadits season opener. For thewomen, Oprah is still on,talking to the Williamssisters and discussing childbirth andno doubt Dr. Phil has more to talkabout than the war. One has to ask ifthis is okay and normal and healthy.

Should life go on, even though ourbrave troops are fighting a war while

we enjoy the comforts ofhome. Of course.

In an age where wecan see 24-hour coverage ofthe war and all of its atroci-ties, there has to be somemental relief. We need tofeel that our lives will notchange, in spite of our fearsthat they may change irre-versibly. For many people,their loved ones will notcome home from Iraq or

may come home drastically altered,and we still have not won the war. Sodefeat, although not a word we want touse, is still a (small) possibility.

Everyday life activities seem like a life-line in times of trouble.

I have to be honest and say that I likesporting events and the like becausethey become a great arena for displaysof patriotism. I am so proud of Americaand proud of our troops that if peoplewant to forget about the troubles of thewar for a minute, but still have thedecency to show their support for themen and women fighting it, I am all forit. When George Bush (41) threw theopening pitch last week, I was soimpressed to see the fans cheering andwaving American flags.

So, we’ll continue life as usual, butwe will never forget the people whowork to make our freedoms- ourAmerican pastimes- available to us.

CommentaryAPRIL 8, 2003 THE LIBERTY CHAMPION, Page 7

No awards for true American heroes

Pledge allegiance: One nation without God

Pastimes act as American lifelines

carrieseaford

mariannemims

scottcamlin

To learn or spurnArminian theology

It divides churches,fuels debates andoften frustratesLiberty students.

Somesay that itextin-guishes aneed formissions;others saythat it isthe oxygennecessaryfor evan-gelism toignite.Some Biblical scholarscall parts of it false; C.H. Spurgeon called it“the gospel.”

Accordingly, conver-sations about the fivepoints of Calvinism aresome of the stickiesttheological exchangesthat happen on our cam-pus. Last week I soughtto analyze objectivelythese dialogues for thepurpose of eliminatingillogical or unproductivecomments.

Without preachingmy own position, Iexhorted strongCalvinists not to beoverly dogmatic abouttheir five most treas-ured doctrines.Furthermore, I chal-lenged them always toreturn to theScriptures to provetheir position and torefrain from over-sim-plifying the opposingviews on predestina-tion.

Here my analysiscontinues, and the fol-lowing is an attemptto turn over the coinof Calvinism and pointout some problematicstatements that non-Calvinists sometimesmake.

1. “Most Calvinistsdon’t evangelize.” Idiscern that some tac-itly assume this with-out explicitly statingit. True… if a Calvinistchooses not to wit-ness, then (accordingto his belief) he is notgoing to subtract fromthe number of peoplegoing to heaven.

However, my person-al experience withreformed friends indi-cates that this accusa-tion is rather ad homo-nym, and frankly it’s anincorrect assumption.Evangelism is an issueof obedience, not anissue of conditional orunconditional election.

In fact, some five-pointer’s are mission-minded because oftheir theology.“Calvinism is the basisfor my desire to be amissionary. Christ hasalready purchasedpeople from everytribe, and missionsbecame much lessburdensome when Igrasped this truth,”senior AdamMcCulloch said.

“AdoptingCalvinism,” McCullochadded, “has given me abetter understanding ofmy sinfulness andGod’s grace. All this hasproduced a closer rela-tionship with Him.”

2. “The wholedebate about electiondoesn’t really matter.”

Call me crazy, but Ithink that allScripture is practical.So, because the Bible

is not bash-ful aboutmentioningboth thatbelieverschoseChrist andthat Godhas chosensome, Ishouldn’t –for instance– shy away

from studying theextent of the atone-ment or the extent ofman’s depravity.

Don’t get mewrong… it’s OK ifsomeone doesn’t yethave a position on thisdivisive issue, but weought not say, “Ibelieve both” or “Itdoesn’t matterbecause I’m still savedeither way.” If I choseGod because He firstchose me, then I wantto believe that.Likewise, if God choseme because He fore-saw my willingness tobelieve, then I want tohold that position justas strongly.

3. “Calvinists try tofully understand thecorrespondencebetween God’s sover-eignty and man’s freewill.” When the battlebetween Rom. 9 andJohn 3:16 gets toofierce, many wave thewhite flag of man’sfinite mind, assertingthat God’s “ways [are]higher than yourways, and [His]thoughts than yourthoughts” (Isa. 55:9).

In the same breath,the non-Calvinist mightcontend that theCalvinist tries too hardto know the unknow-able. However, I’ve hada number of five-point-er’s clarify their posi-tion to me, and it doesnot appear that they aretrying to explain all thenuts and bolts of themind of God. They sim-ply believe in a systemthat explains fiveaspects of salvation,and they heartily agreewith the truth that Godis transcendent.

Altogether, I trustthat the reader willbalance this articlewith my previous one,because my ultimategoal is to cause bothsides to reconsidersome statements thatthey may have made.

So let’s continuestaying up late in ourdorm rooms trying tograsp this deep issue.Keep asking probingquestions duringclass. Keep trying todefine “foreknowl-edge,” “all,” “freewill,” “predestination”and “elect.”

And most impor-tantly, keep goingback to the Textbookand keep worshippingits Author, because –in the end – we allagree that the chiefend of man is to glori-fy God and enjoy Himforever.

rickyhardison

Sometimes we need to be taken out of thecomfort zone of our ignorance and be madeaware of the struggles that people, who wemay never see or never speak to, are forced todeal with each and every day. Here are a fewstatistics to consider. In 2002, 3.1 millionlives were taken by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.Five million people were newly infected withthe HIV/AIDS virus in 2002, which is theequivalent of 10 people newly affected eachminute of every day. By the year 2010, 44million children will have lost one or both oftheir parents to HIV/AIDS. These were just afew of the statistics shared yesterday at the“Blood: Water Mission” symposium held bythe members of the band Jars of Clay.

I had an opportunity to go to this eventwhere Jars of Clay brought light to the issueof the HIV/AIDS epidemic that is spreadingacross Sub-Saharan Africa. I have to admitthat I wasn’t expecting much. I’ve never beena particularly huge Jars of Clay fan, and I wassomewhat skeptical of spending a Saturdayafternoon listening to people talk aboutAIDS, but I decided to go anyway.

All of my preconceived notions about thisband disappeared as I watched these men

share from their heart their passion to helpsolve the epidemic raging across Sub-Saharan Africa. Dan Haseltine, the leadsinger for the band made the statement con-cerning the HIV/AIDS epidemic that, “It’snot going to change without our help. Peopleneed to be involved and interested in thisissue. We need to stop looking at the issuefrom a worldview perspectiveand start viewing each indi-vidual person affected.”

To be honest, it wasalmost impossible not tobe moved when awoman, who spent agreat deal of time inSouth Africa caring forHIV/AIDS victims,showed pictures of eachindividual affected bythe disease. Listeningto her share the storiesof the children whohave been forced todeal with either theirown struggle with thedisease or the tragedyof being orphaned fromparents with the disease,made me ashamed of mylack of concern for issues fac-ing other parts of the world.

Twenty-four hours later, my mind is stillreeling from the speaker’s stories of infantsand children that don’t receive any kind oftouch or signs of affection simply because thepeople who care for them are unaware of howthe disease is transmitted.

These are not just pathetic stories and sta-tistics designed to make us pity these people.These statistics, such as the statistic thatevery day, 1,800 babies are born infected

with HIV, should encourage us to action.Jeremiah 22:16 says, “He defended thecause of the poor and needy, and so allwent well with him. ‘Is that not what it

means to know me?’ declares theLord.” As believers who claim toknow Christ, it is our responsibility

both to care and to takeaction.

One of the most simpleways to get involved is tosponsor a child, specifi-cally a child that is a vic-tim of the HIV/AIDSepidemic. By providinga small amount ofmoney each month,

you’re literally helpingto save the lives of these

children. Simply go towww.worldvision.com, andrequest a child that is part

of the “hope initiative.” You can do this onyour own, or make a commitment to providefor a child with your roommate, or as aprayer group.

For those of you who may not have themoney to sponsor a child, take action in otherways. Write your congressman and let him orher know that you are concerned with theHIV/AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa.President Bush has declared the AIDS epi-demic in Africa a state of emergency and haspromised funds to them. So write your con-gressman a letter thanking them for address-ing the issue. The student voice is making ahuge impact in the government right now, sotake the opportunity to get involved.

Henri Nouwen was a great professor andphilosopher who once made the statement,“God rejoices. Not because the problems ofthe world have been solved, not because allhuman pain and suffering have come to anend, not because thousands of people havebeen converted and are now praising Him forHis goodness. No, God rejoices because oneof His children who was lost has been found.”Although as simple college students, we maynot be able to influence the thousands of chil-dren affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Butwe can make a difference in just one life. Inthat one child that we choose to sponsor, Godrejoices. What more could we desire?

Page 8, THE LIBERTY CHAMPION APRIL 8, 2003

• 4/8 Horseback RidingStudents interested in going horseback riding at the Master’sInn should meet at David’s Place at 3 p.m. on Tuesday. Thetrail is approximately 1-2 hours, and the group will return at5:30-6 p.m.

• 4/11-12 Rebel Cry PerformancesThe Fine Arts Department presents an original Civil Warmusical based on a true story about women spies during thewar. Tickets are $5 for students, $7 for adults. Fine Arts 134.

picks of the week

Life!

amyjordan

fun fact of the week

Wheel of Fortune star VannaWhite holds the record for put-ting her hands together approx-imately 140,000 times to clap.

Taken from www.uselessfacts.com

Know??Do

OSWALD ATTIN

Major: Biology, with a minor inChemistry

Hometown: Potomac, Md.

Favorite Verse: Matt. 22:37

What I do in my free time: Sleep andplay soccer.

Favorite movie: The Fellowship of theRing

My ideal Saturday afternoonincludes: Putt-putt and a Chinese buf-fet.

Accomplishment I am most proud of:When I spent last summer in Benin,which is where I am from, and I handedout medicine with medical missionariesthere.

Pet peeves: People that try to besomeone else instead of themselves.

Favorite junk food: A McDonald’scheeseburger

Favorite book: Witnessing withoutFear, by Bill Bright.

What I look for in a girl: Godliness

Where I see myself after Liberty: Inmedical school, becoming a doctor—Iwant to be a missionary doctor.

What I am most grateful for: That Ihave both my parents and my health.

Something I can’t live without: Thelove of God

—Compiled by Amy Jordan, LIFE! editor

You

Out of our comfort zones

By Joe Portnoy, undercover reporter

The accounts in this story are all true. Notknowing where to go to college is a problemthat faces many high school students nowa-days, but it’s not a problem that faces toomany college-age students already attendingcollege, or at least that was the case for melast Thursday. By Thursday afternoon, theproblem suddenly faced me. Although I amready to graduate come December, I decidedI wanted to find out what I was gearing upto leave. What better way to do that thanattending Liberty University’s College For AWeekend?

It started as a joke. It developed into oneof my favorite memories at LU. I was atDavid’s Place on Thursday afternoon helping90.9 FM with a remote and I told everyonethat I wanted to try to register for CollegeFor A Weekend. I put on my game face (arather terrified face) and entered the CFAWregistration room.

Meet John Hammond (that’s me).I attended College For A Weekend because

my mom said I needed to go to college. Istood in line very scared. I didn’t know any-one in there. I hadn’t registered so I asked thegirl at the door where I needed to go. She sentme to these people who thought they knewme. They joked around with me a little bit andsaid I could get transportation in front of thebuilding. I think they thought I was jokingabout wanting to come to college for a week-end. I’m big for my age, so what? I had heardthe commercials on the radio saying I wouldstay in the dorms, so I went to the housingtable.

Dorm 17, room 207 was where I wasassigned. Joshua and James were my RAsand I was going to be staying with Nate,Jeremy, and Chris. When I got to the dorm, Iknocked loudly. After standing out in the blaz-ing hot hallway for a few minutes, a guy final-ly came and opened the door. No one wasaround that I could ask where the RA’s roomwas so I had to find the room myself. I think Iwalked passed it four times. Finally, I figuredout that the broken signs had to be the roomof someone important, so I went into one ofthose rooms.

I looked in and saw the RA, and I handedhim my pink carbon copy of my room assign-ment. He then led me down to room 207. Aswe entered the room, he yelled to the guys let-ting them know they had a College For AWeekender. The RA left the room and it was

time to meet my newcollege friends.

Nate, Jeremy andKevin were sitting ontheir couch and theytold me to drop my stuffanywhere, so I put itdown right in front ofme and fumbled overeverything to sit down. Isat very uncomfortablyin the chair trying tokeep from wrinkling theclothes hanging on it.

We hung out inthe room for a littlewhile and headeddown to the dininghall. I got my first col-lege dinner: turkey andgravy, potatoes, andsome concoction theycalled stuffing; it tastedlike sand and paste, but who cares, I was atCOLLEGE! We sat down at a table and I metsome college girls.

When dinner was over, the guys told me Ihad to carry all the trays to the dishwashers.Thinking this was my big break to get in withthe guys, I took three trays, four plates, fourcups and a whole bunch of food and fluid. Thetray was pretty easy to carry, but things wentwrong when I got near the dishwasher. Thefloor was slippery and I had seen the wet floorsigns, but that didn’t stop my feet from com-ing out from under me and everyone’s plate,tray and cups from flying forward. In myattempt to be cool in front of these collegeguys and girls, I failed miserably. The girlsbegan to laugh, but there were some nice peo-ple who quieted them down by telling themnot to laugh at the CFAWer. I thought thatwas cool. I got up and quickly started to pickthings up to lessen the pain of being made funof and the guys even helped pick everythingup and got out of there. I didn’t think the walkout would take as long as it did.

That evening was hall meeting. Theactual meeting took probably 15 seconds, butstarting it took like 15 minutes. It was then offto prayer groups. Prayer groups were cool.Nate played a song by Grits and then told uswe could talk to him if they had any questionsconcerning God and being saved. He saidthat there were a lot of guys on the hall thatwanted to talk with us about that stuff too.Then we prayed and played video games. Icouldn’t have asked for more.

When it was time for bed, I took thecouch and Nate’s little brother, Josh, took thefloor. I quickly dozed off, but I was awakenedjust a few hours later by their other roommateChris who tripped on Josh and almost fell outof the window. I found a way to get back tosleep and before I knew it, it was time to getup for class. They called this class GNED 102or Contemporary Issues. I was scared to deathwhen I stepped into the class. The class wasabsolutely huge. Professor Honeycutt openedwith prayer and then he went around askingeach CFAWer where they were from. I didn’twant to say where I was from, so I ducked myhead down, but he called on me and I had toyell my answer to him twice before Jeremyhad to yell it out for me. When I get nervous,my voice doesn’t project very far.

We were talking about male and female

roles in the church. A guy in front of me gavea rather poor argument, in my mind, and Ithought I would try to refute. The guy runningthe microphone around came to me and I saidvery nervously, “Hi, I’m John fromLynchburg,” but Professor Honeycutt was notfinished speaking, so I apologized. I then readmy verse and he shot my refutation downright on the spot. Again, my chance at gettingin with the guys was ruined.

After class, it was time for convoca-tion. They made me stand up and sit downtwice and everyone looked at me, especiallythe girls, who looked at me with an “Awe, lookhow pathetic he looks” look. That was finewith me though.

After convocation, we walked back to thedorm for a while and headed to lunch. Afterlunch, we meandered over to the SchillingCenter for more information about LU. Whenwe got that information, the guys thoughtahead to the late skate that night and decidedthat we should dress up for it.

We went to Goodwill and searched out theperfect outfit. As we were looking, the guysfound some short green shorts for me to wearand said they had an Afro wig that I couldwear. I agreed to wear them. Then I found apair of sunglasses and a tight yellow shirt.This was my time to impress the guys.

We decided to leave early to late skate sothat we could get first pick of skates. When wewere all dressed, we met up with some girlsthat were dressed up as well. We took somepictures and then headed off to FunQuest.

During our evening at Funquest, wehad a blast! We were the first ones in thedoor and on the floor, so I led the group incalisthenics. I didn’t want anyone to pull agroin or a hamstring. Safety first!! Then weskated and got our groove thang on.

That was pretty much the highlights of myweekend. We went to the Jars of Clay concertand had fun there, but the real fun of thatevening was afterwards when nine of us piledinto a car. We never did that sort of thingwhen I was in high school. As I reflect on myweekend, I have to say, I like this university. Iam definitely going to come to LibertyUniversity. I can’t wait.

So, that was my adventure as a CFAWer.For the complete adventures of JohnHammond visitwww.liberty.edu\champion

A New Twist to An Old Weekend

UNDERCOVA BROTHA — “John Hammond’s”quest for fun ends at Funquest.

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL—Kevin, “John” and John hang loose.PHOTO PROVIDED

PHOTO PROVIDED

By Carrie Frasz, reporter

Campus life, even with the millions ofthings to do, can get somewhatmonotonous. Take advantage of your

free weekends—or test-less days of class—and take a road trip.

One place to escape to, a mere two hoursaway, is Richmond, Va. Richmond is a his-torical city and the capital of Virginia. Thecity is filled with things to do. You will haveto take more than one trip there to experi-ence it all. Many of the highlights inRichmond are found in the downtown area:restaurant after restaurant, theaters, specialevents and the many specialty shops.

Maymont is also one of the hot-spots in Richmond. It is a placethat you and your friends, ordate, can spend a wholeday. Maymont is alsoan ideal spot forLiberty students,costing little or nomoney. Thegrounds containgardens, wildlifeexhibits andgrassy lawns tohave a picnic, playfootball, throw afrisbee or fly a kite.There is also MaymontHouse, a mansion on theproperty thatgives guidedtours.Another

favorite at Maymont is the Children’s FarmBarn, which is definitely not just for kids.This is a petting zoo, including sheep, rab-bits, goats, bears and bobcats (but you can-not pet the latter two). Last but not least,Maymont has rides. Do not get too excited,the rides are merely horse-drawn carriagesand a tram, but a romantic horse-drawncarriage ride may be just what you are look-ing for. Maymont is definitely worth check-ing out and going to Richmond for, getmore information and directions on its Website: www.maymont.org.

Ready to enjoy the sport of spring? Jointhe locals to root for their home team.Check out a Richmond Braves game, seewww.rbraves.com for schedules andinformation.

Need some entertainment? Stop byComedy Alley, home of interactive improvi-sational comedy performances, www.come-dyalley.net. Or if you would rather,Richmond is home to the Virginia Opera,

Richmond Ballet, RichmondSymphony, and several

theaters featuring var-ious events and

shows. The mostprominent the-

ater inRichmond,also themost strik-ing, is theLandmarkTheater.Built in 1926,

the theater isone of the

most popularstages for theatri-

cal and musical per-formances. The theater

is well known on the EastCoast for its acoustics and splendor,

call (804) 646-4213 for tickets and attrac-tion information.

With dozens of concerts this spring, hun-dreds of restaurants and the many histori-cal and entertaining places to visit,

Richmond can easily fill a would-be-bor-ing day. With this much stuff to do,

you may want to make severalvisits toRichmond. Anideal Web site tovisit is www.rich-

mond.com, this sitewill fill you in on allthe local activities,special events, newsand even the local

weather. You cancheck out shows

and concerts, lookat restaurantmenus and getdirections towhatever sparks

your interest.

By Misty Maynard, reporter

Need someplace interesting to go onthe weekends? There are severalvery interesting cities close to

Lynchburg where Liberty students, look-ing for something new and exciting to do,might go. Lexington, Va. is only an houraway and offers everything, from uniquegift shops to tours through a HauntedMonster Museum. Students can drivethrough Virginia’s Safari Park or visit theNatural Bridge’s Wax Museum. No mat-ter what your interests, Lexington isbound to offer something for everyone.

Lexington is mostly known for its his-torical significance. Not only doesLexington host such schools asWashington and Lee University andVirginia Military Institute, but it’s alsohome to such great names as GeneralRobert E. Lee and General StonewallJackson, two of the greatest militaryminds America has ever known.

For the history buffs out there,Lexington played a major rolein the Civil War. InLexington you can tour theonly house Jackson everowned, visit his grave, orvisit VMI where Lee andhis horse are buried.Civil War dramatizationsare enacted at the “mostunusual theater settingin the United States,” theLime Kiln.

The Haunted MonsterMuseum features work byProfessor Cline. You may haveseen his work featured in stageshows, the Six Flags theme park,or the Today Show. Lexington’sWeb site describes theHaunted Monster

Museum as“bizarre andunique...like Scooby Doo meetsthe Twilight Zone.”

The Natural Bridge is one of Virginia’smost cherished natural wonders. It is alarge rock bridge that is 90 feet long, 150feet wide at one end and 50 feet wide atanother. Visitors can hike through theNatural Bridge Caverns, or visit its ToyMuseum, and the Natural BridgeSpeedway, as well as the Natural BridgeWax Museum.

The Natural Bridge Wax Museum is avirtual walk through history as life-likereplicas of famous figures and scenes arepresented. From George Washington andThomas Jefferson, to a theatrical per-formance of Leonardo da Vinci’s LastSupper, the Natural Bridge Wax Museumis a must see for visitors in Lexington.

Junior Communications majorTabitha Daniel said, “Lexington has avery historical atmosphere and its filledwith cute little shops.” So, if you want toshop, learn more about history, or justvisit some new and exciting places tryLexington. For directions and more

information visit lexing-tonvirginia.com

under attractions.

By Camie Poplaski, reporter

As the end of the semester draws near most stu-dents have worn out everything “exciting”there is to do in Lynchburg. Come on, we have

all been to the mall 100 times and the dollar theateris beginning to look like home. If this sounds likeyou there may be an answer.

If you are looking for something to do on a week-end, travel the hour or so it takes to get to Roanoke.One of the biggest attractions that draws LibertyUniversity students to Roanoke is the Valley Viewmall. The Valley View mall has two floors completewith an elevator and escalator. The mall has a ton ofstores including places like Old Navy, Hollister,Structure (almost like Express for men) and otherstores that aren’t offered here in Lynchburg.

“I love going down to Roanoke for the day or evenjust a few hours with a group of friends,” said SamNelson a freshman.

One great place for coffee lovers and chocolatelovers alike to try out is the European ChocolateCafé. This café is located right in the mall and is agreat place to sit down and have coffee or even lunchwith a friend. Lynchburg has a ton to offer when itcomes to coffee, but the change of atmosphere canreally liven up conversation.

For all of you intellectually inclined who havebeen hunting for a museum or art gallery, Roanokemight have what you are looking for. There are fourmuseums in Roanoke including the History Museumand Historical Society of Virginia and the ScienceMuseum of Western Virginia. For all you artsy peo-ple, Roanoke also

has a place called Studio on theSquare where you can purchaseart supplies and look at originalartwork by American artists.

Another great place to go andspend the day is Explorer Park. Itfeatures bike trails, hikingtrails, recreational facili-ties and even a vari-ety of water sportsin the RoanokeRiver. If youare an animallover head onover to theMillMountain Zoowhere you canspend all daylooking at furryfriends. The zooadmission price is$6 for an adult and $4for children and it is openevery day except for Christmas.

One more thing that you have to see at least onetime you go to Roanoke is the “Star.” The star is sethigh up on a mountain that can be seen from almostanywhere in the city. There is also a park full of light-ed walking trails up where the star is so that you cantake a stroll no matter what time of the day it is.

Roanoke is a great place to go whether you arejust looking for a few hours away from Liberty andLynchburg or if you want to take a day trip thatisn’t too far away. Check it out! For more informa-tion on some of the places mentioned go toYahoo.com and use “attractions in RoanokeVirginia” for your key phrase.

APRIL 8, 2003 THE LIBERTY CHAMPION, Page 9

By Laura Beaton, reporter

The Blue Ridge Parkway draws thou-sands of tourists each year because ofthe diversity of plants and wildlife. In

addition, there are plenty of trails for you toexplore, and scenic overlooks are all alongthe parkway where you can see distant val-leys, mountains and towns.

“Thousands of tired, never-shaken over-

civilized people are beginning to find outthat going to the mountains is going home;that wilderness is a necessity; and themountain parks and reservations are usefulnot only as fountains of timber and irrigat-ing rivers, but as fountains of life,” saidJohn Muir, the father of our national parks.

The parkway has many great places thatyou will want to visit. For instance, Peaks ofOtter is a popular place to go for the day. Ithas a lodge, campground, restaurant, hikingtrails and lake. One of the more strenuoushikes at the Peaks of Otter is the 1.5 milehike up to Sharp Top. “It’s really beautifulfrom the top of Sharp Top,” junior JimmyReaves said. The Peaks of Otter are visible

from Liberty Mountain. Some students venture to the top of the

mountain for a time of refreshment. “When Igo to the top of the mountain, it is so peace-ful, and I feel like I am closest to God in themountains,” freshman Julie McCord said.

The mountains are a nice place to getaway from your every day stresses. Being inthe mountains allows visitors to relax andenjoy the breathtaking views and freshmountain air. Another neat trail on theParkway is Falling Water Cascade which isabout a half mile hike. This hike is shortand it ends in a waterfall that seems to goon forever.

“Nature is not only all that is visible to

the eye—it also includes the inner picturesof the soul,” said C.S Lewis. When you’releaving the Blue Ridge Parkway, you will beleft with a lasting impression of its beauty,and you can reflect on the warmth andpeace that it brings to your soul.

By Tabitha Daniel, reporter

Just about an hour anda half north lies thecity of Charlottesville,

nestled between the BlueRidge Mountains and thePiedmont. Like manyVirginia cities,Charlottesville is a unique

blend of history and modernattractions. Yet in this small

city you will find something tosatisfy many tastes and hobbies. For the history lover, Monticello

should be the first place you stop.This unique plantation house isthe lasting monument to its cre-ator and once owner, ThomasJefferson. The house still hasmany artifacts and Jefferson’s per-sonal belongings. Visitors toMonticello may also tour thegrounds and see the lush gardensin the spring and summertime.You can also visit the buildings ofUniversity of Virginia, where manywere designed by Jefferson.

For the shoppers,Charlottesville is quite an experi-

ence. Name brand stores suchas Gap are open in theFashion Square Mall. OldNavy and Banana Republic arealso available for college studentsto spend a little money to getready for the summer weather.

In Charlottesville there is a sec-tion called the Downtown Mall.The Downtown Mall is a brickedroad blocked off to traffic, which issurrounded by little shops cateringto different preferences of its cus-tomers. It is easy to spend thewhole day there shopping, eatingor simply sitting around listeningto the numerous street musicians.During the late spring and sum-mer, the Downtown Mall hosts aweekly music festival calledFridays after Five, which, as itstitle suggests, takes place Fridayafter 5 p.m. The cost to get in is a fewdollars but it’s well worth the money.

For those who wish to beat theheat and humidity, the DowntownMall has an ice skating rink. TheCharlottesville Ice Rink has manytimes open for the public to skate.All levels of ability are welcome.At certain times of the year, youcould attend the college hockeygames if you so desire.

So come and visit Charlottesvillewhether it be for the history or anoutdoor concert, you will not leavedisappointed.

PHOTO PROVIDED

PHOTO PROVIDED

PAGE LAYOUT BY KEVIN BOYD

BEN SCRIBNER

By Wes Rickards, managing editor

Duke University. Situated in Durham, N.C. the school wasfounded as a Christian institution before it became a haven forliberal ideology and megalomaniac professors. Regardless,Duke is one of the top, if not the top, school in the nation inboth academics and athletics.

And for Liberty’s outfielder Doug Bechtold, Duke was theplace that, for three-and-a-half years, he called home. Yetmuch to the surprise of Flames fans, Bechtold left it all behindto come and play baseball in Lynchburg.

Now, let’s get something settled first. It’s not like Bechtoldwas riding the bench or suffering from a lack of playing time,or that he wasn’t talented enough to compete in Duke’s rigor-ous Atlantic Coast Conference schedule. No, he played—Bechtold appeared in 49 games and started 33— and he wasgood— his .336 batting average last year was third on the teamand had only a single error in over 100 chances in the field. Sowhy did he leave? Simply put, blood is stronger than baseball.

“It all started after my junior season; my younger brotherDavid (the ace of this year’s pitching staff) and I came homeafter our respective college seasons, and we were jokingaround about how funny it would be if Liberty one dayplayed Duke,” Bechtold explained, then added that the twomade a tongue-in-cheek remark about one day facing eachother during a game. But what was originally intended as ajesting remark lingered with the elder Bechtold during theensuing summer season.

“I always felt that the environment at Duke really wasn’tthe best for me, personally,” he said. “Not really in a baseballsense, but just overall. That just tugged at me all summer.”

With an increasing dissatisfaction, Doug told his brother atthe end of the season that he was seriously considering trans-

ferring out of Duke and into LU. Now, unlike in college bas-ketball which mandates that an athlete sit out for a year aftertransferring, NCAA baseball permits one to transfer schoolsand not lose playing time. This meant that Bechtold would’vebeen able to step in and contribute immediately.

However, it was possible that the NCAA sanctioning bod-ies, always a stickler for minute and seemingly inconsequen-tial rules, would have issue with the fact that Bechtold wantedto transfer to play with his brother. After all, it’s believablethat someone back at the NCAA office may raise an eyebrowand suspect some foul play. So, the two Bechtolds agreed tonot get either coaching staff involved, and Doug returned toDuke University in the fall semester to look into the transfersituation.

“It wasn’t really about baseball though,” Bechtoldrecalled. “I came here for the whole environment. Duke, itwas founded as a religious school, but there was no Christianenvironment. I’d been (at Duke) for three years, and I wasready to step out.”

Amazingly, he will still be graduating on time. Because theclasses he’s taking at Liberty this semester will count forcourse credit back at his old school, he’ll finish this May withan economics degree and return to Duke to pick up his diplo-ma. In essence, Bechtold is “studying abroad” for a semester.

“I wasn’t on scholarship at Duke, which was a huge finan-cial strain for my family. For me to walk away after three-and-a-half years after all the money my family had spentthere and come out with nothing, it wouldn’t have been thatgreat,” he said. “It actually worked out well; I’m getting adegree from Duke University.”

With everything settled, from NCAA regulations to gradua-tion requirements, there remained only one significant detail.That detail, of course, is actually playing ball during his sen-ior year. And with the season a little more than halfway over,Bechtold has done fairly well. Currently, he’s hitting .276,possesses one of the finest gloves on the team, and is alsoleading LU in walks.

Perhaps though is that more significantly, is that he’s beena much needed mature and senior leader on a young squadthat lost seven of its nine position players from last season.

His brother David for one, has improved considerably from ayear ago. In 2002, David pitched primarily out of relief, post-ed a 2-2 record and had a sub-par 6.47 earned run average.This year though, David did a complete 180 and has emergedas the staff ace due to the injury of Jason Jones. So far, theyounger Bechtold has a 2.97 ERA, despite facing some topout-of-conference competition in the form of Georgia andWilliam & Mary. Certainly, Big Brother was watching him.

“A couple seniors asked me to help lead the team,” Dougsaid. “They said I was an older guy, and wanted me to be aleader.”

In such a season full of tumult, the effect that anothermature senior has had on the team has proved to be incalcula-ble. And when all is said and done, Bechtold and Liberty mayhave come out on top of the ultimate trade.

Page 10, THE LIBERTY CHAMPION APRIL 8, 2003

By Ben Cates, reporter

For an individual to be truly dedicated toplaying a sport, he or she must display acertain amount of passion towards thegame. There can be no argument that, inorder to arrive at the highest level of play,one must be whole-heartedly committed tothat sport. James Yoo, oneof Liberty’s premier golfers,is both committed to andpassionate about golf.

It all started for Yoowhen he was 13 years old. “Itook up the sport becausemy junior high school had asummer activities program,and golf was one of them,”Yoo said. “I decided to giveit a try and I just fell in lovewith it.”

From there, Yoo compet-ed in several prep tourna-ments. In 1998 he was run-ner-up in the CanadianJunior Championship. Thenext year, he competed inthe Junior America’s Cup aswell. During all this time,Yoo never received a formalgolf lesson. “I just dedicatedmyself to golf,” he said.After graduating fromWestern Canada highschool, the junior fromAlberta decided that Libertywas the place for him.

Upon his arrival at LU,

Yoo was relied upon greatly. He played in 13tournaments as a freshman, five in the fall,and eight in the spring. As a sophomore, hisaverage scoring was 76.1. However, after hissophomore season, Yoo decided to leave theuniversity. “James left after his sophomoreseason for various reasons,” Coach FrankLandry said. However, it was Landry who

eventually talked Yoo into coming back toLiberty. “He wanted to think things over,”the head coach said. “He had a good jobback home. But he kept his golf game up thewhole time. His heart was still at Liberty.”

Yoo, who drove for three straight daysfrom Alberta, arrived back at LU a wel-comed member of the golf team. He quicklybecame a leader this spring as one of onlytwo juniors on the team. This was mainlybecause he won the Geico DirectIntercollegiate, his first tournament sincebeing back on the team. He is now consid-ered to be one of what the team calls “thefour horsemen.” This group is comprised ofthe team’s most reliable golfers andincludes Yoo, Paul Carey, freshmen AndrewTurner and Jordan Mitchell. According toLandry, these four men have carried theteam all year.

Landry believes that Yoo has come backto Liberty as a stronger and more maturegolfer. “He has added a dimension to thisteam, a positive attitude, and confidence. Inthe time that he was gone, I think he gaineda tremendous amount of belief in his owngame.” There is no doubt that Yoo has beenthe most important addition to the Flamesroster this year. The weekend of April 1, theteam won the Liberty/JAE Intercollegiateby two strokes. Yoo tied for fifth, firing 72-78 in the two-day event.

One important facet to Yoo’s game is thathe takes one shot at a time. He also main-tains a good attitude on the course. Thisseems to be one of Coach Landry’s premierpoints to get across. His players strivealways to keep good attitudes on the course.

In fact, one of Landry’s team mottos is “sit-tawaga,” which stands for “sock it to themalways with a godly attitude.” Landrybelieves that Yoo has “added a positive atti-tude and confidence to the team.”

Both Yoo and Landry believe that theteam will continue to succeed as the seasonkeeps heating up. “We have a legitimatechance to go to the NCAA’s,” Landry said.“We need to be in the top four teams in ourdistrict, or win the Big South.”

Yoo believes that the team is a “sleepinggiant,” and possesses incredible opportuni-ty. “We’re just waiting for the right time,” hesaid. “When we put it all together, we cando some major damage.”

Next season, the Flames look to be just astough as Carey and Yoo will both be experi-enced seniors. “These guys care about eachother. They’ve grown and matured together.I think they have a common desire toachieve.” Landry said. On the team’s NCAAchances this year, Landry said, “There is noreason why we cannot do that.” If the teamstays with its game plan, there is a goodchance that we will see Yoo and the rest ofthe team fighting in the NCAA tournament.

THREE WOOD — James Yoo drives the ball down the fairway.

MIKE TROXEL

Liberty golfer returns to top of the competition

SWING THROUGH — Doug Bechtold left Duke behind for Liberty.

JOHN FISHER

Doug Bechtold: Big-time transfer joins brother at Liberty

Doug Bechtold’s Duke University baseball statisticsYear Class G/GS HR RBI AVG. SLG. OBP. FLD.

2002 Jr. 48/33 0 18 .336 .437 .416 .9912001 So. 56/49 2 29 .294 .406 .373 .9712000 Fr. 46/36 0 12 .302 .397 .413 .949

Golf fans, the Big South championshipis right around the corner! Follow theLiberty golf team’s run to the NCAAtournament by showing your supportfor the Flames April 17-19. The eventis three days and 54 hole on theplush Jones Country Club in SunsetPark, N.C.

Spring Housethe

Dining & Reception Hall

(formerly Jeanne’s)

Family Style MenuEnjoy passing the platters and bowls

Choice of two entrees:

Beef Tips with Onions • Oven Fried ChickenHoney Baked Ham • Fried Flounder

Side dishes include:Whipped Potatoes • Green Beans • Stuffing • Cole Slaw •

Cinnamon Apples • Biscuits • Fruit Cobbler with Ice Cream •Assorted Beverages

All items offered for one inclusive price. (tax included)

Adults $12Children under 12 $62 and under FREE

Private Rooms available for Wedding Receptions, Private Parties and Business Meetings. Separate Menus Available.

Hours: Wednesday - Saturday 4:30-8:30 p.m.Sunday Noon-7:00 p.m.

10 Minutes from Lynchburg on Route 460 East434-993-2475

VISIT US AT OUR WEBSITE:WWW.EIRANDLE.COM

SEE WHAT FASHION IS ALL ABOUT!

It may seem amazing to you,but millions of people in theworld today have never heard the name of Jesus.

Think about it. You could make the introduc-tion.

Christar establishes fellowships of believers among least-reached Buddhists,Hindus,Muslims and Asians.

“Jesus?

Never heard of him.”

www.christar.orgU.S.A.: 800-755-7955 • Canada: 800-295-4158

April 7-11,2003Christar missionaries Armand and Jean Le Blanc will be

coming to Liberty University to speak in classes about Islam.

Jean Le Blanc will be speaking about women in Muslim work in Mrs.Mink’s classes.

Come visit them at the display in De Moss near the coffee shop.

Continued from page 14

The new concessionsstands and expanded bath-rooms will allow fans to beserved in a quick mannerand not have to wait in lineor walk long distances touse the facilities.The old stadiumused to havefewer than10 stalls forboth themen andwomen,howeverwhen reno-vations arecompletethe stadium will beequipped with 40 for eachgender.

Fans will also notice afew new lights at the ball-park ad well as five skybox-es surrounding the homeplate area. These boxeshave already been sold, butthree more are planned tobe built following the 2003

season because theimmense interest thus far.A press box will also belocated on this second tierfor all media individualsbroadcasting and reportingas the Hillcats try to defendtheir 2002 championship.

“I think peoplewho haven’t

been to see aballgameare goingto comeout to seethe facilityand hope-fully enjoywhat theysee and

keep coming back,” saidRoberts.

The players will also bereceiving an indoor battingcage for the first time. Thiswill allow them to practiceon days in which theweather cancels games orjust negates the use of theplaying field. Year roundpractice may also be a pos-

sibility to keep these play-ers fresh and in mid seasonshape as well.

Now with all these won-derful additions and fea-tures, fans may get theimpression that ticketprices will have to go up tohelp pay for these renova-tions. Wrong. Ticket priceswill remain the same at $7for all general admissionseats and $4 for all seniorcitizens as well as kids 5-14years of age. “We wanted tokeep it as inexpensive aspossible to bring familiesout and enjoy a fun nightat the ballpark,” saidRoberts.

A few current majorleague starters have comethrough Lynchburg in yearspast. Kris Benson (the cur-rent No. 1 pitcher for thePirates) was part of theteam in 1997 and AramisRamirez (Pittsburgh’s start-ing third-basemen andCarolina League MVP in1997) are among a few of

the rising crop of stars thatHillcats fans have had theprivilege of enjoying overthe past few years.

So there you have it, acomplete look at an extraor-

dinary venture which willhelp the Hillcats to betterserve its fans, young andold, and help build thePirates into a powerhousefor the future. What better

way to enjoy America’s pas-time than watching a ball-game on a beautiful summernight with family andfriends abound. Now, that’sa home run for everyone!

APRIL 8, 2003 THE LIBERTY CHAMPION, Page 11

Hillcats: Will open refurbished home on 4/11 vs. Wilmington

INTO THE FUTURE—When all is said and done this is what Merritt Hutchinson Stadium will look like.PHOTO PROVIDED

By Evan Falat, reporter

On Friday and Saturday the Liberty menand women’s track team hosted the LibertyInvitational and Multi-Event at theMatthew-Hopkins Track Complex. TheFlames thoroughly enjoyed their first homemeet of the season as both the men andwomen teams came out victorious in theoverall team scoring. Balanced attacks ledthe way for both teams as the Lady Flamestotaled 193 points, 68 points ahead of sec-ond place Lock Haven University, while themen’s team also beat out Lock Haven forfirst place by 31.5 points. In all 12 teamscompeted on the women’s side, while themen’s field consisted of 16 teams.

Leading the way for the Lady Flames wasJonisha Saunders, who ran and jumped herway to lifetime bests in the 100 meter dashand in the long jump. Saunders won the100m in 11.85, while teammate AundreaDawson was third in 12.22 seconds.Saunders then placed third in the 200meter dash with a time of 25.66 and waspart of the Lady Flames 4x100 relay teamthat took first with a time of 47.45.Saunders finished her day by also winningthe long jump and triple jump. “Jonisha isreally performing well right now,” Flameshead coach Brant Tolsma said. “She’salready qualified in the triple jump for theECAC’s and hitting lifetime best marks rightnow in her other events is very impressive.”

Other top finishes included AniskaStrachan’s third place in the 400 meterswith a time of 58.54 and Tessa Sturgill’s vic-tory in the 100 meter hurdles in a time of15.23. The distance duo of Chelsey Swansonand Melissa Blackstone also garnered manypoints for the Lady Flames as Swanson fin-ished second in both the 800 meters(2:18.48) and the 1500 meters (4:43.97),while Blackstone finished third in bothevents with times of 2:18.90 and 4:44.94.Christina Strochecker finished second in atime of 19:48.80 in the 5000 meters, whileSally McEnany finished second in the 3000meter steeplechase, running 13:03.94.

In the field events, Kena Butts won thehigh jump with a leap of 5-05 3/4, whileAmanda Newman finished second in the

shot put with a toss of 38-06 1/4 and thirdin the javelin with a throw of 105-07. KeishaBradshaw also finished third in the longjump with a leap of 18-00 1/4”. Team co-captain Dani McNaney won the two-dayheptathlon, which consists of the javelin,100 meter hurdles, high jump, long jump,shot put, 200m dash, and the 800 meters,with a total score of 4993 points.

The men’s team also put in a good solideffort as they collected points from a varietyof events. Seniors Jeremy Wagner andGuifaly Christolin tied for first place in the100 meter sprint with a time of 10.57.Christolin also won the 200 meters in atime of 21.50. Wagner and Christolin alsoteamed up with Kevin Octave and LaurenWilliams to finish second in the 4x100 relaywith a time of 41.43 seconds. Also finishinghigh for the Flames was Micah Brinkleywho captured third place in the 110 meterhigh hurdles in a time of 15.18 seconds.

Distance runners Josiah Melly and EvanFalat also captured points for the Flames asboth obtained victories in their respectiveevents. Melly ran a 9:42.80 in winning the3000 meter steeplechase, while Falat wonthe 5000 meters in a time of 15:28.33.

In the field events, Lamech Marsh placedsecond with a vault of 14-01 1/4 in the polevault, while Lauren Williams placed first inthe triple jump with a leap of 46-02 1/2.Kevin Octave jumped 23-05 1/4 in winningthe long jump, while teammate Sam Brunttook second place with a leap of 22-05 1/4.

Flames’ thrower Andy Musser had a veryimpressive meet as he finished first in boththe shot put and the discus. Musser threwthe shot 50-04 and tossed the discus 159-04, both of which were personal bests.Fellow thrower Tyler Biggins finished sec-ond in the hammer throw with a toss of152-00.

Jon DeBogory finished third in the two-day decathlon with a point total of 6871.The decathlon consists of the long jump,high jump, pole vault, shot put, discus,javelin, 110 meter hurdles, 100 meter dash,400 meter dash, and the 1500 meters.

The Flames compete next weekend, April11 and 12, at the Lynchburg CollegeInvitational.

HAND OFF— Two Liberty relay runners attempt a smooth handoff to bring home another first for LU.JOHN FISHER

LU Invitational : Liberty proves it is still a cut above the rest

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Page 12, THE LIBERTY CHAMPION APRIL 8, 2003

Softball splits with Hokies

LIBERTY 5, COASTAL CAROLINA 2

1. Caffin (CCU) def. Aneiros 6-4, 7-52. Shinozaki (LU) def. Gomez 6-0, 7-53. Pihl (LU) def. Alder 7-5, 6-14. Cloutier (CCU) def. Bell 6-4, 7-65. Rino (LU) def. Forester 6-3, 7-56. Malagrino (LU) def. El-Bouzkouri 7-5, 6-3

Singles

1. Rino/Shinozaki (LU) def.Coffin/El-Bouzkouri 8-0

2. Aneiros/Bell (LU) def.Gomez/Forester 8-3

3. Adler/Dowis (CCU) def.Malagrino/Moylan 9-8

Doubles

MEN’S TENNIS FROM APRIL 5TH

COASTAL CAROLINA 7, LIBERTY 0

1. Bajrambasic (CCU) def. Cotuna 6-1, 6-0 2. Goffin (CCU) def.

A. Gonzales-Dorado 6-3, 6-03. Matrka (CCU) def.

C. Gonzales-Dorado 6-1, 6-04. Koot (CCU) def. Solc 6-0, 6-15. Younger (CCU) def. Cho 6-2, 6-16. Palmer (CCU) def. Garman 7-5, 6-2

Singles

1. Bajrambasic/Matrka (CCU) def. Cotuna/A. Gonzales-Dorado 8-2

2. Goffin/Koot (CCU) def. Solc/Cho 8-03. Winner/C. Gonzales-Dorado (LU) def.

Younger/Palmer 8-4

Doubles

WOMEN’S TENNIS FROM APRIL 5TH

LIBERTY/JAE INTERCOLLEGIATE

1. Liberty University 305-301 - 606 +302. James Madison 303-305 - 608 +323. Cleveland State 310-302 - 612 +364. George Mason 312-305 - 618 +425. High Point 317-305 - 622 +466. Youngstown State 313-321 - 634 +587. Radford University 317-328 - 645 +69

Team

T5. James Yoo 72-78 - 150 +6T5. Jordan Mitchell 75-75 - 150 +6T9. Paul Carey 81-72 - 153 +9T9. Joseph Norman* 74-79 - 153 +9T9. Nick Heyland* 76-77 - 154 +9

LU Individual

GOLF RESULTS, APRIL 1ST

TWO DAYS, 36 HOLES

*PLAYED AS AN INDIVIDUAL

MEN AND WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD RESULTS, APRIL 4-5

LIBERTY INVITATIONAL & MULTI-EVENT, LYNCHBURG, VA.

1. Liberty University 187.52. Lock Haven University 1253. East Tennessee State 764. Eastern Mennonite 425. Williams College 41

Men overall

1. Liberty University 1932. Lock Haven University 1253. Williams College 944. Eastern Tennessee State 935. New York University 80.5

Women overall

Discus Throw — Andy MusserShot Put — Andy MusserTriple Jump — Lauren WilliamsSteeplechase — Josiah Melly5000m run — Evan Falat200m dash — Guifaly Christolin100m dash — Jeremy Wagner

LU men individual champs100m dash — Jonisha Saunders110m hurdles — Tessa Sturgill4x100m — Strachan, Saunders, Butts, DawsonHigh jump — Kena ButtsLong jump — Jonisha SaundersTriple jump — Jonisha SaundersHeptathlon — Danielle McNaney

LU women individual champs

Baseball/Softball standings

STANDINGS ARE THROUGH 4/6

Men’s conference standingsTEAM W L PCT

WinthropElonUNC-AshevilleCharleston SouthernLibertyHigh PointRadfordCoastal CarolinaBirmingham-Southern*

87533221

NA

11466661

NA

.889

.875

.556

.333

.333

.250

.250

.500NA

Women’s conference standingsTEAM W L PCTTexas A&M Corp. Chr.WinthropRadfordCoastal CarolinaCharleston SouthernElonLibertyBirmingham-Southern

3322211

NA

3502211

NA

.500.3751.00.500.500.500.500NA

Men’s stats (thru 4/4)

Batting Average

1. D. Carte (WU) .3862. G. Neidenfeuhr (WU) .3823. E. Cloninger (LU) .379

Pitching ERA

1. B. Waack (CCU) 1.182. J. Sturge (CCU) 1.553. M. Garner (EU) 2.03

Women’s stats (thru 3/25)

*BSU IS A PROVISIONAL DIVISION I MEMBER. ITS GAMES DO NOT COUNT TOWARDS THE CONFERENCE STANDINGS

NOTE: BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL STANDINGS ARE RANKED NOT BY WINNING PERCENTAGE, BUT BY WIN TOTAL.

Batting Average

1. Evans (TAMU) .3982. J. Swearengin (EU) .3883. H. Lee (CCU) .359

Pitching ERA

1. Pauly (TAMU) 0.702. A. Thompson (LU) 1.923. K. Johnson (WU) 1.93

Superstars go downDerek Jeter is not the only marquee

player to be injured during the openingweek of the baseball season, as Cincinnati’sKen Griffey, Jr. dislocated his shoulderwhile diving for a ball in Saturday’s gamein Chicago. Griffey is expected to be out 6-10 weeks.

NFL releases scheduleThe NFL released its schedule on

Thursday for the upcoming 2003 season.The Super Bowl champion Tampa BayBuccaneers will play on national TV ninetimes starting with a Monday rematch oflast season’s NFC Championship Game vs.the Philadelphia Eagles. If the Eagles are toadvance to the Super Bowl, they have theopportunity to do it with the entire nationwatching as they too will be showcased

nine times on national television. The sea-son will open for the second consecutiveyear with a Kick-Off Weekend celebration,with the New York Jets visiting theWashington Redskins on Sept. 4.

NBA in home stretchThe NBA season is concluding with only

ten teams guaranteed playoff spots. TheEastern Conference teams with a guaran-teed playoff spot are New Jersey Nets andPhiladelphia 76ers of the Atlantic Division.The Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, andNew Orleans Hornets are all guaranteedplayoff spots in the Central Division. In theWestern Conference, the Dallas Mavericks,San Antonio Spurs, and Minnesota TimberWolves lead the Mid-West Division. TheSacramento Kings and Portland TrailBlazers lead the way in the Pacific Division.

Compiled by Sean Berard,reporter

Continued from page 14

Jeremiah Boles had fourhits for the Flames. JoshHirt had four RBIs includ-ing a three-run homer in thesecond inning, and York,Doug Bechtold, Bryan andErich Cloninger each hadtwo hits for Liberty.

The Flames are 8-9 and3-5 on the Season. Elon is19-11-1 and 6-1 in the BigSouth. Earlier in the weekthe Flames dropped gamesto Virginia Tech 14-0 andVirginia 3-0. The Flameswere shutout for three con-secutive games going backthe second game of theirdoubleheader with

Winthrop on last Saturdayafter having scored in 79consecutive games.

After Sunday series finaleagainst Elon the Flames hitthe road for games againstWilliam and Mary today,James Madison onWednesday and three gameweekend series againstBirmingham-Southern.

Elon pounded the Flames19-4 in the third game of theweekend series between BigSouth Conference foes onSunday afternoon. Elon tooktwo out the three games andimproved to 20-11-1 and 7-1in the conference. Libertyfalls to 8-20 and 3-6.

Six Flames’ pitchers com-

bined to surrender 19 runs,16 earned runs, 14 hits, 12walks, two batters hit bypitch and two wild pitchesin the 15 run loss. In thelone highlight for theFlames catcher, Rusty May,hit his first home run of theseason.

Tyson Blocker (3-3) wentsix innings and gave up oneearned run on four hits andfour walks. Robbie Smith,Holt Montgomery and BrianIngram each had two hitsfor the Phoenix. MikeFratoe had three hits andIngram had five RBI.Stephen Williams (1-1) tookthe loss for the Flames.

By Kyle Adams, reporter

Ali Thompson turned ina dominating pitching per-formance and the LadyFlames managed to scrapeenough offense together tobeat Virginia Tech 1-0Wednesday at the LibertySoftball Field. The win wasone of four non-conferencevictories for the LadyFlames during the week,who also swept Hamptonand split with NorthCarolina A&T.

Thompson pitched allseven innings of the winover Virginia Tech, allowingjust two baserunners on onehit and one walk, whilestriking out nine batters.

“I’ve been throwing theball better in the last coupleof games,” Thompson said.“I got all my injuries out ofthe way last season, so thisseason I’ve been feeling bet-ter and throwing well. Idon’t know what it is, butI'll take it.”

The Lady Flames didnot get a base hit all day,but scored an unearnedrun in the bottom of thefirst inning and held onfor the win.

Liberty second basemanLeanne Long led off thegame with a walk, thenscored the game’s only runon an error by Hokie sec-ond baseman CaitlinMurphy.

Fortunately, one run wasall Thompson would need.She fooled Virginia Techbatters all game, gettingseveral pop-ups and groundballs, and she did not allowany Hokie runner to getpast first base.

The win improved her

record to 6-13, but seven ofher losses have been by justone run.

“Ali pitched with a lot ofheart out there,” LibertyCoach Paul Wetmore said.“She’s throwing as well asI’ve ever seen her, and thatis an example of what shecan do to a good team whenshe’s on her game.”

Wetmore gave Thompsonthe option of pitching thesecond game of the VirginiaTech doubleheader, so shepitched the first six inningsof that game, keeping itclose until the top of theseventh.

After Tiffany Johnsonlined a two-run home runto center to tie the score at3-3 in the bottom of thefifth, the Hokies scoredseven runs — five of themon home runs — in the finaltwo innings to take the sec-ond game 10-3.

In games earlier in theweek, the Lady Flames lostto N.C. A&T 2-1 in the first

game of a doubleheader onMonday before finding theiroffense in 16-2 thumping inthe second game.

Lauren Hahn went 4-for-5 with a home run andthree RBIs to lead theLiberty hit parade. Johnsonand Leanne Long also hadthree hits a piece, andAmanda Maska connectedon a grand slam in the sev-enth, her fifth home run ofthe season.

The Lady Flames alsoswept a home doubleheaderTuesday afternoon againstHampton University, win-ning 8-0 and 13-7.

Mary Beth Kennell andJohnson were both 2 for 3in the first game, withKennell smacking her thirdhome run of the season. Inthe second game, the attackwas led by Allison Terry,who hit her first home runof the season and firstcareer grand slam. Hahnand Kennell also hit homeruns in the game.

SLAM — Tiffany Johnson had her first homer of the season vs. VT.

JOHN FISHER

Baseball: LU falls to 3-7 in BSCConfused? Does it seem like things going on in the world has been turned upside-down?

Let us settle it. Open Minded. 90.9’s only news talk show. Sundays at 6:30 p.m.

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By Andrew Martin, reporter

The new Ericsson acquisition by the university will pro-vide students with much needed athletic facilities.

Hobby Lobby, a large arts and crafts company, is leas-ing the property to Thomas Road Baptist Church for $1per month and plans to donate the facility to the churchearly in 2004.

TRBC is looking to provide LU with 40 percent of theEricsson’s properties space. This will be used for both aca-demic and athletic improvement.

“The City of Lynchburg also recently approved LU’srequest to locate Liberty University offices and warehous-es at Ericsson. Some operations are already in the processof moving. The top priority will be to relocate any officesnow located in trailers or modulars (LUPD, HealthServices, Grounds, etc.) for aesthetic reasons and anyoffices located in buildings that were originally construct-ed as dormitories,” Jerry Falwell, Jr., general counsel forThomas Road Baptist Church and Liberty University.

“Liberty hopes to clear out enough dorm spacepresently being used for offices on campus to createbetween four and six new residence halls by the fall tosupplement the apartment housing now under construc-tion across US 460. Moving university employees toEricsson will also significantly increase the number ofparking spaces available to students and faculty on cam-pus,” Falwell Jr. said.

Among the recreational conveniences being added towhat’s already on campus are numerous basketball courts,aerobics rooms, a swimming pool, and the renovation ofthe Schilling Center.

“The city recently approved our plans to locate recre-ation facilities at Ericsson,” said Falwell, Jr., The facili-ties that are going to be added on the Ericsson propertyare six basketball courts, racquetball courts, a weight andfitness center, an aerobics room, and the ever-popularswimming pool.

Also to be added to the universities recreational facili-ties are more tennis courts in the Brown Towne area ofcampus. This will open up the road between the SchillingCenter and the Hangar all the way through. The roadbehind the Schilling Center will be replaced.

“All of these facilities will provide us students adequateplaces to do athletics,” freshman Dave Rucker said. “It’sdefinitely a nice addition.”

Along with the renovations being carried out at theEricsson building, the Schilling Center is entertaining amajor overhaul.

Both sides of the Schilling are being looked at asareas on campus to revamp to provide the students up-to-date facilities.

One of the major things possibly being carried out inthe Schilling Center is the addition of the ice hockey rink.

“Both the Schilling Center and the Ericsson facilityare being considered for the ice rink, but no final deci-sion has been made,” Falwell Jr. said.

If the rink is put in the Ericsson building, wherethe support columns are only 60 feet apart, then thesecolumns would have to be extended far enough sothat there is 80 feet spaces between. The rink needs80 feet spaces between columns for it to be built atregulation size.

Wherever the ice rink is put, it will provide the nation-ally competitive LU hockey team a place closer to campusthan Roanoke in which to practice and play games.

The plans are in place to provide the students withgreat facilities, but the drafts are preliminary and can bechanged in the future.

APRIL 8, 2003 THE LIBERTY CHAMPION, Page 13

The future is now: Ericsson receiving makeover

BLUEPRINT—Shown above is a tentative layout of what the first floor of the new Ericsson property may look like in reference to athleticfacilities. The Champion will have a follow up story next week with a few more details as well as the affects this new purchase will have onintramural sports and fields.

BLUEPRINT PROVIDED

LibertyUniversity’s

EricssonFacilities

Baseball is in fullswing. Unlike Wes’ dat-ing life.. But who’scounting, right?

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F o r S a l e

SportsBy Chris Humphreys, reporter

Liberty and Elon tradedblowouts in the first two gamesof their three game Big SouthConference series this weekendin Elon, N.C. with the rubbermatch coming on Sunday. OnFriday the Phoenix hammeredthe Flames 14-4 and onSaturday Liberty returned thefavor pounding Elon 13-2.

In Friday’s game the Flames’pitching gave up 11 hits, ninewalks, two batters hit by pitch,and committed three errorsleading to one unearned run and13 earned runs.

Mike Fratoe had a grand

slam, Brian Ingram smacked asolo shot and scored three runsand Gary Morris and EvanTartaglia each had two hit forthe Phoenix. Larry Wayne Yorkhad three hits and Chad Bryanhad a three-run home run forthe Flames.

Matt Garner earned the victoryby surrendering three run, oneearned, on five hits and twowalks. Garner had eight strikeoutsin six innings. Micheal Shaeffertook the loss for Liberty giving upseven earned runs on six hits andsix walks over 5.1 innings. Friday’sloss extended the Flames losingstreak to six games.

In Saturday’s game, the

Flames’ Dave Bechtold earnedthe win for Liberty by surren-dering one run on five hits andfive walks over five innings.Billy Daniels went the last fourinnings for the Flames and sur-rendered just one run on twohits and three walks.

Bechtold struck out six bat-ters and Daniels struck out sixbatters.

Luke Pangle (4-1) took hisfirst loss of the season for Elongiving up five runs on six hitsand a walk over 1.1 innings.Fratoe and Holt Montgomeryled the way for Elon at the platewith two hits apiece.

Please see BASEBALL, page 12

A P R I L 8 , 2 0 0 3

PASSING THE BAR — Freshman Kena Butts won the women’s high jump competition by clearing a bar placed at 1.67 meters. Butts also was a runner in LU’s 4x100m relay, which also won.

JOHN FISHER

Liberty leaps to victory

The Liberty Champion

INSIDE� MAKEOVER: How will theEricsson purchase changeLiberty’s athletic facilities?See page 13.

� JAMES’ WOODS: Libertygolfer James Yoo returned tothe greens for the Flames.See page 10.

Both men and women’s track & field teams place first in the Liberty Invitational

P A G E 1 4

Lynchburg’s minor leaguers get a facelift

(434) 582-2124LUSports03@yahoo.com

CMYK

Phoenix take two of three

TO THE WALL — Jeremiah Boles led the Liberty attack on Saturday with four hits.JOHN FISHER

Coming up in LU Sports...Baseball

Track & Field

� 4/11-12 Lynchburg CollegeInvite; Lynchburg, Va., 11 a.m.

� 4/8 @ William & Mary, 7 p.m.� 4/9 @ James Madison, 1 p.m.� 4/11 @ Birm.-Sou., 7 p.m.� 4/12 @ Birm.-Sou., 2 p.m.� 4/13 @ Birm.-Sou., 1 p.m.

Softball

� 4/12 vs. Coastal Car., 1 p.m.

Tennis

� 4/8 vs. High Point, 1:30 p.m.� 4/9 vs. James Madison, 2 p.m.

Golf

�4/11-12 Princeton Intercollegiate;two-day, 36 holes; SpringdaleGolf Club, Princeton, N.J.

By Robbie Adams, sports editor

Once again, America’s pastime is beingblown in with the fresh spring season. We allhave our favorite teams and players, but howmany people know about the championshipteam right in our back yard? Well the Lynch-burg Hillcats plan to kick off their season onApril 11, but this year they will have a wholenew look, literally!

The Hillcats (Class “A” affiliate of the Pitts-burgh Pirates) captured the 2002 Carolinachampionship by defeating the Kinston Indi-ans 6-5, but that was not the only milestone on

Sept. 10. That same day the city council ofLynchburg approved a construction bid fromColeman-Adams Construction, Inc., to get theball rolling for a magnificent transformation ofa historic ballpark. “It’s going to be a muchnicer facility, which will be a showcase for thecommunity and something that Lynchburg canbe proud of,” Assistant General Manager Ron-nie Roberts said.

Merritt Hutchinson Stadium is currentlyreceiving a $5.4 million facelift, which willinclude tons of amenities for the public. This isthe first time the stadium has gone under theknife since 1979, which is why it is creating a

buzz in the community with the new seasonjust days away.

The public will be able to ogle at a few newfeatures such as the walk in souvenir store, twolarger concession stands, larger bathrooms, aswell as more handicap accessible features toallow anyone a beautiful day at the ballpark.

The souvenir store will now be locatedinside the ballpark and will allow fans tobrowse for Hillcats attire rather than stareinto a make shift building which had seen itsbetter days.

Please see HILLCATS, page 11

CONSTRUCTION — This is a current view of Merritt Hutchinson Stadium. ROBBIE ADAMS

Next week in Champion Sports...Andrew Martin joins the staff...Good or bad? You decide.