Issue 5 | November 7, 2014

Facesof

ChangeWomen’s soccer team prepares for mission trip to Haiti

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Editor-in-ChiefTimothy Wyatt

Managing EditorNatasha Jones

Photo EditorJillian Carpenter

Sta ff WritersTylar Baker

Autumn CooneyLydia Jay

Shyann NorrisAshton Rector

Christin RottenbergerMyriah Snyder

Sta ff PhotographersJay Sanksakulchai

Faculty Adv isorJeremiah Massengale

Editor ia l Rev iew BoardLisa Bartram

Marianne Worthington

- 7609 College Station Drive Williamsburg, Ky 40769

(606-539-4172 /patriotnewspaper @UCThePatriot

*thepatriot@ucumberlands.edu

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The Patriot is the biweekly student publication of the University of the Cumberlands. Our goal is to provide timelyand original content by highlighting campus news and views.

Award-winning member of the Kentucky Press Association.

CONTENTS

UCTHEPATRIOT

6

Is Yik Yak just out of whack?

An apple a day keeps the PA away

But first...let me take a selfie

Halloween contest winnersUPCOMING SPORTING

EVENTSNOVEMBER 7

Men’s Soccer @ Campbellsville University

(Mid-South Conf. Tournament)8 p.m.

Women’s Volleyball @Shawnee State University

7 p.m.

NOVEMBER 8

Football @ Kentucky ChristianUniversity1:30 p.m.

Women’s Soccer @(4) Lindsey Wilson

(Mid-South Conf. Tournament)12 p.m.

NOVEMBER 11

Men’s Basketball v.College of St. Joseph in Vermont

6 p.m.

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Members of the Patriot women’s soccer teamwill be spending their spring break spreading thegospel of Christ in Haiti. The team has partneredwith the mission group A Door to Hope, foundedby Brent Gambrell Ministries, to venture almost1,500 miles away. Assistant coach Brittney Gaddsays the idea was sparked after UC’s campus min-ister Dean Whitaker recommended the team attenda revival held at Main Street Baptist Church whereGambrell was the guest speaker. Gambrell offeredGadd the idea to bring the Patriot Women’s soccerteam to Haiti.

A Door to Hope has been ministering andbuilding relationships with local communities andchurches since 2003, but after the tragic earth-quake in 2010 their work has become more con-centrated in the capital of Port-Au- Prince and itssurrounding areas.

Freshmen soccer player Erin Bolas will be at-tending the trip. Bolas said, “It’ll be interesting to

see how they’ve been able to move on from that[earthquake] and been able to cope with their livesand for us to go over there and be able to helpthem; it’ll be awesome.”

The aftermath of the earthquake was nearly316,000 casualties and countless damaged homesand broken families. Gadd said, “There is hope,that there is something much bigger to life, muchbigger, and if you rely on the Lord and put yourfaith in Him, you’re full of life. You’re no longerdead.”

While in Haiti, the team will spend their timein communities that are in extreme poverty. SeniorHannah Starner said, “We’re just planning on lov-ing on the kids, playing soccer, teaching them soc-cer, and using soccer as a way of leading them toJesus.”

Gadd not only expects the team to be person-ally affected by the trip but she also believes emo-tions will be transferred into the game of soccer.

“It’s going to create more unity and we’ll get a bet-ter understanding of what it is to truly sacrifice, asfar as playing soccer [we’ll learn] what it meansto sacrifice on the field for each other.” Some ofthe soccer players have taken this task on person-ally by proposing fundraiser ideas. Currently, theteam is selling t-shirts on booster.com where theyhope to sell 100 shirts.

“I took it as a once in a lifetime opportunity.I’ve always wanted to do one [mission trip] and itfelt like it fell into place,” said Starner.

Gadd says there is encouragement they wouldlike to share with the people of Haiti. She added,“The key is love and I think if we focus on that,the heart of the gospel is going to people in theirbrokenness and just loving them. That’s the mes-sage we want to send is love and hope.”

BY ASHTON RECTOR

Sta ff Writer

hopEto

Haiti

Photo by Jil lian Carpenter

Sending

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Eyes locked on the computer screen staringat the world you created in front of you. Youwish you lived in the virtual world you de-signed instead of the one you currently live in.Every part of the world is something youthought of. Everything you say goes. If thissounds like you, or someone you love, then youmight be obsessed with the video game“Minecraft.” Sarah Walden, a University of theCumberlands junior, says her brother is the “de-finition of addicted to ‘Minecraft.’”

“Every time we are ready to leave thehouse, my brother begs for just five more min-utes. He will throw a fit,” says Walden, rollingher eyes. “If we leave before he finishes andsaves the game he claims that everything willbe lost. So consequently, we are late for every-thing,” she added.

“Minecraft” allows its users to build freelywhatever they want from the materials theymine from the ground. You have to work for

your materials. The game has no objectives,you only build on your own terms.

Since 2009 when the video game firstlaunched, over 35 million people purchased thegame. In 2012, it was actually awarded aGolden Joystick Award in the category BestDownloadable game.

While some people may think that“Minecraft” is an addiction, one thing is forsure, it is very popular. The game has grown atan unbelievable rate.

The overwhelming popularity of this prod-uct sparked the interest in a buyout from Mi-crosoft. This year, Microsoft purchasedMojang, the company that develops“Minecraft,” for $2.5 billion. Who knew a gamecould be worth so much money?

But the money coming in with “Minecraft”is not only limited to the game itself, there isalso merchandise sold in all kinds of stores aswell as upgrades on the game itself. “My

brother owns a sword, tried to make one of theheads and owns several t-shirts,” said Walden.

Benjamin Tyler, an eighth grader, tried toexplain how “Minecraft” in his opinion is notan addiction at all, but rather a goal. “Once youstart something you need to finish it. It’s likethat with all things, ‘Minecraft’ is no different”.Tyler said that he plays every day for about twohours. Watching him play the game is fascinat-ing, he moves so quickly it’s hard to keep up.

“The game is player friendly. There are op-portunities on the game just like there are withothers. You can earn things and reach new lev-els. It’s rewarding” he said. Tyler has the gamedownloaded onto his desktop, iPod and Kindle.The developers made sure that you could accessthe game no matter where you are.

Microsoft has said of the “Minecraft” fam-ily, “The Minecraft players have taken the gameand turned it into something that surpassed allour expectations.”

BY HANNAH TYLER

Guest Writer

Has Minecraft become an addiction?

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One of the current trends that hasbeen booming on the University of theCumberlands campus in the past fewweeks is the Yik Yak app. This app hasbeen commonly described as an anony-mous Twitter that allows its app users topost whatever is on their mind withoutsomeone knowing who posted it. Usershave described it in a variety of waysbeing both positive and negative.

The Yik Yak app is described in theApple app store as a “local bulletin boardfor your area by showing the most recentposts from other users around you. “Thisapp requiring an iOS 7.0 device or laterthat is compatible with iPhone, iPad, andiPod touch is a social networking appused to spread the word by using yourcurrent location. App users have up to200 characters to post what is on theirmind. Each post can be “up voted” ifusers like it or “down voted” if they dis-like it. However, once it has been “downvoted” so many times, the post will be re-moved.

This app has been featured on manytop news sites and shows since its contro-versial creation due to it being meant forusers of 18 years of age and older, but isstill open to users of any age despite thecrude and controversial content that some

users choose to anonymously post. Uni-versity of the Cumberlands students havejust recently discovered the world of“yakkers” and it is a trend that has manywondering when it will fade.

When UC student Paige Edwardswas asked about Yik Yak, she describedthe type of posts on the area’s feed to be,“slanderous most of the time.” Edwardsadded, ”There is a lot of gossip and peo-ple desperate for attention. “

It is obvious that there are people thatare using the anonymity of the app as anopportunity to bully people, teams or theschool in general.

Lydia Huggins, a UC student, stated,“While there might be positives such asbuilding a new since of community oncampus, the negatives far outweigh them.The amount of negativity keeps me awayfrom even downloading the app. There isenough negativity around the world any-ways that I do not need or desire to beflooded with more negative topics andslander. “

While many students feel that Yik,Yak is strictly negative some people haveseen that it does have its positives.

For example, UC student ThomasRally mentioned, “Depending on howpeople interacted, it has brought some

groups closer together.” Even though a lot of users describe

the negative things that are posted on YikYak, there are, however, positive posts.

For example one of the post that ac-tually got 28 “up votes” after beingposted on Sunday October 26, 2014 said,“What a blessing to see another day.Hope everybody has a great Sunday.”

Yik Yak has its positive and negativecharacteristics, however, it is somethingthat has been a major conversation topicthroughout campus. Currently there is alot of hype around campus and it wouldalmost be unusual to go around campuswithout hearing someone talking about apost on Yik Yak if not the app in general.

Even though there is such a strongamount of excitement surrounding theanonymous app, all six people that wereinterviewed regarding this article be-lieved that the app’s popularity wouldquickly fade.

Anyone considering downloading thesensational app should take into consid-eration the types of controversial or ex-plicit things that they may read. Also,before “yakkers” choose to post some-thing they should remember the old say-ing, “If you don’t have something nice tosay, don’t say anything at all.”

BY HALEY DAMRON

Guest Writer

Is Yik Yak just out of whack?

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BY JILLIAN CARPENTER

Photo Editor

Inside the Kohn Theatre... How many timeshave I told youto be careful

with the props?!

big drama

We’re not gonnahave anything

left at this rate!

And that goesfor your

costumes, too!

Little shop,

You thinkingwhat I’m thinking?

A comic

PUSH!!!

BURP!BURP!

Just so you know,the plant is alsoconsidered a

prop!

7

1st

2nd

3rd

costumecontestwinners

First Place: ShayKing as Starfire

Second Place: CariKidd as Barbie

Third Place: RussellRidenour as HarryPotter

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I remember the fanfarethat accompanied the publi-cation of Tom Brokaw’s best-selling book, The GreatestGeneration, in 1998. Thebook is a tribute to the bravemen and women who cameof age during the Great De-pression and the SecondWorld War. The term “theGreatest Generation” wascoined by Brokaw, an ac-claimed television journalist.As Brokaw made the roundsof various news outlets andtalk shows to publicize hisbook, I remember my parentsand grandparents agreeingwith Brokaw’s premise thatthe people of the generationreferred to in his book weredifferent. The feeling wasthat, during that time in his-tory, people were braver,more willing to sacrifice.Brokaw contends that recentgenerations would have ahard time withstanding suchserious adversity as theWorld War II generation hadto endure. I heard the samesentiment after the terroristattacks of September 11,2001: “Let’s hope we don’tget involved in a long-termwar abroad. This youngergeneration just would not beable to handle it”.

Granted, Brokaw could

not have foreseen the eventsof 9/11 or the ensuing mili-tary involvements in Iraq andAfghanistan. In recent yearshe has spoken highly of ourcurrent members of the mili-tary. But in his book hestates, “I would like to thinkthat if the United States wereattacked we’d band together,but I’m not sure. If there’s acommon lament of this gen-eration, [the World War IIgeneration] that is it: where isthe old-fashioned patriotismthat got them through somuch heartache and sacri-fice?” I challenge this prem-ise of The GreatestGeneration, the notion that itdoes not seem likely that anyfuture generations can com-pare to the people of theWorld War II era in terms ofbravery, dedication to duty,and love of country.

Brokaw uses the storiesof individual men andwomen to share his praise ofthe World War II generation.There is the story of CaptainCharles O. Van Gorder, whoworked under dangerousconditions in field medicalfacilities and was later takenprisoner by the Germans. Herisked his life helping otherAmericans to escape and wasfinally able to escape himself

and return to the U.S. in thespring of 1945.

There is Joe Foss, an acefighter pilot in the MarineCorps and a 1943 recipient ofthe Medal of Honor. Heplayed a key role in the aircombat of the GuadalcanalCampaign. There is JeanneHolm, who commanded abasic training company of theWomen’s Army Corps duringWorld War II. She continuedwith her military career andin 1973 became the firstwoman to be promoted to thegrade of major general.Brokaw details these storiesand those of many other wor-thy heroes.

We have also witnessedmany military success storiesamong the post-9/11 genera-tion. Captain Kellie McCoywas awarded the Bronze Starwith Valor. In 2003 she di-rected her unit during an am-bush in Iraq, repellinginsurgents and preventingU.S. fatalities. Master Ser-geant Sarun Sar was awardedthe Silver Star. He slowed aTaliban ambush inAfghanistan in 2005, allow-ing his team to clear anenemy area. Army Sergeant1st Class Leroy Petrey, afterbeing deployed twice to Iraqand during his sixth deploy-

ment to Afghanistan, was in-volved in a raid on a Talibantarget. He was able to protectthe men around him by pick-ing up and throwing a livegrenade that had been tossedat them; he lost his hand inthe process and was awardedthe Medal of Honor.

Sacrifice is a commontheme in Brokaw’s book. Hecommends those whostepped forward to serve:“The nation turned to itsyoung to carry the heaviestburden, to fight in enemy ter-ritory and to keep the homefront secure and productive.They understood what wasrequired of them, and theywillingly volunteered fortheir duty.” Those last wordsabout volunteering for dutyhave been especially true forthe post-9/11 generation. Wehave an all-volunteer militarynow, with the draft havingended in 1973. This is atremendous difference be-tween today’s military andthat of the World War II eraand one that I believe in-creases the measure of thebravery among today’stroops.

I am proud to have hadthe honor of serving on activeduty in the U.S. Army thoughI was fortunate to have done

so during peacetime in the1980’s. I served with a num-ber of Vietnam veterans whoshared with me their harrow-ing stories of those war years.They represent their owngreatest generation and Ihonor their service. Though Iworked very hard at theheadquarters of a MilitaryPolice battalion, and laterserved as a general’s aide, Icannot compare my rela-tively pleasant duty with thecourageous service of thosein our post-9/11 military.

As our nation’s armedforces continue to face dan-gerous challenges around theglobe and as we prepare tohonor our veterans this No-vember 11th, I think aboutour current generation and Iagree with the sentiment ofhistorian Arthur Schlesinger:“I am a short-term pessimistbut a long-term optimist. Ithink some future crisis willrally the country and bringout new leaders. These arethe cycles of history.” Cer-tainly the young men andwomen who exemplifiedbravery and sacrifice duringWorld War II were a greatgeneration. But I find thispost- 9/11 generation to beequally great.

BY JENNIFER MARSH

Associate Professor of Spanish

In praise of all veteransEqually GreatEqually GreatEqually Great

9Featu

resHer small bare feet rapidly swung back

and forth as she sat on the kitchen counter.She took a deep breath upon every commandwhile the stethoscope glided across her back.Every time she heard the worn out phrase,“Say ahh,” the wooden tongue depressorwould touch her tongue, as she laughinglywould show her tonsils. Her voice echoedthrough the entire home just like she hoped.Although the 8-year-old girl may have mock-ingly nicknamed herself the “lab rat”, shewas always proud to help her dad as he madehis way through the physician assistant pro-gram.

Scott Rector, a recent physician assistantgraduate from the University of the Cumber-lands, recalls instances where his daughterwould be his mock patient as he prepared forbasic wellness exams. Rector now practicesat a primary care facility in his hometown ofOneida, Tennessee.

The American Academy of PhysicianAssistants website says, “It's estimated thatby 2020 there will be a shortage of 90,000physicians in the United States.” Mid-levelproviders such as physician assistants are thecure for the professional health world’s ail-ment.

This absence of doctors can be attributedto the high availability of health care to thegeneral public. Rector says, “I think you’reseeing more people have access to healthcare, more people have health insurance andstarting to see more people come into thepractice.”

Since 2010 to the present day, the Af-fordable Care Act has increased the availabil-ity of health insurance for all Americans.This means people who have never had theopportunity to seek medical care now can at-tain it on a regular basis. The PhysiciansFoundation estimated in 2012 a physicianalone could see approximately 20 patients aday. However that same physician can su-pervise multiple mid-level providers who caneach see the same number of patients as him.

“You’re hired there to make life better

for the physician, assist the physician andhelp him in his clinical practice,” says Rec-tor.

The University of the Cumberlands of-fers a 27-month program to complete a Mas-ter of Science in Physician Assistant Studies.Most programs can be completed typically intwo to three years. This time is composed ofclassroom time as well as clinical experience.This type of program follows a model similarto medical school. After graduation, thePhysician Assistant National CertificationExam must be passed before the new gradu-ates can practice. Since the training period isquite shorter than that of a doctor, physicianassistants can enter the field of practicehastily.

Also, in 2010 the Affordable Care Acthas created incentives for physician assistantstudents. “Financial support [is available] forthe education of PAs who intend to provideprimary care services, especially in rural andunderserved communities,” says the AAPAwebsite.

A prospective physician assistant studentMarki Hall expects to take advantage ofthese benefits and fulfill her assistant posi-tion in the medical field in a small commu-nity. She says, “Heading back to a rural areawill help lighten some of the loads of yourfew physicians.”

A career as a physician assistant has alsoproven very versatile. They can be foundanywhere from the emergency room to a spe-cialist office. Hall plans to specialize in or-thopedics because of her athletic career. “Ifeel like having previous knowledge ofsports and how sports injuries could happenwould contribute to the knowledge of howthe bones and muscles work,” says Hall.

Rector remembers comments from Dr.Williams that capture the essence of his ex-perience, “You truly start to learn in practicebecause nobody can prepare for the thingsyou see everyday. You have the knowledgebase of the disease and the condition, butevery patient presents differently.”

An apple a daykeeps the PA

away

BY ASHTON RECTOR

Sta ff Writer

Physician assistants on the rise at UC

Scott Rector poses a fter white coat ceremony.

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Upon the beginning of our schoolyear, I heard one too many freshmenmention the statistics of the averagesalary of their intended major. Ofcourse it was great that students wereplanning ahead and thinking of the fu-ture, but what kind of dream is worthchasing if you’re only doing it for thedollar amount attached to it?

As I talked to more and more fresh-men and college students in general, Isee a trend of always having a debatebetween what they want to do withtheir lives, and what they think theyneed or should do with their lives. Moststudents start college with the anticipa-tion of getting a degree in somethingthat makes a good living, even if theyhave to sell some of their happinessdoing it.

Going into anything halfhearted isgoing to set you up for a disadvantageof succeeding. Someone once said,“hard work beats talent when talentdoesn’t work hard.” You can find in al-most every aspect of life that thisphrase is true. Doing anything with lessthan all of your capability is a waste ofnot only yours, but also everyone else’stime.

Too many people set their goalswith the intention of having the end re-sult be mostly about material items.Nobody mentions that if you hate thefield you’re studying or going into,you’re a lot less likely to finish or con-tinue to stay in that occupation.

Don’t focus too much on the statis-tics; trust that if you want somethingbad enough, you’ll find a way to ac-complish your goals. It won’t happenovernight, or even in the next fiveyears, but if you’re not willing to workhard, you won’t achieve anything.Maybe you won’t end up on the exactpath you thought you’d be on at the be-ginning of your journey, but thatdoesn’t mean you won’t find the rightpath for you.

It won’t be an easy climb. You’regoing to struggle, perhaps barely sur-vive, and yet if you stay focused, you’llfind your stride. Don’t let all the pres-sure and stress tarnish your time.Sometimes the trip there is the one ofthe sweetest parts of the journey. Makesome memories and enjoy the ride.

Instead of focusing your goals onone end result, try doing something youreally love.

How hard are you willing

to work for it?

BY NATASHA JONES

Managing Editor

Hard work beats talent whentalent doesn’t work hard

But first...let me take a selfie

BY CHRISTIN ROTTENBERGER

Sta ff Writer

Filters, captions and likes, ohmy! Selfies are basically the self-por-trait of the 21st century and havetaken over the social media realm. Itis almost impossible to scroll downyour Instagram, Facebook, or Twitterfeed without seeing duck-faced self-ies right and left. Selfies are so pop-ular that a new television series hasdebuted titled “Selfie.”

Crazy, I know. There are even timer apps, apps

that allow you to change your ap-pearance for a selfie such as YouCamPerfect and Selfie Photo Editor, anda “selfie stick” that allows you totake the perfect picture at a widerangle.

Selfies are a way to show off anew shirt, haircut, makeup design, orsimply a way to let your followersknow you’re still active. A selfiedoesn’t even have to be just of oneperson. Sometimes called “usies” or“wefies”, selfies involving more thanone person are just as popular as aselfie involving a single person. Al-though taking selfies is mostly attrib-uted females, males are just involvedin selfie culture whether or not they

would like to admit it. Some people are very fond of

selfies while others tend to be an-noyed by the number of self-portraitsthat are seen while scrolling downtheir newsfeed. There are those thatalso seem to think that selfie cultureis a bad thing, causing our generationto become selfish and worried thatthe number of likes that they get ona selfie determines their self-worth.Others view selfies as a great way ofself-acceptance in a world full ofself-esteem issues.

I would end this article with acatchy paragraph, but I have to gotake a selfie. Happy snapping!

11Faith

& M

inistry

Running a race is just like living an every-day life. We are all running around trying tokeep up with the popular demand of society.And even though we may not see it, we aresinning every step of the way. It’s just like car-rying around a bag of 50 pound weights. Sinis heavy and it wears us down to where we feellike we are nothing. Every day we are battlingour own struggles, temptations form societyand the pressures of life. It can be so over-whelming that it slows us down to a cripplingcrawl. Ever been there before?

I have. But I have found that the more Iread Scripture and the more time I spend withGod in my private time, the more I find thatHe is ready and willing to take the pressure oflife off of me. Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV) says,“Therefore, since we are surrounded by sogreat a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay asideevery weight, and sin which clings so closely,and let us run with endurance the race that isset before us, looking to Jesus, the founder andperfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was

set before him endured the cross, despising theshame, and is seated at the right hand of thethrone of God.”

This verse is staple because it shows usthat we are surrounded by people who arewilling to support us. Since we are sur-rounded, throw it off. I know that may seemeasier said than done, but its true. If you wantfreedom from your circumstance and be ableto run with endurance throw it away. Whateverit may be, throw it out and allow the peoplearound you to help. They will run along sideof you. They will be there when you needthem. But the best part is, even if they fallaway, God always remains close to you! Don’tcower down, and don’t give in. Trust God andstand back up to run!!!

“Therefore lift your drooping hands andstrengthen your weak knees, and make straightpaths for your feet, so that what is lame maynot be put out of joint but rather be healed.” –Hebrews 12:12-13 (ESV).

BY T YLAR BAKER

Sta ff Writer

EndurancePhoto cour tesy of Flickr’s Dre Bloomfield.