]
1.
school
Community Invited to
Celebrate Earth Day
-Staff Reports
Montreat College, in conjunc
tion with the Conference Center
and the town, will host an Earth
Day celebration on Saturday,
April 23. The day is scheduled
with plenty of nature-based
activities for the whole family.
Beginning at 10 am a rep
resentative from the National
Wildlife Federation will award
the town of Montreat with a
certificate for being North Car
olina’s first Community Wildlife
Habitat. The day will include
such activities as a macro-inver
tebrate walk, a nature hike with
plant identification, recycling-
awareness crafts, and a reptile
and amphibian habitat building
project.
After lunch, the afternoon’s
activities will be a clean up
of Flat Creek and visiting
local backyard habitat sites in
Montreat.
Christina Heckmann, student
organizer for the event, says the
Earth Day celebration will offer,
“Fun activities to have people
become aware of the environ
ment and good stewards.”
In a related event on Thurs
day, April 21, on the Montreat
campus, Peter Illyn from the
environmental stewardship
organization. Restoring Eden,
will present a lecture on Chris
tians’ Role in Environmental
Stewardship. For more infor
mation on his program, go to
www.restoringeden.org.
Contact Dottie Shuman for
details about these events at
dshuman@montreat.edu or 669-
8012, ext. 3405.
Friends of Music Award
Scholarships
-Staff Reports
Eight music students took part
in the third annual Friends of
The Montr• at CotEag* Stud«nt Vo
WHETSTONE
Montreal College Box 839
Montreal, NC 28757
828.669.8012 Ext. 3675
whetstone@montreat.edu
Editor in Chief
Managing Editor
Graphic Design/ layout
Business Manager
Asst. Business Manager
Kortney Blythe
April Heyward
Brittany Anderson
Travis Shelburne
Luke Snyder
Staff Writers
Tyler Greene
Cassie Pavone
Jcb Berkley
LeAnn Lane
Kortney Blythe
April Heyward
Photographers
Kent Douglas
April Heyward
Hannah Luse
Jason Fisher
Web
Dan Windmiller
The Whetstone is published monthly while
school is in session. The views expressed in
this publication are not necessarily the views
of Montreal College or its staff. All submis
sions become property of The Whetstone.
Funding for this paper is provided by our
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Office of Alumni Affairs. Visit our Web site
at www.montreat.edu/whetsione. Please direct
any questions or comments to the editor at
Vjvhetstone@montreat.edu. ^
Music Scholarship Competition
held on Friday, April 1.
Placed winners included:
first place Jesse Donovan Teets
(piano), second place Eileen
Lindsay (soprano), third place
Andy Black (piano) and honor
able mention Jessica Whitener
(soprano).
The first two winners will
receive a scholarship for next
year from Friends of Music
$ 1,200 and S800, respectively.
Judges for the competition
included Dr. Julie Fortney, pro
fessor of music at Mars Hill Col
lege; Katherine Palmer adjunct
professor and staff accompanist
at Brevard College; and Dr.
Vance Yoder retired president
from the Christian Heritage Col
lege of San Diego.
“This was a very exciting
event, and all of our 8 students
performed very well,” said
director of music programs,
Eunice Stackhouse. “This was a
wonderful display of Montreat
student talent-concentrated into
one afternoon.”
Page 2, April, a 2005
The Whetstone
to the Editor
Dear Kortney and Whetstone Staff,
We applaud the editorial written about Terri Schiavo and the travesty surrounding the court-
ordered removal of her feeding tube. It is overwhelming and saddening to realize that we have
reached a day in our beloved country where the most venerable citizens are preyed upon by
those who seek to fatally harm them.
In comparing the actions of two parties who claimed to have Terri’s best interest at heart,
one party embraced life and the directives supporting life; the other party sought the end of
Terri’s earthly existence and was encouraged by the courts to continue his pursuit. How could
the purposeful demise of Terri be in her best interest?
If human life is of no value due to impending death, why did our Lord Jesus “Who being in
very nature God..,.”, humble himself and take on the form of human likeness?
As a registered nurse, I can assure you that the use of a feeding tube to support the nutritional
and fluid and electrolyte status is a simple, common and often temporary measure. To deny
another this therapy even though, they may be walking “through the valley of the shadow of
death” is heinous and inhumane.
The comfort that we find is that any tear Terri may have shed has been recorded in God’s
record, (Psalm 56:8),
May God bless you in you pursuits.
Sincerely,
Suzanne Cole
Montreat, NC
from the Editor
Legacy of the Pope
by April Heyward
On Saturday, April 2, the world reluctantly said goodbye to a great individual. The life of Pope:
John Paul II serves as a brilliant example of how people should live a life of faith and service.
Bom in 1920 to a family riddled with tragedy, Karol Wojtyla endured the death of his mother,
brother and father before his 20* birthday. This sense of loss and the severity of the world war sur
rounding him, in many ways, led him closer to God and the church. This passion drove him to an
underground seminary in Krakow, Poland.
Before the papacy, Wojtyla served God and guided his congregation in Communist-governed
Poland, He was known to push the envelope when it came to increasing the number of churches in
neighboring Czechoslovakia and having a say in Vatican II - the meetings that modernized the Catho
lic Church.
The Church greeted him as their leader on October 16,1978, making him the first non- Italian pope
in 445 years. In his 26 years as pope, he continuously made historic landmarks toward peace and
reconciliation.
He was a man of papal firsts: the first pope to travel to his communist home of Poland in order to
visit a synagogue, the first reigning pope to visit the United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, Egypt, and the
Auschwitz concentration camp. His trip to Romania made him the first pope to visit a highly popu
lated Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism.
Upon the 84-year-old pontiff’s death many international leaders offered their condolences and
requested a time of mourning in their nation. Even Cuba, a country steeped in Communism that did
not recognize the existence of God until 1992, called for a time of national mourning. Cuban Presi
dent Fidel Castro declared, “humanity will preserve an emotional memory of the tireless work of His
Holiness John Paul II in favor of peace, justice and solidarity among all people.”
A spokesman for the Taliban, Abdul Latif Hakirai, said, “we neither express grief nor joy over the
death of the Pope. Some of what he said about peace and harmony was worth considering.” When
the Taliban, a defunct government currently in hiding, finds no fault with you that has to mean some
thing.
Hopefully, in the midst of the frenzy surrounding the his death and funeral, and the selection of his
successor, Pope John Paul II will be remembered as a man who took huge steps that greatly affected
so many around the globe. I also hope that many people will be inspired to follow his example of
strong leadership that takes steps toward social justice and reconciliation.