Page A2
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
The Pilot
- News
College Rockz brings East Coast talent together
By Emily Burgess
Pilot staff writer
Talented students showcase
their abilities for a chance to win
scholarship money in a compe
tition called College Rockz.
Dr, Chioma Ugochukwu, an
associate professor of journal
ism at the University of South
Carolina - Upstate, organized
this event with the hopes of en
couraging healthy student rela
tionships along the East Coast.
“I realize that there are many
students who are isolated, so
giving students an outlet to so
cialize in a productive way and
an opportunity to sharpen their
interpersonal skills is something
I view as a positive step,” said
Ugochukwu.
College Rockz consists of
dancing, singing, fashion de
signs and a step-show competi
tion,
“The different categories
call for different skili sets, but
we are looking for originality,
creativity, workmanship, aes
thetic appeal, precision, timing,'
range, etc,” she said.
Two students from Gardner-
Webb University - Verhonda
Crawford and Whitney Stroup -
are participating in the contest,
which is on April 24 at Furman
University.
Both of the women are com
peting in the dance category.
“My talent is a lyrical dance
to the song ‘Miss You Love’
by Maria Mena,” said Craw
ford. “Lindsey Gladhill choreo
graphed the dance.”
Not only are there students
from all over the East Coast par
ticipating, but there are celebrity
guest appearances, also.
There will be a show by Plea
sure P., the former lead singer of
Pretty Ricky.
Mychael Knight, the fan fa
vorite from “Project Runway,”
will be showcasing his new line
on the runway and giving out
samples of his new fragrance.
Comedian Ralph Harris,
from “Last Comic Standing,”
will close out the night with his
stand-up show.
Tickets for the event are
available through Timmons
Arena Ticketing office at Fur
man University or any Ticket-
master outlet.
“This is an event that is light
hearted and fun for students ...
an activity that brings together
students from diverse campuses
and backgrounds,” said Ugo
chukwu. “This year’s event
would actually be the premier
event, but we intend to make
this an annual show.”
Students present papers
at evolution conference
By Diana Palka
Pilot staff writer
Eight students from Dr.
Kent Blevins and Dr. Don
Olive’s Issues in Science
and Religion class trav
eled to UNC Wilmington
March 20 for a student
conference entitled “Dar
win’s Legacy: Evolution’s
Impact on Science and
Culture.”
The conference was in
honor of scientist Charles
Darwin’s 200th birthday
as well as the 150th anni
versary of his most noted
publication, “The Origin
of Species.”
It was hosted by UNC-
W’s Evolution Learning
Community, which is the
univervsity’s “initiative to
establish a campus-wide
program of interdisciplin
ary study and discussion
about evolution and its
broader issues.”
Because evolution
seems to be the most con
troversial issue in Olive’s
science and religion class,
often with two to three
weeks of class discussion.
he thought the conference
would be beneficial to the
students,
“Evolution touched so
many disciplines,” Olive
said.
The five of the students
presented research: fresh
men Matthew Kiggen,
“Is Altruism in Humans
an Evolutionary Advan
tage?”; freshman Hillary
Leonard, “War: A Mecha
nism of Natural Selec
tion?”; sophomore Trever.
Pusey, “Hitler’s ‘Final
Solution’ and Survival of
the Fittest”; sophomore
Carrie Long, “Methicillin-
Resistant Staphylococcus
Aureus”; and junior John
Compton, “Evolution in
Public Education.”
Olive thought the trip
was a great experience for
all the students.
“Our students were
rubbing shoulders with
students from Stanford
and University of Cali
fornia ~ Berkeley,” 01-.
ive said. “It was a good
chance for students to be
exposed to evolution.”
He noted that Gardner-
Webb, with five presenta
tions, was the best repre
sented at the conference,
beating out the University
of Maryland’s four.
Students also heard
from a number of keynote
speakers such as Dr. Da
vid Buss of the University
of Texas, Dr. Peter Car-
ruthers of the University
of Maryland, and Dr. Da
vid Mindell of the Califor
nia Academy of Sciences.
Long had good things
to say about the confer
ence experience.
“I truly enjoyed learn
ing about many different
disciplines in relation to
Darwinian theory and ap
plication,” she said.
Long also added that
she enjoyed meeting a
number of different stu
dents and professors from
all around the world.
“The students really
din a fantastic job,” Olive
said.
“For them to really
bring themselves up to
speed on evolution and
Darwinian concepts and
how it applies to the out
side world was remark
able.”
Hot and cold drinks now at library
By Jessica Mobley
Pilot staff writer
Students, staff and faculty at the John
R. Dover Library now can take a break
from work and refresh their minds with a
beverage or snack.
In February, Gardner-Webb installed
a hot beverage machine for patrons, and
in March placed snack and cold beverage
machines as well, for a bit of variety.
Dean of Libraries Mary Roby made
these machines possible to make using
the library more convenient for patrons.
“I wanted all visitors and students
to have a welcoming feeling as they are
coming to the library,” she said. “I know
that they’re so busy from homework or
haven’t had lunch yet.
“They’re hungry, so instead of walk
ing to the caf or Kennel, why not just
walk several feet to the vending ma
chines?”
The machines are an extension of the
policy begun in January that allows eat
ing and drinking in the library.
Although they don’t keep track of the
number of people who have taken ad
vantage of the new policy, Roby said that
patrons are very satisfied of these new
machines.
Thehot beverage machine is located
just beyond the computers near the front
desk. The price for hot beverages is $ 1,
plus $.50 per topping such as cream and
sugar.
The snack and cold beverage ma
chines are in the hallway just beyond the
computers.
They can only be used by swiping
your card, so be sure to have money
available on to your ID card.
Gill-Sadler eager for SGA helm
By Karla Cruz
Pilot staff writer
Randi Gill-Sadler,
next year’s Student Gov
ernment Association pres
ident, has a lot of ideas for
the organization that she’s
thrilled to be heading.
“1 am really excited
to SGA president this up
coming year, it has been
one of my goals since I
have been here and to ac
tually get this opportunity
it is a surreal feeling.”
Gill-Sadler started
SGA her sophomore
year as a class president,
and she was named SGA
member of the year.
As the president, Gill-
Sadler wants to make SGA
more visible on campus
and do greater community
outreach in Shelby and
Boiling Springs.
“One of the weak
nesses of SGA is that the
rest of the student body
doesn’t know what we
do,” she said. “I definitely
want to make SGA visible
... like to do a Web page
or a column for SGA, and
tell what each member is
doing.
“Some of SGA’s
strengthens would be that
we are a diverse group of
students, which helps us
bring a lot of creativity,”
Gill-Sadler wants to
make sure that practical
See New SGA p.3