3 CAMPUS FEATURES
Operation Christmas Child enables
students to help one shoe box at a time
JENNIFER LEIGH
JONES
Contributing Writer
Meredith students may
not be able to solve all of
the world’s problems, but
each of us can make a dif
ference in the lives of some
of the world's most impov
erished children • one gift-
filled shoe box at a time
In the past ten years.
Operation Christmas Child,
a project sponsored by
Samaritan's Purse, has dis
tributed more than 24 mil
lion shoe boxes filled with
gifts to underprivileged
children in over 115 coun
tries around the world.
Participating in Operation
Christmas Child is a great
opportunity for tiie
Meredith commimity to
share^wiA. these needy chil
dren at Christmas.
Consider die story of
Lena Sopot. In 1996, Lena
was a fourteen-year-old
schoolgirl who lived in a
small apartment with her
parents and older brother in
Minsk, Belarus. Lena's
family had a monthly
income of only $70.00. In
addition to financial diffi
culties, Lena also suffered
health problems due to the
effects of radiation &om
the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear
power plant accident. One
wintry day in December at
the factory in wiiich she
worked, Lena's mother
learned of a Christian relief
oi^anization from the
United States called
Samaritan's Purse that
would be-distributing shoe
boxes filled with Christmas
gifts to the local children,
and she quickly made plans
to go with Lena to the dis
tribution site in the hope of
securing a Christmas pack
age for her daughter.
Imagine her delight as
Lena received a colorfully
wrapped shoe box full of
Christmas surprises. As
Lena eagerly opened her
precious shoe box, she dis
covered all sorts of won
derful gifts - her very own
stuffed teddy bear, school
supplies, and toiletry items.
Soon afterward, she wrote
a thank-you letter to the
family whose address she
found enclosed in a card
inside the box. This letter
began the correspondence
over the past seven years
between Lena Sopot and
this family - my family -
whose shoe box she
received that Christmas.
Lena is now twenty-one
years old and a college stu
dent at the university in
Minsk where she is study
ing languages. Last sum
mer, she was granted a visa
to come to the United
States to work at a camp in
Brevard, North Carolina.
After many years of corre
sponding with her by mail,
my family traveled to
Brevard in July to meet
Lena and spent a fun-filled
weekend in Asheville with
her. All of our lives have
been enriched through that
one simple gift-filled shoe
box.
Although many of us
may be tempted to offer
excuses such as hectic
schedules due to demand
ing classes, upcoming
exams, the holidays and
limited budgets, participa
tion in this project is actu
ally easy, fun, and requires
little time or money. Just
fmd an empty shoe box and
wrap it if you wish.
Wrapping is optional, but if
you choose to, wrap the
box and lid separately.
Decide if your box will be
for a boy or a girl and the
age group of the child, 2-4
years old, 5-9 years old, or
10-14 years old, and
choose items appropriate
for the age and sex of the
child. Suggested items
include small toys, school
supplies, toiletry items and
hard candy. By using your
imagination and creativity,
your box can be a unique
reflection of your own per
sonality.
Remember to include
$5.00 to help with shipping
and handling expenses.
Enclose a card, a note, a
picture of yourself if you
wish, and your name and
address.
Througii'Operation
Christmas Child, you may
develop a fHendship with a
new pen pal from some dis
tant part of the world. But
even if you don't, you can
still feel great just knowing
that somewhere a child is
enjoying Christmas because
you gave to Operation
Christmas Child.
Kill Bill kills with laughter
ANDREA
GILLIKIN
Contributing Writer
As most of you who
keep up to date with movie
headlines know, Quentin
Tarantino's fourth film Kill
Bill was recently released
in theaters. For movie
lovers it is always exciting
to see what Tarantino will
think up next. Like other
Tarantino films, this one
has a number of shockers-
things you wouldn't see in
just any movie. Kill Bill is
mostly a martial arts film,
and the plot is about The
Bride, played by Uma
Thurman, trying to find her
former boss. Bill, and kill
him to get her revenge.
Even if you aren't a
Tarantino fan, you may
want to see this movie for
its beautiful cinematogra
phy. There is an especially
beautiful scene that por
trays The Bride and 0-Ren
Ishi, played by Lucy Liu,
fighting in die snow. The
scene's beauty can be
attributed to Robert
Richardson, (Snow Falling
on Cedars) the director of
photography. Another gor
geous scene involves
Thurman set in black and
white where color is slowly
introduced. First her eyes
come to life in bright blue
and then her earrings in
bright green. The martial
arts moves are also beauti
ful to watch. The movie is
very well choreographed
wiA Thurman battling any
where from one person to
thir^ in some scenes.
Kill Bill also has a won
derful soundtrack. One of
my fevorite parts in the
movie is in the opening
scene; Thurman has been
shot by her boss Bill, and
suddenly all we hear is
Nancy Sinatra singing
"Bang Bang (My Baby
Shot Me Down)." This
song sets the tone for the
movie witii Sinatra's deep
and forlorn voice. The film
also includes other fabulous
songs: "Woo Hoo," by the
5.6.7.8's, "Green Hornet,"
by Al Hirt and "Don't Let
Me Be Misunderstood," by
Santa Esmerelda. After the
movie was over, my friends
and I decided we had to
bity the soundtrack, and I
spent the rest of the night
humming "Bang Bang."
The film has a lot of
violence, but do not let that
deter you. The violence is
portrayed in ways that
make it a lot more funny
than gory. At one point, I
was simply hysterical in the
theater when The Bride
chopped off one guy's foot.
It flew up in the air and the
man caught it, looked at it,
and then screamed while
showing this "oh my God I
lost my foot" look on his
face. Most of the time the
vio-
continued on page 41ence
also has music in the back
ground that helps make it
less gory. There are only a
few important scenes where
you can hear the weapons
in action. Tarantino uses
the violence humorously
throughout most of the
movie. There are a few
very serious scenes where
the violence makes you
cringe and jump out of
your seat, but those usually
end with some comic relief
Uma Thurman is simply
fabulous in this movie, and
I would recommend seeing
it just for her. There is a
hilarious scene in which
Thurman, who has been
injured and is temporarily
paralyzed, attempts to talk
her big toe into moving.
The camera switches from
a close-up of Thurman’s
face to a close-up of the
toe, while we hear her
telling herself to move her
toe. Over and over she
says, "Wiggle your big
toe," with quick cutting
from face to toe. In what
other film could you get up
close and personal with a
toe?
When the movie is over,
we are only half way
through The Bride's jour
ney to find Bill. It is a mar
tial arts/action type fibn,
but most of the time it's
hard to not think it's a com
edy.