COVID-19 Catch Up
COVID-19 Catch Up
FEATURES
Keep up with all the stories and opinions of students. Opinions published are not necessarily those of MVNU, the Church of the Nazarene or Viewer advertisers. The Viewer does not necessarily uphold or advocate opinions published.
Chem Club
By: Jacob Glaze
Chem Club is currently run by Alyssa Fraley as senior class president and Hannah Crouse as junior class president. The club meets on Wednesdays, typically every other week, and can be found in Regents 014 at 6 p.m. this semester. One recent event the club held was slime-making. “In small jars, we made some fidget slime, and we had some funny pictures of some people who used a little too much dye,” Fraley shared. Other events included homemade vanilla ice cream in bags for everyone to enjoy, as well as a pumpkin volcano experiment for Halloween that can be viewed from the Instagram page.
The first events of the spring semester include chemistry-themed snacks, one of which is “theobromine zesters,” also known as hot cocoa with orange zest,” Fraley explained. She further hinted at other snacks being either available or created, as well as upcoming T-shirts for the club; “Hannah and I are so excited; there haven't been any T-shirts for years, and I'm working on some designs that we will be voting on!”
Fraley went into detail about the resurrection of the club the previous year. “Chem Club was a pretty popular club among chemistry and biology majors. But as everything came to a crashing end, COVID destroyed what was the club. Last year, our amazing alumni Abby Large resurrected the club and tried to get things going, but it's always hard to get things going again. I took up the torch and really put an emphasis on marketing our club. I'm really passionate about people understanding chemistry can be fun, and our club meetings aren't just solving chemistry equations. I like to describe it as a kid's science experiment! Hannah and I are trying to make events that can be a fun reprieve from school and to share our love of chemistry.” Fraley explained the plans for making sure the club continues to thrive. “For the future, our goal is to have a president for every class. As of right now, it is just me and Hannah.” Her husband and MVNU alumni Jason Fraley has also assisted in running the club while it gets back on its feet.
Students who are interested in joining the club can email Fraley at alyvanfossen@mail.mvnu.edu and follow the Instagram page “chemistry_at_mvnu” to get connected.
Artist Talk
By: Anna Dudgeon
Painting and drawing since an early age, Mille Guldbeck has never stopped exploring concepts in a visual way. Her show on January 19, featured at the Schnormeier Gallery in the Buchwald building, was entitled “Linguistic Relativity.”
“I’m fascinated with how we comprehend and perceive information,” Guldbeck said. “The idea of not being able to comprehend something because the word for it does not exist is so perplexing.”
Throughout her body of work, which was primarily of fabrics that have been painted and manipulated, Guldbeck explores this concept of linguistic relativity.
“I read the Iliad,” she explained, “[and] there is no reference to blue anywhere … Homer describes the sea as being a ‘wine-dark sea.’ Scholars have argued back and forth about this,” she continued. “But I don’t believe the Greeks had a word for blue … I think they were just trying to describe the sensation of it.” The thought of trying to describe the sensation of something is a thought-provoking one, and Guldbeck created a series of pieces utilizing the color blue and exploring the concept.
Further exploring the idea of trying to describe the sensation of something and the perception of information, Guldbeck takes it a step further and explores the idea of inscribed meaning.
“I find it so interesting how we choose to decorate our houses … and organize things,” she continued. She explained how we fill our homes with things of utilitarian value, but also, often with an aesthetic element. Her art pieces catalog what she sees and the information she perceives, while also incorporating her own perceptions.
“My works aren’t meant to record what I see but to take information about reality and translate it …” Guldbeck explained.
Guldbeck is currently a full-time professor of painting at Bowling Green State University and resides in both Ohio and Denmark.
Little Sibs Weekend Leaves Lasting Impact
By: Faith West
This year, Mount Vernon Nazarene University kicked off the first weekend of the spring semester by hosting almost 100 younger siblings of current students for Little Sibs Weekend. The event ran from Jan. 13-14; and according to Associate Director of Admission Events Cheryl Sharpes, the overall goal was to expose these siblings to a college campus while also offering plenty of fun activities for everyone.
The weekend started off Friday night with a pizza party. And throughout the night, those in attendance had the chance to join the Nerf Club or even play a round of bingo. Students were also able to start their Saturday off right by attending the pancake breakfast the following morning. Finally, the weekend closed out with the men’s basketball game that students and their siblings were allowed to attend for free.
When asked how Little Sibs Weekend impacted those who attended, Sharpes admitted that she is unsure of the immediate effects but stated, “My hope is that they found a very warm and friendly atmosphere on campus and that they found this to be a place that they, maybe down the road, could enjoy coming back to for college.” Sophomore Marissa Kunes affirmed this idea when discussing the experience her sisters had while on campus. When talking specifically about her youngest sister, Kunes mentioned, “Even though she’s not thinking about college right now, I think because of the fun time she had here, she would consider coming [to MVNU] in the future.”
Kunes also expressed that Little Sibs Weekend gave her and her sisters the opportunity to spend time together one-on-one, something that doesn’t often happen at home. Overall, she considers the weekend a success because it allowed her sisters to see and experience a college campus and they now “understand more about what happens in my life when I’m gone.”
Welcome Back Week for Spring 2023 Successful
By: Morgan Mills
Welcome back, Cougars! To kick off this semester, the Lakeholm Viewer sat down with Senior Student Body President Jenson Gray Thompson as well as sophomore Mia Reid, SGA’s Media Chairperson, and Junior Student Body President Logan Kazelman.
Welcome Week is exactly what it sounds like, one week dedicated to welcoming our MVNU students back to another fun semester. Normally, this celebration takes place in the fall term, but our Student Government is eager to provide students with more opportunities to blow off steam.
“We recognize that giving your evening and giving your time to us, that’s definitely not something that we take lightly… We’re giving everything that we have to make these events worthwhile,” Jenson expressed when asked about the planning of Welcome Back Week. The SGA members put their heads together to make experiences as rewarding as possible for the students who sacrifice their limited free time to attend. Some of the events included a Guac n’ Roll night, bingo, roller skating at Johnstown’s Skate N’ Swim, and the final event of a Worship Night.
The student’s response to Welcome Back Week was infectious, and each event was packed. Many SGA members had to step out for a moment to either buy more supplies or get more prizes to keep the party going. They did this without grumbling, because they value students and the connections they form. “We really just want people to be in the community together,” Kazelman added, “to be in a good community, not just a random community but a community where people love each other. Living in that community is what makes the MVNU culture what it is.”
MVNU is proud to be a place that fosters relationships that will last a lifetime, not only with God but across the student body as well. The connections that are made here can significantly boost students’ success and make them well-rounded individuals. SGA strives to create a variety of different events to capture the diverse range of tastes and interests in the student body.
With students coming from all walks of life to honor Christ in their work, it can be challenging to pick events that are accommodating to everyone. However, the verdict is out, and SGA knocked Welcome Back Week out of the park. “There was something for everybody,” Reid noted. “No matter what their interests were, who their friends were… I think everybody had something that they were interested in.”
Because of the students’ enthusiasm, SGA is looking forward to planning more Welcome Back Weeks in the future to combat the lull that can often afflict a spring semester. To find out more about future events, go to the daily announcements email in your MVNU email and click the link that says, “student events.” Thank you, SGA, for all of your hard work!