Cabaret

Pat Devine
Holiday Music Means Excitement for HPU

The holidays are coming soon, and that means exciting news for High Point music enthusiasts.
Why’s that?
Because that means High Point University’s production of the Christmas Cabaret is just around the corner.

Why See Cabaret?

Cabaret is a mix of song and dance in a cozy and intimate atmosphere. It is a musical experience like no other, and the upcoming shows promise to be better than ever.
Says Chair of the HPU Performing Arts Department, Ed Simpson, “If you like good, well-performed music with a holiday theme, you’ll like the upcoming cabaret.”
The show will be in the style of a New York cabaret.
Those attending will be treated to various desserts and coffee, while seated comfortably at tables of six to eight people.

Who’s Going To be There, and What Songs Will Be Sung

Marcia Dills, Director of Keyboard Studies, will be on keyboards, Percussion Instructor Steve McHugh, will be banging on multiple instruments, and HPU senior, Pat Devine, will be playing guitar.
The songs will be a blend of traditional popular music interspersed with classic holiday, and gospel songs; all done with tasteful and minimalistic choreography.
Classics from “Auld Lang Syne”, to “When You Say You Love Me”, to “Blue Christmas” will all be performed.
“It’s a great way to start thinking about the holidays, with food, drinks, and a sophisticated, yet laid back atmosphere”, says sophomore singer Amanda Harmon.
It will include large and small ensembles and almost every member of the cast will have at least one solo.

When, Where and How Much

The shows will be held in the Pauline Theatre in the Hayworth Fine Arts Center on Friday December 5th and Saturday the 6th at 7:30 p.m., then on Sunday the 7th at 2 p.m. Also, a private show will be held on the 4th.
Tickets will be $10 for adults, $7 for senior citizens, $5 for students from other universities (provided they have ID), and $2 for children under 13. Free admission will be given to all High Point University students.

College Gossip: From Bathroom Walls to the Internet

For college students across America, gossip has hit an all-time high as college campuses battle a popular Internet website. Juicy Campus is a website designed for college students to anonymously post uncensored gossip and rumors about their classmates.

The site includes insults directed to specific students, athletic teams, and fraternities and sororities. Though several posts about musicians, dating, and even pets proved clean and simply informative, the site's main focus is students.

It is "a site simply to spread demeaning gossip around that may or may not be true," as Sara Buchanan, a High Point University student describes Juicy Campus.

Juicy Campus Hits Home

High Point University students have been actively accessing the gossip website since the school's first post was made Sept. 30, 2008. Some of the posts target particular people, displaying their names for everyone to comment about.

Harris Walker, a High Point sophomore has first-hand experience with the website, being one of the many students directly targeted. "It's pitiful that people feel like they need to hide behind a childish website to state how they feel," Harris says.

Harris was willing to talk about the pain he endured as a result of the slander. "People should think about how the things you say effect people." Harris also commented that he has been dealing with immature people since grade school, something you expect to leave behind when you leave for college.

His advice to those who were effected: "You know who you are and who your friends are. You shouldn't care about those opinions anyway."

Moving On

Many students feel that those who were involved with the online posts should be punished for violating the honor code. It is a serious issue, hurting students across campus.

Sara Buchanan, a junior, commented, "Those who have contributed should be warned..." It is fair punishment for students to be warned that their behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

Sara also believes "it [punishment] should be left up to the person who is being talked about to take action against them."

The site has already been blocked from High Point University's Internet server. However, that does not stop students from accessing the site via computers off campus, such as at home and other businesses.

Related Stories:

ABC News: Out-of-Control Gossip on Juicy Campus Website

CNN: Online Campus Gossip

Meal of Thanks to Honor Local Fire Heroes

It's a normal afternoon at High Point University, as students in the cafeteria chat about their Thanksgiving break plans. Kim Groomes, a junior, looks sullen and not excited about the conversation."I'm not going home to see my family because Fred (her boyfriend) only has Thanksgiving day off from the station and I want to spend it with him, so I’m stuck alone until and after then. "

As families across the nation give thanks and sit down for Thanksgiving dinner, it is important to remember that thousands of civic officials such as firefighters will be listening to the station radio instead of sitting next to their loved ones this holiday season.

A Meal of Thanks

To show their gratitude, High Point University's Phi Mu Fraternity decided to cook their local fire heroes

a meal of true thanks.

Vice president of Phi Mu fraternity, Leah Wilson, said," I loved when we first walked up to see their faces. They were totally stunned when they saw fifty girls coming their way. I didn't specify how many of us there were at first. They were definitely happy!"

Just as the girls were setting up the food for the eager fire fighters, the alarm went off.

According to Leah Wilson, "It was hysterical when they had to leave because they had a fire to put out! Seeing them in action, really put into perspective how much they just give up. I mean they literally put their time with their families aside, to be able to respond to calls like that at the drop of a dime."

PREPARATION

Organized by Holly Smoot, president of Phi Mu fraternity, and Leah Wilson,the hopes of providing such a dinner were first discussed early in the semester.

"It took quite a bit of planning and preparation. I had to first contact the fire department headquarters and then this particular one. It was hard to get a hold of them at first."

Ms.Wilson is referring to Station 1 located on Centennial St, in High Point North Carolina. She first called the fire department headquarters and from there worked with the community service department which directed her to Cheif King We at Station 1. The girls prepared three different lasagnas, salads, stuffing, casseroles, cranberry sauce, bread rolls and of course, turkey.

A GREAT RESULT

After dinner the firemen then took the girls on a tour of the station and let them take a ride in the fire trucks. At one point they actually all experienced what it would be like to hear a fire alarm in the night.

Overall, the girls said they had a great time. Holly Smoot said, "I'm glad we were able to reach out to the community through this event. I feel like they were most appreciative. This was the first time we had ever done anything like this as a chapter, but I hope that we can continue to incorporate things like these that can have more meaning for the girls."

The girls plan to continue to work with Station 1 and hope to make their meal of thanks an annual event. Leah Wilson sums it up, "I think they really liked us and appreciated our time! I imagine that we will be partners for a while!"

Related Links

Created for Firefighters by a Firefighter

Phi Mu

HPU Dance Team On the Rise

It's all about Panther spirit at High Point University! Enthusiastic fans, the pep band, and the cheerleaders are known to display their spirit, but what about High Point's dance team? They tend to be overlooked by many who attend sports events. This year the dance team improved greatly and is ready to show their spirit!





Good Coaching is Key


Last year, in June of 2007, High Point welcomed Melissa Smith as the head coach of the dance team. With more than 18 years of dance experience under her belt, Smith was able to build a team of dancers who were as passionate about dance as she was.


For the 2007-2008 season, Smith had a solid team, but did not receive the recognition that she thought her team deserved. In September of 2008, Smith chose a new team of 15 girls with only five returning dancers from the previous year.


The dancers had more experience and came from several different dance backgrounds including jazz, ballet, tap, hip-hop, cheerleading, and modern. Smith is very excited about the new talent on her team this year."The girls this year are amazing," says Smith. "They're much better than last year!"


Dancers With Confidence


The HPU dancers had their first performance of the year at a women's basketball game November 16 in the Millis Athletic Center. Despite fear and doubt, the team pulled off an outstanding two minute performance. The cheers and praise from the audience was enough to confirm how much the team improved from last year.


Senior Katie Blandford, who has been on the dance team since her freshman year, says, "I remember when our team used to wear T-shirts and jeans as our uniform. Now we can actually call ourselves a team because we have real unifroms and look great!"


Getting Involved

Each HPU dancer takes the time out of their busy schedule to dance at sporting events. Along with keeping up with their academics, the dancers add volunteering to their long list of activities to accomplish.


This year the dancers are involved with the Big Brothers, Big Sisters Program as well as Panther Club activities. Each member of the team is required to participate in the programs. It is well worth it since each member is usually awarded scholarship money ranging from up to $300! This is a great reward just for dancing!


The HPU dancers will be a part of High Point's Thanksgiving parade on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 and dance at the men's and women's basketball games Monday, December 1, 2008.





Related Material:

2008-2009 Dance Team Information

Panther Spirit

When Did College Become Like This?

College has been called "the greatest four years" of a person’s life. A time to work hard and party hard, creating memories that will last an entire lifetime. But lately at HPU the students are not feeling that way.

More recently students at HPU are feeling smothered by the administration. Their weekend activities are being put to an end early and often. The tension seems to be rising on both ends, when will the water boil over?

THE MEETING

One week ago, November 17th there was a meeting between some HPU Greek organizations, and the some HPU administrators. The details of the meeting were kept tight. But basically the meeting's goal was to strengthen the tie between students and administration.

Many administrators spoke on keeping everything "in house", meaning that the local HPU Police would not be on campus unless HPU Security called for their assistance. If each party was known about and an S-Form was filled out, the school would know of the party. This ensures that security would not have to notify the local police. Many Greek members were very happy with this news.

Jamie Baumgarnter, a Greek affiliate and senior, at HPU stated "Coming out of that meeting we were all very excited. It seemed easy to comply with the Administrator's demands. We all had finally seemed to reach an agreement."

THE TEST

The following Saturday Night, after all the proper paper work was filled out and everything seemed to be in order. Brad Lawson, a sophomore at HPU and a Greek affiliate, stated "We could tell right off the bat that something was wrong. There were two cop cars parked outside our Greek house at 9 pm. The party had no even begun yet and already there were signs of fishy business."

Mr. Lawson’s intuition turned out to be right. Fifteen minutes into the party four police officers knocked on the door and explained that they had already received a noise complaint. "We found this very odd, never had the cops come this early. They issued us a warning and were on their way."

Not more than 30 minutes later there was another knock at the door. Yes it was the local law enforcement again and this time they made everyone leave the party or face the consequences of receiving a citation. Many of the Greek Affiliates’ believed this to be ridiculous. James Baumgarnter asks the questions, "Isn't there something else these officers of the law could be doing, rather than breaking up a college party?"

The Aftermath

Many Greek Affiliates’ came to the conclusion that the reason the cops were there so early, was because of the forms that the Administration wanted them to fill out. These particular forms notified the School of the party thus having the School notify the local police.

Recent activities at other schools might be the reasons for HPU administrations harsh actions. A few weeks ago and UNCG there was approximately 200 DUI's given out to Students driving intoxicated around campus. HPU administrators might want to eliminate any chance of this happening on our campus.

No matter the reason on why the events of November 17th happened they did indeed happen. It left both the administration and the students back where they started. A resolution needs to be made soon. Otherwise the water is destined to boil over.

Other Sources:

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=520014

http://www.high-point.net/police/news_releases.cfm

Unrealistic Tuition Increases

Families struggle in finding the finances to afford college educations. College tuition across the United States is rising, but not all can meet the expenses in receiving an education.

Colleges are raising tuition to enhance education, facilities, and overall appearance, but are all these costly new luxuries essential? With varied incomes, some tuitions seem unrealistic to many and can cause a great deal of debt after graduation.


High Point's Raise

High Point University, with a student body of around 3,000 undergraduate students, raised tuition over $3,000 from the academic school year 2007-2008 to the academic school year 2008-2009.

Where is this increase in tuition going towards? With President Nido Qubein's ambition in the new construction of countless state of the art academic, residential, and campus life buildings, families across the United States are attracted to High Point University's appealing look.

As HPU increases tuition, other luxuries on campus seem to make the university more appealing. Kiosks, the campus concierge, pools, free tutoring, free laundry, and single rooms with double beds, all seem great, but are these luxuries necessary or needed?

Jessica Henderson, HPU sophomore, claims, "tuition increase is going towards improvement of the school, to better the appearance, not my education." Henderson, born in High Point, N.C., applied to HPU for the specific interior design program, not because of the appearance or extras of the school.


Financial Solutions

Newsweek's article, "Harvard Hits the Rich-Poor Gap", addressed concerns raised about the rising costs of education. The article identifies the multiple schools throughout the U.S. that now offer varied tuition costs based on individual family incomes.

The financial plan for Harvard students, "Helping You Meet Your Needs", provides families a realistic approach in handling tuition costs and allow them to still receive a good education.

Harvard University's financial plan states, "All of our financial aid is awarded on the basis of demonstrated financial need—there are no academic, athletic or merit-based awards."

Their main goal is to provide scholarships based on the financial need of the family without the family having to ask for a loan. "Harvard meets the full need of every student, including international students, for all four years."


College Budgeting

Junior at High Point University, Lauren Mungo, says that when she applied, she thought tuition was one thing and did not anticipate the thousands and thousands of dollars more she would spend more then originally planned.

Many colleges have financial plans that grant students money to go to college, but might require a payment plan after their graduation. This may cause students to go into debt.

Harvard and several other universities throughout the U.S. are on the right track in appealing to students with their financial solutions. These universities are still able to keep their high ranking and luxuries with the attraction of their financial need scholarship plans.



Related Articles:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/151734

http://www.newsweek.com/id/151695/page/1

http://www.fao.fas.harvard.edu/

Students Help Prevent Abuse, While Dancing Their Pants Off!

It's common on any given weekend to find college students dancing at a party or night club, but it's not so common to find students dancing for a cause. This weekend, however, that's exactly what many HPU students did, as they used a favorite pastime to make a difference.

This Saturday, marked HPU's first Danceathon, which will be held annually, to raise money for Prevent Child Abuse America. The event was put on by an HPU sorority, Kappa Delta, as their annual Shamrock event, which is always their biggest philanthropy event of the year.


What's A Danceathon?

A danceathon is essentially an all day dancing event, where people pay admission to dance and all the proceeds go to help a specific charity. The HPU Danceathon, which was open to faculty, students, and the community, was broken up into specific times for certain age groups: a kid's time, adult time, and college time, but each time was attended by people from other age groups and many college students stayed the entire day, from noon to midnight.

"Dance Your Pants Off"

More than just a catchy slogan advertising the event, participants in the danceathon danced their pants off in more ways than one. Admission for the event was $1 to dance, or a pair of unwanted pants--for a needy family.


Some Highlights

Although dancing was the primary activity at the danceathon, it was far from the only one. The day included performances by HPU's two a cappella groups, the Toccatatones and the Petal Points, as well as D.J. Snow, from Club Triangle.

And of course there's the food! A highlight for many of the participants, the array of donated food was one of the main draws. Panera bagels, Domino's Pizza, Chick-fil-A nuggets, Dunkin' donuts, and Cold Stone ice cream were just some of the food choices at the danceathon.

The Impact

While participants in the danceathon said the food was great and they had a good time, the event was more than just a good time. In addition to helping a good cause, which it did, raising $982, the danceathon also brought different campus groups together.

According to Barbra Guimaraes, a Kappa Delta who helped put on the event, her favorite part, other than the food, was seeing "so much support" from the other organizations on campus, like the dance team, other sororities and fraternities, and the Toccatatones and Petal Points. She said she likes an event like this, because, "It brings us together."

When asked how they thought the event went, Barbra and another sister, Vanessa Hansen, said they thought it went well, but they think it will be better next year, since it was the same night as the N.C. State versus High Point basketball game, which heavily impacted its attendance.

Attack of the Killer Fish, by: Alyssa Wiley

Elizabeth's Video

Video

charisse

Here is a glimpse of my life as a college student. Enjoy!

charisse video

HPU's Non-Melting Pot

Imagine being in a class where everyone else looks alike; except for you. Imagine being the minority and no one getting your culture.

For some High Point University students this is just another day at their college.
Every year High Point University expands its population of students; however does HPU leave out its diversity?

The Odd Man Out

According to HPU’s statistics, the freshman class of 2009 consists of 6 percent African-Americans. This sounds fine until it is compared with the 81 percent that are Caucasians. In the 21st century world, is this right?

Isabella smith, an African-American student of HPU, blames it on the schools programs. “The school just now in the past few years allowed us to have our own black sororities and fraternities.” Smith says if they put more spotlight on these programs more African-Americans would apply to HPU.

Smith also noticed how there is only two African-American HPU ambassadors, and most are Caucasian. An example, like this she says, does nothing to promote ethnic diversity.

Culture Shock

Not only does HPU have an issue with race diversity but also culture diversity. There is such a small group of international students that go to HPU that those international students who do go to HPU feel uncomfortable.

High Point University president Nido Qubein in his online newsletter list ways in which American students should handle and make welcome the foreign students, but the attention to international students seems to end there.

When Manar Faraj, an international student at HPU, first meets another student they first assume she is Hispanic because of her coloring. Faraj then tries to inform them that she is from Palestine. People then tell her that, “Oh, you must mean Pakistan.” This frustrates Faraj because it is like no one at HPU knows anything about anybody else’s culture just their own.

Manar Faraj is from a refugee camp in Palestine, she received a scholarship to Guilford Technical Community College and then to HPU. She is now the current president of the International Club of HPU.

She says that she felt more comfortable going to GTCC where there were “a large group of other foreign students.” At HPU, there is only a small minority of them.

Faraj said that even though she has found her place at HPU, some people still do not accept her when they found out that she is a follower of Islam. It seems to her that people still think, “She’s a terrorist.”

Mending Bridges

What could help HPU gain more diversity? Both Smith and Faraj agree that HPU needs more cultural enrichment events to create more awareness to other cultures.

Faraj’s main mission at HPU is for people to learn about her culture and for her to learn more about the American culture. She believes that if people learned more about other cultures that students would not just base their impressions on the stereotypes of the culture.

Faraj also believes that since private schools like HPU are too expensive for underdeveloped countries that there needs to be more aid so that people from those countries have a chance to go to HPU.

With these thoughts in mind, HPU is holding an International Week all this week. Students can eat foreign cuisines, see how other cultures dress, and watch videos on life beyond HPU.

Activities such as these are the stepping stones leading to equality of all.

Related Articles:

Diversity in Higher Education


College Diversity Up Close

Liz's Crazy Life

My Life

Assignment 11/17

Video

sarah palin-- actually stated that she thought thaa Africa was a country and not a continant. She truly believed that South Africa is the southern part of the country. Un believeable she could have been president.

External Link

Palin speaks out

The Board of Stewards

The Board of Stewards is a group on HPU's campus that plans the weekly chapel services. They usher and greet for services, as well as write the prayers and welcome and greeting. Another thing the board also does every year is collect an offering for the Salvation Army Angel Tree Program, which provides Christmas presents for needy families that would not have presents otherwise. The board also shops for presents for indivual children, once the offering is collected.

Obama's sister voices her opinion

Maya Soetoro-Ng, President Obama's sister, tells the public about her views on her half brother's new career.

She sent an email out to friends about her thoughts on if Obama were to win the election. According to People Magazine, Soetoro-Ng said, "He may not be a perfect man. Certainly, he has often said that he'll likely be an imperfect president, but he is a good man, a smart man, a disciplined soul who balances temperance with determination and courage."

She spoke with the Honolulu Advertiser, about her overwhelming excitment towards the winning canidate of the election.


Related Articles:
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20239003,00.html

Bill Clinton

"Journalism is great," said Bill Clinton. "And HPU has a great communications department."

Obama's daughters to be guest on 'Hanna Montana' show

President-elect Barack Obama's daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha Obama, 7, are set to appear on an episode of the popular Disney Channel show 'Hanna Montana' sometime in April. Obama has mentioned in past interviews that Malia is a big fan of 'Hanna Montana,' but it is not certain whether they will be on the show.


additional stories:

Barack Obama's daughters invited to appear on Hannah Montana

Theatre students

Journalism two. Many High Point University theatre students have been nominated to compete in a nationwide competition. these nominated students get to choose one partner. they have two scenes memorized and a monologue for the auditions in February.

Obsessed Fan Found Dead

An obsessed fan and ex-American Idol contestant was found dead Tuesday night in a car near American Idol judge Paula Abdul's home in Los Angeles.
Thirty-year-old Paula Goodspeed, a season 5 contender whose performance was mocked by the judges, appears to have died from a drug overdose, police say.
After reporting her daughter missing, Goodspeed's mother told the sherrif's department she might be suicidal. The sheriffs determined Ms. Goodspeed may be in the area of Paula Abdul's home and later found her vehicle parked on the street several doors down. Ms. Goodspeed was inside and unresponsive to officers.
"This has been ruled an apparent suicide," says LAPD officer April Harding.
Abdul was not home at the time the body was discovered.
"I am deeply shocked and saddened at what transpired yesterday," Abdul said in a statement. "My heart and prayers go out to her family."


Related articles: Ex-Idol Contestant Found Dead

Trial Story

Jennifer Aniston broke her forever long silence recently to Vogue. She stated in the interview that she felt that Angelina Jolie did a very 'uncool' thing by admitting that she fell in love Brad Pitt while filming the movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith.





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Practice Story

The is a story about the phenomenal career of Shaq O 'Neal. Mr. O'Neal is a mere 11 points away from cracking the top ten scorers of all time a very exclusive club.

You can easily add links to your blog posts. For example, if I want people to be able to visit the Nido Qubein School of Communication web site, I just add a link.
If you are writing an online story on Russia and you want to provide readers with external links to additional stories on Russia, again that is easy to do.
Additional Links:
Russia buries first dead in submarine accident
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