Thomas and Batt discuss ideas for Batt’s script during filming. / Triangle photo by Anna Katherine Thomas

Anna Katherine Thomas
Photo Editor

After the Broad Street Film Festival last year, students complained and lamented that the event did not live up to past film festivals, but this year the film festival will return to a three-day event, according to Chris Clark, Bryan College’s film professor.

“We are trying to go with that three prong 2012, meaning showings Thursday night, Friday night some kind of educational component for the filmmakers, and then Saturday having the awards night, the formal Oscar-like night,” said Clark.

In 2011, Clark attempted to begin the planning process for the festival with a group of students, but he said only two or three people showed up for the meetings.

At that time, Chattanooga State Community College stepped in and said it would put on a toned down version of the film festival, according to Clark.

With a limited amount of time to put the festival together, Chattanooga State decided to make the event one night, instead of three, with online or on the spot voting.

“I am glad ’11 pared down and ’12 we are ramping back up. The reason I am doing it is because faculty are more involved; the guy at Southern [Adventist University], David George, is involved. The guy at Chatt. State is involved,” said Clark.

With this revamped festival approaching, Clark’s students began the work getting their films ready for submitting.

This past weekend senior Nicole Thomas and former student Derek Batt completed the production phase for two personal films they plan to submit for the film festival, which will take place April 19-21.

Matthew Rogers, a Bryan alumnus, loaned the filmmakers his camera, the EPIC, a product of Red Digital Cinema, to use for their productions. The EPIC is the same camera that Peter Jackson is using to make his film, “The Hobbit.”

Before the shoot, Thomas said, “I can’t believe I am getting this opportunity. I never would have dreamed I would get to work with such an expensive piece of equipment and in school.”

Batt’s film, “Okay.” is about a man being interrogated by death, and Thomas’ “Just a Game,” is based on aspects of her grandfather’s life dealing with racism, according to Clark.

“I just wanted to shoot something that I felt I hadn’t seen before, portrayed in a way that would leave you talking about what really happened after you see it. Is everything just chance?” said Batt. “I have been writing it for a while and, after many drafts, finally came out with it the way I wanted.”

How do you approach the issue as Christian counselors?

Rose: Everyone’s unique and people have struggles and difficulties and we’re all faced with temptation in different ways and – if somebody has a certain desire or certain temptation it does not necessarily make them a bad person.

Where the rubber meets the road is how they act upon that temptation or desire and, whether heterosexual or homosexual desires, …what do they do with those particular temptations or those desires. And so approaching that person with respect and dignity and treating them as a human being verses a heterosexual or a homosexual, would be my first direction to take and doing that in love and respect.

Bradshaw: I echo that, and I would add to that. You have to have compassion with conviction- you have compassion for the person and conviction for God’s word and what it says about the sin of homosexuality – and there is a sin of that – doesn’t mean the essence of that is sinful. I believe someone can have same sex attraction and not act on it and be as chaste as somebody who is heterosexual and not acting on their adulterous or fornicative impulse.

What are some ways as counselor you would counsel a student with this issue?

Bradshaw: It would depend on what their agenda is. Certain individuals want to be more comfortable in their homosexual lifestyle and ethically and value wise, I couldn’t really help them do that. If they felt like they wanted to change their orientation or desires to be more heterosexual, that would be another issue. So it would depend upon what the agenda was initially, and whether it would conflict with my personal values or not. I couldn’t personally just help someone just be more comfortable in that lifestyle. I could help someone try to resist the temptation of that lifestyle, yes – help someone look at possibly trying to change their desires to be more in line with God’s word – yes. That’s where I would start. And once again – compassion with conviction.

Rose: Taking a look at a person’s behaviors, taking a look at a person’s cognitions or thoughts, taking a look at a person’s emotions that are attached to that and working with all aspects of that in addition to the spiritual side and ways in which to combat and put on the full armor of God to help them to combat those temptations – just like you would with any other temptation. So those would be areas, specifically then, after what Dr. Bradshaw said, those would be specific areas that were attended to in the counseling office. And once again, it depends on where the person is and what their struggles are and what would be best for that person at that particular time. It may be that they’re really struggling with homosexual behaviors – so, it may be a very behavioral approach at first. It just depends on where they are in that walk.

How should the issue be handled at Bryan- tolerance?

Bradshaw: I think there’s a difference between accepting the struggles of an individual and being a platform for an agenda. It’s different. To encourage someone to wrestle with those issues of gender identity or issues with same sex attraction is one thing, but to provide an opportunity for them to come out of the closet, if you will, or to display their gay or lesbian lifestyle is another issue. It’s a fine line. I don’t think there should be a lesbian/gay/bisexual/transsexual questioning group on campus. I think having a group like that would be passive acceptance to the fact that there is an alternative lifestyle, which I don’t believe that it is accepted by the Lord. It’s something that people struggle with, yes, but, as we defined earlier, how we struggle with it determines what the outcome is.

Rose: I think it depends on the position of the person’s heart. Are they looking and seeking help in this particular area? Everyone’s going to have struggles and going to have times in which they sin—but is that person in counseling, in a group, at Harvest USA in Chattanooga – are they seeking help for their struggles and at that point? If there is some repentance there, some remorse, some wanting to turn from, I think it’s our role as bearers of God’s grace and forgiveness to help them versus saying, ‘We can’t help you.’ And, you know, it’s kind of like with our alcohol policy – after a certain point, somebody continues to break the rule, at some point, there needs to be a line where we say, “we can’t provide help, and what you’re doing here is becoming destructive and cancerous to our community, and you need to go take care of this, and at that point – maybe come back and rejoin us.

Bradshaw: It think it’s really healthy for us to have conversations like “The Couch”. These topics should be dialogues in open ways. That’s what our purpose is here – to address hard cultural issues and not just bury our heads in the sand and pretend like it doesn’t exist. …

By Wikimedia Foundation, via Wikimedia Commons

Alex Green
Assistant Online Editor

United States Representative Lamar Smith, Texas, proposed a bill last October called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in an effort to curb illegal trafficking of American intellectual property (music, movies, etc.) and counterfeit goods (fake prescription medicine). The act, however, has taken heavy fire from free-internet advocators.

The SOPA bill would basically give the United States government the power to make American internet providers like AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, etc. block access to sites, foreign and domestic, that are known to be allowing piracy of American copyrighted property or selling fake prescription medicine.

This has come as a result of a mammoth community of non-American websites that provide free music, television and movies without the permission of the owners of said products. Because so many of these pirating sites are offshore, the United States government cannot prosecute them in an American court of law.

The SOPA bill would also allow the government to issue court orders to online advertising companies to stop dealing with known pirating domains and to search engines to stop linking to the sites on their results pages.

The well-known – and dead – music sharing website LimeWire, for instance, could have been barred from any and all United States search engine results and no American advertising company would have been legally permitted to do work for LimeWire. In addition, any internet service provider found to be allowing its users access to LimeWire.com could be persecuted by the U.S. government in a court of law.

The SOPA bill, however, received heavy resistance from the online community and from powerful internet companies like Wikipedia, Google, Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, eBay, Craigslist and Discover among many more.

Anti-SOPA sentiments are primarily raised because many believe the bill contains broad language that would give the U.S. government the power to basically keep any American from doing any business with any company located outside of the country if it so desired.

Art Bordsky, a member of advocacy group Public Knowledge, said, “The definitions written in the bill are so broad that any U.S. consumer who uses a website overseas immediately gives the U.S. [government] jurisdiction the power to potentially take action against it.”

Some suspect a ban on companies outside the U.S. could lead to international tensions.

“Imagine if the U.K. created a blacklist of American newspapers that its courts found violated celebrities’ privacy? Or what if France blocked American sites it believed contained hate speech?” wrote Jerry Brito of Time.

Outside of those concerns, mwany Americans simply don’t support the bill because they believe it is an infringement of their right to freedom of speech and information.

Harvard University professor Laurence Tribe said that SOPA would “undermine the openness and free exchange of information at the heart of the Internet. And it would violate the First Amendment.”

Currently, the House Judiciary Committee has postponed a drafting of the bill. The committee said it would revisit the issue when a more agreed-upon measure comes along.

Last semester's "Couch" forum, hosted by the Worldview Formation, sparked many in the student body to question if it's possible to be Christian and homosexual / Triangle photo by Maddie K. Doucet

Jesse Murray
Senior Reporter

Bryan College is keeping up with the times, and with that comes everything that entails—hardship and hard questions. In the past months, the college has addressed a host of issues ranging from ethnic diversity to the current chapel theme on sexuality and the Bible. Last semester, Worldview Formation held a forum called “The Couch.” The topic was homosexuality, and the opinions of individual speakers varied. This forum opened a Pandora’s Box of questions that has left many students looking for answers.

The issue of homosexuality in the context of a Christian community is anything but nice and neat, and it’s an issue for more people than one might realize. To put it simply is to not understand the gravity of the issue. It’s anything but simple because human beings are anything but simple. The question to be addressed in this first article, of what will be a short series, is this: how is homosexuality treated at Bryan by administrators and faculty? The purpose of this series is not to prove or disprove anything—and especially not to address deeper questions that would be better suited for a public forum. Its purpose is to be informative, and to perhaps foster helpful discussion.

From an administrative position, the handbook speaks volumes. Bryan is a Christian private institution, and as such, is under no obligation to show tolerance to homosexuality on campus.

On page six of the current edition of the student life handbook, under a section titled “The Authority of God,” Bryan establishes: “God’s word, the Holy Bible, composed of the Old and New Testaments, is of final and supreme authority in faith, in life, and in scholarship.” It continues, “We will submit to Scripture’s standards for human behavior with an understanding and respect for the fact that Christian communities historically have followed diverse practices in a number of areas.”

As a private institution, Bryan College has done just that. Homosexual behavior is expressly forbidden in the handbook and on the college’s website, and so is heterosexual conduct outside of marriage. On page 25 of the handbook it reads: “In accordance with the clear Biblical teaching that sexual relationships are designed to exist only in the context of a committed heterosexual marriage, sexuality outside of the marriage relationship is prohibited.”

On Bryan’s website under Community Life Standards it reads, “Practices specifically forbidden in the Scriptures are not permitted. These include dishonesty, theft, vandalism, fornication, adultery, homosexual behavior, immodest dress, profanity, gossip, and drunkenness.”

The handbook does much to make the college’s stance on physical relationships clear. There are more detailed guidelines in the Community Living Standards. Taking this into account, how does Bryan College respond to this issue?

Dean of Community Life Bruce Morgan declined to comment, but Psychology Professors Steve Bradshaw and Clark Rose provided an in-depth interview (click here to view interview) providing answers to some questions regarding this issue.

Bradshaw and Rose, who both have experience as counselors, suggest that, for them as Christian counselors, the issue of homosexuality cannot be approached outside of their faith. According to Bradshaw and Rose, the act of homosexuality is a sin, and this is central to their approach. They both make a distinction between a person who is openly homosexual and someone who considers homosexuality a struggle.

“You have to have compassion with conviction,” said Bradshaw. “You have compassion for the person and conviction for God’s word and what it says about the sin of homosexuality, and there is a sin of that—doesn’t mean the essence of that is sinful.”

At Tennessee Wesleyan College (Athens, Tenn.), “The COMMUNITY”, which is a GLBST (gay, lesbian, bisexual, straight, transsexual) alliance, is a club dedicated to “promoting tolerance by providing awareness to issues surrounding sexual orientation including, but not limited to, homophobia/transphobia, equal rights, oppression, sexism, and racism.” The group also works with GLBST students at the college in efforts to establish a “safer and more supportive campus environment.” There is no policy in Tennessee Wesleyan College’s handbook instituting guidelines for homosexual or heterosexual behavior.

Conversely, Bryan’s other rival, Covenant College (Lookout Mtn., Ga.) expressly forbids any homosexual behavior in their student handbook.

There is no defined policy in Bryan’s handbook stating that homosexuals cannot attend the college; however, there is a policy forbidding homosexual behavior. So, letter of the law aside, what does the spirit of the law at Bryan dictate for a student who faces this issue? Bradshaw and Rose offer an answer to this question.

[Click here to view the interview with Bradshaw and Rose.]

In mid-December, Google Inc. announced that it would donate $11.5 million to 10 reputable organizations known for fighting human trafficking throughout the world.

In an interview on Forbes, a Google representative said the donation will “free more than 12,000 people from modern-day slavery,” prevent more victims from being trafficked and encourage collaboration between organizations such as Polaris Project, International Justice Mission (IJM), ActionAid India and the other recipients of the donation.

Both Polaris Project and IJM have participated in Bryan College’s human trafficking conferences and chapels.

According to a Dec. 14 CNN report, 10-30 million people around the world are victims of human trafficking.

Gary Haugen, CEO of IJM, said in an interview with the CNN Freedom Project that the donation is a “game-changing investment … This is the largest corporate step up to the challenge that is beginning to apply direct resources to the fight against slavery.”

“I believe Google’s donation marks an important step in the war against human trafficking,” said junior Jonathan Warner, a member of SSTOP. “To have an international business mega power like Google pay attention to this issue and act sends a huge signal. Hopefully the rest of the business community will take notice and respond in a like manner.”

The cast of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" rehearse the opening number of their upcoming show / Triangle photo by Anna Katharine Thomas

The cast of Bryan College’s latest play is trying to figure out how to tell potential ticket buyers that their next production involves singing, dancing and comedy—as well as a spelling bee.

“It is a spelling bee, but through the process of the spelling bee you really see each of the characters’ personalities come out and the background story of each of their lives,” said senior Ashley Boyd, who plays Rona Lisa Peretti. “You learn their individual struggle and what has brought them to that bee.

While the “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” may conjure up thoughts of a local spelling bee or the Scripps Howard National Bee, what sets this show apart from past shows by the Hilltop Players is the incorporation of audience participation.

Before the show begins, audience members are asked if they would like to participate in the spelling cast. After answering a few questions to make sure both the volunteer and cast members are on the same page, the audience members will then wait to be called up onstage during the performance.

“There is always a risk in [incorporating audience members], but I think if people understand that the cast has worked hard and all they need to do is be themselves up there and just spell, spell the best that they can, and not miss words on purpose but really try to do their best, that is where the humor comes in,” said Belisle.

This style of live theater keeps actors and musicians on their toes throughout the show. Since there will be new audience members to join the cast each night, the punch lines will be different, along with the whole dynamic of the show, according to Dr. Mel Wilhoit, director of musical preparation.

“Some people get up onstage and they are very shy. Some try to be exhibitionists and show off. [All] who are called up onstage are asked to participate with the stage members when they are dancing around,” said Wilhoit. “And of course they are asked to spell words.”

While “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is written in a way that provides flexibility to the lines, it also provides structural prompts for the cast to know that at certain points in the show there should be a specific number of volunteers left onstage, according to Belisle.

The desire to put on this show started in 2005 when Belisle and Wilhoit attended the show in New York City, according to Belisle.

“There was some problematic music in it, but when the royalties came out…I got a hold of the script and the authors, composers, lyricists had actually written alternate lyrics for a particular song, which made it feasible or us to do,” said Belisle.

The cast began work on the show just after Thanksgiving, but the bulk of rehearsal took place in the three weeks since students returned to campus.

“The challenging part was throwing it together in… three weeks. We had to learn the music over Christmas break by ourselves,” said Boyd. “It has been amazing how fast it has come together compared to how little time we had to practice.”

“The name of the show is misleading because it is a fun, fun musical,” said Belisle. “You will have a really good time just as a regular member of the audience. You will really enjoy the characters and you will enjoy the people who volunteer too, because they will have fun too.”

The show will run from Monday, Jan. 30, through Saturday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m. for the dessert theater and 6:30 pm for the Friday dinner theater show. Tickets for “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” can be purchased at the Box Office in Rudd 114, or for credit card purchases contact the Lion’s Pride bookstore at (423)-775-7271.

Tickets for the dessert theater are $8 for students, and $11 for adults. Friday’s dinner theater is $16 for students and $20 for adults.

Artsist at the "Take Art, Leave Art" event have multiple options as to how to express themselves, from paper collages to painting / Triangle photo by Rebekah Weaver

Rebekah Weaver
Staff Writer

College is generally all about  learning together, but what about creating together? That’s what the “Take Art, Leave Art” event is all about.

When junior Annalise Williams first heard about “Take Art, Leave Art”, she says she “thought it was a great idea.”

“It’s a beautifully inclusive event, and I think people are really going to enjoy it.”

The project allows students to create a piece of art, put it in the display area, and take a piece of someone else’s artwork in exchange.

Sophomore Clari Stewart, the event coordinator, says the idea wasn’t her own.

“Last spring break, I met a friend in Chattanooga for coffee. We were walking past this building with a sign that said, ‘Take Art, Leave Art,’ and I thought, ‘Bryan needs to do this!’”

Over Christmas break, Stewart requested funding from SGA and got the project approved.

Tuesday night, several students were in Mac’s Café checking out the art exchange. While music played in the background, they browsed two tables filled with art supplies. Some students constructed collages from provided magazine scraps, other were busy discussing a famous artist or hanging up finished masterpieces. One student even sat with his laptop open, sketching a drawing he’d found online.  As the artists patiently worked, they complimented each others’ efforts.

While some have expressed disinterest, Stewart encourages students to give it a shot anyways.

“A lot of times, you don’t realize what you’re capable of until you try it.” she said. “Being made in the image of God, we have the capacity to create and I just wanted to be able to give people the opportunity that maybe they had never given themselves.”

According to Stewart, she is still unsure if “Take Art, Leave Art” will be a one-time-only event, as repeating it probably depends on the interest of students and approval from SGA.

“At this point, I don’t know if we’ll do it again,” Stewart said.

However, those who believe like cartoonist Scott Adams that ”creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes and art is knowing which ones to keep” will have the opportunity to do both over the next two weeks here at Bryan. Take Art, Leave Art will run January 23 to February 3 (weekdays only) from 4-8pm in Mac’s Café.

The New York Times headlines the attack on Pearl Harbor / www.connect.in.com

Alex Green
Triangle Reporter

Yesterday was a date “which will live in infamy”. On December 7, 1941, six Japanese aircraft carriers set sail on a mission that would tilt the scale of World War II and forever change the landscape of the Pacific – and the world.

On December 7, 2011 – 70 years after the surprise attack on the United States’ Navy and ten years after the surprise terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City – Americans woke up.

Mainers first saw the glint of sunlight on the briny foam of the Atlantic as water slapped sheer rock and lobster boats bobbed around in the hundreds of harbors along the vast coastline.

Folks in the hills of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, followed by those west of the Appalachians got out of warm beds and turned on the morning news while sipping home-brewed coffee and watched light grow gradually brighter through the blinds of their coffee-scented kitchens.

Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and the heartland woke up a few hours after. The lights of Las Vegas grew dim in the contrast of nature’s light. California, Los Angeles to Humboldt, dawned eventually, sunlight ripping down the slopes of the Cascade Mountains.

But even much later – five hours after the eastern seaboard – light hit the USS Arizona Memorial near Honolulu, Hawaii.

Below the glassy surface of the seawater, 1, 102 American sailors sleep eternally in a steel tomb. 70 years ago to the day, they were flitting around the warship Arizona amidst the hum of Japanese prop-engine fighters and the roar of oil-fed fires in the scenic harbor.

Among the carnage, Clarence Pfundheller, a 21-year-old Iowa native, witnessed one of the most influential days in world history.

“You could see them [Japanese pilots] pumping their fists and laughing at you,” the veteran told the Lake County News-Sun earlier this month in an anniversary feature that the newspaper ran.

On that day, America had been thrust – gleefully, as Pfundheller illustrated – involuntarily into World War II; Despite looming clouds of war over the Americas, circumstances had yet to tug a reluctant, economically reeling United States into the growing global fight.

Adolf Hitler was reportedly jubilant when he received word of Japan’s attack on the U.S. Finally, after months of United States-Britain meetings and the U.S. providing “secret” aid to Britain, Hitler could take off the gloves. Japan had done what Hitler would have ultimately had to do in dragging the U.S. in.

It was no secret that America’s role in the war could be the pendulum that cut either the Allies’ or the Axis’ throats depending on what route the country took. The world held its breath. Hitler prepped. Realization set in on the island of Japan.

Commander-In-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy Isoroku Yamamoto said one month after the attack, “A military man can scarcely pride himself on having ‘smitten a sleeping enemy’; it is more a matter of shame, simply, for the one smitten.”

On December 8, America responded.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt decisively and unquestionably declared war on Japan.

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a day that will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked…” said Roosevelt to the Congress. “The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.”

Despite Japan’s intentions to strong-arm America into renegotiating economic sanctions that had been levied against the Japanese government, angry, vindictive reprisal came out of Washington.

In many ways, America found – and is finding – itself breathing a sigh of relief 70 years later to the day. Despite recent hardships that are comparable, ironically, only to what Americans endured in the ‘30s and ‘40s, the nation has nearly one more under its belt.

It has 70 under its belt, actually. And as Americans – and the world – now tally the years in contrast to September 11, the annual remembrance of Pearl Harbor appears to be slowly and quietly dying away with its generation.

On December 7, 2011, fog and smog in China was the headliner on one major news network’s website. Yesterday was a milestone; it’s hard to see the 70th anniversary of September 11, 2001 on the horizon – especially when China-dominated headlines are more and more the norm.