Bryan College Triangle

The purpose of co-founder and film-maker for Invisible Children Jason Russell's campaign, Kony 2012, is to "make Joseph Kony a household name" / Photo courtesy of www.kony2012.com

Clarissa Stewart
Triangle Reporter

As various candidates vie for the presidential nomination, the year 2012 is marked by its campaigns. However, with the introduction of the KONY 2012 video by Invisible Children, a different type of campaign has begun aimed to bring down African warlord Joseph Kony.

The viral KONY 2012 video released Monday, March 5 has not only gained millions of views but also harsh criticism from those who see the video as giving misleading information.

The KONY 2012 video, made and narrated by Co-founder and Film-maker for Invisible Children Jason Russell, centers on Joseph Kony, the leader of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), known for causing turmoil in Uganda by killing families and kidnapping over 30,000 children.

The purpose of the video, as stated by Russell, is to “make Joseph Kony a household name” to increase support of Americans to capture Kony and bring him to justice.

According to an article in the Los Angeles times by Brian Bennett and Robyn Dixon on Oct. 15, 2011, President Barack Obama issued 100 special forces troops to central Africa to help stop the LRA. Through the support of Americans, Russell hope the United States Government will feel pressure to increase support. Read full story »

Jesse Murray
Senior Reporter

Bryan College’s Debate Team left late last week for the Debate Nationals Tournament at Carson Newman (Jefferson City, Tenn.) which lasted all weekend. They were joined by debate clubs from approximately 25 other schools including: Wheaton, Biola, Azusa Pacific, North Dakota University and University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

According to debate club adviser Michael Palmer, there were two categories of competition, individual events and parliamentary debate. Individual events include poetry recitation, informative speaking and after-dinner speeches.

“There were many top-flight teams there,” said Palmer. “Also, there were so many rounds. We won a good number, and lost a good number. We did well in terms of competition.”

Though Bryan didn’t make it to the finals round, sophomore Erica Thomson broke into the Individual Events final round and brought home honors. According to Palmer, the entire team performed impressively and has bonded well over the debate season.

“One of the biggest things was the relational aspect of the tournament,” said Palmer. “We were able to spend a lot of time together in the evenings, whether playing games or just in conversation. It was just a good time.”

This was the final tournament of the year for Bryan’s debate club.

Clari Stewart
Triangle Reporter

This week members of Students Stopping the Trafficking of Persons (SSTOP) will collect ‘Loose Change to Loosen Chains’ as a fundraiser to support organizations working to combat human trafficking.

Jars ready to be filled with quarters, nickels, dimes, pennies and even dollar bills will be stationed in each dorm until Friday, March 23rd, except during lunchtime when the jars will be in the cafeteria.

This is the second year SSTOP has participated in Loose Change to Loosen Chains.

“We really want to stick with something consistent so people will just hear ‘loose change’ and connect it with SSTOP,” said junior Rose Prince, administrative assistant for SSTOP.

Last year the team’s goal was to raise $1,000 to support the mission of International Justice Mission (IJM). The fundraiser surpassed their expectations collecting a total of $1,538 from the Bryan community, the Family Church and Westminster Presbyterian Church.

This year change will be gathered from the Bryan Community, as well as Westminster, the Family Church and Grace Bible Church who have all agreed to take up donations from their congregation.

SSTOP will be dividing the money they collect between IJM and NightLife Atlanta, an organization which works specifically with children, families and prostitutes in the Atlanta area.

“We’ve been working closely with [NightLife Atlanta] and wanted to try to support them in some capacity,” Prince said.

The team hopes to raise $2,000 this week to help break the chains of injustice.

Above is the current rendering of what the college hopes for Rudd Auditorium to look like with the help of donor funding. /Photo courtesy of bryan.edu

Anna Katharine Thomas
Photo Editor

While students enjoyed their break away from school, President Stephen Livesay, some faculty and staff, along with a few students, hosted a Presidential Briefing Mar. 8-11 in San Antonio Texas.

“A lot of it is educating people on the long-term vision of the school—‘here’s what we believe we need or what would help us be more effective in fulfilling the mission of educating people to become servants of Christ to make a difference in the world.’ So everything is centered around that,” said Blake Hudson, vice president for advancement.

Rather than hosting a conference based solely on telling donors and alumni what the college needs and asking for money, the school took a different approach.

“For the type of event that it is, sometimes in some organizations they don’t have a spiritual basis, and this was such a sweet time in the Lord [last year]. We have, of course, Bible teaching,” said Livesay.

The briefing gave donors a chance to see what Bryan is about and see how the school is working to train students, not only in their fields of interests, but how they can serve Christ through that field, and it offers them the opportunity to pledge support for the school.

Two students, sophomore Racie-Helen Miller and senior Yuri Lopez, spoke on how they are involved at Bryan and answered questions that guests of the briefing might have about the school.

“I wish we could take half the student body. That is the single most important thing we could do,” said Livesay. “Students are the real things, this is what it is all about…it adds an energy, and it adds an authenticity to what we are doing.”

The renovations of Huston Dorm came as a result from an unnamed donor who gave the money after attending the briefing last year in Naples, Fla. This year one of the main focuses of fund-raising was on the Rudd Chapel renovation, which will hopefully make its first steps over the summer, according to Hudson.

Former Lions baseball player Caleb Tanner Hixson died last week after going into cardiac arrest on the way to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, Tenn., via EMS. He was attending Lee University / photo courtesy of Chattanoogan.com

Alex Green
Assistant Online Editor

Caleb Tanner Hixson, a former Bryan baseball player, died last week after mixing alcohol with energy drinks and possibly taking prescription medication, according to Chattanooga news outlets.

Chattanooga police and EMS were called to a north Chattanooga apartment complex where Hixson had allegedly been drinking with friends and began to exhibit destructive behavior, said Chattanooga police spokesman Officer Nathan Hartwig last week.

According to Hartwig, Hixson went into cardiac arrest on the way to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga via EMS early in the morning on Thursday, March 8. He was pronounced dead at Erlanger.

Hixson graduated from Walker Valley High School in nearby Bradley County in 2007, according to his Facebook profile.

He attended Bryan thereafter on a baseball scholarship and was on the Lions baseball team in 2008 and 2009, but an injury prevented him from participating in any games that season according to Lions Head Coach Taylor Hasty. Read full story »