The Bearathon. flat lands of Baylor s Campus, Baylor University is sponsoring the 18 th annual

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1 The Bearathon The toughest half marathon in Texas, through the hills of Cameron Park and the flat lands of Baylor s Campus, Baylor University is sponsoring the 18 th annual Bearathon. The course of the Bearathon begins at McLane Stadium running through campus highlighting the new Rosenbalm Fountain, the Suspension Bridge, Cameron Park, and the Brazos River. There are two sessions of the Bearathon, the half marathon and the 5K. The half marathon will begin at 7 a.m. and the 5K will begin at 7:20 a.m. The course of the Bearathon will close at 11 a.m. putting an 18-minute mile cap on the runners. There are also two age groups of the half marathon, the Baylor student category and the age 40-plus category. I m not too excited to get up and run a half marathon at 7 in the morning, Jayson Garcia, Baylor freshman and Bearathon participant said. The good news is though, with an 18-minute mile cap I can walk the half [marathon] and still be able to say I did it, Jayson said. This year, the runners are timed using the B-Tag System. The B-Tag System uses timing chips that will attach to the bibs of the half marathon and 5K participants. The timing chips, two stickers that contain Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) antennas, are located on the back of the running bibs. These chips track runner s locations in the race based on which timing mats they have crossed. Each participant in the half marathon will receive a free T-shirt and a medal when crossing the finish line. Prize money will also be awarded to the top three male and female finishers. First place will receive $300, second place $200, and third place $100.

2 Along with the top three male and female winners, the top three overall winners will also be awarded prize money. Third place overall will receive $300, second place $400, and the first place winner of the half marathon will receive $500. I know I won t win the whole thing, but I am excited for the t-shirt and medal for finishing the race, Garrett Collins, Baylor freshman and Bearathon participant said. Not only will it be cool to get the free things, but the fact that I know I did the toughest half marathon in Texas will only motivate me to run more, Garrett said. The Bearathon is put on by the Baylor Student Foundation and raises money for the Baylor Student Scholarship Fund. The Bearathon began in 2003 with only 100 runners, and this year has over 3,000 participants expected to raise over $100,000. Not only is the half marathon a great fundraiser, it also gives the Student Foundation a great namesake and image. The Bearathon is almost completely student-run and helps shine a light on Baylor s values of serving others and the community. The training for a half marathon is very time consuming, and lasts multiple weeks. The most common training program is 12 weeks long. I was afraid my workout plan wouldn t be enough for me because I am in relatively good health, and work out on my own every day, Justin Nunes, Baylor senior and Bearathon participant said. I must have overestimated myself though because this workout was quite a journey. It was really amazing to see how far I ve come from barely being able to run 4 miles and now getting ready to run 13.1, Justin said. The Bearathon has multiple sponsors on a Double Diamond Level, Diamond Level, Platinum Level, Gold Level, and Premier Level. Each sponsor contributes a product or service for the race, along with fundraising and donating to the Student

3 Foundation. Some well-known sponsors for this year are Kind snack bars, the Baylor Alumni Network, the Baylor Waco Foundation, and Haven South Apartments. The Bearathon cost is $75 for the half marathon, and $30 for the 5K. Registration ends on March 18 and can be found on the Baylor University Student Foundation website. For more information, contact the Baylor Student Foundation at (254) or at

4 Jazz Ensemble The Baylor University Jazz Ensemble recently had its first concert of the semester in Jones Concert Hall. The ensemble included saxophones, trumpets, trombones, guitar, piano, bass, drums and a vocalist. The ensemble played four songs in the first act of the show, and another four in the second. In the first act, the ensemble played the songs Magic Flea, Wrappin It Up, Gentle Piece, and Count Bubba. In these songs, there were numerous solos on the piano, drums and trumpet. After the intermission, the ensemble played the songs But Beautiful, A View From the Side, Whisper Not, and Knuckleball with solos on the tenor saxophone and trombone. I would recommend the Jazz Ensemble to parents, students, and faculty because it is so much different than the classical music we usually play or listen to in the music department, Emily Thomasson a music major from Friendswood, Texas said. This type of music actually has a beat and rhythm that won t necessarily put you to sleep on the spot, Emily said. In between each song the director, Alex Parker, gave a background story on the piece. He explained who wrote, arranged, or transcribed the song, what its background story is and the year the song originated. Alex also announced the soloists of the songs. The songs performed were composed anywhere within the last eight decades. Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen wrote the song, But Beautiful, in 1947, and Charley Grey wrote Knuckleball in A View From the Side, written by Bill Holman, released in 1995, was nominated for a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition. Alex Parker did not direct every piece of music; he sometimes had the section leaders of each instrument start and finish the piece. The section leader is the most qualified, or oldest person, of each instrument section that keeps the pace of the songs and gives the ensemble members feedback on their performance. I try not to direct every song for the ensemble because in future shows of their career there will be no director, Alex Parker the ensemble director said. For big group performances there is usually a director, but with solos, duets, and trios

5 there is not. The musicians need to be able to start and stop a piece on time on their own, said Alex Parker. The Jazz concert also featured a guest director, Robert Karns. Robert Karns was a member of the United States Air Force Band Program until He has degree in the Bachelor of Music in Saxophone Performance and his Masters of Music in Music Theory. He is currently earning his Ph.D. in Church Music here at Baylor University, and is a Jazz Program teaching assistant. Karns not only directed a piece for the ensemble, but also had a tenor saxophone solo in the final song, Knuckleball. In the ensemble there were seven different instruments played. Within the saxophone section there were six musicians, in the trumpet section there were five, and in the trombone section there were five as well. The guitar, piano, and bass all had one musician playing. On the drums two musicians shared time on the instrument. Each song had two or three solos from members of the ensemble. In the saxophone section, Michael Incavo had the most solos on the tenor saxophone and Spencer Sosnowski had the most solos on the alto saxophone. On the trumpet, John Burton had the majority of the solos followed by Stephen Spink. Scott Quintana held all of the trombone solos in the ensemble, and Eli Clark was the only soloist on the piano. The majority of the musicians are originally from Texas except a few such as Patrick Lenz from Wisconsin, John Burton from Tennessee, Stephen Spink from Colorado, and Nick Halbig from Florida. Jenna Davies, from Aurora, Illinois, was the featured vocalist of the concert. She performed in the third song, Gentle Piece, and the seventh song, Whisper Not. In the song Gentle Piece, Jenna performed a scat solo, the use of syllables to mimic the sound of the instruments. In the second song she sang, Jenna Davies performed lyrics that were written in Jazz singing is a great way to master tone and pitch, but takes many years of practice. In a group it is very important to match not only pitch but also tone to join the melody and harmonies together as a whole, Baylor freshman Jenna Welch from Seal Beach, California said. As an independent singer, pitch can be identified much

6 easier if it is off in the slightest. I ve been training my ear, as well as my voice, since I was 8 in Jazz singing, Jenna Welch said. The next Jazz Ensemble concert of the semester will be on April 19 at Jones Concert Hall at Baylor University.

7 John McGrath Morris James McGrath Morris, an author, past journalist and teacher, spoke to a group of 96 Baylor students on Thursday about the tricks of writing narrative non-fiction stories. I am a story teller. I tell non-fiction stories, I cannot make anything up, but I tell a story, says John McGrath Morris. And why I think this is important for you, if you are being trained as journalists, is that you want to have the skill of being a narrative, non-fiction writer and literary journalist in your toolbox, in addition to reporting. You need to be able to report something the classic second day story, said Morris. Morris gave the speech at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday in the Marrs McLean Science Building at Baylor University. He spoke to Baylor students for their Journalism Departmental Exam. James has a list of 10 rules that he sticks with when writing his non-fiction or second day stories. These rules help him steal everything a good novelist does and apply it to non-fiction. The 10 rules are stylistic and trigger a reaction, while still basing his foundation on facts. All 10 of the rules are important to writing because they all help write a compelling story. The rules can help one be a good reporter, interviewer, journalist, or writer, but can also be applied to other areas of communication. Communication is always telling stories so finding the best ways to tell stories and humanize what you are talking about is going to help no matter where you are in life, said Jacob Santarelli a Baylor accounting student. The most important rule is the rule of cutting. Cutting is needed because some things are better said in less-words. Morris believes that the best story is one that leaves

8 the reader dangling, and makes them think for themselves, a writing technique often used with cutting. Besides cutting, some other rules include: not letting research be seen in the book, only having contemporaneous sources, never revealing what is to come, and using quotations for only color and dialogue. James McGrath Morris learned about himself through the lives of others. He got in touch with his own internal biases he did not know he had. He has become much more sensitive on how he writes about another person, which is a life skill that journalists need to learn. Sometimes our filters have blind spots, said Professor Macarena Hernandez from Baylor University. There may be a certain topic that you think you know everything about, but the truth is when you re writing about certain people you do not know everything. My advice would be as young writers, you have blind spots and those blind spots affect the way you see and interact with the world. You may never get rid of them, but being aware helps you become a better writer, said Hernandez.

9 John Hillman John Hillman recently spoke in a reporting and writing class in Castellaw Communications Center presenting, My Writing Way to the Write Way, telling of his journey to become a freelance writer. John Hillman attended Baylor University as an undergraduate student with an emphasis on accounting and business. During his college career, he avoided writing at all costs because of the lack of technology. As a Baylor student, I wrote a maximum of three papers I don t remember anything from them, all I know is that they were a lot of work, Hillman, a freelance writer from Waco, Texas, said. After graduating from Baylor University, Hillman decided to pursue his graduate degree. In his time as a graduate student, he enjoyed writing more because of the advancement in technology. He had his first publication in the magazine, Today s CPA, writing an article called Whose Attitudes Really Matter. He wrote and published this article with the help of his graduate teacher, James Hunt. After his first publication, Hillman landed another writing opportunity for the New Accountant. The New Accountant was a magazine that was privately owned and put out free of charge. He wrote an article called Professional Accountant - Professional Athlete. Hillman s second publication really kicked off his writing career covering all different kinds of stories. The turning point of Hillman s career was when he met an editor for a Dallas newspaper at Barnes and Noble. The editor not only asked him to write articles for the newspaper, but also encouraged the writing and publication of his book,

10 Devotions from the World of Sports. After being rejected from 12 publishers, John Hillman and his wife published the book together. This was the first thing my husband and I had worked on together professionally. We made a really good team with him doing the research of quotes and applying it to sports, and me reading over and making connections, said Kathy Hillman, the association professor and director of the Keston Center from Waco, Texas. The Hillman s book was successful and led to the writing of more books together. John published multiple books with his wife, and also continued to write for magazines. His biggest accomplishment in the magazine world was his article in Teen People called Bridging the Gap. Hillman does not know where his future is headed in writing, but he consistently writes devotionals for his friends and family on his Facebook page and writes for the Texas Redzone. Although his writing career has already peaked, Hillman is an inspiration to future writers to pursue what you love. As a student interested in writing as a career, I appreciated Hillman s clear description of the reality of freelance writing, said Reagan Rice a Baylor freshman from Dallas, Texas. His advice to look beyond and find what distinguishes one writer from another was very thought provoking.

11 Will Sipfle Although Will Sipfle spends most of his time studying engineering and socializing with his fraternity brothers, he can t help but start to miss home as the end of the school year rolls around. I can t wait for summer honestly, Will said. I m looking forward to just working, sleeping, being outside and exercising and occasionally hanging out with friends from high school. Will is from Des Moines, Iowa, approximately 715 miles away from Waco. He picked Baylor because of the warm weather, southern atmosphere, and the high academic ratings. What Will enjoys most about going to school out of state is meeting new people, change of scenery, and varied culture norms such as saying pop instead of soda. When I met Will I immediately knew he wasn t from Texas or anywhere in the south, Sam Hodges Baylor freshman from Houston said. I like to give Will a hard time for that, but the roles would easily be reversed if I went to school in the north, Hodges said. Although Sipfle enjoys the new and exciting things about Texas, he misses his family and friends from home. The homesickness can be hard, but he is still grateful he made the decision to go out of state. I ve grown and become more autonomous, responsible, and outgoing, Sipfle said.

12 With the end of the year so close, and the typical finals week cold going around, Will is missing home more than he has this whole semester. He did not start to get really homesick until Easter Break when he was still on campus, and all of his friends were easily able to drive home for the weekend. Sipfle likes the diversity of where his college friends are from, but also appreciates meeting people who are fellow out- of- staters. I really like having a roommate who is also from the Midwest, Lane Quick Will s roommate and Baylor freshman from Kansas said. It is nice to be able to relate to each other by talking about weird southern cultural norms, but counting down the days until we get to be home for a long period of time, Lane said. Will is going home during dead weekend to surprise his older sister for graduation. It is going to be hard to get a little taste of home before returning for finals, but he knows going home for three months after will only be that much sweeter.