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BY KIMBERLY BENNETT _______________________________ Three years ago, I never thought I would be where I am today in my college experience. When I started college at McKendree University in the fall of 2011, I was considering accounting. However, there was just one large problem with that decision. I had never taken an accounting class in my life. My reasoning for wanting (or rather, deciding) to go into accounting was merely because of the salary most accountants are paid yearly. No offense to aspiring accountants, but I quickly learned (after my first accounting class) that accounting was certainly not for me. Needless to say, I changed my major to Secondary Education of Mathematics by the end of the fall semester. Although I love math and excel in it quite well, the amount of math ...

BY EMILY LUCIA  ____________________________ Every year on February 14th, lovers and friends rush to buy cards, chocolates, roses, and other commercial items to commemorate their love for one another. Many people know that Valentine’s Day is a Christian holiday, a day that would honor the life of St. Valentine. But do you know the history of the Saint from which this day takes its name?  Or how about the ancient Roman customs that have inspired the celebration of the holiday we know today? Let us take a look back into history. According to an article written for The History Channel, there were actually several St. Valentines from whom the holiday could have taken its name from, all of which were martyrs (people who sacrificed their lives for their beliefs). One was a priest in third ce...

BY KATIE DAVENPORT Those summers were the worst—             August, with the shades up but the             windows down to keep the cats from             escaping. Me, hiding, stumbling upon a pile of my             mother’s shoes, coagulated blood piling             under the skin where a toe struck a heel. My mother’s reassurance that the lion only             comes once a month, only to find another one             roaring             in those final August days. Me, hiding, stumbling upon a pile of my mother’s shoes,             the vacuum to my side bruising ribs,             Chris’s fist like thunder upon the door—             mocking, menacing,             laughing. Those summers were the worst, with the howling             siren that reminds me of air-raids             with civil...

A Book Review BY EMILY LUCIA  ____________________________________ “When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die” (A Game of Thrones). Many of you have probably heard of or have seen the HBO television show Game of Thrones, but not many people know about the source material from which the show is derived. The show is based off of the book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. The first season correlates with the first book A Game of Thrones. So if you’re looking for something to do before Season 4 hits television screens in April, why not read the books?  A Game of Thrones takes place in the fictional world of Westeros, a medieval type land. It follows characters like the honest Eddard “Ned” Stark, Jon Snow (Ned’s bastard son), Arya Stark (Ned’s youngest daugh...

BY TRENT ALLYN BOYER  Solomon Northrup has had a rough night. After dining with supposed friends who allegedly wanted to utilize his talents as a violinist, he wakes up wrapped with chains inside of a slave holding pen. The film is “12 Years a Slave” and the time period is 1841. It is a savage time for the United States, and no film to my knowledge has shown just how truly unmerciful and horrific the slave trade was. We journey along with a New York born-free man, Solomon, on his penultimate voyage to a Louisiana plantation, and witness the ten years he endures before he is finally released. “12 Years a Slave” is a masterpiece and has been trumpeted as such by major award Associations and film critics. It is the number one pick for the best American film of 2013 in publications like Rol...

A Television Review BY EMILY LUCIA Two brothers travel a lonely road. It all began when the youngest brother, Sam, was a baby. He was just a few months old when his father found his mother dead and hanging from the ceiling. She burst into flames. His father, John grabbed baby Sam from his crib and handed him to his older brother, Dean. The three escaped the house and John Winchester (Jeffery Dean Morgan) swore vengeance on whatever did this to his wife. Flash-forward to present day (actually 2005); Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki, Gilmore Girls), a student at Stanford University has just passed his LSAT. He has an interview for a job with the University on Monday, but that all changes when he wakes up in the middle of the night to an intruder. A scuffle ensues until he discovers that tha...

BY CHRYSTINA PHILLIPS CBS's long-running crime drama, Criminal Minds, reached a milestone this week: 200 episodes. For all of the fans who have been here for every episode, it's hard to believe it's been nine years since the show began. It is a show about human behavior. In the 200th episode, airing Wednesday Feb. 5, when J.J. (A.J. Cook) is abducted, the BAU takes a look into her time at the State Department to find clues to her disappearance and they uncover a secret mission that puts her life in danger.  "The fact that we've had 200 stories to tell, and hopefully at least 200 more, it's a series unlike others where human behavior has endless possibilities." said show-runner and Executive Producer, Erica Messer.  One of the things the show's producers really wanted to do with the 20...

BY WILL BASLER ______________________ In The Shawshank Redemption, escaped convict Andy Dufresne wrote to his fellow-prisoner and long-time friend Red, “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” Hope is what keeps a Cubs fan coming back. It is the hope that the 105th season since their last World Series title will bring the championship back to Wrigley. With a miserable 2012 season where the Cubbies accumulated 96 losses against only 66 wins, a run to the World Series is doubtful, even to the most optimistic Cub fan. Still, each of them will have their eyes glued to the television, as they listen to the radio or take in the sights and sounds of Wrigley Field on Opening Day, with all the hope in the world that this will be the year the championship droug...

BY LAUREN APETZ __________________________ The McKendree Men’s Volleyball team put up a fight against multiple teams over the course of the past few weeks. The Bearcats have taken on two ranked teams in the nation, with one of them being top dog.  The Bearcats are definitely working hard on and off the court to be the one feared at the net. On February 14, their hard work paid off. On the cold Valentine’s Day night, all the spectators dressed in black. The men’s volleyball program won their first home game ever. This victory came against the Culver- Stockton Wildcats. Wyatt Patterson led the team with 14 kills in the 3-1 victory. Jack Maclean dished out 42 assists while Dustin Borenstein led the team in digs with 11. The following day the Bearcats squared up for round two with the Cu...