Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero

 

Student Josepha Mbouma is excited for the “Big Apple” candy that was passed around before the start of the film. 

On Tuesday, April 22 in LaRose Theater in Elon University’s Koury Business Center students, faculty and staff gathered together to view a screening on the Frontline film “Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero”.

 

Students take notes while Professor Russell speaks. This was the last Communications related cultural event of the spring semester at Elon.

This film explores the events of September 11th, 2001 from the perspective of the religious mind. Interviewees discuss the loss of religion in their lives following 9/11 and the way that everything changed.

 

Professor Russell lead the beginning of the discussion and warned the audience to “buckle your seat belts, this is going to be an emotional ride.” He told the audience that while this film may not be as graphically disturbing as many other 9/11 films it is emotionally disturbing and may make students question their personal religious beliefs “whether you have them or you don’t.”

 

Community members were invited to Elon’s campus for the screening.

The film interviewed many different people with a wide range of perspectives on 9/11. There were survivors, widows and widowers, firefighters and residents of Manhattan. There were priests and rabbis and people from all sorts of different faiths. A couple who had lost their daughter and son-in-law. 

 

Professor Russell greets the audience.

Sophomore student Nina Beigelman spoke to me afterwards about her feelings on the film. “I’m from Manhattan,” she told me, “and watching movies about 9/11 brings back too many memories. We were all so scared. We had no idea what was going on at all, we couldn’t leave school everyone was so confused.”

The mood was somber as students watched the film, with many sniffles and tears. Many students exited during the film, particularly with a scene that depicted people in the World Trade Centers jumping from several stories up. It was as Professor Russell had warned us, a wild ride. 

International Student Documentary

I learned a lot from the international student that I interviewed (Nada Azem) not only about her home country of Syria, but also about what it means to be an international student here at Elon. I was surprised by how few international students we actually have on campus, and that number is actually smaller because Elon considers someone to be an international student if they do at least one year of high school outside of the United States. I thought it was really interesting to hear from her perspective about the Elon bubble and the fact that many college students today don’t know about what is going on in the world outside of their home.

 

It was an interesting experience to be in Arts West and to see the world of a senior art major because that’s an element of Elon that I don’t normally get to see and have always wanted to experience. Being with her made me want to experiment with art and take a photography course because it’s just such a unique place on campus that I feel is closed off from me as a non-art student.

 

The thing that fascinated me the most about talking to Nada was hearing about Syria from a Syrians point of view. I always think of it being an awful war torn country in the middle east but for her it’s just her home. She was very nonchalant about the fact that they were at war and that was something that for me was quite outstanding because I think about it in a completely different light.

 

To see my interview with Nada Azem please check out my YouTube post!

Nada Azem

Sydney Harris- Opera Sensation

This website is going to help my fictional opera star, Sydney Harris, by helping her get her name out to the online community. She is attempting to market towards the demographic of young teens and to help get them interested in opera as a genre of music that they are listening to. Having pictures of herself up and at different social events will help them see that she is the true pop star that they need her to be. Having the option to buy her tickets online and see her tour schedule is a fantastic marketing technique that will help keep all of her information in one place.

When the website has the option of linking to her different social media sites it means that Sydney can help gain a following on many different websites and functions which will only help increase her fame. I think that having the website be pink and sparkly and more directed towards a younger demographic will help take away the stereotype of stuffy opera stars.

Showing quotes from respectable magazines and other opera stars helps with Sydney’s credibility to the people who are visiting her site, and let them know that she is the real deal. This website really helps Sydney cultivate her image to the public.

 

 

 

 

 

Asian Food Fusion Restaurant Review

Asian Fusion Magazine Cover

Make-A-Wish Benefit Concert

“Because you can’t smile on the outside without feeling better on the inside”

For Nick Cook, the Make-A-Wish a cappella benefit concert that took place in Elon University’s Whitley Auditorium on February 15^th, 2014 wasn’t just about getting a large group of music enthusiasts together in one place. The Make-A-Wish foundation holds a special place in Nick’s heart; his younger sister, Bella, has been a recipient of a “wish.” Bella was born with Down syndrome, and two years ago was diagnosed with leukemia. Throughout her struggle her wish was to go to Disney World. The Make-A-Wish center in Greensboro made this wish a reality, and sent the entire Cook family to Disney for a week to “help them forget for just one week that their child is sick” according to the representative that spoke Saturday night.

Cook is a member of the co-ed a cappella group Vital Signs, who sponsored Saturday night’s show. All five other of Elon’s a capella groups sang: Rip Chord, Twisted Measure, Sweet Signature’s, and Smooth Progressions. In addition groups from other schools were invited. The two groups from Appalachia State were unable to attend due to the “snowpocalypse” that North Carolina experienced last week, but a group from NC State, Ladies in Red, and UNCW’s Sea Belle’s. Both groups expressed how honored they were to have been invited to come sing alongside the Elon groups, and how worthy a cause Make-A-Wish was.

The five-dollar admission was a low-cost for many of these groups, with a concert for just the group Rip Chord alone traditionally being a similar price. Audience members were encouraged by Cook to make a donation outside by the ticket booth of “one dollar, two dollars, one hundred dollars, or whatever you can afford.” Many students could be seen both before and afterwards making donations to the foundation. Elon senior Ginny Oberle made a donation of two dollars and stated “I’m a close friend of Nick’s (Cook) and I can see how much this means to him, and his family.”

Members of Vital Signs introduced the various other a cappella groups to the stage amidst loud applause from the audience. Crowd favorites included songs by Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Jason Mraz and much more. Sophomores Julianne Beck and Krissy Parrett agreed that their favorite song was Brave by Sara Bareilles, in the last set by Vital Signs. The song is very emotional and directly ties to the struggle that Bella Cook and the Cook family is going through. The chorus of the song says: “I just wanna see you, I wanna see you be brave.”

Easily the most emotional part of the evening was when Nick brought Bella onto the stage with him so the audience could meet her. Calling her “the love of his life” there were few dry eyes in the packed auditorium. Later that evening Cook posted a message on his Facebook thanking all the students for attending the concert. “Words cannot describe how thankful I am to everyone who came out to support Make-A-Wish tonight at the Vital Signs benefit concert, whether on stage or in the audience. I am so blessed to be a part of such a supportive, loving and talented community. Bella and I truly thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I love you all. Thank you for an amazing night.” For more information check out:

Central & Western North Carolina’s Make-A-Wish Foundation- nc.wish.org

Vital Signs- https://www.facebook.com/VitalSignsacappella

 

Stranger Portraits

My biggest struggle with this assignment was trying to be confident in taking pictures without feeling creepy. I walked around campus with my camera and tried to get subtle shots of people, but it was hard when people looked at me questioningly. Eventually I started asking people if I could photograph them so that I could get better shots that weren’t just of people’s backs as they walked by. Asking people to take their photo however made it seem a little forced, they would try to smile and it was not as natural as it would have been if they didn’t know that I was taking the photograph. I think that if I had gone somewhere not on Elon’s campus it would have been easier to take the photographs without being self-conscious.

Another challenge that I faced was that the two days I was taking photographs it was snowing outside, or just grey and cloudy. This didn’t make for a good environment to shoot people in and I ended up being inside for much of it because I was just too cold.

I had trouble also because I began using my own personal camera, which we didn’t review how to use in class. This was a struggle because when I take pictures on my own time I normally just use an automatic setting, and it was hard to figure out the white balance on my camera. I ended up having to have a higher ISO than I would have liked to accommodate for the white balance mishaps. I think that once I really learn how to use my camera better it will get easier. Of all the pictures that I took (113) I ended up having approximately five that were not blurry or dark which I was really not expecting.

F Stop: 3.5
Shutter speed: 1/40
ISO 640

F Stop: 5.6
Shutter speed: 1/100
ISO: 100

F Stop: 5.6
Shutter speed: 1/80
ISO: 160