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(09/25/15 1:26am)
At the SGA meeting on Monday, Sept. 14, student representatives from three new campus organizations stood up and made the case to receive official recognition from SGA.
These students represented CURE Mercer, the Student Managed Investment Fund and a chapter of the National Press Photographers Association.
Although some of these organizations have already held meetings, receiving recognition from SGA is an important step in becoming full-fledged organizations.
SGA Senator Michael Smith, who represents the sophomore class, explained that “the reason organizations seek SGA sponsorship is mainly to receive funding … through Bear Grants and other sources we provide.”
Before the senators and executive officers of SGA heard from the representatives, Dean Pearson, SGA’s advisor, reminded them that the two primary criteria that they should consider when deciding whether to award recognition to student organizations are whether they are redundant or discriminatory.
Pearson explained that redundancy is an important consideration in decisions of this kind because SGA only has so much money to grant to student organizations. Having redundant organizations would mean that the money would be split up between more organizations than it needs to be.
The first organization up to bat was CURE Mercer. The president of CURE Mercer, Marina Mixon, explained that CURE Mercer will be a chapter of CURE International, a Christian nonprofit organization based in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania that raises money to pay for treatments and surgeries for children suffering from life-threatening illnesses in countries all over the globe.
Mixon said that Mercer’s chapter would partner with a hospital in a foreign country and fundraise to help the children being treated there.
She emphasized that CURE Mercer would also take an interest in the needs of local children suffering with illnesses and would send volunteers to local hospitals to spend time with young residents.
As further evidence of CURE Mercer’s potential to have a substantial impact on campus, Mixon cited the fact that 100 students have already expressed interest in the club. Her message to the SGA officers was well-received; CURE Mercer was granted recognition.
CURE Mercer will be having a 1920’s-themed event in October, which will be their biggest fundraiser of the semester.
Next, Jenna Eason, a sophomore majoring in journalism, made the case for Mercer’s newly-formed chapter of the National Press Photographers Association to receive recognition.
Eason described the purpose of the National Press Photographers Association as being “to spark interest in visual storytelling and create connections for students with professional photographers throughout the nation.”
Eason said that it is quite an honor for Mercer to have a chapter of this organization because there are only twelve collegiate chapters in the nation.
She also said that several professional photographers who work for the (Macon) Telegraph and Georgia Public Broadcasting have already expressed interest in working with the new club.
The students on SGA awarded official recognition to Mercer’s chapter of the National Press Photographers Association.
The last organization to make a request for recognition was the new Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF).
Members of this organization will learn the ins and outs of investing in the stock market through the use of some real money, provided by alumni of the School of Business and some fake money to introduce students to investing with less of the risk.
Profits from the investments will be divided with some going towards scholarships and the rest going back into the investment funds.
Senator Caroline Loos, chair of SGA’s committee on student life and organizational affairs, shared with her fellow senators that SMIF, already had a lot of support from the business school.
The Student Managed Investment Fund was approved.
(09/11/15 4:18am)
Roderick Cox, a Macon native whose musical talent has led him to performance halls all over the world, recently served as the guest conductor for the Macon Symphony Orchestra’s first concert of the season, evocatively titled “Pathos and Passion.” By the time Cox walked in as the show began on Aug. 29, I was pleased to see that there was a full house, including several college students and young couples with children.
In addition to the emotional power of the music, much of the pathos and passion witnessed on the stage came from the conductor. Cox’s gestures, which involved his entire body, showed that he felt every emotion of each piece of music in the very core of his being. He moved in such a way that he almost looked entranced, which was fascinating to watch. The first piece the orchestra played was Beethoven’s “Leonora Overture No. 3”. The piece’s ominous quality, coupled with the way it appeared to alternate between strife and peace, seemed to be meant to imitate life.
Next in the program came a series of pieces by Mendelssohn inspired by Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” These pieces gave me what I really hoped to gain from a concert called “Pathos and Passion” — sweet, dreamlike melodies that made me think of love in its gentlest, purest form. During these pieces, I closed my eyes and felt like I had been transported to a beautiful, romantic place. When I opened them again, I noticed that one of the violinists was also lost in sweet reverie, almost as if she wouldn’t leave her dream world in time to play her part.
The finale to the performance was Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 4,” but before it began, Cox gave a short history lesson to help the audience understand what they would hear. He explained that Tchaikovsky wrote the piece after marrying a woman for whom he felt no affection in the hopes of pleasing his elderly parents. As a result, Cox revealed, the work has a strong motif of the inescapability of fate, which is represented by loud, commanding instruments like the trumpet. With this in mind, I felt that the piece could be interpreted as a conversation between the different sections of the orchestra, in which the stringed instruments represent people who try to chart their own courses through life and the horns represent fate, which always has the final word.
At the end of the program, the musicians and the conductor took their bows and received a standing ovation. The ongoing applause and cheers proved that Macon was proud of its native son, who had conducted with extraordinary energy and passion.
If you would like to attend a Macon Symphony Orchestra concert, please visit http://www.maconsymphony.com/concerts-events/ for more information. All Mercer students receive free admission with a Bear Card.
(09/09/15 9:00pm)
A new student-run arts program launched on Aug. 31 seeking to bring the joy of creative expression to residents young and old of the Tindall Heights public housing project.
One of the volunteers for the program is Gabrielle Carter, a sophomore nursing major at Mercer with a talent for art. She works with kids in Tindall Heights and is trying to teach them more than just drawing techniques. When one little girl said that she couldn’t trace a picture of Elsa from “Frozen” because it was too hard, Carter responded jokingly, “anyone who says that they can’t do something has to stand in the corner for three minutes.”
While Gabrielle’s playful smile showed the kids that she was only teasing, the lesson on perseverance was still there.
When asked how she believes art improves our communities, she said that people need to express themselves and that when kids use their imaginations, it keeps them “busy and out of trouble.”
About a year and a half ago, philosophy professor Creighton Rosental began brainstorming with his students ways to bring more public art to the Macon community. He and his students agreed that their project should give a voice to the voiceless and help bridge divisions in the community.