Flashback Keystone Article: “KU students help woman stranded for 15 hours”

*Link to Article Posted on The Keystone’s Website: http://thekeystonenews.com/2014/03/07/ku-students-help-woman-stranded-for-15-hours/*

Students in image (L-R) Blake Claybrook, Megan Wolfe, Montrez Lewis

Fleetwood resident Yvonne Lis had been stranded at the Bieber Bus terminal without a working cell phone for around 15 hours when KU student Blake Claybrook asked her if she needed to use his phone. Claybrook, who was waiting for his bus to arrive to take him to his home in Philadelphia for a job interview, had overheard Lis discussing how long she had been sitting at the terminal, with no way of contacting her nephew.

“She said she had been there since midnight. I had to go because I knew my bus was coming, but I told her that I wasn’t going to leave her there,” Claybrook said.

It was then that Claybrook called his friends Montrez Lewis and Megan Wolfe to let them know about his situation. “I said I would come just to give her money for a cab or a bus. She had no cash on her and she couldn’t reach her nephew,” Lewis said.

After a few attempted calls to reach Lis’ nephew failed however, Wolfe stepped up and offered to drive her home.

Lewis and Wolfe helped Lis into Wolfe’s car, and began the 15-minute ride to Fleetwood that they described as “awkward at first.”

When asked how long the drive was, Lewis said, “it felt like an eternity at first, but as we began to talk it started to go by really fast.”

As the conversations continued, Lis made sure to let the KU students know how she felt about their act of kindness.

“She started to cry. She was talking about how much she appreciated it, and how we didn’t understand what it mean to her. She said this shows that there’s still good people in the world,” Wolfe said.

Lewis said that despite her thankfulness, he and Wolfe were simply doing what they had been raised to do. “If I have the ability to help someone, I will,” Lewis said. Wolfe agreed with Lewis, and was quick to brush off the kindness that she showed in offering to drive a perfect stranger home.
“She had leg problems and I feel like I would want someone to help me if it was me in that situation,” Wolfe said.

The three also were quick to dispel the fact that their actions may be considered heroic. They all agreed that in situations like the one they were presented, most people walk by thinking that someone else will help the person. They said that the only thing they did was step up and do it.

Flashback Writing Assignment: “Just Me and My Mascot Friends” (Magazine Writing, 2013)

*Note: The following was written as a profile assignment in my Magazine Writing class in 2013 with the permission of Isaiah Arpino. The information in this piece may not be up to date as Isaiah has since graduated from Kutztown University. He may or may not still work for companies listed in this piece. He does however definitely still live most of his life in a mascot costume, regardless of where in the country he currently is.*

In one of the stranger rooms you’ll ever find yourself in (if a curtain surrounding around 25 square feet counts as a room) stand over 20 mascots, ranging from the Reading Phillies “Screwball,” to a giant milkshake from sonic, and a few Chick-Fil-A cows in between. Tonight’s Reading Royals hockey game is slightly different than usual. It is a night where many strange things are overheard. Things like, “Hey, can you tuck my ass in?” It is mascot night tonight in Reading, and one of the mascots is a prominent member of Kutztown University’s “Avalanche Team” named Isaiah Arpino.

Isaiah, who is one of the more seasoned members to put on the Avalanche costume, also works part time for the Royals and is one of the more experienced performers at the game tonight. He currently works for several professional teams from his hometown of Altoona, PA, is involved with Keystone Mascots and The Mascot Doctor: A Raymond Entertainment Brand, companies that design, put together and debut mascots for companies, schools, and anyone else who may want a goofy, 7-foot character.

Isaiah stands at about 5’9”, and is, not surprisingly given the physical nature of the mascot jobs, slender and fit. He almost always is wearing blue jeans and a button up shirt, with the first few buttons undone to reveal some kind of graphic t-shirt underneath. He has a head of messy brown hair, which is usually covered up by either a beanie hat or a baseball cap from one of his hometown baseball teams. He is in some ways what you might think of when you think of a typical, just turned 21 years old college student.

When he isn’t in a computer lab working on art projects for his classes as a Communication Design major, or as he and his friends in the major have adopted calling it, “CD major,” you can probably find him hanging out getting some food on campus, at the bar with those same friends, or getting ready to make an appearance as Avalanche.

It’s been a slightly above average week for Isaiah, including two appearances in one day, with the final appearance being the Reading Royals hockey game. The first appearance is a grand opening for a Giant supermarket opening up a short walk from Kutztown’s campus. “Woo! I can’t tell you how excited I am to be up three hours before my first class. Boy do I love this stuff!” he greets his “spotter” (glorified body guard/helper). The general theme that Isaiah, and the Avalanche team as a whole, seem to have adopted is an over-the-top enthusiasm about everything, regardless of whether it’s actually fun or not.

As he undresses and gets ready to get in costume, the conversation is mostly about his recent 21st birthday. “Well, it was…memorable.” He says, playing on the irony of the statement. “I do remember a lot, but there’s a bit of a gap and then I woke up with a PBR hat on, in bed though so that’s always good. No girls though. I was disappointed.” He throws up Avalanche’s shoulders, twisting and turning his arm behind him, like a street performer contortionist to reach the zipper that runs up his back. A usually simple task for him, he lets out a groan of soreness. “Oh yea! Oh yea, that feels nice.” He finally throws Avalanche’s head up, straps in his chin strap, lets out either an excited or over the top sarcastic cheer, throws down a couple dance moves to loosen up and kicks open the door to his “dressing room.”

After sprinting back to his on-campus apartment to shower, Isaiah is off to his marathon of classes, most of which last about 2 hours. As he finishes off his work, it’s off to his car to pick up a couple fellow mascots to head to the hockey game. On the way, he goes over the plan of action for the night. “Well, lack-there-of” he laughs. “Basically, we’ll just be doing crowd interaction which is easy at a hockey game because it’ll mostly be in the concourse. Once people are in their seats, they don’t want to be bothered. Then, during one of the intermissions, we’ll sing happy birthday to Slap Shot (the Royals mascot) and be on our way!”

Back in the curtained room Isaish helps the youngest mascot, just 10 years old, strap on his suit. “You having fun yet?!” he asks, again with that over-the-top enthusiasm. He is answered back with a timid smile, and a simple “Yep!” He walks away with a big grin on his face, as he picks up his costume. “I remember that.” He says, adding, “I’ve wanted to do this since I was like, 9 years old. I know exactly how he feels.” As the last of the mascots strap in their heads, a stampede of size 20 and over mascot boots thunder out of the downstairs curtains and up to the main concourse. They are greeted with mostly excitement, but Isaiah does immediately scare a little girl away when he walks over to wave to her. “It happens!” he whispers, already out of breath but excited to carry on.

The game went perfectly, with the home team winning and with the mascot birthday celebration going smoothly. As Isaiah and the other students get undressed, they are fed what are now terribly cold burritos, but he doesn’t care. “Aw yes! Delicious!” he shouts, after chugging two bottles of water. As he grabs another one, he leads his crew back out to their cars and begins the plan making for the over 21 crowd, who will go out for a few drinks to celebrate the night’s success. “Just a few drinks, we’ll win over some ladies with our dance moves, it’ll be great! Let’s roll!” he shouts out his SUV window.

After “a few” drinks at the bar and a few crazy, over the top dance moves, Isaiah and a couple of his fellow mascots finally make their way back to call it a night. The clock reads 4am, which Isaiah rationalizes is actually 3am given daylight savings. As they stumble past a local pretzel shop, “Pretzel Revolution” Isaiah can’t help himself. “Pretzel Rev! Guys lets go, we only have to be up in like six hours” he mumbles, referring to the final day of their mascot camp which starts bright and early later that morning. They stand in line, discussing how the night went, and how much they’ll regret it in the morning. “I’m telling you, I do my best work hungover,” Isaiah claims, to be judged rather shortly. Grabbing his pretzel, Isaiah is out the door, soon followed by his friends. They push their way up Main Street, through a completely empty parking lot, and finally get to Isaiah’s apartment, where they’ll be staying for the night. Immediately Isaiah dives for his favorite chair in the room, a recliner he brought from home. He turns on his TV, stopping at the first semi-acceptable show to watch. The room quiets down, and a successful night officially comes to an end.

In one of the weirdest rooms you’ll ever find lay just a few sweaty, slightly intoxicated mascot performers, each with their own couch to sleep on. Just another day in the world of Isaiah Arpino and his mascot friends.

Submission to Essence Literary Magazine: “Lucky To Have Lost”

The first time I remember thinking that I am lucky was when I was ten years old, talking to one of my friends about Christmas Eve. Every year it’s the same thing: we go to my Great Grand mom’s house on my Dad’s side and my Great Aunt’s on my Mom’s side. When I told my friend that we see my Great Grand mom, who turns 95 today, he had a weird look on his face, and simply said, “We used to go to my Grand mom’s house, but she died two years ago, so now we just kind of hang out at my house.” I remember thinking at that moment that I had no idea how I would handle myself when one of my Grandparents passed away.

Twelve years later, I found myself with my head in my hands on an old, moldy green and brown wooden bench outside of Rothermel Hall, thinking about moments like that. I had just gotten off the phone with my brother, who dropped the bomb on me that my Pop-Pop, my Grandfather on my Dad’s side, had died of a heart attack after spending an entire day fishing with my cousins. All my preparation on how I would handle myself in an event like this proved to be useless, because I had no idea what to do. I realized quickly that nothing could have prepared me for this empty feeling. It’s a feeling that’s impossible to describe unless you’ve experienced it. It wasn’t quite sad but it definitely wasn’t happy. Maybe scared. Perhaps regretful. Definitely confused. A little angry. Sick. Nauseous. I told myself I was going to get up and go back inside at least a dozen times, but I couldn’t face my friends who were all sitting in the lobby, laughing and carrying on, as if nothing had happened. They had no idea. What would I say? It would instantly kill the happy mood of the room and everyone would feel awkward. I didn’t want that attention. I just wanted my Pop-Pop. I just wanted my family.

My twin brother and I were his first grandchildren. For 22 years he watched us grow up, and we watched him change from a hardworking Philadelphia Firefighter to a hardworking, loving Grand pop to us and our younger cousins. If you could ask me to write you a description for a better Pop-Pop, I couldn’t do it. He said “Philadelphia ‘Iggles.” That’s actually how he talked. He was someone who genuinely cared about other people. He smelled like Halls cough drops, which he always had a pocket full of. He loved his grandkids, and we all loved him back.

The funeral was quite an experience in itself since I had only been to one before, when I was around 7 or 8. We all stood around the open casket, holding each other tightly. He looked peaceful and almost healthy since he wasn’t sick. His relative healthiness at the time made him simply look like he was sleeping. We took our seats in the front of the church, some of us already sobbing, and others, including myself, just sat there quietly, not knowing what to do. We still discussed how he really just looked like he was sleeping, and my 13 year old cousin giggled to herself as she said “well how would we know, we never really did watch him sleep.”

It was that kind of humor that saved me, and especially my 15 year old cousin who was the closest to my Pop-Pop. He spent my Pop-Pop’s last day out on a boat with him. He was there for his last moments. He didn’t want to be touched. He didn’t want to be talked to, and he certainly didn’t want to laugh. That all changed with the first joke. Someone else made a sarcastic comeback and before you knew it, my sister, cousins and I, all in the same row in the church, absent of adult supervision, were laughing. We were actually giggling to ourselves. Quietly, obviously, still aware of where we were, but we started to self-medicate, as I’ve realized my family so often does, with humor.

We were all still so sad, and we still are to this day, but we bonded together. As the mass ended, I couldn’t get the image of my little cousin making silly jokes out of my head, and I realized something. It was that kind of humor that fit my family so perfectly, and made the quote on his funeral mass card so touching. It was a quote that I had never heard before, by Isla Paschal Richardson, which read “Grieve not, nor speak of me with tears, but laugh, and talk of me as if I were beside you. I loved you so—‘twas heaven here with you.”

My Pop Pop’s funeral was one of the very few times I ever really cried in public. It started as we placed roses on the casket after carrying it to the cemetery across the street. There were so many people there that we ran out of roses, and people started walking up two to each rose. It hurt, but was so incredibly healing. In the months since then, I have learned so much about my family, but more importantly about life. We all miss my Pop-Pop, so much so that it still hurts when someone walks by me with cough drops in their mouth, and the smell hits me. However, I now know how lucky I am to have had him in my life to begin with. I know that so many people never knew that their Pop-Pop smelled like Halls, or never knew that he said ‘Iggles instead of Eagles. They never had a family that makes them crack up laughing at the hardest time of their lives. Every day I walk past that moldy bench and I think about how lucky I am to have ever known what it felt like to have somebody to miss. Losing someone taught me that hurting like this is a privilege that not everybody gets to experience.

Flashback Assignment: “So You Think You’ve Run out of Sports to Watch?”

By Frank Lippincott, Nick Carson, Peter Bezek, Tyler Buranich and Zachary Campbell

It goes without saying that Americans are just a bit obsessed with our sports.  With NFL fans painting their bodies only to stand in freezing temperatures, and NHL fans throwing lifeless sea creatures onto the ice in celebration, it’s quite clear that one thing that Americans can get is crazy.  However, when you take a little time to dig, it’s quite obvious that our obsession with football, baseball, basketball, and hockey (what most consider the four major sports) barely scratches the surface of the sporting events out there.  So now, we present to you, 10 of the most unique and possibly unknown sports that you probably don’t know so much about.

“If you’re going to become true dodgeballers, then you’ve got to learn the five d’s of dodgeball: dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge,” said legendary coach Patches O’Houlihan in the movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.

The stigma surrounding dodgeball, our first unique sport, is that it is played by young boys in gym class to wean out the weaker kids with rubber balls. Though this is not incorrect (we’ve all been there), it has evolved into a sport people can play at an older age too. The general nostalgia alone intrigues the masses to participate in a sport they felt no longer privy to play.

“I joined my university’s dodgeball team,” said Gregory Tate a member of the Scruff Daddy Dodgers. “I mean, the last time I played was in grade school. I couldn’t wait to get out there and hit some nerds in the face.”

The sport has evolved into a recreational sport greater than ever imagined. The rules are significantly different than in grammar school. The National Dodgeball league has regulated the rules in order to keep a universal understanding for the sport. Essentially, if you get hit, you’re out. If you catch it, the person who threw it is out and a member of your team can return. Matches can get intense, considering the game is never over until all players are out.

For a short stint, “Extreme Dodgeball” was televised on Game Show network. The National Dodgeball League hosts several cities as competitors in their league. They seem to be the most organized of the dodgeball leagues. The Philadelphia Justice and Las Vegas Vipers are teams in the NDL. With a steady uptick of colleges and universities participating in intramural dodgeball, the sport is on the rise.

Our second unknown sport comes on the average sidewalk or street in the American suburb, in longboarding.  Popular among college kids and adrenaline junkies, long boarding is exploding across the country. These oversized skateboards range from 30-50 inches long, have soft, doughy wheels, and solid metal trucks built for speed. While popular among many college kids as a quick commute to class, or a recreational activity to do while space cased, a niche group of longboard aficionados see this new recreation as a lifestyle.  Fitted with full face helmets and slider gloves, these need-for-speed junkies bomb hills and race, searching for top speed and cheap thrills. Also popular among surfers as a cross training activity, longboarding is a #trending new way to stay fit and go green. These burly boards can be relatively safe for an experienced rider, but a novice boarder may be at risk of becoming the next popular Youtube video star for carelessly bombing a hill with no knowledge of how to slow down, dreadfully speedwobbling full speed to eminent pavement plunge.

The next not-so-average sport takes us away from the neighborhood and out to a few exotic locations: Slacklining.  This hybrid workout of balance beam and trampoline is blowing up across America. From beaches, to college quads, to the middle of the forrest, a slack line can be set up virtually anywhere with two bases to tie the line. Usually made of nylon, these flexible lines are flexible and flat, and “slackers” use many forms of lining, from freestlye, urban, and trick lining to stay fit and have a blast. Some slackers even prefer to use slacklining as a form of yoga to relieve stress and increase core body strength. While the origins of slacklining are unknown, many believe it was started by california hikers to pass time and practicing balance and focus. Also popular in Europe, there are now slacklining contests and exhibitions at venues like the traveling extreme sports tour The Dew Tour.

Our next sport is one that has seen it’s share of national attention lately, but one that many don’t fully understand.  Rugby hasn’t been the most popular sport in America, but it is undoubtedly on the rise in America. With a solid infrastructure being established, it has seen a substantial increase in popularity and involvement. Popularity is due in part by the consistent work of the Rugby union governed by USA Rugby; roughly 450,000 players are registered through the organization.

“Action is constant,” Devon Somma, a Kutztown University Rugby player explains. “The intensity is always high, and people constantly hit each other. What is there for American’s not to like?”

For those unfamiliar with the sport, essentially it’s football without forward passing. There are stoppages that look similar to the line of scrimmage. The other major difference is that you can kick the ball at anytime. Action doesn’t cease for a kick. Ideally, it’s football with less stopping and only backward laterals.

Some people believe the sport will not catch in the USA. From the Bleacher Report, Dmitriy Ioselevich believes the sport doesn’t have enough star power. It is too team oriented. My argument to that is, the NBA has been notable for mainly star-powered teams. However, people were no less deterred to watch the sport hen the Pistons had their championship runs, and they exhibited great team work.

Regardless of the naysayers, the NFL has taken notice of the increase in popularity. Considering just %1.7 of college football players make the NFL, an opportunity arises to give these tremendous athletes a chance to compete in a different sport: Rugby. With press coverage at an all time high (the NCAA finals were televised nationally on ESPN), the opportunities are endless. Let’s not forget, the US is likely to host the 2023 and 2027 Rugby World Cup. An upswing in popularity is in the near future, undoubtedly.

With the name Ultimate, our next sport obviously is quite unique, and it really does live up to it’s name.  Ultimate provides a unique combination of the speed and explosive cutting of football, the vertical play and quickness of basketball, and, the endurance and passing of soccer. All of this, and instead of playing with a ball, the competitors are throwing a disc. The sport is more commonly known as Ultimate Frisbee, however, that is not the sport’s name. The term Frisbee is owned by the Wham-O Toy Company, so the sport had to change its name to just ultimate to avoid paying royalties.

The two teams stand at opposite end zones and try to advance the disc into the other end zone. Play begins when one throws the disc to the other. The team that receives the disc then must try to move the disc by only passing it to one another. That means when a player catches the disc they cannot move. If they drop the disc or a defender intercepts a pass, the disc now goes to the opposing team who then tries to score.

Ultimate has dramatically increased in popularity over the years. Ultimate is played in more than 42 countries. Nationally, more than 700 colleges have an Ultimate team.  The Ultimate Player’s Association, the governing body for the sport in the United States, has nearly 30,000 members, and college Ultimate memberships increased from 9,951 in 2004 to 16,508 in 2011. The sport also has two professional leagues, Major League Ultimate and the American Ultimate Disc League.

Keeping up with sports played with Frisbees, Disc Golf is a sport that pretty much what it sounds like. The participants take their disc and try to hit a target within the least amount of throws possible. It is the same as getting the ball in the hole for golf. The number of disc golf courses doubled from 2000 to 2008. The game is played in about 40 countries around the world. The Professional Disc Golf Association has reported to having more than 40,000 members, and is the governing body for the sport and sanctions competitive events for men and women of every skill level from novice to professional.

Just like golf, courses are usually 18 holes and they are popping up in parks all over the country. Another plus, is that most of these courses are free to play on, making it accessible for anybody who can get their hands on a disc. The PDGA has even created resources for the design and installation of new disc golf courses, to ensure their success in communities all over the country.

Another interesting rising sports comes from a group of over 300 colleges and Universities, who are members of the International Quidditch Association(IQA).  The league, founded in 2005 by Middlebury College students, contains schools not only from the United States, but also college students from 12 other countries.  The teams play for their own version of the “Quidditch World Cup” from the J.K. Rowling Harry Potter series.  This year’s world cup will be held on April 5 and 6 in North Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Quidditch in colleges is still growing, especially in Division II schools, who have seen more and more people coming out for teams, since its inception 3 seasons ago.  The team, which are open to any interested students, regardless of the Harry Poter fan status, are drawing increasingly bigger crowds.

With a student made schedule, the IQA is definitely a league that is student-athlete friendly.  While the matches might not last for hours or even days like they do in Rowling’s series, some of the rules are very similar.  Students do have to hold a broom in between their legs for the entire match, scoring is still done by throwing the quaffle through a series of three hoops, and the golden snitch is still in the game.

The snitch, which is a tiny gold ball caught by the seeker to win the match, is one of the more interesting aspects of the “muggle” version of Quidditch.  In the matches, a student wearing bright yellow has the snitch tucked into their belt.  The match begins with that student running out of the stadium where the match is actually being held, with the seekers, who previously had their eyes covered, soon following in an attempt to find and catch the snitch.

The next unique sport, which has gained popularity through its appearances on Comedy Central’s Tosh.O, is the wild and dangerous world of Parkour.  With its origins trailing all the way across the ocean to France, the agile sport has become more and more popular among college students in America.

The extreme sport is believed to be founded by David Belle, the son of Raymond Belle, who invented a new form of training by climbing trees and hurtling obstacles at the young age of 7, when he was orphaned.  David began to Parkour in public in the late 1990s, and over the next two decades the sport has become a hit.  Its unique mix of extreme physicality and balance paired with the fact that it one of the only sports you can “play” alone or with a group of people has made it so successful.  Locally, Kutztown University has even seen the formation of a Parkour club, with more and more students practicing their skills around campus walkways, railings and anything else they can jump on or over.

We have officially entered the world of silly for our final two sports.  We now present: Chessboxing.  It’s brain versus brawn is as old as the biblical tale of David and Goliath. None have taken this theme more to heart than Dutchman Iepe Rubingh, Chessboxing founder. Rubingh has essentially created the greatest test of man and dressed it up with the flare of a discothèque rave. It’s no wonder then that chessboxing is storming Europe like the blitzkrieg, especially among Germans with whom its popularity is only rivaled by that of David Hasselhoff.

A chessboxing match consists of 11 alternating rounds—six of chess and five of boxing.  Like all reputable sports, chessboxing has rules. A victor is decided by checkmate, knockout, if a participant goes over the allotted 12 minutes for chess, or by a judge’s decision. Rounds are signaled by raucous techno music and a light display that, with more funding, could resemble a Pink Floyd laser show. I’m looking at you World Chessboxing Organization.  If this doesn’t sound like the greatest thing to happen to sports since the White Sox signing Michael Jordan, I don’t know what is.

Europe isn’t the only country catching chessboxing fever. The United States is playing catch-up like so many times before. The Los Angeles Chesboxing Club is taking the United States’ one-upmanship to new heights. Not only are they breeding champion chessboxers, but all fights are “dedicated to supporting charities and helping people who learn to chessbox become superheroes in their communities by fighting for philanthropy!” That’s right, Europe. You fight for sport. We fight for philanthropy, because we take care of our own.  ‘Merica.

The traditional roles in courting include bashful flirting, a first date, a first kiss, consummation and tying the knot—arrange the order as fits your scenario. After formally being married, the tradition remains that a husband should carry his wife across the threshold of their home or honeymoon suite to symbolize their new life together.  Equally as symbolic, both parties must avoid the peril of traumatic brain injury and hiatal hernia. Why are we discussing courtship in an article about unique sports?  The answer comes in the fact that the fun doesn’t have to stop there (we’re not referring to your life becoming a drag after marriage). If you succeeded as a team in crossing the threshold the first time, then why not do it again? This time, forget the door and add sand, water and fences into the mix.

Competitive wife carrying (yes, you read that right) is growing in popularity in the United States where three events are held annually, but the sport remains predominantly popular in Finland, home to the Wife Carrying World Championships and where the sport originated. How does someone have such a stroke of genius, you ask? By amalgamating a 19th century legend in which men stole wives from neighboring villages and a second tale about outlaw Rosvo-Ronkainen who made prospective soldiers carry weighted sacks during a race to prove their worth.

As if bragging rights about how fast you can sprint with your wife on your back wasn’t enough, the Finns have added the mother of all prizes—your wife’s weight in beer.   Suddenly, you’ve got husbands sprinting to the finish line like a stampede of water buffalo through the canyons of Pride Rock.  This is also good news for beer-swilling husbands across the United States, where beer-bellies account for the sixth highest rate of obesity in the world.  That’s right, we have found you a sport where you can win and shout out “Hooray beer!” just as we say “Hooray” to the weird, the unique and the fantastic world of these unknown sports.

The Freedom to Be Offensive: Why it is so important to defend both the tasteful and offensive

The issue of freedom of speech is something that you could say is under daily attack.  Not in a physical way such as the recent attack in France, where people were actually injured and lost their lives, but in a more cultural way, where we gradually give up a freedom that our founding fathers fought so hard for.

It may sound a bit ridiculous to say that we (Americans) are giving up our freedom of speech, and I imagine most people would read that sentence and groan to themselves, “Ugh.  Another millennial who thinks he has such a great cause and is smarter than everyone else.”  Just hear me out for a minute.  We live in a world where everyone’s thoughts can be heard.  Thanks to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media outlets, it has never been easier to have an original idea spread so quickly.  Anyone can generate content, and not just some meaningless little paragraph that they wrote in their mom’s basement.  Blogs are legitimate news sources, and you don’t necessarily have to have a degree in order to have your ideas taken seriously.

So I can hear you asking, how is this limiting our freedom of speech?  It sounds to me like this is an example of the exact opposite.  It isn’t.  We live in a time that has seen some truly disturbing behaviors in our attitude towards speech, in our treatment of those who express unpopular opinions.

For example: Anthony Cumia.  The former Disc Jockey and half of the controversial SiriusXM show “The Opie and Anthony Show” was fired over the summer for tweeting racial topics that he discussed on air daily, after being assaulted by an African American woman in Times Square.  Cumia, noted critic of the African American culture, said things in his tweets that it would be hard, probably more like impossible, for most to say they agree with or defend in any way, but that is exactly the speech that we must make an effort to defend.  Freedom of speech does not mean people are free to say things as long as you agree with them.  Freedom of speech means that you have a right to voice an opinion, no matter how unpopular it may be.

In a time when you can easily find one million articles supporting your opinions, it is important for us to also defend the million articles that express the exact opposite opinions.  Someone, somewhere thinks that what you agree with is offensive and harmful.  The difference between a civilized society and a barbaric one is that one defends speech, even if some consider it offensive, while the other blows up the buildings of the people who wrote what they didn’t agree with.

Flashback Writing Assignment: The Power of Sports (Advanced Magazine Writing, 12/6/13)

There are many different ways for people to connect, but one that often goes under the radar is sports. Just this year there was a fantastic example of this happening, in the Boston Bruins game after the bombing of the Boston Marathon on April 15th. That morning, the United States was shocked into a fear that was almost as bad, if not just as bad, as the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. Although the mad men responsible for the act were caught within 24 hours, the country was in a state of extreme fear, and needed something to bond over, fast. I’ll never forget sitting at home, following the progress of the capture on Twitter, and then wondering what it meant for our country. Then came a hockey game which was scheduled to take place on the night of the attack. Boston’s TD Garden was packed with Bruins fans holding American flags and signs thanking Boston Police and Fire Fighters. My brother and I, still at college preparing for finals, listened to the game on the radio, in anticipation of any tribute to the victims of the bombing. Sure enough a video tribute came, which we didn’t see until it hit YouTube the next day, but we did hear Bruins National Anthem singer Rene Rancourt leading Boston in one of the most inspiring renditions of the song we had ever heard. My brother and I sat there with tears in our eyes, as did the rest of the country, in awe of the powerful moment. It didn’t matter if you were a Bruins fan or a Sabres fan that night. The entire country bonded over our love of sports, a welcomed distraction from the horrible real world at the time. Bruins head coach Claude Gulian summed it up perfectly, when he was quoted saying “we have the ability to help people heal, and find some reason to smile again, by representing our city properly.”

Another example of this great bonding that occurs through sports came in October of 2008, when the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series for the first time since 1980. It was my cities first championship in my short 17 years of life at the time, and until our next championship it will be a unique experience that nothing can come close to touching. As an avid hockey fan, baseball comes a little down the line of sports that I am a fan of, but as the Phillies made their push in the playoffs, all of my friends and family became big fans. As late October came, my parents and even my 10 year old sister sat on the edge of our seats as Brad Lidge stepped to the plate to finish the final inning. He had been prefect in the regular season and playoffs. None of us wanted to say it, but deep down inside, we knew we were going to win. My brother nearly missed it, as he came running in the door from work just in time for the final pitch, and Lidge struck out the last batter. We all cheered as we heard the late Harry Kalas’ great call: “The 0-2 pitch — swing and a miss, struck him out! The Philadelphia Phillies are 2008 World Champions of baseball! Brad Lidge does it again, and stays perfect for the 2008 season! 48-for-48 in save opportunities, and let the city celebrate!” The next day, as my brother and I walked home from our bus stop, both wearing Phillies shirts, people drove down the street, still honking and cheering. All this excitement and we weren’t even at the parade yet.

Halloween was the day that the Phillies held their championship parade, and my brother and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. For years I had watched videos of the 1974 Flyers parade, in all its pandemonium and I had to be a part of this. Just about everyone I knew skipped school that day, though it was just my brother and I on our particular train. Two rambunctious fans took their seats in front of us, talking about how great their “coffee” was at 9 in the morning. Halfway there, one got a text wishing him a Happy Halloween. “Who the fuck knows it’s Halloween today?!” he said loudly, with my brother and I cracking up and agreeing. As we finally made it to Suburban Station, I remember thinking how oddly quiet it was, especially once we walked up the steps to be outside in center city. “Ok…something’s up. Where is everybody?” I said to my brother. However, as we walked towards Broad Street, I began to hear the most amazing sound I’ve heard to this day. The closer we got, the louder it got. Cheering isn’t an accurate word to describe the fans that we heard. Cheering is something you do at your cousins little league game. This was a fantastic roar. I doubt I’ll ever hear a noise as powerful as this ever again in my life. We were about 200 yards away from Broad Street. When the parade finally made it our way, we could barely even see Ryan Howard holding up the World Series trophy, but that didn’t matter. We didn’t need to see anything, we were just there to be with our family. We were there to be in love with people we had never met.

Despite how amazing the Phillies parade was, there is one other sporting experience that I know I share with real sports fans, whether they realize it or not. Sports have helped me bond with family members in a way that I couldn’t imagine until they were gone. I realized this fact this past August, just a few short months ago, when my Pop-Pop died suddenly of a heart attack. He was in relatively good health for his age, and the loss shocked everyone in my family. We had been extremely lucky in not really losing any other close family members before. However, in typical grieving fashion, I began to try to focus on just the fond memories and I realized that my happiest times with my late grandfather had all been centered on sports. Just about every party or get together at their house would start the same, with hellos and hugs at the door, but my twin brother Matt, my father Mike, my Uncles Charlie and Eddie, his son Eddie Jr., and my Pop-Pop would always end up in the living room, away from the girls, watching football. It was here that something amazing happened. Something that I’m not sure could happen in any other situation in life. The six of us, ranging in age from 10 years old to 70 years old, would all be on the same level. It didn’t matter if I had an opinion about a play, or Eddie Jr. schooled me about a rule I had never heard of, we were all equal. I was on the same level as my Pop-Pop who had spent more than three times my lifetime watching football, and it was an amazing feeling. For that short period of time, we were all equals.

Sports are a rare glimpse into the best of humanity. They are a way to connect with people with the same common goal, even if it is through a thick layer of hate in a heated sports rivalry. They are a great reminder that although life may get really hard, there is always something to cheer about. Watching sports and being a part of something like a World Series parade is a fantastic way to realize that you have as many friends as you want, and that you share a bond with potentially millions of people. Most importantly, sports are a way to create the best memories of your life, with people you’ve just met, people you call friends, and people you will love until the day that you die.

Flashback Keystone Article: Two KU Football Players Arrested and Four Suspended in Bloomsburg Fight (3/6/14)

Link to Article on Keystone Website: http://thekeystonenews.com/2014/03/06/two-ku-football-players-arrested-and-four-suspended-in-bloomsburg-fight/

Two KU football players have been arrested and charged with aggravated assault as well as charges of simple assault, disorderly conduct and defiant trespass for their involvement in a fight that took place at a fraternity party near Bloomsburg University early Sunday, Feb. 23. Another two football players were suspended from the team, but have not faced criminal charges.

Angel Shakiel Cruz was the first to be arrested late Thursday night, followed by Justin Scott Wieder, who was arrested early Saturday morning. Eric Thomas Condron and Jake Bryan Wygant were not arrested, but all were suspended from the Golden Bears football team, according to a statement issued by Kutztown University Relations.

As reported by Manuel Gamiz Jr. of The Morning Call, the fight allegedly began when the KU football players came to a closed frat party at an off-campus house on North Iron Street in Bloomsburg, Pa. When the four were asked to leave, things turned physical, and according to the criminal complaint, became a brawl when Wieder allegedly knocked out Bloomsburg student Ryan Palko.
Bloomsburg students Christopher Messano and Donald Hoover were also injured outside the party. Messano, who later identified his attacker as Cruz, was punched in the face, and Hoover suffered a ruptured eardrum and a fractured bone behind his ear.

According to witnesses, as the fight spilled onto the street, another Bloomsburg student, Jackie Lithgrow, attempted to break it up. As he asserted himself into the fight, Cruz allegedly punched him in the head, knocking him to the ground. According to hospital reports, Lithgrow hit the back of his head on the concrete, causing him to be knocked unconscious.

Since the fight, Lithgrow has not regained consciousness, and remains in critical condition at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Montour County, where he was immediately flown after the fight. He is reported to have suffered a fractured skull, a bruised frontal lobe and has bleeding in his brain.

Police have reported that several witnesses have identified the KU football players as the attackers. Several reported being punched and kicked by the alleged assailants. All of the alleged attackers fled the scene before police arrived.

KU was quick to respond to the situation and aided in the arrest of both Cruz and Wieder. “We have fully cooperated with the authorities in Bloomsburg in their investigation. This is clearly behavior that we will not tolerate and is in no way representative of our student body,” said Matt Santos, Director of Kutztown University Relations.

KU Student Government Board (SGB) president Nick Imbesi made his opinion on the matter clear in a Facebook status posted just hours after the news of the first arrest. “As President of the KU Student Body and the KU Student Government Board, I want to make clear that these actions from a few students do not reflect the morality or ethics of our students. We stand strongly against such actions and we are ashamed of the decisions these students made. I am advocating for the removal of the students involved from our campus because our campus has no place for this type of behavior,” Imbesi wrote.

On Feb 5, Cruz waived a misdemeanor simple assault charge and charges of harassment and disorderly conduct in Berks County court, which stem from an event that occurred last October.

As of Tuesday, March 4, neither Cruz nor Wieder have legal representation listed in court documents, as they await trial in this case.

Flashback Kutztown Assignment: “Pumpkin Picking” (2014 WRI 100 Fall Break Assignment)

I’m a sucker for a cheesy date, so when my girlfriend, Rachel, suggested that we go pick pumpkins at Styer Orchard I was eager to say yes.  I had limited memories of going to pumpkin patches as a kid, but had never been to one as an adult.  I know a story my family tells of me spilling apple cider all over myself (and my Aunt Lynne’s car) when I was a kid after going on a tractor ride, but I barely remember it actually happening.  Stories like that came from when my twin brother and I were kids, and for whatever reason my family has since nearly stopped participating in typical holiday outings like picking pumpkins in October, or cutting down our own Christmas trees in December.

It turned out to be a perfect autumn day that Sunday morning.  I had work from 7am-3pm that morning, but my excitement made the usually quick shift seem to take forever.  I knew I was making a huge deal out of what was essentially an extraordinarily average event, but I didn’t care.  I’ve always been the type to get carried away in a moment, no matter how insignificant it is.  I was also excited because, much like my dad, I am not excited by months that see temperatures above 70 degrees.  I am much more of a fall and winter fan, and this was exactly my type of day.  If it’s cold enough outside for people to wear coats, I’m comfortable in a sweatshirt and jeans.  It was a day taken straight out of a post card, and I was trapped inside a security booth for eight hours.

At 2:53pm, when I could finally sign out, I was on my way.  I rushed out the door, hopped into my car and drove home to get a quick shower before Rachel would be over.  I couldn’t decide if I wanted to wear an old zip-up sweatshirt or one of my warm, flannel shirts that I had gotten for Christmas last year.  I like the way the flannel shirts look on me, but in a rush I decided to go with the sweatshirt, just in case it wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be.  As I pulled up the zipper, I heard Rachel’s car outside.

Rocky, my three-year-old yellow lab, loves to greet people at our front door, so trying to keep him calm while I opened the door was second nature.  As Rachel got out of her car she smiled and gave me an awkward wave and I gave her one back, in one of those weird but unique greetings every couple has.  After briefly greeting Rocky, Rachel made a point to admire my family’s recently displayed Halloween decorations and we headed to her car.

Growing up I thought that the man in a relationship always drives, since my dad insists on driving everywhere, but Rachel dispelled that myth for me quite early in our relationship.  Most of the time she’s more than happy to drive us somewhere, considering the fact that she drives a relatively new Pontiac G6, while I drive my mom’s old Mercury Sable, which recently lost its rear view mirror and has 153,000 miles on it.  Also, Rachel doesn’t exactly react well to my driving, which is admittedly speedy at times.

Being someone who loves this time of year so much, I’m lucky enough to live in Bucks County, which, in my opinion, happens to be one of the best places to experience fall.  I was reminded of this during the 20-minute trip.  I live just ten minutes from Philadelphia, but my drive to just about anywhere I need to go is lined with trees and multiple public parks.  It’s a rare occasion for me to go somewhere and not pass a family walking their dog or joggers taking advantage of the weather and the view, and our ride to Styer Orchard was no different.

The passing trees were an amazing blend of red, orange and yellow, and it was just the right temperature to crack the windows.  Rachel was singing along to some pop song, and was surprised when I said I had never hear it.  “You’ve definitely heard this song before,” she insisted.  I laughed and quickly answered, “I don’t listen to this station!  I listen to my podcasts.  I have no idea who this even is.”  After some silence, I said, “I always forget how much I like the scenery this time of year.”  She answered with a confused, “Yea?”

One of the things I love about Rachel is that even after a year of dating I’ve learned that we have so many things in common, but we also have an equal number of things that we don’t have in common.  She shrugged off my comment about the scenery and began to tell me about the kids in her new classroom at her new temporary teaching job, but my mind wondered. I couldn’t help but take in the scenery and appreciate the beauty of the dying leaves.  It truly joyed me to think that soon I’d be outside raking leaves in the cool weather with Rocky watching from the window wondering what I was doing.  Visions of more frequent deer sightings on my daily drive brought a smile to my face.  Soon my ten-minute walk from Spanish class at Bucks County Community College to Tyler State Park, where I park my car to avoid paying for a parking permit, would come with a side of two or three bucks watching me along the way.  I thought to myself, before you know it, there will be snow on the ground and these long roads will be lined with snowmen.  I thought all of this and wondered if Rachel had spent any of her adult life appreciating the scenery that was literally just outside our doors.  My speculation was confirmed when she caught me staring out the window at the trees and said, “I mean it’s nice I guess.  I like swimming weather better.”

“Turn right on Styer Lane in 0.2 miles.  Your destination will be on the right,” my British voiced Siri told us.  As we pulled in we saw tons of wide eyed kids and laughing parents carrying pumpkins of all sizes.  Some were so small that they were surely for indoor decoration, but some were so big that adult men needed help carrying them.  As we got out, a man walked by with a wagon carrying a pumpkin that had to have been four feet wide.  “I’m getting one like that,” I said to Rachel, who immediately laughed and answered, “Yea, ok, have fun carrying it in the wagon that we don’t have.”

We still had a bit of a walk to get to the main entrance, but to our left we could see the fields with tractors pulling families to their destination.  We didn’t mind the long walk in the perfect weather, and used that time to talk about what our pumpkin carvings would be.  “Historically I’ve been pretty ambitious with my carvings,” I told Rachel, “but this year I think I’m going to do something simple and take my time with it.”  She laughed at me over-thinking the decision and said, “I have no idea what I’m going to do.  I have to do some Googling when we get back.”  I replied, “I don’t know either, but I’m definitely going to be picky about my pumpkin.  It’s going to be a good one.”

I couldn’t wait to take in the whole experience.  I loved the thought of smelling the tractor’s burning diesel.  I especially looked forward to holding Rachel close to me on the bumpy ride, with her head resting on my shoulder.  I imagined the sound of the hard straw under my feet and kids laughing in the distance, bragging about who could carry the biggest pumpkin.  Again, I remembered that what I was fantasizing about was something so simple and not unique in any way, but it didn’t stop my excitement.

As we walked up a hill and finally got to the main entrance, we unexpectedly saw hundreds of pumpkins stacked on long rows of tables and a sign that said “Last pumpkin patch tractor ride, 4pm.  Orchard closes at 6pm.”  I looked at my watch and realized that we had missed it.  “Well, we can just pick one of these!” Rachel said without a second thought, pointing to the hundreds of pumpkins right in front of our eyes.  “Oh yea, those will work,” I said, and within ten minutes, we were back in the car, pumpkins in the trunk, on our way home.

Flashback Keystone Article: “Local Chile Pepper Festival Spices up Community” (9/2/2014)

Link to Edited Article on Keystone Website: http://thekeystonenews.com/2014/09/02/local-chile-pepper-festival-in-bowers-spices-up-community/

If you leave from KU, take Trexler Avenue with Keystone Field on your left and Keystone Arena on your right. Hang a right on Noble Street, drive for about two miles and it will turn into N. Main Street. Make a left onto Fleetwood Road, and then a right on State Route 1013. Drive for about a mile and you will be there.

“There” is Bowers, Pa., a little town 4.4 miles from KU, with a population of just 326, and it happens to have the biggest chile pepper festival of the east coast.

It is the perfect spot for a cheap, fun time for just about anyone, especially empty-pocketed college students looking to escape their residence halls for a day or two.

The annual Bowers Chile Pepper Festival began in 1996, and will be held on Sept. 5 and 6 this year.

The festival features multiple activities for guests of all ages, including live music by Acoustic Roadshow, a horse and carriage excursion of the chile pepper fields of Meadowview Farms, a jalapeño-eating contest and a salsa contest.

KU students and staff in particular may be interested in the festival’s salsa, which has connections to KU through Jim DeLong.

DeLong not only manages the local attraction Crystal Cave, but is the husband of KU English Professor, Dr. Anne DeLong.

DeLong has been attending and selling salsa at the festival since its inception 18 years ago.

“My partner Chris Grace and I make salsa as a hobby,” DeLong said. “We attended a meeting in Bowers 18 years ago regarding interest in starting a Chile pepper festival. We have been vending at the festival as “DeGra’s Salsa” since it began in 1996.”

When asked why he thinks the once tiny festival has become so popular, DeLong said it is the variety of the festival that is its biggest attraction

“[The festival offers] different varieties of food, featuring all kinds of hot peppers. There are also craft vendors,” DeLong said.

The festival not only hosts salsa vendors, but includes a salsa contest, which began accepting applicants on Aug. 15.

The contest accepts the first 30 applicants who can bring their salsa, which cannot be produced or packaged commercially in any way.

According to the festival’s website, pepperfestival.com, judges then ranks the salsa on a scale of one to 10 for appearance, heat as it relates to the balance of flavor and texture.

Applications can be sent by email to chilepepperfestival@hotmail.com.

Last year’s winner, James Herron, ate 163 grams of jalapeño to take home the trophy.The festival’s jalapeño-eating contest, one of its biggest attractions, will take place on Sept. 6th at 4 p.m.

The horse and carriage field excursion takes place on both days of the festival and leads guests through fields of thousands of peppers. Guests will see a variety of peppers, ranging from the average bell pepper to the infamous ghost pepper. While on the trip, guests can also pick their own peppers.

Admission to the Bowers Chile Pepper Festival is by donation, making this nationally recognized festival a gem hidden in the emptiness that Berks County can sometimes prove to be.

Whether you are a daring hot pepper fanatic, or just like a bit of fresh bell pepper in your salad for lunch and some live music with the locals, this festival is the place to be.

Flashback Keystone Article: “Bloomsburg Student Makes Progress” (11/20/2014)

Link to edited version on Keystone Website: http://thekeystonenews.com/2014/11/20/bloomsburg-student-makes-progress/

Bloomsburg University student Jackie Lithgow was left in a medically induced coma with a significant portion of his skull removed after a February frat house brawl involving former KU football players Angel Cruz and Justin Wieder.  KU students Eric Condron and Jake Wygant were also initially thought to be involved in the altercation, but have since been cleared of any wrongdoing.  Eight long months later, the Lithgow family uses their blog, prayforjackie.com to show nothing but hope for his continuing recovery.

“The blog has been an amazing source of therapy for my mom and the community,” said Linsdsay Lithgow, Jackie’s sister, while discussing how big of an impact public support has had on her family.  The Lithgow family has received multiple forms of support, through comments on websites, a gofundme page to raise money and even attention from the Philadelphia Flyers, Jackie’s favorite hockey team, who held a special meeting with the Lithgow family at the Wells Fargo Center.  “The local community papers and websites plus campus articles have all helped tremendously in the awareness of his situation,” Lindsay said.

Lithgow’s story has seen a recent surge in attention due to the fact that Angel Cruz, the former KU football player who threw the punch that delivered severe brain damage to Lithgow, pled guilty to simple assault on Monday, Nov. 10.  As reported by BloomUToday, District Attorney Tom Leipold has vowed to seek the maximum punishment in Cruz’s plea.  According to FindLaw.com, a simple assault charge in Pennsylvania lacks the evidence of an “extreme indifference to human life” that an aggravated assault charge carries.  In that lack of evidence for an aggravated assault charge, Cruz escaped a possible 10-20 years in prison.

According to BloomUToday, Cruz told Judge Gary Norton that “things got out of hand” the night of the brawl.  On that night Cruz posted a tweet, which has since been deleted, which read, “Everybody dies someday.”

Another former KU football player, Justin Wieder, is at home awaiting trial on simple assault charges after posting $100,000 cash bail.  According to The Sentinel, witnesses say Wieder started the brawl and injured Donald Hoover, another Bloomsburg student, by kicking him in the head.

Lindsay Lithgow expressed the “bittersweet” feeling her family has about Cruz’s guilty plea.  “Even if it ended up not being as long of a sentence as I would have hoped for in this case, I think it is the best possible outcome.  It was a senseless act of violence that should never have happened and I hope this is the last time it does.  The closure this brings of that horrific night is beyond words and it is such a relief to close the door on that chapter.  Now we can truly focus on moving forward,” Lindsay said.

According to Lindsay and the family’s blog posts, Jackie has come a long way from the medically induced coma he was initially placed in.  He has made great strides towards normalcy, even in something as simple as recognizing the color of a pen, and doing simple multiplication problems.

“There were moments in the beginning of this marathon where the doctors told us he may not have a chance of making it through the day, so we would go hour by hour hoping for the best and wishing for another moment with him.  At one point we were told that he may wake up and not remember our names or who we were, and that he could easily disappear into a different personality than the Jackie we knew before.  Now, he has run through hell and back and somehow has managed to keep his sense of humor, sarcastic remarks that only a sister and friends could love, plus a new laughter that is so contagious that you can’t help but smile next to him,” Lindsay said.

The family has often described the eight months since the February brawl as a marathon, due to the fact that Jackie’s long recovery is more of a marathon than a sprint.

Lindsay also said that she is proud of Jackie and her entire family for never letting negativity win in such a terrible situation.  “It’s so hard to see your little brother struggle to do everyday tasks that we all take for granted, and in moments like that it’s very hard to stay true to a positive outlook on everything, but in the end it has absolutely helped hold us together,” Lindsay said.  She also pointed out that it has been a struggle to balance the positivity with the grieving of losing her brother as the person he was before his injuries, but she said it is for Jackie that she learned to love the “little happy triumphs more than wallowing in the surprise sinkholes of recovery.”

Lindsay and the entire Lithgow family remain positive that despite the long marathon, Jackie will return to as normal of a life as possible.  “He’ll go back to college one day, he’ll fall in love, he’ll have a family and he’ll be a part of the world like everyone else.  It’s just going to take him a little longer to get there,” Lindsay said.