Tag Archive: Liberty University
Even though I’m a fully grown mammal with an unkempt beard, I’m not too grown to play hide and seek especially when I’m chasing after some girls. Song playing is “Alligator” by Tegan and Sara and props to Krysalee Reyes, Emily Davis and Morgan Patterson for the general direction and talent in this project. Now enjoy this lame ass video that will be forever attached to my heart.
AC Liberty radio is a podcast on everything soccer from the MLS, English Premier League to your own local soccer teams. It’s all just fun and critical discussions of the beautiful game. Today’s episode features controversial calls by refs in the EPL on some of Manchester United recent games. Are Man U getting a taste of their own medicine or have they’ve been unfairly singled out? Also, Vice Captain Greg Adejinle from Liberty University comes on the show to promote his intramural soccer team AC Liberty.
It may be intramurals but I take it seriously. There’s nothing like competing in your school league for the ultimate bragging rights to be immortalized in a T-shirt. So my friends and I founded AC Liberty, an intramural team for soccer. Since ACL’s establishment in 2009. One thing you need to know is that we are awesome.
This goes back to the time a lot of people wrote us off when we first started. FC Kozmos were the top dogs of the competition. So no team stood a chance. Despite that, we made it to finals our first year. We were also the very first team to ever knock them out in the finals stage. Unfortunately we disbanded the following year but have returned to glory for 2011.
During a regular season, other teams like to get matching jerseys with goofy team names but I wanted to go further than that. If we were going to get jerseys and be recognized as a legit team, why not create a logo as well?
As a result, I designed a team emblem and logo so people could identify us as a real soccer club with unique brand image. With the logo, I took a lot of inspiration from Roman, Latin and Greek symbols and old school crests. Even our motto in Latin reads “Inciter Champitus” which comes closest to ”aspring champions”
On the shield is artwork of David with a slingshot. That symbolizes our team as giant killers, underdogs and ready to take on any big challenge headed our way.
AC LIBERTY
IMS sports team celebrate their win after a soccer game
When logging in to Facebook and playing Xbox got boring, Liberty University Freshman Mario Evans figured he needed a better distraction. One that kept him fit and his senses sharp, so he decided to sign up with Liberty University’s (LU) Intramural Sports (IMS) program.
Evans played soccer in high school but never got to make the team so an opportunity that was as competitive seemed worthwhile.
“I play for the fun and to improve my skills as a soccer player,” Evans said. Most of the time, Evans is at the LU Indoor Soccer Complex making darting runs across the artificial turf field, pulling off quick dribbles with his lime-green Nike Mercurial cleats and taking vicious shots at the goalkeeper.
“For me, it’s the most free-flowing sport; I love the passion and energy in the game. I just love it,” Evans said.
IMS are organized recreational sports leagues that allow students at Liberty to participate in a variety of team and individual sports. Competition exists, but the real focus of intramural sports is health and exercise, social interaction, stress reduction, sportsmanship, and teamwork according to the Ultimate LU Web site. It has cemented itself as a natural and part of college life since 1986.
“The IMS program has allowed students the opportunity to participate in numerous sports leagues, alleviate stress from academics, and provides another chance to exercise,” IMS Supervisor Deanna Dewitt said who oversees and enforces the rules and regulations within IMS.
She has held this position since August 2009 but the first full-time employee position was not established until 2000. Dewitt was born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, FL. She attended Liberty University from 2005 and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sport Management and a minor in Business in May 2009. She is currently working on her MBA from Liberty as well. Over the years, IMS has expanded by adding new sports.
“We try to add sports that the students want to be involved in and with the highest interest,” Dewitt said.
Team sports ranging from Basketball, soccer, flag football, volleyball to softball rank as some of the most played in IMS.
She also added the IMS program strives to make noticeable improvements by updating and upgrading its facilities, adding new facilities and making other changes deemed necessary. “We really do our best to give students what they want,” Dewitt said.
“I heard they were going to add horseback riding, isn’t that crazy?” Freshman Carson Meares says to his friend.
“No man, somebody would fall and break their neck. It’s Student Activities that provide that,” Vincent To said, he also works as volleyball staff for IMS.
“Well, I still think it’d be cool if we had horseback riding,” Meares said with a chuckle.
Nonetheless, the IMS offers a vast array of sports that range from dodgeball, paintball to ultimate Frisbee.
Even though Evans enjoys playing intramural sports, he and other students feel that there is more room for improvement for IMS here at Liberty.
“I started playing this semester; I like it because everyone gets to play but the organization, the refs in particular show a lot of inexperience and that makes me angry sometimes. They could do better,” Evans said. Referees and regulations fair among the biggest complaints about IMS program.
“I swear some of the refs have it out for me and my team. Some of them are on an ego power trip so there is not much you can do,” Sophomore and basketball player Derick Robinson said, frustrated over a call he felt that cost his team a regular season game.
While IMS gives students the opportunities to be active and provides them with more things to do, another constraint may be the fact that there is always the factor of time-management. As a result, students have to prioritize.
“It interferes in a way because the games are set up during class times or conflict with class times. It’s hard because you really want to play. I even know some students who have skipped exams just to play a game. That’s really bad because for me, my academics come first,” Evans said.
Freshman and Evan’s teammate Gregory Adejinle also said the sportsmanship and behaviors of some other players are very hostile.
“I like to be competitive but there are some times when things get out of hand. Fights break out, people calling each other names, you can literally smell the hate between two teams when you are playing on the field and that’s sad, considering the fact that we are in a Christian school,” Adejinle said, reflecting on one time an opponent called him a faggot.
However, these are fairly common complaints, IMS has received its fair share of criticisms but the recreational organization looks for ways to always improve and that they always the enforce rules and regulation of IMS.
“We cannot make everyone happy with the decisions we choose [regarding the games]. However, our goal is to provide the best service possible to the student body,” Dewitt said after she and the IMS staff receive a flood-in of complaints about the refs and several regulations.
It is one of the stressful parts of her job but the staff Dewitt works with makes it all worthwhile. “It has been a pleasure working for the Intramural Sports staff thus far. Our staff is very friendly but also passionate and committed to their work. It’s a great experience working for the IMS Department.
Apart from the organization, competition and the games, it is more of way to just hang out, spend time with some friends or make new ones. Most students know about the IMS through word-of-mouth that spreads infectiously.
“When I saw Mario chest and volley a ball from 26 yards out and score I had to get him on my team, “Adejinle said.
Since then, they do not only play together on the team. They often eat together at the Rot and talk about Manchester United or help each other out with Math.
“Many students have also become lifelong friends from playing together within the program,” Dewitt said.
Sophomore Hillary Duncan did not have much to do until her friend persuaded her to get into volleyball.
“We were working out together in the gym and she just asked me to join her team and that sounded like fun to me,” Duncan said.
“I like the fact that we can play an organized sport but it’s more loose and relaxed than playing on a school team,” Sophomore and Hillary’s friend Robin Tapken said.
For both friends, IMS gives them something to do, keep them in shape and has become a necessary part of life.
“When you are at the rot, you hear a lot of people talk about their games and their teams. It’s a big part of LU. So I think it’s very important to have something like that because it gives us something to do,” Tapken said.
“Even though you may not be really good at sports, I think it’s a great way to meet people so I’d definitely recommend to anyone to pick it up,” Evans said before he was on his way to his play-off game with his friends.
For more information on IMS, students can visit www.liberty.edu/ims.
Lynchburg, VA- Communication students from Liberty University learned that the police and the news media can actually work together in keeping the public safe during a speech on crime and news media coverage.
Lt. Alan Faircloth of the Lynchburg Police Department (LPD) and WSET Senior Anchor Noreen Turyn from ABC 13 informed students of their respective roles.
Faircloth has been with the LPD for 29 years and is currently working as a part-time Public Information Officer (PIO).
“Our job is to work closely with the media and with other people that are looking for information in general or specifically regarding crime scenes or the police,” Faircloth said.
Turyn has worked 20 years at WSET switching from various news jobs from reporting to producing before rising as the managing editor.
“My beat for all my years has been coverage of courts and crimes. I’ve been to many crime scenes and I love it. My dad worked in the FBI for many years so it’s something that’s in my blood,” Turyn said.
“Lynchburg is fortunate to have a law enforcement agency and local media that get along so well because usually the law and the media go at each other all the time. You have the law saying ‘We have the information, you don’t’ and the media wants information but they don’t get it,” Faircloth said.
Students also learned that the media and law enforcement tend to misunderstand each other. News reporters would inquire about certain information during crime scenes and police supervisors would have no idea or any background about that information.
As a result, the PIO was born. The PIO is designated to disperse public information upon request. The LPD has implemented the PIO service in its agency for three years now.
“We had to have a central source of releasing information because of conflicting information, so having a PIO made things a lot easier,” Faircloth said.
However, Faircloth also noted that a PIO is not always available during various police investigations or would not disclose certain information due to reasons such as protecting family privacy, classified information or suspect data crucial to the preservation of an investigation.
Turyn concurs, having an understanding of what information the police can withhold is crucial to bridging the relationship gap between law enforcement and the media.
“we don’t want to ruin an investigation or have a murder go unsolved just because we released information [we should not have]. Our role in the media is to make sure the public stays safe and is informed,” Turyn said.
In maintaining that role, Turyn added that reporters take what they can get from the police in order to inform the public about dark alleys, murders, random killings or drug busts all for the sake of public safety.
“It is true that we have a really great relationship with the LPD and it is good that we can get the most information we need,” Turyn said.
She also added that most information is available to reporters if they build a rapport with police officers and earn their trust. In several other counties, more polices districts are more reluctant because of the distrusting views towards reporters.
Trust between the police and the media is very important because it can bring the two closer to solving a crime like a murder that took place in Campbell County Turyn covered six months ago.
“We were covering the murder of a man who was involved with a pagan bike gang and we decided to do a story on pagans. An officer I knew stopped us short and told us ‘the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree’.” Turyn said.
This gave Turyn a clue as she later found out that the biker was murdered by his own wife.
It also works the other way around, reporters can give police information they found out about a certain investigation which can help police solve the crime.
Despite the improved relationship among the press and the police, sometimes the media is also responsible for keeping the police in line and will report stories of questionable ethics among the police.
The reporter also stressed to students that the police cannot always give all the information that is needed during a report. She advised a bargaining process of information or investigating is a good way to get the story.
“”You don’t have to get everything from the police, ask people what they saw, go from door to door and just ask,”" Turyn said.
At the end of the speech, Turyn and Faircloth gave more technical advice to students on covering crime scenes. Including reporting ethics, discretion and other dependent rules but most importantly- freedom of the press.
“We are the public and we have the right to information, as a reporter you should know when you are allowed to report and when to back off but never let anyone intimidate you,” Turyn said.
“Yes, never take no for an answer, this might be cliché but you have to think outside the box. Always ask why. Don’t be afraid to develop meaningful relationships with other people. Work on building that trust,” Faircloth said.