Good Morning, Maranatha!
"We have a really great show today—I hope you're ready for it," said Steve Mann in student body chapel today. Steve hosted a creative mixture of news, talk, and video in a show called “Good morning, Maranatha,” also featuring Stephanie Hart as co-host and Justin Jones as producer in the sound booth. Special guests included selected members of the ladies basketball team, who updated the audience on their performance at Nationals and did a couple of bizarre tricks (barking, etc.), and Davis Jaspers, who performed some magic tricks (we think).
Steve Mann reminded the student body that Maranatha will celebrate 40 years as a college next year. “To help relive some of the nostalgia,” they played brief video clips of “Touching Moments with Dr. Oats” throughout the show. One gem from the interim president: “When I was a student, football games in the dorm were off the hook!” Another gem was, “Back when I was a student, people said I was pretty fly for a white guy.” (You have to be under age 22 or really hip to understand the slang.)
The most hilarious part of the show was a video of Steve Mann being pursued by wrestling coach Scott Hawes to help out with the upcoming Maranatha Wrestling Festival April 7. After Steve initially turned down the request, he went to get a drink from the bubbler and looked up to see Mr. Hawes facing him, hands on hips. From there the suspense grew, as Steve ran through the student center and out to his car, trying to escape the grasp of the persistent wrestling coach. He finally barricaded himself in a classroom, only to discover—you guessed it—Mr. Hawes in the room, ready to literally wrestle him into compliance. The last scene shows Steve suited up for wrestling.
After giving away seven boxes of donuts, Steve welcomed Erik Eloe, who is characteristically booed (in love) before faithfully delivering announcements—this time for a new bowling league and volleyball tournament after spring break, as well as a basketball tournament tomorrow. His statements were followed by a spring cleaning video showing Erik tossing people’s throw-aways (e.g., old VCR, couch, watermelon) from a third-floor balcony.
Students enjoyed a final “Touching Moments with Dr. Oats” video clip: “When Maranatha first started,” said Dr. Oats, “everyone lived in Old Main—we had coed dorms!”
The show ended with a fascinating interview with Brian Trainer, a new member of the Bible faculty and a missions instructor. He grew up five minutes from Ohio State University and often skipped school in his early elementary years to travel with his truck-driving dad. By the age of 12 he had been to all 48 of the continental United States. “I’m still a truck driver in my heart,” he says. Saved his freshman year in college, Mr. Trainer took his first mission trip overseas after his sophomore year. For the last 15 years, he’s taken a mission trip every year.
Mr. Trainer didn’t marry in college, but considers it “a myth that if in your senior year you don’t have your bride or groom, then life is over at that point.” He was busy serving the Lord and planning to teach for a year in India when he met his wife-to-be. He was the guest preacher in a church one night, and a young lady named Sherry was the guest singer. After the service, a visitor in the church said to Mr. Trainer, “You two make a nice couple. You speak; she sings.” Mr. Trainer told him he’d never met her before, to which the man replied, “Well, you should fix that problem.” Before Mr. Trainer left for India, he took Sherry on a few dates (including one 18-hour date in Charleston, South Carolina). Three days after his year in India ended, he asked her to marry him. “To be honest with you, she asked me first,” he says with a grin. “She coerced me into marriage, and I couldn’t be happier.” They’ve been married for 13 years.
Mr. Trainer has dedicated his career to working with college students, looking to them for the next generation of Christian leaders. “They’re making decisions and determining values that are critical,” he says. “I love college students because they are not afraid to ask questions and are willing to challenge the norm . . . to use the process of critical thinking. Those are the things I enjoy.” Mr. Trainer has consistently found that the spiritual temperature in Christian colleges is actually determined by the guys living in the dorms. Typically about 20 percent of the students in Christian colleges are living for the Lord, 20 percent “don’t give a rip,” and 60 percent are in the middle, he says. (For that reason, in previous college consulting jobs, he chose to have his office in the men’s dorm.)
“To me, the challenge is the 20 percent who actually want to live for God,” he says. “If they have any level of hypocrisy . . . it gets around quickly, and you know who the real deal is,” he says. “So my challenge is simply that those who have a desire to live for God do it.” When a person is excited about a vital, living, authentic relationship with the Lord, others will follow him or her, he adds. “That’s my passion.”
How is missions changing? Mr. Trainer stated that the Academic Committee has approved changes for Fall ’07 to better prepare students to evangelize our global, pluralistic world. Eventually, Mr. Trainer would like to introduce interdisciplinary and intercultural majors. Although church planting is still the focal point of missions, Mr. Trainer also wants to equip teachers, business majors, and others for evangelism while living, studying, and working abroad, even for a few years. “Really, it’s just a matter of our opening our eyes a little bit and looking beyond Wisconsin and the United States—and having a lot of fun in various countries all over the world,” he says.
Of course, students had a lot of fun right here today, thanks to another successful student body chapel.
--Linda Piepenbrink, 3/14/07
Student Wins $100 in Student Body Chapel!
In a riveting game of Deal or No Deal, based on the TV game show, sophomore Sarah Stankevitz withstood the temptations of lucrative banker deals and—amazingly—picked the winning case out of 20 cases for a cash prize of $100.
Randomly chosen from the student body chapel audience, Sarah had three trustworthy friends—Amy Brundage, Titus Morrow, and Jon Bennett—join her on stage for support. Twenty ladies from Hilsen Hall, dressed in black, stood ready to open their cases to reveal cash values inside, ranging from one cent to $100. Sarah chose case number 14 to be set aside and opened at the end of the game. (“That was my volleyball number and Jon Bennett’s soccer number,” she said later.)
Sarah then chose five cases to be opened, eliminating mostly low cash amounts. The banker offered her a game-ending deal of $33, but she turned it down and chose four more cases, which revealed amounts ranging from one cent to $66. Steve Mann played the part of TV host Howie Mandel, taking calls from the banker (Justin Jones in the sound booth) and offering increasingly attractive deals. To each deal, including one for $10 plus a free casual day to Sarah and each of her friends, Sarah consistently replied, “No deal!” This resulted in wild applause from the audience. Erik Eloe, on the other hand, elicited groans from the audience when he interrupted several key nail-biting moments with announcements for upcoming events such as a ski trip and book club.
With two more rounds remaining, Sarah chose case number 6, but before it was opened, Eric again interrupted, this time to announce an upcoming euphonium recital. The case was then opened, revealing a cash value of $25. “Ooh, this is suspenseful, and we’re almost out of time,” said Steve, taking another call from the banker. The banker offered Sarah $50 in “cold hard cash,” which Sarah again turned down.
One case remained besides the one Sarah originally set aside. Would Sarah’s choice of number 14 reveal $23 or $100? The banker called with a final offer of $60 to Sarah and $3 to each of her friends. Sarah consulted her friends and decided, “No deal!” Steve then opened number 14. Inside: $100!
What will Sarah do with the money? “I’m going to support the Maranatha Bookstore!” she said with a big smile as she received a check for $100.
--Linda Piepenbrink, 2-21-07
Who Ya Gonna Ask?
Dating dos and don’ts for the Artist Series ~ Artist Series Reminders
Would you ask someone out by email? Should a girl ever ask a guy out, or would that freak him out? How late is too late to ask someone to the Artist Series?
Those types of perplexing questions relating to Maranatha’s preeminent dating opportunity, the Artist Series on February 16, were tackled in student body chapel today, thanks to a distinguished panel of experts (faculty/staff) with perhaps 200 years of married experience between them, according to student body president and panel moderator Steven Mann. Mrs. Marsha Jackson, Mrs. Rosie Steuerwald, and Miss Bobbi Shepp spoke for the ladies, while the guys were represented by Mr. John Davis, Mr. Glenn Owens, “Coach Mo” (Morrison), and “the notoriously single Justin Jones.”
The panel, seated on chairs on the gym platform, began the discussion by answering a few call-in questions. First, an alleged freshman from Armitage Hall called. “How old is too old to ask someone to Artist Series?”
“How old are you?” Steve asked.
“I’m 37.”
After the caller’s hopes were crushed, another call came from a curiously low-voiced woman who wondered how to get Steve Mann to say yes to a date for the Artist Series.
“Who is this?” Steve asked with suspicion.
“Um, Joan Boorhis,” the caller replied.
“Is that any relation to John Voorhis?”
“Ahhh!” The prankster, a junior, howled at being discovered. “I don’t actually want to go with you to Artist Series,” John admitted.
The next caller caused further suspicion by asking the same question: “Hi, I’m wondering how I can get Steve Mann to ask me to Artist Series?”
“Nice try,” Steve said, “but nobody’s going to fall for that, because your voice still sounds so much like a man.”
Oops. A woman’s sniffles and sobs at the other end of the phone proved him wrong. Sighing, Steve decided to move on to a list of emailed questions from students. “Do guys like it when a girl is willing to ask them out or does it freak them out?”
Mr. Davis didn’t think guys would be too open to that, “unless they’re the kind of guy who’s just not going to make it any other way. So, help ’em out. Why not? Go for it, girls.”
Steve posed the question to Justin Jones, a popular, single senior. “Would you feel more comfortable if a girl asked you out?”
Justin gave a sheepish grin. “At least I’d have a chance.”
Next question: To tactfully find out if a girl is available to ask out, Bobbi (’06) suggested asking the girl’s friends. Mrs. Steuerwald, on the custodian crew, was more straightforward: “You ask her if her boyfriend is taking her. She will say yes or no.”
Another common question from the guys was “How do you phrase the question ‘Will you be my date for Artist Series?’ so you don’t sound like an idiot?” Mr. Davis suggested practicing what you plan to say in front of a mirror . . . or your mom. Bobbi advised caution about how the question is asked. “If you ask with a romantic flare and the girl doesn’t like you, she’ll get freaked out. But if you say, ‘just as friends, let’s just hang out,’ then she’ll feel more comfortable.”
“Unless she wants romance,” Mrs. Jackson interjected.
When a microphone was circulated among students, Marcus White, a senior, asked, “Does height matter? If I’m shorter than the girl I’m asking, does that matter?”
Mrs. Steuerwald, also short in stature, replied, “I don’t think so.”
Bobbi, who stands 6 feet 1 inch tall, said she enjoyed her “funnest dates in college” when she went out once with Justin Jones and once with Steve Mann, “and they’re both right here,” she said, holding her hand chest high to indicate their height.
Katie Walton took the microphone: “It’s totally not fair that guys can have a variety of gifts to give a girl—chocolates, flowers. But what can a girl give a guy—Legos? What do we give ’em?”
“Computers,” said IT worker Mr. Owens.
“Anything from Menards,” Mrs. Jackson suggested.
Mrs. Steuerwald’s unexpected answer brought laughs: “Get him a flashlight so he can see where he’s going.”
Mrs. Steuerwald, in rare form, answered a couple of other questions, including whether to accept a date with a nerd when a stud might be asking you out later (“You better go with the nerd because the stud may never ask you”); and what to do if the guy your best friend likes asks you to the Artist Series (“I guess it depends on how much the girl cares for her best friend”).
Why do guys wait until the last minute to ask a girl out? “They’re chicken,” said Mrs. Jackson, garnering clapping from the ladies. Mr. Owens attributed it to fear of rejection. How late is too late to ask a girl to the Artist Series? “You’re too late if you’ve asked and she’s already said yes to somebody else, so don’t wait,” Mr. Owens said. “If you see the girl and you like her, ask her.”
“Then again,” said Bobbi, “you don’t want to ask her in September because that’s a little creepy!”
What type of flowers to buy (and their meaning) came up for discussion. “Lots of flowers are good; just take the Wal-Mart wrapper off before you give them to her,” said the ever-practical Mr. Davis.
Color is important, according to Bobbi. “Red is—woo!—romance, and yellow means 'Hey, let’s just be friends,' but then, a combination is a romantic friendship.”
When the panel had exhausted their dating advice, a surprise call came through from Dr. Bob Radford, Maranatha’s beloved former Bible professor who is remembered for always giving “sound dating advice, especially a good exhortation for the guys,” said Steve Mann. The student body welcomed his call with wild cheers and applause, and Dr. Radford did not let the student body down: “I’m being told that there’s still a problem at Maranatha with guys not taking the initiative to ask girls out for the Artist Series,” he said. “I understand that Artist Series is February 16, which means that’s just next month, and I don’t think the fellas have all that much more time. They better get on the ball.”
The young women heard from him next. “Ladies, if any fellas don’t come through, then I’m going to suggest that you take the initiative, and you ask them out. Now when I was growing up, that wouldn’t have been the cool thing to do, but this is the modern age, and I think you could get away with that. If that doesn’t work, or that isn’t successful, then here’s my threat. I’m going to come up there and I will pair you off.”
After more cheers from the audience, Dr. Radford made a final appeal to the guys. “Fellas, look at it this way. All the young ladies are going to look their best next month. They’ll probably come with their hair combed and dressed in the fanciest clothes you’ve ever seen, and I’m just going to leave it with that and hope that you’ll do right and that you’ll take the initiative and ask them out.”
One more thought: “When you ask them out, we’re not talking marriage—at least not right off the bat. Just go have fun, and when you do ask, think of me.”
Steve Mann thanked Dr. Radford and wrapped up the discussion. “I think that trumps anything that was said earlier. So take that advice, guys and girls.”
by Linda Piepenbrink, 1/30/07
Carolers Visit Maranatha
Students enjoyed a delightful performance by the Watertown High School Carolers during student body chapel Wednesday (see photos). Dressed in caroling apparel (black top hats and tails for the men, long red dresses with white scarves and muffs for the women), the 24 Carolers strolled in singing “Caroling, Caroling.” In the second of 40 performances scheduled this Christmas in the Watertown area, the Carolers entertained the students with a selection of sacred and secular pieces ranging from “Angels We Have Heard on High” to a fa-la-la version of the “Nutcracker Suite.”
Midway through the program, the high school group gave their names and introduced themselves with an amusing description, such as “I still play with Legos,” and “I like to eat pomegranates.” The performance culminated in a hilarious rendition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” in which the choir sang while two of the men acted out each gift (e.g., one leaping over the other for “eleven lords a-leaping”; one forming a tree while the other emerged from underneath, flapping his hands for “a partridge in a pear tree”).
Choir director David Zimmerman, who leads three other choirs at Watertown High School, has been directing this extracurricular group for 12 years. “You’ll notice I don’t conduct them at all; they sing on auto-pilot,” said Zimmerman, who watched the Carolers from the audience. “I have enjoyed the opportunity I have with the kids.”
As chair of the Bible department and now interim president, Dr. Oats has worn many hats at Maranatha. Today he wore his stand-up routine hat. Dressed casually in black to pay tribute to the Spirit Week-winning sophomores who also were dressed in black, the “I-Prez” entertained students at the second Student Body chapel of the semester with dating advice to the guys. One of his more profound suggestions: “Talk to the girls.”
Next in line was Steve Sauvageau, one of the winners of Maranatha’s recent stand-up comedy competition. He got the crowd laughing with “My life as a practical joke.” Hailing from Flint, Michigan, which is reported to be the third most violent city in the nation, 
Steve talked about his childhood in the ghetto. “Mom, can I go outside and play?” he’d ask. “Well, let’s look through the blinds and see. No, Steve, you can’t go outside and play today. There’s a gang fight in the front yard.”
Freshman Kristin Heesen brought the house down with her comedy routine about living with a very perceptive blind mother and two blind siblings, including Sarah (alumna ’05). “It’s amazing what the blind can do,” she said. “My mom can play any instrument. My brother Steve was wrestling champion at his school. Sarah was a cheerleader who could do splits and flips.” One day Kristin was watching a favorite TV show when her mom insisted she turn off the TV and work on her homework. “So I muted it.” Kristin shuff
led books around and continued to watch TV, thinking she’d outsmarted her mom . . . until her dad came home. “Hey Kristin, why are you watching TV with the captions on?” Her mom yelled “Whaaaat?!”
After the applause died down, Steve Mann concluded student body chapel by announcing a chat time to gather feedback on student body chapels and activities next Tuesday, November 7, from 2-3 p.m. and 6-9 p.m., in the old dining hall. Steve told the students to “take initiative” and let the student body officers know their ideas for starting a book club, a young Republicans’ club, or whatever. Guys’ flag football and co-ed volleyball or campus-wide dodgeball are a few activities in the works. Plans are also underway to free up space in the Student Center by moving the noiser games (Ping Pong, foosball, etc.) to the Solarium of the old dining hall for additional socializing space.
Finally, T-shirts are on sale that read, “When I grow up, I wanna be like Saxon.” See Matt Tanis with $8 for a shirt.
Class Activities and Information