Brown and White Vol. 122 no. 9

              Vol. 122 No. 9
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
‘All the Lehigh News First’
THE BROWN AND WHITE
Lehigh University’s Student Newspaper Founded in 1894
SPORTS
Women’s basketball will play for Debbie
Page 16
ONLINE
Check online for breaking news
thebrownandwhite.com
Jazz concert in Baker Hall
Page 7
LIFESTYLE
By KIRK GREENWOOD
Lehigh’s journalism department and cam­pus student organizations are raising money to plant a memorial tree outside of Coppee Hall in honor of journalism student Debbie Pearsall, ’12, who died in January.
The tree, an American elm, will replace a similar tree that had been planted on the site but was destroyed in a storm, said Jack Lule, chair of Lehigh’s Department of Journalism and Communication.
Lule said the department had long been look­ing to replace the tree and that these efforts coincided with the efforts of a number of groups on campus, including the journalism depart­ment, seeking to create an appropriate and last­ing memorial to Debbie.
“This discussion centered around the journal­ism department where Debbie spent so much of her time,” Lule said.
“We wanted Debbie to be memorialized next to the building that was basically her home, Coppee Hall,” said Matt Breitel, former Student Senate treasurer and multimedia editor for The Brown and White, where Debbie served as editor in chief in Spring 2011.
“We wanted to get all of the Lehigh commu­nities that Debbie reached to contribute: jour­nalism, athletics, Greek life,” Breitel said.
The original tree was dubbed the liberty tree and had been planted in fall 2009 during the journalism department’s semester-long celebra­tion of the First Amendment, which Debbie par­ticipated in, journalism professor Kathy Olson told The Brown and White in an email.
Part of a nationwide effort to raise awareness among college students about free speech rights, the original planting was attended by Ken Paul­son, a former editor at USA Today and director of the First Amendment Center in Arlington, Va., Olson stated in the email.
See MEMORIAL Page 2
Memorial tree planned for Debbie Pearsall
Lehigh hosts eighth
a capella invitational
By SARAH SIEGEL
The Lehigh’s a cappella singing groups performed at their eighth annual invitational concert Saturday, Feb. 18, in Packard Lab.
The concert featured Lehigh’s four a cappella groups, The Echoes, The Melismatics, A Whole Step Up and Off the Record.
Guest groups from other schools around the country were invited to the concert, as well, including Low Key, a group from Temple University in Philadelphia.
Lehigh’s a cappella groups are stu­dent singing groups that participate in performances and vocal competitions on and off campus.
Schuyler Bianco, ’15, a member of The Echoes, said she was excited to see such a variety of music.
“Being a freshman, I had never seen so many groups from so many different schools and places performing in one night,” Bianco said.
“It was so cool to hear all of the dif­ferent types of music,” she said. “Every­one put so much time, work, and effort into it, and it was really great to be a part of it. Every group was so good.”
Some of the songs performed at the concert included “Landslide” by Fleet­wood Mac and “Feels Like the First Time” by Foreigner.
“My favorite song performed tonight was ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time,’” said Michele Staub, ’14. “I liked seeing them dance around while singing, and I wanted to sing along with them the whole time.”
Many concert attendees came to sup­port fellow friends and classmates.
“It was so cool seeing people I know performing,” said Jenna Figman, ’14. “I didn’t realize how vocally talented some of my friends were.”
Erin McLaughlin, ’15, also came in support of performing friends.
“This is something I want to at­tend more often on campus,” she said. “Everyone had such talent and high energy.”
All of the proceeds from the t-shirts and concert tickets will be going to Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.
B&W photo by MATT BREITEL
Kyra Dragone, ’12, sings a solo backed up by The Echoes, one of four Lehigh a capella groups that participated in the eighth annual invitational concert Saturday, Feb. 18, in the Packard Lab auditorium.
Step teams compete at Broughal
By ELIZABETH PUZIO
The Lehigh, Lafayette and Bethlehem communities came together on Saturday Feb. 18, for the Change the Beat Step Competition held in the Broughal Middle School auditorium.
Step performance groups from the middle school, Le­high and Lafayette performed.
“Step was historically used as a means of unity,” which continues to be true today, a host of the event said.
The Precision Step Team from Lafayette won the $200 first prize, while Mu Sigma Upsilon from Lehigh won the $100 second prize.
The competition was extremely close; both teams eventually were forced to compete in a spur-of-the-mo­ment tiebreaker.
One member from each team performed their best step moves before a winner was announced.
The event was highly interactive and involved all members of the audience, regardless of which community or organization they were a part of.
The audience, in fact, were the judges of the dance competition; prizes were given out based on which team the audience cheered for loudest.
Additionally, dance competitions were held amongst the audience members, with two students from Broughal Middle School winning both competitions.
During the event, the Lehigh-student created video, “Stuff Steppers Say” was played for the audience and was well-received.
During the entire two-hour performance, audience members screamed and cheered, showing their support for their favorite groups.
Tickets to the event were $3, and 40 percent of the proceeds were donated to Turning Point of the Lehigh Valley.
Turning Point is a safe place where victims of abuse can go for support. The organization provides services to more than 5,000 local victims of domestic violence each year.
The organization also sends representatives to schools to talk about dating violence and healthy relationships. Broughal is one of the many schools in the area that Turn­ing Point personnel have visited in the past.
At the competition, John Toner, director of devel­opment at Turning Point said he was pleased with the
See STEP Page 4