Bringing comfort to others New facility attempts to end hunger in West Palm Beach.News 2

PBA Love Stories

This Valentine’s Day, enjoy the stories of some of PBA’s couples. Features 4

The Student Newspaper of Palm Beach Atlantic UniversityVolume 8, Issue 13 readmybeacon.com Monday, February 13, 2012

Monday, November 14, 2011

Platinum Conversion

Former strip club in Boynton Beach is now home to a church congregation of approximately 250 Haitian-Americans.

By Faith WarrenStaff Writer

After searching for a church building for over two years, Dumont Pierre, pastor of Eglise Assemblee Evangelique de Christ, felt the empty Platinum Showgirls strip club to be an answer to prayer.

“Where there once was strip poles, there will now be a pulpit. Where ladies used to dance, we will now have service,” Pierre said. “I knew this was the right place for our church to be.”

The congregation of approximately 250 Haitian-Americans had previously rented space from a Delray Beach church, but the $2,000-a-month rent was becoming too much to bear.

Eglise Assemblee Evangelique de Christ purchased the abandoned strip club for $600,000 last May following the church’s 10-year anniversary. Thanking God for the new building, church members were still well aware of the hard work that was yet to come.

“When I came to the building it was in very bad condition,” Pierre said. “The whole place was dark and black inside and filled with trash.”

Police raided the Platinum Showgirls site on North Federal Highway in Boynton Beach on Oct. 31, 2009. YouTube still carries broadcast footage about the raid, including comments from a police spokesman calling the club “a hotbed of illegal activity.”

The church faced carpet that reeked of old alcohol, dancing poles that needed to be removed and black walls in need of color, but Pierre believed

that if just one person would come to Christ, it would make all the renovation labor worthwhile.

“When Jesus came He was not afraid to come among us and clean us from our nasty condition,” said Pierre. “I recognized that God wanted us to be here. It isn’t the place that is important, but the people inside of it.”

Church members were eager to hold their first service as soon as possible, but they lacked sufficient funds to complete the renovations.

“I had to use every member in the church to help clean this place so we could use it for a good purpose,” said Pierre. “But we still found ourselves in need.”

In December The Palm Beach Post published a story about the challenges facing the church. Leo Abdella, a pastor and director of community relations for Christ Fellowship church, read the story and responded immediately.

“It was the last sentence of the article that hit a cord in my heart,” said Abdella. “Pastor Pierre said that they were not able to open until they were able to meet some final needs. One of the needs was chairs.”

Christ Fellowship now has nearly 30,000 members on multi-regional campuses, but the church began with 40 people meeting in a living room. Abdella recalled that his church once shared that same crucial need for chairs.

See Renovation, page 2

For his purposes: Dumont Pierre, pastor of Eglise Assemblee Evangelique de Christ, led the charge in converting what was once a strip club on North Federal Highway into a church for his congregation of approximately 250 Haitian-Americans. “Where there once was strip poles, there will now be a pulpit. Where ladies used to dance, we will now have service,” Pierre said. “I knew this was the right place for our church to be.”

Volume 8, Issue 13 www.readmybeacon.com Monday, February 13, 2012

Corrections for 2/6: See an error we did not catch? Help hold us accountable by emailing the editor of the section. Our goal is to bring you the cleanest copy possible.

No part of the Beacon may be reproduced without permission. The opinions expressed in the Beacon are not necessarily those of the Palm Beach Atlantic

University administration, staff or faculty.

www.readmybeacon.com

Chris Hernandez

Managing EditorChris.thebeacon@pba.edu

John Sizemore

Executive EditorJohn_Sizemore@pba.edu

Duane Meeks

Publisher

Editorial Staff

Cash W. Lambert

News EditorCashwlambert@gmail.com

Kayla Viaud

Features EditorKayla_Viaud@pba.edu

Joshua Reid

Sports Editorjoshuareid1221@gmail.com

Christina Cernik

Photo Editorchristinacernik@gmail.com

Charlotte Rakestraw

Art Directorwynne.charlotte@gmail.com

Jenny Hendriksen

Web Editorjlhendriksen@gmail.com

Weekly Staff

Saudia AliBecca StripeGina CipollaTyann MullenFaith WarrenVictoria VartanMeghan GilmoreGreg HalmosMolly Black

Submissions: If you would like to submit a letter to the editor, a news tip, corrections, or contribute to the Beacon, email the managing editor: readmy-­beacon@gmail.com

No part of the Beacon may be reproduced without permission. The opinions ex-­pressed in the Beacon are not necessarily those of the Palm Beach Atlantic Univer-­

sity administration, staff or faculty.

Verse of the week:

Trust in the LORD

with all your heart

and lean not on your

own understanding;;

in all your ways sub-­

mit to him,

and he will make

your paths straight

-­Proverbs 3: 5-­6 NIV

NEWS

Feeding the homeless in a unique wayBy Cash W. LambertNews Editor

From page 1

By Cash W. Lambert for The Beacon

Comfort through a kettle:

Feeding the masses:

By Cash W. Lambert for The Beacon

NEWS

By Meghan Gilmore Staff Writer

Speaking Da’ T.R.U.T.H.

Allowing dogs in church becoming new fad

By Meghan Gilmore for The Beacon

By Kayla ViaudFeatures Editor

I’m brainwashed; feels good to be

brainwashed. I refuse to stand here listen to

the same lies. I refuse to stand here stuck in the

same spot. Only the holy water of God can get

them stains out.

By Heisy Padilla for The Beacon

Chronicling a journey:

.

life is hard

life is hard

By Heisy Padilla for The Beacon

Da’ T.R.U.T.H. will set you free:

Worship with animals:

FEATURES

Stories By Gina Cipolla

Photos By Christina CernikGraphic By Charlotte Rakestraw

By Kayla ViaudFeatures Editor

The two met while serving on the chapel praise team. A year later Gabby Paz and Brighton Lindsey were married in the Desantis Family Chapel. They are one of many couples that have chosen to wed at the Palm Beach Atlantic Uni-versity’s chapel.

“We chose the chapel because we

since we both met at PBA and it was beautiful already,” says Palm Beach At-lantic University senior Gabby.

Cindy Lamerson, coordinator of community services, is responsible for renting out the chapel. Lamerson be-lieves people choose the chapel to get married because of its simplistic yet elegant style.

“Since the chapel is beautiful already we didn’t have to decorate it much to make it more beautiful,” says Lindsey.

“I’ve always loved the way the chapel looks; I love stained glass and I knew a lot of my family members would love it,” Lindsey adds.

Adding to the chapel-like atmo-sphere chapel singers Jeanny Alexandre and brother Jeanmarc sang at the Lind-sey’s wedding.

West Palm Beach native, Amy and her now husband Daniel Bickel origi-nally wanted to get married at First Bap-tist Church of West Palm Beach. They would have to take a few months of pre-marital courses at the church and since they lived in Orlando it was not possible. They decided on the Desantis Family Chapel.

“They (the guests) loved the large

lot of our guests commented that they had no idea how beautiful the chapel would be on the inside,” says Amy. “It

wooden doors and high vaulted ceilings. We wanted the style to match with our reception venue.”

Tonya Laker of Palm Beach Pho-tography photographed the Bickel and Goldberg wedding at the chapel. Laker says, “photographing a wedding in the

chapel is very inspiring location and the PBA family is simply the best to work with. They put a lot of heart and hard work into coordinating a beautiful event.”

“The chapel architecture is amazing combining both modern and classical elements,” adds Laker.

The chapel was 2011 graduate Ash-

Ashley married Marc Goldberg, PBA student and campus store course mate-rials specialist.

“I love the way it feels with the marble, stained glass and cozy curved shape. I have lots of great ‘chapel’ memories and couldn’t imagine a better place to say I do,” Ashley says.

Couples who plan on getting mar-ried at the chapel have the option of allowing Campus Pastor Bernie Cueto

The Reverand Rainer G. Richter from St. Peter’s United Methodist

Goldberg wedding. “I’ve been going there since I was little and my dad was the children’s pastor,” Ashley says.

Last year, 14 couples were married at the chapel and for 2012 Lamerson has 12 weddings booked so far.

Lamerson estimates two thirds of couples that use the chapel are in some way related to PBA, being either faculty or students. The other third are mem-bers of the community.

“The community is starting to use the chapel more,” she says.

The most popular months for wed-dings are March and June.

“My church just isn’t aesthetically appealing at all, even if we added can-

“I just couldn’t get past the green carpet -

days, but not for my wedding.” Twoey and D.J. Viner tied the knot on Oct. 29, 2011.

There are certain guidelines when decorating the chapel. Tacks nails and glue are not allowed. Also, don’t try to celebrate nuptials in the traditional wedding style of throwing rice. Rice or confetti is not allowed in or outside the chapel.

Holding lighted candles by the wed-ding party is permitted. “We just had a small arrangement around the unity candle and pale pink roses on every other row of chairs,” says Twoey who decorated her reception more to the theme of Pride and Prejudice.

Unity candles are also allowed. “We set up the unity candle table with vin-tage lace, candlesticks and ornately decorate candles made with vintage brooches, ribbons, and lace,” says Ashley.“Everything was very detail ori-ented.”

According to the chapel wedding policy, couples must undergo a “Pre-peration for Marriage” course which is marital counseling.

The chapel is open to the public for weddings. The price to rent the chapel is $1,070; included in the price is a wed-ding coordinator. The coordinator as-sists on wedding day. Maximum capac-ity is 400 guests.

FEATURESCouples tie the knot at chapel weddings

Wedding Bliss: Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Bickel share a kiss as their wedding party looks on.

Photo Courtesy of Tonya Laker, Palm Beach Photography, Inc.

Your BeaconBachelorette

Photos By Christina Cernik

With an outstanding 74% of the vote, you have chosen Juliet

to go a Valentine’s date with Alex. Want to know the de-

tails? We’ll have the lowdown on what went down in our Feb.

20 issue. Thanks for voting.

Juliet

OPINION

Christian LoveBanking on Walmart

Why I will continue to sip my Starbucks

In refute of the ‘inspirational messages’ proposal

Sara Nicastro

By Joshua ReidSports Editor

After runner-up finishes in the national championship for the men’s and women’s tennis teams last sea-son, head coach Chi Ly feels both teams are capable of not just going back, but to win it all.

“It’s frustrating,” Ly said. “The women’s team fell short the last two years, while the men came short after winning it in 2010. Both teams have the potential to win it all this year.”

Ly feels this is the best women’s team he’s had yet.

“The best thing about this team than year’s past is the chemistry,” Ly said. “That and the competitiveness among the players are at the highest level.”

“It’s a matter of people knowing their role,” Ly said. “Everyone wants to play number one, but only one can be number one. That’s something everyone needs to understand.”

Despite losing key members from its championship team in 2010 and from last season, Ly still feels the men’s team has what it takes to get back to nationals.

“We’ve lost key members, but it’s still a very young and talented group (four of the eight members are freshmen),” Ly said. “Krassimir Atanasov was the highest nation-ally ranked player we’ve ever had. We know it will be hard and a lot of pressure, but at the same time fun and exciting.”

“I think losing in the finals my freshman year was more devastating than losing it last year,” senior Luke Bolanos said. “Last year wasn’t as painful because we had won it all in 2010. This year we have a lot of new guys and only one guy who was on the team last year.”

“My personal goal is to have a winning record this year as it looks

like I will be playing number 1 sin-gles for the team and to stay ranked in the nation in doubles,” Bolanos said. “As a team, I think we are also looking to have a winning record and go far in the NCCAA National again this year.”

“We lost our number 1, 2 and 4 players from last season which are huge losses and leaves a big gap from last year to this year, despite adding a couple new talented players,” Bo-lanos said.

“We can do better than just mak-

ing it to the national title game,” sophomore Jaime Verd said. “God has something better for us I feel like. Anything is possible with us.”

When asked about the chemistry of the team with four freshmen, Verd said, “I think it’s perfect. Ev-eryone motivates each other and supports each other.”

“The only thing stopping us from achieving what we want to achieve is ourselves,” Verd said. “It’s just a mat-ter of discipline.”

The women’s team also eye at a shot of getting back to the national title game.

“I think losing in the finals of Christian Nationals was really an eye opening experience,” sophomore Jessica Wharton said. “We worked so hard last season to make it to Na-tionals, and to come to the finals as

just a freshman was really exciting but this year is about winning and showing that we are a new team this year and showing that we have what it takes to be champions.”

“I think a lot of our matches will really test our conditioning, talents, and overall game so a big goal for the team will be to bring our ‘A game’ to every match and really just go out there ready to compete and win ev-ery time,” Wharton said.

“It is always disappointing to come so close and not be able to achieve the final win,” junior Nata-lia Trotter said. “However, with each new season our team comes closer and closer to winning it all and I be-lieve that this is the year that we will take hold of the NCCAA National Championship.”

“In addition to winning the na-tional title, we also are striving to become ranked in the top 25 in the nation for Division II,” Trotter said. “Although we lost four play-ers from last year who provided us with great strength, we gained four freshmen this year well as a master’s student.

“They’ve helped create the most talented team that PBA women’s ten-nis has ever seen, along with our re-turning players,” Trotter said.

Some players from the women’s team feel that last year’s loss has made them physically and mentally better for this season.

“That motivated the whole team to work harder and not to lose fo-cus,” sophomore Maria Jimenez said. “At the end of the tournament, everybody was tired physically and mentally, but that only encouraged us to work harder to become a better team and beat everyone this year.”

“For this year, we want to be more unified, trust God and put him as our number one, and we want to improve our mental toughness,” Jimenez said.

“Overall, I think we are a new team this year, and are ready to com-

pete and win,” Wharton said.

SPORTSreadmybeacon.com • The Beacon February 13, 2012 • Page 7

Third time’s the charm?

By Katie ChasseContributing Writer

On Feb. 5, First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach held its fifth annual “Super Bowl Party for the City” at Chapel by the Lake. The event had more than 400 volunteers from First Baptist, Christ Fellowship and Palm Beach Atlantic University combined.

“Events like these provide assis-tance… and entertainment,” volun-teer worker Tyler Purcell said. “It re-ally helps, and people are thankful.”

Purcell is originally from Texas and said that Florida is the only state he has been to where he has seen a homeless outreach.

“Super Bowl Party for the City” took the term “outreach” to a whole new level.

Homeless guests were treated, not only to dinner, but also to fresh hair-cuts, healthcare, dental care, and free clothing.

The homeless were also able to get their feet washed by volunteers, pray with pastors, or sit down with a representative from The Lords Place or The Homeless Center Clinic.

This event wasn’t just to feed the needy, but to encourage them to get back on their feet.

Despite the large turnout, clothing

and food were abundant. Local churches including Christ

Fellowship, First Baptist, and the Christian Care Center all donated clothes, shoes, blankets, and hygiene products.

When it came to food, more than

700 people feasted on chicken, chips, cookies, baked goods, salad, pasta, stuffing, fruit and cheeses, all of which were donated by local church members.

The homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County was one of many or-

ganizations at the party. According to Marilyn Muñoz,

executive director, the coalition’s purpose is simply, “to end homeless-ness.”

Muñoz said their organization at-tends four homeless outreach pro-

grams a year, the Super Bowl party being one of the smallest.

“We go and try to educate people about homelessness,” Muñoz said.

“Through our program, ‘Faces of Homelessness,’ people can finally understand what its like to live with nothing.”

John Allison, a PBA alumnus, is now the coordinator of the Home-less Coalition. Allison said he wants to see PBA get involved with the coalition as well, and encourages stu-dents to check out the coalition web-site, nationalhomeless.org.

Representing PBA at the party was Reach Out Ministries.

Reach Out, which is completely student-run, meets at Curie Park on Wednesday nights to minister to the homeless.

Reach Out’s presence at the Super Bowl party was to support Christ Fellowship, a church that has provid-ed Reach Out with volunteers, food, and finances.

Katherine Harvey, a junior at PBA and member of Reach Out Minis-tries, said that she loved interacting with the homeless because you can learn a lot from them.

“I remember talking to a homeless man named Rico,” Harvey said. “It’s amazing how much they give back when you’re trying to give to them.”

Over 400 volunteer for Super Bowl party

Giving a hand: Volunteers wash the feet of homeless visitors at “Super Bowl Party for the City”By Katie Chasse for the Beacon

To grunt or not to grunt?

By Joshua ReidSports Editor

Recently the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) had a meeting about possibly eliminating grunting from the sport.

Faced with increased displeasure from fans and a growing chorus of player complaints through the news media, officials have started to en-sure that the next generation of players tones down what to many has become an unbearable ear sore.

“I disagree with that,” Palm Beach Atlantic’s men and women’s head tennis coach Chi Ly said. “Players hold their breath and you exhale. They need to grunt.”

“That’s why a lot of players do it. A lot of coaches encourage it,” Ly said.

“I think it’s more a mental thing than a physical thing,” Ly said. “It has to do with sportsmanship. If the rule is passed, it would be hard to regulate that and penalize a play-er.”

Grunting also takes place in the men’s game as well.

The perception among fans and players is that men do so in a man-ner that generally does not impede play.

“I think it’s great if it is going to be eliminated from the sport,” senior Luke Bolanos said. “I hate it and rarely do it. It’s super annoy-ing and is more of a problem with the women’s tennis than it is men’s tennis.”

“I believe that it is all mental, but on both sides,” Bolanos said. “People who grunt, I think, do it because it relieves stress as they hit

the ball and is part of their mental routine.”

“Second, they do it to annoy their opponents during their rallies and also even to make it sound like they are calling the ball out as they hit the ball.,” Bolanos said

“I feel every player should ex-press themselves,” sophomore Jai-me Verd said.

“Other people in other sports do their own things, so I feel grunting in tennis should be the same.”

When asked if it had an affect on the opponents, Verd said that it definitely depends on who you’re playing.

“For some it’s not a big deal and they even do it, whereas others will get frustrated with it and it af-fects their game for the rest of the match. It totally is a mental thing,” Verd said.

“I do it a lot, and it has an affect on me as well,” Verd said.

Even though experts, coaches and players agree that it is natural and even preferable to expel air when striking the ball, fan com-plaints have increased which has caused officials to take potential action.

“I consider that it is something that comes naturally after hitting a hard shot, but I think that some-times people just fake it and that is when it annoys others,” sophomore Maria Jimenez said.

Whether inadvertent, deliberate or used for intimidation, grunting can throw an opponent off de-pending on the mentality.

“If a player is strong mentally, he or she should not be affected by that,” Jimenez said.

“They’ve helped cre-ate the most talented team PBA women’s tennis has ever seen.”-Natalia Trotter about the five new

The women’s tennis team hope this is the year they win it all, while the men hope for a repeat of 2010.

The Women’s Tennis Association want to eliminate grunting from tennis. Is it that much of a distraction?

SPORTS readmybeacon.com • The BeaconPage 8 • February 13, 2012

Baseball

2/14, 2:30 p.m. @ Northwood

Softball

2/14, 5 p.m. @ Colorado Christian2/17-2/19 UAH Tournament @

Huntsville, Ala

Basketball

Women’s 2/15, 6 p.m. Home, Nova Southeastern

Men’s 2/15, 7:30 p.m.@ Nova Southeastern

SailfishSportsSchedule

TennisMen’s 2/14, 6 p.m. @ Lynn University

Women’s 2/16, 6 p.m.@ Lynn University

Men’s 2/17, 3 p.m. @ Barry UniversityFeb. 13 to Feb. 19

Harbuck, Anderson named NCCAA athletes of the weekBy Michael BrownContributing Writer

After a rough first game in Sat-urday’s (Feb. 4) double-header ver-sus Warner University, the Sailfish baseball team turned to junior right-hander T.J. Harbuck to put out the fire.

For his efforts Harbuck has been named the National Christian Col-lege Athletic Association (NCCAA) Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 30 to Feb. 5.

Taking home the honor for the first time in his career at PBA, Har-buck logged 6.1 innings of work on the hill on Saturday while accumu-lating six strikeouts over that time

frame.Walking just one batter, Harbuck

did not allow a hit until a leadoff double in the top of the seventh in-ning.

He would exit the game two bat-ters later and hand the ball off to teammate Alejandro De Moya who closed out the game for his first save.

The Fish stood at 3-1 to start the season and hosted with a big home series this past weekend when they played Flagler College. The series was played at the Roger Dean Com-plex in Jupiter, Fla.

Sailfish junior outfielder Kara An-derson made quite a first impression on Palm Beach Atlantic softball fans this past week with her electric start

to her PBA softball career. A junior college transfer from

Indian River State College, Ander-son finished an impressive 10-for-18 (.556 average) at the plate during her first week wearing the Blue and White as she was named the NC-CAA Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 30 to Feb. 5.

Sitting atop the Sailfish starting lineup as the team’s leadoff hitter, Anderson set the table for a number of PBA rallies but also in producing runs as she led the Fish with eight runs driven in for the week.

Anderson, a native of Moore Ha-ven, Fla., collected three triples and a stolen base as she used her excellent speed to put pressure on the defense.

An injury over the weekend may have slowed Anderson a bit but if only temporary as she and her team-mates are gearing up for another busy weekend ahead.

The Sailfish, under head coach Kimmy Bloemers, played five games over three days this past weekend, as they traveled to Clearwater, Fla. for the Eckerd College Invitational.

Each game presented an impres-sive challenge. The team sat at 4-2 going into the tournament.

To see results, go to pbasailfish.com

Courtesy of Michael Brown for the Beacon

The Sailfish end the first week of the season with a 3-1 record.

By Joshua ReidSports Editor

After its magical come from behind win on open-ing night, Palm Beach Atlantic University’s baseball team continued its hard start by winning two of its three games last week.

The Sailfish began play on Feb. 4 in a double head-er against Warner University.

After losing the first match 4-11, T.J. Harbuck took the mound in game 2 and pitched 6 scoreless innings and led the Sailfish to a 4-0 victory.

The Fish got on the board in the first inning as senior Luis Mejia hit for a single that brought in Matt Perkowski.

Senior Nick Natale provided the biggest offensive spark of the night for the team, as he hit a two out, two run triple in the third inning.

Matt Civetti added on an RBI single that brought in Natale for the final run of the game.

Feb. 6 saw the Sailfish continue its momentum as they defeated Ave Maria University, 5-3.

The game felt similar to the one from opening night, as the Sailfish went into the ninth inning with the game tied at 3.

Travis Murray helped break that, as he did in the season opener. Murray drove in a two-out RBI single that would give the Sailfish the lead.

The team would score again in the ninth and would get the victory.

Junior Nic Novacs allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings, while junior Alejandro de Moya closed the game in the ninth and received the victory.

The win brought the team’s record to 3-1 in the early season.

The team then had back-to-back games against Flagler College on Feb. 10 and 11.

On Feb. 4 the women’s tennis team lost 3-6. The loss evened their record at 1-1 in the early season.

The pair of Victoria Baca and Natalia Trotter earned the only win in doubles for the Fish by tally-ing an 8-1 score.

Leydi Zora and Alexis Antista earned the only victories in singles for PBA, with Zora winning her match 4-6, 6-3, 10-7 and Antista registering a 6-2, 6-2 victory.

Feb. 4 saw the men’s tennis team failing to score a victory in its season opener, as it fell to Saint Leo in a shutout, 0-9.

The number one pair of Luke Bolanos and Mick Lyons fell in their match 3-8.

The team had two games this past weekend.On Feb. 10 the Sailfish hoped to recover from

their opening day shutout loss when they played trav-eled to Melbourne to play against Florida Tech.

The team then came home for a match on Feb. 11 against Flagler College

To see results of all the games, go to pbasailfish.com.

Baseball off to hot start

Sailfish weekly report

Transfer junior Kara Anderson has helped lead the softball team to a 4-2 start

Senior Luke Bolanos

Junior Victoria Baca

Junior Travis Murray

All photos courtesy of Michael Brown for the Beacon