Atheist Leads Episcopal Youth Event

Halloween weekend will mark the seventy-fourth Happening youth event, where high school students in the Episcopal diocese will congregate to sing, laugh and share in the joy of Christian brotherhood. Who better to lead this weekend of self-discovery than eighteen-year-old atheist Sarah Shirley?

“She got picked on a lot in high school,” says close friend and Happening Small Group Leader Maria Wilson at last week’s Happening Staff Training. Maria, coloring bubbles and patterns into her “shrinky-dink” (what will become personalized name tags for the Happeners), speaks casually, as if to no one. “I think that’s why this weekend is so meaningful to her, you know? Instead of lashing out her anger, she solves it in a way that helps others.”

Sarah, a native of Clinton, MS, along with her team of Gophers (staff members designated to fetch snacks and other items for the small group they are assigned to), Small Group Leaders and Prayer Warriors (who sit in a room all weekend and pray for every individual “Happener”), are shaping up to be the most dynamic team yet.

Small Group Leaders are in charge of standing in front of around 50 Happeners, plus staff, and relating painful stories of their youth designed to parable the way Jesus’ love and acceptance has helped them through the trying times of their adolescence and puberty.

Says Happening Coordinator Jason Woodcock, “People respect her; she knows exactly who she is, and because of that, she can accept others for who they are. She has all the qualities necessary to be our rector this Happening. She was a great pick.”

Happening Rector is a position specifically chosen by the prior rector of each youth weekend.

Sarah oversees the progress of the Small Group Leaders’ speeches, and will also talk about the dichotomy of her relationship with Jesus, and the ups and downs of coming to terms with her atheism.

Says Maria, “We’re so excited to hear her talk about it. It’s going to shock a lot of people, but maybe these kids going through Happening, who are having a tough time, like a lot of us did, maybe this will help them sort out a lot of things in their own lives.” She hands her shrinky-dink off to another staff member and picks through the markers on the floor. “It’s not just a title anymore. It’s how you react to others, with love and acceptance. That’s why Sarah is our rector, she's a friend to everyone.”

Garcia Dismissed From South Carolina

It seems that throughout his short college career South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia could not seem to stay out of trouble. After so many second chances, the University finally drew the line with the senior quarterback on Tuesday as he was officially dismissed from the team, which seemed to come as a shock the SEC world.

"We are all saddened that this has occurred," said head coach Steve Spurrier, who seemed the most disappointed of anyone after receiving news of Garcia's dismissal. "We all feel like we've given Stephen numerous opportunities to be a student-athlete here at South Carolina. Obviously, he has chosen not to follow the guidelines of his reinstatement contract. We wish him the best."

Spurrier has been the one that has come to Garcia's rescue every time he seemed to get in more trouble or come under scrutiny from Gamecock fans after his inconsistent, roller coaster career filled with suspensions and misbehavior that has kept the nation guessing for how long he would remain on the team. Even in the preseason when the media and coaches clearly agreed that sophomore quarterback Connor Shaw clearly outplayed Garcia in every category, Spurrier still defended him and made him the starter.

The Head Ball Coach couldn't save him this time, however, as the Tampa, Fla. native failed the required drug and alcohol screening test for both marijuana and alcohol, forcing the school to dismiss him from the team for good.

"Being a student-athlete at the University of South Carolina is a privilege, not a right," said South Carolina Athletics Director Eric Hyman on Tuesday. "And we remind all of our student-athletes that there are consequences for their actions. For Stephen to return and remain with the football squad this fall, we agreed on several established guidelines. Unfortunately, he has not been able to abide by these guidelines and has therefore forfeited his position on the roster. We wish him the best of luck as he moves forward in his life."

Things didn't seem to bode well for Garcia beginning with his performance on the field through the first half of this season in a year in which the Gamecocks began the season ranked #10 in the AP poll and looked to rise to their lofty expectations by the media.

So far this season, Garcia completed 61-of-118 (51.7 percent) passes for 844 yards with four touchdowns and nine interceptions in five games against mediocre competition, his nine interceptions being the most of any quarterback in the nation. His final start as a Gamecock on October 1st was his final downfall before news of his screening, as South Carolina lost 16-13 to a non-impressive, unranked Auburn team in front of the home crowd in Columbia. In this game, Garcia completed a mere 9-for-23 passes for 160 yards with two interceptions, leading the Gamecock offense to a dismal 289 total yards on only 52 plays.

After Garcia's disappointing performance, sophomore Connor Shaw was named the starter for last week's Kentucky game to see if he could get the struggling offense to put up some numbers. Although it was against a very bad Kentucky team, Shaw proved he was the man for the job as he completed 26-0f-39 passes for a career-high 311 yards with 42 rushing yards and four touchdowns, leading the Gamecock offense to 639 total yards, their most offensive yardage in a game since October 21st, 2001 against Vanderbilt (656), and their largest win over an SEC opponent since joining the conference in 1992.

With Garcia no longer a distraction for the team, the Gamecocks can finally commit to a quarterback and move on with their season, forever rid of the player that has taken a fanbase hungry for success on his roller coaster ride of a college career.

Manna in Oxford

There is more to Oxford than the university being ranked the third top - ranked party
school by the Princeton Review. There are passionate and well- rounded students
who spend their Thursday afternoons at St. Peters Episcopal Church working
together to make a meal a for the recipients of Manna since 2003. The
recipients of Manna are residents who are referred from the Interfaith
Compassion Ministry who live in the Oxford Housing Authority.

The kitchen is full of college students who work together to make Manna work. The
group of students cooks the food, package the meals into disposable plates,
clean the dishes, and deliver the food. Jennifer Varner, a junior, sorority
member, comes every Thursday and helps prepare the meal said,” I really enjoy
it and is glad she can use her talents for something good.”

Also in the kitchen is Logan Rush who was just recently elected Colonel Reb. Logan said,
"I started doing it my freshman year and to be honest my initial
motivation was that there was another Sigma Chi that was the director at the
time and I wanted a good philanthropy. I think at the time I didn't really see
it as a way to help people I because another way to get involved with a
philantropy, and it really didn't have that much importance. I really didn't
know what it was. I started working and cooking and it still didn't mean that
much. It wasn't until I actually started to deliver the meals seeing that side
of Oxford like the projects and lower income apartments. Seeing these people
when they come home from school who probably aren't going to get a meal because
the only meals that they receive are at school. I saw the work we were doing. I
saw the point of it. I saw the people we were helping and that is when it hit
me that it wasn't so much just that would look good on my resume or medical
school. That we are actually making a difference where I am at and helping
people just to help them since I have the opportunity to help them and the
means and the blessings too. When I start to get busy and think of Manna like a
chore. It is nice to think back on the people and that provides the motivation
for it. "

Also in the kitchen is ,Logan Rush ,who was just recently announced Colonel Reb. Logan said,
"I started doing it my freshman year and to be honest my initial
motivation was that there was another Sigma Chi that was the director at the
time and I wanted a good philanthropy. I think at the time I didn't really see
it as a way to help people I because another way to get involved with a
philantropy, and it really didn't have that much importance. I really didn't
know what it was. I started working and cooking and it still didn't mean that
much. It wasn't until I actually started to deliver the meals seeing that side
of Oxford like the projects and lower income apartments. Seeing these people
when they come home from school who probably aren't going to get a meal because
the only meals that they receive are at school. I saw the work we were doing. I
saw the point of it. I saw the people we were helping and that is when it hit
me that it wasn't so much just that would look good on my resume or medical
school. That we are actually making a difference where I am at and helping
people just to help them since I have the opportunity to help them and the
means and the blessings too. When I start to get busy and think of Manna like a
chore. It is nice to think back on the people and that provides the motivation
for it. "

When I went to the apartments and help deliver the food I noticed how the residents lived,
and it was kind of diverse community with one Ole Miss student, African
Americans, and a Caucasian lady. Laurie Williams, a Caucasian, disabled lady
said, “I enjoy the interaction with the young people. It gives me something to
look forward to and it does help a lot and I appreciate it. “I did see children
running to the door with a big smile and the adults were glad to get the food
also.

To become involved with Manna please contact, campus director,
Logan Rush, at jlrush@olemiss.edu, or he
said “ you can just show up on Thursday s at St. Peters church. There is a 2:30
cooking shift and 3:30 cleaning shift. You can also help deliver.”

There really is more to Oxford than the parties and there are students
who have a big heart.

Ultimate Underdogs

The Southeastern Conference is known for its epic football games every Saturday in the fall that has two teams pounding it out on the gridiron in what is usually a thriller all the way until the last second. However this Saturday in Oxford, Miss., the matchup between the Ole Miss Rebels and the No. 2 nationally ranked Alabama Crimson Tide does not have that sort of feel.

Instead, this SEC Western Division matchup is surprisingly one-sided according to Sportsbook.com with Alabama projected as a 25.5 point favorite to beat the Rebels, which is one of the worst underdogs Ole Miss has ever been in a home SEC contest.

So for Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt and his squad, this week’s game gives them an “us against the world” mindset as they go through their preparations for the challenge ahead. In their minds, they know the only people giving them a shot to win this game are themselves.

But they try not to listen to the odd setters for they know they can only control what they put into each and every play throughout the game.

“I always try to be as honest as I can with our guys,” Nutt said in a press conference Monday. “I thought last week we got better as a football team. From Fresno State on, we got better. That is what is important. Everyone has a responsibility to get better. Whether you are playing against the Green Bay Packers or Alabama, there is not much difference. You have to play extremely hard and eliminate mistakes.

“That is what we have been putting our emphasis on. We want to get better, eliminate mistakes and have a tremendous attitude. We have a great opportunity.”

That opportunity, however, will come against arguably the nation’s best defense, which is ranked third in the country in total defense giving up just 191.33 yards per game. So for the Rebels to have a chance of competing with the Crimson Tide, they will need to air the ball out as Alabama is giving up just 39.83 yards on the ground this season.

Sophomore wide receiver Ja-Mes Logan, whose first season in a Rebel uniform saw Ole Miss finish 4-8 and 1-7 in SEC play, is excited for the opportunity and knows the only way to gain people’s respect is to go out and compete as hard as they can.

"We are used to being the underdog,” Logan said. “We can't control what people say about us. All we can control is what we do. We talk every day after practice about playing hard and trying to prove people wrong about us. It's always fun to play a top five team. You just have to be prepared and play a really good brand of football against teams like this."

Senior left tackle Bradley Sowell has been in this role before. Sowell was a member of the 2008 Rebel squad that took down the Florida Gators, who won the National Championship that season, in Gainesville in one of the greatest college football upsets of all time.

“They have some big, NFL-looking guys on their team, and we just have to fight them,” Sowell said. “That’s our goal –– just go out there fight them and see where that takes us. We are not worried about the spread. We were something like 24-point underdogs against Florida. This is the SEC. Every team has talent.

“It’s just a 60-minute game. All we have to do is be better than Alabama for 60 minutes, not all week. If we go out there and lay our hats out there and our hearts (out there), you never know what can happen.”

Last Day of Freedom

Imagine you are a senior at a university and graduation is in less than two weeks. You would
probably be wondering where you would be in 6 months and how different your life was about to come, but how would you feel if you knew that in 6 months you would be behind bars for up to 3 years?

John Smith was a senior at the University of Mississippi within days of graduation when he was arrested on a charge of possession of marijuana with intention to distribute. John knew mostly what to expect as he was placed in handcuffs, because he had been arrested the previous year on the same charge and given probation. The difference, however, is that he had now violated his probation. John realized that day that his life was about to be changed forever.

 

 

John waited in jail until the following morning when his bail was paid and he was released around 9 a.m. He said during the night he was unable to sleep because he was too
nervous about what was to come. “I sat there all night thinking about what was about to happen to me, I knew that I broke my probation and that was NOT good. It was one of the hardest nights of my life.” John and his lawyer met with a judge later that week.

 

 

John said “The judge said I could spend up to 3 years in jail because of this. I had 6 months until I had to report to court again to find out where I would go, so that day I went home and I cried like a baby. I didn’t want to get out of my bed. I was hopeless.”

 

 

John seemed to have hit rock bottom until a conversation with his mother turned everything around. “I told him his life was not over. He had 6 months of freedom and he could spend it sulking in bed or he could get up and do something valuable with the time he had left. So that day he decided he was going to start really living.”

 

 

Living his life was exactly what John decided to do. He spent the next 6 months doing things he had never done. He traveled all over America, visiting Disney Land in California and attending a football game in Miami, Florida. John said he visited with family he hadn’t seen in years and spent extra time with those closest to him including his motherand brother.

John also spent time doing the things he truly loved like golfing and attending concerts with his friends. “Waiting to go to jail really has taught me to not let the days go by. Every single day I have tried to really appreciate my life. You know the whole you never know what you’ve got til its gone thing? I didn’t want to wait until it was gone to realize it.”

Ben, a close friend of Johns feels that John’s situation has made him turn his life around completely. “John has always been a good guy he just got caught up in some bad stuff and it really has changed him. He knows he did it and he’s accepting it and looking on the brighter side of things. It’s really had an effect on all of us, we’ve all realized how life is and trying to do better.”

Susan, another friend of Johns also feels John has reevaluated his life. “He realized what he did and I don’t think he should have to go away for so long. He was young and made a mistake and he definitely learned from it. The way he’s dealing with it is inspiring to all of us.”

 

 

John met with a judge on Monday, October 10 to hear his final sentence. He was to his surprise,
not sentenced to 3 years in prison, but to serve 9 months in a work program at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. This facility is located in Rankin County, Mississippi, near Pearl. The 71-acre prison holds female prisoners in addition to minimum and medium security prisoners. John has two additional weeks until he must report to the prison to begin his sentence.

In response to his new sentence John, grinningly quoted Bob Marley saying, “In this great future we can’t forget our past. Everything is gonna be alright, every little thing is gonna be alright.”

Names have been changed to protect identities.

Hill Ray Feature Story

"Before, it was like Hell always looking over my shoulder, but now it is like Heaven with no worries." Matt Summers is an awesome person with an interesting story. He was born in Greenville, Mississippi and lived down town with his little sister and his mother. His parents divorced when he was young and he raised his little sister from the day she was born. Due to parent issues, Matt had to take care of his sister and work hard in school to get a scholarship to pay for his college. He went to Greenville High School, which is full of gangs and violence. He also was a real good football player for his school, but did not get the recognition he deserved because his team was not very good. Matt knew that was not the life he wanted to continue to have so he decided to make a change.

Matt became real interested in going to the private school, Washington Academy, because he knew the school was well known for its academics all over the state. On top of that they had a real good football team that had just won state the year before. There was only one problem; Matt 's parents did not have the money to pay for a private school.  Disappointed, yet determined, Matt was willing to do whatever it took to get the opportunity to go to Washington Academy for his senior year. He talked to his father and they came to an agreement. Matt was to work on his dad's farm for the summer and if he worked long and hard enough, then he will earn his way into Washington Academy. He knew it was going to be a tough summer, but he also thought of his future and how he could benefit from this opportunity. Summers knew this would help him, but he really did not know what to expect.

Summer began and Matt's journey to a new life began also. A rough summer it was for Summers, as he would work as early as five in the morning until dark. There was no time for fun. Only time to shower, eat, and sleep. He worked hard all summer baling hay, plowing rows, and other hard labor all day long. It was a hot and miserable summer for Matt, but it would all be worth it in the end. Matt's father kept his end of the bargain, and on August 8th, 2009, Matt Summers was on his way to Washington Academy for his first day of school. His life would never be the same.

School began and so did football practice, with a big game coming up to open the season. It was a change for Summers, coming from an all black public school to an all white private school; but right off the bat, he became friends with everyone. He met a lot of guys on his football team, that later became some of his very close friends. The toughness of the classes and the discipline from the teachers was something that Summers was not used to, but he quickly learned the ropes. He began doing very well in class and also in football. Washington's football team was 9-3 and was getting ready to defend there title at the state championship once again. Many of his new friends began to learn about Matt's family issues and many families began to have him over for meals and even to stay the night. Everyone loved him and presented themselves with open arms.

The sound of the buzzer went off, as The Washington Generals had one their second state championship in a row. Summers was overwhelmed with excitement, as the team piled up at mid-field. "It was my high school dream come true. It was hard to react because I never thought anything like that would ever happen to me," Summers said about the game. Later he was selected as an all star and signed with Hinds Community College to play defensive line. He made so many friends throughout his senior year and graduated at the top of his class. Summers also enjoyed playing other sports for Washington, like basketball, track, and soccer. He left Washington Academy with many of friends and a new family. He is a great guy with a big heart and not only did he change his life, but everyone else around him too. 

Mana

There is more to  Oxford, Mississippi  than the univesity  being ranked the third top - ranked   party school by the Princeton Review. There are passoniate  and well- rounded students who spend their Thursday afternoons at St. Peters Episcopal Church working together to make a meal  a for the recipients of Manna since 2003. The recipients of Manna are residents who are referred from the Interfaith Compassion Ministry who live in the Oxford Housing Authoriy.  

The kitchen is full of college  students who work together to make Manna work. The group of students   cook the food, package the meals into disposable  plates,clean the dishes , and  deliver the food. Jennifer Varner, a junior,sorority member,  comes every Thursday and helps prepare the meal, said  that she really enjoys it and is glad she can use her talents for something good. Also in the kitchen is Logan Rush who was just recently elected Colonel Reb. Logan said that,  "I started  doing it  my freshman year and to be honest  my  initial motivation was that there was another Sigma Chi that was the director at the time and I wanted a good  philantropy. I think at the time I didn't really see it as a way to help people I because another way to get involved with a philantropy , and it really didn't have that much importance. I really didn't know what it was. I started working and cooking and it still didn't mean that much.  It  wasn't until I actually started to deliever the meals  seeing that side of Oxford like the projects and lower income apartments . Seeing these people  when they come home from school who probably aren't going to get a meal because the only meals that they receive are at school.   I saw the work we were doing.I saw the point of it.  I saw the people we were helping and that is when it hit me that it wasn't  so much just that would look good on my resume or medical school.That we are actually making a difference where I am at and  helping people just to help them since I have the opportunity to help them and the means and the blessings too. When I start to get busy and think of Manna like a chore. It is nice to think back on the people and that provides the motivation for it. "

When I went to the apartments and  help deliever the food. It was kind of diverse community with one student, African Americans, and a caucasian lady. Laurie Williams, a causian, disabled lady said, " I enjoy the interaction with the young people. It gives me something to look forward to and it does help a lot and I appreciate it. " I did see children running  to the door with a big smile and the adults were glad to get the food also.

To become involved with Manna please contact,campus director, Logan Rush, at jlrush@olemiss.edu .