TKE Smokes Up Their New Members!

Frostburg State University's very own Tau Kappa Epsilon chapter hosted their semesterly Smoker on the 17th of this month. Smoker is the official bid dinner for which caps off a week of recruitment events. It not only offers potential new members an invitation to be a candidate for membership into Tau Kappa Epsilon but it also celebrates the efforts towards a successful recruitment week. Smoker got it's name because at the dinner, the potential new members who accept their bids receive cigars to smoke. Tau Kappa Epsilon chapters at other institutions share this practice. However, some call the event "Cigar Night". This is event dates back to when Tau Kappa Epsilon was rechartered at Frostburg State University in 2003.

Smoker was held at The Draft Sports Bar & Grille. The event was made invite only by the brothers of Tau Kappa Epsilon. The brothers of TKE as well as potential new members were there in badge attire with their dates. Badge attire is formal wear with a pin or badge on. Since this was a bid / induction ceremony the potential new members had not received their candidates badge nor members. The event began as most dining experiences begin. The waiting staff took everyone's order and brought out drinks and entrees. Brothers and potential new members mingled and got to know each other. After dinner had been settled it was time to hand out official bids and cigars. The cigars and bid cards were handed out by Neil Epstein (President) and myself (Vice-President). The six men who were inducted were said to, "Have excellent quality and character." by Neil. The men who received a bid to join Tau Kappa Epsilon are Clyde Burke-Coursey, Samuel Groat, Shaech Magona, Rashaan Rhoden, Thomas Sadler, and Charles Williams. Ryan Adamski is the hegemon of Tau Kappa Epsilon. Clyde Burke-Coursey said this about accepting a bid to became a candidate for membership, "Alot of my friends are Towson and WV Teke's so I checked TKE out here and I really liked everyone so I wanted to become a part of their group.". This means that it is his sole responsibility to educate and bond with these six men throughout their new member education process. He had this to say about Smoker, "This is a pretty cool event and gives me a chance to know the guys I'm going to be with for the next six weeks.".

Smoker also seems like a great business opportunity. The manager of The Draft Sports Bar & Grille Vince, is always willing to accommodate Tau Kappa Epsilon for this event. It is a way to introduce many potential new customers to The Draft. The Draft is also a great location for Tau Kappa Epsilon to have this event because they make seating and pricing arrangements. They also arrange for a podium to be in front of the tables of Neil and myself to give out bid cards and cigars.

After Smoker the new members will begin their six week candidacy process with Ryan Adamski.

Drawing a Conclusion about Tyonna Amis

Tyonna Amis is a junior at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland. She is a junior majoring in English with a minor in public relations. She is from Baltimore City in Maryland. Tyonna chose to come to Frostburg because it is financially reasonable. Tyonna also described the distance of Frostburg to Baltimore as, "Far, but not too far.". Tyonna also aspires to work in a public relations firm upon graduation. In her spare time she enjoys drawing, sleeping, and listening to music. Interestingly enough, Tyonna is quite the artist.

She prefers drawing while soothing music plays in the background. Tyonna prefers to not listen to upbeat music while drawing because drawing is relaxing and leisurely to her. She claimed that if the music was loud and upbeat she would, "want to get up and dance.". Tyonna likes all types of music when she is casually listening. However, with regard to her art work and drawing she loves to listen to slower tones.

The process of her art is very intriguing in itself. While she prefers drawing she also paints as well. She draws out the shape of her subject matter using either pencil, charcoal, or marker. She then will fill in with paints. However, this is not always the case and often depends on what Tyonna feels like doing at the time. She also prefers to use marker over other drawing methods.

The subject matter of Tyonna Amis' drawings are what is most intriguing. She draws cartoons. Tyonna said she draws cartoons, "Because I really like cartoons. I rather watch and draw cartoons than real people.".  The way she depicts the cartoon is also very interesting as well. She enjoys depicting the cartoons in a context that is different than how you would see on television. Tyonna's favorite character to draw is Alice in Wonderland's Alice. Her favorite cartoons to watch are Bob's Burgers and Spongebob Squarepants. While she loves drawing and making art she conceded that she had never really considered pursuing art as a career. She has since put her efforts towards graduating from Frostburg State University with a degree in English.

Kyle Bowling Takes A Chance

Back: Scott Stalter, Tyler Trojan, Miles Lee, Benn Lukk
Front: Josh Bowen, Kevin Vinciguerra, Kyle Bowling, and Matthew Gunter at the block party

Kyle Bowling is a junior here at Frostburg State University. He majors in mass communication with a focus in media management. Kyle also minors in public relations and journalism. In four years he would like to be graduated and working at a public relations firm. He is the social media chairman and the vice president of his fraternity. He runs the twitter and instagram accounts for TKE. Bowling is a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon on campus and has a very interesting story of how he got involved with the fraternity.
Many people join fraternities and sororities for various reasons and I wanted to know Kyle Bowling's reason. He expressed that a fraternity was not something he desired to do but he started off by giving it a chance, Bowling says he "tried it and liked it after going to the interest meetings." So what changed his mind about being in a fraternity? When asked about the aspects that changed his opinion he said "everyone was like me, we had similar interests." Kyle was able to see himself in the fraternity and it felt like he belonged.
Joining a fraternity, like many, had an impact on Bowling's college experience. "Joining TKE was the best that ever happened to me in college" was his response on how the fraternity has benefited him. He went on to describe the bond as "it's like having 20 best friends." Bowling also notes that he met a lot of people that he would not have otherwise got a chance to connect with if it weren't for giving the fraternity a chance.

Mykel Hutton: From Baltimore County to college Brony to counselor

Mykel Hutton is a 22-year-old Frostburg student majoring in psychology, having transferred to Frostburg after attending Baltimore County Community College at the Catonsville campus. Hutton, one of eleven half-brothers and sisters from the Baltimore County area, has ambitions of becoming a counselor, and is currently majoring in psychology to meet that end. Hutton said of the career choice, “I want to be a counselor, but when they were asking me what your focus could be they were like ‘drugs, family issues,’ but that’s not really what I wanna do.”

Speaking on interests and hobbies, Hutton stated “I am an exceptionally exciting person,” preferring to spend free time reading and writing, listening to music, watching anime, and playing video games. When asked about favorite video games, Hutton expressed great enthusiasm for the role-playing genre - “think Dragon Age.”As for a preferred genre of literature, Hutton was all-inclusive, saying “anything and everything, everything fiction - I’m really interested in sci-fi and fantasy right now.”

Hutton is also a member of an on-campus organization: the Brony Club. The Brony movement - or perhaps culture is more appropriate - centers around adults, usually young men, that profess and discuss their appreciation for the television show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - often leading to confrontation online with detractors who often argue (with vitriol, more often than not) that the show is intended for children.

Bronies have been a cultural phenomenon for years now in American media after gaining immense exposure through online message boards (of which Poniverse.net claims to be the largest) and social media, and fittingly Frostburg State University has a club devoted (ostensibly) to facilitating discussion of the show between fellow students.

Despite being a member of the Brony Club, Hutton has not watched the show past its second season; it now has six seasons and 138 episodes. “We only actually talked about Ponies one week - after that it was all about video games. Originally [the club] was all about My Little Pony. The show got terrible, the show sucks now.”

The current head of the club, Chris Ricks - advised by Jill Morris - began attending Frostburg State University in 2012, and is still the group’s leader today. Despite being more about Mario Party than My Little Pony these days, the group still meets biweekly.

Logan Miller: The Next Name in Entertainment News

Logan Miller, age 22. His hobbies include listening to and creating music and watching movies. He wants to be a music journalist. He has no favorite genre of music, but enjoys Coheed and Cambria, Deafheaven, and The Mars Volta the most. He is also a Frostburg local. His favorite recent memory which is when he got to see Coheed and Cambria live and won free tickets to see mewithoutYou and Teen Suicide. He describes the moment as, “pretty dope all around.” As we continue to discuss more relaxed matters, we talk about his American bulldog and black lab mix dog Duke. We got to talking about the dog’s name and Logan said that he would have preferred a different one. He isn’t sure what he would name Duke now that he has gotten to know the dog’s personality, but that he “...wanted to name him something ridiculous. I kind of want to name a dog Mustard.”  

Logan is a part of the Active Network, where he talks to federal employees about their retirement plans. He also writes for the local Bottom Line. He is the Entertainment editor and deals with the topics of music and movies. His favorite articles that he has written so far would be when he wrote about a Donald Trump rally and the two times that he wrote about Kesha’s legal problems. The latter is what increased his interest in journalism and pop culture has always interested him. I asked him how he believes the case should have turned out and with some thought, he explained, “The outcome of the case was appropriate considering the evidence presented."

Logan has expressed that he enjoys working for The Bottom Line because it covers campus issues that might not be looked at otherwise and he is able to practice investigative journalism. He goes on to say that he likes being able to have the freedom to write about what interests him and that it encourages him to improve his writing. He seems to be rather excited to talk about his writing career and he is very invested in current events. During the interview, he showed myself and our instructor a video that was live feed from a friend at an anti-Trump rally. They discussed for a moment whether or not Trump was even in Philadelphia at the time, but the news of an anti-Trump rally was enough to get their conversation going. With his interest in pop culture news as well as the political news, Logan is ready to become the music journalist that will be seen all over.

Nicole Leighty: A Learning Experience in Exchange for a Summer

In a black FSU field hockey shirt paired with blue shorts, junior Nicole Leighty mentions she plays field hockey and is a goalie, commenting, “People don’t assume that about me.” In addition to being a goalie, Nicole is a Mass Communication major, a Public Relations minor, as well as a Marketing minor. She has two sisters: one a freshman attending Savannah College of Art and Design and the other a freshman in high school. As a college student the summer comes as a well-deserved relief from heavy workloads, but this summer Nicole didn’t get that luxury.

 

Nicole attending an event for her station

This summer Nicole reflects that she didn’t have a “legit summer” because of her internship she worked with Allegany Radio Corporation. There she interacted with the local radio stations as promotional intern. Nicole ran their social media accounts and helped with graphic designs and power points as well as attend events. Her internship was hands on, she helped promote the radio station and was active in their everyday functions. For example, Nicole worked an event called Working Women’s Wednesdays in Cumberland where she created promotions and sought out vendors to attend. Despite not being able to go to the beach as often as she might have during other summers she got incredible opportunities as an intern, she wrote ads and recorded them herself, and was the mascot for the country radio station.

 

Nicole as a mascot for the country radio station at the Allegany County Fair.

The company that she was an intern for owned six stations; the main station that she was under was 94.1 the Top 40 station. A negative of being an intern is being placed where your needed and not necessarily where you want to be, Nicole reflects, “Unfortunately I never got to do a morning show, which is kinda what I was hoping for.” Still she was able to do on the air contests for listeners, one of the last giveaways she did was for Father’s Day where one listener won a GoPro.

 

Nicole's media pass for a hockey event.

Internships are learning experiences. They help you explore into possible job fields before getting into a career.  Reflecting on her experience Nicole stated, “I thought that’s what I wanted to go into, but after doing it… It was a great internship and a great company to work for, but I couldn’t see myself doing that after I graduate.”

Tiffany Gulick

Tiffany Gulick, a beautiful dirty blonde Emma Watson look alike, will be turning nineteen in October. She is a double major in English and Education Frostburg State University . She is currently in her sophomore year and is originally from Cumberland, Maryland, and although she loves and aspires to travel the world, she has not gotten up to it yet.  “London” she replied when I asked her what city she will love to visit. Tiffany has two younger brothers (sixteen-year-old and 10-year-old) and has a cat, Madeline, that she could not live without.  Let’s just say she is an animal lover, as she also dog-sits some weekends.    

One thing I love about Tiffany, other than the fact the she looks like one of my favorites actresses, is that she is very calm and collected. Although shy, one can still see an interesting mystery about her. Ms. Gulick has a kind heart and is a humanitarian. When I asked her what she would change if she could be God for a day, she said she would stop human trafficking and rewrite history to erase the slave trade from the face of the earth.  If Tiffany won the jackpot she would partner with a charity to stop any traces of humans getting kidnapped all around the world.  

Tiffany is very young, but if she has any regrets about her past, it would be that she didn’t challenge herself and believe in herself in terms of school (taking tougher classes) and just life in general. Some advice she said she would give to her young self would be to challenge herself more and believe that she could do more than she originally thought she could. In fact, she now lives her life by the motto "if there’s a will, there’s a way."

Another place Tiffany hopes to go someday is Uganda to visit her friends. She loves the movie Beauty and the Beast, mashed potatoes, and if she could have a super power, it will be invisibility. 

Agnes Manyi Formatum: World Traveler

Agnes Manyi Formatum: World Traveler

By Tiffany Gulick

Manyi is a liberal studies major, and is a senior at Frostburg State University.  Manyi is originally from Cameroon, which is a country in central/western Africa, though she moved to Prince George’s County, Maryland, as a child.  She was taught to speak French by her family, as both French and English are taught to students in Cameroon.  The name “Manyi” in Cameroon means “99% chance of having twins,” but she hopes that this is not true.  Manyi has an older sister and brother, as well as two younger sisters. 

Manyi loves to travel, and travels often with her church group.  She recently went to Haiti, but has also been to Mumbai, India; France; Istanbul, Turkey; Nigeria; Canada; Mexico; and Bolivia.  Manyi made many trips back to Cameroon to visit her family as a child, but her first trip with her traveling group was to Mumbai.  Manyi enjoys each traveling experience that she is able to take part in, but her favorite trip was to Haiti. 

In Haiti, Manyi was able to see the remains of destruction from the 2010 earthquake.  The poverty is so widespread in Haiti that there has not been recovery from the earthquake.  While she was there, she was also able to see a group by the name of Mission of Hope (MOH).  This group provides animals such as goats as a food source, healthcare, orphan care, education, projects such as building structures or water wells, and church advancement throughout Haiti. 

Although Manyi loves traveling to unknown places, there will always be a special place in her heart for Cameroon.  She loves being able to visit her family and the place where she was born.  Manyi’s favorite artist is Rihanna because, “I feel like I can relate to her.  She moved here as a teenager, which was older than I was, but still.” People who immigrate to the United States have a deeper connection and understanding of each other as opposed to those who were born in the United States.  

Manyi’s life quote is, “Whatever you can conceive and believe, you can achieve.”  As a child and young adult, Manyi has always struggled with worrying too much.  If she could give her former self advise, she would say that everything is going to be okay.