Assistant sports editor overcomes obstacles
It’s
11:30 a.m. on a rainy Tuesday morning at the UNCP Livermore Library when mass
communications major Jonathan Bym walks in soaked from the long journey he made
across campus from Cypress Hall.
At
first glance, the 19-year-old sophomore is certainly dressed the part of the
assistant sports editor for The Pine Needle wearing gym shorts and an athletic
basketball t-shirt. His love of all things sports is apparent and he seems to
want that to be one of the first things people know about him.
“I’ve
always played sports since I was little, but basketball has been the one that I
have stuck with” Bym said.
He
considers himself a competitive person and loves the competitive nature that
sports bring. He also admires the inner drive that it takes for a person to
achieve greatness in the area.
“Some
people are born with it, some are not” Bym said.
Most
would not know from looking at where Bym is now that he has struggled in
athletics.
During
his freshman and sophomore year at his high school in his native born town of
Seagrove, NC, Bym tried vigorously to make his school’s basketball team, but he
ended up being cut every time.
But, with a turn of events his senior year lead to a stroke of luck and he made it onto his school’s team. This made him the admiration of one special teacher who used
him as an example of where
perseverance can get you in a speech to his entire graduating class.
With
these fresh compliments in mind Bym entered UNCP as a freshman contemplating on
what his real goals in life were.
Most would never
know that he has doubts in his overall ability to achieve greatness based on
athletic skill alone.
“I’ve
always loved sports, but I don’t consider myself that athletic of a person” Bym
said.
He
knew he had a passion for all things sports so he just wanted to become more
involved in all the sporting events and report the excitement back to others
that share his same level of passion.
“I
thought journalism could take me to where the action is without having the
ability” Bym said.
In
his mind, he could see himself working for ESPN as a dream goal and even
contemplates minoring in broadcasting to gain some of those extra skills to
hopefully make that a reality one day.
Until
that day comes Bym will continue to persevere to achieve greatness on the UNCP
campus.
Pembroke Day Feature
SSA president faces
the heat on Pembroke Day
Pembroke Day is filled with vast
amounts of tables and crowds of locals and students in search for fun and
sights to see for a few hours. Amidst the sights, fun and information students
and locals can gather about the school and the surrounding area there is also a
bit of controversy.
The Secular Student Alliance table
at Pembroke Day had its share of controversy. The SSA is a group for student
atheists, agnostics and humanists. When you add being positioned at a school
that is in conservative religious area they don’t have to do much to be the
cause of controversy.
The SSA President, Zach Kale,
Junior, 22, is your typical college student who enjoys comic books, video games
and football, but underneath that he is passionate about his religious outlook
and what his group can do for the campus.
“It provides this community with
more like-minded individuals,” Kale said. “I have had three people come out to
us as atheists and to have this community here it helps them.”
The surrounding community seems to
not be as understanding of the group’s mission. During Pembroke Day there was
an incident of an older local woman coming up to the group telling them, “When
you’re burning in hell we will all feel sorry for you.”
“We are being threatened with hell
and no one wants that,” Kale said. “I have received hate mail saying things
like ‘why would you ever make such a group. You should be ashamed.’”
Most
would not know that Kale ironically attended his first year of college at two
different privately owned, religiously centered universities before settling at
UNCP.
Kale also came to terms with being
an atheist during his early adolescent years.
“I
don’t think there is a moment of realization for anybody. For me it was a two
year process from the ages of 13 to 15,” Kale said.
Above all the hardships he faces
Kale remains strong and insists that his religious outlook and running the
group has had its positive moments and helped shape him as a person.
“It’s taught me to be more
diplomatic with people. It’s definitely helped me with public speaking with all
the events I have had to attend,” Kale said.
“I think atheism has made me
appreciate life more. This is the only life we have now. So we know that we
must do good for people with the time that we have.” Kale said.
Video Feature
Professional Profile
Joseph
Begnaud, 38, carries a full cup of Starbucks coffee into his nearly empty new
office with boxes filled with personal items, bare walls and only a desk and a
couple chairs to show off. It is clear that Begnaud is not, yet, fully settled
into his new position as a drawing and painting professor at UNCP.
“It’s
great to be back at a university,” Begnaud said. “I really enjoy the students.
They are really earnest and extremely respectful.”
Begnaud
began his university position at the beginning of the fall of 2012 semester and
he already appreciates what the school has to offer students.
“The
size and the diversity are really cool,” Begnaud said. “Just having a variety
of students that create an interesting student culture.”
Begnaud
seems to already fit in to UNCP’s ever expanding art department with his easy
laid back style and charming personality. He considers himself the type of
person that loves to relax and is also a self proclaimed museum hound that
loves to travel.
“I
love still water sports. The last few years I have enjoyed being in nature,”
Begnaud said. “I kind of learned that if you have a choice between going to a
city and going to a museum go to the city.”
“The environment
of the city and nature are just as important as looking at art,” Begnaud said.
Begnaud has had
his share of looking at art from all over the world. He spent his last few
summers in Europe, and both he and his wife have traveled to the likes of Rome , Slovakia ,
Vienna , Paris and
Poland .
During his
undergraduate studies at the University of Dayton Ohio, Begnaud received a four
week grant to live and work in Florence ,
Italy
“That
was the first time I was out of the country, ever. I saw the world was bigger
for the fist time,” Begnaud said. “You can see a painting over there the size
of a concert hall.”
The
trip inspired Begnaud to create one of his notable series of paintings entitled
“sleep series.” Looking at all the painting of figures there, he realized he
and others have done many of the same poses while sleeping, so he began
painting figures while sleeping.
Begnaud
has always had a gravitation toward the human figure in his art.
“Looking
back I have always kind of realized that the figure is a vehicle for acting in
a painting,” Begnaud said. “It’s like me acting through them.”
“When
you see the image of a body, it has an immediate connection with the viewer,”
Begnaud said.
Begnaud is
constantly thinking about the history of figurative art. He likes to not hit
viewers over the head with meaning in his work. He would rather people find
multiple underlying meanings.
His latest series
entitled “Nocturnes” was inspired by the winters he spent in Maine . But, he was also inspired by his
travels to Poland .
“Travel
kind of affects you in subconscious ways,” Begnaud said. “Most of the art in Poland is about
emotion or sentiment.”
So, Begnaud
decided to add emotion and sentiment to his work along with narrative by
placing human figures in night time scenery of Maine in wintertime.
With
travel being such a big part of Begnaud’s inspiration for his art only time
will tell what he may be inspired to do next.
Magazine Article
Digital Arts: Visually Communicating to the Masses
Ever
wonder who created that logo for the drink you are sipping on? Ever see a great
advertisement in a magazine and wonder who put the design together? Have you
ever been captured by a movie poster that makes you so excited to see it and
you think who came up with those visuals? These all fall into the realm of
digital arts, one of the fastest growing subjects of fine art.
Digital
artists, also known as multimedia artists, use various media to produce their
artwork, in particular computers. They use various design programs, such as
Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, to produce digital artworks.
Digital artists
are not only known for making fine art, but logos, posters, advertisements,
fonts and other types of media that companies use to communicate the look and
message of their products.
With
that in mind, digital art is an art career that is without a doubt in demand
for jobs in the real world, and it’s only expected to keep growing.
According
to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for artists will increase by 16
percent by the year 2016. The demand for digital artists will be a major part
in that increase with the rise of new and improved technologies every year.
There will always
be a high demand from companies to produce artworks in the form of logos,
posters, billboards, web pages and product design. This makes digital arts a
very worthy investment for those that think they posses the talent and
creativity needed for these jobs.
According to UNCP
professor of Digital Arts, John Labadie, the field remains vital to the
communication of messages to the public.
“Digital Arts is about defining and
implementing effective means of visual communication. Visual
communication is an essential part of our ever evolving information technology
based world,” Labadie said. “Therefore, it is extremely important because, at
the simplest level, this field enhances our ability to effectively communicate
with each other.”
Without digital art, companies and
brands would never be able to communicate their messages to the masses. Web
pages would either be non-existent or extremely bland due to lack of graphics. There
wouldn’t be posters, dvd covers or magazine ads. Many things that we take for
granted each day.
Virtually everywhere we look there
is some form of digital art that was created by a digital artist. Without
digital artists the world would be less colorful, and many things we visualize would
become something meaningless because there is no design behind it. This makes
pushing inspiring artists into doing what they do ever more vital.
But, luckily enough for us we do
have digital art and people that are willing to push their talents to communicate
new messages to the world through the use of design.
When you think about the future of the digital design world
no one could state it better than Labadie.
“Nobody knows what the future holds for what digital art
can do. That's the most exciting part of being involved in this field,” Labadie said.
Data visualization
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