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Centennial Hall breaks ground

By Layne Bruno

To kick off the all-day celebrations of Connexus this past Tuesday, faculty, board members and student leaders broke ground to mark the beginning of construction on the new, highly-anticipated Centennial Hall dorm.
“It is a pleasure for us to celebrate the beginning of our new, 360-bed facility, Centennial Hall, with today’s groundbreaking ceremony,” said vice president of Student Affairs Xavier Whitaker.
Multiple speakers addressed the crowd, which included faculty, staff, students, alumni and board members.
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Brad Mashburn, president of the student body, spoke on his experiences coming to college and being thrown into a community of peers in a five-bedroom dorm. He said these first roommates, all football players, became his community with whom he shared much of his college experience.
“Centennial Hall will be a great new addition to our a great new addition to our wonderful campus of ETBU. Not only does it represent our future to come for the next 100 years, but it reflects our past.” Said 2013- 2014 President of the student body, Kinsey Kent.
Construction of Centennial Hall will begin in the near future. The new parking lot in front of the student center will be closed off with a fence when construction begins. ETBU is expecting finishing the project by August 1, 2014.
“I am so excited about Centennial Hall!” Said Dr. Oliver, “one of the best things about ETBU is the close community our students have living on campus. When complete, Centennial Hall will help facilitate that type of community and will give us the space to continue growing our enrollment.”

Students flock to intramural field for Connexus Ambush

By Clayton Pike

ETBU’s campus was buzzing with excitement and life this last Tuesday when the all-day Connexus festivities took place. This excitement was at an all-time high, students said, during the Ambush festival which took place just before the softball and baseball games.
The festivities were scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., but students were showing up even before that to show their support for the ETBU Lady Tigers. Free food may have been a draw as well, offered up by an amazing tailgating squad. They provided attendees with hamburgers, hotdogs, nachos, funnel cat and German Sausages. There were even chances to win $50 Visa gift cards in a drawing.
Students also had no shortage of fun activities to partake in. There where the familiar F5 inflatables, such as the obstacle course and bull riding, and many others jones

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A wiffle ball home run derby contest was also held, allowing students to compete for prizes, such as shirts, hats, and visors. There was even a rock climbing attraction, named Mount Everest, which people could climb. President Dub Oliver even climbed the mountain at one point.
A dunking booth was also on hand. Attendees were able to dunk some of their favorite ETBU faculty, such as Xavier Whitaker, Tyler Sellers, and Paul Swearingen. Dr. Elijah Brown boldly issued a challenge to those who would try to dunk him, saying, “No one can dunk me.” His challenge was quickly
A Frisbee and several footballs were also available for use, and were in constant use throughout the entire event.
The Ambush was undoubtedly a great success, with its high attendance throughout the entire event. Students and faculty could be seen talking and laughing across the entire area. Cody Finch called the event a success, saying that Ambush, as well as the entire Connexus festivities were a “great day of celebrating ETBU.” He said the Ambush was a “great day of dancing with Frisbee and football throwing.”
The wiffle ball home run derby generated a large turnout, with several people placing. Sterling Jones, Josh Sander, Jake McClain, Zach Henderson and Mike Makey all placed and were awarded prizes. Craig Gummelt belted the balls out to place second, but Andrew Scurmon towered above them all, coming in first.
The free tailgating food was probably the greatest success of the event, with long lines throughout the entire afternoon. Overall there were over 300 funnel cakes given out, as well as over 250 hotdogs and hamburgers consumed by the ETBU community

ETBU Coaches in Boston when tradedy struck;minutes away

By Angelina Vannicola

Three people were killed Monday in a bombing at the Boston Marathon. More than n 170 people were injured.
ETBU’s own Natalie Bach-Prather finished the race and was only a block from the scene when the explosions occurred.
Law enforcement officials said the devices were probably hidden inside dark nylon duffel bags or backpacks and left on the street or sidewalk near the finish line.
“I crossed the finish line an hour before and left the scene five minutes before the bombing happened.” Coach Prather said.
“ My husband and I went into a local restaurant, and after we came out it had occurred. We were in shock and didn’t believe it because I was just there and I thought there is no way this could’ve occurred.”
boston “Then we started seeing the armored cars, the FBI, the bomb squad, and the helicopters . All the public transportation had been shut down and all the police men we ran into said to just walk back to our rooms.”
The resulting explosions sent metal tearing through skin and muscle, destroying the lower limbs of some victims who had only shreds of tissue holding parts of their legs together when they arrived at the emergency room of Massachusetts General Hospital.
“We were all kind of in a daze,” said Prather.
“It was all very eerily calm and surreal. The weirdest part was that there was no crying, there was no screaming. The people just came together like you would never believe. There were runners that finished the marathon and immediately gave blood. There were medics and nurses who finished and went straight to the medical tent and saved lives. There were people who lived in the downtown Boston area who opened up their homes, and brought food and water. The outpouring of love and outreach of the city of Boston was amazing, just kind of reminds you that goodwill triumphs over evil.”
Coach Prather plans to hold a one-mile race open to the campus in honor of the runners who died or were injured in the Boston Marathon. Anybody willing to participate should wear blue or gold and meet at 11am or noon by the field between Van Zandt and the Science Building Monday, April 22.