The Woods

By Anna Spydell &
Lacey Henson
Staff Writers

Freshman Alexis Dawson received a spooky welcome shortly after moving in to her room, number 247 in Le Fer Hall.
“I was on Skype and a picture that was on the wall went flying across the room,” Dawson recalled. “And one day I was in the shower and I heard people in my room moving things around. When I got out, I couldn’t find my laptop or tennis shoes.”
Suspecting that a friend had dropped by her room while she was in the shower, Dawson went to the door to ask if anyone had seen her things.
“I realized that my door had been locked the entire time and there had been no way to get into my room,” Dawson said.
As fall approaches, colors of orange, crimson and yellow paint the leaves of the trees surrounding the beautiful campus of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.
But with stories about the faceless nun, a bloodstained room, footsteps throughout Le Fer, mysterious piano playing in the Conservatory and underground tunnels, it seems that the SMWC campus has a dark, underlying history.
With all of the startling stories, myths, and folklores that trace back to the SMWC campus, why travel to a haunted house this year to get your spook on?
The SMWC campus has plenty of its own spooks to offer that might make your blood run cold.
Take, for example, the legend of the Faceless Nun.
Possibly the most famous of the Woods ghosts, her notoriety has landed SMWC in ghost hunting books, such as Haunted Halls: Ghostlore of American College Campuses by Elizabeth Tucker, published by University Press of Mississippi in 2007.
While stories concerning her identity conflict with each other, they do seem to agree on the long gone Foley Hall as the site of her haunting.
Foley Hall was razed in 1989, leaving no physical place to visit to investigate the ghost.
“A fire burned it out on the inside, and after that it was just torn down,” said SMWC security guard, Albert Heramb.
Formerly located between the Conservatory and O’Shaughnessy, Foley Hall housed art classrooms on its upper levels.
It is to those classrooms that the Faceless Nun is most popularly attached.
Her tales vary; she is alternately described as a terrifying faceless entity who would wail along Foley’s halls and as a realistic looking-figure who would always appear between the viewer and the light, the glare obscuring her face.

Photo by Jade Scott/ The Woods

These tales, many of which are recounted on the Sisters of Providence’s website, describe her as so realistic that people would believe her to be one of the flesh and blood Sisters.  They would speak to her, never suspecting her ghostly nature until she would simply vanish.
Immediately next door to the former site of Foley Hall stands the Conservatory.
Housing both the Theater department and the Music department, the Conservatory has both the auditorium and the practice rooms.
Some of those rooms are equipped with pianos for the music students to work in.
“Back when I first started at this job, I was patrolling the Conservatory and getting ready to lock up,” Heramb said. “All of a sudden, I heard piano music.”
Thinking perhaps a music student was having a late night practice session, Heramb made his way upstairs to inform the student that he was about to lock up for the night.
“But when I reached the second floor, the music stopped,” he said.  “I looked around, and no one was there.”
Not knowing what to make of it, Heramb returned to the ground floor.
“As soon as I left the second floor, the music began again,” he said.
Heramb then radioed for another security guard to meet him at the Conservatory and, together, they combed the Conservatory for any trace of their piano-playing quarry.
“We never found anyone,” said Heramb.
The intrigue doesn’t stop at the above-ground area of the Conservatory. Beneath lies a large basement, filled with furniture, props, and one of the several entryways to SMWC’s network of underground tunnels.
The underground tunnels are no myth. There are tunnels that run under the ground that connect all of the buildings on the campus side as well as the sisters’ side. Most campuses have underground tunnels and even many buildings in Terre Haute.
“They are used for maintenance purposes,” Utilities Manager for the Sisters of Providence, Bob Flesher, said.

Photo by Jade Scott/ The Woods

The tunnels run steam to Le Fer for hot water and to also heat other buildings. Electrical lines and cables are also run in some tunnels to the library for IT usage.
“They keep lines accessible and allow for easy repair,” Flesher said.
Standing six by four feet, most are walkable. However, some are so small that a person would have to crawl through. Some have been closed off and are not in use.
The tunnels are lighted but still have an eerie feel.
“Some of the guys have seen shadows while in the tunnels,” Flesher said. “You can tell that they are a little spooked, even though they don’t like to admit it.”
Students have reported experiencing unexplainable activity in the Le Fer Hall dormitories.
Freshman Jessica Rodriguez has seen some pretty strange things since moving in to the second floor of the south wing of Le Fer.
Rodriguez said, “Every night, between twelve and four, if you’re really quiet, you will see a shadow moving from end to end of the hallway.”
From mysterious piano music in the Conservatory, to strange noises in Le Fer, students and staff alike have reported strange incidents across the campus of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.
While there remains no evidence beyond personal accounts to confirm any unknown presences on campus, it is likely that ghost stories concerning SMWC will continue to be handed down from Woodsie to Woodsie.

Popularity: 36% [?]

By Jade Scott
Managing Editor
jscott@smwc.edu

“The church!” Sister St. Theodore wrote.  “…No tabernacle, no altar, for can the name of altar be given to three planks forming a table forty inches long, supported by two stakes driven into the ground?”  -Mother Theodore Guerin, A Woman for all Time by Penny Blaker Mitchell
The location of the first church that Saint Mother Theodore Guerin found when she arrived has been vacant since 1853, when the cabin was torn down.
All that is left is a large rock with a plaque stating, “The first mass at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods was offered on this spot by Bishop Brute, first Bishop of Vincennes, Jan. 6, 1837.  In the log hut dwelling of Father Buteaux who was on that date installed here as Pastor.”
“Mother Theodore Guerin got here and expected to find a convent and a church,” said Sister Mary Ryan, archivist for the Sisters of Providence.  “What she found was a log cabin 14 by 12 feet that served as their church and home.”
That empty location saw a change several weeks ago when construction of a foundation for a replica cabin began just feet from that rock.
Dave Cox, media relations manager for the Sisters of Providence, and David Patterson, executive director of the Terre Haute Convention and Visitors Bureau began talking about the possibility of a replica cabin during the time that Mother Theodore Guerin’s canonization was celebrated in 2006.
“David and I have been involved since the beginning. Not too long after the first conversation, we talked with Keith Ruble, who is the superintendent of the Vigo County Park and Recreation Department,” Cox said.  “He educated us about how to go about our research and what to look for.”

Photo by Jade Scott/ The Woods

Ruble, who Cox says has “worked with cabins for many years,” was able to give them the information they needed to begin looking for an appropriate historical cabin that would match the description of the original cabin that stood when Saint Mother Theodore Guerin came to Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods.
The search continued for five years until Ruble met David Masterson of Owensville at a pioneer-like festival, the Rendezvous Festival, in Vincennes last Memorial Day weekend.
Masterson’s wife, Faye, is a photographer who loves taking pictures of old structures.  She came across a barn that contained two 1800-style cabins.
The two cabins were bought and removed with one going to the Sisters of Providence.
The cabin was broken down in to pieces and transferred to Vigo County.
“Some of the timbers had decayed, so we had to replace them,” Cox said.  “The Visitors Bureau is providing financial support for replacement timbers, stones for the fireplace and sidewalk, the foundation, roofing other items that are necessary to bring this project to life.”
The work, which is being done entirely by volunteers, is a slow process and cannot be expected to be done immediately.
“It is really neat to have something like this being done,” said Earl Rodgers, one of the volunteers working on the cabin.  “We really have to work around schedules and it is mostly on weekends we can get work done.”
The original plan was to have the cabin rebuilt and restored by the weekend of Oct. 21 for the Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Festival.
Due to problems such as finding the right parts, the work has been delayed.  They now project that it should be completed by the middle of November before the winter weather can set in.
This addition to The Woods will help visitors get a glimpse of the past.
“The cabin project is a very tangible opportunity to see a replica of what Mother Theodore and her companions saw soon after they arrived,” Cox said.
The replica cabin is as close to a match to the original cabin as possible.
The cabin will be slightly larger than the original and will also have to accommodate safety features, but it will include original details such as the wooden plank altar and even the primitive cot the priest would have used.
“They are really trying to make this cabin look as close as possible to the original cabin for authenticity,” Ryan said.  “There will be two windows on the back side of the cabin for natural light but they should not be very noticeable.”
People from all fifty states have traveled to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods to visit Saint Mother Theodore Guerin’s relics since she was canonized.  Those who are a part of this project believe that this replica cabin will be an essential piece for those that come to visit.
“It’s a small example of what life may have been like at the time,” said Cox.  “Also, in a very practical way, it gives visitors one more reason to come to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods …it is another place where they can share Mother Theodore’s spirituality and presence.”
With the help of the Sisters of Providence, Cox, the Masterson’s, Ruble, and each and every volunteer helping to rebuild the cabin, it will be a place for understanding the past, educating, and a special place to visit.

Popularity: 26% [?]

The Moon

By: Lauren Sutton

The man’s face
settles into peace
as he sees his children

The man’s face
sighs in happiness
as he watches them sleep

The man’s face
sighs miserably
as he sees them wakening

The Moon by Lauren Sutton is a poem broken down in to seven parts.  Each part tells the story of the different cycles of the moon.  Part one is the turmoil between the moon and the sun when the sun is setting and the moon is just rising.  In the following parts the moon gets higher and higher in the night sky only to come to a climatic end of the sun rising and ending the cycle of the moon for another night.

Chronicles of Arcanland:  The Skeleton Key

By: Emilie Blythe

Arowen was tired of trudging behind Vulcan, and even the dragons – whose thick penguin-like feathers made them impenetrable to harsh weather – were beginning to complain. Arowen had them by leash, and had to give a tiny yank every once in a while to remind them she was alive and worth following.
“How much farther?” she asked, trying not to moan.
“Ah…” he said, squinting at all the white.
“If my calculations are correct, we should be standing
on top of it.”
Arowen blinked.
“You mean it’s under the snow?”
Vulcan chuckled, but it was not encouraging. “No, no. Whole stations don’t just get swallowed up like that.”

Chronicles of Arcanland: The Skeleton Key by Emilie Blyth is a young adult science fiction novel that follows the main characters through their journey in Antartica.  They stumble upon a hidden civilization and become trapped within.  The king of this civilization is supossed to have control over the borders of their land; no one in, no one out.  Most of the habitants are happy to remain hidden, while their are some that wish to leave.  Outsiders are not supposed to come in, insiders are not supossed to go out.

Author in our midst

By Jade Scott
Managing Editor
jscott@smwc.edu

Emilie Blythe has been writing from a young age.
At the age of 14 she finished her first novel that is hundreds of pages long.  Since she finished her science fiction novel, Chronicles of Arcanland: The Skeleton Key, she has been trying to get it published.
“My first submission was when I was 16,” Blythe said.  “When I was 21, I submitted my story to TangleWood Press which is a local publisher.”
She has yet to get her story published but she has gotten great feedback and ways to make her work even better.
She is now targeting the young adults genre and may even put it in the category of religion as well.
“I wouldn’t say that my book has a lot of religion in it, but there are parts of prayer and talking about it,” Blythe said.
Since her submission to Tangle Wood Press she has been picked up by Writer’s Edge which is equalvilent to a writers agent.  This website is a screening service that will pick up writers and put them on their list for publishers to find.
Blythe was put on that list on Oct. 1 and her name was sent out to 75 publishers.  Now she just has to wait.

Popularity: 23% [?]

By Jade Scott
Managing Editor
jscott@smwc.edu

Month two:  This is about the time that life gets in the way of my workout program, or I just quit.
Just that thought makes me want to finish even more.
I had just started my first week of month two the last time I wrote this column.  The week after that I got sick.  That right there normally would have thrown a wrench in everything and I would have given up.
But this time I just played it safe.  Instead of trying to push through that week and half-heartedly do my workouts while ill, I took that week off.
I reworked everything so that I would just pick up the following week where I left off.  So yes, I am a little behind than where I originally thought I was going to be at this point, but it is worth it.
Now I do not feel guilty that I only went through the motions of the workouts nor do I feel like I am behind because I skipped certain workouts that I have to squeeze in at a later date.
I wish I would have figured this out two years ago and then maybe I would have finished the first time.
But I must admit, after taking that week off it has not been easy starting up, all guns blazing the next week.  As I am writing this I have no motivation to stick to either my intense workout plan or my eating plan.
The lack of motivation also comes from the fact that I feel stuck.
I have a great combination of cardio and strength training in my workout program but I feel as if now the muscles are there but you just can’t see them.  I continue to do ab-workouts getting stronger and stronger core muscles but my stomach doesn’t feel or look any flatter than before.
Do I need more cardio or do I need to just continue what I’m doing and finish out the program?
I have decided that when, not if but when I do finish my 90 days with this workout program I do plan to do the actual Insanity workout program over Christmas break.  I feel like by that time I will be over strength training and just want the cardio.
All I really know is that I need to get my motivation back.  I need that drive again to know I will make it through the week completing all of my workouts and completing them well.
I guess that by the time I read this in the paper on Monday I will either have found that drive again, or will need it forced in to me.

Popularity: 41% [?]

By Amira Jaradat
Staff Writer

On the night of Oct. 6, the cast and crew of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods’ production of “Little Women” gathered for their final dress rehearsal in preparation for their opening the following night.
Afterwards, their director, Danielle O’Connor, delivered her final notes on their performances, as well as some words of encouragement.
“I don’t want to see you thinking anymore,” said O’Connor. “We got this.”
The team started rehearsing for the play at the beginning of September and continued right up to opening night.
With their four live performances fast approaching, the cast and crew experienced a range of different emotions, from happiness and excitement to sadness that it would all be over soon.
“For me, it feels really good,” said Tyler Hutcheson.   “Because it means a lot of work is coming to an end.”
Hutcheson, SMWC’s technical director, played the role of Laurie, the March family’s neighbor and Jo March’s best friend.
“I try to stay away from the stage, but unfortunately I have to act in this one,” he said, laughing.
For others, it was looking ahead to the end that could be most stressful.
“It’s always so much anticipation that it almost makes you really nervous just to get to the point where you have the play,” said Gabrielle Hasler, who played Jo March, the tomboy and writer of the March family.
Despite the short rehearsal period, the more they practiced, the more the cast saw an improvement in their own performances.
“At first we were all really kind of awkward,” said Hasler, who credits their improvement to the support of their director.  “You never think you’re going to get to that point. You always think ‘I’m not going to be able to memorize all my lines and all my movements, and then it always kind of comes together.”

Photo by Jade Scott/The Woods

In the week leading up to opening night, the team rehearsed every night to try to perfect their performances — but that didn’t stop them from having a good time.
“Rehearsals have been really great,” said O’Connor. “My favorite part of a production is the rehearsal process. I love working on it and spending hours and hours on things. The performances are really fun too, but I really like the rehearsals.”
“We all run around like chickens with our heads cut off,” said Dowden, laughing. “We would be on stage and every two minutes, Danielle would be like ‘Hold! Hold! Just wait’ or she’d be like ‘Hold! That was amazing. Keep going.’”
Other times, in the middle of rehearsing a scene, O’Connor would begin laughing “hysterically” or clapping.
“And we can’t break character for it. We can’t look at her,” said Dowden. “So it’s just really funny hearing that and being like ‘Ok…’”
Gaby Meza of the tech crew enjoyed the quiet moments backstage between scene changes.
“When nothing has to be done at that moment…we’ll just be nuts,” said Meza. “During actual scenes when the lights are on, we can see the tech crew on the other side [of the stage], so we kind of do random dancing sometimes and we make faces at each other.”
“If we get bored enough, we’ll just start poking each other,” Meza added.
On opening night, some members of the tech team came armed with books to keep them busy backstage. Meanwhile, actors bustled in and out of the make-up room, singing and joking backstage before the show.
“I’m always nervous until the lights go up,” said Jessica Claycomb, who played the oldest March sister, Meg.
As the “Little Women” experience draws to a close, many on the cast will miss the fun they had during both rehearsals and performances.
“It’s kind of sad,” said Meza. “There are some girls on the play that I don’t usually hang out with, and they were just a hoot to hang out with during the play.”
Sitting on the empty set the night before their first performance, Hasler expressed a similar sentiment.
“As soon as you’re done with rehearsals, the actual play goes so fast and then it’s all over,” said Hasler. “You cry – well, I cry. I don’t know if everyone cries but on the final performance I usually cry.”

Popularity: 16% [?]

By Jade Scott
Managing Editor
jscott@smwc.edu

I work out seven days a week.  Yes, even typing that sentence scares me a little bit.
The spring of my freshman year here at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College I was introduced to the P90X workout program.
For those of you who do not know what that is, P90X is a workout program that consists of a 90 day program, seven days a week.
The program is split in to three different months and after each 30 days the workouts change a little to avoid plateauing and not getting results.
I got through more than 45 days of that program right before the end of that school year and then I quit.
I picked up the same program again halfway through fall semester of my sophomore year.  Let’s just say I wasn’t very successful.
I made another attempt last spring and became frustrated when I wasn’t getting the results that I wanted.
That is when I was introduced to the workout program Insanity.
Just take the name in to consideration and you know exactly what you are getting yourself in to.
So I made the decision to alter the workout program I was going to follow.  I was not just going to do P90X and I was not just going to do Insanity.
Instead, at the start of this year, I created a combination workout program that takes aspects from both programs.
I am now able to get the great cardio four days a week that I was looking for by using a couple of the workouts from Insanity.  But I am still getting the strength training I want by using the P90X workouts.
I started this combination workout program on Aug. 22 and I am proud to say that on Sept. 20 I completed my first 30 days and I am still motivated to continue through my next 60 days.
After going through so many attempts and failures when it comes to these workout programs, I have learned that it is not only important to exercise but what you eat also does affect your results.
I attempted to count my calories and to keep a food journal, but it was just too hard to keep up with it from day to day.
Then I found this website, everydayhealth.com, where you can do everything from search food ideas to keeping a food journal.  This website allows you to enter your personal information (age, weight, level of activity, etc.) and then it breaks down how many calories you should be consuming each day – even into how many carbs, how much sugar, fiber, etc.
This website breaks everything down for you day by day and then tells you if you have gone over or if you are under your limit in each category.  You can search for food nutritional values or you can even create your own and add in your own values.
Oh, and it’s free!  That is the best part of it.
Overall my goal is not to lose as much weight as I can and it is not to look like the models we see on television.  I want to be in shape and I want to be healthy.
I do not plan to stop after I finish my 90 days, but I plan to continue this as a kind of lifestyle.

Popularity: 34% [?]

By Jade Scott
Managing Editor
jscott@smwc.edu

Exotic, overgrown vegetation alongside twisting, narrow roads.  Colorful houses in hues of blue, green, and yellow.
These are just a few of the scenes that Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College junior Cathleen Flynn got to experience on her 10 day trip to Jamaica in June.
But Flynn wasn’t in Jamaica on vacation; she was there to provide music therapy and educational services with a field service project to both children and adults.
“I love traveling but I also love contributing and giving back to the people and the places that I travel to,” Flynn said.  “I also knew that I would learn a lot about music and would bring that back to school with me.”
Flynn learned about the opportunity through a presentation on campus and  was able to receive a scholarship to cover the expenses of the trip.

Photo provided by Cathleen Flynn

She arrived in Jamaica on a Thursday and was able to spend that first weekend exploring the land and getting comfortable there.
Monday morning started the program and she, and the rest of the students were split into two groups – one at each site.
“Most of the students that were on this trip were involved in music therapy,” said Flynn.  “There were students from all over the United States and even some from Canada.”
The first two days she was there, her group was able to spend time at the Westmoreland Infirmary located in the town of Savanna-la-Mar (commonly known as Sav-la-Mar, or simply Sav), the main town and capital of Westmoreland.
Here Flynn and her group worked with adults that were not able to take care of themselves and did not have family to take care of them either.
“Westmoreland is a very rural area and the standard of living is a lot different than what we are used to in the United States,” she explained.  “There is not a lot of funding for places like the infirmary and it is not usual for family to not take care of their own.”
While spending those two days at the infirmary, Flynn and the rest of her group, were able to lead music therapy sessions in individual settings as well as large groups.
When in the small groups, which were mostly made up of women, Flynn would sing for them, play musical instruments, and would even allow the clients to teach traditional Jamaican music.
They also encountered music therapy sessions with very large groups that would last more than an hour.
“The large groups were not typical music therapy sessions that we would see in the States,” Flynn described.  “Normally we are one on one or in smaller groups and they usually don’t last that long.”
From the infirmary Flynn and the grouped moved on to the School of Hope which has children from pre-school up to high school level.
Here Flynn experienced a completely different environment than her first two days in group.
“The energy level was completely different and we had to be on top of things and constantly engaging the children in something new,” she said.  “The school was much faster paced.”
After spending two at each location the students on the trip were given the option to choose where they wanted to go back to for their last day on Friday.

Photo provided by Cathleen Flynn

Flynn chose the infirmary that she visited first.
“I felt that my skills were more directed to that specific environment,” she said.  “The people that were there were the most hopeful and kind people that I have met and you wouldn’t expect that in that kind of place and situation.”
Overall Flynn not only got to give back to the people of Jamaica but she was also able to gain new skills and to improve her skills as well.
“I am more adaptive and flexible in my music therapy sessions now and I have also expanded my empathy and understanding of how the rest of the world lives,” Flynn said.
The children this group visited were able to not only have fun but to also learn about diversity while also bringing different cultures together.  The adults were able to not only connect with new people but with new cultures as well.
“I am brining back with me a renewed passion for wanting to make connections with other cultures,” Flynn said.  “I also want to encourage other students  to reach out while traveling to leave a positive mark on the place they are visiting.”

Popularity: 16% [?]

By Jade Scott
Managing Editor
jscott@smwc.edu

Photo by Jade Scott/ The Woods

Gargoyle on top of a water spout on the Notre Dame

My first day in Paris was a day for French food and rest to overcome the jet lag.
We got off an eight hour flight, got into the city, ate, and then slept.
We did manage to get our Metro tickets and ride it across town.
Day two started with a bang; we spent five hours walking around the Louvre.  We managed to make it over to the Eiffel tower and we took a boat ride on the Siene River through the heart of the city.
Day three was our day trip to the palace of Versailles and to the city of Giverny to see Monet’s house and garden.
For the rest of our trip we wandered the streets, went up the towers of the Notre Dame, and took advantage of open bus tours to see all of the city while not having to walk it.
Overall, I got to see the sights without having to feel like a tourist the entire time.

Photo by Jade Scott/ The Woods

Palace of Versailles

Popularity: 22% [?]

By Jade Scott
Managing Editor
jscott@smwc.edu

Late in the evening of Aug. 25 the halls of Le Fer were alive with a wildfire of rumors:  money stolen, laptops gone, safes broken in to and room checks to be conducted by security.
But what evidence is there to back up this hearsay?
On Aug. 23 a report was made by a student that money had been taken from her room.
The report was filled out by security and filed into the system for tracking purposes.
“This student was missing around $40 and nothing more,” said security officer Albert Heramb.  “That was the one and only report for missing property that has been made to the security office this semester.”
Between the missing money report that was filed on Aug. 23 and the following Thursday night, theft rumors flourished out of control.
Text messages saying a total of three laptops had been taken out of dorm rooms spread from person to person in the matter of minutes.
The unfamiliar sound of doors being locked could be heard throughout the building.
“Up until these rumors were spread I never felt the need to lock my door when I went to class, meals, and even leaving campus,” said Katelyn Duke, junior.
Duke is not the only student on campus that has never bothered locking her dorm room when leaving.
All of the students that were surveyed admitted that their door was normally unlocked all the time.
After the rumors were spread all but two students discussed their frustration in feeling like they had to lock them now.
“We are a safe environment and community, more than most college campuses, but that does not mean students should leave their doors unlocked,” said Dean of Students, Jeff Malloy.
In the past 16 years that Vicki Kosowsky, vice president for student affairs,  has been a member of faculty at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College there have been only been five room searches conducted by a security officer.
Not one of those room searches conducted was done without the presence of the student.
The only case that would warrant immediate entering of a student’s room by security or Kosowsky would be in the case of an emergency.
“The only time we perform room searches with security is when we have very reliable information that there is concern for someone’s safety,” Kosowsky said.
On each and every student housing and food service agreement that is signed by students in the spring, all of the policies and procedures in regards to housing are listed.
This agreement covers topics ranging from personal property, entry by college personnel, residence hall regulations, etc.
This document specifically states, “SMWC respects each student’s right to the privacy of her room.  However, the College reserves the right to enter residence hall rooms for reasons of safety, health, maintenance or violation of College policies.  A Student Life staff member must be present when a room is entered without the student’s permission.”
“Students are responsible and highly encouraged to read the student handbook and the housing contract,” Kosowsky stated.
During freshman orientation the freshman class was given helpful safety tips when it comes to personal belongings and their dorm rooms.  They were encouraged to keep their room door locked when they leave and to not leave their belongings lying around.
The housing and food agreement also informs students that SMWC is not responsible nor does the college carry insurance for the loss of personal property even from private dorm rooms.
“If a door is unlocked and something is taken from the room it could have been taken by anyone and it makes it harder for the college to do anything about the theft,” Malloy said.  “Keeping doors locked when not in the room is the best way to prevent the loss of personal property.”
In regards to the numerous amounts of rumors that encompassed SMWC, these are the facts.
One report was made for missing property and filed out by security.  The report was made for money in the amount of $40.
No other factual reports have been made to security, Kosowsky, Malloy, or SMWC Resident Assistants.
If there were two to three plus reports made of stolen items the college is legally obligated by the Campus and Security Act that was created in 1990, to make a report to the students and community.
The Campus and Security Act also requires every college to report campus crime statistics and security measures to all students and employees by Oct. 1 of each year.
Up until this year this report was posted in all buildings of SMWC.  Now they are listed on the college website.
If a student believes they have had personal property stolen they are encouraged to make a report to security.
“If or when something does go missing that student should go to security,” Kosowsky said.  “The worst thing that could happen is that they have to rip up the report.”
The theft rumors may have alleviated but the constant reminder to lock dorm room doors is constantly present.
“All of the rumors go back to the one report that was actually made,” Malloy said.  “Students should not take locking their doors for granted.”

Popularity: 22% [?]

By Jade Scott
Managing Editor
jscott@smwc.edu

The room was jam packed to each wall.  Every chair was taken and tables covered in ivory linen held more chairs than normally necessary.
The lights were dimmed low with only a spotlight on the stage.  Voices started to become more hushed as the atmosphere became electrifying.
A single man took the stage, stepped in to the spotlight as every set of eyes followed.
“And the winner of two round-trip American Airline tickets is…. Jade Scott from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College!”
Wait.  Who?  Did he just say my name?!
It is nothing out of the normal to hear certain unfavorable qualities about this school.  It is too small.  It is too limiting.  There are not enough opportunities.
Well, every one of those statements is wrong.
Out of hundreds of people at last year’s Indiana Chamber of Commerce awards dinner I, a sophomore at SMWC, won those two tickets.
So how did I do it?  How was I able to put myself in the position to even get to that dinner?  Well I go to a small school, am a journalism major and, at the time, was editor-in-chief of The Woods.
Tom Brokaw just happened to be the guest speaker for that evening last November.
He is a man who has worked for 14 years as an American television journalist and managing editor for NBC Nightly News.  Plain and simple, Brokaw is a super hero to me and just being able to be in the same room with and listening to him speak made a few of my dreams come true.
That alone would have made the entire night memorable. I guess fate had other ideas for me.
Pre-dinner included a meet and greet session where local sponsors could showcase their business; American Airlines just happened to be one of those sponsors.  They had a raffle for every entry that got signatures from every sponsor.  The prize?  Yes, those two free airline tickets.
The ironic part is that I was not even going to take part in said raffle.
The room was filled with CEO’s, important business men in their important suits, accomplished and glamorous women with their flawless hair and suits with severe lines.  What chance did I possibly have at winning?
As luck would have it I was convinced by our former Vice President of Advancement, Chad Linzy, to take the chance.
Most in attendance were not bothered with the raffle.  They spent their time before dinner chatting enjoy a cocktail, and remaining gathered in clumps that made the space limited.  Each table was obscured by at least three to four people no matter which side of the room I was on.
Thirty minutes later I was exhausted, frustrated and to be quite honest a little deflated.  Each sponsor had no idea where I was from and even a couple didn’t know SMWC was a college.
But I turned in that paper anyway.
The American Airlines representative asked me where I would go if I were to win.  Without even taking a moment to think about the question I just blurted out Paris, France!
He smiled and chuckled along with me at my brazen answer, but it wasn’t as if he or I was taking the possibility of winning seriously.
Dinner was finally served. Those of us in attendance from SMWC were all seated at the same round table towards the back of the room.
I looked to my left and saw hundreds of people.  I looked to my right and saw hundreds of more people.
The place was packed and at the front of the room sat none other than Brokaw himself.  I couldn’t wait to hear his speech.
Each course was brought to our table by a frazzled looking server that appeared as if he wanted to be anywhere other than that room doing anything but serving a meal to a person he didn’t know.
The finale to dinner was whisked away from our table and we all sat awaiting the awards and speeches to begin.  But there was one thing that had to be taken care of before the night of applauses and clapping could commence.
The free tickets and we all know what happened.
That same American Airlines representative got upon the stage, pulled a piece of paper out of a large container, and said my name.
To be honest I just sat in my seat smiling and clapping along with the rest of the room thinking about how lucky that winner just became.
Everyone was looking around for someone to stand up to retrieve the prize, but no one was to be found.
Then I noticed the rest of my table and the shocked looks on their faces.
I stopped clapping, looked to my right and asked our President, Dr. Dottie King, “What did he just say?”
What felt like ice cold water flooded my veins as I was in complete shock.
It took me about three full minutes to comprehend the fact that I had won.  It took me another two to even consider getting out of my seat.
I stood on shaky legs cursing the fact that I had worn heels.  Each step felt like a mile.  My heart was pounding and my body felt too insignificant to even hold it.
The American Airlines representative shook my hand, posed in a picture with me, handed me my ticket vouchers and said, “Looks like you’re going to Paris!”
The rest of the night was nothing more than a haze. I came out of my daze long enough to take pictures and video of Brokaw giving his speech.
If someone had asked me a question about what he said, I wouldn’t have been able to answer it if my life depended on it.
The craziest thing about this story is that it is only half-over and the most amazing part is yet to come.
So here I am, sitting on two round-trip, free tickets that can take me just about anywhere in the world.  But where am I going to go, who am I going to take, and how do I pay for this trip once I get there?
Once those questions finally hit me it did put a damper on my excitement.
News of my fortunes traveled fast – mostly because I texted just about every single person I had ever met in my life.
The darkness of the drive from Indianapolis was pierced with light and sounds flooding from my cell phone.
Two days later I received a phone call from my aunt. She congratulated me on my winnings and then makes the most incredible proposition I had ever heard: If I give her my other ticket, she will pay all expenses on a trip to Paris.
I really was going on my dream trip – and it was going to be free! Well, almost.
I did pay for my passport, the taxes on the airline tickets, and then some souvenirs I picked up, but spent no more than $200.  In my opinion that was close enough to free.
We left from Indianapolis on May 16 and we were able to take an eight-day vacation.
We hit all of the major city sights: Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre. We even took a day trip out to the palace of Versailles and Claude Monet’s house in Giverny.
For the most part though, we were able to just walk around the streets of Paris, eat outside of little cafes, and see the city for what it really was.
We were not rushed, we were not on anyone’s schedule but our own, and we had the best possible weather we could have hoped for.
No, I did not tire of the sunshine and mild temperatures while abroad.
I left Paris behind me but I brought back with me more culture than I had experienced in my entire life, a new and strong love for bread, and enough memories and pictures to last four lifetimes.
So, who says we are limited as students at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College?  Who says we miss out on opportunities we would normally get at a larger state school?
I spent my summer vacation in France, and my small college got me there.

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