The first installment of “The Hunger Games” film trilogy, based on the award-winning set of young adult novels, will premiere in theatres March 23, sparking conversations among students and faculty at Indiana Wesleyan University.

Scholastic Trade Books published Suzanne Collins’ first book in 2008 and wrapped up the trilogy in 2010. Among other honors, each book was the #1 New York Times bestseller in the year of its publication. U.S. box office estimates place “The Hunger Games” with earnings of $100 million in the first weekend.

Other movie premieres that were made from fantasy/adventure novels include “Harry Potter,” the “Twilight” saga and “The Chronicles of Narnia.” All were popular as books but struggled to hit the estimated profits when they first hit the big screen, according to reports by the U.S. box office.

Dr. Mark Perry, an assistant professor in the Division of Communication at IWU, said he heard about “The Hunger Games” from his students last semester. He read the books in a matter of days and thought they were great, but he’s not sure how the stories will do in theatres.

“It’ll beat ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ and rival ‘Twilight,’ but I don’t think it will be beat ‘Harry Potter,’” said Perry. “I really do think ‘Hunger Games,’ while it has crossed gender lines, hasn’t crossed the age divide. I don’t think many people over 30 will read them.”

Perry is planning on watching the movie eventually, but he won’t be in line for the midnight showing Thursday.

Lydia Porter (jr), who studies elementary education with a concentration in science at IWU, heard about “The Hunger Games” from a friend on campus and read the trilogy in three days over Christmas Break.

Porter said she’s noticed how much hype the movie is receiving, both on and off campus. She thought the books were well-written and is curious to see how that will translate into a movie.

“It could go one of two ways,” said Porter. “It could be really awesome, or it could be really bad. From what I’ve seen, they’ve done a good job. Whenever you take books and make them movies, you’ll have a critic. I’m just not sure how well they’ll do after the first weekend.”

Porter already has her tickets for the premiere and says she knows quite a few students who are going as well.

“I can think of at least five separate groups planning on going to the midnight showing,” Porter said.

Dr. John McCracken, a professor in IWU’s Education Department, said “The Hunger Games” volumes are different than the “Harry Potter” and “Chronicles of Narnia” series, which are more typical fantasy with lighter moments.

“‘The Hunger Games’ is a look at our culture and the things we’re preoccupied with and projects that onto the future. ‘The Hunger Games’ is more of negative critique of our society,” said McCracken.

But McCracken said he believes the books will still do well as movies. He’s having one of his classes read the volumes and is giving them an opportunity to watch “The Hunger Games” movie as a group.

Lionsgate has announced that the film for the second book, “Catching Fire,” will premiere in November 2013.

Carnegie Hall will present its Distinguished Concerts Artist Series March 2, in which three Indiana Wesleyan University faculty members will perform.

Dr. Tammie Huntington and Dr. Lisa Dawson will perform as a soprano duo with Dr. Phoenix Park-Kim acting as their pianist. The three faculty members from IWU’s Music Division call themselves “Soprani Compagni.”

The three were attending the National Convention for the National Association of Teachers of Singing when Huntington stopped at the Distinguished Concerts International New York booth. After talking to the agency, which books for major venues in New York City and Chicago, Huntington was invited to audition for it. “Soprani Compagni” auditioned in fall 2010 and received an invitation in December to perform at Carnegie Hall.

“I was so thankful for the opportunity,” said Park-Kim.

The “Soprani Compagni’s” invitation stated that this special performance is only for professional musicians and separate from the main concert series. It gives musicians an opportunity to display their talents on one of “the world’s most renowned concert stages.” Once artists have performed, they are put on the Preferred Artist Roster and become part of the DCINY Family.

Huntington said they hugged, jumped up and down “and screamed like little girls” upon receiving the invitation.

“Well, of course, we screamed carefully,” said Dawson. “We’re always trying to save our voices.”

“Soprani Compagni” will perform a variety of pieces March 2, including works by Jules Massenet, Lori Latitman, Benjamin Britten and others. The group’s performance starts at 8 p.m. and will last just over half an hour.

“We have to remind ourselves all the time that God calls us to be the best we can be, and to offer all of our talents and practice and efforts up to Him for His pleasure and let Him do as He wishes with it. It’s our goal always to worship Him with our art through excellent stewardship of the gifts He has given us, and we pray this comes across at Carnegie,” said Huntington.

“We do not need to be perfect. We just want to love people with music,” said Dawson, referencing lyrics to a song by Bill and Gloria Gaither that encourages her to see making music as a means by which to love God and love people. “That’s what it is all about – even on the Carnegie stage,” she added.

Huntington said that performing at Carnegie will make her a better teacher because she is out doing what she teaches and trains her students in the classroom.

“I hope to grow and mature as a musician, performer and teacher through this experience,” said Park-Kim.

Huntington said the performance is just the beginning of things to come. The three hope to continue researching soprano duets, bring together a soprano duet anthology, commission new works and even record.

Antonio Murrell (alumnus ‘09), affectionately known as “Tone” around campus, has made quite a splash in the basketball world after graduating from Indiana Wesleyan University. Murrell joined the Harlem Globetrotters in and, in spring 2011, became the CEO of Indianapolis-based New Generation Animation.

Murrell’s athletic and vocational successes after graduation reflect what his educators noticed during his time at IWU.

“I specifically remember Tone’s pure athleticism. He was always the quickest and most explosive player on the court,” said IWU Athletic Director Mark DeMichael. “I remember there were around four or five games his senior year that came down to a game-winning shot with practically no time left on the clock. Tone was usually their go-to guy for those type of pressure situations, and he was almost always able to pull off something remarkable.”

Murrell was a star athlete during his four years as a Wildcat, a legacy he retains as the basketball team’s fourth-highest scorer, with second place in career steals and first place in career assists, according to the team’s records.

“Tone was a first-generation college student who exceeded academically as well as athletically,” DeMichael said. “For someone with so little resources to do so much is nothing less than incredible.”

“It’s always exciting to hear the stories of our alumni, and it inspires others. It brings great pride in our alumni association to see our graduates go on to make a difference in the lives of others,” said Rick Carder, director of alumni relations at IWU. “We’d love to hear from [students] about other successes. You can also let us know how we can pray for you.”

“We are really the representatives of what the university stands for, and when people see us, we should be acting in that way,” said DeMichael. “Athletics are the front porch of a university; they aren’t the most important aspect of the school, but works to give a good first impression of what the school stands for.”

Abe Saperstein launched The Harlem Globetrotters in Chicago 85 years ago to promote a night club called the Savoy Ballroom, according to the team’s website. Over the course of a few years the team had played more than 1,000 games, and they had traveled all over the nation, so they changed their name from “The Savoy Big Five” to “The Harlem Globetrotters.”

An IWU alumnus has been among an elite group of athletes that includes the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, a former Globetrotter.

By: Charlee Vaughan and Kate Burkhardt

Every year, college students from around the country spend spring break relaxing and sometimes preparing for the rest of the academic year. But several groups from Indiana Wesleyan University will spend this spring break serving those in need domestically and abroad.

Domestic trips
Two teams of IWU students and faculty are preparing to spend spring break serving on mission trips across the United States through IWU’s World Impact program.

The teams will all depart March 3 for various locations, including Macon, Ga., and Los Angeles, Calif.

The team going to Macon, Ga., will volunteer at Hephzibah Children’s Home, a facility that serves as a foster home for children and adolescents, ages ranging from newborn to college sophomore. The team of nine students, led by athletic trainer Jessica Keller and IWU professor Nate Foster, will perform maintenance at the home during the day and fellowship with residents at night for the duration of their stay. The trip was offered exclusively to athletic training majors.

Keller described the experience as “an opportunity to serve non-athletes” and said the biggest obstacle the team will face will be connecting with kids who have grown up in difficult environments. Regardless, Keller said she looks forward to seeing God work in and through her teammates.

The Los Angeles team will work with an urban ministry organization called World Impact (not affiliated with IWU’s organization) and serve in several locations in the inner city. The team consists of 11 students and is led by Tiffany Gallant, IWU’s current missionary-in-residence. The team will work with church planters in Los Angeles and participate in many service opportunities, such as working with the Broken Hearts prostitution ministry and interacting with people in poverty-stricken areas.

“The main objective of the trip is learning about Los Angeles ministries and helping in whatever ways possible,” said Sarah Tabb (sr), student assistant leader.

Tabb said the biggest obstacle team members will face is navigating the city and not getting lost as they drive a van to and from the locations where they will be serving. What she most looks forward to about the trip is watching the team experience life-changing encounters.

Both teams will depart from their service locations March 10 to return to IWU.

Haiti trips
Over spring break this year, two groups of IWU students are heading to Haiti on mission trips to help different organizations already at work in the Caribbean nation.

Jim Vermilya, director of World Impact at IWU, said these trips are part of what the university strives to do with each and every group it sends out, whether locally or globally.

“We would never go anywhere, even locally, without being in partnership with people,” said Vermilya. “We talk about how short-term mission trips can have a long-term impact, and the easiest way to do that is by partnering with organizations there that know the dynamics involved, have been welcomed there and are working with the churches there. We don’t want to get in the way of ongoing work.”

One group is partnering with Poured Out, a ministry dedicated to bringing clean water to homes and villages. The students will not just take bottled water to the local people. Instead, they will help to build water filtration systems in Petit Goave, located on the mainland outside Port-au-Prince. This group is through the collegiate ministry at College Wesleyan Church and led by the outreach pastor, Thad Spring.

The other Haiti group is made up exclusively of residents of Hodson and Evans halls. This trip, led by Evans Resident Director Stephanie Smith, will work with The Wesleyan Church-based organization Global Partners. The 10 students on this trip will be on the Haitian island La Gonave, spending time with kids in an orphanage and helping with clean up and reconstruction from the earthquake that occurred there two years ago.

The earthquake is the primary reason that three of this year’s 10 World Impact trips are going to Haiti. Even though it happened in January 2010, the resulting devastation is still widespread.

“From the beginning, one of the things [Dr. Jim Lo] and I talked about was that this would be out of the news very quickly. It’s not in the news anymore, so it’s not in the forefront of our minds, so we don’t realize that people are still living in tents,” said Vermilya. “This is not something that you recover from over a couple of years. It’s going to take possibly decades.”

The two groups will travel to Haiti together on March 5 and return to IWU on Monday, March 12. A third group of IWU students will travel to Haiti during May term this year as well.