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Volume 55 lssue 5
Branham reflects on 12 years as campus minister
By Bobby Moore
Editor-in-Chief
rmoore 7 @ my. westga.edu
Next month. Baptist Campus
Ministries minister Tony Branham will
celebrate his 12th anniversary as the
campus minister at the University of West
Georgia.
Branham has been involved in
campus ministries for 20 years, including
the time he spent at Young Harris and
Truett-McConnell. In that time, he has
not wavered from his main objective as a
minister.
“My goal is to meet students where
they are and to hopefully lead them closer
to Christ,” Branham said.
The BCM is more than just a social
group. It is a ministry, as well. “When 1
think of social 1 think circus. I want to be
a community,” Branham said.
Baptist Campus Ministries reaches a
lot of UWG students on a weekly basis
with its various ministries, but the label
“Baptist” does make some students weary
of the group.
“It (the ‘Baptist’ label) does turn
people off. There are students who will
never come into this building or be
involved because of the term ‘Baptist’,”
Branham said.
In spite of that barrier, Branham hopes
that students know that all denominations
are welcome and the BCM focuses on the
essentials and stays away from dogmatic
beliefs.
“Hopefully, when you look at me you
see a person and not a Baptist,” he said.
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Photo by Bobby Moore
UWG students Sade Winsor, left and Monte Addis, right, glance at movie posters last
Thursday in front of the University Community Center. The company that were selling
the posters was called Beyond the Wall Poster Sales.
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“The Student Voice at the University of West Georgia since 1934”
The BCM has a lot of options for
students during the week, which helps
accommodate the schedules of students.
But that is not their only objective.
“We are not trying to accommodate
people as much as they are trying to offer a
holistic ministry. Intramurals, Shoe House
and other things may bring in students
who would not participate otherwise,”
Branham said.
A majority of those events are student
led; with Branham making sure those
student leaders are properly equipped to
share the Gospel.
Branham is very pleased with the
BC'M's current group of student leaders,
saying, “We have a good group of leaders
right now and we have a good group of
Freshmen coming in.”
Freshmen are often sought out by the
BCM, w hich often has programs designed
to benefit freshmen and is also known to
help incoming students move into their
dorm rooms.
Branham believes that typical
freshmen set the routine for the rest of
their college career in their first three
weeks on campus, so it is important to
him that incoming students are reached.
Branham is also mindful of non
traditional students and transfer students,
who often have trouble adjusting to
campus life.
“We offer small-group Bible studies
to accommodate those people that are not
used to big groups,” he said.
Over the years at West Georgia,
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Photo h\ Bobby Moore
Tony Branham works in his office at The Baptist Student Center. He has been the Baptist
campus minister for 12 years and is very impressed with the current student leaders.
Facebook causes uproar
By Miranda Byrd
Stuff Writer
miruntlajbxrd@xuhoo.com
Since its beginning
at West Georgia in the
spring of 20()5, Facebook
has become a powerful
communication tool in the
college experience for its
frequent users.
An online social
network that connects
college and high school
students throughout the
nation, Facebook is a
website that allows users
to have photo albums, a
private message system, an
event calendar, and a way
to keep up with current and
old friends.
This week Facebook
became much more than
just a social network.
Students were
shocked at what appeared
when they signed on to
Facebook last Wednesday.
On each user’s home
page, there were feeds that
showed a detailed script
of their friends’ activities
on the networking site.
Some of these
included who had become
friends with whom, who
had added pictures to
their profile, who had
joined groups, and many
more private details that
were visible to anyone on
H ■ § Bill
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
the site.
Traditionally the
privacy settings protected
students’ information by
allowing only their friends
and others at their school
to acquire information
about them.
The latest addition to
Facebook was the News
Feed, sharing information
about students not only to
their friends but to their
friends’ friends as well.
One feature of this
included students being
able to see who their
friends had recently
become friends with,
exposing members to a
potential vulnerability in
their privacy.
Many members
created groups protesting
the News Feed.
Others created groups
making fun of the new
Facebook, such as “I
am a stalker so the new
Facebook makes my life
so much easier” and “Hey
Facebook, where’s my
GPS tracker?”
Still there were others
that enjoyed the new
features Facebook added
this week.
UWG student Zack
Hamilton said of the
changes, “It’s useful
because you can keep up
with your friends; it tells
w hat they recently changed
on their profiles.”
He added that he also
believed the News Feed to
be “a little creepy” at first.
The massive response
to the “new’ Facebook”
demonstrated students
coming together to take
action not only at UWG but
at schools across the nation.
Last Friday Facebook
creator Mark Zuckerberg
issued a statement
explaining the new
portion of its website
and apologizing for any
concern for privacy it may
have created.
Zuckerberg provided
details about the News Feed
and assured all members
that measures had been
taken to ensure privacy.
Ironically enough, it
was the News Feed that
brought the concerns to the
attention of Zuckerberg,
prompting him to take
action on the issue.
Facebook recently
added new features such
as Notes, which serves as a
mini weblog w here students
can share their thoughts.
Other new sections
allowed users to type in
their religious beliefs,
and allowed them to list
the issues and candidates
they will support in the
upcoming election.