The Diamond

By Adam McDonald, editor

You may have heard rumors that Dordt will be going through various changes during the summer. From the East Campus parking lot to the building of a new clock tower, things will definitely be different for all of us who plan on returning in the fall.

“We will be tearing up the parking lot and replacing it with drainage underneath to dry out the East Campus area,” said Bethany Schuttinga. “After the drainage goes it we will replace it with grass. It’s been part of a campus master plan that has been in progress for the last thirty years.”

In doing this renovation, the total number of parking spots lost will total around 150. Currently there are 209 existing spaces. Dordt plans on expanding the parking north of Covenant this summer to make up for the lost spaces.

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By Kelly Zatlin, editor

He ascends the Subway staircase crowded with people, all trying to get a peek. All he could see of Tahrir Square were the hoards of Egyptian police accompanied by the smell of tear gas. On January 25, 2011, Dordt student Adrian Hielema was in the midst of not only a riot, but of history. 

Two months have passed since the protests in Egypt began, and Hielema, who is on the Middle East Study Program, originally stationed in Cairo, will not be returning to Egypt because of the instability, despite the fact that he would like to be there. 

“It’s an awesome and beautiful country, and the people there are some of the nicest you’ll ever meet,” Hielema said. “I would kind of like to do a sort of a before/after thing, just get closure – we left rather unexpectedly.”

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This is the story of Ben Olthoff, a Dordt College student who recieved life-threatening burns in an accident over a year and a half ago. Today he is living the life of an average college student with extraordinary circumstances. You may see him around campus, but you may not know him. Here is your chance to get to know who Ben really is.

By Kelly Zatlin, co-editor

He walks down the abandoned dark halls of the grade school that has been a part of his life since kindergarten. “This place is like home,” he says.  

He knows these halls like the back of his hand. Unlike his hand, though, this place hasn’t changed a bit. He points out his old locker and smiles. The memories of the years he has spent here as a student and as a janitor come flooding back. 

He scrubbed toilets and swept floors in this building since eighth grade, alongside both of his older brothers. He spends every summer inside the doors of Sioux Center Christian School, plunger in one hand and mop in the other.

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By Kelly Zatlin, editor

We live in a broken world where over 45 million people are fighting a life and death battle because of their relationship with their food. 

Statistics show that 80 percent of American women are dissatisfied with their appearance and 81 percent of ten year olds are afraid of getting fat. 

In America, many women are afraid of food while 15 million children in different parts of the world die of starvation every year. Why is this? 

Is it because women’s magazines have ten times more ads about weight loss than men’s magazines or because we as a nation spend $40 billion on diet-related products each year?

Women all across the nation are struggling with body image and eating disorders, and our campus is not exempt.

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The story of a Dordt student who fought anorexia…and won

I never wanted to be like that.

It’s not like I planned on becoming anorexic. I just wanted to start eating a little healthier. Actually, my disorder got its start when I had to monitor everything I ate for three days as part of an assignment for class. After that, I figured I should start eating a little bit healthier.

Three months later I was trapped in a full-blown eating disorder. Since I always had a healthy relationship with food and exercise, I was totally blinded by my disorder and in complete denial.

At the peak of my disorder, I entered college as a freshman, and my body began to deteriorate. I hated college. I finally had a “light bulb” moment, and I realized that I had a problem and needed help. I was officially diagnosed with anorexia over Christmas break my freshman year.

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Concept, Create, Cut, Collapse…Comedy?

By Kelly Zatlin, editor

Dordt’s digital media department kicked off their most widely participated Prairie Grass Film Festival yet with the shock of a new twist: every group was required to create a film with the same genre: Comedy. 

On Thursday, Jan. 13 at exactly 4 p.m., a total of twenty-eight groups from Dordt College and different parts of the country began this forty-eight hour short film competition. 

Digital Media Instructor Mark Volkers, who helped start the PGFC 5 years ago, commented on this year’s film challenge. “Usually we assign a different genre to every team,” said Volkers. “This year, everyone got comedy.”

Some competitors had mixed feelings about comedy being the across-the-board genre.

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Compiled by Kelly Zatlin, staff writer

Chris Van Dam, on his semester in the Netherlands last spring:

Who? Chris Van Dam, senior, history and political studies major. 

Where? The Netherlands on the SPICE program. 

Why did you choose The Netherlands? “I had a lot of family that went. My cousin and sister went and they had a really good time. My cousin lived with the SPICE coordinator, so when he came the next year for recruiting and interviews he came to my house. His family stayed with us for two weeks, so I had that whole connection.”

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Starting in college, or in a new college, is a change for everyone — even more so if that college is in another country. Here are the stories of four international students who made that transition.

By Ashlee Stallinga, head editor

Jeremy Budi is from Jakarta, Indonesia,  and his unique interests brought him to  Dordt. Budi wanted to study agricultre and church music.  Dordt seemed like a logical choice.

“Obviously, since it is in Iowa, it has a good farm system.  Good professors, too,” he said.  “And it’s a Christian school, with good music and church programs. That’s how God led   me here.”

And he also hopes that God leads him back.

“I want to devote my life to development of rural communities, agricultural communities, and, if possible, do missions, too,” Budi said.

And for Budi, his home country is the perfect place to do it.

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Students look for more variety in worship style

By Kelly Zatlin, staff writer

Some Dordt students, especially those that did not grow up in a Reformed environment, find that although Sioux Center has many churches to choose from, there is not enough variety.

Aaron Coon, who attends Bridge of Hope, says he does not feel at home with the churches in Sioux Center.

“You can’t say there is something wrong with there being a lot of the same denominations in one town,” said Coon “but it does seem like there isn’t a lot of openness to new things.”

Kevin Novotny, who attends Calvary CRC in Orange City, feels the same way about Sioux Center’s churches. “For the first month I was here, I went to a different church every week and they all seemed the same,” said Novotny. “There was nothing special or close to my home church at all.”

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