The urge to sing can be strong and sometimes humming a melody in the shower may suffice, but for some people the only way to feed this impulse is to get on a stage and perform.

That could be why there are four a cappella clubs at Central Connecticut State University, and there may have been more.

“Our advisor has said, ‘Four groups is the cap,’” says Michael Brown, the director of DIVISI, the all male group. “So there’s not going to be any more groups but the groups themselves seem to get enlarged.”

It may seem redundant to have so many groups, but their styles differ, even when they perform the same song.

“With TGFI (Too Good For Instruments), they are an all-female group and we’re co-ed. So no matter what, they’re not going to have girls going way down the octave singing low F,” says Michelle Kayser, director of the co-ed group The Right Frequency (TRF), about the two clubs both performing the song ‘Falling Slowly.’

“So no matter what, the arrangements are going to be different….Different people have different visions for what they do and how they arrange pieces,” Kayser says.

ACAbellas and DIVISI were the original groups founded in 2005 followed by TRF in 2006 and TGFI in 2007. The Central Connecticut A Cappella Society was formed in 2005. Students not in one of the groups can still join the CCAS.

“The goal,” Brown says, “was to spread a cappella music. Central really didn’t have an outlet for a cappella like Tufts University in Massachusetts, their a cappella groups have been around for 30-40 years.”

“The society as a whole is great. It’s awesome to have so many groups, because we all have our own style and flair, which makes it more interesting,” wrote ACAbella’s assistant director, Darcey Lovell, in an email. “It’s really one big community of people who all have a common goal to have fun and to make great music together. Each ensemble likes to show up as a group to support the other ensembles in their performances. We work together in things like fundraisers and collaborations like our welcome back concert each semester.”

That’s not to say that there isn’t competition amongst the four.

“If I go to the TGFI show, and they blow it out of the water and our show is the next week, I’ll get back to rehearsal and go, ‘Listen guys, we’ve got to step it up because these guys just rocked my face off and we need to be better then that,’” says Brown. “Any group is going to want to be better than the last group they saw.”

Each of the groups tries to offer their own style. DIVISI does more gospel. Brown says that having 12 men gives them an opportunity to sing songs that have more power. ACAbellas, Lovell says, will sing anything from Disney classics to modern pop. TRF, Kayser says, is the only group that can execute all four parts, soprano, alto, tenor and bass, because they are co-ed.

Kayser says, “When you are all female or all male you are limited in a certain range and it’s nice for us because we like to branch out and expose our ranges.”

As well as being the only co-ed group on campus they also became the first group to have a member whose soul responsibility is beat boxing, something that Kayser calls “liberating.”

“Our beat boxer in our group would also double as one of our bass voices. So it was difficult at times because if he was beat boxing we would lose that voice,” she says.

Most of the groups have beat boxing but they also double as vocalists. DIVISI has several but won’t use beat boxing where it isn’t necessary.

For updates on upcoming concerts check CCSU Today.

Interviews  by Charles Desrochers:

Michael Brown (DIVISI)

Michelle Kayser (The Right Frequency)

By Melissa Traynor

Whether they were fascinated, genuinely interested or angered by his arguments, a large crowd of students assembled around a Christian preacher who spoke today for the greater part of the afternoon.

Jesse Morrell, a speaker from evangelist ministry Open Air Outreach, came to CCSU earlier today to share his interpretations of Christianity, gripping a Bible and the attention of dozens of students. His speech today focused on his beliefs, including his view that homosexuality and premarital sex are immoral. Among other arguments, Morrell also believes that homosexuals “have the right to get AIDS.”

“Morality is living a life of intelligence. Immorality is living a life of unintelligence, when you’re governed by your feelings instead of being governed by your conscience,” Morrell said.

When a student asked if he had feelings, he responded, “I have feelings, but I don’t live to gratify my flesh… I live to please God.”

Morrell said there were three strikes against CCSU as he pulled out a copy of this week’s The Recorder, which features a front-page article about Ron Jeremy’s visit to campus.

“Strike number one,” Morrell said, “you love Ron Jeremy… but you mock the gospel.” He later accused students of focusing on sexual stimulation instead of the gospel, watching too much Music Television, and being “Jesus-rejectors.”

“The fact that there are atheists on this campus shows that there are truth-neglectors,” Morrell continued.

In open defiance of Morrell’s condemnation of homosexuality, two female students kissed. One of them, a student named Tori Davidson, said that he provoked her by saying she was tainted by BET, or Black Entertainment Television, and that she was frustrated when he claimed that homosexuals were mentally ill.

During his speech and accusations, CCSU students were provoked to yell taunts back at him and many of them openly questioned his logic and right to preach on campus. CCSU graduate and former Student Government Association president Alexander Estrom joined in the verbal fray. Estrom, who is also a youth minister, sought to argue against Morrell’s opinions.

“It’s nice to give my seminary studies a little bit of a work out,” he said. “… Even the devil can quote scripture to serve his purpose, and that’s what we’re looking at here.”

When Morrell accused CCSU students of committing the “sin” of premarital sex, Estrom yelled out, “But where in the Bible does it say that premarital sex is a sin?”

Morrell persisted, even though many of  the students who formed a circle around him yelled out insults and enraged questions. Some even tried to begin a chant to drown him out.

“So far it’s one of the more entertaining things I’ve seen and heard,” said CCSU student Jonathan Pare. “Apparently he’s read the Bible because he knows a little bit of it, but he’s twisting it in ways that it was never meant to be twisted.”

“Apparently he’s saying that homosexuals have three rights – one of them, which is the right to gets AIDS… He has the right to say so because he has the First Amendment right, but it’s just not good.”

While many expressed outrage at Morrell’s preaching, CCSU student Marlon Virtue agreed with his message.

“I think we should all be embracing Jesse, but we are very disrespectful, as on most college campuses that will be disrespectful,” said Virtue.

CCSU’s Associate VP of Marketing and Communications Mark McLaughlin stood by to monitor the situation.

“Think of it as he’s trying to scam the school,” McLaughlin said. “He’s trying to test the limits of freedom of speech.”

This is not the first college visit for Morrell, who has made a career of preaching at public campuses over the last five years.

Less than two weeks ago he was thrown out of the campus at Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, a private college, for preaching. According to the area news station WAFF48 News, Morrell said his First Amendment rights were violated and that campus police arrested him for ministering to students. AAMU originally wished to file charges, but let him off with a trespassing violation.

In 2005, Morrell preached in front of bars on Temple Street in New Haven, Conn. According to the New Haven Register, he filed a lawsuit and won a $25,000 out-of-court settlement from the city, alleging that police violated his right to free speech. The settlement, issued in August, 2009, also stipulates that the City of New Haven cannot enforce disorderly conduct laws against Morrell for preaching on public streets.

Audio, Interview with Jonathan Pare:

Audio, Interview with Marlon Virtue:

Video:

Evangelist Jesse Morrell Preaches at the Student Center Circle from The Recorder on Vimeo.

Alex Jarvis and Edward Gaug contributed to this story.

By Tyler Massie

This was it. After two years of exploring, indulging, pondering, and observing – predominantly observing – the strange and fascinating phenomenon that is collegiate dorm life, I’d inadvertently stumbled upon the key to all of my many questions.

I was leaning casually against the wall of a student’s apartment, sipping on a fresh beer, surrounded by fellow undergraduates, when I looked up and first noticed the brand-new homemade banner running along the top of the opposite wall. Right away I knew it was a classic. It was the perfect college mantra.

One slogan to rule them all. It read: “TAKE WHAT YOU CAN GIVE NOTHING BACK.”

The capitalized, bold text drew rave reviews from the guests, and its underlying message couldn’t have been more clear, or accurate: college students can sometimes make Kanye West look humble.

This isn’t exactly fresh news. It seems that our professors have been monitoring us from the outside for decades. A study conducted at the University of San Diego administered a standardized evaluation called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory to over 16,000 college students from 1982 to 2006, and the study found that college students are scoring repeatedly higher on the test over time – indicating that college students may be more narcissistic today than they were a few decades ago.

We could blame any number of factors for the discovery. The self-esteem movement increases in the standard of living and affluence, or social problems such as the skyrocketing divorce rate (which forces so many children to develop in sub-optimal family conditions) are all potential culprits. Some may argue more generally, that America itself is caught in the grip of a steady moral decline.

Pick your favorite, or invent your own. Whatever the cause, YOU ARE HERE, as any shopping mall map will tell you. So what’s the big deal? Does it matter if college students happen to be incredibly selfish and conceited? Isn’t it just a phase?

Well, maybe. It’s true that a college campus is essentially a separate world, its own utopia (or insane asylum, if you prefer) of pretty faces and an ever-flowing river of booze. As with all supposed idea places, the college experience represents only a fleeting moment in our lives. After that, we are loosed into the ranks of working America: to learn to live on our own, be responsible and contribute to society. Many members of the older generation look back to their college years and shake their heads at their own excess and immaturity. They can joke and laugh about this now, because these are people who have gone on to lead happy and productive lives.

And yet, the San Diego study offers some dour warnings about the long-term consequences of unchecked egotism. According to the study, narcissism has an extremely adverse effect on our relationships with others. Romantic relationships involving narcissists are more likely to be “short-lived” and “at risk for infidelity.” They also tend to “lack emotional warmth” and involve plenty of “game-playing, dishonesty, and over-controlling and violent behaviors.” Aside from “romantic” relationships, a narcissist’s interactions with society at large aren’t any better: they often “lack empathy, react aggressively to criticism and favor self-promotion over helping others.”

Sounds a lot like some college students, doesn’t it? While I have met many truly wonderful people here on campus, there are others whom I wonder about. I suspect that many college students can’t handle the newfound freedom of the college scene. The environment is perhaps more challenging then ever, given the social trends. College students toil in a constant, unprecedented state of flux, as friends, fashion, and lovers can all change at a moment’s notice in the Information Age. In such a free-reign environment, the narcissistic attitudes under steady development prior to college can suddenly explode like an athlete on steroids.

It’s easy to become lost in such a wilderness: it may be difficult to find the way back. I often wonder if a “point of no return” actually exists for externally-cultivated narcissism, wherein the trait ingrains itself permanently into one’s personality, and I wonder if college can possibly be a catalyst for reaching that point. I wonder if some college students are building upon an empty ethos that may haunt them well into their adult life—and make all their higher education and experience virtually worthless in the larger context because they’re so unhappy at their core. This unhappiness can be seen in the eyes of a drunk girl hunched over the toilet and crying, or (more subtly) heard in the cynical, acid-tongued retorts of a flippant frat boy.

A lot of valuable knowledge can be gleaned in college. Knowledge that we hope furthers our careers and our personal development. Who we are when we graduate will help determine what we bring to society’s table. If what we bring is narcissism and its symptoms—selfishness, insecurity, insincerity, and ultimately, misery—society will be that much worse off.

Let’s hope it’s just a phase.

Melissa Traynor / Editor-in-Chief

Jams were provided all around, Sodexho’s finest finger foods were laid out on a large buffet and there was even a stationary, but colorful light display for last Thursday’s hip-hop concert, but the crowd was absent.

It was an honorable effort on the part of campus radio station WFCS 107.7 for something pulled together with a little over a week to spare and commendable informal efforts to spread the word.

With Facebook promotions and a few posters, as well as a large word-of-mouth phenomenon to garner “yes” RSVPs from students, the underground hip hop show, dubbed “the future of entertainment,” pulled off an audience between 70 and 80 people. They filtered in through the doors of Alumni Hall– heading to the food first – though the Facebook event page indicated there would be 117 “confirmed” guests.

With a lineup assembled from local hip-hop artists, including CCSU students, Thursday’s show included Colchester, Conn.’s Kamaal Lowen, a.k.a. Kamoflage and Kwame Dankwa as well as local trio Grown tone, QP and Jaymelodius.

Headliner Milo Sheff – of the landmark case in 1989 that spurred the No Child Left Behind act – who is now a rapper in the Hartford, Conn. capped off the night with a smaller set. It was catchy and  referenced drug habits, not drug addictions, but he played for a relatively empty Alumni Hall.

Sheff expects to have his new album Table of Contents out relatively soon and he plans on a few more shows in the area, possible with another appearance at CCSU.

He was impressed the by night’s lineup and was pleased by the mix of independent artists.

“The lineup was dope for Connecticut music,” Sheff said.

The man behind the turntables, WFCS’s Earle Nelson, a.k.a. DJ B-EZ, was spinning throughout each set.

As Sheff’s set was coming to a close, one of the night’s previous performers Kamoflage broke off into his own free flow performance, assembling his small entourage out in the hall of the student center around the front of the bookstore.

QP and Grown Tone joined him, along with rappers named Young D and El-Sun from Harlem, N.Y. and lyrics were flowing as steady as the beats from someone’s backpack-turned-boom-box set on the floor in the middle of the pack.

They continued their personal and certainly more intimate show, incorporating passersby as they could. One student named Lucian joined in to lend his vocal chords into the mix for on-the-spot beat boxing.

Kamoflage, flanked by others measuring up in the spontaneous freestyle session, spoke about the pleasures of college life from wasting hours playing on X-Box to beer pong.

Despite early problems with the microphones as the main problem of the night, Nelson believed Thursday saw a decent turnout.

“For the simple fact that  turnout was based on word of mouth, pretty damn good,” he said.

Hip-Hop Shows Draws Talent, Not Crowd from The Recorder on Vimeo.