By Michael Taft How many times have you heard: “If we could all be a little more helpful — a little more attuned to others’ needs — the world would…
Last Friday, I barely avoided giving $500 to a con artist. My only defense is that I was on medication. Some things happen like clockwork every February. The Arkansas temperature…
In November, a high school senior named Blake Carringer tweeted he had received a scholarship offer from Syracuse University. His friends congratulated him on his accomplishments, and scouts began to…
The debris still smoldered days after falling; blocks had been transformed into what resembled war zones. Husbands, mothers and friends still held out hope that maybe, just maybe, their loved…
When I tell people in my Harding University circles that I am from Pangburn, a small town 20 minutes north of campus on the White County border, I usually get…
Last week, I covered mental health, a subject that I am passionate about because of my own history with it. I encouraged people to reach out to each other. I…
The past two editions of “Listen” covered political subjects that I find vastly important to my own understanding of how the world works. But I will not be covering politics…
As I’m sure we can all remember, college decisions can get pretty stressful during one’s final semester of high school. If you were one of the people who chose Harding…
I’ve learned a handful of things in my 21 years — only a handful, though. I can’t imagine that I’ve learned all there is to know in just 21 years,…
I read somewhere that when he was a kid, Jeff Bezos wanted to be an archeologist. A young Jennifer Lawrence planned to pursue medicine. George Clooney dreamed of playing baseball…
In his 1997 address to the World Bank Conference, Kofi Annan said, “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating.” If the last week has taught me anything, it’s that this sentiment…
Written by Jack Thomas Opening Day is for frontrunners. It’s easy to ride the wave of excitement for something new. In a 50-game season, they all matter. Opening Day matters,…
The 2012 presidential race was the first time politics was on my radar. Growing up in a particularly conservative Christian portion of the Bible Belt meant that everyone agreed with…
“Players Only” is a special column written by Harding athletes. In this week’s issue: Lady Bisons senior outfielder Peyton Mills discusses her role as a senior leader on the softball…
It’s here; Super Bowl Sunday is upon us. Everyone is figuring out just how they’re going to spend this unofficial American holiday, and I’ve decided that I’m not just going…
When the lights come up in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday evening, the future of the NFL will lie in the balance. More than just a battle between two teams…
Internships have been a rite of passage for students across multiple disciplines for decades. A precursor for what to expect post-grad, the usual semester-long stints at companies, nonprofits and government…
Last week I read a story in the newspaper about Bertha Vickers, a hunter from Morgantown, Mississippi, who was having a lousy season. She hadn’t gotten a single deer in…
Thirteen years after Pedro the Lion decided to call it quits, frontman and mastermind of the project, David Bazan, returns with the fifth Pedro the Lion record, “Phoenix.” Bazan set…
This is the beginning of the end. My last semester of college is here and I am feeling a lot of things. These feelings range from extreme happiness to frantic…
When I was preparing to write this column, many controversies made their appearance on the apocalyptic stage of American politics. Friends and family barraged me with requests to give my…
As Grant Zuerlein’s 57-yard field goal floated through the air Sunday evening, a collective groan arose from the thousands of New Orleans Saints fans in the Superdome and watching on…
I started the year off the way most of you did: watching Marie Kondo tell me how to live my life. If you haven’t watched her show, she is a…
On Nov. 30, the world learned that former U.S. President George H. W. Bush had died at the grand old age of 94. When the news broke that evening and…
I stood frozen at the front of the classroom, mouth open in utter shock. Staring back at me were 24 pairs of merciless eyes, offering no assistance as I remained…
It’s been exactly 808 days — well over two years — since the majority of Arkansas voters in the November 2016 statewide election voted in favor of a ballot initiative…
“Players Only” is a special column written by Harding athletes. In this weeks issue: Lady Bisons senior outside hitter Madison Poen talks about her experience on the road at the…
I don’t know how you feel about re-gifting, but I’ve dipped into the “Just the Clax” archives and recycled a column from November 2011. The article is only seven years…
As my friends and I approached the palace of Vlad the Impaler in Bucharest, Romania, we were uncertain about what to expect. The palace of one of history’s most notorious…
There are two types of people in the world: good people and people who use the turn lane to merge onto the busy highway. Don’t believe me? Picture this: it’s…
The last notes of the fight song rang out as the crowd began spilling onto the field. The football players lined up to shake hands, one side dejected and the…
I learned at an early age that I did not have a future as a basketball player; I was always the smallest person in my class, and I have not…
When my sister-in-law was in college in 1982, she worked at a grocery store. That was the year Coca-Cola introduced the talking vending machine. Customers put in their quarters, stood…
Everyone has that one Thanksgiving. You know the one — the one that your cousins, whom you don’t even talk to that much anyway, can’t wait to reference every year.…
Dear Parents of College Freshmen, You’ve been waiting for this time of year all semester long. As you dropped your precious freshman off at Armstrong, Harbin, Cathcart or Sears Halls,…
I have had many top priorities throughout my life; they change with whatever stage I’m in at the time. When I was 4 years old, my top priority was earning…
I was sitting with my small group in Shores Chapel last week when I got a text message from my mom. “Just got a call that Uncle Spencer has had…
A wise man once said, “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.” This person may or may not…
Player’s Only is written by Harding Athletes, this week Matheus Ribeiro tells us what it is like being an international student athlete. I am Matheus Ribeiro, an international athlete at…
When my nephew was five, we asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. He said, “a vacuum salesman.” It was hard to know how much to…
For the past week, NBC has aired a commercial featuring Michael Jordan to promote this Sunday’s NFL matchup between the New England Patriots and the Green Bay Packers. The ad…
As Harding students stress over the final day of Club Week, some universities are also working to get their teams into the club of college football elites. The induction process…
I’ve never understood why people would pay cold hard cash to have fear instilled within them. Of all the emotions I wish to experience during any given day — happiness,…
Club Week: a long-standing Harding tradition. In many ways, the busy week has remained consistent year after year. Exhausted students waiting outside the caf before daylight? Check. Social clubs joining…
Many big things happened during Homecoming last weekend. The football team had a big victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State University. The musical “Big Fish” made a huge splash on the…
We’ve all read those articles about the coffeehouse patrons who pay for the person in line behind them. Then, that person pays and on and on it goes until several…
Last Thursday, I played soccer for the first time in my entire life. I wish this was the beginning of one of those stories where the subject finds a hidden…
I’ve always thought of myself as the black sheep of my family — at least in the flock that is the grandkids on my mom’s side of the family. My…
“Players Only” is a special column, written by Harding athletes. In this week’s column: Harding baseball alumnus David Rampey reflects on why the Bison alumni game is important to him.…
I never understood homecoming in high school. Maybe it was just that I hated school dances. Maybe it was that my high school was very bad at football and consistently…
Because my parents bought and sold antiques as a hobby, I’m a big fan of the History Channel series “Pawn Stars.” Our family was nothing like the endlessly bickering Harrisons…
If last week’s grueling United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearings with Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh teach us anything, it’s this: boys…
Last week, one of our Student Association (SA) sponsors, Jill Davis, professor of mathematics, showed me a C.S. Lewis quote from his book “Christian Spirituality” that goes with our theme…
I was bad at baseball as a kid. On my fourth-grade baseball team, we barely had enough players to field a team. Come playoff time, I stood at second base,…
I did a double take in Barnes & Noble last Saturday. I was walking past the coffee shop, through the action figures, around the vinyl records, up the aisle of…
Tailgates, pumpkin spice and still-90-plus-degree Arkansas weather can only mean one thing: Fall is on its way. Frankly, tailgates underwhelm me. Pumpkin spice is gross, in my humble opinion. And,…
Years after he became famous as “The Godfather,” Marlon Brando made a movie spoofing his legendary role. In “The Freshman” (1990), Brando played a mobster who ran an exotic restaurant…
My parents and I stood frozen, eyes darting, sweat beading on our brows. Time was running out, and we knew we needed to act before it was too late. Taking…
Losing sucks. It was a cool, sunny and wet Saturday morning, and I was preparing to run yet another cross-country race. This was typical my freshman year of high school,…
“Pick on me! I’m a man! I’m 40!” Almost 11 years ago, Oklahoma State University Head Football Coach Mike Gundy lashed out against reporters in a postgame presser. The phrase…
When I’m not writing this column at 2 a.m. the morning we go to print, working on other aspects of the newspaper or in class, you can find me in…
“I always skip chapel on 9/11. Every year it’s pretty cringe-worthy.” It was a shock to hear someone make this casual comment Tuesday afternoon. The fact that someone would be…
One day last week when I was wearing one of my favorite ties, I received quite a shock. It’s a tie that pictures my cartoon hero Bullwinkle J. Moose holding…
“Players Only” is a special column, written by Harding athletes. In this week’s column: Sophomore Bisons quarterback Preston Paden reflects on his week-one start on the road. Coming into the…
One of my great adventures as a 10-year-old was at the World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was the last of a grand tradition of international expos dating back well…
Let’s start from the beginning: a very good place to start. For me, it all started with “The Sound of Music.” When I was only 7 years old, I watched…
“The tailgate” is not a place. It is an experience. Growing up 10 minutes from the campus of Louisiana State University, tailgating has always been a part of my culture.…
“This is our year.” That phrase permeates throughout the world of sports at this time every year, as fans experience a magical feeling: Hope. Hope, however, is dangerous. Far too…
At the end of my eighth grade year, in the land of Axe Body Spray and Japanese Cherry Blossom-scented everything, the high school journalism adviser, Nancy, approached me about joining…
Class is in session, extracurricular activities have commenced and curfew is in full effect. All this can only mean one thing: a new school year has arrived. If you are…
My mom always thought I was weird for loving “Alice in Wonderland” so much. She preferred “The Wizard of Oz.” But I loved that the story was full of inspiration…
The English Department has a roundtable discussion most Fridays, where faculty and students bring lunch and chat. Last week we talked about walking. We had a guest from the Kinesiology…
Meet Kaity. We met sometime between freshman and sophomore year. I don’t remember how or when we met. We had some mutual friends, but I cannot recall any initial conversations…
Growing up, I was the typical kid who participated in as many different sports as possible. Gymnastics, swimming, basketball, soccer — you name it, and I at least tried it.…
Sports are universal languages. I have always loved this aspect and that they can be used as a mission field. As head sports editor for The Bison, I might be…
I went to elementary school with a boy named Dilraj. I am certain he was Indian. I remember him wearing a turban on his head. As a kid, I did not…
I recently overheard a group of students talking about OPIs. In case you aren’t taking a foreign language class, the acronym stands for oral proficiency interviews. The students all felt they…
One of my best kept secrets is that I’ve actually been writing something that I someday hope will become a book. I’ve not been brave enough to really show anyone…
Loyola University Chicago is no stranger to making history. According to the Chicago Tribune, it began in 1963, when the Loyola men’s basketball team broke the “gentlemen’s agreement” among coaches…
I swiped away the notification that had popped up on my screen from Facebook saying I had memories with my cousin Robann Brown “to look back on today,” March 28, and…
During spring break a few weeks ago, I spent a few days as an assistant landlord. My mother owns some rental properties in Georgia, and I just happened to be…
I do not remember the last superhero movie I watched. Partly because I struggle to follow all the Marvel and DC characters, but mostly because I have fallen asleep during many…
The history of music in baseball games can be traced back to 1918, when “The Star- Spangled Banner” was played at the beginning of the World Series. Today, walk up…
I once congratulated Dr. Jack Ryan on a fantastic Sing-A-Rama. It was a rookie mistake. I was a first-year faculty member — unfamiliar with all things Searcy — and my sister…
Musa rolled up to me while I was walking with a friend to our temporary apartment in downtown Jinja, Uganda. He was a young man, probably in his 20s or…
There are six more weeks left of this semester. I counted. Six more weeks until my junior year of college is officially over and I’m one year from graduating. I’ve…
I take a step back and look at what little I know about softball, or women’s sports, for that matter, and it is disheartening. We put such a high priority…
In case you don’t remember the Brooke Shields cameo in “The Muppets Take Manhattan,” let me set the scene. Kermit is working at a diner while he’s trying to break into…
Last week I sat on a metal folding chair around a bonfire with church members in Kayenta, Arizona. It was a cold desert night, but I don’t remember the temperature…
This past Tuesday, 76-year-old renown scientist Stephen Hawking died. After the news alert went out on Twitter, I scrolled through the tag and read the plethora of inspiring and humorous…
Rivalries are what make sports. If it weren’t for fierce competition, they would not be fun to watch. That feeling of getting to play your rival, and the desire to…
One image from the second grade lingers in my memory. It was the day our principal ate lunch with us in the cafeteria. On the surface, Mr. Weil was hardly…
Last weekend I decided to do something a little different. I traveled with a group of friends to Beebe to receive new ear piercings, which was like eating candy to…
My roommate Hollee and I were sitting in her room, trying to think of something to talk about. It wasn’t the first time we’d talked long enough to run out…
Last Friday, I was standing in front of my dresser in my dorm, shoving a pair of jeans into my duffel bag to go home for the weekend. Despite being…
One of my favorite stories from the vaudeville era involves the magician Frank Van Hoven. There’s no reason anyone would know his name today, but a century ago he was…
Tererai Trent grew up in a rural town in Zimbabwe, then known as Rhodesia, during colonial rule. She did not have the opportunity to go to school. Instead, she was…
I think spring is a hard season mostly, because it is a time of growing. The fall semester is easier – you are excited about school still and, at the…
My junior year at Harding, I faced a lot of trials. I was broken from the ending of several relationships. On top of that, I was overwhelmed with trying to…
In high school, I took a class called “Experiences in Writing,” where the teacher had us try our hands at various types of poetry. That’s when I wrote my very…
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