After three enthusiastic campaigns and a democratic election, William Jewell College Student Senate election results were released April 18. The new cabinet is junior political science major Drew Novak as president, sophomore nursing and applied critical thought and inquiry major Luce-Virlynn Apollon as vice president, first-year mathematics, economics and physics major Jacob Dice as treasurer and first-year Oxbridge major Chris Choe as secretary.

This year’s voting differed from the last. In 2016, there was a primary election followed by a runoff. Voting in 2017 required ranking the three cabinets in a single vote. 555 students voted in the 2016 primary and 534 students voted in the 2016 runoff, but only 499 students voted in the 2017 election.

“Campaigning this time around was very different from last year,” said Apollon. She will be transitioning from being Senate’s treasurer to the vice president. In comparing the two election experiences, she determined that the 2017 election brought out more effort, interaction and competition than the last year’s.

“It’s probably the only public democratic process we have on campus,” said Apollon. “It was a fun change of pace.”

While Apollon and Novak have served on Senate and cabinet before, this cabinet will bring in new faces to Student Senate. The elected treasurer and secretary are excited to provide innovative ideas to this new experience.

“I’m most looking forward to representing my peers in the upcoming year” said Choe. “I hope to create efficient and positive communication between the students and faculty here at Jewell, and work to improve daily student life. I can’t wait to help move Jewell forward.”

Treasurer Dice is aiming for financial efficiency through innovation, which may affect campus economy as a whole.

“I believe taking inventory of our human capital and enabling our organizations to be more efficient is paramount to my position as treasurer,” said Dice. “Practically, this means I will be taking a look at our digital communications, and show how they play a role on our campus. Then, I will focus on using Senate as a tool for better serving our campus utilizing not only finances but utilizing all of our capital.”

Dice also wants to increase access and transparency within the Senate’s budget.

“Currently, [the budget] is not the most visible,” said Dice. “I hope to create an easy to find document that students can reference as a report of what Student Senate has funded.”

Promises of policy change were major campaign leverages during the recent election. However, these changes will not come about effortlessly since serving as the liaison between students and the administration is no easy task.

“I think there are a plethora of challenges that we are inheriting,” said Novak. “In particular, I think we’re going to have to confront how best to approach the conversations on the alcohol policy and the expression board.”

The new cabinet is confident in their ability to live up to their campaign platform and advocate for student voices as they declare progress will be made.

“Students will definitely see some sort of change to the alcohol policy,” said Apollon. “Our newly elected cabinet has the possibility to make long lasting change which will change not only the alcohol policy but the alcohol culture at Jewell.”

While the cabinet is excited about taking over for Senate, they have much appreciation for the hard work of the current cabinet.

“The current cabinet has achieved so much and put our cabinet in position to achieve much more,” said Novak.

The new cabinet will be sworn in May 1, and president Zak Carroll will step down.

“If I was to provide one piece of advice and guidance for this next cabinet and Senate, it would be to increase knowledge of what Senate does and to work with the Hilltop Monitor on having a weekly report of Senate’s actions” said Carroll. “I do not think that students are aware of the significant work Senate does, from working with Dr. MacLeod Walls, Dr. Dema and the Trustees, to leading the charge on greater awareness of Title IX rights and reporting procedures, such as in our campus wide poster campaign and increasing the degree to which this is known, and appreciated, by the student body will be crucial to continue the multi year revival of Senate’s importance.”

April 7, Father John Misty released his new album “Pure Comedy.” Singles precluded the release with early signs of the apocalyptic, sarcastic and existential themes in the album. The scope of this artwork is not limited to the music. This concept album is a total work of art, with its own film, a short story, music videos and unforgettable cover art. It’s a challenging album to interpret because the one common and consistent theme is human nature’s attempt to endow meaning on an overarchingly pointless existence.

The cover art is stark and sometimes shocking, like a demented caricature of a modern day Hieronymus Bosch piece. This iconoclastic collage is comprised of the analogies, symbols and characters in the album. Some sketches, like the bodybuilder white Jesus doing “cross-fit,” are comical while others verge on pornographic.

Another aspect of this master work is the short story. This is something of a lesson on the evolutionary psychology that has resulted in the human condition. Unfiltered, he writes, “[The species’] brains prove to be remarkably good at inventing meaning where there is none,” which is for the reconciliation of the existence’s monotony in comparison to the imagination of desires. Of the many concepts they invent, hierarchy and a Sky-Man seem to be among their favorites. The short story gets brilliantly deep with dark wit, but ultimately ends in a troll just to remind the reader that all of this, everything in existence, is just a sick joke.

The film is 25 minutes about the production of the album. The film is definitely worth watching, though I would recommend watching it after you’ve listened to the album. That is because “Pure Comedy” the album is composed of such a unique assortment of musical details, which surprise you upon first hearing each song’s musicality. The film will give away the unique assortments if you watch it first.

The film is also worth watching for interpretive reasons. There is such a density of sarcasm in FJM that a lot of his lyrics remain ambiguous. In my own experience, it wasn’t until I saw FJM perform live that I understood his lyrics better because he is so expressive with dances and little acting bits. “Pure Comedy” the film gives the impression of more sincerity during some parts than the lyrics would suggest. The film ends with footage of Earth from outer space, but instead of David Attenborough, the narration is done in a Siri voice. Siri reads part of FJM’s short story, which in this context of looking down on earth, starts to feel eerily like Alan Watts.

This album could easily stand alone, yet it is combined with all of these additional components to make it a truly great concept album. The conceptual effort is brilliant, which is evident by the lyrics of these thirteen songs. This album is by far FJM’s least listener-friendly on the larger scale, but that won’t stand true for all of his fans. If you’re looking for another “I Love You Honey Bear” or “True Affection,” then you’ll be unsatisfied. However, if you loved the dark truth of “Bored In the USA,” or deemed “Holy Shit” a top shelf anthropological history lesson or just enjoyed the sarcastic biographical nature of “Only Son of A Ladies’ Man,” then you may agree with me that FJM is reaching his amazing potential of brilliance and talent in “Pure Comedy.”

If you’re feeling ambivalent towards FJM, I suggest listening to “Leaving LA.” This song is not only the crux of the album, but also a filter for FJM fans. This biographical epic is Josh Tillman’s personal ballad about the story of his relationship with music. He explains his first childhood memory of music during a near-death experience. Now as a professional artist, self-described as “another white guy in 2017 who takes himself so goddamn seriously,” FJM is frustrated by the demographics of many of his fans. He describes his fan-base as a “merely minor fascination to manic virginal lust and college dudes.”

FJM gets a lot of criticism for being harsh, even yelling and trolling his owns fans, but I think a better understanding comes from verse six of “Leaving LA”:

“So why is it I’m so distraught

That what I’m selling is getting bought

At some point you just can’t control

What people use your fake name for.”

I’ve never personally seen someone with an FJM tattoo, but I would not be surprised considering the flower-crown crowd that’s been annoying him since Fleet Foxes. So what does the future hold for him and his fans – or at least those specific fans? Verse eight of the ten predicts their pending breakup:

“Some 10-verse chorus-less diatribe

Plays as they all jump ship,

‘I used to like this guy

This new shit kinda makes me wanna die.’”

“Leaving LA” is such a heavy saga and will hold a different meaning to each fan. While it is without a chorus, the string quartet accompaniment and FJM’s interlude melodies should leave you riveted for all 13 minutes and then stunned for at least another 4 minutes afterwards. If not, then this diatribe fulfilled its listener-filtration purpose.

“When the God of Love Returns There’ll Be Hell to Pay” is arguably the second best track on the album. Often, the idea of Jesus returning makes people think of how upset God will be with the state of the world. Instead, this song comes across as a real conversation between FJM and God, where FJM explains that our species has tried our hardest and God is in no place to judge us for the shit show he created. My favorite line is when FJM asks God if he really has the gall to submit humans to a judgement day:

“You must not know the first thing about human beings,

We’re the earth’s most soulful predator,

Try something less ambitious the next time you get bored.”

Have you ever asked your parents how much thought they put into your existence? I mean beyond just having a baby, did they consider the depression, existential crisis, and solipsistic human condition you might have to face one day? I thought asking my parents would be a good idea until I realized they never asked for any of this either, because no one asked to exist. That is why I love this song, because FJM went to the source. He goes to the one who got the cycle rolling, the first one of anyone to create something out of nothing, to find meaning where there is none. Ultimately, meaning-endowment is human nature, which is logical since God created human nature and either God created meaning in us from nothing  or we created meaning in God.

I read a review that claimed this was the most sarcastic FJM tune yet, however, this is where the film becomes such an interesting tool for interpretation. FJM looks like he’s having a sincere conversation during this song. From the raw and pained lyrics to the gothic gospel musicality, I think FJM approached this song as if he were sharing a sincere conversation with God.

Other highlights of the album include the song “Pure Comedy”, which serves as a synopsis of the album, touching on Christian nationalism, etc. The brilliantly random music video includes everything from Trump’s inauguration to closing the image of the Blue Marble as FJM sings, “I hate to say it, but each other’s all we got.”

“Total Entertainment Forever” uses a horns ensemble brilliantly to make the listener feel like they truly are a star, pulling up in limo, being washed in fame. This fame however is the self-created by addiction to mass media. I think this song should be renamed “Ode to the Masses and Mainstream.” FJM describes this bourgeois life fulfillment best as “bedding Taylor Swift every night inside the Oculus Rift.”

This album will either leave you annoyed and done with FJM or even more enthralled than ever before, though somewhat desensitized by the meaninglessness of everything, especially some self-righteous indie folk album and it’s accoutrements.

“Where can I go to take a photo of the Rocky Mountain?” is my favorite question that I’ve ever been asked while working in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). I didn’t know what to do except presume that the tourist inquiring about THE Rocky Mountain was referring to the tallest rock in the landscape: Longs Peak. No matter where you are in RMNP, you can always count on Longs to be photobombing with its unsubtle presence.

Last season, my roommate described Longs Peak best as, “A beefy thing, isn’t it?” So naturally, when determining which mountain is THE Rocky Mountain, Longs is a safe bet.

Feb 3, at 14,259 ft, I submitted Longs Peak, bagging my first winter “14’er,” which refers to a summit above 14,000 feet. Climbing the highest peak in Rocky Mountain National Park took 13-hours from car-to-car. I’ve never been so sure I was alive, and I guess it was the sensation of being so close to potentially deadly situations.

In the past, winter mountaineering occupied a space in the “unattainable and mythological activity” territory of my brain. Yes, it would make a cool Hollywood film, but it wasn’t on my radar of capabilities. Before this previous summer, I had never even met a mountaineer.

In the summer of 2016, while I was handling wilderness use permits in a ranger station, an older gentleman and two young adults came into the office for a permit to camp in the winter zone near Longs Peak in order to attempt to summit.

I estimated the older gentleman was in his late fifties and the younger man and woman with him were potentially his children. I was a little more certain of my estimation of their mortality. Surely these visitors from Atlanta, Ga. were going to die, based on my empirical data of having never met someone who had climbed Longs Peak anytime other than a summer day.

On a pleasant summer day, the summit can see hundreds of hikers. The Keyhole route’s traffic has actually polished some of the granite, presenting the mountain’s unforgiving exposure as a serious threat. Don’t let the impressive visitation give you any impression of safety. When I was in high school, my friend’s brother took a fatal fall on Longs. There are many to be mourned due to attempts at Longs.

Conclusively, this Georgian trio in my ranger station was not long for this earth, or so I assumed. Alas, my hesitations to give them a permit faded when they began explaining their gear. Anyone who knows that much about spikes and axes surely knows what they’re doing. After I verified their route with a ranger in the office who was a climber himself, I suggested a few specific acclimation hikes. Their plan was to ascend the via Trough.

As it happened, that Friday was my first wilderness patrol as a park ranger. My fellow ranger Ian Bojanic was taking me to Sandbeach Lake just southwest of Longs Peak to show me the ropes patrolling the trails. We listened to our park radio while we hiked. Midmorning, the radio announced that only emergency traffic was permitted further notice. There was a rescue being conducted on Longs Peak. Ian and I tried to put together the details of the incident, but the rescue was being facilitated on a different channel.

All I could think was, “I killed the Georgians, I let them die. The closest I’ve ever been to an avalanche is the Dyatlov Pass conspiracy theories; who was I to send these folks to their death?”

I was tense with worry as Ian and I hiked down the trail after patrolling up to the lake where we ate lunch on the sandy shores and stared up at Longs, shaking our heads and keeping our ears in range of the radio.

By late afternoon, we returned to the ranger station. Ian and I were informed that eleven Green Berets, Army 10th Special Forces Group from Fort Carson, Colorado had to be rescued via airlift off of the summit of Longs today – not the hikers I had assisted. On Thursday they were attempting the very challenging Kiener’s route. When two of them suffered from altitude sickness, they had to wait out the night on the mountain until they could self-rescue the next day.

Next Saturday morning, I was back in the station, handling permits and reflecting on how fun my first wilderness patrol had been. The three Georgians walked into the office with the biggest smiles pinned to their faces.

“Oh my gosh you’re alive! How was the climb?” I asked with my high-pitched over the top excitement.

“We summitted! Made it to the top of Longs,” said the older man.

“We got to see the Green Berets airlifted out!” chimed in the younger man.

“I gave them my candy bars,” said the woman.

After being stunned and stoked for their adventure and epic tale, I was thanked for helping plan their acclimation hikes. Then they continued on their way to the airport to fly home.

Eight and a half months later, I’m standing on the northwest side of the mountain. February winds screaming as snow swirls like cinnamon rolls all around us. I’m at the exact spot where the Trough route meets the Keyhole route. To the right, I see the Trough sink down to the zone where the Georgians would have camped. To my left is the formidably steep vertical feet I have left to climb before the Narrows. The finale of the route is the Homestretch, but I would have to get through the cold, exhaustion and cinnamon roll cravings before then.

The Trough is nothing but an elephant; you can eat only one bite at a time, or at least such is true for an inexperienced mountaineer like myself. My fatigue got to a point where one of my climbing partners, Aron Ralston, had me empty my pack into his as he encouraged me up the Trough step by step. All I carried was my camera and an ice axe. Our two other climbing mates were Hänna Hagen and Alex Saunders, a couple from Iowa. They were crushing it. These two badasses proved to be the coolest things out of Iowa since Donna Reed.

Aron guided the trip, considering he’s the only person to have ever soloed all of the Colorado 14’ers in the wintertime. It was an honor to have such wisdom and experience leading the challenge that we faced before us at 6:00 in the morning when we left the snowy Longs Peak trailhead.

We hiked through somewhat padded snow to the Boulderfield, which was just under six miles with Aron’s shortcuts. Once we entered the Keyhole, we were in the threshold of wind gusts as bulls eyes painted on big boulders guided our path along the Ledges. Ice picks stay on your mountain side ready to self-arrest if gravity and ice should get in your way. Luckily, snow blanketed the granite and ice on most of the “Fried Egg” route, as the tongue in cheek rangers call it.

I have to say that summiting Longs in the winter was like a spiritual journey. My body was pumping adrenaline and endorphins while my brain analyzed the data of distance, temperature, fatigue, weather, time, conditions and several other factors that could kill me. I’ll be honest, my team did the real data analysis, but I tried to keep up, both physically and mentally, with the name of the game: summiting and survival (not necessarily in that order). To combine brain stimulation with physical engagements, also with the pure and unfettered joy that I feel from being in the mountains, results in a seemingly religious experience.

The idea of winter mountaineering no longer seemed like a tall tale but an experience of feeling alive. I had summited Longs only once before. I concluded my summer Park Service season of 2016 with a patrol to the summit of Longs. I was patrolling with a climbing ranger who ate gluten-free crackers like a banshee. Summiting in the summertime was fun, and certainly not a bad way to earn income, but it was not as special as the February summit. Climbing in the wintertime is like seeing the mountain for its true self, and loving the challenge that the terrifying yet beautiful winter conditions present. At the hardest points of my climb, I thought of the Georgians. I would tell myself, “Do it for the Georgians” and continue humming Father John Misty’s “Pure Comedy.”

I never could have summited in wintertime without my team – Hänna, a mountain mama inspiring me with her own badassery; Alex, breaking trail and being a master of morale; and of course Aron, leading the climb and making it all possible.

I’m left counting the days until I can return home to Rocky. Soon enough I’ll be back in my station or on a route or patrolling wilderness, always within view of the omnipotent Longs.