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I find it astonishing that another semester is already upon us at MSU. It seems that classes have begun earlier each spring since 1994, when they were scheduled for a generous January 24th opening. The elderly among you who were locals at that time will certainly remember the blizzard that forced MSU to suspend all operations (in parallel with the entire commonwealth of Kentucky), pushing back the first day of classes even further. This year, most students grudginly complied with a peppy January 11 start! Egad, eh? (Only on the Net could I ever pass off the preceeding phrase as a valid sentence; supporting the theory, therefore, that enhanced communications technologies — as much as I appreciate them — are as easily abused as any tool.)
With the onset of classes, the fencing community — both of us (don't panic, just kidding!) — is gearing up for another round of prodding and whipping those whom we love most with long, cold, metal rods. (The details of which will be published on this site as they become known.) Let's look at what we know thus far:
The honorable and prestigious Tim "Obi-Wan" Elder has chosen to relinquish control of this site to MSU fencers. This is Tim's baby. He chose the host, created numerous accounts with an impressive array of WWW-based service providers, designed and coded the site (in at least two incarnations), scanned and typed the content, and promoted it thoroughly (among many, many other eneavors). Those who have visited it over the past year or so have been uniformly impressed and grateful for the blood, sweat, and tears that he's poured into the site despite living several hundred miles from Murray. It is difficult to overstate the impact that Tim has had on MSU fencing, as this site is only a tiny portion of his total contribution. More on this in the future.
Despite the unsurpassable quality of all that Tim has created, as I begin to administrate the site, my fingerprints will undoubtedly be left upon some of its content. The first such mark, of course, is this "column." Utilize this general principle while reading it: If something seems rude or absurd, try grinning at the end of it. If, as I was once admonished by my fifth-grade English teacher, sarcasm truly is the lowest form of humor, then I'm a groundhog's bedsheet.
The fencing class has already met once, on the evening of the first day of classes. Assuming that the mixture of pain and exhaustion stamped upon their faces was due entirely to the tedious insanity of purchasing textbooks, resolving scheduling conflicts, and other collegiate first-day "issues" rather than from my traditional "overview of fencing" lecture, I estimate that fifteen students will complete the course, and that two or three will attend club meetings regularly. (This prediction is based purely upon class statistics from the past four semesters.) Twenty-two students (seven females, fifteen males) are enrolled in the course. As with every aspect of MSU fencing, more detailed information concerning the class will be posted as I can steal the time to create the content.
The club is still headed by its president, Greg Valentine. Greg began assisting me in class instruction since last semester, when he accepted the gauntlet left behind by fourth-year fencer Bobby Bellew, who moved to Nashville to work as a well-paid head-hunter (Congrats, Bobby!). I miss Bobby greatly, as he remains my trusted friend, but I am very thankful that Greg chose to occupy his former position. Greg is a rarity in that he "threw himself into fencing" from the moment he began to learn. He is a complete fencer, improving rapidly as he studies, practices, competes, and administrates. Greg is a strong leader and his instruction is well-received by the students. He has sacrificed considerably to fulfill his objective of receiving a degree in MSU's Honors Program (a weighty task). Both the class and the club benefit from his service. He can be reached at gregory.valentine@murraystate.edu. Greg has announced that the club will be meeting on Mondays at 8:00 and Thursdays at 7:30. He is also planning the annual MSU Spring Steel for a possible February staging.
I appreciate everyone's continuing patience as this transition is made.
Jason M. Purcell
jpurcell@prefer.net
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