As the Handbook for Residence Life currently stands, between Sunday and Thursday, students living on campus are to return to their residence halls by 11:00 p.m. The Kinlaw Library is currently open until 11:00 p.m. from Monday through Thursday. The student center remains open until 12:30 a.m., Sunday through Thursday.

In the resolution to amend this portion of the handbook, resident students should return to their residence complexes by 12 a.m. on weeknights but weekend curfew hours would remain the same.

In addition, the amount of an extension would shorten to one hour, at every night of the week. How many extensions each student gets a week would still depend on class status with the exception of Aldersgate residents.

Finally, a closing hour of 11:50 p.m. could be instituted for the Kinlaw Library from Monday through Thursday as well as for the student center on Sunday through Thursday.

Through polling students at a student government event earlier in the semester, the Academic and Institutional Issues Committee chose the top concerns of the student body and looked into them to try to find of a resolution for misconceptions in the handbook.

The authors of the proposal, Emily Barlage, Jake Swanson and Tristan Fretwell, wrote it to try to give students a clear understanding of community hours and their relevance to the closing of campus buildings. Community hour rules are pertinent to each student living on campus and, therefore, were viewed as critical in restructuring the unparallel system.

Two months of research, debate and campus-wide surveying of student opinion went into drawing up the plan for how to properly fix the current system, Swanson said.

The proposal provides research of the authors which says that they found an approximate average of 50 students use the library from 10:15 p.m. to 11 p.m. That number compares to an approximate average of 70 students between 8:15 p.m. and 10:15 p.m., the busiest hours for the library. The number of students using the library at these hours is higher than the number using the library during the morning and afternoon hours.

In order to attain an additional hour in the library and out of the dorms, a decrease in half an hour in use of student center was worth trading in, Swanson said.

As stated in the proposal, it defends a unified closing time as useful in sustaining the “dynamic equilibrium between community life and academic life at Asbury College, thus enriching the holistic Christian environment that has distinguished the school since its founding.”

After talking with numerous Residence Directors and Residence Life Coordinators, the proposal is likely to make campus operate a little smoother, said Joe Bruner, associate dean of residence life.

“I think the proposal makes great sense, but we have to take into consideration budget implications,” he said.

Dr. Mark Troyer, vice president of student development, said that additional hours for the library is a definite possibility.

“Adding staffing time [in Kinlaw Library] is not a small issue, but it seems like a reasonable proposal to consider,” he said.

Focusing on possible changes it may have on the dynamics of the community and campus offices plays a key role in determining the outcome. Feedback from the Student Development staff, Campus Life Committee (composed of faculty) and the President’s Cabinet would likely be necessary in order to make a final decision. However, the Board’s permission would not be necessary for the areas this change covers.

“This has been a long-standing policy, as far as community hours, so it is a significant change from how we have operated for years,” Troyer said.

As mentioned, the proposal, having passed the ACSC, has been presented to Troyer. He will then decide the best course of action for the institution.

Ichthus is an annual Christian music festival that takes place in Wilmore on the 111 acre Ichthus farm. To celebrate this, Asbury has decided to give out 50 $4,000 dollar scholarships over a four year period, to students who were nominated by their youth leaders.

According to Director of Admissions Lisa Harper, students who were eligible for the scholarships have already been accepted to Asbury and have met the college’s academic criteria. Their nominations were based on their contributions and leadership displayed at their home church.

These scholarships will be presented in various ways at the festival. Three of the scholarships will be presented on the main stage, while three more will be give away at the Asbury College tent. Brian Hull, assistant professor of Youth Ministries, will award the other scholarships at the youth pastors’ tent and the remaining recipients will be recognized on Asbury’s Web site.

Asbury has given scholarships out to students in the past at Ichthus; however, according to Harper, it has never been done it to this extent before.

“We’ve never done something to this magnitude,” Harper said. “This was an idea to appreciate our youth pastors and the influence they have on their youth, to make great connections with youth pastors and youth groups and to bring name recognition to the college.”

In January 2007, Asbury began reaching out to the non-traditionals in the community to meet the need for those wanting to finish their education. This was when the Achieve program began. The Achieve program is geared toward non-traditional students over the age of 23 that have some college credit. Through this program, a person can finish a degree in about two years’ time. Students in this program range in age from 23 to 60. Achieve offers two degree programs on the Asbury campus: a bachelor of science in management and ethics and a bachelor of science in elementary education. The Florida Achieve program offers these, along with a bachelor of science in leadership and ministry.

According to the Achieve Web site, “Asbury College instructors teach in the ACHIEVE Program. They are trained to relate to adult students and to make each modular course an exciting and valuable learning experience.”

Achieve offers evening classes one night a week, and Joshua Fee, assistant director for the Achieve program, said that this is still a sacrifice for the students.

“(The students) are super busy, with church responsibilities, job responsibilities and home responsibilities,” he said by a telephone interview.

The Achieve program is set to lighten the load of non-traditional students. Chapel policy does not exist. Subjects are taken one at a time and completed every five weeks. Therefore, a student can focus on one subject and not become overwhelmed. Final exams are taken and completed at home.

The Achieve program begins when enough students have registered for the program. They then enter a “cohort.” A cohort is a group of about 15 non-traditional students. This group will stay together for the duration of the program.

The Achieve program has hopes of helping non-traditional students. Goals have been set which are increasing the program. The program hopes to offer five new degrees by 2015. Achieve hopes to have 250 students enrolled by this time.

“Dr. Gray and the upper administration have really been supportive of this program,” Fee said.

College life, for most non-traditional students not already in the Achieve program, seems like it would be easier if they could be in the Achieve program. In fact, most non-traditional students would transfer into the Achieve program if Achieve offered their degree. As hard as it is to give up one night a week, it becomes more difficult to fit in classes throughout the week and find jobs willing to work around a chaotic school schedule. For those non-traditional students with no family support, working out childcare issues is difficult no matter what, yet it becomes more difficult when classes are spread throughout the day and week. For most traditional student living on campus, classes spread throughout the day, and even having a five day school schedule isn’t as big of a problem because one is already on campus.

For some non-traditional students fitting in a class needed for graduation, which might not be offered for a couple of years, is difficult when it is offered at an inconvenient time. Yet to work it around a family schedule makes home life frustrating for others besides the student. Coming an hour early to chapel when a class doesnít begin until after chapel is another problem because this means, for those with children, paying a babysitter for an extra hour.

Kristy Rainwater, a non-traditional student, said, “Safe, reliable childcare for my youngest child is a huge problem right now, and it is particularly difficult because I do not have family support since we have no family members here in Kentucky.”

Dr. Gray, Asbury’s president, said she understands non-traditional students because she was one herself. She knows that going to school carries a heavy burden but believes non-traditional students have a level of experience they can bring and share with the traditional students, which would be a valuable perspective for the traditional student to gain.

Asbury doesn’t widely use Saturday or evening classes like many other colleges. Nor does it condense classes into one hour and fifteen minutes time slots twice a week, which would provide flexibility for non-traditional students. It is easier for most students to have classes on a full two days and thus be able to factor in their work hours. It is also easier for those finding childcare to only have to find babysitters for two days instead of five.

Gray said she hopes that as Asbury increases in students, these programs will be able to be implemented.

“Asbury has a lot of improvements to make the non-traditional students life easier,” she said.

The numbers show that, from 2007-2008 the average college or university in the CCCU had a freshman to sophomore retention rate of 73.57 percent, a sophomore to junior rate of 62.78 percent and a five-year graduation rate of 54.17 percent. In 2008, Asbury had a freshman to sophomore rate of 79.2 percent, a sophomore to junior rate of 82.2 percent and a five-year graduation rate of 64.3 percent.

According to Dr. Mark Troyer, vice president for student development, these numbers are only measuring full-time, first-time freshmen.

“It doesn’t necessarily count those who might transfer in; that of course, would make [the statistics] much higher,” he said.

According to Lisa Harper, director of admissions, these higher retention rates help in recruiting because the admissions office can tell parents and students that a higher than average number of students are happy enough at Asbury to stay here.

“What that really says is that students have [come into] the community and [come] to stay,” she said. “It’s worth the investment that they are making.”

The admissions staff plans to send out e-mails as well as a letter from a current parent of a student at Asbury for the prospective parents, letting people know about the higher retention rates.

“This would be another tool in how we would share information about Asbury College because it’s such great news. It is another way for us not to [lose] the importance of this accomplishment,” she said.

According to Troyer, the higher retention rates are economically beneficial as well as indicative of the level of satisfaction of students at Asbury.

“It’s cheaper to keep a student than recruit a student,” he said. “It’s also a testimony to a satisfaction level of students … it’s an indicator of the health of your campus in many ways.”

He thinks that the specific programs on campus, such as First Year Experience Seminar and the Transition and Guidance Program (T.A.G.), as well as the athletic coach’s and staff’s involvement in students’ lives help contribute to the higher retention rates.

“There are a lot of different inputs there that help in keeping students here across campus. … It’s important to really recognize the breadth of the input into students’ lives that help them maintain their good standing as students, and [help them] work toward their [graduation] goals,” he said.

Harper said that she is proud of the admissions staff for their hard work in recruiting students who fit in at Asbury. They have worked to recruit students that fit into the athletic department, and, even if these students do not stay in the athletic department, they stay at Asbury, she said.

Harper said students are finding a place for themselves, finding their right major and are searching for ways to be involved in different activities and opportunities. “We pray that they are finding God’s will for their lives in this place,” she said. “All that to say, we hope that [the retention rate] continues.”

Dr. Charalambakis arranged meetings for the students with various government agencies and a handful of liberal and conservative think tanks. Adam Coleman, a senior business major, particularly enjoyed the CATO institute.

“Their arguments were well thought out. They provided insight on a wide variety of issues, much more than any of the other think tanks,” he said. “I also felt free to question the reasoning of the people who were talking.”

Wednesday morning, the students had a chance to meet in the Federal Reserve Boardroom. Senior accounting major Gabriel Molnar said that this was a highlight of the trip for him particularly, because World War II was ended in that exact room. Senior Scott Simon had the chance to sit in Chairman Ben Bernanke’s chair during the meeting.

Wednesday afternoon, students met with Kentucky Congressman Ben Chandler. The Congressman was friendly and extremely complimentary of Asbury College. He showed the students an Asbury College mug that sat on his desk, a present from Dr. Sandra Gray. Students who were able to visit the House chambers the next morning observed Congressman Chandler in action as he voted on various bills on the House floor.

For most students, the best meeting of the trip was a Thursday conference with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank from August 1979 to August 1987, Dr. Paul Volcker. He is the current chair of President Barack Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Dr. Volcker met with the students in the Longworth House Office building for almost 45 minutes, answering questions and discussing the current state of the economy. Senior Ben Clapp was struck by the ease in which Dr. Volcker communicated.

“He is one of those people who is so smart that he is able to communicate in simple terms,” he said.

Coleman appreciated the experience that Dr. Volcker brought to the table.

“He was the head of the Federal Reserve for 60 years and basically at the helm of the American economy for the last half century,” he said. “Because of this, he has a unique perspective.”

From observing the monuments to eating Five Guys burgers and fries, students took advantage of the free time they were given to experience the city.

“I enjoyed getting to walk the Mall,” Coleman said. “It was cool to be at the Vietnam Memorial when it was just us.”

The trip was a valuable experience for all the students. Ben Clapp expressed his gratefulness for the experience.

“It offered a lot of opportunities than I am afraid I would have missed out on otherwise,” he said.

The evening kicked off with an introduction from the event creators, celebrating the fifth year anniversary of this hallowed event, and then the films, the real reason people were there began.

The first film on the docket this year was David Whitaker’s “Love Letter. “ This film was touching: in fact, it tugged at my heartstrings, and was overall a well done piece of cinema. Sure, it didn’t win any awards, and it didn’t deserve to, but it looked nice and had a touching script, which of course, was actually written by a Civil War soldier, but who’s keeping tabs on that?

Moving on, the second film of the evening was “Panic,” which was a fun and entertaining look at the game of tag. Honestly, I don’t really have any complaints about this film. Then, “Steward” came on the scene and did nothing but confuse me and make me want to go eat at Waffle House and dance in a park. Overall, it was beautiful, and the acting was great, but I have talked to several people, and none of us have come to a general consensus about what the ending really meant. Then there was the delightfully peculiar “The Story of Mickey McClure.” The story was interesting and funny at times, but the scenes with Prof. Bandy and Sarah Matthews were the least moving part of it all. And, for some reason, the idea that “the doctor” was actually Mickey McClure didn’t seem to stick or give too much of a punch.

From there, the festival moved to the ever touching “Knot Yet,” a story of a young girl and her grandfather dealing with the problems of being too young and too old, respectively.

This movie was well done and definitely deserved Best Screenplay. After this heartwarming film came the quirky comedy “Be Mime.” The concept was good, and the performance put forth by the Cucklers was brilliant, as was most of the performance in this film, but, for some reason, it did not keep the laughs going the whole way, instead ,it seemed to hit a point where it was just kind of still going, and left the audience waiting for something to laugh at again.

After “Be Mime,” the festival went on to the intermission with a special warning that the next film might be too graphic and intense for young children.

That next film was “One Night Out,” a film based on a true story of what happened to a group of friends who got drunk and shot guns in the middle of the night.

Honestly, this film felt like a Discovery Channel reenactment. I mean the film wasn’t bad, but it came off a tad cheesy. After “One Night Out” came the winner of the Best Comedy award; “The Love Doctor.” “The Love Doctor” was a usual take on an old plot. Sure, it made you laugh, but it was the same story we have seen several times before, except, this one lasted less than eight minutes.

Next came two very funny foreign-themed short films: “Bathroom” and “From America with Love.” Both of these films were absolutely hilarious and enjoyable, proving to be two of the most entertaining films of the evening.

The final film of the evening was the one which won the majority of the awards, and for the most part deserved them all. This film, of course was the crime drama “Downfall.” This film, directed by Ben Rogers and written by Josh Ford, was a well-executed look at a case of unethical police work and one man’s choice to bring it to justice. The overall winner and overall best film, it was a great way to end the festival. Of course, though the festival was over, the evening was far from it, as the after party was just about to begin. That’s right — and was the after party a party: complete with flashing lights, tons of people, loud music, movie-inspired beverage names, and some sweet Chick-fil-a chicken.

Overall, the event was a success full of fine films and good times for all, and I personally cannot wait till next year, when, once again, all of Asbury will watch in awe a new crop of student-made films.

The team has already earned the most wins in Asbury softball history (slow pitch and fast pitch) with 21 wins in the regular season. The previous record was set by the 1995 fast pitch team that earned 17 wins. Coach Larry McCullough said that the success could be attributed to the team’s hard work.

“When you work hard and practice hard, good things happen … This is big to come in this first year and win the most games in Asbury softball history. These girls are stepping stones for the program, and, next year, we will take the next step,” he said. “For the past month, we have been hurt. One girl had shoulder surgery, and one of our starters missed eight straight games because of a sprained ankle. If you had asked me at the beginning of the season if we would win 21 games with the injuries and such a young team, that would have been a long shot. But we did it, and it is something special.”

The team has won five of their last six games (as of April 28) and they played their last home game vs. Alice Lloyd on Wednesday. This weekend, Asbury will host the KIAC tournament, set to begin on May 1. If there is too much rain, the tournament will be moved to Berea, where the teams will be able to play on a field that has a tarp. No matter where the competition will take place, the competition will be “stiff” according to McCullough.

“When you play in a tournament, everyone knows that you lose and your season is over. Every team steps it up a notch. I look for every team to do well in the tournament,” he said. “But, Asbury has a very good chance in winning this tournament. We have to do two things: play good ball and get some breaks.”

McCullough also urged that the team must focus on certain fundamentals such as pitching, base running and defense, specifically, in order to gain the KIAC victory.

“The pitching comes first. The pitching must come through. We have to have solid defense and we need to be smart base runners; I can’t emphasize [base running] enough. Even the girls that don’t start need to come in and do a good job,” he said.

The team that wins the KIAC championship will head to Decatur, Ala., to play in the national NCCAA tournament. The tournament will take place throughout the week of May 11.

Right now, the team is focusing on this season and finishing strong in the KIAC and/or national tournament.

But, when asked about next year, McCullough said he is looking forward to the addition of five signed recruits (and hopefully three to five more throughout the summer).

This year, the team really learned what it means to come together as young ladies from different high school teams, and McCullough is hoping that the same thing will happen next year.

“Each one of these girls came from a different high school, and each of those schools played a different system … but these girls have come here and learned our system, and they have learned to depend on each other,” he said. “Whether they came from better high school teams, or not-so-good high school teams, they really give everything they have.”

Asbury will play in the first round of the KIAC tournament at home on May 1.

The Demon Xecutioners were crowned as the men’s soccer intramural champions last Thursday as they outplayed Ganga Uguay with a 6-1 victory. Seth Eckert, Nate DeFreitas, Noah Nelson and Justin Morton were the goal scorers.

Historically, Apple Inc., an American multinational corporation that designs and manufactures consumer electronics and software, has cultivated purely golden delicious pomaceous fruits, raking in money and prestige but aiding in the world’s polluted demise. Now, the billion-dollar company is harvesting “green” fruits in a daring move to be the most environmentally friendly business ever.

Since its establishment in April 1976 by Steve Jobs and co-founder Steve Wozniak, Apple has expanded the technological world and “consistently found a way to touch the zeitgeist,” according to the New York Times. Despite  the company’s near failure, Apple was resurrected by Jobs in the late ‘90s, and the Times reported that “Apple’s era dawned.” Operating under Jobs’ notion to “change the world,” Apple was dubbed “America’s Most Admired Company” of 2008 by Fortune Magazine. The problem: Greenpeace and fellow environmentalist organizations hesitate to call Apple the “most admired company” when it has consistently been rated at the bottom of their environmental scoreboards.

According to www.greenpeace.org/apple/itox, the environmentalists at Greenpeace are huge Apple fans, but they have asked Apple for a few specific changes. First, remove all toxic chemicals, such as PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) and BFRs (brominated flame retardants), from the production process and products. Second, create a product take-back plan, which Greenpeace says “goes by the very grown-up name of Individual Producer Responsibility.” Although Greenpeace does recognize the take-back plan Apple has instituted in the U.S., they said they will not be satisfied until Apple’s products stop ending up in e-waste yards in Asia. Third, increase the life-span of products so that there’s less waste. “We get angry when our iPod breaks just after the one-year warranty expires,” reads Greenpeace’s Website. “We get annoyed when Apple says it’s cheaper to buy a new one than fix the old one.” Fourth, really change the world. In an effort to save money, resources and energy, Greenpeace proposes upgrades of products as opposed to throwing old ones out.

However, with Apple’s most recent commercials, the company appears to have aced Greenpeace’s checklist. According to www.apple.com/environment, Apple products not only save energy, but products are also shipped in reduced packaging, made of easily recyclable materials and use fewer cables (reducing the need for cables that contain PVC). Apple has “restricted” and “banned” the most dangerous toxic chemicals (such as arsenic, brominated flame retardants (BFRs), mercury, phthalates and PVC) in products from manufacturing, shipping and the products themselves. In addition, Apple says it has “instituted recycling programs in 95 percent of the countries where our products are sold” and that “all the e-waste we collect in North America is processed [in North America], and nothing is shipped overseas for disposal.”

Still relatively unanswered by Apple, the most perturbing question for many organizations has been why the world’s most admired company has been so sluggish to go green. Greenpeace has been spurring Apple toward “going greener” since 2003, and many organizations have criticized Apple for being slow-to-action, and then even more critical when Apple makes seemingly petite changes.

Apple is now pushing a new campaign, and pushing it hard. In the simplest, “greenest” manner, Apple presented its new line of MacBooks, declaring them to be the “greenest family of MacBooks.” Some critics hold to the thought that Apple is only pushing this green campaign in an effort to quiet the bad press or, on the total opposite end of the spectrum, to strengthen its already strong image. Once criticized by Greenpeace for being too “top secret” about its environmental friendliness, Apple is now at the top of the charts in the minds of consumers. According to the Wall Street Journal, consumers view Apple as the world’s greenest company because of the recent information-push about its environmental policies to the public, despite the fact that many environmentalist groups disagree.

This is not to say Apple’s lying. According to an article by Joe Hutsko from the New York Times, Apple’s new MacBook—the proclaimed greenest MacBook ever—“achieves both Energy Star 4.0 compliance, as well as a gold rating from the Green Electronics Council. (Of course, 103 other notebooks have received gold status, too.)”

However, the construction of the new MacBook is a major step back from green. According to EcoGeek.org, the new MacBooks are carved out of one solid piece of aluminum, which will result in more waste by “creating a block of metal with a huge amount of embodied energy … and the vast majority of it is just going into the recycling bin to be re-melted and re-processed. Green? I think not.”

Environmental groups are slowly witnessing a greener change from Apple, a change they say is extremely important for one of the world’s leading companies. Greenpeace was happy to hear the message from Steve Jobs announcing a change in policy at Apple and reaffirming the dedication to “reduce the environmental impact” of its products; but Greenpeace is still pushing for Apple to continue to grow greener.

With the competition escalating, the race for the first pure-green enterprise will hold the world in speculation, and many will wait until they can finally proclaim the Greenpeace hope: “An Apple green to the core!”

I am me, and I am you. I am a modern woman who has been severely punished by society for having a body that does not live up to the ideals placed on my shoulders by fashion designers and other sad, self-loathing women.

But, when I look in my friend’s slightly distorted full-length mirror, I see a tall, lithe woman. She has my face and my outift, but she has a different — in my eyes, better — body, than I have. Her legs and arms are thin; her hips do not curve out; her neck is lean and elegant.

Ashley Jeffries has attacked this very issue in her recent exhibit, “Distorted Perceptions,” which is a group of nude paintings in which she deals with society’s, as well as her own, struggles with perception and distorted self-image.

This deeply personal exhibit attacks the ideas that plague all women and, as Jeffries said in an interview, “the lies [women] believe because of judgment and comparison.”

She said, “The label ‘eating disorder’ is so much broader than anorexia or bulimia.” She discussed that several pieces were inspired by her own struggle with exercise obsession. For instance, the painting “Food Baby,” at surface level, depicts a woman who is slightly bloated-looking, presumably after having eaten a big meal. Jeffries said, “’Food Baby’ stems from jokes about eating too much, but, honestly, that’s when I feel the most miserable. When I feel like that, exercise makes me feel safe, and I’ll do it until I’m ready to collapse.”

Another heartbreakingly relatable piece was “Ceramic Coffin,” which depicted a woman’s body submerged in a bathtub. This vulnerable scene aptly portrays what at first may seem an ordinary scene in an extraordinary and almost desperate light. “The bathtub distorts your body, and you’re all out there in front of yourself,” Jeffries said.

Three pieces that stuck out as some of the most emotional and personal were, “Distorted Perceptions,” “Did You Think I’d Order a F***ing Salad?” and “Problem Areas.”

Of “Distorted Perceptions,” which depicts two women of extremely different sizes and shapes, Jeffries said, “People see it differently. Many see confidence in the ‘bigger woman.’” The incredible thing about “Distorted Perceptions” is that it can be interpreted in different ways by different women.

“Did You Think I’d Order a F***ing Salad?” addresses an actual experience in Jeffries’ life. The scene depicted is that of a girl in a McDonald’s eating a hamburger. Jeffries has installed chains from her wrists to her hips, a sign of the extreme restraint that women are expected to show in their eating habits. In the real story, the McDonald’s was an Italian restaurant and the burger was a bowl of pasta. “A family member took me out to lunch,” said Jeffries, “and he asked if I was on a high-carb diet when I ordered pasta and breadsticks.”

“The wrong outfit can make you feel so much worse about yourself,” said Ashley as we moved on to discuss “Problem Areas.” This painting, one of the more abstract of the bunch, also has 3D media involved corset-like strips of fabric seem to pull and suck in the figures’ “problem areas.”

“For [‘Problem Areas’], I just shut off my mind and let it happen,” said Jeffries. “I painted it, then wrote all over it.” This piece is the largest and is the most blatant about society’s pressure to be thin. Jeffries’ original plan for the painting was to actually sew the corset pieces onto it. However, while working on the piece, she was so overcome by emotion at one point that she literally ripped off her T-shirt. It was a significant revelation for Jeffries, as she felt like she was tearing off old, bad feelings along with the shirt — a shirt from high school that had all the signatures of members of her senior class on it. Instead of sewing, she tied pieces of fabric from the shirt onto the painting. These symbolic pieces worked wonderfully because of their roughness and rawness.

Jeffries discussed that, especially after working on this project, she no longer knows what an “ideal” body should look like. “What is beautiful? I think it’s about, despite a lack of answers, loving who you are anyway… Studying [the exhibit] after I realized I had a problem was really interesting. They’ve all spoken to me about the lies that I believe.”

Jeffries’ self-portrait “Self Portrait” shows just how skewed and false our perceptions of ourselves really can be. “I believed it wasn’t distorted, but after I had finished it, a girl was looking at it and said, ‘The shoulders are too big.’”

Though she is unsure now of what she thinks is the “perfect” body, Jeffries said that of her paintings, “This Skin I’m In” is the closest to her own ideals. Though this painting was the second of the series that she started, it was the last one she finished - she had such a hard time with it, in fact, that she considered not including it in the exhibit. However, after hearing her discuss the piece, it is clear that “This Skin I’m In” is an integral part to the exhibit. The colors and brisk brushstrokes depict “the feeling of skin crawling, always changing.” Ashley said that “This Skin I’m In,” in addition to the other paintings, helped her realize that, “it’s okay to have a woman’s body. How can you define [your body] as a size? It is always growing and always getting older.”

“It’s definitely been therapeutic,” she said, “Crying… letting people know. I still have days where I don’t wanna eat or where I feel disgusting… It was really interesting not only to realize you’re not alone, but also that it’s not your fault you feel that way, and that it’s okay if there’s no real answer.”

Ashley’s exhibit opened April 14 and the exhibit was in the Grill. Prices are not currently available on the paintings, as Ashley plans on entering some of them into contests, but she would be willing to sell pieces if someone was really touched by and interested in one of them.