Religion, as we know, exists as an important part of society. What some may not know is that there is an institute in Rochester that fosters religious learning and growth. The Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, located on top of a hill off of Highland Avenue, is situated in a way that makes it seem like this school is watching over the community. Katie Jo Vasquez, a Roberts Wesleyan alumna attends Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinty School and first became interested in religion at the age of 15.   “I started getting involved in the local churches, I grew up in Syracuse,” said Vasquez. “They really were like a family to me, they just sort of took me in and made me feel so special, like I had a purpose.”   Vasquez admired that those who belonged to the church existed as equals, no matter how much money you had or what race you were.   “I was like ‘this is what being human is all about’,” said Vasquez. “They actually care about the people around them. It was really a life changing experience from a selfish pre-teen who is like ‘I am just trying to figure life out to I am grown up and I care about people and I can be mature enough to talk about religion, even though it’s a touchy subject.’”   Vasquez believes that becoming active in the church when she was young made her a better person. Although she became interested in religious activities at a young age, she wasn’t necessarily surrounded by spirituality at home.   “I didn’t grow up in any sort of religious environment at all,” said Vasquez. “We kind of went to church every once in a while. We never prayed at dinner or anything. It was always kind of looked at like religion is weird, it’s what weird people do when they don’t know what else to do with life. When they can’t handle themselves they just pray.”   Religion is not something a person pursues when they run out of options, according to Vasquez.   “Its not just a thing for weak people,” said Vasquez. “For me, religion, it’s a cultural staple. It’s something that people go to when they know exactly what to do, but they need a little bit more strength behind them.”   Because there are so many different religions that exist across the world, Vasquez decided to get her masters in religious history and have knowledge about all forms.   “Its been a part of culture forever and ever, and I think learning about it helps us, it’s kind of like if psychology is the study of the mind of one individual, religion is the study of the mind of an entire culture,” said Vasquez. “You can really learn about what the Chinese are like by learning about Buddhism, and what goes through the American mind when you look at Evangelical Protestantism.” Vasquez used to think she wanted to be a pastor, then after failing out of ordination classes at churches [on purpose], she decided that maybe it wasn’t the right route for her.   “You don’t have to be a pastor to make a contribution to the religious life of a city,” said Vasquez. “There’s really a very important place for scholars and people who want to contribute to the religious knowledge of a city.”   Now her future plans include teaching undergraduates’s about the importance of religion and its origins.   “People have within themselves the amazing ability to be creative, to change the world,” said Vasquez. “Anybody you meet can change everything that is around us at any time, we all have that ability. It’s just drawing that out of people and helping them to see it in themselves. It’s my little contribution to human society.” More...

Upon walking through the door of the Method Machine space at 650 South Avenue, also labeled ‘Method Lab,’ your voice echoes against the bright, almost blinding, white walls. To the outside world, the words printed in red that read ‘Method Lab’ may cause some suspicion, maybe even curiosity as to what this place actually is. Marcy Savastano, a Nazareth College graduate, is one of the founders of Method Machine and participates in many of their performances.  “The definition of Method Machine is an artistic playground to put forth creative illuminating works of art,” said Savastano. “That would probably be the one-second definition.”  Method Machine started last year by three friends from high school, Savastano included.  “We said ‘why don’t we try this and see what happens?,’ said Savastano. “So we got back together and talked about it for a while.”  All three were interested in pursuing art, performance and directing. Inside the actual space on South Avenue, they host art shows and photo galleries, have improv shows and they have musicians perform as well. They have theatrical performances in the ‘Method Lab’ and also take them on the road. “Our first theatre show was in February,” said Savastano. “We performed at Lux, we performed at a Fusion Salon on Park Avenue, so we kind of had a traveling show. It was very interesting. “It was fun to do in the middle of winter, to break down the set and take it to different places everyday,” she added sarcastically. So far the plays that have been performed are already published, but they will continue to explore other possibilities as well.  “Its part of our mission to do new pieces,” said Savastano. “We’ve also talked to some established authors about doing some of their works that haven’t been produced yet. We also want to do local shows. We’re working on a one act right now that was written by a local playwright that will go up at the end of this month.”  According to Savastano, Method Machine works to do a little bit of everything. Although Method Machine strives to be professional, they also have a pretty laid back atmosphere when it comes to various artists rehearsing for shows.  “Its not high maintenance,” said Savastano. “We just say ‘hey when you want to come rehearse, we will make sure that we are there.’”  A lot of thought went into the creation of the name Method Machine. Method acting is an acting technique created by a Russian man named Stanislavski, therefore the first word of the name was derived from that. “Basically what he created was an approach to acting, which was really diving into the psychology of the character,” said Savastano. “Working on the way they walk, the way they think, the way they talk. So before that, acting was very external and he made it a more internal process.”  And for the part of the name ‘Machine…’  “We thought that we’re this well-oiled, cooperative, working together to create these works of art,” said Savastano. “So we don’t think of a machine as necessarily like bits and pieces put together kind of thing, it’s more like all three of us working together in tandem to create the art that we put forth.”  For Savastano, although art can create an escape from regular life, there is much more to it than that.  “It’s to broaden your mind, to be creative, to have an outlet to educate, to entertain, to express views that can’t normally be expressed, for experimentation, for people to derive joy out of it,” said Savastano. “There are so many levels of the importance of art, especially when there is so much going on in society. People need an outlet to express themselves, to educate, to teach people and to learn from others.”   More...

Well, after a grueling 12-hour cross-country car ride I’ve returned to Rochester sunburned, exhausted and broke. Was it worth it? Hell yes. You’ll find those three characteristics in pretty much any college student who attended Lollapalooza this weekend, an annual three-day musical festival held in Chicago’s Grant Park which featured top-notch draws such as Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails, Kanye West and countless others. What can I say about these acts that hasn’t already been said? Honestly, not too much. Seeing bands that are now being elevated to legendary status on the big stages amongst some of the most interesting new innovators on the smaller stages is an experience like none other. So instead of telling you about how “totally awesome the Radiohead concert was!” (which it was by the way), having been to a few large music festivals now I thought I’d just give a few tips to consider next time you go to a festival. - Festivals are DIFFERENT than concerts so prepare accordingly. When you’re at a festival, you’re in it for the long haul. To see 10 different bands on eight different stages, there’s a lot more you have to take into account. Spending all day walking around in hot weather (or barely trudging if it’s day three), you need to make sure you’ve got good walking shoes, sun block and plenty of water. Nothing is gonna kill your buzz quite like seeing the band you’ve waited all summer to see while being dehydrated, cramped or burned. Make sure you take care of yourself so you remember more of the show than just the singer going “What’s up Chicago?” before passing out. - Festivals are expensive so CUT YOUR COSTS. While this frugal student would never advocate sneaking outside food or drink into a festival, bring as much food or water in as the festival allows, the price on everything goes way up once you step inside. If the festival is a long way away, bring sandwiches and fruit for the ride rather than getting that tasty rest stop food. (Personal note: a rest stop chain named Fazoli’s advertises food that is fast, fresh, and Italian. I guarantee you they only delivered on two out of three). -Plan ahead but be FLEXIBLE. When a festival publishes its performance schedule, one of the first things you’ll probably end up doing is figuring out what you want to see. As an eclectic music lover there’s no doubt that as soon as Girl Talk has ended his explosive DJ set of mash up music you’re going to want to immediately run to see the Parlor Mob’s intense new brand of hard rock. What you failed to take into account is that its 100 degress outside, you’re out of water and the next stage is actually about a 20-minute walk from where you are from. And your friend has to pee. Badly. The great thing about music festivals is that there is A LOT of music to see but accept you can never see all of it so plan for what you are dying to see and be flexible in seeing whatever else you can. - Finally, a lesson I learned for the first time at this particular festival: If you’re up close for a heavy metal show, prepare to get SLAMMED. Having camped out for a close spot for Nine Inch Nails’ festival concluding performance, I was probably a bit naïve in assuming most people wanted just wanted to bob their heads and throw their devil horns in the air. Seconds after the band took the stage the crowd surged forward into a mosh pit, feeling the weight of about 10,000 people pushing up against me from all sides. Being a big dude, I faired ok for my first time (crowd surfing my way outta there a few songs in) but smaller people in the crowd were definitely overwhelmed, especially if they weren’t expecting this (thankfully nobody seemed to get too hurt). Case in point, feel the crowd out before hand and know what you’re getting yourself into. If the dude in black eye liner and fishnets is jumping up and down and losing his mind before the show even starts, chances are he’s gonna get a little rowdy later.   Well, time to hit that dusty trail. See you at the next show (I’ll help lift you out of the pit if it’s a bit much). More...