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Tonight, the Chase Gymnasium will be packed with current and prospective students for Biola’s annual Mock Rock competition. Five teams (Encore, Bropoc, Men of Honor, Hawt Pocketz and Heroes) will compete in a lip-sync dance battle for the title of Mock Rock Champions. Leaders from each team shared hints about their team’s theme for tonight, and how their set might look a little different this year. This episode features Lote Vunibaka (Encore), Mandy Fischer (Heroes), Dax Winans (Bropoc), Zeke Paquette (Men of Honor), Jesia Rivera-Puls (Hawt Pocketz) and Nate Stachofsky (Hawt Pocketz).
For more details about this week’s headlines: SGA Senate recap, watch Mock Rock live, listen to Tim Milosch’s educational podcast “Tim Talks Politics,” Prada buys Versace
Creators and Guests
Host
Izah DeFigh
What is The Chimes Weekly?
Bite-sized podcast episodes with your top news stories from The Chimes, Los Angeles County, the nation and the world, with an interview with a Chimes writer to close out your week.
By Biola University students, for Biola University students. Previously known as Chimes Rundown and KBR Daily News Updates by KBR The Torch.
Izah DeFigh: From The Torch Podcasting Network, this is The Chimes Weekly. I’m Izah DeFigh, reporting from Biola University. It’s Friday, April 11.
Lote Vunibaka: I feel like it was amazing. We were having so much fun, and I feel like the process of, like, putting the show together went more smoothly because we all started our season being friends.
Izah DeFigh: Coming up, what you should get excited about for this year’s Mock Rock from the team leaders of Encore, Bropoc, Men of Honor, Hawt Pocketz and Heroes and how this year’s show will introduce an innovative twist to a beloved Biola tradition. But before that, let’s take a look at this week’s headlines.
Get out your Regency-era clothing because the theme of Saturday’s fourth annual spring formal is Pride and Prejudice. Admission is free, and the event will include food. The dance will be held at 7 pm in the Chase Gym. For more updates on Biola’s Student Government Association, read the most recent senate meeting recap on The Chimes’ website, written by Emmanuel Gomez.
Tonight at 6:30pm, Biola students will pack Chase Gymnasium for the highly anticipated Mock Rock competition. Five teams, including last year’s winner, Men of Honor, will compete for the title in a lip-sync dance-battle competition. In past years, students have formed a line in the early morning hours to secure a spot for the evening show, so this year Biola’s Office of On-campus Engagement tested a new online ticket system which opened for reservations yesterday at 10 am. Later, we’ll hear from the team leaders as they share what they are most excited about for audiences to see at tonight’s show.
The Biola Film Festival last weekend saw “Gary and Milo” win a number of awards including “Best picture” and “Best Director.” The film’s writer and director, Liam Greenlee, made the film before leaving Biola due to financial obstacles. Greenlee was able to re-enroll this year, however, and was thrilled to see “Gary and Milo” gain several nominations for the festival.
Liam Greenlee: “I’m shocked that this happened. If you had told me two years ago when I dropped out that I would be coming back on the last film that I made, I would be shocked. I am shocked. It’s an honor to be here—everyone is so talented, and I just hope people keep making weird films here.”
Izah DeFigh: For a full list of the winners and more information about this year’s Biola Film Festival, see our show notes with a link to a Chimes piece by our A&E reporter, Kelly Van Duine.
Florida secured their victory against Houston in the finals of the NCAA March Madness Tournament this last Monday. The Gators squeezed their win by only two points. On the women’s side of March Madness, UConn defeated South Carolina by a staggering 23 points. That’s a wrap for this year’s collegiate basketball seasons!
The global trade war continues as Trump announced reciprocal tariff policies, creating more conflict and uncertainty with the United State’s most relied-on trading partners. These tariffs leave many people—including Biola students—wondering how this will affect their financial well-being.
The purpose of the tariffs, according to Biola’s Dr. Tim Milosch, is to recenter and prosper American production. Milosch says in his recent article, “Wall Street did react in a predictably poor way to the tariffs, immediately dropping over 1,000 points the day after the announcement, and numerous countries announced they were preparing their own counter tariff packages. And yet ... car manufacturers domestic and international announced plans to make new investments in American production capacity, which is exactly the chief objective of the tariffs.” These tariffs remain uncertain in how they will play out in the future, as various countries respond with additional slap-downs against the United States.
Luxury fashion brand Prada has just purchased its fellow Italian counterpart Versace in what the New York Times is calling “the biggest luxury deal of the year” at 1.38 billion dollars.
On Thursday, Mattel announced its release of the LeBron James Ken doll, making him the first male athlete to reach the achievement of the company’s next “Kenbassador.” Standing at a full inch taller than other Kens, the doll sports a classy street-style look with a blue varsity jacket donning Mr. James’ initials, a pair of Jordans, and a t-shirt with the slogan of his non-profit organization, the Lebron James Family Foundation. The doll will be available for purchase on Monday and will retail for $75.
That's it for this week's headlines. Next up, the leaders of each Mock Rock team walk us through what it’s like to put a performance together and why it means so much more than just a ten-minute dance.
Lote Vunibaka is a sophomore communication major and one of the leaders of Encore. He shared how in their second year of competing, Encore has developed as a team.
Lote Vunibaka: Something that our team has worked on different this year is just to build a better sense of community. I felt that this year we were more intentional with that, and then with building that foundation and community, it was easier to take it to the dance floor. And chemistry wise, I felt like it was amazing. We were having so much fun. I feel like the process of like, putting the show together was more smoother because we all started our season being friends.
Izah DeFigh: Heroes leader and senior communication major Mandy Fischer tells us how Heroes plans to take the stage in new ways as well.
Mandy Fischer: One thing people should know before they see Mock Rock is that each team put in so much work and effort into their dances, and there are so many details that go into the behind the scenes, but it's all worth it. This year, something new that we are doing is having more lifts and tricks, which is awesome. So stay tuned.
Izah DeFigh: This year, attendees may notice a new addition to the traditional stage design, the classic LED sign spelling out Mock Rock, will still be present and accompanied by an LED screen spanning the length of the stage, adding a new dimension to each team's set design and creativity.
Mandy Fischer: We're also able to use a massive LED screen as our background, and that's been new for all the teams this year.
Izah DeFigh: For Bropoc, innovation and originality is a trademark of their performances year after year. Junior accounting major and team leader Dax Winans shares Bropoc’s vision for creative storytelling:
Dax Winans: Bropoc has brought something unique to Mock Rock, and that is that our theme characters, storyline and choreography have all come from the combined creativity of our team only. We've been so blessed by everyone's ideas, and none of this would have happened without everybody's contribution.
Izah DeFigh: Reigning champion, Men of Honor, is looking forward to taking the stage again. Let’s hear from MOH leader Zeke Paquette:
Zeke Paquette: People should know before we see the show that we have decided to go into a little bit different of a genre for theme this year, and it's a really fun theme, really exciting, and also something that is still a little bit serious. We've worked on bringing into the show this year, just bringing in new styles of dance and new choreography that really hasn't been done in Mock Rock before.
Izah DeFigh: Each of the leaders expressed immense gratitude and praise for their team’s hard work, dedication and care for one another.
Lote Vunibaka: Something that I'm very proud about this year is just the amount of hard work and dedication each and every person has given these last four months have been such a blessing, and I couldn't I couldn't ask for a better team. And I hope that that energy that they give each and every practice is translated through their performance, and I can't wait for everyone to watch it.
Mandy Fischer: I'm really proud of our team for their intentionality with one another and their commitment. They spend time cultivating community and praying for one another, and they're just such a supportive team. They've worked so hard, and we're just so excited to share what we've been working on.
Dax Winans: We're so beyond proud of every actor and dancer on the Bropoc team for their passion, energy and time that they've given. We've become united through the show and are ready to give a show stopping performance that blows people away. As leaders, we are so grateful for this incredible, talented team.
Izah DeFigh: Hawt Pocketz, the team that was brought back to life by senior Bible major David Fung last year, is a testament to that. Co-leading Hawt Pocketz this year is the sophomore Bible major duo, Jesiah Rivera-Puls and Nate Stachofsky.
Jesiah Rivera-Puls: I'm incredibly proud of how hard my team has worked and how much joy and and gratitude that they've showed up with every week. Couldn't be prouder of all of the work that they've put in.
Izah DeFigh: Make sure to secure your tickets and get in line early, because you won’t want to miss this show. And don’t get too comfortable. You never know what these students have in store. Stachofsky of Hawt Pocketz shares these parting words:
Nate Stachofsky: Think people need to know that they might feel called out after our performance, and that's okay. I hope it's a good time and that they enjoy it.
Izah DeFigh: Thanks for listening! As always, if you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review and share it with a friend or roommate. For more stories from the Chimes, head over to our website at chimesnewspaper.com. This episode was produced by Reagan Glidewell, Hope Li, and Thomas Rahkola. It was hosted by myself. It was engineered by Jason Lee; with music from Warner Chappell Productions. Hope Li is our executive producer. I’m Izah DeFigh, we’ll see y’all next week.