THE COLONNADE The Official Student Newspaper of Georgia College
March 22, 2013
www.GCSUnade.com
Volume 89, No. 21
Single copies free
Georgia College is in it to end it Movement draws attention to slavery across the world ANSLEY BURGAMY SENIOR REPORTER Georgia College students raised more than $6,000 during the event Stand For Freedom last week. The event was put on to shine a light on the fact that 27 million people are currently living in slavery around the world, according to the International Justice Mission. The event started on March 13 and lasted 27 hours to represent the 27 million enslaved. The International Justice Mission (IJM) established the Stand for Freedom events as a part of the “End It Movement,” which is a coalition of seven nonprofit organizations aiming to raise awareness. The movement ignited in early January at Atlanta’s Passion Conference,
a Christian gathering with more than 60,000 college students attending. Meg Partin, senior exercise science major, was one of many GC students who attended Passion. “After hearing the number 27 million, I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. I knew we had to do something as a student body,” Partin said. Front Campus swelled with passionate student volunteers who gave their time and voice to the voiceless. In the United States, more than 17,000 people are trafficked annually, according to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Furthermore, Atlanta is ranked one of the highest cities in the U.S. for child prostitution, according to the Governor’s Office for Children and Families. The event opened with students in a ring of
End it page 4
ANSLEY BURGAMY / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER GC students release 27 balloons to pay homage to the 27 million enslaved to kick off Stand for Freedom.
Kappa Alpha fights for home
Bike share program rides onto campus
SGA
Contrast, clarity on SGA elections
CONSTANTINA KOKENES SENIOR REPORTER
NICK WIDENER SENIOR REPORTER
The wheels have begun spinning on a bicycle ride-share program at Georgia College. It’s being developed by senior environmental science major Colin Maldonado and LITC Director Joe Windish. “My independent study is working to get a comprehensive bike route plan around Milledgeville,” Maldonado said. “It’s been utilized a lot in big cities.” Maldonado and Windish have been working on the program since January of this year. Essentially a bike rental, the program Maldonado wishes to start will have kiosks across campus, each with a card scanner. “You’d go up to (a kiosk), scan your card and it would give you an open bike,” Maldonado said. “So it would say, ‘Go to locker 2 for…’ and there would be mailboxes. You can open that up and get the key to the bike lock.” Bikes will be available through this program for 12 hours per day. Kiosks are expected to be located at the Residence Halls, the Irwin Street parking lot and West Campus. The idea behind the program is to encourage students to not drive to cam
Bike Share page 4
Editor’s note: this story is the final part of a series on election procedures at Georgia College.
MARK WATKINS / SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER The Kappa Alpha house at 201 S. Liberty St. has become the topic of debate between neighbors and brothers.
MARK WATKINS SENIOR REPORTER Just last year, one of Milledgeville’s nearest and dearest streets was listed as a place in peril by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, the state authority on historic restorations. Houses had been up for sale for years, home values were steadily dropping, and the future didn’t look bright for Liberty Street. In its report concerning the street, the trust said, “Many
locals are concerned that these single-family homes will be converted into student housing, losing their historic fabric and perhaps falling into disrepair.” Currently, this statement is both true and false. Three students in the Georgia College chapter of Kappa Alpha do live in the Bell-Martin house at 201 S. Liberty St. and neighbors are still concerned, but the house hasn’t fallen into disrepair as a result of the new residents. President and CEO of the Georgia Trust and KA alum
Mark McDonald wrote a letter last August supporting the work the chapter has done to the house saying, “We have carefully reviewed the work being conducted by the KA fraternity and find that it is an excellent and a good example of historic rehabilitation for a new use.” Despite this, neighbors such as John Alton, 20-year resident at 221 S. Liberty St., are concerned about the noise from
Fraternity House page 6
Physics club goes medieval Six years ago, the final “Harry Potter” book was released, Steve Jobs announced the first iPhone and the Georgia College Physics Club started building a trebuchet. Six years is a long time, but they’re in no hurry. “It’s more about getting together and eating pizza,” Ken McGill, chair of chemistry and physics, said. The club tinkers with the trebuchet during its meetings every so often, but right now it’s no more than a Dodge Ram truck bed. The goal is to launch a sack of potatoes, and the device is expected to be powerful enough to heave those potatoes at least a football field or more. McGill said “‘Dodge’ and ‘Ram’ are nouns, not verbs,” but
Kris Schock, junior physics major, joked that they are building it to wage war on the Arts & Sciences building, “We’re just doing this for fun, for kicks because, you know, we’re the Physics Club, we think it’d be cool to launch stuff really far,” Schock said. The trebuchet frame is a bit rusty from being outside and has “Physics Club” painted in white letters in various places. “I realize it’s not much right now, but we have a few other support beams, and it’s all being done in the machine shop over there,” Schock said, pointing to a building behind Herty Hall. “And as the Physics Club, we’re going to be doing all the welding. I’m excited.” Ian Agnew, junior physics major, has only worked on the trebuchet one day this semester, but said it could be finished in a year.
NEWS FLASH
Trebuchet page 5
Elections page 6
Accolades on High
For the sixth year in a row, Georgia College earned a spot on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The award is the highest recognition a school can earn for community service and civic engagement.
The goal is to launch a sack of potatoes, and the device is expected to be powerful enough to heave those potatoes at least a football field or more.
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QUOTABLE
News
“My heart just dropped. She was so amped to play and at the home game opener, too. I just couldn’t believe it.” -Howard Upchurch, Bobcat point-guard’s dad
See Sports, page 16
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to work on it but so far it hasn’t happened.” The physics club members said most of the work has been so slow because McGill has to supervise the work but is too busy most of the time. But between bites of pizza at the last club meeting, McGill decided the last weekend in Spring
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Opinions differ as to how it was started. Agnew said the trebuchet probably began because of a student’s research project, and Schock said it was an attempt to out-power the chemistry club’s potato gun, or “carbohydrate accelerator,” which launches a small potato 50 feet. “It’s still in progress, but we’ll get it done,” Agnew said. “I hope we finish it. We’ve been trying to get the physics club together
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After the new voting equipment was installed in Georgia in time for the 2004 presidential election, Georgia was rated with the second-best accuracy rating nationwide.
The state jumped from the bottom to the top because of Cox’s voting policies. She held the office of secretary of state from 1999 to 2007. Cox said once the elections are over with, getting the correct results out to the public is the primary goal. “We deserve, as Americans, to know that our elections are truly outcomes of the voter’s will,” she said. “The quicker you can get the results, the better people feel.” At Georgia College, voting is conducted on OrgSync through the Unify system. Each student must be authenticated by Unify before they are allowed to vote on OrgSync. After the two-day elections are open, voting results are reviewed by three different people, as well as OrgSync. “I watch this election like a hawk,” Tom Miles, director of student life, said. “I don’t want people to think that there is anything underhanded about student elections whatsoever.” Miles reviews the results before sending them to the two representatives of SGA. Treasurer Aubrey Ethridge and Vice President Stephen Hundley were the two members tasked with evaluating the results. After each counter verifies the numbers are all the same, election results are announced. Miles said the results could be announced
Group continues building catapult-like machine to launch potatoes BETHAN ADAMS STAFF REPORTER
The election process at GC is far different from that of local and state elections. After the voting mishap in Florida in the 2000 Presidential Election, states nationwide were awarded grants to upgrade voting apparatuses. Yet some people may not know that Georgia was rated with the second-worst accuracy rating of any state, according to surveys done by Cal Tech and MIT. “We had a higher lost voting rate than Florida,” Cathy Cox, Georgia’s former secretary of state, recently said in a phone interview. Cox said about 96,000 votes were lost, but in the state, George W. Bush beat Al Gore. “Even if you had re-reproduced all those lost votes, it would not have changed the outcome,” Cox said. After the new voting equipment was installed in time for the 2004 presidential election, Georgia was rated with the second-best accuracy rating nationwide.
INSIDE
Cultures unite through dance.................................3 The long lonely wail of MSU...................................4
A&E
It’s a war-charred love affair..................................11 Winds of tribute......................................................11
Sports
Athletic academics.................................................18 Bobcats straggle behind Patriots.........................18 Leisure................................................................14 Community News........................................7
NUMBER CRUNCH
Cal.
21 School days left until finals start
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THE COLONNADE
MARCH 22, 2013
A Q&A with visiting Newell scholar Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell leaves Georgia College at the end of Spring 2013 by Iris Cochran colonnade: Could you tell me about your educational background?
colonnade: Why are elephants (in particular) so important to you?
o’connell-rodwell: I got my undergraduate in biology from Fairfield University in Connecticut and my minor in history and French. As much as I had an interest in science, I had an (equally) big interest in art. I got a couple of opportunities to do field work just after I graduated from college, and that really launched me in a whole new perspective in how you can have a life as a biologist and a creative field in a biology career. I realized how much art I could incorporate into my science, and that’s where I started writing and using words instead of paint – to tell people what animals are like and help draw them into the animals’ world.
o’connell-rodwell: I was given an opportunity to study elephants in the government to help their elephant, human conflict. (I was) trying to help understand how many elephants should live in a certain area to keep both the environment and elephants healthy, (while) also looking at their behavior to see if there are ways we could use behavior in a positive way for elephants (and) deter them from going into human areas. What strikes me is how similar humans and elephants are and how similar our societies work, which makes me feel more connected to the rest of the natural world. I hope that I can help others have that same connection.
I first started writing about insects because I have a masters in entomology from the University in Hawaii and a Ph.D in ecology from the University of California Davis. My post-doc was done in experimental physics at Stanford, where I am now a professor.
Dangerous staircase fixed
The Q&A continues on page 5
Pi Kappa Phi raises awarenesss for disabilities
After long delay, Education Center’s steps will be replaced MADDIE SHORES STAFF WRITER Georgia College recently took steps to repair a potentially dangerous staircase outside the William Heard Kilpatrick Education Center. “We got planning dollars about a year ago,” Michael Rickenbaker, university architect and director of facilities planning said. “Then we selected a design build team, which is a design architect contract team that will design and build it, and then we tested some options, and we did an initial design, and everyone loved it. But we couldn’t afford it, so we had to re-engineer it to make it within the code and within the budget.” The stairs were located on the back of Kilpatrick and led to a parking lot. “It was really a rather dangerous stair,” Rickenbaker said. “It was actually blocking a main entrance into Kilpatrick. It was straight down into the parking lot ... even I would have to hold onto the handrail.” The old steps were carefully examined, and on one side they were considered to be code-compliant and were not code-compliant on the other. This meant that the overall structure was not code-compliant and needed to be fixed. “We were asked to identify things around campus that need to be fixed or repaired, and this was one of the things that we looked at and everyone said, ‘yes this is definitely one of the main things that needs to be fixed,’” Rickenbaker said. Stairs have a range in code that allows a certain amount of run to rise, or step down versus step out. The original architects of the stairs were trying to be as efficient with materials as they could and as a result, they made them really steep. They ended up using a maximum rise to run.
SCOTT CARRANZA / SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER Cycling in Pi Kappa Phi’s event Pedals for Push, freshman psychology major Cameron Roland and senior marketing major Kyle Kirchhof are a few of many students who participated in raising money and awareness for people with physical disabilities. Pedals for Push is part of No Boundaries Week, a fundraiser started by the fraternity in 1977 which has garnered more than $15 million since it’s creation.
JESSICA WINSKI / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER The stairs that lead to the parking lot were deemed dangerous due to their steep incline. To remedy this hazard, a year-long project has focused on creating a safe environment for students, faculty and staff.
If an architect wants the users of stairs to feel comfortable while walking up and down, they use the maximum run to rise. This way each step fits your foot and the users feel comfortable walking. “Basically, you don’t feel like you’re going down a ski slope. It exceeded the max on one side, and it was more steep than it was supposed to be,” Rickenbaker added. Another problem that was found in the architecture of the old stairs was that they blocked an entrance into the building. “That’s one of the primary rules of architecture, you don’t obstruct, visually, an
“Basically, you don’t feel like you’re going down a ski slope. It exceeded the max on one side, and it was more steep than it was supposed to be.” Michael Rickenbaker, university architect Stairs page 5
MARCH 22, 2013
THE COLONNADE
Historic home hosts speaker SARAH K. WILSON STAFF REPORTER Last Thursday, the Sallie Ellis Davis House on Clark street was standing room only for a lecture by history professor Mark Huddle. The lecture, “Meanings of American Freedom: The Emancipation Proclamation at 150,” centered on the sesquicentennial, or 150th, anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863. “I’d like you to stand on the middle ground between the dream and the reality of freedom in America,” Huddle said. “It’s that middle space in which history is made.” Huddle and the organizers of the lecture decided to hold the event at the Sallie Ellis Davis House because it is the African American cultural center at GC. This house has a special history for African Americans, as Sallie Ellis Davis was the first African American schoolteacher in Milledgeville’s history. Davis spent time with W.E.B. DuBois and earned a college degree before she returned to Milledgeville to teach. She also opened her house for lodging for African American students she taught in Milledgeville. “There were only two African American teachers in Milledgeville in the 1930s,” Deitrah Taylor, the program assistant of the house, said. “So Sallie really made an impact in the community.” The community has supported the renovation of the Sallie Ellis Davis House. In 2009 the house was designated a Historic Place in Peril by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. Now the houseboasts an elegant restoration
in which members of the college and the community are welcomed to attend tours, exhibitions and lectures. A small classroom has been built in the home with wi-fi and SMART board technology. “We’ve had a large increase in community interest recently,” Taylor said. “We are planning more community activities, including oral histories and docent opportunities.” This February was a busy time for the house as it was both Black History Month and Homecoming. During the house’s Homecoming events at least 90 people from the college and community visited the historic home. “Generally, it’s students who visit,” said Christina Wells, a graduate assistant at the Sallie Ellis Davis House. “We’re developing programs geared to get the community out here, though. We’ve had ceramics programs and an exhibit from the Harriet Tubman Museum.” The Sallie Ellis Davis House provides a historical landscape to Milledgeville’s African American community as it was inhabited by Milledgeville’s first African American schoolteacher with a degree and is now GC’s own African American Cultural Center. “I think (the house) is a wonderful addition to campus,” Huddle said. “Hopefully people will take advantage of it.” The Sallie Ellis Davis House is located at 301 S. Clark St. down the road from the Old Governor’s Mansion. The house is open for tours Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by appointment. For more information call (478) 445-1945.
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Cultures unite through dance
ASHLEY CLIFTON / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER With sounds of Israeli folk dancing music coming through the speakers, the Centennial Center came to life as students and faculty members joined together under the instruction of Meliss Bachar in the Israeli Dance Night. Dancing since the young age of 7, Meliss engaged attendees in dances that were performed in a circle, as well as with a partner.
Jewish and Latin organizations team up to invite dance expert to campus LAUREN CORCINO STAFF REPORTER Conjuring up a rich past embedded with thousands of years of religious history and culture with each synchronized foot stomp, hand clap and shout, Goodrich Hillel and the Salsa and Latin Dance Club hosted its second annual Israeli Dance Fest at Georgia College on March 12. Goodrich Hillel, a Jewish organization for undergraduate and graduate students at GC, made the event possible. Karen Berman, chair of the Department of Theater and adviser for Goodrich Hillel, wrote a grant to The Small and Mighty Hillels, a national organization consisting of smaller Hillels at campuses across the U.S., to bring an Israeli dance expert to campus. Once the grant was approved, Goodrich Hillel and the Salsa and Latin Dance Club teamed up to bring Israeli dance expert Meliss Jakubovic to
Milledgeville for the second time. “Our goal at the Goodrich Hillel has always been to create understanding and awareness not only of our culture but of all cultures,” Berman said. Opening up the event, Berman introduced Jakubovic, who proceeded to give a background on Israeli dance and walked the group through the various dances ranging from traditional folk dances to modern Israeli dance that were going to be taught throughout the session. Jakubovic is a well-known dance instructor throughout the Isreali dance community and has been dancing since the age of seven. With her studio, RikudAtlanta, Jakubovic travels to Israel often for dance camps to learn the newest dances to teach her students. With a diverse mixture of about 25 students, faculty and community members in attendance, Jakubovic instructed the group through different versions of
circle dances. These dances were characterized by quick steps, clapping and holding hands in a circle for the majority of the dances. “I was excited to learn Israeli dance because most of the time when you mention something about Israel, it is always about the conflict and never the cultural aspects such as dance,” Keri Spetzer, freshman early childhood education major, said. The second part of the session was focused on partner dances and line dances. Featuring intricate footwork, Jakubovic presented the steps in a basic style and led the group through the complicated arm movements and twirls with ease. Some GC students have enjoyed the recent cultural dance events that have been brought to campus this semester. “I enjoy dance and I love the fact that organizations at Georgia College
Dance page 5
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THE COLONNADE
MARCH 22, 2013 Bike Share
Continued from page 1
“The (point) is to encourage more biker lifestyles, along with providing people with safe routes to travel on around town.” Colin Maldonado, senior environmental science major
ILLUSTRATION BY POWELL COBB
The long lonely wail of MSU A mysterious noise that spooked students for years is finally resolved JENNA BRYAN STAFF WRITER Whether in the heat of the day or the middle of the night, there is a periodic noise that whistles throughout the campus, haunting the students of Georgia College. It has been a mystery for years and no one can seem to reveal its source. That strange whistle actually comes from a 200-horse power steam boiler located on the roof of MSU when the blower unit is expelling carbon monoxide out of the firing chamber of the boiler. This happens every time before powering on, causing the noise to re-occur several times throughout the day.
As many people may not know, it has several purposes for The MAX. This boiler produces steam for cooking purposes and also steam for sterilization of plates that GC’s cafeteria serves food on. So in turn, that scary whistle is actually a good thing. “I had no idea what the noise was,” Jessie Fink, a freshman nursing major, said. “I thought it may have been the power plant or even something going on at the depot. Every time I heard it, it seemed to be coming from somewhere different.” This whistle seemed to interest a lot of students and it even evoked fear in some of them. Determination to solve the mystery was evident as well.
End it
Continued from page 1 prayer, where they released 27 red balloons to symbolize the 27 million people currently living in slavery throughout the world. “We wanted to do something to kick the event off that people would remember,” Rebecca Bishop, junior exercise science major, said. To culminate the event, students also released 27 white balloons to represent the hope of freedom for the 27 million. Twenty-seven hundred white flags were flowing in the March wind, while an alpaca posed with students – all to capture GC’s attention. The goal was to have students stop and ask what was going on, which then gave the volunteers the opportunity to share about the sex trafficking occurring internationally. “Our mission for this event derived from the scripture Isaiah 58:6, which talks about loosening the chains of injustice and setting the oppressed free. God is not okay with this injustice and neither are we,” said Mary Kelling, sophomore nursing major. Greg Darley, director of College Mobilization for International Justice Mission, came up with the idea for the Stand for Freedom events. He drove from Washington, D.C. on March 13 to share his vision with GC’s students. Darley said that nine months ago, Stand for Freedom was just another idea in his head, but now, GC is just one of over 500 schools holding events across the United States. “Events like this give me hope. I believe this generation can end slavery,” Darley said. GC reached out to the Milledgeville community for support. Several Milledgeville business
“It scared me at first because I didn’t know what it was, but then the fear just turned to curiosity.” Jessica Fink, freshman nursing major “It scared me at first because I didn’t know what it was, but then the fear just turned to
“Our mission for this event derived from the scripture Isaiah 58:6, which talks about loosening the chains of injustice and setting the oppressed free. God is not okay with this injustice and neither are we.” Mary Kelling, sophomore nursing major hosted fundraising events leading up to Stand for Freedom including Sonic, Yummo Yogo and Rocket Roller Rink. A wooden monument was created that will stand on Front Campus for the remainder of this semester. It’s engraved with the quote, “These hands represent the students and faculty of GCSU that are joining together to fight for freedom and honor the 27 million people who are enslaved internationally. Milledgeville is in it to END IT.” Not only are GC students interested in ending this injustice, but numerous celebrities are stepping forward to use their voice as well, including Carrie Underwood, Georgia Bulldogs coach Mark Richt and Oakland Raiders linebacker Aaron Curry. GC students can still get involved by joining the IJM Georgia College or the Wellspring League at GCSU Facebook pages.
Mystery Noise page 6
pus or park downtown. Along with the ride-share program, bikes will be available for rental through the LITC. Students can rent bikes for a maximum period of one week, much like the media equipment already available for rental. Because the rental will be free for students, there is a concern about having enough bicycles available to students. “We’ve got to figure out how to incentivize having (the bikes) back on time,” Windish said. “The ‘on-time’ is all about making it available to other students. We’re not charging students, so that’s why (incentivizing) is trickier.” Windish said he supports Maldonado in the program, while Maldonado is the motivator for it. “I think Colin has been a real driving force behind this,” Windish said. “He believes in making these bikes available to students.” It was Maldonado’s passion for the environment that led him to start this program. “The (point) is to encourage more biker lifestyles, along with providing people with safe routes to travel on around town,” he said. “My passion is to encourage (biking) more – not only for the health and economic benefits but also the environmental benefits, (mainly) lowering carbon emissions.” Along with the environment, the well-being of students is a driving force behind the project. “Certainly we think environmentally, but for your health (and) for traffic, a bicycle is a good thing,” Windish said. Gregory Teasley agreed with Windish and expressed excitement at the possibility of potential bike lanes. “This sounds like a great way to introduce biking as an alternate form of transportation,” the junior management major said. “This could be a way to start the push for bike lanes – especially between West and Main Campus – in the Milledgeville community.” The project couldn’t become official without a trial run for the program, however. “A trial would have to be a full semester at minimum,” Windish said. Although Maldonado wishes to start the trial run in the fall, Windish does not expect it to begin until Spring 2014. “We have to go through all university procedures,” Windish said. “I think it’s unlikely that we could get it by the fall.”
MARCH 22, 2013
THE COLONNADE Stairs
Trebuchet
Continued from page 2
Continued from page 1 Break would be set-aside for a trebuchet workday. “We’ll do something (on it); burn up some metal,” McGill said. The physics students responded in a hearty, “Yeah!” and resumed eating their pizza and chumming around while their professors shared physics jokes in the back of the classroom. Similar to the catapult, a trebuchet is a weapon that was used in the Medieval era and hurled heavy stones to knock down castle walls. A trebuchet has five parts: the frame, counterweight, beam, sling and guide chute. The frame supports the parts, the counterweight rotates the beam, the beam pulls the sling and the guide chute guides the sling until gravity takes over and flings
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SHAYNE WILLIAMS / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Progress on the Physics Club trebuchet has been slow, and after six years, the contraption remains the shell from a Dodge Ram. But for the club, that’s ok.
the object. You can buy a tabletop trebuchet online for about $10, but the physics club
makes or finds everything they use, such as the weight, which will be made from old, 55-gallon drums that
used to contain peanuts. “I think we’re kind of hoping it never gets finished,” McGill said.
entrance,” Judy Case, project manager, said. The new structure that has been built not only celebrates the entrance, but also solves the problem of the steep stairs that students were afraid to walk up and down. The construction was delayed because of heavy rain that hit Milledgeville. Once the rain stopped, the team still had problems to deal with. “I’ve actually walked up and down them a few times, just to make sure that we’ve got them right and that I feel comfortable, myself, walking up and down them,” Rickenbaker said. The stairs have unfortunately taken longer than the design team expected due to weather
conditions in the Spring semester but are expected to be done by mid-April. “It really depends on how the weather turns out. With a lot of what we are doing, it was not that it stopped raining, but we had to dry things out before we could move on,” Case said. “But one of the things that we did was correct some drainage problems that were brought to our attention from all the rain.” With the new, modern look to the stairs, the design team is excited to see the final structure and is looking forward to students having the luxury of feeling safe when walking down the stairs. “It is a really tiny project, but it is one of those that you look at and say, ‘Wow look how successful it was,’” Rickenbaker said.
Dance
Continued from page 3
Q&A continued from page 2 colonnade: Why did you choose to make the documentary “Elephant King”? How did you go about it?
colonnade: How long have you been doing your research on elephants?
o’connell-rodwell: I wanted to do that documentary because I feel like people don’t understand how male elephants’ society works. We’ve always thought of elephant males as lone bulls wandering out there all by themselves not caring about anything, but they can be sweet and gentle, and it’s so heartwarming.
o’connell-rodwell: Twenty years.
It took several years to convince commissioners that this was something filmable, but finally Saphonian commissioned it. They just told me yesterday that they got 30 percent higher viewership on this show than any other comparable premiere. We could learn from the mentorship in male elephant society. We know in our own society how important it is for young boys and teens to have male role models. I think it’s helpful and humanizing for us to see other animals have the same needs, and I hope that I conveyed that.
ASHLEY CLIFTON / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Meliss Jakubovic instructs students in a large circle and also in pairs.
are bringing different styles of dance for the students to learn,” Spetzer said. “You can learn about other cultures through dance and you rarely get opportunities to learn cultural dances like these unless you go looking for it.” Ending the session, Jakubovic emphasized the role that dance plays in creating unity and understanding between different cultures. “Spreading my culture to other people through dance is my favorite part of this job,” Jakubovic said. “Through
“Spreading my culture to other people through dance is my favorite part of this job.`” Meliss Jakubovic, Israeli dance expert dance, we create unity between different cultures to help bring peace and understanding to our world.”
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THE COLONNADE
Mystery Noise
Fraternity House
ing to figure out what the noise was before the end of the year and planned to go on an adventure to find it.” Whether new to the school as freshmen or seniors used to the noise, it was apparent that everyone had been hearing this noise but disregarded it. “At first, I thought it was coming from inside my head,” Ashley Prince, a freshman psychology major laughed. “And then someone asked me if I had heard it and I knew I wasn’t crazy.” Much of the mystery around the noise comes from its seemingly omnipresence in Milledgeville. “I knew it came from main campus, but I never actively thought about what was making the noise,” Gil Watts, a junior economics major, said. “The whistle didn’t scare me, but once I heard it repeatedly and realized it had a pattern, I became curious.” Reactions to now knowing where the source of the sound comes from, some students are pleased. “Now that I know what the noise is, I find it comforting because I thought I was the only one hearing it,” Watts said. Others are disappointed. “I’m satisfied that I finally know what the noise is, but I’m
events at the house and the potential harm to his property value if the street were to become non-single-family households. “When I bought this house, this whole street was families and kids running around the street,” Alton said, “and I planned to stay all my life, but now I’m being inundated with rental property without zoning changes.” The street’s zoning designates the house as a single-family residence, which means that no more than three unrelated people may live in the house at one time, a policy which Alton says isn’t followed by the chapter. Thad Thompson, KA chapter president, and Richard Brewer, KA chapter treasurer, both stated that only three guys live in the house, and based on the room situations, this appears to be true. The chapter restored and repurposed a number of rooms on the ground floor of the house and plans to repaint the exterior in the
MARCH 22, 2013 “We’re not trying to bring this town down ...”
Continued from page 1
Continued from page 4
MARK WATKINS / SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER The mystery machine that emits the spooky noise is finally seen in the light.
disappointed because I was thinking it was going to be something a little more interesting,” Fink commented. Knowledge of the source of the noise brings comfort to a lot of people who were afraid they were going crazy. “I’m glad it comes from an actual object and not from inside my head!” Prince said. Yet no matter where students believe the noise comes from, it will continue to whistle through campus, during the daytime and at nighttime, haunting GC students.
Elections
“We’ve tried many different ways. Right now we’re using OrgSync, and Tom Miles seems to think that’s the most watertight. And from what he’s told us, it’s working really well.”
Continued from page 1 through OrgSync, but it was up to SGA to decide how they wanted the results to be released. “For SGA, we call the people, post it outside the door, and that’s about that,” Ethridge said, “and they get introduced at the game, too.” SGA’s precedent for announcing results for the executive board elections has been to place a memo on the door of the SGA offices. “It’s a public record, and it has to be posted, so the best place to post things is our front door,” Hundley said. Meanwhile, the Mr. and Ms. Georgia College candidates are not announced until the Homecoming game. Ethridge and Hundley said as far as communicating the results to the student body, an email has never been the precedent. But if the student body requested it, it would be easy to do.
Stephen Hundley, SGA vice president “It wouldn’t be a problem. I just don’t think there’s a need or a desire for it,” Ethridge said. As for the alleged deleted results, Miles said he told Ethridge and Hundley to only delete the student names from the Excel spreadsheets he sent them. “It was just miscommunication and poor
Richard Brewer, KA treasurer
MARK WATKINS / SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER The foyer of the KA house received an overhaul by the brothers.
coming weeks. The scope of their restoration, however, is limited by the lack of revenue which they say could be supplemented by rent from more guys living in the house. “There’s so much more
we could do if we had more money,” Brewer, sophomore accounting major, said. “I mean, we barely make mortgage with three people living in the house.” As a result, money for restoration has to come
timing,” Hundley said. Both Ethridge and Hundley said they deleted the record of the votes because they believed there was no need to maintain a copy when Miles stored it. Miles proposed the idea for SGA to maintain a record of the votes in its OrgSync portal. Hundley agreed the idea was a good one, but that the policy had been ambiguous until now. In the past, GC experienced similar voting problems as the state of Georgia. Previous voting systems allowed students to vote for each candidate by typing in each candidate they wished to vote for, as well as a number corresponding to each candidate. The results of these elections yielded confusion, Miles said. “What if you had two Toms running, what do you do? You have to void the votes because you don’t know which Tom it is,” Miles said. “It was a nightmare.” The old process was plagued with the counters attempting to interpret which candidate each voter casted their ballot for. Results also
from chapter dues and outside contributions. The chapter says they have tried to cater to Alton’s noise complaints by dispersing large gatherings at the house around 10 p.m., but Alton still finds the noise to be unacceptable. “After 11 o’clock is when you need to quiet down, and when you don’t, and you keep the whole street up at night, I’ll call the police,” Alton said. Alton says he’s had to call the police twice on the brothers at the Liberty Street house, but they say it’s over a dozen. No citations have been issued to the fraternity as a result of these calls. “We respect Colonel Alton, and right or wrong, we always listen to what he asks us to do,” Brewer said. “We’re not trying to bring this town down, we’re really trying to help it rise up.”
yielded write-in votes for candidates not running. “We got Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, and my favorite was Bart Simpson,” Miles said. “It always amazed me who y’all would choose.” The former system’s unreliability was what led to the move to OrgSync. Yet some students say they are unhappy with OrgSync. In a survey of 47 students conducted by The Colonnade, 53.3 percent of students say they are in favor of changing the voting system. Another 15.6 percent of students reported that they encountered a problem while casting their vote, with 20 percent of students saying their experience voting through OrgSync and Unify was a negative one. Despite student doubt, SGA and Miles are confident OrgSync is the way to go. “We’ve tried many different ways. Right now we’re using OrgSync, and Tom Miles seems to think that’s the most watertight. And from what he’s told us, it’s working really well,” Hundley said.
2013 Homecoming Election
On campus 4.3% Voting location
Opinion of election results
In Residence Hall 14.9% Off-campus apartment or home 19.1% Did not vote 34.1%
Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied
Negative Unify and OrgSync voting experience Neutral Positive Problems while voting
Yes
Change the voting system?
Yes
55.3%
50% 15.9% 20% 55.6% 17.8% 15.6% 84.4%
No
No 0%
53.3% 48.9% 100%
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Community NN
March 22, 2013 • Editor, Madalyn Shores
B G R N E I A R K P S by the numbers
1.5 million
NN
They spend an average of
students go on Spring Break each year
$1 billion each year
10 drinks a day
Consume an average of
JJJJJ JJJJJ
50 of all sexual encounters percent
are “random” or “unplanned”
1/2 of sexual encounters are unprotected
60 have been injured percent
while on Spring Break
Sources: http://www.infographicsshowcase.com http://www.trutv.com
2
Tuesday
3
4
Wednesday 12 p.m. Times Talk: Higher Education Challenges (LITC 2nd floor)
7:30 p.m. 12 - 1 p.m. Unite for The Strategic Job Impact 2013 Search (Magnolia (Chappell 102) Ballroom) 8 a.m. 9 - 10:30 p.m. Classes resume Observatory Public Night 2 - 3 p.m. (405 Herty ‘I Must Brief You on the Mistakes’: Hall) When Ronald Reagan met Margaret Thatcher (A&S 2-70)
Monday
W
5
Thursday
Friday
7 p.m. Employing the 7 - 8 p.m. Conservancy First Friday Model to Ensure Foreign Films: Human Health: “La Cite des A HIV Case Enfants Perdus” Study (A&S (A&S 3-70) Auditorium)
a p H p e s ’ n t ing? a h April 1 - 6
6
Saturday
7:30 p.m. Choral Ensembles Night at the Opera (First Baptist Church)
Opinion Our Voice Popular iPhone apps take collegiate cyber bullying to new levels A new iPhone app recently surfaced allowing women to rate men on a scale from one to 10. Not only do the women get to rank the men while choosing tags like “#sexualpanther” and “#seventhyearsenior,” it is all done completely anonymously. Students on campus have taken to this app because now they get a chance to talk to everyone about the
hookup they had last night or their ex-boyfriend who broke up with her two weeks ago. They can do all the ranting and raving without anyone knowing who it was. To some, this app sounds like a great idea and quite humorous at the same time, but doesn’t it qualify as cyber bullying? We stick up for all of the people on the Internet who have derogatory slurs slammed at them on sites like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and more, but as soon as women can hide behind their iPhones and rate guys, we don’t see it as a problem. It is a problem, though, and students should realize this. These men who are being rated can download a similar app and see how they were rated and how many views their profile received. Some men might see this as an achievement that they have made it on this ranking board, but others might be offended and hurt. Women are using this app as a platform for gossip when they could just text their friend about these guys. It does not have to be published on the Internet for everyone to see. It has the potential to ruin people’s reputations, even if the remarks are untrue.
March 22, 2013• Editor-in-Chief, Lindsay Shoemake
“We stick up for all of the people on the Internet who have derogatory slurs slammed at them on sites like Facebook,YouTube, Twitter and more...” It gets a lot more interesting because apparently the app that the men can download will soon allow them to rate the women. We doubt that the women would like that at all. The fact is, this app is a form of cyber bullying. Bullying is heard of mostly in middle and high school, but it happens just as easily and often in college. People are made fun of, judged, rated and so much more everyday. There is no reason why students should be participating in this app just so they can get back at a previous love interest. If people want to discuss their love lives, take it off of this public forum and take it to a private oneon-one conversation without getting everyone else involved.
Bobcat Beat REPORTED BY ANSLEY BURGAMY
What is your dream Spring Break destination?
“I want to go to the Bahamas and visit my grandmother, it is absolutely beautiful there.” Abigail Gardner, freshman biology major
“I want to go to the Bahamas with Abigail, that would be amazing.” Kelsey Oakes, freshman management major
“I want to go to Madagascar, but I want it to be like the movie. I especially want to meet the lions.” Michael Ochs, freshman economics major
“If money weren’t an option, I would go to South Africa because I have always had a heart to do mission work there.” Michael Morris, junior history major
The wait is over for GC’s Spring Break
That Q&A with Cody Allen is weak and he’s just beating around the bush. I could have said all of that in my sleep. What are your REAL goals for the year?? RAWR! This whole CAS thing is reminiscent of the internet in general back in 1996. I suppose it wouldn’t be so annoying if the thing actually worked. If you’re an alumni who went here while we paid the WellWhen become socially ness Fee, thendid weitshouldn’t have to acceptable pay moneyto to read get your science notes out loud to yourself in the in there after we graduate. We already paid plenty of library? money to put that thing up, so why are we continuing to pay if we want to use it after we graduate?
THE LITTER BOX
University Housing: Saving the planet one ugly rocking chair made of recyclable material at a time.
By Zach Keepers
Response: SGA election results Georgia College students should be able to trust governance BY TAYLOR WELDON COLUMNIST
The failure of the Georgia College Student Government Association to provide The Colonnade and the university’s public in general with the results of the recent SGA election stands out to me as a pure outrage. The election results, down to the smallest numerical detail, are public information. Because of this, SGA simply does not have the right to withhold them. They say they are “wary of having the results in The Colonnade.” They also claim the results were deleted, which is not only irresponsible, but also seems suspicious considering SGA admitted to not wanting them shared. People make mistakes, but this still leaves me and other students with an uneasy feeling due to the fact that it infringes on a clear public right. SGA is trusted by every student at the university to do just what its title suggests – govern the students. How can the student body trust this group to govern them if they cannot first trust them to ensure that this
“SGA is trusted by every student at the university to do just what it suggests – govern the students.” basic right is not compromised? They claim to have good reason for not wanting the election results in The Colonnade, but that is not for them to say. How can we trust that they have our best interests in mind if they are withholding information? I am not placing blame on any members of student government individually for this mishap, but someone or something is certainly to blame. My biggest concern is that if SGA can smooth talk its way out of this, what’s next? What else do they have the power to manipulate? I cannot help but wonder what else we don’t know.
EDITORIAL BOARD Lindsay Shoemake
Morgan Andrews
Editor-in-Chief
Asst. Ad Manager
Nick Widener
Scott Carranza
News Editor
Anna Morris A&E Editor
Powell Cobb Sports Editor
Marilyn Ferrell Photo Editor Leisure Editor
Jen Hoffman Ad Manager
Constantina Kokenes Asst. A&E Editor Close Up Editor
Asst. Photo Editor Close Up Editor
Ansley Burgamy
Mark Watkins
Jeannie Huey
Lee McDade
Bryce Martin
Laura van Tuyll van Serooskerken
Macon McGinley
Asst. News Editor
Asst. Sports Editor
Designer
Matt Brooke Web Master
Spotlight Editor
Community News Editor Business Manager Faculty Adviser
Joe Kovac Copy Editor
What is Victoria Ferree going to do as SGA president?
You keep talking about SGA voting this and that, but where is the coverage about the exec-elects’ plans for the next year??? WTF COLONADE I wish the computers in LITC weren’t so slow.
Excuse me, but you're not going to "end slavery" by filling up my Facebook news feed with stylized red Xes.
Can someone please clean the microwave in the Den?! It's so disgusting and smells like burnt popcorn.
Text your message to (708) 949-NADE / 6233
AD DISCLAIMER
CORRECTIONS
The Colonnade is not responsible for any false advertising. We are not liable for any error in advertising to a greater extent than the cost of the space in which the item occurs. The Colonnade reserves the right to edit or reject any advertising copy submitted for publication. There is no guaranteed placement of ads. The Colonnade does not accept advertising concerning firearms nor guarantee ads concerning alcoholic beverages.
Editor’s note of clarification: In our March 8 issue, all names in the story “The Family in the Ward” were changed to protect the identities of individuals noted and quoted.
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Close up Themes, ideas and events of the 21st century
March 22, 2013 • Editor, Constantina Kokenes
Students loosen minds, bodies through yoga ANDY HITT STAFF WRITER It was 7:25 a.m. Class was minutes from starting, and yoga instructor Xan Nichols entered the room, mat in hand. Anxious eyes shifted from the clock governing on the wall to her fuchsia-colored hair hidden underneath an oversized beanie. Students and adults are scrounging for remedies to cure anxious minds brought on by demanding deadlines and over-bearing obligations. Nichols, a graduate of Georgia College, found hers in yoga. She’s not alone. Individuals all over Milledgeville are reaping the soothing benefits of yoga. “Yoga relaxes parts of your body and mind that allow you to rest more and literally function better in all areas of life,” David Plessy, junior biology major and devoted yoga practitioner, said. Plessy has regularly attended Nichols’s weekly classes since 2012 when he found her practice and overall presence calming. “My whole body feels better afterward, and my mind is much clearer every single time.” Based on a constant awareness of breath, yoga allows for better relaxation. While practicing, yoga diverts the thought process from stressful situations and focuses on every inhale and exhale as it fills and empties the lungs, setting the rhythm for every pose. The key is to pinpoint what triggers the stress and make a connection between mind and body to mentally massage it out. She didn’t know she wanted to teach. In
2008, all Nichols needed was to forgive. Having severed ties with a long-term boyfriend, she was left tormented and tense. What she found was an ancient practice that allowed her to meditate on her thoughts and tackle them in a step-by-step, stress-relieving process.
“
Yoga relaxes parts of your body and mind that allow you to rest more and literally function better in all areas of life.
”
David Plessy, junior biology In search of peace, Nichols attended a “silent yoga” retreat in North Carolina where she spent days dedicated to meditation. It was through a “taking and giving” exercise that she was first taught to focus her breathing and exhale the anger. “I let go,” Nichols said. “The resentment lifted off my chest – I was addicted.” Two years later, following her graduation from GC, Nichols enrolled at the Savannah Yoga Center in an eight-month training program to become an instructor. “Exercise and flexibility are just a plus. You’re getting so much more out of it,” Nichols said. Yoga yields self-confidence. No matter the level of flexibility, everyone has the potential for individual growth inside and outside the classroom. “Sometimes I feel uncomfortable in a yoga position,” Plessy admitted, “but as I learn how to work through it more and more, I feel like I mentally conquer uncomfortable positions in life.”
Nichols quickly learned that routine practice relieves both mental and physical stress. Depending on the type practiced, yoga has the ability to increase flexibility and build upper and lower body strength. While some types, like restorative yoga, are meant to merely stretch muscles, others, like Ashtanga, are more strenuous, challenging the body by incorporating balance over an extended period of time. These characteristics have led men and women of all ages and body types to seek yoga as a means of physical therapy. “Xan is extremely good at making someone feel comfortable even when they aren’t flexible or good at yoga,” Carter Zimmerman, senior rhetoric major and frequent attendee of Nichols’s Tuesday morning class at the Wellness and Recreation Center, said. “She explains to us weekly that yoga is a personal thing, and there is no need to measure ourselves with someone else.” Nichols teaches three yoga classes in Milledgeville while working as a survey manager at GuildQuality, a customer satisfaction surveying company. By incorporating good posture and simple stretches while sitting in her desk chair, yoga has allowed Nichols to survive long days of phone calls from behind her desk. Whether in a classroom on a mat or in a patch of grass outdoors, no one is alone in his or her practice. “Everyone handles stress differently,” Nichols said. “You never know what someone is bringing to their mat…but everything’s more beautiful when you leave.” It was 7:30 a.m. The sound of rain pitterpattered on the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, a soundtrack drowned out by churning minds and hushed conversation. The lights were dim, and her eyes were still thinly coated with sleep. There was a slight shuffling of feet freed of socks tip-toeing to scattered mats. Shed rain coats lined the wall, next to silenced cell phones. She opened her mouth to teach, and every anxious mind and eyelid shut down like child’s pose.
Bridge pose
Tree pose Stand with your arms at your sides, shifting weight onto left leg. Place the sole of your right foot inside your left thigh. Keep your hips facing foward. When you’re balanced, bring hands in front of you, palms together. While inhaling, extend your arms over your shoulders. Separate your palms but keep them facing each other. Stay in this position for 30 seconds. Lower and repeat on opposite side. To make this pose easier, bring your foot to the inside of your ankle, keeping toes on the floor. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION SCOTT CARRANZA
Lie on the floor with your knees bent, directly over your heels. Place arms at your sides, palms facing down. Exhale. Press feet into floor as you lift your hips. Clasp your hands under your lower back and press arms down, lifting your hips until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Bring your chest toward your chin.
Mountain pose Stand with feet together, shoulders relaxed, arms at sides. Take a deep breath. Raise hands over your head with palms facing inward.
Info taken from www.fitnessmagazine.com
Downward dog
Start on all fours with your hands directly under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Walk your hands a few inches forward, spreading fingers wide and pressing your palms on the ground. Curl toes under and press your hips toward ceiling. This will bring your body into an interverted V. Feet should be hip-width apart, knees slightly bent. Hold for three full breaths.
A&E
March 22, 2013• Editor, Anna Morris
By Lee McDade
Photos by Kendyl Wade A familiar display of contemporary hardship seasoned with salacious humor brewed together to form an outstanding student-produced play that proved to be potently relevant to the issues of today. Written by Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies, “Time Stands Still” was directed by Georgia College senior theater major Theresa Sagan as her capstone production. “After reading the first five pages of the play, I just knew,” Sagan said. “I had to do this play!” A production team of almost 30 students combined their freshly obtained theater knowledge to put on a full-fledge theatrical performance. “January is pretty much when everything got started, and then it was pretty much a whirlwind from there,” Robert McDougall, a GMC graduate who played Richard in the play, said. “We were constantly meeting three to five times a week so we really dived into it head first.” This present-day story takes place in a Brooklyn apartment, which hosts an acquainted modern ambience. The kitchen counters and sink are of jet-black wood with a sophisticated white-
marble trim. The black leather couch in the living room is still firm and full of glimmering sleek-black polish. Almost no imprints are visible on the surface of its smooth cushions. The bedroom harbors a large black bed accompanied by two glass-topped bedside tables, one supporting a half empty bottle of scotch. This place is home to main characters James and Sarah, who are photojournalists covering the violent conflicts in the Middle East. After the stress of war pushes James to his limits, he retreats home, leaving his girlfriend of eight years behind. James’ feelings of terror worsen upon hearing about Sarah being severely maimed back in the Middle East. Sarah returns home to the apartment weeks later, bearing information that proves to be more debilitating than the burns littering her body. “What drew me to it in the first place was that it was so modern, so relatable and so poignant for people in our day-in-age,” McDougall said. “Even though the characters are 10 years older than us [students] everyone can pull something out of their relationships that’s relevant to them.”
“
When I heard the speeches and news clips for the first time I got goosebumps. You just get this overwhelming feeling of pride.
”
Joe Dumford, senior theater major
“For Mature Audiences” is stamped on the front of the program, adding that guilty intrigue aspect to the play’s already en
“Time” page 12
Winds of tribute The Wind Symphony showcases various pieces and a world premiere Scott Carranza Senior Reporter With resonant crescendos and sweeping arpeggios echoing through Russell Auditorium, the Georgia College Wind Symphony performed its “Tributes” concert on March 7 and 8 with director Cliff Towner conducting the musicians. Seven arrangements were performed by the students, who have been practicing since the beginning of the school year. In particular, a piece titled “Chasm” stood out from the rest. Making its world premiere, the piece’s composition, direction and musicality combined grace and grandeur with ease. John Hennecken, a former GC graduate from 2010, wrote “Chasm” on commission from the college, as well as 10 other assorted high schools and universities from around the country. Hennecken has written more than 40 different pieces and has had his work performed all around the United States and France. “Chasm” was viewed as one of the more difficult pieces to perform, as admitted by certain musicians and the writer himself. Hennecken used a somewhat difficult musical technique known as 12-tone serialism in his piece yet tried to find an accessible way to do so. “When you compose, you try to balance the compositional technique with the expressiveness and the musicality,” Hennecken said. “The 12tone technique is something I use from time to time.” Yet no matter how difficult the music was to write or perform, “Chasm” was every bit astounding. The composition had a feel of grandiose proportions, reaching an adagio in the center of the piece that created an incredulous atmosphere.
Symphony page 13
Jessica Winski / Staff Photographer “Dia del trabajo,” a piece by Sandra Trujillo, can be seen at the Faculty Art Exhibition, “PERSPECTIVES. “The exhibition began March 11 and can be viewed until April 11 in the Museum of Fine Arts.
Students hail faculty with exhibit Clayton Roper Staff Writer In an attempt to share the various forms of wisdom found in the Georgia College Department of Art, senior museum studies majors May Johnson and Erica Bettross have taken their first steps into the curatorial practice with a faculty art exhibition. “With this diverse array of professors, you also obtain a diverse array of education, which is very important in the upcoming world,” Johnson said. The reception for the exhibit was held March 12 in the Museum of Fine Arts. The display is comprised of 13 different works from each professor in the department. “We named the title of the show ‘Perspectives’ in hopes
that it would discuss the diversity amongst the art department faculty,” Bettross said. Although this is not the first faculty art exhibition at GC, it is the first in the school’s history to present pieces from each art professor. “The work on view ranges from the deeply personal to the overtly political,” Bill Fischer, head of the Department of Art, said. “There’s really no inbreeding of ideas or experiences among the faculty, and I think it’s precisely those differences that make for such a positive experience for our students.” According to Bettross, the driving concept behind this project was to “exhibit what you teach.” As such, each
Exhibition page 12
12
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THE COLONNADE
“Time”
Continued from page 11...
KENDYL WADE / SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER Theater major Kelly Carelson is one of four actors in “Time Stands Still.” The Pulitzer Prize-winning play, originally written by Donald Margulies, was directed by GC student Theresa Sagan and centered around two lovers who return from Iraq.
thralling grasp on students. “I felt like the play isn’t afraid to tackle sensitive issues like sex so that kind of drew me to it as I read the script,” McDougall said. Another nice installment in the play was the soundtrack in-between the scenes. It contained segments of hard-hitting speeches from political leaders, such as President Barack Obama, as well as news clips about violence in the Middle East. The exceptionally pertinent content of these speeches and news clips had a chilling effect on its listeners. “When I heard the speeches and news clips for the first time I got goose bumps. You just get this overwhelming feeling of pride,” senior theater major Joe Dumford, who played James in the play, said. “I think that this is an important feeling to have because it’s hard to be an American right now with all the mass shootings and violence in the Middle East.” Another nice installment in the play was the soundtrack in-between the scenes. It contained segments of hard-hitting speeches from political leaders such as President Barack Obama as well as news clips about violence in the Middle East. The exceptionally pertinent content of these speeches and news clips had a chilling effect on its listeners. “When I heard the speeches and news clips for the first time I got goose bumps. You just get this overwhelming feeling of pride,” said senior theater major Joe Dumford, who played James in the play. “I think that this is an important feeling to have because it’s hard to be an American right now with all the mass shootings and violence in the Middle East.”
MARCH 22, 2013
potlight:
Q & A with Rushad Eggleston, guest performer at Blackbird Coffee
Rushad Eggleston, 33, is a classically trained cellist from Carmel, Calif., but he has created his own style of cello playing. He has even created his own language of rhythmic sounds called “Sneth.” He is an eccentric artist, to say the least. He can be seen in a YouTube clip wearing a Peter Pan hat, while soaring across stage playing cello beneath a rainbow of balloons. It’s anyone’s guess what may happen when Eggleston takes the stage at Blackbird Coffee Shop on April 3. the colonnade: How did you get started playing music? rushad: I played violin at the age of 3. Then I switched to cello at 8. I fell in love with rock guitar at 12 and that is when I really fell in love with music. I wasn’t passion about music until I started playing guitar. the colonnade: Tell me a little about your music? rushad: I feel that with any type of innovative music it is hard to classify. It’s weird, and I don’t even know what to call it. the colonnade: Where did you attend college? rushad: I attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass. I actually got to shake Steven Tyler’s hand when I got my diploma because he was the speaker at my graduation. the colonnade:You have your own language, how did that derive? rushad: I just opened a certain channel in my mind. I am lucky to have that frequency to transcribe it. It just comes to me. It is not meant to be understood. I just naturally live outside of the box.
Exhibition
Continued from page 11...
the colonnade:What will you be performing at Blackbird? rushad: I will be playing the cello and singing. About 20 percent will be in my own language.
Photo courtesy of Rushad Eggleston
the colonnade:Have you ever been to Milledgeville? rushad: No, this will be my first time. the colonnade:What inspires you? rushad: It’s hard to say, but I hung out in a lot of forests as a child. But I guess if it wasn’t for being alive I couldn’t be inspired, but I might be alive in some other dimension. the colonnade:What is your favorite song of the moment? rushad: I don’t normally like pop stuff, but “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys.
By Ansley Burgamy
JESSICA WINSKI / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER During the reception of “PERSPECTIVES,” the Faculty Art Exhibition, students and staff mingle and enjoy food, drinks and beautiful artwork.The reception took place March 11 in the Museum of Fine Arts. Emily Gomez, photography professor, shares a moment with photography students Lizzie Scarboro and Leslie Weaver, as well as studio art major Hannah Beasley.
faculty member was asked to contribute a piece of art that expresses their individual perspective. “I can’t say how much time and effort (Johnson and Bettross) have put into producing this and getting it together,” Carlos Herrera, professor of museum studies, said. “They really got an incredible hands-on experience working with 13 artists and scholars versus one.” In an attempt to mirror the diverse perspectives of the faculty, the exhibition boasts a multifarious collection works without redundant mediums. Each individual viewpoint is conveyed through a different form of art. “Art can encompass many things,” Herrera said. “I love contemporary art, and I think it’s probably the most challenging to figure out because it’s new.” Many professors, like art historian Tina Yar-
borough, chose to display scholarly works as art. “To me, art is part of cognition – it’s a way we learn,” Yarborough said. “Art is a way of understanding life and the context of reality. It can be like a text, but it is also ineffable.” The faculty exhibition began several months ago as a cooperative capstone project between Johnson and Bettross. ”We really wanted to present an all-encompassing sense of art,” Johnson said. “We wanted to show all of the aspects that other students might not have been exposed to as much.” After many failed attempts to secure an outside artist for their project, the aspiring curators turned to their mentors for inspiration. “Ideas will always change,” Bettross said. “You have to be flexible.”
MARCH 22, 2013
THE COLONNADE
Award-winning play debuts on campus
13
Symphony
Continued from page 11...
GC Department of Theatre performs ‘Afterward’ TAYLER PITTS STAFF WRITER As the lights came on, the fantasy died. The reality that belongs to politician Lawrence Aceman has hit him hard. He sits in the dark of the dreadful aftermath of losing his campaign for U.S. Senate. He is hoping to get over the painful reality of what has happened. He looks out at the empty room that’s littered with the debris of a victory that never materialized. So what happens after someone loses? All of this and more is explained in the production of “Afterward,” which was chosen from the Arts & Letters Prize competition. The theatre department knew it would perform a play but didn’t know what until “Afterward” was announced as the 2012 prize-winning play. “I was thrilled to have it brought to Georgia College,” playwright James Armstrong said. Arts & Letters is a literary journal that GC publishes. It offers writers and poets from across the nation a chance to win money along with publication. There is an annual showcase in which GC brings the winners to campus to have their work seen. “Afterward” was the winning play for drama, and Armstrong was brought to GC to accept his reward and have the GC theatre department perform his play with Jimmie Holder directing. It may have been only 40 minutes, but it was 40 minutes of nonstop acting. Junior theater majors William Warren, Madison Junod and Evan Wells were the three actors who brought the multi-dimensional characters and the feelings of loss, betrayal and shattering optimism to life. “It was a short play, which is actually interesting, because as Theatre majors we work on these really long productions,” Junod, who plays Joan Aceman, said. “So working on something this short…you have so much emotion and so many lines and laughter and tears all in 30 minutes. It’s really intense, which is how our life is.” The sight of red, white and blue banners scattered across the room portrayed an intense disheartening scene. It was clearly over. But that was a thought Lawrence Aceman, played by William Warren, would not accept. He just lost the biggest cam-
paign of his career. Five years he strived for the U.S. Senate, and in a matter of minutes, he lost everything. Aceman’s campaign manager Berry Michaels, played by Evan Wells, is the first to find him. He finds his boss sitting in the dark sulking. Berry tries to be the optimistic friend, but his boss quickly goes from sulking by himself to physically assaulting his campaign manager out of pure frustration. “My favorite character was Berry. Definitely because Berry was the most optimistic about the situation,” Monica Prince, a recent MFA graduate from Knox College, said. “But then when he re-enters the scene later he stands there and he’s like…it’s over. Let’s move on with our lives.” The play proves it’s hard trying to accept something that is so absurd in one’s own mind. Sometimes, it seems as though a real explanation is beyond comprehension. That’s what it was like for Lawrence and Joan Aceman. Arguing was a subject the actors portrayed with feisty emotions. They could easily argue circles around each other for hours, but eventually someone must concede. And that someone was Joan. “There’s part of her that is this optimistic woman and she just wants her husband to be happy and only wants the best for him,” Junod said. “On the other hand she’s tired. She has worked just as hard for the last five years in this campaign and she was – to some level just as upset when they lost.” It was clear the audience was to perceive the conflict from a personal perspective. But that was the beauty behind the writing and GC directing of “Afterward.” There was a satisfying amount of comedy during the more intense situations to keep the play from being completely one sided. People handle loss differently and that’s what unfolded on the stage. That’s what the actors brought to life, and it was up to the audience to chose how to see it. “You can lose in a lot of ways in life,” Karen Berman, head of the GC Department of Theatre, said. “Anybody who’s felt a loss can identify with this play.” When it’s all said and done, Aceman’s wife and campaign manager leave after realizing the politician needs his own time and space to deal with his feelings. But it’s short lived when reality quickly comes crashing back again. “You had to turn on the lights…”
GREGORY TEASLEY / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER The students of the Wind Symphony class performed the concert entitled “Tributes.” The concert took place on March 7 and 8 in Russell Auditorium and hailed to past and present compositions. Cliff Towner conducts “Chasm,” a world premiere of John Hennecken’s most recent piece.
“The listener will hear slow-moving motives blended with a textural, sustained atmosphere,” Hennecken stated in the show program. “I invite the listener to hear the adagio section as the ‘chasm.’” Towner admitted that even teaching “Chasm” was a challenge. “Because ‘Chasm’ was a world premiere, there are no reference recordings,” Towner said. “So, for instance, if we are (practicing) ‘Caccia and ‘Chorale,’ I can send some YouTube links and recordings to my students for them to go listen to; they can get an idea of the piece. With ‘Chasm,’ we can’t do that because it’s never been played before.” Hennecken’s composition seemed to have stolen the show, but the accompanying pieces were equally stirring. Among them, Clifton Williams’s “Caccia and Chorale,” Carolyn Bremer’s “Early Light” and Eric Whitacre’s “October” were some of the best. Junior physics major Zach Jordan found that as the contrabassist, “Caccia and Choral” gave him a bit more trouble than “Chasm.” “Caccia and Choral was actually the most difficult piece we played tonight,” Jordan said. “It was fast, it had a good groove to it, but it had a lot of difficult notes and difficult rhythms to play.” Some of the compositions reflected the idea of the show’s title, “Tributes.” Francis McBeth’s piece “Kaddish” was composed to resemble the Jewish prayer for the dead. He wrote the piece to honor his beloved music teacher Clifton Williams who wrote “Caccia and Chorale.” The succession of the works worked well under the theme and also strengthened the show as whole. Many of the pieces had their fair share of difficulty. Hennecken, however, embraces the difficulty and uses it to create astounding work. Composing is always a challenge,” Hennecken said. “As a composer, you are always trying to do something different to challenge yourself. ... I just kind of write the music and just let people get what they may out of it.”
Leisure
March 22, 2013• Editor, Marilyn Ferrell
Fashion Weeks take over: NEW YORK
Feb. 7-1
Staff writer Mykel Johnson discusses New York City, London and Paris spring fashions
The fashion industry kicked off its annual introduction of spring collections last month during New York, London and Paris Fashion Weeks. Some of the looks are more practical than others. Every collection consisted of designs that can easily be taken on by even the least fashion-conscious individual.
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Courtesy of Huffington Post Jason Wu shows off his collection at New York City’s Fashion Week this spring.Wu showed off a wardrobe that allows women to really be daring with black and white colors. This combination has always been popular amongst fashion, but Wu brought something new to the fashon world this season.
New York Fashion Week presented typical springtime wear with familiar colors, patterns and prints for the season. Think of Easter when looking for pastels. New York stressed pink, blue, green and yellow pastels for tops as well as bottoms (and purses if you want to go all-out). Lace gives off a sophisticated elegance from its wearer, whether it be in black, blue, red or even white. The best way to wear your stripes this season is in black and white. One can never go wrong with the age-old combination of ebony and ivory, plus it’s one of the biggest trends for spring. Show off that you know a little about what’s hot and what’s not. If black-and-white gets old for you, revert back to pastels and alternate one color with white. As flowers begin to bloom to welcome spring, add to the blossoms with floral prints. It’s not an obvious design; it’s complimentary to your surroundings. Shoes also made their own statements as they carried the bulk of the collections’ designs down the runways. Metallic heels may seem like an accessory to an ‘80s movie scene in the rain, but take it as an “April-Showers” kind of thing. Most metallic designs – for shoes or clothing – can be considered springtime apparel. Perforated heels give an extra dose of detail to your walk, a detail like that of a crocheted doily protecting the ground from your fierceness. Colorblocking screams “spring!” With a retro look, colorblocking with three or more colors on each shoe adds to the lightheartedness of spring and its inspired colors. Snakeskin is still a thing people incorporate into their wardrobe. Thankfully, it was only shown through shoes. Hinting at the pattern is more classy than a full shoe of snakeskin. Seasonal colors complement lighter, silverycolored snakeskins.
Courtesy of international Design times Alexander McQueen boasts his new couture designs at Paris Fashion Week this season. McQueen is known for his outlandish and detailed clothes.
PARIS Feb. 26 March 6
In the birthplace of fashion as we know it, Paris closed out the spring extravaganza with ideal looks in which to own the season. Designers brought the floral concept to life with blossom designs sewn onto their clothing. Designer Chloé, for example, used floral accents down one leg of a mustard pair of pants, giving the leg the look of a soft oil painting in an otherwise empty room. Topped in a simple-yet-elegant white tank, the complete outfit was practically perfect. Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel took turns with midriff-baring crop tops to give notice to the charming sway of a top’s short hemline. Long shorts were introduced during this week with “tomboy” shorts. With a modest hemline covering the knee, these shorts recommended a laid-back feeling for the current Spring Break period. Take a break from tight, thigh-high shorts and enjoy the relaxation process to your fullest capacity. Ruffles, my favorite design, accentuate your look even without an infrequent breeze. When given the option, always choose ruffles. If it’s denim, go for it. Paris showcased a lot of full-on denim outfits, including dresses, jackets and skirts. If Paris says it’s OK, I wouldn’t argue.
Feb. 15-19
LONDON Spring 2013 Trends 1.
BOLD, BRIGHT PRINTS
2.
SHEER
3.
COLORBLOCKING
4.
HIGH-VOLUME
5.
YELLOW
6.
EMBELLISHMENTS
London Fashion Week consisted of a nice exaggeration of New York’s trends with extra trimmings. Designers strayed from pastels and instead used solid, confident greens, reds and blues. Sheer materials gave more of a lightness to New York’s lace designs as hints of red were dabbled across transparent beige layers. Tops, dresses and skirts are allowed to be oversized – yet shapely – as of London’s spring collection standards with a high-volume feel to the shape of each article of clothing. Make yellow a theme this season, and don’t let floral/jeweled embellishments come off as over-the-top. There may come times when you need to feel a little more royal than usual. Take this opportunity to do so.
Reported and designed by Mykel Johnson
Sudoku
Solutions from 03/08/13
Crossword
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Sports
March 22, 2013• Editor, Powell Cobb
The OMEBACK QUEEN’
‘C
Bobcat point guard battles hardship, mental growth and physical recovery
Story and Photo by
Mark Watkins Kayla Upchurch’s basketball season ended in the opening minute of her first game at GC. After 23 seconds against West Georgia and a year of waiting, the rising star of GC planted, twisted and went down. “It can’t be,” the sophomore point guard thought on Nov. 10. “Not again.” It was just a fall. She’d caught a pass on offense, made one mis-planted step and a girl had bumped into her. It couldn’t be serious. It hadn’t even looked serious, people thought she’d lost her footing. She was going to get up; she was going to be fine. At least, that’s what she told herself. Right ACL torn in two. Snapped like a rubber band and bunched against her bones. Without this ligament to connect her thigh bone (femur) to her shin bone (tibia), her femur would ram into her meniscus if she stopped suddenly, causing her knee to buckle and for her to collapse. At the moment though, the pain hadn’t come, just discomfort, so she pushed herself slowly up off the floor and jogged, limping, to the top of the key. West Georgia had just scored and GC was bringing it down. Shanteona Keys went for a layup, missed and West Georgia recovered the rebound. Back on defense, Kayla stepped up to play. Howard Upchurch, her dad, was just getting to his seat with Kayla’s boyfriend.
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upchurch’s stub of her ACL after the tear
Her dad was walking in late so he’d missed her fall, but she looked OK. Aggressive, tenacious, fierce – nothing out of the ordinary. She stepped up at the top of the key and with one cross from her mark, one bounce from left to right, she was beaten, down and not getting back up. That fall was the only thing her father has seen his daughter do on GC’s court. “My heart just dropped,” he said. “She was so amped to play and at the home game opener too. I just couldn’t believe it.”
on her knee to test mobility. “It’s OK, uncomfortable,” Kayla said. “It feels like my last one. It feels just like my last one.” She’d torn her ACL in her left leg a few years back. This wasn’t supposed to happen to Kayla. She was going to be the leader, the role model, the star stolen from Georgia Southern, but now she was on the bench, an ice pack on her knee and not getting back up. “I went through all that work and was so looking forward to playing, and then I just can’t,” she said. “I felt really let down. It’s my own body. There’s nothing anyone could have done.”
S h e s tepped up at the to p of the k ey and w ith one cr oss fr om h e r mar k , one bounce f r o m l eft to r ight, s h e was beaten, down
Students carrying
Play stopped. Players took a knee and the crowd sat down. Her coach, Mo Smith, and head trainer, Paul Higgs, ran out and helped her to the sidelines, away from the spotlight, away from the eyes. She could put weight on it, even jog if she wanted to, but when Higgs saw her go down, he felt Kayla’s fears. “How does that feel?” he said pulling
The tunnel insterted into her knee where the ligamnet will run
The red Leds on
fresh cups of coffee to class and papers still warm from printing sped by and brief flashes of conversations echoed into the small nook where Kayla was waiting for the LITC’s elevator. It was the second day of the spring semester and the last day of the most painful week of Kayla’s life. She’d stopped taking her pain pills early, but one sounded really good right now. A full leg brace made it difficult to get around even with crutches. She was hurting and, in a rare moment, showing it. As she does when she’s frustrated, the hem of her gym shorts were balled up in white-knuckled fists. Her head was down
and not getting u p.
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and she was slumped on her crutches. There was a weariness about her, the kind when all you want to do is close your eyes and let the world turn around you. Anyone could have walked by and missed it, but this moment was a search for something inside to push her through downpour of pain she was wading through. “It’s a struggle,” she said later. “I knew I would have to get through it.” She’d waited to have her surgery until after Christmas Break so she could spend time with her dad and younger sister over the break, and this had made the first week of recovery bleed into the start of the semester. It might have been easier to ride back to her apartment and take the day off, but keeping a 4.0 as a pre-law major takes work.
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In the proces of having her new ligament run through the tunnel
on the elliptical bike bounced around the 95 rpm mark as the machine rocked from the revolutions. The bike’s fan, adding a small, but noticeable resistance to the pedals, gave out a soft whoosh into the Centennial Center’s training room. This is where Kayla goes five days a week to work her leg. On game days, you can hear muffled stomps from the student sec
Upchurch page 17
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The final shot of the ligament after being anchored for recovery Photos special to The Colonnade
The Short Stop
Upcoming Games Tennis
March 29 Men’s @ March 30 Men’s & Women’s @ April 2 Men’s & Women’s @
Home, 2 p.m. Home, 11 a.m. Home, 2 p.m.
Baseball March 23 March 24 April 3 April 5
@ @ @ @
Home, 1 & 4 p.m. Home, 1 p.m. Home, 6 p.m. Home, 7 p.m.
Quote of the Week “I love basketball. Nothing is going to stop me. Not an injury, two injuries. Nothing.” -Kayla Upchurch, on her torn ACL that brought her premiere collegiate basketball season to an abrupt hault.
Notable Stat
23
-The number of seconds into Kayla Upchurch’s first collegiate basketball game before ripping her ACL, putting her out of commision for the rest of the season.
MARCH 22, 2013
THE COLONNADE
17
MARK WATKINS / SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER The training room is quiet and empty except for Kayla Upchurch as she starts her series of rehabilitation exercises while her teammates practice on the court. The exercises are designed to challenge her, but she ways they’re easy.
Upchurch
Continued from page 16... tion. Shadows lurk in corners and fill sharp angles. Its quiet and windowless, and so is Kayla when she’s here. Kayla pounded away at the pedals, her bright orange shoes spinning into a fluorescent circle. She swayed her body into each downward stroke, pushing every ounce of potential power into the pedals. It was her second day on the bike and she was recommended to max out at 40 RPMs. “Why do less when I know I can do more,” she said flicking her ponytail behind her back. Her hair runs down the length of the her back in straight, silky
strands when it’s not pulled back. Always shining in the rush of brunette hair are two hoop earrings, big enough to put a fist through, that have become trademark for her. “I like them. I think they’re pretty. One of my old coaches used to call me ‘hoops’ because I would wear them all the time,” she said, smiling. “And because of the whole basketball thing.” She’s smaller than most the girls on the court, but trim says it better – no excess. The muscles in her legs are corded and toned even after a season off the court, and her body just looks fast. Even when she’s injured and only sneaking in a few latenight baskets, she plays with quickness and finesse. Though she may be thin, when she plays there is an intensity in her move-
ments. Each step, each fake, each dribble screams power. It’s all “attack, attack, attack” as her dad put it. She gripped the handles of the elliptical, her bright red fingernail polish sticking out against the metal. Her heart rate was at 140, and she’d been on for six minutes. The whole place was quiet, muted, hushed and so was Kayla. Beads of sweat were collecting on her brow, and her chest noticeably swelled with each breath, but her face was even and unmoved. Her legs kept spinning, but from time to time she would drop her head, breathe deep pushing herself to dig deeper. “I’ve never thought to quit. Ever. I see this just as an opportunity to come back stronger and mentally tougher.” After the bike are a series of leg exer-
cises designed to strengthen the hamstring graft acting as her ACL. Her surgeon took a piece of her hamstring, threaded it through a tunnel drilled in her tibia and femur, and anchored it in place. She does wall sits and leg swings with resistance designed to develop the supporting muscles in her knee. She says they’re not too hard, but her trainer, Paul Higgs, gives her what he knows will push her. When she’s done she cleans up everything she used and says bye if anyone is in the room. She’s smiling as she leaves. Now her knees have a similar scar, but those don’t matter to her nor does anything else. “I love basketball. Nothing is going to stop me. Not an injury, not two injuries. Nothing.”
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THE COLONNADE
MARCH 22, 2013
TAYLER PITTS / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Junior pitcher Daniel Szathemary slings a curveball toward the plate during Sunday’s doubleheader against Francis Marion. According to coach Tom Carty, one of the major issues with the losses was poor pitching.
Bobcats straggle behind Patriots in doubleheader BETHAN ADAMS STAFF WRITER With every whack of the bat, frustration built during last weekend’s double-header as the Georgia College men’s baseball team’s winning streak ended. The team lost both of its games Sunday against the Francis Marion Patriots, 15-6 and 12-8. The games, played on Saint Patrick’s Day, were anything but lucky as the Bobcats would pull forward optimistically for a few innings but keep falling back. The Patriots outscored them in the end. “It’s been a long day,” shortstop Daniel Bick said. “I’m sure it wore on everybody, but (Francis Marion was) tired, too. I guess they just fought harder.” Despite the chirping birds, turquoise sky and cool breeze threading its way across the field, irritation spread through the fans as the final game neared the last few innings. Candy wrappers and popcorn bags crinkled like a chorus of crickets during the game, emphasizing the occasional heckling
call from the stands or the hill where fans sat in their lawn chairs. “That used to be a strike!” one woman shouted from the hill, shaking her head at the umpire’s call. As the sun dropped, so did the team’s energy. Even though freshman right-fielder Jake Sandlin hit two home runs Sunday, the loss dampened his mood. “To be honest with you, I’m (normally) a chatter box,” Sandlin said, rocking back and forth and staring out at the field. “I’m sorry, it was a tough night.” While the team groomed the field after the loss, the coaches sat in the dugout, more tired and defeated than anything. “We had a rough day today, no doubt,” coach Tom Carty said. “If you don’t pitch well, then you just steamroll. We didn’t pitch well yesterday, just had a bad weekend we didn’t show on the mound.” Carty said the only bright spot of the weekend was the performance of leadoff hitters like Ryan Sabalaskey, junior infielder, whom he said started things off well. The problem was the pitching.
Athletes of the classroom MYKEL JOHNSON STAFF WRITER Georgia College is being well represented by its cross country team in regards to the academic excellence portrayed by three particular runners: Taylor Roeck, Paul McNeil and Philip Laskey. “At the Division II level, we try to stress three different things: academics, athletics and community service,” Graduate Assistant coach Steven Cary said. “We want a balanced collegiate experience.” All three student-athletes have earned spots on All-Academic Lists for the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), surpassing the required GPA of 3.25 as well as helping their teams make AllAcademic Team lists. “It was like one of those encouraging things that happen when you’re like, ‘I don’t want to study,’” Roeck, a freshman marketing major, said. “It encouraged me a little bit; I lose motivation sometimes. I was really happy with it.” Roeck made it onto the individual All-Academic List for USTFCCCA. Between participating in track and field in middle school and running cross country throughout high school, Roeck considers both sports a hobby if not a passion. “I’ve been running a lot,” she said. “My mom was a runner, so she got me into it. [Cross country] seemed like a cool sport, and it’s still my favorite one. It’s just a lot of fun.” Sports Information Assistant Trevor Kuss mentioned Roeck as being an impressive first-year runner. “Taylor came in as a freshman and was the top finisher on the team in five of the six races this year, which is a little unusual,” Kuss said. “She finished in the top 20 of the race she was in four other times, including finishing 15th at the Peach Bowl Conference Championship Race. She came right in from the get-go and was doing very big things.” As a student athlete, Roeck considers her studies a constant strive for excellence. “[Academics are] really important to me,” she said.
While she had not expected to receive recognition from this particular association, making the USTFCCCA All-Academic List during her first collegiate year was a pleasant surprise for Roeck. “I think it’s cool,” she said. “I was happy with my GPA last semester, but I didn’t know about [the All-Academic List], so it was nice. It was really good that we got it as a team too.” The GC women’s cross country team was recently named a USTFCCCA All-Academic team with an overall GPA of 3.37. Representing the men’s cross country team, freshman Paul McNeil finished in the top 30 percent in the region and appreciated the feeling of encouragement given to him by the honor of being named a USTFCCCA Division II AllAcademic Honoree. “Sometimes you need that reinforcement that you’re doing something well,” McNeil said. “If you don’t get reinforced or congratulated every now and then, or if you’re not appreciated, then it’s hard to stay motivated and hard to keep going.” McNeil began his running career in high school, not knowing much about the aspects of cross country, and eventually decided to pursue the sport for all four years. He did, however, consider starting another sport. “My original plan was to play baseball in the spring, but my coach convinced me to do track to stay in shape for cross country, and vice versa,” McNeil said. Though McNeil enjoys running for the cross country team, he considers it more as a side dish to his entrée of academics. “I came to college for college,” he said. “Running is an awesome plus because it keeps me organized, it’s healthy and it’s fun. Academics are the reason I’m here. I want to get a job and to be educated.” McNeil has yet to declare a major, but is debating between education, athletic training and environmental science. Laskey, junior pre-engineering major, also helped the men’s cross country team make it as a 2012 USTFCCCA Divi-
sion II All-Academic Team. As this is Laskey’s second time making it onto the Honorees List, he recognizes this triumph as a successful reach for his objectives. “It shows that my goals were met,” Laskey said. “As time goes on – and going to upper-level classes becomes harder – knowing that I’m still able to make the grades, even with harder classes, is definitely an accomplishment. I’m a student athlete – ‘student’ comes before the ‘athlete’.” Laskey also represents Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE), a new fraternity on campus to which he is the scholarship chair. “We’re a colony right now and working on getting our charter,” he said. “We’ve got two classes of pledges so far, and it’s going well. I’ll be doing the Warrior Dash during Greek Week [for SAE].” Cary keeps academics in mind in citing student-athletes’ futures after college, stressing the importance of a college education in assisting them with finding a suitable profession. “When these kids leave GC, they’re going to go professional in something other than athletics most likely,” he said. “So it’s important for them to get the best education they can possibly get and set themselves up for a successful, professional career in whatever they choose to pursue.” Obtaining this “All-American” status for a student athlete is an honor to behold, let alone experience for oneself. Roeck, McNeil and Laskey, all very flattered by the honor of placement onto USTFCCCA’s AllAcademic List, deserve congratulations for their hard work and utmost determination. “It’s something these kids will always be able to pride themselves on,” Cary said. “This is only scratching the surface of what these student athletes are capable of. In the next couple of years you’re going to see them not only perform well athletically, but they’re also going to represent GC very well academically, and they’re going to continue to make good grades. I think it’s going to be fun to watch them.”
In order to fix their game, Carty said the Bobcats will have to “practice harder, and try to execute better and get back to the drawing board.” Bick and Sandlin tried to remain loose and relaxed during the eight to 10 hours they were at the field, but after the game both Bick and Sandlin wanted to sleep off their loss. However, sleep had to wait in lieu of homework. “It’s really frustrating,” Bick said. “Especially on a night like this, when the last thing you want to do is go home and do school work and study cause you’re just not in the mood.” Tired or not the team is ready to get a win on Tuesday against North Greenville, and then showed some energy as they talked about to moving on to “sweep” Augusta State. Sandlin recalled a piece of advice: “Some days you win, some days you lose, some days it rains. That’s the game.” Bick nodded his head and chuckled in agreement, and then they joined their team as everyone headed off the field. “There’s a lot of baseball to be played so we have time to be a better pitching staff and pick up the position players,” Carty said.
MARCH 22, 2013
THE COLONNADE
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Women’s tennis falls short as Softball men charge full-steam ahead rallies for OLIVIA MORALES STAFF WRITER
JESSICA WINSKI / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Senior Kayla Barksdale serves during one of the Bobcats’ matches against Lewis University on March 9.
On March 9, the Georgia College men’s tennis team (73) went head to head against the Lewis University Flyers (3-2). The Bobcat men came out on top with an overall win of 8-1. The women lost 6-3. Senior, Johan Wadstein, and his freshman doubles partner Yannick Hass pulled off a win in the first doubles slot. The match started off slow, but they were able to pick up the intensity, finishing 8-4. “I think we did pretty good. … We started making returns, more serves and we got into the game, and I think we are starting to play better and better,” Wadstein said. “This is maybe our third match together right now so we are starting to get to know each other and know where we are going.” The men continued to dominate doubles with freshman Taylor Powell and junior Alex Schubert playing an intense back and forth standoff match in the No. 2 doubles slot. They also secured a win 8-6. Shortly after, senior Wictor Andersson and junior Andreas Ainalides followed with an 8-4 victory as well. “We are doing well; we have five new guys on the team. You know it is different, but we have a lot of talent, and we haven’t played this good in doubles yet, but overall we are looking really good. We practice doubles a lot and I think if we keep that going we will be a tough team to beat,” Wadstein said. Coach Steve Barsby also felt that the new members are meshing well with the team. “I think it is coming around. We played well today, and it’s the first time we have been up 3-0 against a good team. Today we played well and I hope we continue that in singles,” Barsby said. Barsby’s game plan for the match was to “keep intensity up.” “The one thing that we have lacked is not being as intense as we need to be right off the start,” he said. “Today we did a little better but there is always room for improvement.” Wadstein followed Barsby’s game plan and dominated in his singles match winning 6-4, 6-0. Hass beat out his opponent 6-3, 6-3; Powell won 6-1, 6-0, and Andersson 6-2, 6-4. Finally, Mattia Campus finished for the men, winning his final two sets 6-4, 10-8. The GC women’s team (4-6) did not fare as well but nonetheless played hard and battled to the end. Senior May Johnson and junior Ivana Marevic put the Bobcats on the board with their 8-0 win in the No. 2 doubles slot. Katie Krupp won in the No.4 slot, gaining a 6-2, 6-0 victory pushing the score to 3-2, and Kayla Barksdake won her match 6-2, 6-0, tying the lady Flyers 3-3. However, that was not enough for them to secure a win and finished with a 6-3 loss against the Flyers.
victory TAYLER PITTS STAFF WRITER
The Georgia College softball team swept its doubleheader on March 16 against UNC Pembroke with a pair of one-run wins. It was a sunny afternoon last Saturday at the Peeler Complex as the girls took the field with confidence looking to keep their winning streak alive. They won the opener 2-1 and rallied to win the second 4-3. Game one turned into a battle between the two defenses, with GC’s only runs coming in the bottom of the first. Freshman Kristen Brooks raced home on a single from junior Kelsea Martin, who was later driven in sophomore Kristen Humphries singled. The game stayed quiet with the Bobcats keeping the score 2-0 and only allowing a few hits here and there. Senior Dani Gallucci pitched all seven innings and kept the UNC Pembroke Lady Braves off the board till the top of the seventh. The Lady Braves were finally able to squeeze out a run in their final at bat to avoid a shutout with the final score being 2-1. “I felt a lot better than I have the past couple games. I was more focused and relaxed and not trying to do too much so it was a lot better,” Gallucci said. “I think I’m having a really good senior year. I’m having a lot of fun and that’s most important.” Freshman Marisa Boyette came in as starting pitcher for game two, which started off in a similar fashion as to game one. Except this time the Lady Braves jumped on the board first with a single run in the first inning. The Bobcats tried to respond in the first three innings, but ultimately came up empty leaving runners stranded on several occasions.
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Lee McDade