July 23, 2015 • summer edition• kykernel.com
A look down UK’s newly renovated Commonweath Stadium field on Wednesday, July 22, 2015. Photo by Marcus Dorsey | Staff
Completing Commonwealth
Resident advisor petition argues against UK’s overbooked dorms >> PAGE 3
Construction continues on the partly-renovated Commonwealth Stadium as deadline approaches >> PAGE 4
HOROSCOPES Aries (March 21-April 19) -- Today is a 7 -You’re especially creative and clever for the next three weeks, with Mercury in Leo. Your powers of explanation, description and clarification thrive. Enjoy stimulating conversation. Write your story. Taurus (April 20-May 20) -- Today is a 6 -- The next three weeks favor domestic projects and family time, with Mercury in Leo. Strengthen infrastructure and foundations. Collaborate today and tomorrow with your partner. Gemini (May 21-June 20) -- Today is an 8 -- What would you like to study? It’s easier to learn over the next three weeks, with Mercury in Leo. Devour the material. Read, write and communicate. Cancer (June 21-July 22) -- Today is a 9 -- For the next three weeks, with Mercury in Leo, it’s easier to make money. Profit through communications and networking. Build personal and professional relationships. Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) -- Today is an 8 -- With Mercury in your sign, connecting like-minded people satisfies over the next three weeks. Talk about passions and enthusiasms. Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- Today is a 7 -- Finish old business over the next three weeks. Retrospective and nostalgic projects satisfy. Keep a journal. Forgive, even if you don’t forget, so you can move on.
SUDOKU
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) -- Today is a 9 -- Focus on making money today and tomorrow. Brainstorming and group meetings are favored, with Mercury in Leo for the next three weeks. Talk it over with your team. Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) -- Today is an 8 -- A professional dream can get fulfilled over the next three weeks, with Mercury in Leo. Share your process. You’re even more powerful than usual over the next two days. Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) -- Today is an 8 -- Begin a three-week expansion phase. Long distance communications add essential input. Distant shores beckon. Expand your investigation. Remain sensitive to a loved one’s wishes. Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Today is a 9 -Discuss shared financial ventures over the next three weeks. Make decisions regarding joint accounts and investments. Handle the paperwork. Listen to all views. Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) -- Today is a 7 -Partnership is the name of the game over the next three weeks, with Mercury in Leo. Learn from experts. Dress to impress. Maintain clear communications channels. Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) -- Today is an 8 -- You’re especially busy. Over the next three weeks with Mercury in Leo your work is in growing demand. Things are getting inte resting. Get creative. MCT
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news
RA petition criticizes overbooked dorms BY WILL WRIGHT
wwright@kykernel.com
An online petition critizing UK for forcing resident advisors to live with other RAs has garnered more than 200 signatures since Tuesday. The decision to have RAs room with each other – some will live with students until the student can be relocated – came after UK had more housing applications than it had rooms. RAs will typically not share the same bedroom, but will stay in a suite with another RA and share a common area. The university will pay each RA $500 for every semester they must share a dorm. RAs who must share a dorm with a student will be paid $1000. Michael Carlton, an RA who started the petition, said many RAs feel like they’ve been lied to. RAs were told they would get their own dorm,
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Carlton said. Some RAs have already quit since Friday, when they were told about the decision. “If they had told us when we applied in the spring ... that this was going to happen, it definitely would have changed who applied (to be an RA),” Carlton said. “It really hinders our ability to do our job well. It makes an already emotionally draining job more emotionally draining.” UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said the university has a policy to not deny housing for any student who wants to live on campus. RAs living together is a result of that policy, Blanton said. The university has invested more than $200 million through on new dorms and living-learning communities. Blanton said these living-learning spaces attract more students, and that’s a good thing. SEE RESIDENT ADVISORS ON PAGE 6
PHOTO BY JONATHAN KRUEGER I STAFF The outside of Central Hall was taking shape as construction crews add brick and stone to the exterior of the dorm on March 20, 2013 in Lexington, Ky.
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sports
Finishing touches
Deadline approaches for renovations JOSHUA HUFF
jhuff@kykernel.com
courses,” he said of what fans will enjoy the most. “Especially on the North side, just the different personality. We want people to come onto the concourses and say ‘wow that looks fresh, it’s just different.’” Just six weeks remain before fans start streaming through the gates, but plenty of work still remains. Parking lots need repaving, amenities need to be added, rooms need to be cleaned. But come game day, all fans will see is the result of years of planning and hard work by those attached to the project. “There is a lot of work to do,” Pear said. “The commitment is there to get it done, PHOTO BY MARCUS DORSEY I STAFF get it ready.” Seats within Commonwealth Stadium are blasted with water Wednesday, July 22, 2015.
Months have turned to weeks as the Sep. 5 deadline for the expected completion of the partially renovated Commonwealth Stadium fast approaches. The stadium sat a hollowed out shell on Wednesday as UK provided the media with a tour of the $120 million project. Unfinished concourses, press box and mezzanine areas hardly speak of a stadium nearing completion But Russ Pear, UK’s senior associate athletics director for capital projects said not to worry, the stadium will be structurally ready and a sight to behold come game day against Louisiana-Lafayette. “If you go down that stairwell some of you had to walk today, the stairwell may not be painted, but that’s not a priority,” he said. “As long as we have the proper things in place from a lifesaving standpoint. But as for amenities, suites and everything, we’ll be ready.” The recent weather has not helped matters. Days of relentless rain have halted paving efforts that need two consecutive days of dry weather to do a job. With a favorable forecast in the near future, work efforts will increase. “All of the constant rain has been – that deck we walked on today that should have been done a month ago -- we didn’t get two days in a row of dry weather,” Pear said. “In the next four, five or six days those decks will be finished because of the weather.” UK’s schedule provides some leeway for Pear. The first game is a night game and the Cats go on the road for game two, giving construction workers more time to add finishing touches. “It’ll be a very active site in between the two home games,” Pear said. Despite the unfinished project, glimpses of what the stadium will offer lie scattered about. From the shining glass lining the South side and the stone work decorating the outside of the stadium, Pear is confident that fans will be enthralled with the new additions. “I think just spacious, wide-open con- An overview of Commonweath Stadium field from the press room on Wednesday, July 22, 2015. 4 I Summer Edition I 7.23.15
PHOTO BY MARCUS DORSEY I STAFF
opinions
Marikka’s offers global beer selection ALEX WRIGHT Kernel Columnist
Marikka’s looks like a bar from the movies. The walls sport numerous dart boards, the floor is adorned with high top tables and a number of pool tables, there is an air hockey table in the corner waiting for friends to challenge each other, and the far corner has a foosball table for the more nostalgic patrons. After you wind your way through the various forms of entertainment and high-top tables you come to the rear patio and find that the fun hasn’t stopped. The large patio gives way to two beach
PHOTO BY MARCUS DORSEY I STAFF Jamie Unseld prepares to hit the volleyball back over the net at Marikka’s sand volleyball court on Tuesday July 21, 2015.
volleyball courts. There are leagues every Monday through Friday, and you can easily register a new team. So if you’re a transplant to Lexington from the coast and you’ve been missing some volleyball in the sand, grab some friends and register a team. The bar sports more than thirty taps from all over the world, most of which are craft beer. However, if you have a friend who prefers their beer mass-produced, mostly devoid of flavor and the color of a yellow sticky note that has been sitting in the sun for a week, they do have Bud PHOTO BY MARCUS DORSEY I STAFF Light on draft. So your less-enlightened A scultpure chef greets diners as they enter friends won’t feel out of place. the restaurant side of Marikka’s, located off of As impressive as the number of taps Southland Drive. is, they are not the highlight of Marikka’s beer resume. The wall behind the bar is not simply a wall. It is one enormous refrigerator loaded with hundreds of beer from all across the world. There are well over 700 different varieties of beer available, and no, you did not read that number incorrectly. If you think you know all about beer, Marikka’s will make you feel like an amateur again. Attached to the bar is a sit-down restaurant with a variety of classic German food. If you’ve been having trouble finding some good currywurst and sauerkraut then you needn’t look any further. A wurstplatte and a pint of Hofbräu Original will make you think you haven’t left the beer hall. If German food isn’t your thing, there are also a number of more traditional pub foods available in the bar area. Marikka’s has something for everyone and plenty of space. If you need a place to get the whole crew together, this is it. Enough beer that everyone can find something they enjoy, plenty of variety in the food, and all the entertainment you could want in a bar.
sports
Former Cats look strong in NBA Summer League CAITLIN SCHWARTZ sports@kykernel.com
The NBA Summer League has come to an end. UK fell short of a National Championship in April but seemed to make up for it in their performances in July. Whether it was in Orlando, Fla., Utah or Las Vegas, Nev., the former Cats had a strong start in their NBA careers. In Orlando, No. 44 overall draft pick Andrew Harrison, who was traded Memphis Grizzlies from the Phoenix Suns, played more than 23 minutes per game. He finished the Summer League averaging 5.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. His twin brother, Aaron, who did not get drafted, impressed the Charlotte Hornets enough that they offered him a two-year deal. He became the seventh UK player this year to earn a spot on an NBA squad. The deal con-
sists of a partial guarantee this upcoming season, and a team option for 2016-17. He finished the Summer League averaging 29.0 minutes per game with 13.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game for the Hornets. Dakari Johnson added to the high level of play in Orlando. After being drafted No. 48 overall to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Johnson finished the Summer League averaging 8.6 rebounds and 7.6 points for the Thunder. Trey Lyles, who was drafted No. 12 overall to the Utah Jazz, put on a show against the Los Angeles Lakers in Las Vegas. Lyles hit four of his seven 3-point attempts, finished with 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds in a win over the Lakers. In his first four games at Las Vegas Summer League, No. 6 overall pick Willie Cauley-Stein of the Sacramento Kings controlled entire possessions in the game without touching the ball, just as he did at UK. Cauley-Stein’s game revolves around his defense. Finishing with 2.8 blocks per game, his defensive play-making abilities were on full display.
Minnesota Timberwolves fans are in for an exciting season after watching No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick KarlAnthony Towns succeed both physically and mentally in the Summer League. Not only did average 31.0 minutes per game, 12.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists, he also showed off his high basketball IQ. Towns showed off his mental game by recognizing double teams, making clever passes, adjusting to the defense and showing versatile tactics of scoring.. But out of the 24 teams in the league, the Phoenix Suns competed their way to the last game behind the help of No. 13 overall draft Devin Booker. Former Cats Josh Harrellson, Archie Goodwin and Devin Booker contributed 62 of the teams 93 points in the final game. Half of the 62 points were Devin Booker’s, who finished the game with 31 points. The 18-year-old shooting guard made his first five shots of the second half, including three 3-pointers. The seven former Cats made quite a splash in the NBA Summer League. Time will tell if some will make an impact when the regular season starts. But they’ll have to make the final roster first. 7.23.15 | Kentucky Kernel | 5
news RESIDENT ADVISORS FROM PAGE 3
“We should be happy that students want to live on campus at the University of Kentucky,” Blanton said. “This is a good thing, to have more students want to live on campus.” The petition says UK should pay for additional temporary housing to board the overflow of students, “or simply reject applications.” Carlton said RAs were also upset because they were not directly contacted by UK for input before the administration decided to make them room together. “We’re not really upset at ResLife,” Carlton said. “We’re upset at the people above.” The Kirwan-Blanding towers, which will stand empty this coming fall, will not be used to accommodate this overflow, Blanton said.
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sports
Kentucky-shot film ‘Runoff’ sparkles
The best movies are the ones that revolve around human experiences. When it’s something the director is pulling straight from his or her own experience – even better. KYLE That’s the case of KenARENSDORF tucky-native and successColumnist ful filmmaker Kimberly Levin, whose new film “Runoff” is expanding into select cities, including Lexington, Friday. The film is about a small family living in a rural farmland area that provides goods and services to surrounding farmers in their small town. In the opening scenes the film’s title character, Betty (Joanne Kelly), is seen tending to a large bee colony; her husband Frank (Neal Huff) is administering pharmaceuticals to the pigs of a local farmer and potential client – something that seriously threatens his health later in the movie.
A corporate competitor is encroaching on their territory – and even their property – and it’s affecting business in a major way. With her family’s livelihood and her husband’s health in question, Betty is faced with an impossible choice. What follows is a twisting and winding thriller about the lengths a person is willing to go to when everything she knows is threatened. In describing the film Levin explained that people have a unique ability to process decisions and weigh the consequences. She was interested in exploring the sacrifices people make when a potentially worse outcome is the alternative. Kelly shines as the hardened matriarch of her four-person family. Her face is haggard and makeup-free, and she senses the
possibility of losing what she holds most dear. “Runoff” was filmed entirely in Kentucky, more specifically, Henry County. Levin, who’s shot a number of short films and documentaries in her home state, said bringing her first feature production to Kentucky was a “no-brainer.” The former biochemist turned filmmaker simply asked people to ponder and have a conversation about the consequences of buying for price rather than buying for quality. The film’s plot points may seem hyperbolic, but it’s something that’s happening to local food-growers and farmers every day. It’s rare to see such a stinging portrait of it.
CLASSIFIEDS
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