February 10th, 2011

WHY WAIT TILL THURSDAY? READ MYTJNOW.COM.

It’s the year of the rabbit.

Find out how you can celebrate.

See Culture, page 9

Students share concerns about capmus center.

See News, page 4

THURSDAY February 10, 2011

Gospel version of American Idol hits campus.

See A & E, page 7

WINTHROP UNIVERSITY

Issue 17

NEWS

WU HIV cases not increasing

MATTERS OF THE HEART

BY CLAIRE BYUN byunc@mytjnow.com

Any rumors about an increase in positive HIV diagnoses on Winthrop’s campus are not true, said Monica Adamian, director of prevention services at Catawba Care Coalition.

“It’s just not something new or something becoming an epidemic,” Adamian said.

There is no AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, epidemic on Winthrop’s campus, Adamian said.

“I’ve heard some of the rumors too, and at one point someone told

See AIDS page 2 Want to know how you can prevent AIDS and where to get free testing? See page 6 Students made Valentines at a table in the Campus Center last week. SOAR sponsored the crafting to raise awareness about National American Heart Month. Photo by Claire VanOstenbridge • Special to The Johnsonian

NEWS

State puts higher education on back burner, SC politicians say

BY JONATHAN MCFADDEN mcfaddenj@mytjnow.com

Winthrop, along with other small South Carolina universities and colleges, may be rewarded for its commitment to enrolling in-state students in the upcoming fiscal year, said Gary Simrill, state representative to the South Carolina Legislature, on Feb. 4.

Gary Simrill and Sen. Wes Hayes, representative for District 15 in the U.S. Senate, came to Winthrop to discuss the issues facing the South Carolina legislature in the coming

See POLITICS page 3

NEWS

Art students craft bike racks for downtown

BY JONATHAN MCFADDEN mcfaddenj@mytjnow.com

Downtown Rock Hill is ready to ride, and Winthrop art students and the city’s bike club are the reasons why.

Students from the department of fine arts at Winthrop will make their mark on Rock Hill’s Main Street and surrounding hub when they design and sculpt bike racks that will be installed throughout the city’s downtown area.

The project comes as phase two of the Downtown Arts Initiative, a union between Winthrop’s fine arts department, the Arts Council of York Coun-

ty and the Rock Hill Economic Development Corporation, designed to funnel more public art into downtown Rock Hill.

Now, the members of the Rock Hill Bicycle Club are getting their say.

Taking out two birds with one stone, Winthrop’s fine arts students will create six bike racks to help transform Rock Hill’s downtown area into a more viable core of art, culture and entertainment while helping the Rock Hill Bicycle Club promote cycling throughout the city.

Last semester, sculpture

See BIKES page 2

This carrot bike rack is one of the six that art students are designing for downtown Rock Hill. The project is part of an initiative to bring more public art to the area. Photo

by Jonathan McFadden • mcfaddenj@mytjnow.com

SPORTS

Lone freshman propels Eagles on court Point guard looking for sixth Big South Freshman of the Week honor to tie record

BY DAVID THACKHAM thackhamd@mytjnow.com

Freshman point gurad Dequesha McClanahan won her fifth Big South Freshman of the Week title. She needs just one more win to tie with former player Ashley Fann, who won six of the titles. Photo by Stephanie Eaton • eatons@mytjnow.com

Questions? Contact us at editors@thejohnsonian.com Serving Winthrop since 1923

I N D E X

If you had to describe the 2010-2011 Winthrop women’s basketball season, it would have to be personified by its electrifying, disappointing, up-anddown, but most of all, promising freshman Dequesha McClanahan. The point guard is a microcosm of her team, which has had a roller-coaster season, from their 16-point shooting night debacle against Southern Polytechnic State to their 93-46 blowout win against Southern Wesleyan University.

McClanahan, five-time winner of the Big South Freshman of the Week award, needs just one more similar honor this season to tie the record of a Winthrop legend. Ashley Fann came to Winthrop with the Eagles in the summer of 2005 after their worst ever sea-

CAMPUS NEWS OPINION

2-5

HEALTH & SCIENCE

6 7-8

son, recording only two wins out of 28.

With Fann’s help, the team righted the ship in impressive fashion, finishing the season at 14-15.

And now McClanahan, just two years after Fann graduated, looks to do the same with her current team. Last year’s Lady Eagles were 13-18 and 2-13 away from Winthrop Coliseum. Although the 2010-2011 season has not been one of immediate success, the hope is that the team finishes strong, with just eight games left in the regular season.

“I think they’ll be fine,” said Fann, now a color commentator for the Winthrop Eagles radio program. “Coach [Childers] is really good at preparing them, but the second half of conference play is a lot different; teams have played you. They know what you like to

See BASKETBALL page 11

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT CULTURE SPORTS

9-11 12 13-15

2

THURSDAY February 10, 2011

CLAIRE BYUN News Editor byunc@mytjnow.com JONATHAN MCFADDEN Assistant News Editor mcfaddenj@mytjnow.com

WU students ‘rack up’ on real-world art experience BIKES • from front students built a series of sculptures that were installed throughout Main Street as a part of the initiative.

By May, the public art special topics class will be responsible for designing and creating four functional bike racks that will be placed in the downtown area and two bike racks that will be placed in the greater Rock Hill area, said Shaun Cassidy, associate professor of fine arts.

Cassidy, who is teaching the class, said the city of Rock Hill has identified sites needing bike racks, leaving it up to the art students to determine ideas and concepts that will be interesting and relational to areas where the racks will be located.

Some spots already chosen include the area in front of City Hall, the Center for the Arts and the Gettys Courtroom.

The bike rack venture represents collaboration between Rock Hill Parks, Recreation & Tourism, Rock Hill Economic Development Corporation, the city of Rock Hill, the Rock Hill Bicycle Club and Winthrop and has taken a year to even reach the idea stage, Cassidy said.

The project gives Winthrop’s fine arts students the chance to venture into public art, a form of art Cassidy said is competitive, yet profitable.

For the design, students spent most of January examining the businesses and buildings where the racks would be located.

“Their first goal is to do a lot of research, come up with designs; do a lot of designs and a lot of design development,” Cassidy said.

The students will also meet with the

city, Rock Hill Bicycle Club and community members to discuss and glean ideas for their designs.

The racks will be constructed in steel for durability.

Part of making the bike racks unique to their areas is meeting with business owners and paying attention to interesting aspects of Rock Hill and the city’s history, Cassidy said.

“One bike rack is going in front of a hair salon, so the student designing this bike rack is meeting with the owner of the hair salon to see if there’s any information to glean; to see if there’s anything interesting to use in the design of a bike rack,” Cassidy said.

The project forces students to collaborate with each other and people in the community, something Cassidy said is different than a normal studio class.

Most importantly, students will receive valuable real-world work experience in public art.

“We’re trying to give students a realworld project in which a product will actually be placed in the community,” Cassidy said.

Money matters Public art isn’t cheap.

Enter the Rock Hill Bicycle Club, which provided $4000 of funding for the project.

George Davis, advocacy director for the Rock Hill Bicycle Club, said the club decided to give him money for this project after raising the funds from the club’s spring races last year.

Davis, in turn, gave the $4000 check to Cassidy, who then distributed $600 to each student group.

Part of the real-world public art experience is working within the confines of a budget, Cassidy said.

“They’re held accountable to the standards that would be applied to any professional artist working in the medium of public art,” Cassidy said.

An additional challenge for students is that not only must these pieces be aesthetically appealing, but they have to be fully functional and ready for use, said Tom Bell, outdoor recreation program director for Rock Hill Parks, Recreation & Tourism.

Along with Donnie Messer, urban designer for the Rock Hill Economic Development Corporation, and Davis, Bell will look at the first round of models students submit and make sure they’re beautiful pieces of public art, but also working bike racks ready for use.

They work hard for the money That’s one concept Nikki Patrick and her classmates are working to perfect.

Assigned to develop a bike rack that will sit in front of City Hall, Patrick, the senior sculpture major responsible for the sculpture art in the DiGiorgio Campus Center, and her partners will have to work within the Bike Club’s allotted budget of $600.

Not too much of a problem for fledgling artists getting real-world experience.

“When you’re commissioned, you get a certain amount of money,” Patrick said.

“Whatever’s left over, you get to keep.”

To make City Hall’s racks interesting and relevant, Patrick and her partners have discussed incorporating the origin of Rock Hill’s name by embedding flint rock into a rack or emphasizing the city’s rich textile history.

Another idea is making Vernon Grant, the Rock Hill illustrator who created Kellogg’s SNAP! CRACKLE! AND POP!, part of one of the racks’ designs.

“I think what we’re trying to do for that building is something that’s not too out there, but something that they [the community] can relate to,” Patrick said.

Once settled on a design, the students will have to meet with the city, Rock Hill Bicycle Club and community members so their designs can be assessed.

After getting feedback, the students will rework their designs, make a model, and the final product will be approved and will be constructed full-scale.

The bike racks are expected to be approved and fabricated by April and installed downtown by May, Cassidy said.

The racks will all contain plaques indicating their production by the Winthrop art students and funding from the Rock Hill Bicycle Club.

The entire Downtown Arts Initiative falls under the umbrella-head of Winthrop’s ACE Projects, an initiative of the fine arts department that explores ways in which students can engage the community with their art, Cassidy said.

Another project that has roots in ACE includes the woven stick sculptures made by artist Patrick Doughtery in downtown Rock Hill last spring, which has recently been torn down.

POLICE BLOTTER Possession of beer under 21/ Drug paraphrenalia (2/04/11) Police were dispatched at 12:08 p.m. to meet with an East Thomson resident assistant (RA) in reference to a marijuana smell coming from the hallway, the report said.

Upon arriving, police proceeded to the fourth floor hallway and, after exiting the stairwell, were immediately engulfed in the smell of burnt marijuana. The reporting officer was met by the RA, who said she smelled marijuana in the hallway after arriving back to the floor, according to the report.

Police proceeded to the suspected room and attempted to make contact with the residents. After knocking on the door several times, the officer was able to make contact with student A, police said.

Student A stated he was a resident of the room and was currently the only individual in the room.

Immediately upon entering the room, the officer could smell marijuana. Police also noticed the window in the room was open, a fan in the room was blowing towards the open window, and a scented candle was being burned on the desk. Police thought this was odd, since the outside temperature was extremely cold at this time, police said.

Student A said he was not smoking marijuana and did not have any in the room. Police asked the student for verbal consent to search the room, and Student A consented, the report said.

During the search, police found the following items: a multicolored glass pipe with marijuana residue in it, a round metal marijuana grinder with marijuana residue in it, a blue plastic container containing 24 yellow pills, and three prescription bottles not prescribed to student A. Police also located five unopened beer cans in the

refrigerator, according to the report.

After the officer confronted the student with the evidence, student A admitted he had recently smoked marijuana in the room with his roommate, but did not currently have any more on him or in the room. Police asked student A whose beers were in the refrigerator and student A replied his roommate’s. Police asked the student to make contact with his roommate and tell him he needed to return to the room.

Student A stated the yellow pills were a prescribed medication known as Tramadol (a prescribed narcotic similar to pain reliever used to treat moderate to severe pain). Student A further stated the pills were prescribed to his current girlfriend, another student (student B), for a surgery she had undergone. Police confirmed the identity of the pills as Tramadol and then questioned Student A why they were in his room and not in the prescription bottle they were dispensed in. Student A said he kept the pills in his room for when his girlfriend stays the night, but he could not explain why the pills were in the blue plastic container and not student B’s prescription bottle. During this time, the officer told student B she needed to come to the room, the report said.

During this time, student A’s roommate, student C, arrived. Police asked student C whose beers were in the refrigerator, and student C responded his. Police asked both students how old they were. Students A and C said they were 20 and 19, respectively. At this time, police asked student C for verbal consent to search his part of the room, and he consented. During the search, police located a multicolored glass pipe with marijuana residue in it.

After police confronted student C with this evidence, student C also admitted he had recently smoked marijuana in

the room with his roommate, but did not currently have any more on him or in the room, police said.

At this time, student B arrived at the room and police questioned her in the hallway about the prescribed pills.

Student B did disclose she had undergone surgery in July 2010 and was prescribed Tramadol for the pain. However, she admitted several times she was not currently taking the prescribed pills and she had stopped taking them over the summer of 2010. Student B told police she did not currently need the prescription pills and would not mind if they were confiscated by police, since they were not prescribed to student A and were not contained in their prescription bottle.

After the conversation with student B, police told all parties that all of the drug paraphrenalia, prescription bottles, prescription pills, and alcoholic beverages would be confiscated. Police told students A and C they would be referred to the Winthrop University Judicial Affairs for violating the Student Conduct Code in reference to the use of marijuana, possessing drug paraphernalia, possession of prescribed pills not prescribed to individual, and possession of alcoholic beverages under 21. Police also told student C he would be cited for the possession of beer under 21 and would have to appear at Municipal Court on the charge at a later date, the report said.

Compiled by Monica Kreber

AIDS • from front me they got a text message that said there were more than 100 cases of AIDS at Winthrop,” Adamian said.

AIDS is the last stage of the immune disease HIV, which leaves individuals susceptible to opportunistic infections and tumors, according to AIDS.gov. Those diagnosed with HIV will not necessarily be diagnosed with AIDS, unless their case becomes serious enough.

In 2009, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) conducted a survey on the state’s reported AIDS cases. From Jan. 1981 to Dec. 2009, 19,195 cases had been reported.

Throughout the time period, 3,431 people were diagnosed during the ages of 20-29.

Nearly 31 percent of cases in 2009 were from college-aged students, according to the study.

“It really isn’t a matter of college students or older people; it’s everywhere” Adamian said. “But the number of people who get tested and show up positive is only about one to two percent.”

Winthrop staff disregard this rumor as well, and many are unaware of the gossip. Mary Jo Barreto, assistant director of Health and Counseling Services, said there is no AIDS trend on campus, but students should still be aware of their sexual health.

“I would encourage individuals to think seriously about their sexual activity – whether to be sexually active or not,” Barreto said.

Students who wish to learn more about the disease can visit the Health and Counseling Services website at www.winthrop. edu/hcs, or Catawba Care at www.catawbacare.org. Testing is available through the university for a fee, and Catawba Care offers testing every day but Friday.

“Practice safe sex if he/she is going to be sexually active, be in a monogamous relationship, use appropriate protection, and know partner well-a few good tips,” Barreto said.

3

THURSDAY February 10, 2011

State-wide shakedown

WU ships out new budget, awaits decisions from state legislators

“”

POLITICS • from front

fiscal year during the John C. West Forum in Plowden Auditorium.

Though the future of higher education is a priority for the state, it’s not at the top of the list.

Instead, the legislature is paying more attention to K-12 public education and Medicaid, Hayes said.

“If you’re not Medicaid or K-12 and you’re dependent on the General Fund, then you’re in trouble,” Hayes said, “even in good times, because you’re getting marginalized.”

Higher education has been put Sen.Wes Hayes on the back-burner to a certain extent, Hayes said, leaving scholarships in jeopardy.

Because a large chunk of scholarship money comes from the South Carolina State Lottery, the scholarship funds have been stable in past years.

Yet, the lottery has been unable to bring in a sufficient amount (From left) Rep. Gary Simrill (R) and Sen. Wes Hayes (R) visited campus last Friday, of funds in recent years due to a South Carolina aims to honor those answering a plethora of questions ranging from taxes to the future of career-starter shaky economy. universities that have maintained programs in middle and high schools. In the upcoming months, the legislature may treat Now, scholarships will have South Carolina universities retaining in-state students more favorably. Photo by Jonathan high numbers of in-state students. to come from the state’s Gen“Winthrop has done a fantastic job McFadden • mcfaddenj@mytjnow.com eral Fund, leaving scholarship doing that,” Simrill said. money to be capped and ultimately Schools such as the University of MUSC and Clemson—if they don’t alget proposals to the legislature. reduced, so the money students South Carolina and Clemson will always ready dominate, will further dominate,” Requesting new major items in the receive isn’t just a “blank check,” Hayes tower above Winthrop in the universities Simrill said. budget is out of the question, said Resaid. ladder, but Simrill said the legislature Under regency, Simrill fears Winbecca Masters, assistant to the president “Instead of $5,000, it might be wants to recognize Winthrop’s uniquethrop’s unique vision and distinction will for public affairs. $4,500,” Hayes said. ness in retaining in-state students and dissipate.

This year, Winthrop received $12.8 The battle between state-supported emphasizing diversity.

With federal stimulus money running million from the state, including health colleges and the state legislature conOnce South Carolina universities have out, South Carolina’s budget stands at insurance for personnel. tinues, Simrill said, with universities all submitted their proposals, the legis$840 million, a $2 billion cut in the last For the coming fiscal year, the unisteadily increasing their tuition to comlature will determine how much funding two years, Simrill said. versity has only asked for level funding, pensate for a lack of funding and many will be allotted to each school for the What this means for this state is that in addition to health care for personnel, budget cuts. next fiscal year. there will be more cuts and more tough Masters said.

One question that now permeates Winthrop’s internal budget planning economic times to come.

But, there may be some hope.

South Carolina universities is if it’s process won’t be complete until after the “The economy is turning around, but Universities with higher in-state better for universities to have a board state determines how much revenue is I think this year is going to be, perhaps, student enrollment and graduation rates of trustees or a board of regents, one given to Winthrop, Masters said. will be more favorable in the eyes of the administrative system that would govern the toughest year that we face,” Hayes That decision won’t be made until said. legislature, Simrill said. multiple South Carolina universities. about May or June, she said.

Colleges are now bolstering more revGov. Nikki Haley supports regent The current fiscal year ends on June What about us? enue from out-of-state students bringing governance, said Simrill, who is opposed 30, while the new one starts on July 1. in higher out-of-state tuition dollars, to the idea.

Winthrop recently submitted its budSimrill said.

“If we have a board of regents, USC,

The economy is turning around, but I think this year is going to be, perhaps, the toughest year that we face.

Liberty ree:

Joint initiative to celebrate First Amendment freedoms

By Joshua Johnson

Special to The Johnsonian

The First Amendment guarantees the right to feel how you want to feel, and you don’t have to be afraid to express it. That’s the First Amendment tweaked, personalized and placed in a nutshell.

In the spirit of this amendment, the Department of Mass Communication and the West Forum for Civic Engagement will unite for a second time to present the Liberty Tree Initiative series.

As part of the national “1 For All” campaign, the goal of the Liberty Tree Initiative is to make college students and the campus community at large aware and appreciative of the different freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Mass Communication

professor Justin Brown and Karen Kedrowski, department chair of political science, first received an initial $5,000 grant in 2009. At the time, Winthrop was one of the eight campuses to receive the award. After programming success in the fall of 2009, Brown and Kedrowski recently received a second “renewal” grant for the same amount and are therefore presenting revamped series of First Amendment events this semester.

This year’s theme will focus on using the arts to get students to understand how the First Amendment can foster and protect creative works.

“We’re trying to reach even more people this time around by programs like ‘Fight the Power: A Performance by Freedom

Sings,” Brown said.

The multimedia performance illustrates how music is not only important to artistic freedom, but may also foster debate about religion and politics, Brown said. “...And in some cases be influential in leading people to peaceably assemble and petition our government for change,” Brown said.

This year’s series kicked off on Monday, Feb. 7, with “Revenge of the Banned Books,” facilitated

by Winthrop English professor Jo Koster, the Literary Society and Student NCTE Affiliate members.

A presentation on social media and the First Amendment will be scheduled soon.

Applications will be submitted for all of these programs to receive cultural event designation.

Liberty Tree events:

“Be Careful What You Say: Hip Hop Music & the First Amendment.”

When: March 2, 7 p.m.

Where: Plowden Auditorium “Phaedra’s Love: A Controversial Play Reading.”

When: March 23, 6 p.m.

Where: Black Box Theatre “Fight The Power: A Performance by Freedom Sings.”

When: April 13, 7 p.m.

Where: DiGiorgio Campus Center Ballroom

4

THURSDAY February 10, 2011

Locals ‘okay’ in Campus Center

Capture a career: Score a summer job, internship or career with help from the Center for Career and Civic Engagement’s graduate assistant

By Monica Kreber

community clientele. Winthrop wants to foster “town/gown relationships” as The new student center might have represented in the recent College Town been opened to Winthrop students this Action Plan. school year, but members of the Rock “I know of no issues caused by ‘nonHill community are also finding their Winthrop community members’ in the way into the new building. center and have received no complaints,” Some students do not think “outsidArdaiolo said. “Certainly there is great ers” should be allowed into the student curiosity to see this magnificent new center. Freshman sports medicine major structure on campus, but this will fade James Brewer said extra people using the with time.” building could potentially take up space.

Ardaiolo also said if there is ever a “I think it’s wrong that they use our problem with strangers in the building, pool tables and sit around the lounge anybody can contact Campus Police. space,” he said. “They shouldn’t be here.” Chief of Police, Frank Zebedis, also said Freshman physical education major he has not received any concerns or Shawn Houlihand said he thinks it’s ok complaints from students, faculty or staff if passers-by want to grab a to-go meal about outsiders utilizing the facility. from the Markley’s food court, but they “We do have community visitors in the should still avoid the game and lounge Campus Center,” Zebedis said. “Most of areas on the main floor. the time they are coming to grab some“They shouldn’t be allowed upstairs,” thing to eat, get Starbucks, or shop at the he said, “but I’ve never seen anyone getbookstore.” ting in the way.”

While the DiGiorgio Campus Center is However, vice president for Student open to the public, Zebedis said the West Life, Frank Ardaiolo, said the student Center is only for students, faculty and center is open to the whole community. staff or their families with a valid mem“Guests on campus are always welbership. come, as we are a public university,” he Tanner added that she does not think said. “We also want prospective students the DIGS gets many visitors because noto experience our new special place.” body wants to deal with parking. SophoSophomore English major Heather more social work major Jasmine Morgan Tanner pointed out that Winthrop and said allowing community members into Rock Hill do the buildnot create ing does not a college seem as if it’s town the a big deal. way Clem“They’re son does, so not terrorcommunity ists,” Morgan members said. have to have It would access into only become the student a problem center if they if the comwant school munity memmerchandise. bers started “If you to take up want Winspace, Tanthrop stuff, ner and Moryou have to gan said. come here,” “I guess Tanner said. it’s kind of “We’re not annoying Clemson.” to wait in Ardaiolo a long line said the (for food),” university Morgan said, bookstore “but not that is housed many people Many visitors come to campus throughout the within the even come week to take advantage of the bookstore, Popbuilding and here.” eye’s and Starbucks. Photo by Kathleen Brown • has a large brownk@mytjnow.com Rock Hill kreberm@mytjnow.com

By Katie Levans

Center for Career and Civic Engagement graduate assistant

The End is Near, Nothing to Fear I hate to break it to you, but this will not be a rant about the end of the world.

It may only be February, but with classes wrapping up at the end of April, this semester will be over before you know it. Time is flying by so quickly that if you so much as blink, you’ll wake up face down in a pile of textbooks during finals week with coffee drool down the side of your face and no idea where the past four months have gone. You know what I’m saying.

For some of you, we’re approaching the end of another school year. For the seniors, it’ll be the end of your college education. Either way, you need to get cracking on a plan for what’s next (and I don’t mean a trip to the beach).

Whether you’re on the hunt for a parttime summer job or your first step into a full-time career, the Center for Career and Civic Engagement has you covered this month with three unique job fairs, each designed to meet the needs of a different job-seeking demographic.

You’re Hired: Find Your First Job Finding a job is tough. Finding a job in our current economic climate is tougher. Though unemployment rates have dropped since hitting a dismal 20-year high this time last year, competition on the career front is still fierce.

More and more qualified candidates are vying for fewer jobs. That’s a problem, but there’s a solution too: set yourself up for success (and start sooner rather than later). The Career Showcase is a place for you to learn about area companies and employment opportunities, to network with potential employers and to practice presenting yourself as a professional. We’ve done the hard part for you (getting the employers in one room at the same time). Do your

part by practicing interview questions, dressing like you mean it and preparing a professional resume, and you’ll be well on your way to your first, “You’re hired!”

What Nobler Employment: Job Hunting for Teachers-to-Be Cicero once said there is no employment more noble or more valuable to the state than that of the person who instructs the rising generation. It takes a special person to be a teacher, and it takes a special career fair to meet the needs of recruiting school districts and job-seeking education professionals.

The Education Career Fair is designed to allow you to meet with school districts, apply and possibly interview for a teaching position all in the same day.

The event is split into two sections: a morning of introductions and networking and an afternoon of interviews for qualified candidates. It’s an invaluable job-search tool for those entering the education field.

Endless Summer: Part-Time Jobs and Internships A neverending summer has a rather intoxicating allure, wouldn’t you say?

Unfortunately, your blissful days off will end just as surely as the temperature and leaves will drop. So, why not make your summer work for you with an experience that will expand your horizons far beyond a brief three-month blip in time. Part-time summer jobs and internships are an excellent way to gain practical hands-on experience that you can apply to future jobs, your studies and your life for years to come. Put in some time this summer and reap the benefits of your experience long after summer is gone.

Hopefully, one of these events will meet your needs. You can visit one fair or stop by all three. You never know who you’ll meet or what opportunities await.

For more information: stop by the Center for Career and Civic Engagement in Crawford, tweet them @ winthrop_CCE or visit www.winthrop. edu/careers.

Career Showcase: Tuesday, Feb. 22, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Education Career Fair: Wednesday, Feb. 23, 9:30 a.m. - noon Summer and Part-Time Job Fair: Thursday, Feb. 24, 11am – 1pm

5

Why society’s lover affair with alcohol and caffeine doesn’t make since if heroin is illegal Drugs play a telling me about what it was like huge role in our to be on heroin and what the lives, especially “DTs” felt like. It was kind of when we’re young. scary when he used to pass out I find that our in class. society is rather The fact that this country stighypocritical when matizes some drugs and encourit comes to drugs. Connor de Bruler ages others bothers me.

Opinion editor The war on We lock people up just for drugs has done a trying to buy heroin, but it’s perhorrible job deterring people from fectly alright to drink a few slugs of substance experimentation. It has vodka tonic at a friend’s wedding overcrowded our prisons to the or down a boatload of caffeine to point where we’re contracting priget through the work week. vate companies to imprison casual I can no longer drink caffeine users and drug dealers alike. because it exacerbates depression Zero tolerance is never the way and gives me panic attacks. ≠– to go. Understanding will always Alcohol is arguably harder than be superior. heroin because the withdrawal can Despite all the anti-drug camkill you. Kicking on smack is just paigns since the 1980s, our society painful and doesn’t present longstill encourages certain degrees term nerve damage. Have you ever of drug use and makes it seem noticed how much you shake after normal. Alcohol ads are all over a night of heavy drinking? television, and the duty-free shops We need to rethink the way we in our airports are loaded with approach drugs in this country. We enough booze to drown a herd of also need to rethink the way we see elephants. drugs on a personal level. EveryCaffeine is slowly becoming the thing you take has a counter-effect opiate of the overworked masses as - a chemical or an emotional price.

Starbucks, Red Bull and 5-HourEven the food we eat alters us.

Energy are available on every Doing what’s good for your body corner. might give you a better lift than I saw an ad for Lell’s Café last any pill or energy drink. semester that read, “caffeine + food = happy exams.”

I think all drugs are rather extreme and dangerous to our bodies as well as our souls.

I am not a purest, though. I have done drugs in the past. I have been drunk and I have smoked cigarettes and cigars. I have also abused cough syrup. I no longer drink or smoke, but I thought it was necessary to know how it affected me and what all the commotion was about.

I had a few friends in high school who used methamphetamine and heroin. Thankfully, my friend who abused heroin got clean a few years later. I remember him

“”

The fact that this country stigmatizes some drugs and encourages others bothers me.

Editor ANNA DOUGLAS

Arts & entertainment editor JESSICA PICKENS

Managing editor TIFFANY BARKLEY

Assistant arts & entertainment editor ALISON ANGEL

News editor CLAIRE BYUN Assistant news editor JONATHAN MCFADDEN Opinion editor CONNOR DE BRULER Culture editor ALEXIS AUSTIN Health & science editor AMANDA PHIPPS

Sports editor JEFF BRODEUR Assistant sports editor DAVID THACKHAM Graphic Designer COURTNEY NISKALA Copy editors BRITTANY GUILFOYLE BRANTLEY MCCANTS Ad designer SAMANTHA FURTICK

Photographers KATHLEEN BROWN STEPHANIE EATON Multimedia editors SHATESHA SCALES KAYLEE NICHOLS Webmaster DEVANG JOSHI Advertising manager KERRY SHERIN Ad sales team KERRY SHERIN SARAH MACDONALD Faculty adviser LARRY TIMBS

CONNOR DE BRULER Opinion Editor debrulerc@mytjnow.com

Student breaks painful silence I expected a lot enough to tell blamed me with out of my first year at the same intensity I did, my lips college - an abundance were sealed even more. of new friends, chalBecause I began to become lenging professors and more and more introverted, a fresh start away from I lost many good friends that home. What I failed to second semester. plan for, however, was It took a long time for me to Kaitlyn Schallhorn be able to trust anyone, even my own rape.

Staff writer Sure, I had paid atmyself, with the knowledge of tention to those corny what exactly happened. red-flag videos at I had no idea where to begin.

Welcome Week, but I also made fun of Eventually, I did open up to a few them along with the rest of my class. more people about my assault. While Nothing bad could ever happen to most were very supportive and underme. standing, some - including my parents No boy would ever invite me up to - were disappointed in me, as well. his room for a snack with any intenWhat I didn’t realize is sexual astion other than to try to help me gain saults happen more than I thought the freshman 15. because so many, such as mine, go There would never be a situation unreported or unannounced. where I would even need to yell “fire,” Sometimes victims are silent belet alone have no one hear me. cause underage drinking is involved.

Yet, exactly one year ago, I was Sometimes attacks go unreported shown there was some truth behind because the victim knows the attacker those clichéd videos I had mocked at too well. Sometimes, such as in my the start of the year. case, victims are silent because of an I was shown it was quite possible overwhelming sensation of guilt. for a “friend” to invite me up to his I was so silent for too long. room under the pretense of hanging Resources on campus can help. out with a group, and yet have more RA’s are on every floor, and it is their planned than just watching television. job to help students in any kind of And I was also shown there was the situation; I know mine did. possibility no one would be on his side Health and Counseling Services of the floor to hear me, let alone care. offers 10 free counseling sessions a To this day, I still struggle with the year and they have a plethora of helpguilt from that night. I had just started ful information for any sexual assault my college career; I should have been victim. going out with my friends, living careCampus Police is only a phone call free and having fun. away with officers who are compasInstead, I stopped sleeping almost sionate and use discretion. completely. And when I did pass out Winthrop is not a menacing place from exhaustion every few days, night- with men lurking around every dark mares that caused me to relive that corner ready to take advantage. night disturbed my sleep.

I don’t expect you to run away I kept my assault a secret because I screaming in the opposite direction at thought it was my fault. I was the one the sight of a boy. Even I don’t do that. who put myself in that situation.

My point is we are not invincible.

When the one person I did trust

Our Say

DOUBLE PARKED Photo Illustration by Kathleen Brown

Illustration by Courtney Niskala•niskalac@mytjnow.com

Beer gets green light, heroin still outlawed

THURSDAY February 10, 2011

WU re-paints lines for president We’re still trying to figure out why President Anthony DiGiorgio needs a parking space twice the size of a normal slot.

With a new office available for him in the campus center after he retires, it makes sense he’d have a reserved spot.

But why did Winthrop need to re-paint

the parking lines to create a special-sized parking area just for the president?

We’re a bit puzzled but if it means students will be seeing more of DiGiorgio in the campus center, maybe the doublewide space isn’t so bad?

About The Johnsonian The Johnsonian is the weekly student newspaper of Winthrop University. It is published during fall and spring semesters with the exception of university holidays and exam periods.

CONTACT INFORMATION Our offices are located in suite 104 in the DiGiorgio Campus Center.

Phone: (803) 323-3419 E-mail: editors@mytjnow.com Online: mytjnow.com LETTER POLICY Letters and feedback can be sent to editors@mytjnow.com or by mail at The Johnsonian, 104

Campus Center, Rock Hill, S.C., 29733.

Comments submitted online at www.mytjnow.com may be printed as letters and may be shortened for space and edited for clarity.

Please include your name, major and year if you are a student; your name and title if you are a professor; or your name and profession if you are a member of

the community.

Letters, cartoons and columns reflect the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily the opinions of The Johnsonian staff.

CORRECTIONS Contact us if you find an error in an issue of the newspaper. We will correct it in the next issue.

THURSDAY February 10, 2011

6

By the numbers Students can get tested for HIV or AIDS on campus or at CatawbaCare center.

54

41.3

51

thousand Americans were infected with HIV in 2009.

percent of men reported ever having an HIV test.

percent of AIDS-related deaths occur among AfricanAmericans.

AMANDA PHIPPS Health & Science Editor phippsa@mytjnow.com

1 in 5 47.7 people living with HIV do not know they are infected.

percent of women reported ever having an HIV test.

Compiled with information from www.avert.org and www.cdc.gov

Center, university provide HIV testing to students

By Amanda Phipps phippsa@mytjnow.com

In less time than it takes to drive to Charlotte, students can find out their HIV/AIDS status a few minutes from campus for free.

Located in a new facility in Tech Park South, Rock Hill, CatawbaCare offers free rapid testing for HIV and AIDS for anyone who wants to come in and get tested, director of prevention services at CatawbaCare center Monica Adamian said.

She said they offer a finger prick blood test or an oral swab test, both of which are preliminary tests and are over 99 percent accurate.

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is the virus that can cause AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). A person can have HIV without having AIDS, she said.

The test can take up to three months after contraction to detect the virus, Adamian said. If a person tests positive, they will have a more precise test in the lab to see if the results are the same. For negative results, the tests used at the center are seen as 100 percent accurate and no secondary tests are needed.

“If someone may have been exposed within the last three months, we recommend they get retested three months after the exposure,” she said.

HIV prevention specialist at CatawbaCare center Denise Rivera said the blood test results take 10 minutes to process and the oral swab test results take 20 minutes. With each test, the center requires pre- and post-counseling.

On-campus testing is also available at Winthrop.

Using a blood test, the university offers students, faculty and staff testing for $12, wellness coordinator Brianne Gemeinhardt said. The test is 99 percent accurate for detecting HIV and the results take 10 days to process.

There were no positive HIV tests in 2009, according to Winthrop health services data reported on the American College Health Association Pat Test and STI survey for 2009.

HIV invades and attacks CD4 cells, cells that help the body fight off viruses and germs, thereby diminishing the impact of the immune system, Adamian said.

“It is hard to fight anything off,” she said.

So far, studies for CD4 and viral load count for Winthrop haven’t been

completed, so no accuracy percentage exists for detecting those, said medical laboratory technician Karen Stewart.

HIV is spread through blood, vaginal fluid, semen, pre-ejaculate fluid and breast milk, Rivera said. The most common mode of transmission is through unprotected vaginal, oral or anal sex. Other modes include sharing needles or syringes, from a mother to child through breast milk, pregnancy or birth and through bloodto-blood contact.

However, individuals cannot get HIV from touching someone or using the bathroom or drinking after someone, according to the CatawbaCare website. HIV is not transmitted from tears, sweat or saliva. The only way to 100 percent prevent HIV and STIs is to abstain from oral, vaginal or anal sex. The website also said condoms can help protect people if they choose to have sex.

Winthrop’s health and counseling services offers free condoms in Crawford.

AIDS is an autoimmune dysfunction that attacks the body’s defenses, Adamian said. However, even people with a weak immune system can build their CD4 number back up

Love is in the air

Did you know?

•South Carolina is the leading state in HIV prevention programming and efforts.

• CatawbaCare works with York, Lancaster and Chester counties.

• There has been no spike in infection rates in this area.

• About 56,000 people become infected in the U.S. each year, a number that has remained stable.

Information from CatawbaCare staff

with medication.

“AIDS is not a death sentence,” she said.

Even though medications do exist to treat HIV and AIDS, there is no cure, she said. The disease requires constant monitoring, and people have to come in every three months for blood work.

Once put on medication, a person will typically have to take it forever, Rivera said. The medications are usually expensive and come with side effects, including nausea, headaches and cold sweats. Constantly taking medication can also affect a person’s liver

and kidney function.

However, the federal government funds CatawbaCare so they can work with individuals to make sure they get the medication they need, Rivera said.

AIDS is a disease, but can also have social effects, Rivera said.

“People do not get the support they would with other diseases (such as diabetes),” she said. “It adds to the problem and can lead to depression and anxiety.”

The center has many programs to spread awareness of the issue and visits schools, churches and other areas to get the word out, Rivera said.

“We try to give people the information in a fun environment and give them free stuff to make sure they can make healthy choices,” she said.

“We give them the tools to protect themselves and make informed decisions.”

Though still an issue, there hasn’t been an increase in the number of positive HIV cases within DHEC (South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control) lab results, Stewart said.

The number of people living with HIV has grown due to medications allowing people to live longer.

Upcoming Events: Touchy Topics

Fight Against Rape

What:

What: WAR (Women

Taboo subjects, part 2

Against Rape) mass

Where: Sims 215

meeting

When: Feb. 15

Where: DiGiorgio

Time: 8-70 p.m.

Discuss the “n-word,” internet thugs, promiscuity and teen pregnancy. Hear from With Valentine’s Day a few days away, Students made hearts to share with their loved ones. Senior Broadcast major Chantel Belk manned the information table as students learned about heart health and advocacy efforts.

February is National American Heart Month. Photo by Claire VanOstenbridge • Special to The Johnsonian

The number of infection cases in Hispanic and Latino populations has risen due to better reporting and data collection techniques, Rivera said.

HIV and AIDS is also becoming a bigger issue in the South because more people are mobile and as they travel, the disease does as well, Adamian said.

Limiting the number of partners a person has, using condoms and getting tested are ways to reduce risk, Adamian said. They also need to know their partner’s and their own sexual history and make informed decisions.

Drinking and doing drugs can also impact a person’s judgment and may lead to poor decisionmaking, she said.

“It is not about who you are, but what behaviors or actions you participate in,” Adamian said. “You are the only person who can control your risk.”

Race, sex, gender or other characteristics do not define a person’s risk, Rivera said.

“What matters is what individuals do to protect themselves,” she said.

“HIV is an equal-opportunity disease.”

students who have dealt with these issues.

Campus Center 221 When: Feb. 16 Time: 8-9:30 p.m.

This meeting will be held every first and third Wednesday.

7

THURSDAY February 10, 2011

JESSICA PICKENS Arts & Entertainment Editor pickensj@myjnow.com ALISON ANGEL Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor angela@mytjnow.com

Small town professor goes Hollywood

By Jessica Pickens pickensj@mytjnow.com

Haney Howell had his taste of the Hollywood lifestyle.

“It all started at a dinner party in New York,” said Howell, broadcast professor.

“We were telling stories about the war, and Jules Fisher was looking for a Vietnam movie and wanted the stories written down.”

Howell wrote 55 pages of sketches. The stories were based on his time during the summer of 1973 in Cambodia.

After writing and negotiating, Columbia Studios flew Howell to Hollywood with a $25,000 contract.

“They put me in the Beverly-Wilshire Hotel with my room overlooking Rodeo Drive,” he said. “Imagine that happening to a country boy.”

Howell spent three days with “Bonnie and Clyde” director Arthur Penn and “MASH” screenwriter Larry Gelbart. The trio spent their time reading, writing and fleshing out the story under a working film title of “Hotel Royale.”

“The writing experience was incredible,” Howell said. “All of my expenses were on Columbia.”

Howell ate in exclusive hotel restaurants and was given an inside tour of Hollywood homes in side Larry Gelbart’s

Bentley.

But the Hollywood dream ended.

“The movie project died six months after ‘Apocalypse Now’ came out,” Howell said. “Francis Ford Coppola had a lot of problems with the movie; it went way over budget and it was too early for a Vietnam movie.”

After the movie project ended, Howell started to flesh out the story as a book because the Columbia contract allowed him novelization rights of the story.

Hop to Normandy, France, where Howell and a friend labored to finish the story.

“I took the $25,000 and finished the book. The main draft was finished in 1980,” he said. “I was in a farm house where we cranked out a chapter a day.”

Howell published his book “Roadrunners” with Jim Morrison, who wrote the story “Operation Dumbo Drop,” in 1989.

Morrison was a Green Beret and liked the story since it was about Vietnam.

“I made ‘Roadrunners’ a novel because I can say its made up, even though its really an autobiography,” Howell said.

“You can combine characters in a novel, because I met so many colorful people.”

The novel is about a guy on the hunt for a gun and ends up getting his girlfriend killed in the process.

Howell knew he wanted to write a book ever since he took a creative writing

Haney Howell in Camodia with CBS News in 1974. Howell reported for CBS during the Vietnam war in both Cambodia and Saigon. Among Howell’s bragging rights, he has published a book called “Roadrunners” about his experiences.

Photo courtesy of Haney Howell course at Midwestern University.

“I was told there were only two differences between being a published writer: there are the 60 million people trying to get published and you are the six million who have,” he said.

Howell’s career in broadcast spans from working as a disc jockey in the

mountains of Tennessee as a teenager, traveling across India in a Volkswagon bus and evacuating from Cambodia and Saigon during the war.

But publishing “Roadrunners” is one thing he is most proud of.

“I love seeing my name on the binding on my shelf.”

Students vie for most talented gospel singer

By Alison Angel angela@mytjnow.com

Student talent and black history is showcased through gospel and religious music.

Winthrop’s first-ever gospel singing competition is set to take the stage the day before Valentine’s Day. Austin Jefferson, freshman integrated marketing major, is a part of Winthrop’s Vision of Prayze gospel choir, which generated the idea for the competition.

The gospel choir’s Leadership Team came together to come up with ideas, and a singing competition based off of gospel music came to mind, Jefferson said.

The idea was based off the hit show “Sunday Best,” which airs

on BET. “Although it is not an exact replica of the series, there are many aspects that are the same,” Jefferson said. “There will be four guest judges, a four member live band and three background vocalists.”

Ten students made it into the gospel competition this year.

In order to be eligible for competition, students must have attended one of two audition dates in January where they sang a portion of a religious song showcasing their abilities.

Jefferson said they were then judged based on tone quality, composure while singing and if the song was suitable for their particular voice.

Jefferson said, because February is Black History Month, there

WANT TO GO? What: Sunday Best Singing Competition Where: Tillman Auditorium When: Sunday, Feb. 13 Time: 6:30 p.m.

Price: $2 for students, $5 for public will also be informative presentations throughout the competition that focus on historic black figures in both America and the Gospel Music Industry.

“The purpose of Sunday Best is to not only showcase the talented students of our university, but to educate the attendees of

the history of gospel music and the significance it has in our world today,” Jefferson said.

Solomon Eagles, sophomore biology major, is also a member of Vision of Prayze.

Eagles said he saw a gospel choir at Charleston Southern University hold this type of competition.

He thought it would be a great idea to hold one at Winthrop because it was such a success at his previous school.

“I feel this competition is going to be a success and a blessing,” Eagles said. “It’s not the competition that is important, but it’s the ministry that is incorporated in it. Ministering to the people through song.”

Although this is the first time Winthrop has hosted such an

event, Eagles said he hopes the competition will continue as an annual event and that the student body will come out and support them.

The competition will feature two rounds in which each of the contestants will be required to pick and perform two different songs, which range from Contemporary Christian and Christian Pop to Traditional Gospel.

The Sunday Best Singing Competition will be performed at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 13, in Tillman Auditorium and will showcase a performance by the Vision of Prayze Gospel Choir in addition to the ten competing singers.

Tickets are $2 with student I.D. and $5 for the public.

Penny pinching for love Valentines Day is just around the corner, and college students are broke. Here are ways to save money and still woo your baby.

1. Food: Can’t afford expensive restaurants such as Cheesecake Factory? Do the cheap thing and cook. You can make tilapia or steak tips stir fry for cheap. Plus, cooking is more romantic, intimate and shows you really care. Don’t forget to save room for dessert!

2. Flowers: Can’t afford to drop $20 for a dozen red roses?

Pick some flowers from your garden. Don’t have a garden?

There are lots of nice garnet and gold pansies around campus! But don’t pick them.

3. Movie: Manchester Cinema is too expensive, especially now that they don’t do student discounts on the weekend.

Tune into Turner Classic Movies for a nice romantic classic, or go to the RedBox rentals at Bi-Lo for only a $1.

4. Cards: Halmark Valentine’s Day cards really are not worth the $2 to $5 dollars you might spend on them. Get some pink or red construction paper, cut out a nice little heart and write a loving message to your sweetie.

5. Candy: Candy is pretty cheap to begin with, so there really is no excuse to buy two marshmallow hearts for a $1 at Walgreens.

8

THURSDAY February 10, 2011

Killings abundant in Winthrop movie ‘The Mechanic’

As a Movie During fall 2009 and spring 2010, the Arts and Entertainment section featured Winthrop faculty and staff and their celebrity look-a-likes. Now it’s back.

The Johnsonian uses the family networking website, MyHeritage.com, to generate the look-a-likes.

Mia Cunningham

This week, the celebrity comparison is philosophy and theater and dance professor Mia Cunningham.

According to Myheritage.com, Cunningham looks 72 percent like Faye Dunaway of “Bonnie and Clyde” fame.

Faye Dunaway

Send your celebrity look-a-like ideas to pickensj@mytjnow.com.

On-Campus Movies: Saturday, Feb. 12:

Unstoppable- Train conductors Denzel Washington and Chris Pine try to stop a runaway train before the toxic chemicals it’s carrying puts lives in danger.

Wednesday, Feb. 16:

Morning Glory- Rachel McAdams is trying to get her start in a television career. The movie is basically “Devil Wears Prada” but with TV, since it is based on the book by the same author.

CrossWUrd Puzzle

Across 2. Where does Howell’s book take place?

7. Name of one of the professors in charge of the First Amendment Forum.

9. What is the name of the forum to teach First Amendment Rights? (two words) 10. What is being put in downtown Rock Hill? (two words)

Down 1. Name of the cafeteria in the student center.

3. Who do some students think shouldn’t be in the student center?

4. What health center gives HIV tests?

5. Name of Professor Howell’s book. (two words) 6. Name of state representative to the South Carolina Legislature.

8. What is the animal for this year’s Asian New Year?

Garbage trucks and disposals in film sicken student

house in the attempt to kill him.

Blood is flying everywhere as McKenna bashes the 300-pound assassin in the neck with a coal shovel. Needless to say, my eyes “The Mechanic” isn’t about a were closed. guy who fixes cars.

Other fantastic killings ocApparently, a mechanic is Jessica Pickens curred, such as a fight on an Arts and who gets paid to kill people, but airport shuttle bus involving a Entertainment I’m so naïve I assumed it was guy getting hit by an oncoming editor someone who uses a wrench and car and a 15 car pileup in the changes oil. middle of the city.

I’m generally not in the market for this One wonders, where are the police type of movie. during all of this?

I like clean, classic films with some The movie also contained two of my romance, a few laughs and a lot of glamgreatest fears: a hand getting caught in our. But friends convinced me to go, so the blades of a running garbage disposal I joined. and people being impaled by a garbage Jason Statham plays Arthur Bishop. truck.

He likes classical music, classic Jaguars The movie was generally good, but I and blues clubs in New Orleans. wasn’t crazy about it.

He also enjoys killing people.

I know Statham was supposed to be Bishop is a hired mechanic who is paid tough and stoic, but he also didn’t have to kill political figures, drug lords and any emotion or feeling. arms smugglers.

The ending was a bit silly, far-fetched The catch is all the killings have to be and not the way I wanted it to end. This clean. is a remake of a 1972 movie of the same For example, Bishop kills a man and title starring Charles Bronson. makes it look like he hanged himself I haven’t seen it, but from what I’ve while watching erotic porn. heard it ends the way I thought it should.

I don’t enjoy excessive blood and violence in movies, so the clean killings were easier for me to stomach.

I sat back and enjoyed the movie, thinking I wouldn’t see any blood splatter.

But I was wrong.

Enter Bishop’s new killing apprentice, Steve McKenna, played by Ben Foster.

McKenna is the son of iconic mechanic Harry McKenna, played by Donald Sutherland, who is killed.

After the apprentice joins the killing spree, the rest of the movie is anything but clean.

McKenna gets a big ego and wants to be as smooth as Bishop. He fails miserably as he trashes another assassin’s

“”

Other fantastic killings occurred such as a fight on an airport shuttle bus involving a guy getting hit by an on-coming car...

9

THURSDAY February 3, 2011

ALEXIS AUSTIN Culture Editor austina@mytjnow.com

Show celebrates Asian New Year

By Alexis Austin

austina@mytjnow.com

Celebrate the year of the rabbit.

Feb. 3 marked the beginning of the Asian Lunar New Year. Asian countries, especially those near China, operate on a lunar calendar. Big celebrations and festivals bring in the new year.

On Feb. 16, Winthrop will hold its second annual Asian Lunar New Year Celebration.

“We use it to honor our Asian students,” MBA graduate student Miguel Casajuana said. Casajuana is a graduate assistant in the International Center.

Casajuana began planning the event after returning from winter break. The International Center also worked with Multicultural Student Life and the Culture Club to plan the event.

Theatre and dance professor Annie-Laurie Wheat will assist with stage control. Ms. Thi of Thi’s Place on Main assisted with costumes for the show and is providing the refreshments.

International ambassadors, or international students attending Winthrop on full scholarships, will work backstage with the performers.

“It will be a very colorful and visual festivity with lots of music and movement,” Casajuana said.

There will be a human dragon, as seen in many Asian celebrations, singers, violinists, a fashion show and a performance by the Martial Arts Club.

The performers will be Asian students.

Prior to the celebration, there will be refreshments and a short speech. Political science professor Melford Wilson will talk about his experiences in China and what the Asian Lunar New Year means.

Those who attend the event will also have the chance to participate in the surprise revelation, which is an Asian tradition where those in attendance will receive an envelope with something in it, however, only one lucky person will get $50.

While Winthrop’s Asian Lunar New Year Celebration will not be as big as the ones in Asia, Casajuana said it gives students a chance to celebrate another part of the world.

“It’s a great opportunity for students to experience a new culture,” he said.

The Asian Lunar New Year Celebration will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 16 in DIGS Banquet Hall. Tickets are $3 for students with a Winthrop I.D. and $5 for those without. Seating is limited.

Tickets will be sold in the International Center, DIGS and Thomson lobby. It is an approved cultural event.

Above: A Chinese dragon from last year’s Asian Lunar New Year Celebration interacts with the crowd.

Left: Attendees at last year’s celebration taste some Asian dishes. Food was catered by Thi’s Place on Main. • Photos courtesy of Judy Longshaw, University Relations

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

Wedding bells ring early for some Winthrop students

By Susan Clark

Special to The Johnsonian

For some, the thought of marriage is far away.

For others, however, the sound of wedding bells is just around the corner.

Senior integrated marketing communication major Whitney McAbee will be hearing those bells in July. McAbee and her fiance, Nick Hough, met at Winthrop and have been dating for three years. Hough is currently a graduate student at Winthrop.

According to Bride Magazine, the average age

of women getting married in the U.S. is 27 years old.

Despite being under the national average, 21-yearold McAbee does not think she is too young to get married.

“It’s the age I always planned on [getting married],” McAbee said.

She said her and Hough’s family are really supportive about the marriage.

“We have really good role models,” McAbee said.

Both McAbee’s and Hough’s parents got married young and both couples have been together almost 30 years.

But McAbee hasn’t

been alone in planning a wedding.

Before December, senior middle level education major Margo Byrd and senior early childhood education major Lydia Balton were also planning for their weddings. Byrd and Balton both got married over this past winter break.

Byrd and her husband, Brad, met in the summer of 2009 at the Boys and Girls Club.

“We just connected as friends and later on as a couple and fell in love,” Byrd said. After 10 months of dating, Brad proposed.

“As we progressed,

we knew we wanted a family and didn’t feel as though we should wait for something we knew we both wanted to happen,” Byrd said. She said both families were really supportive about the wedding.

“Brad’s in the military, and we wanted our whole family to be able to attend the wedding.

Brad was being shipped to California, and after I graduated I would follow him. If we had waited any longer to be married, we would have sacrificed our family and friends being able to attend our special day,” Byrd said.

Since being married in December, Byrd has not found it difficult to manage both school and her marriage.

“I don’t feel the pressure of being the stereotypical wife because my husband is in California. We keep in touch numerous times throughout the day, which leaves me with plenty of time for academics,” Byrd said.

Balton and her husband, Kyle, were together for six and a half years before getting married.

“We were high school sweethearts and came to Winthrop together,” Balton said. “It may be hard to believe this, but we never even broke up, not once.”

“We love each other, and I found my best friend in my husband.

We grew up together, learned to lean on each other through thick and thin and have now created the next chapter in our lives together,” she said.

Balton’s family was also supportive about the marriage.

“They were both very excited. Our families are close and knew we would be getting married when the time was right,” Balton said.

“Sometimes it does get difficult being both a wife and a student because it seems as if there is never enough time in a day. It is important that you have good communication with your husband or wife,” she said.

Balton does not think she’s missing out on anything by being married.

“I have had the best college experience, and marrying my husband made it even better,” she said.

Junior dance education major Megan Friend has had plenty of time to get adjusted to being a student and a wife. Friend and her husband, Sean, had been dating almost three years before he proposed.

They got married in August 2008 right before she started Winthrop as a freshman.

“Both of our families expressed the loose idea that we might want to wait longer before getting married, but were also extremely supportive of

our decision,” Friend said.

“Being married young means I’m in a committed relationship, so I’m definitely not putting myself at the same physical and emotional risks that the hook-up and/or dating scene can cause,” she said.

Friend said being married has benefited her in many ways.

“We’ve had plenty of time to get to know each other as who we’ve always been and also as the people we have grown and changed into since our marriage,” Friend said. “As my best friend and perfect compliment, he always knows exactly what to say to keep me getting overly stressed with my busy life, which is incredibly useful to have as a college student.”

So, why did Byrd, Balton, Friend and McAbee choose to get married? The re-occurring answer is love.

“Quite often I’ve gotten the question, ‘Why’d you get married right out of high school? Shotgun wedding?’ I married for the same reason most people get married later in adulthood. I am in love and wanted to commit myself to my best friend,” Friend said. “Marriage and babies aren’t synonymous, and finding your soul mate at a young age is possible.”

10 SPORTS BRIEFS Freebies to be given to students at next two men’s basketball games When the men’s basketball team takes on Charleston Southern on Thursday night, the first 100 students will receive free Penn Station starting at 6:30 p.m.

The first 300 students will also score a free “Crush Coastal” t-shirt on Saturday night as the men’s basketball team takes on rival Coastal Carolina at 7 p.m.

JEFF BRODEUR Sports Editor brodeurj@mytjnow.com DAVID THACKHAM Assistant Sports Editor thackhamd@mytjnow.com

THURSDAY February 10, 2011

New coach sparks competitive fire for Winthrop baseball team

Men’s tennis falls to high-flying VCU Winthrop falls to 2-4 on the season after a loss to Virginia Commonwealth University on Sunday.

The Eagles were swept in doubles play but were able to pull out one win in singles.

They will return to action Feb. 19 against Georgia State at home.

Softball kicks off season with crucial tournaments From Feb. 11 to Feb. 16, the Lady Eagles will travel to Columbia to take on the likes of USC and Coastal Carolina in the Palmetto State Showdown.

Two days later, they travel to Athens, Ga., to compete against the University of Georgia and others in the Georgia Tournament.

Men’s basketball to play Bracketbuster against MAC perennial On Feb. 19, the Eagles will battle the Bobcats of Ohio University.

Winthrop was selected on Jan. 31 to compete in the three-day event along with 113 other eligible teams, the largest pool in Bracketbuster history.

WU baseball starts season off in California Winthrop will fly out to California for a 3-day exhibition tournament against San Diego State University and the University of San Diego. The Eagles will take on SDSU on Feb. 18 and battle USD the day after, before turning around to play the Aztecs again on Feb 20.

This is the third time in five years the Eagles have played in California.

The Winthrop baseball program will face a tough road ahead as it takes on perennial powers such as San Diego State, University of Michigan, and the University of Florida. Photo by Hannah Schwartz • schwartzh@mytjnow.com

By Hannah Schwartz schwartzh@mytjnow.com Despite the cold weather, signs of spring exist all around us. One of those signs is the cracks of bats as baseball practice starts to ramp up.

Winthrop baseball opens its season in San Diego on Feb. 18, and the team is working hard to get ready for opening day.

The Eagles new head coach, Tom Riginos, had the opportunity to start to get to know his players during individual workouts during the fall semester.

Now, he is excited about finally getting to work with them as a team.

Riginos is busy making sure the team is playing “his way.”

When asked what his way,which he said is playing hard and hustling everyday. The emphasis is on competition and attitude rather than wins and losses. Rig-

inos thinks t if all those things are done well, the wins will take care of themselves.

Team captain, outfielder Sean Sullivan, has noticed a difference in practices. “They’re a lot more attitude-focused and up-tempo,” he said. He said the new coach will not allow them to be mediocre.

This season is shaping up to be a challenging one, but both Riginos and Sullivan said the team is up to that challenge. The team is scheduled to play severalnationally ranked teams, including the University of Florida, the number on eteam in the country according to Baseball America, and conference rival Coastal Carolina.

Because the team has faced top-ranked teams in the past, including the University of South Carolina, who went on to win the College World Series, Sullivan isn’t that worried. “It’s a good

opportunity any time we get to play teams like that,” he said.

He also pointed out that getting a win against a ranked team would help out with post-season standings.

Although Riginos didn’t put this year’s schedule together, he appreciates the toughness of it.

“Any time you play teams that are the top teams in the country, you are going to challenge your kids,” Riginos said. And challenging his players is something he thinks is important. He said facing a tough schedule helps get the team ready for conference, and hopefully, postseason play.

The team is still developing, but Riginos said he likes what he sees. While the team is ranked third in the conference in preseason polls, he does not think that is where they will end up. “Third is very average, and I demand a lot better than average in this program,” he said.

“”

I demand a lot better than average in this program.

Tom Riginos Head Coach

New sports editors, new focus

By Jeff Brodeur and David Thackham editors@mytjnow.com

A new era of leadership for the sports section in The Johnsonian has arrived. We are committed to covering Winthrop athletics and club sports,

although if there are other athletic achievements on or around campus, we will not hesitate to shed light on those. Our section will report sports news, good or bad; we will tell it like it is. This is our introduction to the Winthrop population.

Here’s hoping for a successful and victorious season for all Eagles teams.

Sports editor, Jeff Brodeur After growing up in the small town of Charlton, Mass., I opted for a change of scenery and decided transfer to Winthrop following my freshman year. While I was searching for schools and the name Winthrop came up, my first thought was, “Oh, the school that beat Notre Dame in basketball a few years ago.” That’s

how big of an impact sports has on my life. I played basketball and baseball most of my life, so writing about them is my forte. However, I’ve always taken an interest to sports in general and I look forward to the opportunity to explore and expose everything Winthrop athletics have to offer.

Assistant sports editor, David Thackham Although I was born in Detroit, Mich., I have spent much of my life

in South Carolina and am very knowledgeable about local sports news, both in my hometown of Clemson and right here in Rock Hill. I mainly enjoy covering soccer, but have been known to embrace basketball, men’s and women’s, as well as lacrosse and tennis. I hope to write stories that delve into the personalities of our peers and studentathletes, in addition to reporting on their athletic achievements.

Upcoming Events Men’s basketball Feb. 10 vs. Charleston Southern Feb. 12 vs. Coastal Carolina Women’s basketball Feb. 12 at Coastal Carolina Feb. 14 at Liberty Women’s tennis Feb. 12 vs. Virginia

Softball Feb 11 vs. Furman (Columbia, S.C.) Feb 12 vs. Charleston Southern (Columbia, S.C.) Men’s/women’s cross country Feb. 11-12 Akron Invitational (Akron, OH)

THURSDAY February 3, 2011

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SPORTS

Freshman approaches historic milestone BASKETBALL • from front do, so it’ll be a challenge… to find different ways to score,” Fann said.

Indeed, conference games have been an obstacle for the Eagles, past and present. In Fann’s time, Winthrop was only .500 (7-7) within the Big South, while the current squad is .476 (3-5).

The upside for the Eagles this season may prove to be their performance on the road. They picked up a vital conference win against UNC-Asheville and played respectably, despite losing against Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth, both away from Rock Hill.

The Eagles’ last games of the season consist of just two games at Winthrop; the other six away from home.

Although Fann and McClanahan mirror each other in tenacity and work ethic, the two have led their team, win or loss, in markedly different aspects of the game.

“They’re two different kinds of players,” Childers said. “Dequesha is a point guard, [so] we count on her to do more things than score points and rebound.

She has to run our attack and manage the game. [Fann] is more of a finisher and rebounder.

The statistics tell the story best: Although the duo had nearly identical scoring, steals and turnover averages, McClanahan has already more than doubled Fann’s assists per game (APG), while Fann collected three more rebounds than the young point guard per game.

Both freshmen had found trouble being consistently dominant in their first year with the Eagles. Against BirminghamSouthern University, Fann had a season-low three points. McClanahan has had two games with no points at all, against Lander and Liberty universities.

“We always have to keep in perspective that she’s [McClana-

Dequesha McClanahan needs just one more Big South freshman of the week award to beat Ashley Fann’s Winthrop record set back in the 2005-2006 season. Photo by Stephanie Eaton • eatons@mytjnow.com han] a freshman,” Childers said.

“Ashley Fann had a lot of dud games, and freshmen are going to do that, but she has the ability to come back and have a great game any night out.”

As a forward, Fann’s freshman statistics are skewed. McClanahan’s field goal percentage of 33.1 and 26.6 (compared to Fann’s 42.0 FG percent/ 36.2 3-point FG percent) from behind the 3-point line belie her impact on the team. While Fann had the assistance of first-team All-Big South Iva Milevoj and super free-throw shooter, Ashley Carey, McClanahan has had to put her team on her back to get the Eagles back in winning form.

Veterans, such as seniors Lacey Lyons and Chantel Johnson have not been on form to help

their younger teammates. Lyons has come up with only two blocks this season, while Johnson (1.1 PPG) is struggling to reach the basket.

“I had senior help,”Fann said, “that helped me grow and carry the team, but McClanahan’s seniors have been in a slump,” Childers said. “[Lyons and Johnson] haven’t had four years vested in the program, [so] this team is centered around our younger players.

Unfortunately, the other freshmen have not been able to make their mark yet. Samiya Wright and Christine Rishel had to forfeit their freshman year due to season-ending injuries within the first month of practice.

So, the responsibility fell to McClanahan, which is where it

was always likely to go. The exercise science major only needs one more Big South Freshman of the Week to enter the elite of Winthrop basketball freshmen.

But she would do well to heed the words of someone who has been there before.

“Only certain people can handle [putting a team on your back],” Fann said. “When you’re a young player, you’re trying to develop your game while trying to carry your team, and that’s hard.”

Women’s basketball returns to action against Coastal Carolina University in Conway on Feb. 12 to kick off a four game away conference pattern that also includes Liberty, Presbyterian and Radford.

“”

This team is centered around our younger players.

Bud Childers Head Coach

Men’s basketball slipping despite strong home record

By Devonne Good Special to The Johnsonian

Home court advantage is often thought as the greatest advantage for any team, from having the home fans in attendance to being in the atmosphere where ath-

letes feel most comfortable. For the Winthrop men’s basketball team, that has been most apparent this season.

Redshirt junior center Matt Morgan said that fans, energy, and pride help motivate them to do better at home.

“When you step onto the court,” Mor-

gan said, “the main objective is to win; you want to do well for your fans and Winthrop.”

The Eagles have built up an impressive record of 7-1 at Winthrop Coliseum. They have had a tough away schedule resulting in a 4-8 away record. The team says they only blame themselves for their losses.

The last two away games they had were close games, losing to Presbyterian College by two points in overtime and losing by one point to Radford.

“The teams we played away caught us on a bad day and we have had a lot of bad days,” freshman forward Joab Jerome said.

Winthrop has also suffered losses from

11:30 a.m.2:00 a.m.

high-ranked opponents, such as Kentucky and the University of Dayton. Their loss to Kentucky by 37 points was their biggest defeat so far this season.

“We are losing too much to be a winning program” freshman guard/forward Derrick Scott says.

The only solution they can come up with is to play harder in both halves of the games.

“Start off strong; finish strong in both halves,” Scott said.

They have one more away game against High Point, which is a game that denotes the Big South Conference contest.

THURSDAY February 10, 2011

THE JOHNSONIAN

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