Niner Times: September 12, 2017

SEPT. 12, 2017 NINERTIMES.COM

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

READ MORE ONLINE At Ninertimes.com

Hunter Heilman editor@ninertimes.com EDITORIAL

Alex Sands NEWS EDITOR Kathleen Cook SPORTS EDITOR Jeffrey Kopp A&E EDITOR Hailey Turpin LIFESTYLE EDITOR Salina Dickie COPY EDITOR Mia Shelton OPINION EDITOR Leysha Caraballo PHOTO COORDINATOR Pooja Pasupula PHOTO COORDINATOR Chris McKinnis VIDEO PRODUCER Carmen Westra COMMUNITY EDITOR Kathryn Whitesides LAYOUT EDITOR ASSISTANT EDITORS

Jacob Pritchett, Stephanie Trefzger, Angie Baquedano, Emily Hickey, Joshua Worley CONTRIBUTING STAFF

Evan Moore, Lea Thompson, Nicole Buckenham

Sports

News new season and big • Achanges at Jerry

• • •

Richardson Stadium

Wildcats overwhelm Niners Niners win within ten Niners win the last four minutes

NEWSROOM: 705.687.7150 ninertimes.com/staff

Follow us on Twitter @niner_times

MEDIA MARKETING CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Linnea Stoops production@uncc.edu

A&E • • •

LIFESTYLE

TV REVIEW: “Twin Peaks: The Return” Gaming roundup: September 2017 A nerdʼs guide to DragonCon 2017

• • • •

MARKETING STAFF

Fred Brown, Brandon Cox, Brandon Freer, Ryan Scott, Teely Yang

Squiggly brows: hot or not?

A letter to college freshmen How to start feeling your best Monthly horoscope LOCATED IN THE LOWER LEVEL OF THE STUDENT UNION

VIDEO •

Back at it: Trent Bostick returns to the field

NINER TIMES • RADIO FREE CHARLOTTE SANSKRIT LITERARY-ARTS MAGAZINE MEDIA MARKETING • TECHNICAL T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F N O R T H C A R O L I N A AT C H A R L O T T E

NINER MEDIA ADVISER: WAYNE MAIKRANZ MARKETING ADVISER: KELLY MERGES BUSINESS MANAGER: LAURIE CUDDY GRAPHICS & PRODUCTION: JOSHUA WOOD OFFICE MANAGER: DANNY HUFFMAN

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REMEMBERING

DR. SKINNER

NEWS

UNC Charlotte loses one of its most dedicated professors

By Alexandria Sands Photos courtesy of Facebook

How would you describe the “perfect” professor?

Is this person “energetic” or “enthusiastic?”

Are they “driven” and “motivated,” with goals and ambition? Maybe they’re a professor who connects with their students, or reaches out to the community, or challenges their classes to work to the best of their ability.

This is how colleagues described Dr. Jeannine Skinner.

Dr. Eric Heggestad, interim chair of the Department of Psychological Science, said.

Skinner’s work as professor was perfect.

“She’s everything we’d want as a faculty member,” he said.

On the night of Sept. 1, UNC Charlotte lost the perfect professor. Skinner was killed, in what police are saying is a probable domestic violence case. She was 35.

Since then, the UNC Charlotte community has been mourning the tragic loss.

She was an assistant professor of gerontology, the study of old age and psychology. This would have been her second year at the university.

“It’s rare for a professor to make as big of an impression on a university in one year,” said Anita Blanchard, an associate professor of psychology and organization science.

Skinner was a mentor to many other professors when it came to having “difficult but important” conversations in class, Blanchard said. She encouraged them to talk about race and social justice, specifically after the Keith Lamont Scott shooting. Her classes were open and inclusive, said Chancellor Philip Dubois in a message to the university. She was always trying to improve in her profession. Heggestad said she would attend classes and workshops to become a better teacher.

Skinner was conducting research on ways to improve the health of senior citizens, specifically minorities and those of low income. She found that many of those seniors didn’t have safe places to walk. She developed a program at a local senior center that helped them find a safe place. She would host programs at the center that would call

for standing rooms only, due to their popularity.

Skinner had plans to continue research this fall and present her findings at a conference, said one of her students Tram Dang. Dang was originally intimidated by Skinner, who had high expectations for her students.

“After a few encounters with her, I understand that it’s because she knows we are capable of going beyond our limits and we just need a little push,” Dang said. “I truly appreciate her for that.”

Skinner was known as always having a plan or goal. The walls of her office were lined with sticky notes, full of ideas for research she wanted to conduct.

“She had her whole next five years mapped out professionally, how she wanted to accomplish things,” Heggestad said.

Skinner, who researched health factors, was an active person. Blanchard, one of her close friends at the university, said they’d go running or to do yoga together.

Zinobia Bennefield, an assistant professor in the department of sociology, was also close to Skinner.

Together, they both started out as new faculty members in 2016. She said her conversations with Skinner were always educational.

“I always felt like I left her knowing something I didn’t know before,” Bennefield said.

Skinner received her doctorate from Howard University in 2010 and studied at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She was an adjunct faculty member at Belmont University and Fisk University before joining the UNC Charlotte family. From 2013 to 2014, Skinner conducted research at Vanderbilt University’s Medical Center. She was originally from St. Petersburg, Florida.

“The university has lost someone I don’t know can be replaced,” Bennefield said.

UNC Charlotte’s Center for Wellness offers an “Interpersonal Violence Resource Guide” that can connect victims of domestic violence to safe places on and off campus. Find it at wellness.uncc.edu.

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THE PARKING STRUGGLE

POLICE BLOTTER SEPT. 2 - SEPT. 7

BREAKING AND ENTERING SEPT. 7 •

East Deck Two, unknown person(s) removed a computer from the victim’s unsecured vehicle.

CALLS FOR SERVICE SEPT. 2 •

Levine Hall, officer took a report in reference to derogatory statement written on a white board.

COUNTERFEIT SEPT. 2 •

Student Union, officer took a report in reference to counterfeit money used to purchase in the student union.

SEPT. 3 •

Student Union, unknown person used counterfeit money to purchase food at Wendy’s.

LARCENY SEPT. 6 •

Fretwell, unknown person(s) removed a musical instrument that was left unsecured in a public area.

SEX OFFENSE

By Evan Moore

Many students would argue that this is the worst school students, or there’s too much construction going on. Either year for parking yet. way, I’m sick of it.”

In an article last week, WSOC reported While some students battle for parking in that the student body has grown by over high-traffic lots, others are looking for an easier 1,000 students since last year. The way to get on campus. Some students have university has also lost more than been parking in North Deck and CRI Deck to 350 spaces due to the construction of avoid the hassle of trying to find parking. the new Health and Wellness Center.

The university offers a free shuttle service A large number of students have from the decks on the outskirts of campus reported difficulties finding a parking to the center of campus. There is also a GPS spot on campus because of the tracking system so students can see where growth. Some students have even the shuttle is at all times. been late for class because of time Colleges around the nation have been spent finding parking. exploring alternative ways to combat parking “This is ridiculous,” said Senior woes. In order to decrease campus traffic, Mitch Darley. “If I’m paying $450 a some universities have barred freshmen year to park my car, I should be able from having cars. Others have torn down to find a space without a problem. older buildings on campus to make way for I’m just tired of being late for class more parking spots. Some colleges have even because I can’t find a parking spot.” purchased additional land to build lots.

To avoid being tardy, many “I’m all for taking cars away from students have resorted to parking in freshmen,” said Sophomore Dillon Traphagen.

JUNIOR restricted areas. Some students have “Aren’t freshmen required to live on campus ERICA SWINSON even been leaving their cars in the grass. anyways? They don’t need cars.”

Campus police have been seen issuing University officials have said that parking tickets to those parked in these areas. would be chaotic the first week or two of school, Other students have been taking but many are finding out that it may be longer advantage of shuttles offered by student housing than that. With the school year in full swing, it could be a complexes such as University Village, Millennium One while before student’s troubles are over. and Aspen Heights. These shuttles arrive on campus every UNC Charlotte plans to expand the Union Deck once half hour and are free for students living in these places. they finish the Health and Wellness Center, however this “The school needs to take responsibility for this,” said expansion will not be complete until spring or summer of Junior Erica Swinson. “Either they’re admitting too many 2018.

“I’M

SICK OF IT.”

SEPT. 6 •

Craver Road, subject stated that an individual in a vehicle asked for directions and while attempting to assist they noticed that the individual was exposing himself.

To view the full police blotter for the month of September, visit ninertimes.com.

NT File Photo

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A LIFE SPORTS OF SIGNIFICANCE

How the events of 9/11 effected Charlotte coach Charlie Skalaski Each of us take a different path which leads us to the place in which we were meant to be.

Charlie Skalaski was inspired by his presence in Manhattan on 9/11 to emark on a radically different career, coaching football instead of corporate America.

After having a successful stint as a defensive back at Florida, including three bowl game appearances, Skalaski remained in Gainesville to be a graduate assistant while receiving his Master’s Degree in public administration. Once he completed graduate school, the Miami-native worked his way up the corporate ladder, until he became the manager of the New York City office for Steelcase. He was there at the turn of the millennium and also in September of 2001.

“On the morning of 9/11 I actually had an appointment downtown, at 120 Broadway, which was about three blocks, four blocks from where the Trade Centers were. As I was walking out to get to the subway to go, the first plane hit. I didn’t even know it,” Skalaski said.

A call from an associate led to Skalaski reschedule his meeting for later in the afternoon, knowing it was going to be “chaos” there.

“I knew between firetrucks and stuff, not thinking it was going to be anything of magnitude, I knew it would still be crazy,” Skalaski said.

When he returned to his office, the catastrophic nature of the situation became clear to him.

“Right about when I got back to my office, coming back up out of the subway, the second plane hit. I didn’t know that either at the time because I was

in midtown,” Skalaski said. “When I walked up there, everyone was silent around the TV’s. That’s when I first got the feel for what was going on.”

With the uncertainty as to how the city would respond to the attack, Skalaski took charge. He locked down his building, brought in food and waited to see what would unfold outside.

“I didn’t know if people were going to lose their minds in New York City, if people were going to riot, if there was going to be chaos,” Skalaski said.

“Fortunately, people didn’t overreact, people didn’t freak out. People just started walking because there was no more transportation, they shut everything down from downtown New York City to midtown.”

With the lack of cell phone service, getting in contact with loved ones wasn’t an easy task.

“My family was very nervous, I know my wife was because she knew I had an appointment downtown that day,” Skalaski said. “I could take the subway either to right by Wall Street or you could take it into the Trade Center and I was 50/50 on which one I would use. So, for all she knew, I had taken the subway into the Trade Center and I could’ve been in the building.”

After the last person left his building, Skalaski began his journey home. An associate that had left earlier alerted him that the West Side Highway was open. While Skalaski trekked home on his regular route, nothing about the drive was normal.

“It’s wall-to-wall with people seven days a week, 365 days a year. You talk about an eerie feeling, I was the only car driving outbound, leaving the

city. All that was driving by me were like military vehicles, busloads of NYPD officers who I guess were going down to the site,” Skalaski said.

The losses on 9/11 were felt in the areas surrounding New York City, including in Skalaski’s community, Ridgewood, New Jersey.

“We had lost 13 people in my community that day in the towers, two of which were volunteer coaches in the football program,” Skalaski said. “I get this call out of the blue, I hadn’t told anybody about my background, that I had played and coached college football before, and it was a call to coach and he said ‘hey would you be interested in helping us?’”

Though he had been successful in the corporate circuit, Skalaski said he never felt “intrinsically fulfilled” in his career. But when he returned to the football world as a coach, the pieces of his life fell into place.

“It didn’t take long, it was probably three or four weeks into it that I was smitten and knew you know what, this is what I’m supposed to be doing.

This is what God wants me to do. We’re all called on a different path in life. We need business men, but there was no intrinsic fulfillment in that arena for me. I wanted to move from being a success more to a life of significance,” Skalaski said.

After the terrorist attacks on 9/11, the economy shifted in America. Steelcase, the company Skalaski worked with, downsized from 22,000 employees in September of 2001 to 11,000 a year See SIGNIFICANCE, page 6

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SEPT. 12, 2017

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SIGNIFICANCE cont.

he feels about developing young men.

I’m a big believer in whole-person development. I’m going to push you to be the best you can be academically, athletically, socially and if you so choose, spiritually. I know Coach Lambert feels the same way, so it’s been great.”

Winding up at Charlotte was “totally a God thing” for Skalaski.

The character of the coaches already in the Queen City led to Skalaski further investigating the program as a viable job option. Dean Hood, who left the Charlotte program after the 2016 season, had worked previously with Skalaski at Eastern Kentucky.

Hood was the one who put Skalaski on the radar for the 49ers coaching staff.

“I knew about Coach Lambert and the type of man he was and I knew about Coach Hood and the type of man he was and said if those guys are invested in this, then it might be something worth looking into. I said I’ll do this for a year and let’s see where the chips fall. Lo and behold, I did it for a year and the opportunity arose for me to stay here,” Skalaski said.

After working as an analyst in the 2016 season, Skalaski is now the special teams coordinator for the 49ers. It isn’t just his passion for the game that causes Skalaski to love his job – it is the platform his profession provides to shape young men.

“I love football, I love X’s and O’s, but what I really love is being a mentor and having a positive sphere of influence on young men. It’s really a chance for me to pay it forward.”

later. Being in the upper level of management, Skalaski knew there was a high chance he would be among the next wave of cuts. He took his cue, quit his job and pursued coaching.

“I told my wife ‘I’m going to take a few months and see if I can get back in this coaching thing.’ She thought I was nuts, she thought it was a midlife crisis or something,” Skalaski said.

He tapped his contacts in the coaching world and eventually found a home in Liberty University.

After making the jump from business suits and skyscrapers to gym shorts and grass fields, Skalaski had never been happier.

“I was a kid in a candy store to be honest. All of the credit goes to my wife and kids, because I went from making a pretty good living to making peanuts. I probably cut my income by 75 percent,” Skalaski said.

During his nine years with Liberty, Skalaski acted as the tight ends coach, the wide receivers coach and the recruiting coordinator. Though he received offers to leave the program for other coaching positions, Skalaski remained with Liberty until 2012. He left and became an assistant coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, he returned to Liberty in 2014. He moved to Eastern Kentucky the next year and then wound up in Charlotte in time for the 2016 season.

“I had the chance to go to a couple of really big programs, but I just didn’t feel like the head coach and I had the same philosophy about mentoring

By Kathleen Cook people,” Skalaski said. “That’s the Photos courtesy of Charlotte big reason why I’m here is because I Athletics and Michael Foran know Coach Lambert and I know how

“I WANTED TO MOVE FROM BEING A SUCESS MORE TO A LIFE OF SIGNIFICANCE”

CHARLIE SKALASKI

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Submission Deadline

NOVEMBER 3, 2017 Submit your SHORT STORIES, ART & POETRY for a chance to be published in the 2018 Sanskrit Magazine

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T R U MP’ S R ES PO N S E T O HA RVE Y’ S

HAVOC

OPINION

By Mia Shelton Photos courtesy of the US Department of Defense and Air Force SOC On Friday Aug. 25, Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc on Texas and parts of Louisiana. Thousands of people from Austin, Texas to Cameron, Louisiana have lost their homes. Dozens were injured and at least 70 have lost their lives. Lives like the Saldivar family in Austin, a family of 6, who drowned in their car when they got swept by a currant as they tried to reach higher ground. The unidentified mother in Beaumont, who got swept into a canal while trying to save her daughter from drowning. Hurricane Harvey is believed by scientists as the worst rainfall disaster in U.S. history. Thousands of people from all over the country are coming to Texas’ aid. Dozens of Texans, military men women and Louisiana natives have volunteered during the storm and after to find and rescue families. Thousands of Texans without homes are in shelters from Dallas to Lake Charles, Louisiana and there is still a lot to do.

Many people are looking to government officials for help, including the president. President Trump got off to a rocky start with many people when he was asked by a reporter what was his message to Texans preparing for and dealing with the effects of Hurricane Harvey. His response was, “good luck.”

Not exactly the response we were looking for, Mr. President. Things took a turn for the better when he and the First Lady Melania came to Corpus Christi and Houston to mingle and hand out meals to victims. According to the New York Times, Mr. Trump’s aides say he is trying to avoid the mistakes made by former President George W. Bush in 2005, when he took a relatively handsoff approach to the federal response to Hurricane Katrina.

This seems to show in Mr. Trump’s actions. On Friday, Sept. 1, Mr. Trump signed a proclamation declaring Sunday, Sept. 3 would be a “National Day of Prayer” for those affected by Hurricane Harvey.

He has even pledged to donate $1 million of his fortune to recovery efforts in Texas. On his return to Texas, Mr. Trump has asked Congress for $8 billion for relief efforts.

However, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said it will take an estimated total of $180 billion to repair the damage done by Hurricane Harvey.

Despite some of his generous efforts, there has been some controversy on his statement about the hurricane being a “wonderful thing.” Upon reflection of the situation it is still unclear whether or not Mr. Trump is saying this hurricane is a good thing because it has brought people together, or was his presence in the shelters and meeting the victims a wonderful thing. In any case, I believe I speak for many people in Texas when I say nothing about this disaster is wonderful. My friend being separated from her five-year old daughter is not wonderful. My paralyzed uncle being removed from his flooded home and almost refused care because of the inadequacy of the hospital he was sent to is not wonderful. Thousands without heat, water, electricity or homes is not wonderful. So, I would suggest to Mr. Trump to do, what I am sure is beyond his capabilities given previous events, to choose his words carefully.

Despite the controversy, Mr. Trump’s assistance is very much appreciated. Although Texas still has a long road ahead on the road to recovery, with donations and help from people all over the country, things will get well soon.

NINERTIMES.COM

SEPT. 12, 2017

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WE ALL FLOAT A&E DOWN HERE

by Hunter Heilman Photos courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures Balloon illustration by Kathryn Whitesides

The adaption of Stephen King’s classic novel “It” gives you more to fear than just a clown

I’m not afraid of clowns, really. Sure, they’re a little unsettling, but they’ve never outright scared me. So I never really got the appeal around the 1990 mini-series “It” when I was a child. I got that it was about a clown that terrorized children, but I never understood why that was supposed to scare me as much as my peers were getting scared by it.

I never actually watched the mini-series because of it, not because I was scared of it, but because I was pretty disinterested. That being said, when the teaser trailer for a new adaption of “It” dropped in late March, I was shown a new side of this source material. The clown in this trailer didn’t scare me because he was a clown, he scared me because he was actively trying to be scary and to play up the inherent unsettling nature of clowns. In that way gave “It” an entirely new meaning to me, one that made me somewhat understand why people were so afraid of clowns in the first place.

The trailer blended one part Spielberg, one part X-Files, two parts raw, unadulterated terror, “It” looked killer.

And what a killer indeed.

Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher) is a 13 year-old boy living in Derry, Maine during the summer of 1989. Bill is recovering from the death of his 6 year-old brother, Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) the previous year, after going missing racing a paper sailboat during a downpour. While Bill doesn’t know what happened to Georgie, the audience knows good and well from the opening scene that Georgie was killed at the hands of Pennywise the Clown (Bill Skaragård), a demonic force that haunts Derry every 27 years in the form of what scares his victims most. When Bill and his friends, Beverly (Sophia Lillis), Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor), Richie (Finn Wolfhard), Eddie (Jack

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Dylan Grazer), Stanley (Wyatt Oleff) and Mike (Chosen Jacobs) all begin to be terrorized by their worst fears, all centering around the presence of Pennywise, the group must band together to find the source of the terror and destroy it.

“It” isn’t the type of film you might think it is, since it doesn’t rely on jump-scares and manipulative music to get the audience in the mood.

This is a film that takes its time building the

characters so that when the terror does finally begin, you’re invested in not only how scary it is, but the well-being of the characters involved. That being said, “It” is scary as sh*t. The opening scene of the film, a pleasant opening credits sequence set to the construction of Georgie’s paper sailboat, might lead you to believe this is a much more pleasant film than it ends up being, but before long, director Andy Muschietti pulls the rug out from under the audience and lets them know exactly what type of film “It” is before a title card even appears.

Still, recognition factor aside, “It” only gets scarier from its opening scene. While the film does take its time in building its characters and their respective arts, that doesn’t mean the film still isn’t filled to the brim with terror, but it’s more sporadic in the first two acts than the trailer might lead you to believe. Each scene builds each character’s respective fears that follow them throughout the film and each are scary in their own respective ways. I know what you all are thinking: “Sure, they might be scary, but get to the damn clown already. Is the clown scary?” to which I would say: yes, yes he is. Looking at Skaragård’s previous work and at his general appearance, he looks like any other Swedish pretty boy, but damn can this pretty boy turn on the terror. I was surprised when producers elected to cast such a young actor in the role of Pennywise, but now I can see exactly why. While Tim Curry’s take on Pennywise in the mini-series is iconic since it scarred children at the time, now, it’s not quite as frightening.

While Curry has the charm and the talent, Skarsgård brings a sense of immaturity to the character that really makes Pennywise, however smart he is, feel a few steps behind each character,

only to get right in front of the characters to ruin all of their fun.

While Skarsgård does do a wonderful job as Pennywise, the group of children in the film, known as the “Losers Club” are just as charming, even if they aren’t as horrifying. Lieberher does fine work as Bill, a character that gets a lot of emotional range, given the horrifying events he has recently gone through. Lillis is incredibly likable and super charming as Beverly, the sole female in the Losers Club. Wolfhard, making a 180 from his “Stranger Things” role, pairs really nicely with Grazer as the two major comic reliefs in the film. Altogether, every single one of the actors placed in the Losers Club brings a fresh and unpretentious take to these children, and the best part is that they get to feel, and act like real children. This, unlike many other films with children at the lead, feels like real kids at that age, and not like some 40 year-old white dude writing characters off of what he thinks kids act like.

These are kids that feel organic, act like little delinquents, have legitimate, dark, heavy issues in their home lives, and in spite of all the horror they face, still have a good degree of fun with themselves.

This is where “It” might surprise a lot of people: it’s funny as hell. This is a film that could feel heavy had it played itself with a straight face constantly, but the film luckily uses its charm of its cast and the inherent nature of middle school kids to its advantage.

Wolfhard and Grazer are both absolutely hilarious in their respective roles that rely heavily on comedic relief. Even in some of the scarier scenes, Grazer can still be seen cracking a joke at his own expense at some inconvenience Pennywise might cause him.

“It” is also an incredibly beautiful film, too. Shot by Korean cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung, the film gets to do a lot of different aesthetic things with “It” that all mesh together wonderfully. First, Chung gets to use his own personal style that we’ve seen over the years in many of Park Chan-wook’s films, most recently “The Handmaiden.” Chung loves to use unique camera angles and camera movements that make the film feel far more kinetic than a typical film of its nature, making it feel far more unpredictable than a typical horror film. He also embodies a lot of classic ’80s cinema into his aesthetic here, channeling a lot of Spielberg in the process of it, with a hint of “Stand by Me” in there a bit too.

“It” might not be a film that uses every second of its long, 135 minute runtime to assault the audience in terror, but rather it builds a cohesive, believable world that these rich, likable characters are surrounded by. This is a film that knows how to carefully construct something horrific, rather than expect the audience to find it horrific from principle alone, which they easily could’ve done in a film about a killer clown.

Rather than expecting the audience to find the clown scary, Muschietti and his team, including Skarsgård as Pennywise, work to make sure that the material is objectively scary, rather than ACROSS 1 Amount to contextually. Mix 5 Evening affair 11 Cavern critter this with some 14 Clarinet cousin truly major heart 15 Many charity golf and charm, as well tournaments 16 Wall St. specialist as a wonderful 17 24-hour broadcaster that self-realization of keeps you up-to-date what a film like “It” 19 CBS police series with spin-offs should be, rather three 20 Moog, briefly than just scary 21 Detroit NFLer 22 Hershey’s toffee bar and you have a 23 Music from Glenn Miller, film that feels far Tommy Dorsey et al.

26 Chintzy more cohesive 29 Type of waste pump and in turn, 30 Buyer’s financing much scarier 31 Army installation than a horror 35 Last Marx brother, alphabetically film of this nature has any right to be.

68 Head out 69 Start of a choosing rhyme

38 Well-suited 39 Ship’s area for medical assistance 41 Spy novelist Deighton 42 Bette’s “Divine” nickname 44 Bills at bars 45 Almanac tidbit 46 Long-running dispute 48 Braggart’s retort 50 Singer dubbed “King of Country” 55 Doctor Zhivago’s love 56 Island band The __ Men 57 Garlicky mayo 61 Musician’s suffix 62 Saturated like the ends of 17-, 23-, 39- and 50-Across?

64 Lawn coating 65 Exercise pieces 66 Russian range or river 67 Symphonic gp. inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017

DOWN 1 Pen occupants 2 Do what’s asked 3 Scattered, as seeds 4 Nuclear restraint topic 5 Globe shape: Abbr.

6 Dental care brand 7 Ancient Aegean land 8 Talked nonstop 9 Removes errors from 10 Bilingual subj.

11 “Just in case” strategy 12 Fiery crime 13 “Fun, Fun, Fun” car in a 1960s song 18 Greenside golf shot 22 “Win __, lose ... “ 24 Mongolian desert 25 Postwar supermodel Parker 26 Mollusk in a red or white linguine sauce 27 Arizona native 28 Consumes enough to nourish mother and unborn child 32 Play a part 33 Calypso cousin 34 Recede, as the tide 36 Lats relatives 37 Not fooled by 39 Highly self-satisfied 40 Singapore’s continent 43 Blood bank supply 45 Exhaustion 47 Candidates’ face-off 49 “So long, Paulo!”

50 Soar without effort 51 Painter’s stand 52 Stopped slouching 53 Silents star Bara 54 Not as prevalent 58 Kid lit monster 59 Low-fat 60 In an aimless fashion 62 Married 63 WWII carrier

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LIFESTYLE

By Lea Thompson Photo by PixaBay

5 Reasons Why: You Should Consider a Social Media Cleanse

We’ve all heard of juice cleanses, the process of consuming fresh squeezed fruit or veggies in order to rid the body of toxins and promote a healthy lifestyle. Similar to a juice cleanse, a social media cleanse is basically the same idea but to some, may sound a lot less rewarding. Social media is the intermingling sanctuary of the millennial generation. Many people participate daily in communication through their accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and more. If there is even a minute of free time in the day, most people instinctively pull up their social media accounts and scroll through their feed, viewing pictures, opinions and stories that their friends and family chose to share with the world. Social media has a gravitational pull that attracts our attention but have you ever considered that it may be adding negative impact to your life?

About 6 months ago, I noticed that the time I spent scrolling through my feed on Instagram took up way too much of my day and negatively affected my self-image, activeness and ability to focus on something for longer than 5 minutes. Gradually, I became frustrated that my life (and everyone else’s) seemed to revolve around social media so I decided to delete my social media apps and see how long I could go without them and what positive effects it might have on my lifestyle. After a month long social media cleanse, I felt a significance difference in the way I viewed myself and world around me and found five solid reasons why I believe everyone should consider boycotting social media for a period of time, too.

1. To Eliminate Bad Self Esteem: It’s easy to drown in deflated self-confidence when pictures of half-naked, perfectly toned and gorgeously tanned models flood your Instagram feed or when all your best friend’s engagements are getting posted all over Facebook while you’re living the single life. Social media plays as a devil’s advocate for this type of stuff and makes it nearly impossible to feel completely content with your life when you’re constantly being introduced to the next best thing.

If you’re wanting to escape the pressure of feeling like you must compete with the rest of the world, getting away from your social media accounts and focusing on your own awesome life might be a healthy change for you.

2. To Strengthen Relationships: How are you supposed to bond with your best friend over coffee when both of you have your faces in your phone? How is your significant other supposed to gaze into your eyes during your dinner date if you’re busy uploading that cute

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selfie the two of you took before you sat down to eat? Social media takes away from our face to face time spent with friends, family and loved ones and can create a wall between healthy communication without either of you realizing it. Put down the phone, ditch the social media for less distraction and pick up a conversation with a loved one.

3. To Become More Active: Finding ways to stay motivated when it comes to your workout schedule is difficult enough as it is but when spending time on your phone, scrolling through your social media is a competitor, it’s even more challenging. A lot of us strive to live a healthy lifestyle by visiting the gym and working out on a regular basis which can be hard to manage between classes, homework and jobs. That being said, wasting time on Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat might be giving your thumbs a workout but it’s definitely not doing anything for your body. Trash the apps and tread the track!

4. To Improve Focus: For full time students, being able to focus all your attention on one thing at a time is a necessary tool and is expected in the classroom and in the work field. It is a well known fact that cell phone usage is considered a common distraction in the classroom but it’s hard to agree with the saying ‘out of sight, out of mind’ when you have a multitude of notifications from snapchat buzzing your phone. A social media cleanse would fix this issue, not only by eliminating the interruption of notifications, but also by training your brain to strengthen its focus on one thing at a time. That way, when you’re ready to download all those tempting apps again, the habit of reaching for the phone won’t be as familiar.

5. To Challenge Yourself: It’s hard to deny that social media plays a vital role in the average person’s modern lifestyle and it’s considered unusual when you run into a person who doesn’t participate in intermingling through these popular apps. If the four reasons above don’t quite speak to you, consider a social media cleanse for the sheer purpose of challenging yourself and encouraging personal growth by trying something new. You never know, you could start the newest trend by taking a break from addictive social media apps and enjoying your life from a new perspective, out from behind the screen.

THE WAR ON PSL’S

By Nicole Buckenham Photo by PixaBay It’s that time of the year again, pumpkin flavored everything is everywhere. Which, this of course, includes the infamous Pumpkin Spiced Lattes. It can be hard to decipher which coffee shop to go to when you are trying to find the best PSL for you. Also, which PSL is the best bang-for-your-buck, since we are all college students.

biggest fan, but not when I was expecting a pumpkin flavor on my taste buds. The taste was a bit bitter, rather than sweet. Again, why it reminded me of a chai. Also, from multiple pictures I have seen around of Dunkin’s PSL, I was expecting whipped cream and a drizzle of something sweet and did not get that on my drink.

So, I went out and went to two of the most popular coffee shops in America. I went and grabbed a pumpkin spiced latte from no other than Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts. These two places always seem to be at war with each other when it comes to the best coffee. They are always right beside each other in distance, even though both places always seem to be offering the same thing.

But, at different prices and different tastes.

When it comes to the winner of this war, I would have to say Starbuck’s won me over with their Pumpkin Spiced Latte. I usually do not go to Starbucks for drinks, considering the price and usually more bitter taste than Dunkin’ Donuts, but this definitely won me over. Dunkin’ Donuts PSL was not bad, just not very pumpkin flavored. When it comes to taste, Starbucks definitely created the perfect taste of fall in just one beverage.

Starbuck’s PSL was priced at $4.60.

The beverage was offered to me hot or cold and I chose hot. When I opened the beverage, just to look inside, it was a beautiful orange color that resembled a pumpkin. From it just sitting in the car with me, the aroma of the latte took over. It was not too strong, but a perfect smell of fall and spices filled the air.

But, if you are looking for a less expensive choice, Dunkin’ is the way to go. The price of their latte was pretty much half of Starbuck’s drink. It all depends how much you really want to pay and what you are looking for when it comes to finding the best Pumpkin Spiced Latte that you enjoy!

The taste definitely had a pumpkin flavor to it. It was not too sweet, nor too bitter. I am usually not Starbuck’s biggest fan when it comes to coffee because it can come off too strong or bitter to me. This was definitely not the case, it was the perfect amount of sweet that I did not have to even add cream or sugar to it.

Dunkin’ Donuts was priced at $2.69.

The pumpkin spiced latte from here was also offered to me hot or cold. I could also tell right away from the size it was just a little bit smaller from what I was offered at Starbucks. I could smell a sweet fall scent from this latte too, just not as strong.

The taste to me of this drink did not resemble pumpkin, but more of a chai latte. I am chai latte’s

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By Lea Thompson

“John Mayer is one of my biggest musical inspirations. I started listening to him when I was 10 and I started playing guitar when I was 14 or 15. I play because, I mean I just love music in general; it’s a nice ease of mind and I like to write my own music…

I’ve been doing that for like the past couple years and that’s just a huge passion of mine.

In between classes I bring my guitar and just play.”

- Kevin (KC) Bryant

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