October  8,  2014
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Alleged hate crime near campus Student  attacked  after  hearing  derogatory  slur By Alexandria Zamecnik News  Editor
When  Jordan  Gittens  –  a  sopho- more  at  UW-ÂWhitewater  –  left  Bar- bados  at  age  13,  he  said  he  never  would  have  imagined  being  bullied  for  being  gay  in  the  United  States.   +H Âż JXUHG WKH 8 6 ZRXOG EH PRUH accepting.  Late  at  night  on  Oct.  3,  Gittens  was  walking  home  with  a  group  of Â
people  from  a  friend’s  house.  As  he  walked  arm-Âin-Âarm  with  one  of  his  friends,  he  heard  a  group  of  males  call  him  a  “faggot,â€?  outside  of  the  Theta  House  near  the  900  block  of  W.  Main  St.  Gittens,  wanting  to  avoid  a  friend  getting  hurt,  told  the  girl  to  go  on  without  him. After  a  confrontation  between  Gittens  and  the  group,  the  situation  escalated. “One  guy,  he  punched  me  in  the  lip,  and  I  fell  to  the  ground,â€?  Gittens  said.  “His  three  friends  started  to Â
kick  me  and  punch  me.â€?  When  Gittens  began  to  walk  home  after  being  attacked,  he  À DJJHG GRZQ D SROLFH RIÂż FHU +H said  the  police  did  a  good  job  solv- ing  the  situation. Twenty-Âfour  hours  after  the  at- tack  took  place,  Gittens  said  he  was  not  sure  if  he  wanted  to  continue  at- tending  UW-ÂWhitewater. “There  was  a  lot  of  crying,â€?  Git- tens  said.  “I  cried  a  lot,  and  I  realized  that  I  couldn’t  let  the  situation  get  the  best  of  me.  If  I  did  let  it  get  the  best  of  me,  they  would  win.â€? Â
If  it  wasn’t  for  the  overwhelming  support  that  Gittens  received,  he  said  he  would  have  left  school  by  the  end  of  the  semester. “I  saw  the  support  I  received  from  the  people  on  campus,â€?  Gittens  said.  “That  made  me  realize  I  can’t  think  badly  of  the  entire  campus  from  the  action  of  four  guys.â€? Although  the  City  of  Whitewater  KDV QRW UHOHDVHG DQ RIÂż FLDO UHSRUW RQ whether  the  incident  will  be  classi- ¿ HG DV D KDWH FULPH *LWWHQV VDLG KH believes  it  should  be. Chief  of  UW-ÂWhitewater  Po-Â
lice,  Matthew  Kiederlen  said  based  on  the  public  information  he  has  received,  and  upon  the  knowledge  of  the  incident,  he  would  rule  it  as  a  hate  crime. “This  did  not  occur  on  campus,  so  it’s  not  my  decision,â€?  Kiederlen  said.  “It  happened  out  in  the  city  ju- risdiction  so  it’s  up  to  them  to  make  WKDW FODVVLÂż FDWLRQ IRUPDOO\ ´ Kiederlen  said  students  can  do  two  things  to  help  with  the  situation. “One  is  to  make  sure  that  our Â
See  Attack  Page  3
Tobacco  resolution  fails  to  pass   through  WSG By Alexandria Zamecnik News  Editor
Kimberly Wethal photos/:HWKDO.0 #XZZ HGX
Above, a statue of Treyton Kilar, donated by Treyton’s grandparents. The statue sits above a pair of cleats and a glove that Treyton had with him the KH` OL WHZZLK H^H` 9PNO[ H `V\UN IV` YLÅ LJ[Z \WVU [OL Z[H[\L
Field  of  Dreams Baseball  diamond  built  to  honor  young  boy  tragically  killed  in  drunken  driving  accident By Emily Leclair Assistant  News  Editor
In  2010,  Treyton  Kilar  was  killed  in  a  car  accident  when  the  vehicle  he  was  in  was  hit  by  a  drunken  driver.  After  4  years  of  community  fundraising,  love  and  dedication,  the  Grand  Opening  of  Treyton’s  Field  of  Dreams  at  Starin  Park  took  place  on  Oct.  4  -   what  would  have  been  Treyton’s  eleventh  birthday. Treyton  Kilar  was  a  die-Âhard  Milwaukee  Brewers  fan.  He  even  had  the  opportunity  to  meet  Prince  Fielder.  If  you  ask  his  parents,  they  will  tell  you  Treyton  was  always  doing  something  with  baseball.  He  wanted  to  play  for  the  Brewers  one  day.  But  those  dreams  were  cut  short  when  a  drunken  driver  collided  with  the  car  Treyton,  his  father  and  his  two  sisters  were  driving  in.  Treyton  was  buried  in  his  Brewers  jersey,  and  a  project  was  born  to  remember  the  young  baseball  player  who  loved  the  game. 7KH RULJLQDO SODQ ZDV WR EXLOG D Âż HOG VLPLODU WR WKRVH DOUHDG\ at  Starin  Park,  but  with  the  money  being  donated  and  community  involvement  the  project  kept  growing.  A  total  of  $717,000  was  raised  to  make  this  dream  possible.  “We  started  to  dream  a  little  bit  bigger,  and  the  vision  became  D OLWWOH ELW ELJJHU DQG \RX VHH ZKDW KDSSHQHG ZLWK WKH Âż HOG DV D reality,â€?  said  Mary  Kilar,  Treyton’s  mother. The  UW-ÂWhitewater  chapter  of  Pi  Kappa  Alpha  has  raised  over  $5,000  at  its  annual  Pike  Spike  event. Â
Boulder  Beeman,  president  of  Pi  Kappa  Alpha  said  the  chap- ter  plans  to  continue  to  raise  money  until  all  projects  at  Treyton’s  )LHOG RI 'UHDPV DUH Âż QLVKHG Beeman  said  he  felt  supporting  the  Kilar  family  would  bring  Pi  Kappa  Alpha  members  closer  to  the  Whitewater  community. “I  had  a  wonderful  time  at  the  opening  ceremony,â€?  Beeman  said  of  the  event.  “Taking  a  moment  to  look  around  at  all  of  the  families  and  students  that  came  to  support  the  Kilars  made  me  realize  how  special  our  community  is.â€? UW-ÂWhitewater  head  baseball  coach,  John  Vodenlich,  is  close  friends  with  Mary  Kilar  and  helped  the  dream  grow  as  well.  7KH Âż HOG LV D VLPLODU OD\RXW DQG GHVLJQ RI 3UXFKD )LHOG DW -DPHV % 0LOOHU 6WDGLXP 8: :KLWHZDWHUÂśV EDVHEDOO Âż HOG “Here’s  a  tribute  to  a  young  man,  and  it  should  be  a  nice  trib- ute  and  stand  the  test  of  time,â€?  Vodenlich  said.  $W WKH IURQW RI WKH Âż HOG VWDQGV D VWDWXH RI D \RXQJ EDVHEDOO player  crafted  by  Jerry  Sawyer,  an  artist  from  Fort  Atkinson.  At  the  foot  of  the  statue  sits  a  glove  and  a  pair  of  cleats.  Both  are  exact  replicas  of  Treyton’s  that  he  had  with  him  on  the  day  he  went  to  heaven. Â
See  Treyton  Page  3
The  Tobacco-ÂFree  Campus  Res- olution  failed  to  pass  through  the  Whitewater  Student  Government  (WSG)  senate,  with  a  vote  of  5-Â13  with  4  abstentions. The  resolution  says  the  Univer- sity  of  Wisconsin-ÂWhitewater  will  develop  a  voluntary  compliance  system  to  implement  a  complete  tobacco-Âfree  campus  by  Sept.  1,  2015. Jonathan  Fera,  representative  on  the  Chancellor’s  Tobacco-ÂTask  Force  for  WSG,  spoke  on  approv- ing  the  resolution.  Fera  higlighted  the  policy  being  strictly  voluntary. “This  means  if  you’re  violat- ing  the  policy,  you’re  not  going  to  get  a  ticket,â€?  Fera  said.  “You’re  not  going  to  get  any  academic  miscon- duct.  It’s  a  change  in  culture.â€? The  task-Âforce  was  created  at  the  request  of  Chancellor  Richard  Telfer  to  investigate  the  current  to- bacco  policy  at  UW-ÂWhitewater.  “The  task  force  isn’t  forcing  you  into  anything,â€?  Fera  said. WSG  should  not  be  looking  for  WKH Ă€ DZV LQ WKH SROLF\ EXW ORRNLQJ for  the  pros,  Fera  said.  President  of  WSG,  Nathan  Per- ry  expressed  his  concerns  on  the  to- bacco  resolution. “One  of  my  big  concerns  is  that  the  community  was  not  involved  in  the  process,â€?  Perry  said.  “There  was  not  a  single  community  mem- ber  on  the  task  force.â€?  Ian  McKee,  a  WSG  senator,  said  the  resolution  is  only  meant  to  better  the  health  of  the  campus.  ZamecnikAE17@uww.edu
Student-ÂRun  Weekly  Newspaper  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin-ÂWhitewater