October 5, 2017

UNMARKED GRAVES PAGE 5

TAILGATING CULTURE PAGES 12-13

OP-ED: TUITION PAGE 22

The Appalachian

OCT.

5

2017

Sept. 28, 2017

THE TEAM Sydney Spann @spanooo EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Olivia Wilkes @theappalachian ADVISER

EDITORIAL

BUSINESS

MULTIMEDIA

Victoria Haynes @victoriahayness MANAGING EDITOR

Q Russell @Q_M_Russell OPINION EDITOR

Jonathan Mauldin @MauldinJonathan GRADUATE ASSISTANT

Maleek Loyd @maleekstuff VISUAL MANAGING EDITOR

Halle Keighton @halle_keighton PHOTO EDITOR

Reilly Finnegan @reillyfinn CHIEF COPY EDITOR

Adrienne Fouts @adriennefouts A&E EDITOR

Bradley Workman @Brad_Workman BUSINESS MANAGER

Nora Smith @noraagracee GRAPHICS EDITOR

Jamie Patel @jptalksfooty VIDEO EDITOR

Tyler Hotz @TylerHotz15 IN-DEPTH EDITOR

Sammy Hanf @sammyhanf NEWS EDITOR

Braxton Coats @brxcoats22 WEB MANAGER

Jason Huber @_JasonHuber SPORTS EDITOR MARKETING DIRECTOR T H E COV E R: Raheem Somersall rushes the ball downfield towards UCA’s goal. The offense’s clear communication during the game on Sept. 1 helped the Mountaineers own the field.

CRIME LOG

CAMPUS OCT. 1

SEPT. 30

7:44 p.m. | Possession of Schedule II Bowie Hall Closed

2:28 a.m. | Underage Consumption of Alcohol Stadium Drive Closed

OCT. 1

SEPT. 30

1:11 p.m. | Lost Property Stadium Parking Lot Closed

2:43 a.m. | Underage Consumption of Alcohol Belk Hall Closed

OCT. 1 4:56 p.m. | Criminal Damage to Property Outside McKinney Alumni Center Leads Exhausted

SEPT. 30 1:21 a.m. | Underage Consumption of Alcohol Belk Hall Closed

SEPT. 30

SEPT. 28 11:43 a.m. | Stalking Campus N/A

SEPT. 24 12:07 a.m.|Indecent Exposure Stadium Drive Closed

SEPT. 23

3:21 p.m.|Underage 3:11 p.m. | Larceny of Bicycle Consumption of Alcohol Sidewalk of Trivette Hall Hoey Hall Closed Further Investigation

Hayley Canal

Oct. 5, 2017

FALL SIGNALS START OF FLU SEASON Anna Muckenfuss│

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s the weather gets colder and the leaves turn brown, the start of flu season ushers in a busy time of year for student health services.

The first confirmed case of the flu occurred the week of Sept. 17; therefore, the immunization specialists at health services want to remind students to remain vigilant and safe. The flu is spread easily, through coughing, sneezing or close contact. Symptoms of the flu include a fever and chills, a sore throat, muscle aches, fatigue, cough, headaches and a runny or stuffy nose.

“There’s always a possibility of the flu spreading campus-wide with 18,000 students, and professors with attendance policies,” Jill Venable, a registered nurse with student health services, said. “If you go to class, sit on the front row. You’ll only be coughing on one person. If you have a fever above 100, don’t go to class.”

Anyone can catch the flu,

but the danger increases with certain health conditions. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that a person is at a higher risk for serious flu complications if they have chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes or heart and lung disease. Young children, pregnant women and people 65 years and older are also at higher risk for complications.

“If you’re at risk for higher complications, get vaccinated,” Venable said. “Encourage family, friends and students to get vaccinated.

Get your rest. Eat right. Keep your hands off your face and wash your hands.”

If hand washing is not an option, the staff at student health services recommend hand sanitizer.

“It’s a good solution if a bathroom isn’t available,” Connie Trivette said, a registered nurse who works with student health services.

However, hand sanitizer is not the first line of defense against the flu when the vaccine is available.

@noel1122│Intern News Reporter

“It’s a smart thing to do for yourself,” Trivette said. “It’s a smart thing to do for your roommate, for your girlfriend, for your friends, for the greater ASU community. You can spread it to others even if you don’t get sick yourself.”

Every year in the United States, thousands of people die from the flu, with many more hospitalized.

“When you have this many people living together, the flu is going to be out there,” Venable said. “Students typically don’t get enough rest. A lot of students don’t eat as well as they do at home, and they don’t get proper exercise. All of this can raise a person’s risk of getting the flu.”

The CDC recommends a flu vaccine every flu season to protect yourself from infection.

“The vaccines kept in health services are inactivated flu vaccines,” Trivette said.

“After vaccination you can feel flu-like symptoms, but you will not have the flu. The flu vaccine cannot protect you from previous exposure to the virus, so if you were infected

two days before you were vaccinated, you will more than likely come down with the flu.”

Students can now go to the clinic on campus to receive the flu vaccine, but some may choose not to do so. Sophomore political science major Virginia Rae Currie said that she is hesitant to go to health services now that she knows flu season has started.

“I am particularly prone to getting sick in the winter,” Currie said. “If I do get vaccinated, it would be at my home doctor just because I feel more comfortable at home.”

Student health services wants students to know that there are other options to get vaccinated this flu season. On campus flu clinics will be held through October for students who are not comfortable coming into health services.

“Students can get vaccinated at the clinics as long as they bring their insurance and an ID,” Venable said. “True flu can make people as sick as a dog. Can you afford to be out of class for a week? Can you

afford the medicine to stay in class? Know that even if you get a mild case of the flu, you may be a vector of disease and you could affect someone with a weaker immune system. Get the vaccine to protect yourself and others from infection.”

Get Vaccinated! with on-campus flu clinics

OCTOBER 2 212 Edward Duncan Hall Noon - 3 p.m.

OCTOBER 3 Roess Dining Hall 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.

OCTOBER 19 Roess Dining Hall 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.

OCTOBER 23 Plemmons Student Union Noon - 3 p.m.

OCTOBER 27 Reich College of Education 9 a.m. - Noon

NORTH CAROLINA’S OPIOID EPIDEMIC AND RESPONSES BY DHHS Jackie Park│

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n response to the nationwide opioid epidemic, Gov. Roy Cooper teamed up with North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services this summer to create new standards for prescribing opioids.

As of Aug. 27, according to an announcement by the DHHS, “Prior approval is now required for opioid analgesic doses that exceed 120 mg of morphine equivalents per day, are greater than a 14-day supply of any opioid or are non-preferred opioid products on the North Caro-

lina Medicaid Preferred Drug List.”

Ben Asma, the assistant director of Wellness and Prevention Services and a substance abuse counselor at Appalachian, is in charge of helping students with substance abuse problems.

“A lot of what we do here is heavily focused in motivational interviewing,” Asma said. “So it’s really coming from a place of non-judgment with unconditional positive regard and support for our students, meeting them where they’re at and helping them determine what they want.”

@jackiempark│News Reporter

Wellness and Prevention Services uses standards set forth by the state and by The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders to diagnose whether or not a student has a substance use disorder, if a student identifies with a certain number of criteria on a list of things like the substance use getting in the way of their day-to-day lives, they are diagnosed with having a dependence on the substance.

The community of Appalachian State is largely unaffected by the opioid epidemic. However, after leaving the

university area, Boone and the surrounding areas are fairly deep in poor living standards and apparent drug abuse.

“It’s like we are in a nice little bubble here and then when it comes to college, in general, alcohol and marijuana are your primary substances of abuse,” Asma said.

“But, when it comes to the community here in rural and western North Carolina, we do have opioid problems and we have meth problems, they don’t frequently transfer or transcend into the university setting.”

Watauga County itself

has the highest rate of opioid abuse in the state. However, Asma said he is optimistic about the results from the new regulations.

“Taking away accessibility is one of the primary ways you reduce substance abuse and so limiting what and how doctors prescribe and improving their prescribing practices, it will change the outcome,” Asma said. “Less students and less individuals in the community in general will have access to those substances, meaning they will probably not get involved in the use.”

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Oct. 5, 2017

SGA VOTES TO PERMIT ELECTRONIC VOTING AFTER CONTROVERSY Madeline Ward│

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he Student Government Association passed a bill Sept. 26 that will permit the SGA Senate to use electronic iClickers as a means for voting, replacing the current method in which senators vote by voicing “yea” or “nay.” iClickers allow for quicker, more efficient results but have a controversial past in Appalachian’s SGA. A bill allowing senators to use iClickers for a trial period of only one month, equal to four Senate meetings, was passed during the spring semester of

2013. When iClickers were once again used during the 2015-2016 academic year, the bill had expired and no further authorization to use the devices was given.

The use of the iClickers in that year was unconstitutional and therefore, all bills passed using the electronic voting method are themselves unconstitutional.

Current SGA administration will not void those bills. Walt Grayson, SGA director of legislative operations, said that senators at the time did not realize the illegitimate use of iClickers.

“The will of the students at

@madelineward171│ News Reporter the time should not be subverted due to mistakes made by the administration,” Grayson said.

The Rick Hamrick Administration was condemned for disregarding voting procedures and misleading its senators.

The concept of using iClickers was reintroduced this year and was passed under The Alternative Voting Authorization Act. SGA has returned to the ease and accuracy that electronic voting provides but has now done so constitutionally.

SGA already owns a sufficient amount of iClickers and will be able to provide one to

each senator free of charge.

In previous usage, iClickers allowed voters to remain anonymous, but the SGA plans to implement voting records for current and future senators.

Senators debated a potential amendment to its new bill on Tuesday. It was suggested that the iClickers should not be used during possible impeachment votes, as it was reasoned that senators should not “hide behind their clickers” nor be influenced by their peers when casting such an important vote.

The pending amendment was withdrawn when a major-

ity of senators expressed that the opposition to using iClickers for impeachment could be applied to voting on any important decision, and that they should not be barred from using iClickers in any situation.

Senators are permitted to use iClickers for all votes in the future. Those who wish to witness the voting process and other SGA matters are encouraged to attend senate floor meetings, which take place in the Linville Falls in the student union, room 226 at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and are always open to the public.

GETTING OUT THE VOTE Freshman Maggie Behm demonstrating how to fill out a voter registration form. Behm has been a part of several on-campus initiatives to encourage Appalachian students to vote.

Christina Beals│

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fter a contentious fight during the 2016 election season, the Plemmons Student Union remained an early voting site for students to be able to cast their vote from campus.

The issue of the Plemmons Student Union being a voting site for students has been argued within the Watauga County Board of Elections as early as 2014.

According to WRAL, back in 2014 Watauga County Elections Board Chairman Luke Eggers asked the Republican state board to either choose from a nightclub close to campus for a voting site or the student alumni center.

Eggers said that enforcing electioneering buffer zones within the student union would be difficult and expressed concern that voters unfamiliar with the school would have trouble navigating its many entrances.

Despite these concerns the

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Plemmons Student Union was decided upon as the early voting site in 2014.

In 2016, the state board again decided that the Plemmons Student Union could continue to be a voting site for the App State student body.

One of the deciding voices that ultimately placed an early voting site back at the Plemmons Student Union was Watauga County Board of Elections member Stella Anderson.

“The convenience and actual usage of the ASU site for students, faculty, staff and really any registered voter always more than justifies the site,” Anderson said.

“This simply reflects the sheer numbers of people on the campus on any given weekday during the early voting period. Voters under the age of 25 constitute a huge percentage of all registered voters in the county. ASU students represent a huge segment of eligible

@christinalala_│Intern Opinion Writer voters in Watauga County.”

Beyond promoting voting rights for the general population, local political organizations such as the Watauga County Democratic Party have been working continuously to counteract voter apathy in any election season.

From phone banking to voter registration, the local North Carolina Democratic Party branch is working year-round to have a continuous societal presence for the sake of battling voter apathy.

Dylan Moore, an organizer with the local North Carolina Democratic Party region, has been involved with the overall party since 2015.

During his time with the local NCDP, Moore and fellow organizers have been at the forefront of maintaining the party’s societal presence.

“Every week, our team here makes thousands of calls. Every weekend, we are out talking to

community members and knocking on hundreds of doors. Every day, we are out on campus, registering App State students to vote,” Moore said. “This is a huge, coordinated effort by the Watauga County Democratic Party and the N.C. Democratic Party to make sure we maintain a presence over the country and campus to show that we simply care.”

Regardless of party affiliation, both party branches reach out to the local community, primarily students, to ensure that the public is registered to vote at their current housing location and county.

Regarding the works of the Watauga County Democratic Party, Director of Training and Recruitment Walt Grayson as well as Canvassing Director Andrew Strahan are both two of many party staff members helping in community voter outreach.

“The party really values community-oriented discussions and

involvement,” Grayson said.

“The party is very involved with different groups and organizations within the community.”

Grayson said that last year, the Watauga County Democratic Party registered 4,357 voters, knocked on over 2,000 doors during canvassing events and called over 58,000 via phone banking.

Walt also said that these three strategies are very common efforts amongst other parties and organizations when attempting to be known and to make a specific social statement within the community.

Regarding volunteering efforts and support, Strahan also said that the party provides a lot of assistance for volunteers within the county.

“Just being at someone’s door will definitely make them aware that you are in the district and that you are involved,” Strahan said.

Mickey Hutchings

Ocr. 5, 2017

TOWN COMMEMORATES UNMARKED GRAVES OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS

Roberta Jackson and Sandra Hagler unveil the marker together on Oct. 1. The sisters kickstarted the project upon finding archived death certificates of 65 known African Americans who had been buried anonymously in Boone’s historic black cemetery.

Sammy Hanf│ Chamain Cruz│

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marker commemorating the unmarked graves of African-American residents of Boone was unveiled Sunday to a crowd of around 100 people in Boone Cemetery in an effort to preserve the long history of Boone’s traditionally black Junaluska community.

Susan Keefe, professor emeritus of anthropology at Appalachian and member of the Junaluska Heritage Association, said the marker contains the names of 65 individuals who it was determined, based on courthouse records, were buried in the cemetery. She said a ground penetrating survey of the land determined there were over 150 graves at the site.

Eric Plaag, principal consultant at Carolina Historical Consulting LLC, said there could be other graves not

Hayley Canal

found by the survey because the acidic soil in Watauga County breaks down the simple pine coffins used in burials of the time pretty quickly.

Roberta Jackson, facilitator of the Junaluska Heritage Association, said they decided it was important to have a marker in the cemetery because many people do not even realize there is a historically black community in Boone.

“We have people who have come from out of town,” Jackson said. “We had a guy who came from Salisbury and his wife because they had people buried up here and they didn’t know where they were buried. The reason [we did this is] so people can reclaim their history.

I saw him down on his knees taking a picture a few minutes ago, so that’s one of the reasons, so people will know

@SammyHanf│News Editor @xchamian│News Reporter

where they come from.”

The Junaluska Heritage Association is a group organized around protecting the unique historical legacy of the Junaluska Community here in Boone, one of the oldest traditionally black communities in Western North Carolina.

Keefe said the town has also renovated the Boone Cemetery to make it readily apparent that there are people buried in the African-American section of the cemetery by putting a fence around the entire cemetery.

“It had been noticed that students were sunbathing on the lawn, that dogs were relieving themselves on the lawn and so on and people didn’t really know it was a cemetery because there were no gravestones,” Keefe said.

Keefe said in the 1950s, members of the Junaluska community began burying

their dead at a site just out of town at the Clarissa Hill Cemetery.

She said the Junaluska Heritage Association is currently working to create an oral history of their shared past and has been organizing “Junaluska Jubilees” to celebrate influential members of their community.

The Junaluska community has traditionally lived above Queen Street, a location that has become more desirable for student housing and condos recently, Keefe said.

“The land that used to be viewed as unproductive and marginal nowadays has a view, it’s on the hill, it overlooks the valley,” Keefe said. “It’s got some beautiful views, condos have already been built in the neighborhood and gentrification has been going on.”

She said that since many of the buildings in the Ju-

naluska community have been renovated with vinyl siding they are not eligible to protection afforded to other historic buildings, making it up to individual property owners if they want to keep the historical character of the neighborhood intact.

Keefe said around 90 members of the Junaluska Community remain and that many left in the last half of the 20th century as economic opportunities elsewhere in the state opened up.

Plaag said that a marker like this has a hard time capturing the living history of the area and that even since its commission there was another person buried there discovered.

Keefe said she thinks cemeteries are an important part of a community’s history and need to be preserved to help understand the lives people used to live in the area.

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Oct. 5, 2017

Blue Ridge Kung Fu Academy presents martial arts forms and exercises at the Mid-Autumn Festival on Sept. 26.

CHINESE CULTURE CLUB CELEBRATES MID-AUTUMN FESITIVAL Ashley Goodman│

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ured in by the smell of free Chinese food, students gathered in the Parkway Ballroom on Sept. 26 to partake in the Chinese Culture Club’s annual Mid-Autumn Festival.

Each year, Chinese Culture Club connects with organizations across campus and the community to offer a festival that not only has free food and entertainment, but also educates students about Chinese culture.

This year, the festival featured catering from China Wok, readings of Chinese stories and poetry, demonstrations by a local kung fu academy and performances

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from three a capella groups: VoiceMale, Enharmonix and Strong Ties.

Though most of the festival was spent partaking in the food and music, the club made sure that visitors left with new knowledge about China and the Mid-Autumn Festival. Featured at the festival was professor Cuong Mai, who shared myths about the origins of the festival through humorous stories, and professor Jeffrey Eastman, who read ancient Chinese poetry with international student Yao Shubin.

The Mid-Autumn Festival, which occurs on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, celebrates the harvest, the union

@TheAppalachian│Associate A&E Editor

of families and the full moon.

In one variation of Chinese myth, the festival originated to honor Chang’e, the wife of warrior Hou Yi. Long ago, China was plagued by a famine; there were 10 suns in the sky and their combined intensity killed the crops and starved the people. In an effort to save his people, Hou Yi shot nine suns out of the sky with his bow and arrow, leaving the 10th to give his people warmth and light.

Hou Yi was considered a hero and rewarded with the elixir of immortality which he gave to his wife to protect. When a burglar tried to steal the elixir, his wife drank it herself to keep it

out of the hands of the thief.

As the potion took effect, Chang’e gained immortality but floated away to the moon, forever out of her husband’s reach. Lamenting the loss of his wife, Hou Yi left offerings of mooncakes and fruit in his wife’s honor, the same foods families use as offerings during the festival today.

Today, partakers in China celebrate with mooncakes, paper lanterns and traditional dragon dances. Here in Boone, the Chinese Culture Club celebrates with a night full of takeout, music and storytelling.

Club president Eli Schwarz said that the opportunity to share culture

is the most valuable part of the festival. Despite China’s massive population and influence, Schwarz said he felt that many Americans know little to nothing about Chinese culture.

“Even if people only learn one new thing at the festival,” Schwarz said, “we’ll consider that a success.”

Schwarz, a junior accounting and international business major, has been with the club since his freshman year, climbing up the ladder from club member to secretary and now to president.

Schwarz studied abroad in China during high school, developing a deep appreciation for the culture before deciding to pursue the lan-

Maleek Loyd

Oct. 5, 2017

Volunteers at the Mid-autumn Festival served Chinese food to guests and audience members. guage more thoroughly.

This semester is both his first and last semester as president; next semester he will be returning to study abroad in China and handing his position off to vice president Jenny Moerk.

Moerk, a sophomore computer information systems and international business double major, joined the club her freshman year as well. Moerk had taken Chinese through high school, taking twice the necessary classes needed to graduate, and is pursuing a Chinese minor at Appalachian State to further her grasp of the language.

Every Wednesday, Schwarz and Moerk lead

Maleek Loyd

club meetings in the Plemmons Student Union. Most nights, the club members exchange presentations on aspects of culture and society in China. Other nights, they explore Chinese culture hands-on, making homemade hot pots and watching Chinese movies.

Most members of the club have at least one common goal: an interest in learning Chinese. Whether majoring, minoring or simply taking courses to meet general education requirements in Chinese, many of the members are taking Chinese language classes.

While Chinese Culture Club was originally primarily a place to learn about Chi-

International student Yao Shubin, recites ancient Chinese poetry as professor Jeffrey Eastman (not pictured) reads English translations.

nese culture and society, this year there is an added emphasis on language to better match the club’s needs.

The club works with professors’ and students’ schedules to transform into a large study group before Chinese classes’ tests and exams. Club members study for classes together, but also take the time to learn new words together at each meeting.

Like many Chinese language courses at Appalachian State, Chinese Culture Club uses a tool called pinyin to learn Chinese. In pinyin, Roman letters are assigned to Chinese characters, allowing learners to better associate Chinese characters

with the sounds they represent.

For some club members, the interest in the club lies in connecting language back to its culture. Mesha Allen, a senior international business major and the treasurer of Chinese Culture Club, said that when learning a new language, she first wants to understand the culture and community behind it.

Allen appreciates the ability to see the reality of a culture and wants to dig beyond media representations of Chinese society to uncover the gritty aspects of everyday life. Allen hopes to use her major and her growing understanding of Chinese culture to address the social

issues Chinese citizens face.

Allen said that, as an international business major, “You have to find the problem, and then you find the solution that benefits you and the community.”

Though the Mid-Autumn Festival is over, the members of Chinese Culture Club are already busy at work planning the Chinese New Year Festival which they celebrate each February. Just as in the Mid-Autumn Festival, the club will collaborate with organizations on and around campus to combine the cultural awareness and education goals of the club with the food, music and entertainment that brings the festivals to life.

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Oct. 5, 2017

PHOTO ESSAY

Boone Film Festival

The creators of the film “Paul’s Boots” receiving the award for best film on Saturday at the Schaefer Center.

Grace and Madison of Mountain Alliance posing for a quick picture at the Boone Film Festival. The girls were selling T-shirts to raise money for the next Mountain Alliance project.

Lucas Pruitt created the video Generations and it was a film full of stories from many generations of Appalachian people. Featured in this film was Mrs. Mae Philips of 104 years.

The festival not only included local film makers, but local musicians. The Watauga River Ramblers, a local bluegrass band, played right before the award ceremony.

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Caroline Moss and Lindsay Vaughn

Oct. 5, 2017

DANCING ACROSS CULTURES AT GLOBAL EXCHANGE

International student Brooke Waldron teaching other students dances that are popular where she lives in the United Kingdom.

The first Global Exchange of the semester was held on Sept. 27 in Whitewater Lounge in the Plemmons Student Union.

Savannah Nguyen│

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n Sept. 27, INTAPP kicked off the first Global Exchange of the semester. The event, which celebrates international culture, was founded by Lindsay Pepper, assistant director of International Student and Scholar Services & Outreach.

“It’s for international students to use as a platform to teach students about their culture,” Pepper said. “Also, for domestic students, it gives them a chance to experience something international while still being on campus if they do not have a chance to study abroad.”

Global Exchange occurs in White Water Cafe in the student union at 4 p.m. on the last Wednesday of each month. Each event features an international student who teaches domestic students, as well as other international students, a little about their culture through food and dance.

This INTAPP event was created after the club’s students would get together to have coffee hour. During

this hour, international and domestic students would learn about cultures abroad by featuring a single international student who would teach students about their countries through a multitude of activities, from dancing to participating in games.

Since the beginning, Pepper loved the idea of connecting cultures through dance.

“They would either teach a dance, play music or do some activity. But I really liked partner dancing rather than social dancing just as a way to meet people,” Pepper said. “So we kind of just morphed into Global Exchange.”

The first Global Exchange featured Brooke Waldron, who is an international student from the United Kingdom. Waldron studies dance at the University of Sunderland near her home town of South Shields, which is only ten minutes from the coast.

At Sunderland, Waldron is a student of dance, however, she also teaches workshops and shares her dance style with her students. During Global Exchange, Waldron

Courtesy of Lindsay Pepper

@TheAppalachian│Intern A&E Reporter taught a group of left-footed students two styles of dance called “Waacking” and “Voguing.” Voguing actually originated in Los Angeles thanks to the LGBT+ community, as did the style Waacking. Brooke says that in the U.K. the style is usually performed at events called Vogue Balls and at the LGBTQ festivals, which happen in the summer.

“Anything is acceptable in Voguing and Waacking,” Waldron said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re great, what Waacking is about is that you’re there and enjoying yourself.”

Back home, Waldron is heavily influenced by her dance professor and the LGBTQ community.

“I have a lot of LGBT friends and I am heavily involved in that community because they’re such happy people,” Waldron said. “I just really support the fact that people are different and that they are able to show who they really are. That’s a main thing in life for me because I would hate for anyone to be reserved, which I

used to be, and that would take a toll on me in school.

So being a part of that community has really helped influence my style.”

With so many international students coming to Appalachian’s campus, and the numbers only increasing every year, it is important to have programs that help them become immersed in our community. INTAPP as well as the OIED offices have helpful resources, however, Global Exchange allows international students to mingle with domestic students in an interactive way.

“I like this event because initially people come in being kind of intimidated, not wanting to talk, let alone dance with anyone,” Pepper said. “But by the end of it they’re laughing with each other and making friends.

They’ve learned something and have even been able to experience something that is done in another country that they’ve never been to.”

Mariela Solorzano, a senior studying international criminal justice at Appalachian, is an INTAPP mem-

ber who has also studied abroad. Solorzano studied in Valpariso, Chile, during her junior year and said that the experience has changed her life.

“Going abroad has impacted my perspective. Also, being in INTAPP, we’re always accepting international students, constantly seeing them come and go,” Solorzano said. “In Chile, I was in their shoes as an international student. That was actually a very cool experience because I’m always used to seeing from their point of view but I never got to see it from mine.”

As Global Exchange wrapped up, Waldron gave students some tips for improving their dance skills as they left.

“Just be confident, be flamboyant and go with the flow like you’re Beyonce,” Waldron said. “That’s what I like to live by.”

Global Exchange takes place every last Wednesday of the month from 4-5 p.m. in the Whitewater Lounge in the Plemmons Student Union.

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Oct. 5, 2017

A group of dancers performing during the Spring Appalachian Dance Ensemble in 2016.

FIRST YEAR THEATRE AND DANCE DEBUT Amber Grant│

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stablishing relationships and friendships and overcoming awkwardness is something that every first-year student at Appalachian State will experience. Under the direction of faculty members Trimella Chaney and Marianne Adams, the First Year Showcase was held this past weekend from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1. App State first-year students with a love for theater and dance performed a display of new first-year college relationships. Located in the small studio theater of I.G. Greer, the students had a packed house nearly every night for their display of completely stu-

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dent written and performed pieces that displayed the different types of college situations first years typically find themselves in.

“The First Year Showcase is a time for brand-new students to come in and dip their toes in the water and delve into the department head first,” Jamie Brigman, a junior theater arts major, recently said in an interview on AppTV. “There is a theater aspect and a dance aspect that are separate but merge together to form one big show.”

Brigman said that the theme of this year’s First Year Showcase was relationships, specifically those formed within the first year of col-

@am_the_writer│Intern A&E Reporter

lege life. The theme was displayed heavily through different techniques of writing, acting and dance.

Shannon Patterson, a freshman dance major, participated in this year’s showcase in a piece entitled “Finding Space.” Patterson said that the opening and closing parts of the showcase set the tone for relationships throughout the entire performance.

“The opening of the show involves everyone in the cast on stage at one time. People are running around across the stage carrying phones, looking around confused and even holding maps trying to find their way around campus,” Patterson said. “They ask other people where to go,

run into each other and are overall just awkward in their first interactions of college.

It’s meant to show the audience the new environment that first-year students are thrown into.”

These awkward first-year relationships became more prevalent as the show progressed. One scene in particular had most of the audience crying toward the end. The scene started with a little girl hosting a tea party for her father and as each scene went on, the girl and father both grew older. As they journeyed through the struggles of life together, from angsty teen to homesick college kid, the father and daughter’s love between them grew

stronger with each emotional scene, showing the everyday struggle of homesickness that each college student will eventually face.

Other relationships and college trials were also portrayed through the scenes, such as roommate horror stories, the struggle of Tinder dating, finding out you have no money in your bank account, every college student’s love for Netflix and sleep and the difficult decision of whether to get a pizza or salad for lunch.

The dance numbers also displayed some sort of relatable college situation or relationships. In one number entitled “Exchanged of Wealth,”

Dallas Linger

Oct. 5, 2017

The character Silence falls in love with Eadric the Soldier on their journey to Ragnarock, yet Eadric is still unaware of what Silence really is. The play Silence was performed back in February of this year. the dancers moved around stage exchanging coins and cash, which displayed the issue of every broke college kid. Fitting enough, the background music of the number continuously stated “the best things in life are free.” In one number, “Finding Space,” every dancer on stage was dressed in the same outfit performing the same movements. Throughout the intricate dance, some of them would break off to “find their space” but the others would follow closely behind.

One audience member, freshman international business major Mason Sayers, said that “Finding Space” was his favorite piece of the show.

“I think the piece held

Matt Sloyer

deeper meaning that you really have to think about in order to fully understand.

When the dancer would break off from the crowd, the crowd would just rejoin them again and not leave them alone,” Sayers said. “It shows the struggle that college kids have to face with wanting to fit into the crowd and blend in but also wanting to find their own space and become who they are meant to be. I think a lot of college kids go through this, especially in their first year where they overall are confused and lost.”

Another aspect of the show that the audience seemed to enjoy was the fact that everything within the

show was completely student written, acted and choreographed. Many patrons found it hard to believe that these were not professionally staged shows. The actors and dancers of the show overall had about 19 hours of practice and about five rehearsals to make the show as perfect as possible.

Samantha Hopkins, a freshman elementary education major, said, “When I found out that the scene were all student made, I was completely shocked. Every movement was planned and so well thought-out that I couldn’t even tell they were by the students. It must be extremely difficult to be able to pull all that off.”

Finally, the showcase came to an end with the closing performance, again featuring everyone in the performance on stage at once.

At that point, the students knew each other and were at last comfortable in their college setting.

“The closing number is when the actors and dancers are working together to create something wonderful, symbolising the end of freshman year when people are a little bit more understanding of what college is supposed to be like,” Patterson said.

Patterson also said that the First Year Showcase was a wonderful opportunity for her to get to know new people and make

friends with people who hold the same interest of dance and theatre.

The Appalachian State Department of Theatre and Dance will be very active this entire year. With Movies

by Movers and the First Year Showcase out of the way, the department will now be moving into performing full length shows.

“Radium Girls” by D.W. Gregory will be performed the week of Oct. 4-8 and William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” will be opening on Oct. 25. Some of the dancers in the First Year Showcase will also be featured in the Fall Dance Ensemble, showing Nov. 15-19 in the Valborg Theatre.

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Oct. 5, 2017

The Gold Squad has won several different tailgate of the game awards since the addition of their Appalachian-themed bus in 2010.

TAILGATING AT APPALACHIAN STATE: A UNIQUE CULTURE Steven Caughran│

A

t most universities across the country, students and alumni will tell you that there is something special about the game day atmosphere. Here in Boone, it is no different. Appalachian State students and alumni will all say that in addition to the normal hubbub on game day, there is some sort of intangible feeling that nobody can quite describe in detail. There is something here, 3,000 feet up into the mountains of North Carolina, that makes

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game day in Boone an experience that cannot be replicated anywhere else.

On any given fall football Saturday, a quick walk through campus will reveal fans tailgating on every patch of grass or asphalt big enough to fit a black and yellow tent, some folding chairs and a cooler.

People of all ages can be seen, from children running around with Yosef stickers on their cheeks to longtime App fans coming out to see yet another season of what has been constant in Boone for as long as any-

@SCaughran│ A&E Reporter

one can remember.

Tailgates of all sizes can be seen too, from fans sitting on the bed of a pickup truck to enormous black and gold modified buses.

Charlie Pilkenton and Steven Pennell, former Appalachian State students, have been tailgating since 1999, and have been the owners of a large school bus used solely for Appalachian tailgating since 2010.

“We had been doing just your average tailgate for a while, but then we decided we wanted to do something really cool,” Pennell said.

The fans got an old school bus, decorated it with Appalachian logos and other paraphernalia, and loaded it up with TVs, surround sound and everything else they thought they might need.

The group, known as the “Gold Squad,” can be seen tailgating in the stadium lot every football Saturday.

The group has won several different “Tailgate of the Game” awards and makes an effort to be a part of what they believe is a community on game days.

“I think [the culture] is awesome here, I think all

the tailgates are very giving and everybody gets along,” Pilkenton said. “Everyone is out here supporting the team and supporting the school.”

The duo drives the bus up from the Hickory area because they believe that being in the stadium’s lot is one of the best places to be on game day.

“It’s really an awesome setup here. Everyone comes up and talks to us, and people ask about the bus,” Pilkenton said.

The Gold Squad invites visitors, students and team members alike to come in-

Lindsay Vaughn

Oct. 5, 2017

Appalachian State football fans socializing at the tailgate before the App State vs Savannah State football game on Sept. 9. side the bus and look around.

The ceiling on the inside is covered with thousands of signatures of devoted App State fans and players from over the years.

Alumni, however, are not the only ones who come out and contribute to Boone’s unique tailgate culture. Barry Critcher, father of three sons who have played football for Appalachian, and his friend Judd Huffman lead one of the largest tailgates on campus.

“Pretty much our whole family has graduated from here,” Critcher said. “Ken-

Steven Caughran

lee played a few years ago, Bentlee just graduated and Rylee is currently playing.”

The group owns a 40-foot-long school bus to which they have added a full top deck. There is a spiral staircase leading from a spacious seating area up to the covered top deck which has several large speakers.

The bus is so enormous that the group has to spend the night before the game parking it and levelling it while there are no other fans around.

“We’re such a small town, it’s like everyone is a

family here. I know the guys at all the tailgates around here,” Huffman said. “One of the starting players came by and told us that the tailgate atmosphere in the stadium lot was one of the reasons he decided to commit to Appalachian.”

Being a part of a closeknit family is what the group loves about game day at Appalachian.

“That’s what this whole thing is, it’s family. That’s why we all feel so tight,” Critcher said. “We’re not in competition with anyone else here, it’s just some-

thing that everyone does to have fun. Every once in awhile we compete to see whose music is the loudest, but we try not to because we love everybody here.”

Both men are Boone natives, and Huffman is the owner of a local tire company.

“I own Alray Tire and this bus is what we do for advertising,” Huffman said. “We have our name and ‘proud supporters of ASU’ down the side, because we’re into football and soccer and baseball and every other sport Appalachian has. We

wanted to show that we’re tied to ASU, that the whole Boone community is tied to ASU.” What makes any college football atmosphere great is its fanbase. Loyal students and alumni coming out and supporting their team is nothing new; it happens every Saturday across the nation. But what gives Appalachian State’s game day that intangible quality, that Boone feel, is the knowledge that the school and the team are backed by the love and support of the entire High Country.

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GAME DAY GAME 5│SATURDAY, OCT. 7│3:30 P.M.│ESPN3│KIDD BREWER STADIUM│BOONE, NC

APPALACHIAN APP ALACHIAN

S TATE STATE

2-1, 1-0, SUN BELT

NEW MEXICO

vs

STATE

3-0, 1-0 ACC APP STATE PLAYER TO WATCH

POINTS PER GAME

25.8

30

#6

THOMAS HENNIGAN

OPPONENT PPG

17.8

29.6

RUSHING YARDS PER GAME

162

17

RECEPTIONS (LEADS THE TEAM

BY SEVEN)

98.2

THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS

40%

AVERAGED SEVEN YARDS PER PUNT RETURN ON THE SEASON

50.6%

176 RECEIVING YARDS (LEADS THE TEAM)

74 YARDS AGAINST WAKE FOREST

HOMECOMING SHOWDOWN It will be exactly two weeks since the Mountaineers’ loss to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons when App State hosts New Mexico State on homecoming Saturday. Enjoying their bye week on the last day of September, the Mountaineers are ready to get back on the field to continue their dominance over Sun Belt Conference opponents. Since entering the Sun Belt in 2014, the Apps are 21-4 with two consecutive 7-1 conference records. This year, the Aggies’ look significantly improved, boasting a win over their in-state rival New Mexico and fighting hard in a tight loss to the 3-1 Troy Trojans. At 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, the Aggies will get another shot to win their first conference road game since 2015.

Last season, New Mexico State and App State met for the first time ever with the Mountaineers crushing the Aggies in Las Cruces, New Mexico, 37-7. Dominating on both sides of the ball, the Mountaineers put together a whopping 604 yards of total offense. Running backs Marcus Cox and Jalin Moore both rushed for over 100 yards, leading the Apps to 384 yards on the ground as a team. Aggies’ senior quarterback Tyler Rogers did not appear in last year’s contest, where New Mexico State threw for less than 100 yards. With the Aggies exiting the Sun Belt Conference after this season, this may be the last time that these two teams square off in the foreseeable future.

GETTING THE AGGIES OFF THE FIELD:

RETURNING TO DOMINANCE ON THE GROUND:

STRENGTH AGAINST STRENGTH:

New Mexico State ranks sixth in the nation in total third downs converted.

Picking up a first down on 39 of 77 attempts, the Aggies’ Air-Raid offensive scheme has caused opposing defenses to struggle to get off the field. Allowing only four third down conversions on 16 attempts two weeks ago, the Mountaineers were able to get off the field against Wake Forest. Relying mostly on a run-heavy offense, the Mountaineers must slow down the game and force the Aggies into some three-and-outs. The only game App State did not have the majority of the time of possession was against Texas State, who went 10-18 on third down attempts.

Losing all-time leading rusher Marcus Cox to graduation a season ago, the Mountaineers came into this season looking to replace his impressive four-year production. Bursting onto the scene last season, then-sophomore Jalin Moore finished 2016 as 19th in the nation with 1402 yards on the ground. Limited by injuries so far, Moore was largely ineffective against Texas State and Wake Forest. Just as Moore did last season while Cox was missing time, senior Terrence Upshaw needs to step up during this stretch of the 2017 campaign. As a team, App State averaged 5.6 yards per carry in 2015 and 5.8 yards per carry in 2016. If they want to improve their 4.5 yard per carry average this season, they must see Upshaw carry the load until Moore gets fully healthy.

Posting video-game numbers in the passing game, New Mexico State has no problem with throwing the ball all game long.

Facing the “Legion of Boone,” however, will be no easy task for the traveling Aggies.

App State has allowed only a 53 completion percentage throughout the season, giving up a measly four touchdowns and picking off opponents three times. Facing offenses with a more balanced approach, the Mountaineers will be keying in on senior quarterback Tyler Rogers, who has 14 passing touchdowns and only five interceptions. In a battle of an elite passing attack and a dominant secondary, one will have to give, tilting the game in one direction or the other.

BY TYLER HOTZ IN-DEPTH EDITOR @TYLERHOTZ15

PIGSKIN PICK ‘EM JASON HUBER Sports Editor The Appalachian 9-11

APP STATE VS. NEW MEXICO STATE #17 LOUISVILLE VS. #24 NC STATE

#13 MIAMI VS. FLORIDA STATE #23 WEST VIRGINIA VS. #8 TCU KANSAS STATE VS. TEXAS

SYDNEY SPANN Editor-in-Chief The Appalachian 16-4

SHERI EVERTS Chancellor App State 11-9

ANDERSON CLAYTON President SGA 12-8

JOSH KORNMAYER Sports Director WASU 13-7

BRAXTON CRITCHER The A Game Host AppTV 11-9

Oct. 5, 2017

Flory lines up for the play against Savannah State on Sept. 9. Flory was named Sun Belt defensive player of the week on Sept. 16.

SUNSHINE STATE PRODUCES SUCCESS FOR THE MOUNTAINEERS Shane Harvell│

T

hroughout the years, Appalachian State has always prided itself on the concept that defense wins championships.

With the absence of a premier linebacker like John Law due to graduation, the coaching staff was forced to plug the hole this season with athletic speed.

The Mountaineer football inside linebacker corps has effectively passed the torch off to junior Anthony Flory out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida this season.

Flory earned the opening role and it has showed with him being named the Sun Belt defensive player of the week in the matchup against

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Texas State. The first-year starter was credited for a career-high nine tackles, two sacks and two hurries in a game which ironically ended on a defensive stand that sealed the deal in the waning seconds.

Flory’s previous high was six total tackles which came in his first career start against No. 15 Georgia.

“To this point, he is playing really well,” inside linebacker coach Dale Jones said. “The biggest thing that Flory gives us is his athleticism. Sometimes his athleticism gets him in trouble because it allows him to get to the spot quicker than he needs to. It is my job to get him to the caliber where he

@harvell_shane3│Intern Sports Reporter needs to be.”

Flory’s task during his American Heritage High School career in Florida was to guard numerous wide receivers. The speed which he showed upon his highlight reels caught the eye of coaching staffs all across the country. Wyoming University was one of the components who heavily recruited him. He could have decided to join one of his high school teammates in Wyoming, but Flory chose to sign with Appalachian just before the 2015 official signing day.

“I came up here on my visit and fell in love with the place,” Flory said. “I had never seen mountains like this before because we don’t

have them in Florida. Everyone here also made me feel comfortable, so I decided to come.”

After being immersed in the Mountaineer defensive scheme for three years, Flory’s only worry now has been the opposing tight ends and running backs. With him being the official backup for Law in the recent years, Flory has had the opportunity to learn the perspectives of an outstanding defensive player.

“I have learned to never settle and always watch film to prepare for the upcoming game,” Flory said. “Some people would have gotten angry when they are not getting enough playing time,

but I was willing to wait my turn for my time. Thankfully, I was able to get a few game reps early within my career that has helped my overall in game experience.”

Although the current record of the season proclaims an overall 2-2 record, the Mountaineers possess one of the best statistical defenses in the country. The App State defense is ranked third in the nation in regard to forcing three and outs; 51.1 percent of the time the defense has produced a punt.

Michigan and Georgia Tech are the only two defensive squads that lead the Mountaineers in the category.

“I have made simple mistakes that I need to polish up

Lindsay Vaughn

Oct. 5, 2017

Linebacker Anthony Flory looks to help with the sack during the Mountaineers game against Georgia on Sept. 2. on in practice,” Flory said.

“I just go out and try to play a perfect game for my teammates. I don’t want to be known as somebody’s replacement. I want to known as my own player with my own identity that plays a certain way.”

Being able to take charge of the defense as a whole is an aspect that Flory wishes to improve on personally.

He said he strives to know what the person next to him, as well as the person behind him, is going to do so that he can accomplish his own job.

The loss to ACC opponent Wake Forest two weeks ago has taught the players and coaches much about their team. Appalachian State

Lindsay Vaughn

dominated much of game but inevitably lost 20-19 on a blocked game-winning field goal attempt by Michael Rubino.

“Wake Forest was a good football team who was eventually going to make some plays,” Jones said. “For the most part it was a good day as we stopped them 12 times on three-and-outs. Of course we could have played better but it was not one particular spot. We all made mistakes and they ended up capitalizing on them.”

The all-time sellout crowd of 35,126 at Kidd Brewer Stadium literally rocked “The Rock” against Wake Forest. This kind of electric atmosphere is more

than any player could ask for. Throughout the game, the defense thrived off of the crowd’s presence.

“One of the main reasons I came to this school was the presence of a passionate fan base,” Flory said. “It was the best feeling in the world to see all those people everywhere, even in the grass, showing us love when we made a big play.”

Flory later expressed his feelings in regard to the Wake Forest loss on Twitter. He tweeted, “Losing is a part of the game. If you never lose, you are never truly tested and never forced to grow.”

Flory lines up beside senior inside linebacker Eric

Boggs who has played alongside linebacker Law. Boggs has been instrumental in showing Flory the ways of the defensive scheme. It is one thing to understand the scheme looking on from the sidelines and another to implement it into a live game situation.

“I try to teach him the roots of our defense just like the guys before me have done for me,” Boggs said. “I have also have learned some things from Flory. He is quicker than me with a different style of play. We constantly try to pick up some things from each other to be better players.”

From an off-field perspective, Mountaineer fans

are only able witness the players in their game mode.

Many often forget that the players are also human beings with their own personality and lifestyle outside the game.

“Flory is a goofy kid off the field but all business on the field,” Boggs said. “We do a lot of film study together. It’s good to have someone that you can be buddies with on and off the field.”

Flory is now ranked second on the team behind Boggs in regard to total tackles with 23. Both linebackers must continue their dominance on the defensive side of the ball in order to propel the Mountaineers to back-to-back Sun Belt titles.

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Oct. 5, 2017

Junior Emily Fedders at the Appalachian State-hosted 2017 Mountains to Sea Duals cross country meet at the Don Kennedy Trails at State Farm on Sept. 16.

DEFENDING CHAMPS’ UPHILL BATTLE Noah Gerringer│

T

he Appalachian State women’s cross country team made school history last season. In the program’s 50th season, the Mountaineers took home the first Sun Belt Conference championship for App State.

Led by senior Tristin Van Ord for the entirety of the season, Van Ord finished the race in 17:37.50 and came in second place. Emily Fedders, now a junior, finished in eighth place crossing the finish line with a personal record of 18:24.30 and the rest of the Black and Gold following closely behind. The Mountaineers managed to tally 43 points, beating out second place Coastal Carolina by 13 points and defending champs South Alabama by 36 points.

That was last season. A new season has already begun, but this time the defending champs look a lot different. Van Ord and fellow senior Torre Moser have graduated and the Mountaineers can no longer count on their lead. In fact, they may find it hard to count on any type of lead this year.

App State has had three meets so far this season and has placed second in every one. Starting the season off at home in their first meet, Fedders finished eighth and senior Phylissa Greeley finished

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ninth. The two have led the Mountaineers in every race so far and have taken it upon themselves to make up for the loss of Van Ord and Moser.

“It just means that all of us have to step it up multiple steps,” Greeley said. “We have some big shoes to fill with both of them gone. We’re just all trying our best to fill what was left behind.”

Greeley has been the frontrunner for the Mountaineers in the last two meets, finishing fifth and sixth respectively. Fedders has been her tailend finishing eighth and ninth.

Fedders said the feeling has been different than in seasons past. With Van Ord gone and the leadership now falling on the shoulders of Greeley and herself, Fedders said they have to take the season head on the best they can.

“It’s definitely different,” Fedders said. “We still have a strong pack but we don’t have that one person that we know is always going to be out front. We just need to stay focused on doing what [we] need to do because it’s going to take all of us.”

Greeley knows a thing or two about what it’s like when that “different” feeling sets in. Greeley was not recruited to run at Appalachian State.

In fact, she thought her career had ended after high school.

Greeley said for her entire

@NoahGerringer│Sports Reporter

freshman year she missed the feeling of being on a team.

She went to talk to head coach Michael Curcio and he told her if she could run the time they had set then she could join the team.

“That’s my biggest motivator, is knowing I wasn’t recruited and having to prove that I deserve a spot on the team,” Greeley said.

Her sophomore season, she said, was not her finest year.

However, since then, Greeley has not only improved personally, but has also become a leader on the team.

“I was ready for it,” Greeley said.

In only the second meet this season, Greeley broke her own record in the 5K, finally breaking the 18 minute mark that stands in the way of so many, finishing in 17:54. Fedders was close behind with a personal record of her own, finishing in 18:03. Not only that, but all seven of the Mountaineers top finishers that race posted a personal best.

“Everybody’s really stepping up and doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” Greeley said.

Fedders echoed Greeley and said that she has seen a lot of hard work put in by everybody on the team.

Although not as vocal as her counterpart, Fedders still serves as a leader and motiva-

tor on the team.

“I try to be encouraging but I’m more of an introvert,” Fedders said. “I just do my thing and hope that encourages people to do theirs.”

Since Fedders and Greeley have led the Mountaineers through each meet, several others have managed to set personal records in the 5K themselves. Seniors Kerry Leonard (18:21), Hana Ratcliffe (18:25) and Natalie Kile (18:31) all set personal records at the Mountains to Sea meet in September.

On top of that, App State had their entire top seven runners in the top 20 of the field in their last meet.

Fedders and Greeley cannot replace or duplicate what they lost in Van Ord. She has graduated and moved on.

What they do have the ability to duplicate is another Sun Belt Conference Championship. In just three meets, the leadership and talent from the two combined have produced the best results out of several Mountaineers.

Curcio said he is extremely optimistic about what he has seen so far.

“I am very excited about the outcomes,” Curcio said.

“We have seen our top five do a great job of competing and they have shown good fitness. We are starting to see some younger ladies have

some breakthroughs and we have very good depth. Some of the freshman who are running very well have improved a lot and are gaining valuable experience without much pressure.”

The team agrees that although the pressure doesn’t get to them, they do recognize the nature of having won conference last season.

“We are capable of winning conference again but we also have a target on our back,” Fedders said. “The combo of winning conference but not doing great at regionals gave good motivation coming into this season.”

Fedders said they still have a long way to go before they are anywhere close to being the team that they were last year.

“We still have work to do, a lot of workouts and a lot of training ahead of us but we’re looking forward to it,” Greeley said.

Curcio listed young runners that have all improved as the season has moved on.

“They have all found ways to close the time gap with our fifth runner. It’s only a matter of time before we all have a big race together,” Curcio said.

The Mountaineers’ next meet is in Kernersville, North Carolina at the HPU Veltklasse XC Open on Oct. 13 at 4 p.m.

Courtesy of Tim Cowie

Oct. 5, 2017

Raheem Somersall rushes the ball downfield towards UCA’s goal. The offense’s clear communication during the game on Sept. 1 helped the Mountaineers own the field.

ONE-OF-A-KIND EXPERIENCE FOR SOMERSALL A Michael Pigg│

ppalachian men’s soccer team is looking forward to seeing junior midfielder Raheem Somersall’s improvement after his involvement with USPDL, a Premier Development League that let Somersall play for his home team, St. Kitts.

The Mountaineers need Somersall to take a huge step his junior year with the addition of 12 freshmen. He will have to pick up his play and his coaches believe the sky’s the limit for him.

“Somersall has made tremendous strides since I got here,” assistant coach Daniel Louisignau said. “I am very excited to see what he has. I believe he has not even scratched the surface and he decides on how great he wants to be.”

Somersall credits his involvement with the Premier League for his improvement on the field.

“The intensity and pace

Hayley Canal

is so much different in that league,” Somersall said. “If I can bring that over and put it to use on the field, my confidence will grow every game.

The main thing the Premier League did for me was slow the game down. I see things happening now, I am using my mind more.”

Somersall was shocked with the talent level of the athletes in Premier League.

“It was a different animal over there,” Somersall said.

“Every game I played, you would sit back and always be amazed of a couple plays these players would make.”

Somersall could not believe how much he learned from the Premier League and the things he learned on the field were only half of it.

“Seeing the different cultures was amazing to me,” Somersall said. “It will be something I will not forget; some of the the things I learned off the field could even help

@MDotPiggy│Sports Reporter

me on the field.”

Teammates of Somersall have noticed an improvement in his game and they also credit the Premier League for that.

“I have been playing with Somersall for almost five years and this has got to be the most improvement I have ever saw [in] him,” junior defense Ian Bennett said. “I noticed the improvement when I saw him looking for his teammates instead of trying everything himself.”

Being a junior, Somersall knows his leadership role will improve and he plans on stepping up and leading the younger Mountaineers on and off the field.

“This is probably one of the youngest teams I have ever been on,” Somersall said. “It is crazy. I went from one of the young guys last year to one of the leaders this year, and I am ready for the challenge.”

Teammates have been impressed with the leadership

that Somersall has been showing in the early part of the season.

“He is always willing to give anyone advice to help improve their game,” Bennett said. “You hear him always talking on the field, trying to get the rest of the team the spots they need to be in.”

Leadership is an important quality, but the Mountaineers will need Somersall to lead his team on the field by making plays for either himself or his teammates.

“We are going to need Somersall to take over some games this year,” Louisignau said. “Like I said before, the sky’s the limit for him, If he wants to be an all-Sun Belt player, he can do it, but the ball is in his corner.”

Somersall was quick to dismiss any individual goals he wanted to achieve and said he was all about the team.

“An all-Sun Belt team would be nice,” Somersall

said. “What I want to do first is win and that is my only goal.

My individual goals can come after what the team accomplishes first.”

Teammates are expecting Somersall to take an extra step from his sophomore year to his junior year.

“I can tell a difference in him this year, Raheem always seems to be in the right places,” Bennett said. “Not only is he using his natural skills, he is using things we find in game film and translating that into successful things onto the field.”

Everyone close to him believes this will be Somersall’s break-out year. He has the experience and different tools he picked up from the Premier League.

“This is the most focused I have been in while,” Somersall said. “Everything I did this offseason should make me a better player and now I am just ready to show it on the field.”

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Oct. 5, 2017

Rachel Gaines prepares to defend the net during the Mountaineers’ home game on Sept. 15 against Kent State.

NEW BOUNDARIES LEADS TO GAINES FLOURISHING PLAY A Ian Taylor│

ppalachian State field hockey goalkeeper Rachel Gaines’s first year in college was very different than her second. Now a sophomore, Gaines spent her freshman year redshirting in Columbus, Ohio for the Ohio State field hockey team, roughly 420 miles and a little under eight hours away from Boone. Despite the transition and her distance from home, Gaines has become one of the field hockey team’s stars on and off the field.

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A native of Kettering, Ohio, Gaines grew up less than two hours away from Columbus, and kept a constant eye on Ohio State. She grew up a fan of the Buckeyes, and the school was always on the radar before it started to become a reality in her junior year. An assistant coach at Ohio State was also an assistant coach on Gaines’ team and the recruiting began.

It made sense for the school to be interested.

Gaines had spent her high school years racking up national awards and med-

@I_J_Taylor│Sports Reporter

als in the Buckeyes’ backyard. Her decision eventually came down to just Ohio State and Davidson College in North Carolina.

Despite her accolades and academic accomplishments, her freshman year would not be spent on the field. Gaines was redshirted, saving a year of eligibility but not allowing her to see competitive play.

“When you’re not playing, I saw my role to be contributing to the team in other ways. Helping to maintain the team GPA was a big priority, academics have al-

ways been a big priority for me anyways, but I felt that it was especially important given that I can’t contribute on the field,” Gaines said.

“Ohio State had a lot of diverse options, a lot of classes to offer so I tried to take advantage of that where I could.”

Gaines is still unsure about what the long-term plan was for her at Ohio State to this day. A coaching change resulted in the assistant coach that recruited her no longer being on the staff, and Gaines realized that she was not in the future plans

as a starting goalkeeper. It was not an easy decision for the Ohio native, but a transfer away from the only state she had ever known was going to be necessary.

After handing in her transfer paperwork, Gaines was in the business of finding a new school. Gaines had important criteria for her choice of school, looking for a school with an academic record up to her standard as well as her desire to start on her new team.

A college field hockey player transferring schools is nothing like a pro athlete

Lindsay Vaughn

Oct. 5, 2017

Rachel Gaines in the net for the Mountaineers on Sept. 15. Gaines has made a quick impact for the Mountaineers. hitting free-agency. Gaines had to start making cold calls to teams and sending out what film she had of herself to whoever was interested. The market for a field hockey goalie is not one of the biggest in college sports, but Gaines was able to find 10 schools that had everything she was looking for. Of those 10, Appalachian was the last school she called.

Over 400 miles away, Mountaineers head coach Meghan Dawson was in need of a goalkeeper who could command the starting role. Gaines essentially fell into their lap, and it was the perfect situation for Dawson and the rest of the staff.

Gaines’ experience in training with a high-level program like Ohio State’s was perfect for a team looking to find its footing, but Daw-

Lindsay Vaughn

son was most excited about her off-the-field work.

Gaines left Ohio State with a varsity letter and was honored as an Ohio State scholar-athlete.

“Any time someone transfers, or just comes into a school, academics are the first thing you look at,” Dawson said. “If their academics aren’t there then you can’t get them in and it doesn’t matter if they’re the best player or the worst player, it doesn’t matter.

So, having her academics was a huge benefit knowing that we wouldn’t have to struggle to help her get in or struggle with off-field stuff.”

Gaines was told by Dawson that no spot was guaranteed in her squad, and that Rachel would have to win the job outright if she wanted to start. She put in

the work and since the start of the 2016 season has started in 24 of the 25 games that she has played.

This season has been when Gaines’ numbers have flourished. Her average goals allowed has gone down from 4.53 to 3.56 goals per game, and her save percentage increase from 62 to 67.3 percent, good for 59th in NCAA Division I. The transition from one of the most well-known colleges in the nation to Appalachian State is not an easy one and under some circumstances could have been devastating to anyone going through it.

For Gaines, there was the added weight of going from the only area she had ever known to 400 miles away from her family. That family had her back from

the moment she decided to transfer schools, something that helped her during the transition.

Gaines found her footing here at Appalachian State since arriving in 2016, and has put the past behind her as she focuses on the Mountaineers, and what is next for the team.

“It’s just focusing on building this team, the last piece of the puzzle is getting that record back to where it needs to be and I think that’s what’s next on the horizon for us,” Gaines said. “We’ve spent the better part of two years developing the culture, making sure we have the players that are willing to buy into the culture. That next step is just focusing on that will to win and that finishing aspect and that’s just what’s going to win us games.”

Rachel Gaines

WOMEN’S FIELD HOCKEY

119

SAVES RECORDED OVER 16 YEARS AS OF 2016

6 for 6

SAVES RECORDED AGAINST DAVIDSON COLLEGE ON SEPTEMBER 8 FOR A PERFECT RECORD

67.8

PERCENTAGE OF SHOTS SAVED SO FAR DURING THE 2017 SEASON

Rachel has also been named a Zag Field Hockey/NFHCA Division I Scholar of Distinction for achieving a cumulative 4.0 GPA for the 2016 fall semester.

21

Oct. 5, 2017

THE RISING PRICE OF EDUCATION

C

ollege education has always come with a price tag, but never more so than in the past few years.

Slowly rising tuition and living fees have been building up for decades, with each year leaving the cost of a college degree thousands of dollars higher.

“College costs have been rising roughly at a rate of 7 percent per year for decades.

Since 1985, the overall consumer price index has risen 115 percent while the college education inflation rate has risen nearly 500 percent,” Steve Odland, a contributor to Forbes Magazine, wrote.

This leaves more and more people unable to afford to further their education, and therefore more people who cannot earn an ample living to support themselves.

Those who choose to take out loans can experience repercussions of their debt well into their adult life.

“Graduating with debt puts a constraint on people at a time when they would most benefit from being free to take risks, explore career paths and save

Hensen Dendinger is a freshman communications major from Waxhaw, North Carolina.

You can follow her on Twitter @Hensendendinger. for future,” Todd Cherry, an economics professor at App, said. “The bigger the debt, the bigger the constraint, and the more narrow the path forward.”

An article by The New York Times reported: “While the college-age population has not increased since the tail end of the baby boom, the percentage of the population enrolled in college has risen significantly, especially in the last 20 years.

Enrollment in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs has increased by almost 50 percent since 1995.”

“As a consequence,” the article continued, “while state leg-

islative appropriations for higher education have risen much faster than inflation, total state appropriations per student are somewhat lower than they were at their peak in 1990.”

When looking to universities outside of the United States, however, students do not struggle as much to pay off their time in school. Germany has recently nullified costs for attending university, which were not all that high to begin with.

According to Slate, before the complete cut of tuition prices, German institutions had “semester fees of only 500-650 [euros], which is often less than an American student spends on books.”

When asked about the international price differences, Cherry said, “It’s a simple answer.

Their government and public support for higher education is much greater. Financial barriers are much less pressing in these countries, which helps explain why these countries have much more social and economic mobility than the U.S.” While the concept of free tuition is far away for the U.S., there are ideas American universities can take from inter-

national schools to lessen their costs and ease students’ wallets.

U.S. News pointed out that European universities often offer three-year bachelor’s degrees, rather than four-year programs.

They also recommended cutting down hiring individuals who are not directly teaching, as “Some schools have more administrative staff than faculty. Bloated administrative staffs are expensive and contribute to stodgy decision making.”

The New York Times made similar claims and said, “A major factor driving increasing costs is the constant expansion of university administration.

According to the Department of Education data, administrative positions at colleges and universities grew by 60 percent between 1993 and 2009, which Bloomberg reported was 10 times the rate of growth of tenured faculty positions.”

A solution which will not sit well with most Americans has the ability to drastically decrease fees both for the school itself and its students.

Collegiate sports, which are far more lacking in Europe, drain money from an institution

faster than nearly any other expense.

The Huffington Post reported that “In the past five years, public universities pumped more than $10.3 billion in mandatory student fees and other subsidies into their sports programs.”

“A portion of tuition and fees is the athletics fee,” Cherry said via email. “These fees generate well over $10 million each year, which covers about 60 percent of the athletics operating budget (e.g., travel, salaries, etc.). Critics argue this is an unnecessary cost because it mostly serves alumni and is not really part of the university’s mission, though supporters point to the benefits associated with athletics.”

Essentially, American education can be made affordable through a number of means.

However, it is difficult for administration and government to let go of practices that have been in place for decades.

Changing legislation takes time, promotion and effort. If America wants to see a more affordable future, it is time to reevaluate our funding priorities for education.

WHAT THE NEW BETHESDA-NINTENDO RELATIONSHIP MEANS FOR THE SWITCH

I

n November 2012, Nintendo, the popular Japanese video game company, released the Wii U video game console.

The console was released as the follow-up to the incredibly successful Wii system, and Nintendo had high hopes for it.

Unfortunately, the console vastly underperformed financially which caused it to fall far short of meeting Nintendo’s expectation of recreating the Wii’s success.

The console was plagued with a myriad of issues, including lackluster launch titles, a steep $350 price point and poor marketing decisions that left many consumers confused as to whether the Wii U was a brand-new gaming console or merely an upgrade to the Wii. What proved to be the final nail in the coffin, however, was the distinct lack of third-party game support.

Third-party games are those which are created for a console by any developer other than the one which designed the console. They can prove incredibly beneficial to a

22

Joshua Baldwin is a freshman computer science major from Greensboro, North Carolina. console’s longevity as they create a more expansive and diverse video game library to choose from, which removes the burden from the console’s parent company in creating all of the games for the system.

The Wii U, especially when compared to its market rivals, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, lagged heavily behind in this regard and its sales numbers reflect it.

According to Nintendo’s financial data, the Wii U only sold 13.5 million units in its lifetime, a statistic that pales in comparison to the Wii’s 101.63 million units.

The system eventually gained some quality third-party titles, but it was too little too late as those titles were already present on the previous generation of Xbox and Playstation consoles.

This lack of a strong third-party’s support resulted in the Wii U being Nintendo’s worst-selling flagship console made to date and just a mere 18 months after the release of the system, the third-party support that had existed was virtually gone.

In March, Nintendo released the Nintendo Switch, a console-handheld hybrid that aimed to bridge the gap between couch and on-the-go gaming.

The reveal and initial launch of the Switch seemingly showed that Nintendo had learned from the mistakes it had made with the Wii U. The Switch’s launch titles were positively received by critics and fans alike and Nintendo ran an incredibly effective ad campaign that highlighted exactly what the console could do.

Despite initial criticism from some tech journalists, such as Ben Gilbert from Business Insider, that

Nintendo still had not learned its lesson about the importance of third-party support, Nintendo has been trying to prove otherwise by heavily marketing games from third-parties.

Notable titles include Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle by Ubisoft, NBA 2K18 by Visual Concepts and 2K Games and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which is of particular note because it comes from Bethesda Studios, a company known for its mature role-playing and first-person shooter games.

Skyrim being announced for the Switch was shocking, particularly because Nintendo consoles have never been platforms for games of that style before.

Skyrim isn’t the only Bethesda title coming to the Switch.

Recently, Bethesda announced that the classic smash-hit shooter Doom and the still in development Wolfenstein II will both be ported to the Switch, Doom is releasing this holiday season and Wolfenstein II sometime next year.

Bethesda’s vice president of marketing, Pete Hines, has announced

that the company would like to create a long-standing partnership with Nintendo in order to make its games available for an even wider audience to play and enjoy.

This is wonderful news for the Switch, as the system is still relatively young in the gaming market and being supported by a development juggernaut like Bethesda can have a tremendous impact on the system’s market value.

Additionally, with Bethesda’s support of the Switch, there are high hopes that other prominent third-party developers may turn to the system as a means of reaching as many consumers as possible.

It is clear that the Switch is currently in a much better place than the Wii U was at the same point after its release. The system has already sold 4.7 million units as of June, a figure that is being held back due to the demand of the system far outstripping the supply. The potential for third-party support is a sign of even greater things to come for the Switch, hopefully preventing the system from meeting same unfortunate fate as the Wii U.

SUBMIT ANNOUNCEMENTS

App News is a service of the Division of Student Affairs. Email wilkeso@appstate.edu for submissions with subject line: APP NEWS PAGE. Submissions should not exceed 100 words and must include the event title, date/time, location and cost, and a contact email, phone and/or URL. Announcements will be edited as needed and will run as space allows. Preference is given for events that are free or have a nominal cost.

WHAT TO DO NEEDED! POLITICAL CARTOONISTS The Appalachian student newspaper is looking for students interested in getting their political cartoons and illustrations published.

Use your illustration talents to express your opinions and commentary on current events.

Email adviser@theappalachianonline.com for questions or interest.

GET YOUR CREATIVITY PUBLISHED The Peel Literature and Arts Review is looking for student submissions of design, photography, fashion, poetry, prose, music, short stories and more! Our final deadline is Nov. 3 at midnight. Visit thepeelreview.submittable.com and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @thepeelreview. Email any questions or concerns to adviser@theappalachianonline.com

STUDY ABROAD The application deadline for many Spring 2018 programs has been extended until the end of September. We are also accepting applications for many 2017-2018 faculty-led programs, as well as Summer 2018, Fall/AY 2018 and Spring 2019 programs. Get started on your application today at international.appstate.edu.

today! This will take place Wednesdays at the Habitat for Humanity - Watauga County/ReStore, 1200 Archie Carroll Road, Boone, North Carolina 28607.

FAFSA DAY Students are invited to FAFSA DAY and to receive help and information on completing the FAFSA. The staff will be providing free help to students and families from 9 a.m. to noon on October 28 in the Office of Student Financial Aid, second floor, John Thomas Hall. Register at www.cfnc.org.

VISITING WRITERS SERIES The Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series presents Thursday, October 5th Rachel Rivers-Coffey Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing, Poet Susan Ludvigson (Everything Winged Must Be Dreaming; Sweet Confluence: New and Selected Poems)7:30 p.m. Table Rock Room, Plemmons Student Union. Pre-Reading Reception 6-7:15 p.m.

Price Lake Room, Plemmons Student Union.

Craft Talk: Issues of Voice 3:30-4:45 Table Rock Room, Plemmons Student Union.For more information, please see https://english. appstate.edu/node/782.

programs encompassing body image, mental health, nutrition, and sexual health. WE CAN is a volunteer opportunity.

Applications need to be completed in it’s entirety by Oct. 20th on AppSync at https:// orgsync.com/125469/events/2079738/occurrences/4979348. Students that will be 2nd semester 1st year students in the Spring are eligible to apply. Students graduating in the Spring are ineligible to apply.

out candy and the hall lobbies will have fun activities designed for all ages. Parents and children will need to check-in at the East Hall parking lot (between East Hall and Hwy. 321) to receive a map and further instructions for the evening festivities. Parking is available in any campus faculty/staff parking lot.

FALL BREAK BACKPACKING TRIP

Sustainable Energy Speaker Series: Solar Electricity Development in the Southeast: Process and Prospects for the Future Brian Bednar, President of Birdseye Renewable Energy. Monday, October 16, 2:00 - 3:00 pm. Room 201B Table Rock Room, PSU. More information here - https://energy. appstate.edu/calendar/5012. Contact: millerjm1@appstate.edu.

Join OP as we travel through Pisgah National Forest spending each night under the stars and sharing meals over a campfire. We will visit hidden waterfalls, explore the mountains to sea trail, sleep under a canopy of Fall foliage, hike to stunning vistas and get to know one of Appalachia’s greatest natural environment.

Pre-trip meeting time: Monday, 10/9 6pm @ OP Basecamp. Trip meeting time: Thursday, Oct. 12 at 8 a.m. at OP Basecamp. Cost: $200 for ASU students, $250 for all others. For more info, visit op.appstate.edu.

DESIGN THE APPALACHIAN

HISPANIC HERITAGE FESTIVAL

Want to design this paper? Email adviser@ theappalachianonline.com to express interest!

The Hispanic Heritage Festival is hosted by HSA every year in order to showcase the diversity of Hispanic/Latinx culture on our campus and across the world. It is an event open to the public where they can come share our culture and learn about our various customs and traditions. This year the event is featuring Elizabeth Acevedo, a Afro-Latinx Spoken Word poet who was born and raised in New York City and her poetry is infused with Dominican bolero and her beloved city’s tough grit. The festival will take place Oct. 10 from 6-9 p.m. in Blue Ridge Ballroom, Plemmons Student Union.

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SPEAKER SERIES

DESIGN THE APPALACHIAN

As an extension of the Department of Wellness and Prevention Services, the Wellness Educators for Change, Advocacy, and student Needs (WE CAN) work to positively impact student wellness at Appalachian State University by: empowering peers to change health behaviors, working as an advocacy group for student well-being, and addressing student needs to promote and protect healthy lifestyles. WE CAN plans and implements

Appalachian State University Housing would like to invite you into our East Campus residence halls for our annual Trick-or-Treat for Tots event, Thursday, October 26th from 5-7 pm. This event is open to ASU Faculty and Staff as well as community families. Admission is one canned good or non-perishable food item. All donations will be given to a local charity. Children of all age groups are encouraged to dress in their Halloween costumes to go trick-or-treating through Hoey, Cannon, Lovill, East, Doughton, White, Summit and Cone residence halls. ASU students will be handing

THURSDAY, OCT. 5

FRIDAY, OCT. 6

SATURDAY, OCT. 7

SUNDAY, OCT. 8

Visiting Writers Series

Homecoming Parade

TUESDAY, OCT. 10

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 11

THURSDAY, OCT. 12

Hispanic Heritage Festival

Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY Join us as we continue building the 5th home on our neighborhood, GreenWood, for the Love family. You can choose to volunteer from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 1 p.m. to 4 p.m, or 9 a.m. to 4 p.m each Wednesday. All you need to bring is a water bottle, your lunch, and a willingness to learn while helping others! We will provide the tools, materials and instructions!

Be sure to wear old clothes and old closed-toe shoes. Please call us to schedule your time

Craft Talk: 3:30-4:45 p.m.

Table Rock Room, PSU Pre-Reading Reception: 6-7:15 p.m.

Price Lake Room, PSU Reading: 7:30 p.m.

Table Rock Room, PSU

Financial Wellness Workshop 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Room 114, Belk Library

WELLNESS EDUCATOR APPLICATIONS

6 p.m.

Downtown Boone

APPtoberfest 7-9:30 p.m.

Howard St. $3

Fireworks

10 p.m.

Duck Pond Field

Lip Sync Finals Competition 6-8 p.m.

Schaefer Center

MONDAY, OCT. 9

6-9 p.m.

Blue Ridge Ballroom, PSU

9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Habitat for Humanity - Watauga County/ ReStore 1200 Archie Carroll Road, Boone, NC 28607

An Intercollegiate Broadcasting System Radio Station of the Year w > ÃÌ Your college contact outreach@theappalachianonline.com

Your station