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The Murray State News TheNews.org

Feb. 7, 2014

Vol. 88, No. 20

Bill Nye visits Murray State, discusses importance of education Hunter Harrell || Features Editor hharrell@murraystate.edu

What happens when mixing vinegar and baking soda? The answer would be a reaction.

Just like the science behind the vinegar and baking soda, Bill Nye The Science Guy sparked quite the reaction from the students, faculty and community members Monday evening in the CFSB Center.

With more than 3,000 attendees, laughter echoed through the arena

from approximately 8 p.m. until 10:30 p.m.

The goal of the Presidential Lecture Series is to invite the Murray community to learn more about a specific academic department or issue Nye within education.

As the guest speaker for the Presidential Lecture Series, Nye ad-

dressed the audience with his valuable insight on multiple issues such as science education, innovation and the joy of discovery.

Though students and teachers both proposed questions about core standards of science education in Kentucky, Nye had responses specifically catered for each. Nye addressed the students with a challenge to be the best they can be. The message even seemed similar to the Murray State tagline “take your place.”

“I am a speck, standing on a speck,

orbiting a speck with a bunch of other specks in the middle of specklessness. I suck,” Nye said. “But with your brain you can know and appreciate your place in the cosmos, your place in space.”

However, his response to those who teach the students was vastly different. Instead of facing the issue pushing students to do more homework and study more, his response was to make the students passionate about the subject, instead.

“Blow stuff up,” Nye said. “I’m not

Public Safety releases annual safety report

To see the full campus and fire safety report, go to TheNews.org.

see NYE, 2A

E

Staff Report The Murray State police department released the annual security and fire safety report for 2013 Wednesday.

The report begins with basic information on how to stay safe on campus and how to contact law enforcement if necessary. It provides the phone numbers and information for the Counseling Center, Student Affairs and other offices on campus.

The report compares the 2010, 2011 and 2012 academic years.

In 2010, there were four fires in residential colleges and College Courts. That number dropped to one fire in 2011, only in College Courts.

All of the fires in those two years were unintentional fires caused by cooking accidents.

In 2012, there were two fires in residential colleges, both labeled as arson in the form of burned paper.

Other highlights from the report include: • There were 12 reported burglaries on campus in 2012, compared to 20 in 2011 and seven in 2010.

• Fifty cases of criminal damage were reported by officers in 2012 - compared to only three in 2011 and seven in 2010.

• There was a decrease in theft on campus, with 99 cases in 2012. In 2010 and 2011 there were more than 130 cases reported.

• For arrest only cases, drug, liquor and other alcohol violations were similar to previous years, all less than 20 cases.

• There were seven cases of drug violations reported by non-law enforcement. In 2010, there were zero and in 2011 there were four reports.

• Perhaps one of the most staggering differences was in liquor violations on campus. In 2010, there were six reports and seven in 2011. There was a total of 31 reports in 2012 by non-law enforcement.

The report also gives crime statistics for Murray State’s extended campuses.

kidding. Everybody loves science and when you have a demonstration that is something you don’t expect. Blow something up and have people try to figure out why it happens.”

In following, Nye began speaking on innovation. He especially pointed out that technology today has evolved and without these innovations, things would always stay the same.

“Most people who own phones, own phones with cameras,” Nye said. “Is

Fumi Nakamura/The News

Students walk to class Tuesday with ice still lining sidewalks, streets and driveways.

Delayed schedule causes student uproar Lexy Gross || Editor-in-Chief cgross2@murraystate.edu

Mary Bradley || Staff writer mbradley9@murraystate.edu

Winter weather, the hope of class cancelations and confusion over schedules plagued students this week.

Ice and a small amount of snow fell on campus Sunday night and another round of a wintery mix fell Tuesday.

Murray State decided Monday morning to institute a two-hour delay schedule, where all classes after 7:30 a.m. met later in the day. Although the University canceled classes at other campuses Monday and Wednesday, the main campus remained open.

Several students claim that communication was misleading and the schedule on Monday was confusing.

Maddie Pleimann, senior from Waterloo,

Ill., said she noticed that Murray State’s informational platforms weren’t all on the same page Monday morning.

“I woke up at 6 a.m. to two text messages: one saying campus was closed and one saying that we were on a delayed schedule,” Pleimann said.

Pleimann checked Twitter and found that Murray State platforms said the campus would be on a delayed schedule – but the website still said campus was closed.

“It wasn’t until after 7 a.m. that I checked again and it said that campus will be on the delayed schedule,” she said. “If I didn’t check Twitter, I would’ve gotten the two text message and checked the website, assumed classes were cancelled, turned off my alarms and missed classes.”

The two-hour class delay schedule was posted on Murray State’s website, giving normal class times and the new times with

see DELAY, 2A

Fumi Nakamura/The News

The statue of Rainey T. Wells stands in the Quad with ice dripping from its face.

15th Street still vacant of crosswalks Confessions account Ben Manhanke

gains local following

Assistant News Editor bmanhanke@murraystate.edu

Following the summer repaving and refurbishment of 15th Street between Olive and Main streets, inclement weather continues to delay the placement of crosswalks on this section of road.

Ron Allbritten, street superintendent of Murray, said typically it would not take this long after a street had been resurfaced for crosswalks to be added.

He said the street department is waiting for hired contractors to finish their work on the road, but because of the recent rain and snow this work has been unable to be completed. “(The contractors) have about three more good days of work to finish over there and then, once they finish, we’ll come in and actually put the markings and everything else that needs to be there,” he said.

All Allbritten and his crew have remaining to do is actually place the thermal plastics used for the markings and signage of the crosswalk as well as installing some truncated domes used to aid the visually impaired.

The installation of these domes and construction of concrete islands to limit the distance pedestrians have to walk between sides are part of new required standards mandated in 2013 by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Allbritten said on top of these compli-

Meghann Anderson News Editor manderson22@murraystate.edu

Lori Allen/The News

Si Chen, professor of computer sciences, crosses 15th Street. ances complicating the project, the city also took the time to conduct an engineering study to determine where crosswalks should be placed, which also has stalled their actual placement.

“When you put one crosswalk in you’re telling everyone that this is the safest place to cross,” he said. “We need to know why that’s the safest place to cross and really is it.”

He said his department observed 15th Street for several years prior to begin-

ning their resurfacing and that it had been approximately 20 years since the street was last repaved. The work being done on 15th Street mirrors prior, similar efforts made to improve 14th Street.

Allbritten said the previous crosswalks on 15th Street had visibility issues both concerning pedestrians’ ability to see oncoming motorist and motorists’ ability to see pedestrians walking out from be-

see CROSSWALK, 2A

Weeks after @collegefessions exploded on Twitter, Murray State students started following a more localized confessions page, @murrayfessions.

With more than 400 followers, the account has only been active for two weeks. The first tweet from the account encouraged students to send in their own confessions and said, “we want to know all your secrets.”

While the account has less than 30 tweets, many students have still followed the account.

Dana Howard, social media manager for the University, said the account popped up in her search queries about seven minutes after the account was started.

“Fortunately, branding-wise it is not representing Murray State but it is easy to see it is being filled with Murray State student confessions,” Howard said. “It continues to show up

WHAT’S

OUR VIEW

STATION BURGER

INSIDE

University should have cancelled classes Monday, 4A

New burger joint has good food, Women defeat Red Wolves for atmosphere, 6A first time in 26 years, 1B

TENNIS TRIUMPH

in my searches so I am monitoring it; mostly so I know if specific organizations or people are used in any tweets.”

Since the Twitter account does not use the Murray State logo, slogan or anything that ties it to the University, Howard can’t get it taken down.

“Unfortunately, these accounts are types of problems social media marketers deal with when working hard to protect image and brand,” Howard said.

Now, more than a hundred colleges have parody Twitter accounts encouraging students to submit stories. High school students have also jumped on the bandwagon.

Aimee Graves, graduate student from Murray, said the @murrayfessions account is ridiculous.

“It’s horrible publicity for the school and most seems made up, to be honest,” Graves said. “I agree with many of the points Dana Howard made

see TWITTER, 2A

HEALTH TIPS 5 ways to stay energized through the spring semester, 5B

The News

News

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February 7, 2014

DELAY From Page 1 the delay. Campus didn’t open until 10 a.m. Monday morning.

Interim President Tim Miller said Facilities Management made a recommendation to a committee charged with deciding whether or not campus would close Monday morning. The committee then passed their recommendation to the vice presidents, who sent their recommendation to Miller.

Miller said the inclement weather plan was in its final planning steps until Saturday, Feb. 1 when it was posted on the website.

He said since the policy is so new, it will be revisited and examined for issues and kinks. Student opinions are important to the process, Miller said, and he wants to examine the schedule with them in mind.

“In the meantime, I want to apologize to any students adversely affected by this and I want them to feel sure the faculty will work with them,” Miller said.

The Student Government Association met Wednesday and discussed the inclement weather schedule.

SGA proposed a motion to form an inclement weather schedule review committee, which will include three

TWITTER From Page 1 about CollegeFessions.”

Graves said she thinks accounts like @collegefessions and @murrayfessions shed a terrible light on Murray State and the City of Murray.

The founder of @murrayfession asked to remain anonymous but said her and a friend started the account one day while they were bored.

“We weren't starting it to shed a bad light on the school, just to entertain people and let others share their funny stories,” a founder of @murayfession said. “I don't actually have any long term plans with it, just seeing where it goes. I assume the hype will die down soon enough unless some Project X crazy party comes about.”

She said she knew the

Lori Allen/The News

A tree lies across a sidewalk on campus Tuesday afternoon as a wintery mix of precipitation fell.

SGA members and administration.

The committee was charged with reviewing and revising the schedule implemented Monday, and must present it no later than the Feb. 12 SGA meeting.

Jay Morgan, vice president of Academic Affairs, attended the SGA meeting and apologized on behalf of the University for any issues caused by the schedule. Morgan stressed the importance of contacting professors if they think they can’t make it to

@collegefessions account was successful and thought it would be “pretty cool” for Murray State students to share their own stories without having to go through one popular account that gets so many submissions every day.

“So far it’s been semi-successful,” the founder said.

“We haven't had as many posts as I thought we would, but I guess people are afraid that their identity might come out if they sent anything. I keep every post fully confidential.”

Dalton Hazelett, senior from Eureka, Mo., said he thinks the accounts are pretty funny.

“I don’t take the accounts seriously,” Hazelett said. “It’s something funny to look at when I’m bored. If the tweets are true, then some of these people have some crazy stories; if they are made up confessions, then I don’t really care, they are still pretty hilarious.”

class in inclement weather.

“We know that our faculty traditionally have good reputations about working with students who are disadvantaged by poor weather – particularly commuters,” Morgan said in an email to faculty Wednesday. “So, as our bad weather persists we would ask that our faculty continue to be a little more flexible than usual in your attendance policies with students. I am sure our students would appreciate it.”

CROSSWALK From Page 1 tween parked cars.

Calynda Hinkle, sophomore from Breckinridge, Ky., said without the crosswalks, the cars don’t slow down or look for pedestrians crossing the street so she has to run in order to cross without being hit.

Matt Mattingly, city administrator, said it is unfortunate that the crosswalks haven’t been able to be replaced in a timelier manner, but the delays aren’t without good reason.

“Not only are we going to rectify the problem, but we are approving the safety of pedestrians,” Mattingly said.

“I wish our timing had been a bit better on having the engineering study done, but we recognized that we have a potential public safety issue.”

Alex Englen, junior from

Pleimann wasn’t the only student who faced problems Monday morning because of inclement weather in the region.

Rebekah Dial, senior from Murray, commutes to campus every day.

When she left her house Monday, she fell on the way to her car.

“Yes, I know commuters come at their own risk,” Dial said on The News’ Facebook page. “But what about the teachers who say we are required to attend every single class?

Fort Campbell, Ky., said as a student living off campus she parks frequently in the parking lot behind the Burrito Shack and has to cross 15th Street to get to class.

She said it is an inconvenience if you do want to cross at a crosswalk because you have to walk away from your classes, past the parking lot.

“It’s always on my mind that you have to beware of where you’re walking because there aren’t enough crosswalks,” Englen said. “If you want to cross without a crosswalk you have to stand on the sidewalk and wait to make sure the cars see you before you cross.”

Allbritten said crosswalks have not been shown to make crossing streets safer, but sometimes actually have the opposite effect.

Barring any further weather delays, Allbritten said the crosswalks should be installed by the end of this month.

That if we miss any class meetings points are deducted from our final grade?”

Paula Amols, director of Dining Services and Racer Hospitality, said the Thoroughbred Room had limited services Monday due to a staff shortage and the delay on campus. Both the hot food line and part of the salad line were closed.

“A lot of our staff didn’t make it in today and those that did were later than usual getting in because of the delay and problems getting to campus,” Amols said. “In order to get the hot line open, we have to start cooking early. The delivery truck was three hours late so some of our supplies were low.”

Catherine Sivills, assistant vice president of University Communications, said the text sent to students came from Public Safety and Emergency Management and communications will be looked at as well.

Jessika Cummins, senior from Lexington, Ky., said in theory, the inclement weather plan is ideal.

“But where it stops being viable is when they don’t take into account that we are adults as well as students,” Cummins said on Facebook.

“Many other aspects of people’s lives will not go on delay with campus.

“Overall I’m disappointed, but can’t say I’m surprised. Inclement weather is usually a no-win for schools.”

NYE From Page 1 there anyone here who doesn’t?

Is there anyone here who hasn’t benefited from medical science?

We wouldn’t have any of that without science - without this way of knowing nature. So we want to embrace that.”

Furthermore, Nye’s innovation lecture turned into excitement for the future and the joys of discovery. He stated that students who are open to learning new things and discovering them for themselves, often become the innovators of a generation, who then change the world.

With each example, Nye held the attention of the audience with jokes and voice inflections.

After the lecture, audience members were able to ask questions. Some of the questions were more serious in tone, such as Nye’s stance on science edu-

cation in Kentucky and his thoughts of life on other planets.

Others asked Nye about his experiences on Dancing with the Stars and his bow tie collection, which is composed of more than 200 bow ties. Nye replied to each and every question asked by the audience with a witty and humorous tone, while also answering the question.

As the night drew to a close, Nye shook hands and posed for pictures with many Murray community members and students.

Social media sites were flooded with pictures of the science guy and quotes from the lecture accompanied by the hashtag #NyeatMurrayState.

Though the audience may have laughed through a good portion of the lecture, many left feeling inspired. This is one presidential lecture that in Nye’s words, “could, dare I say, change the world.”

Nye went on the next night to battle Ken Ham, founder of the Creation Museum.

The News

News

February 7, 2014 News Editor: Meghann Anderson Assistant Editor: Ben Manhanke Phone: 270-809-4468 Twitter: MurrayStateNews

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Student runs for Congress Murray

Police Beat 25-year-old Wesley Bolin faces incumbent shelter in Jan. 30 danger of closing Lori Allen || Staff writer lallen@murraystate.edu

11:0 5 a.m. A caller reported a non-injury vehicular accident on Waldrop Drive. Officers were notified and the report was referred to another jurisdiction.

8: 0 7 p.m . A caller in Franklin Residential College reported the smell of marijuana. Officers were notified. A report was taken.

Jan. 31 1 2: 14 a.m. A caller reported the smell of marijuana in Old Richmond Residential College. Officers were notified . A report was taken.

8:36 p. m. An officer conducted a traffic stop in front of the Curris Center. A written warning was issued for failure to yield at a pedestrian crosswalk.

Feb. 1 3: 1 0 a .m . A caller requested a welfare check on a student in Elizabeth Residential College.

Officers were notified and a report was taken for possession of alcohol by a minor.

1 1 : 4 8 a .m . A caller reported a medical emergency at the William “Bill” Cherry Agricultural Exposition Center. Officers and the Murray Ambulance Service were notified. A report was taken.

Feb. 2 4 : 22 a.m . A caller reported a medical emergency in Regents Residential College. Officers and the Murray Ambulance Services were notified. A report was taken.

3:43 p.m. A caller from Hart Residential College reported a sparking outlet. Officers and the Murray Fire Department were notified. A report was taken.

Feb. 3 11:39 a.m. A caller reported a medical emergency in the Wellness Center. Officers and the Murray Ambulance Service were notified.

A report was taken.

12:02 p.m. A caller reported a medical emergency in Old Richmond.

Officers and the Murray Ambulance Service were notified. A report was taken.

Murray State student Wesley Bolin announced his candidacy for Congress from Kentucky's First District.

Bolin, 25-year-old Democrat and history major is the son of history professor Duane Bolin. He also works full-time in Pogue Special Collections Library.

Bolin plans to take a leave of absence from his job at Pogue after the primaries, so he can reach out to the 35 counties in Kentucky's First District. University policy allows for public service leave of absence with Board of Regents approval. Bolin said it's a policy that hasn't been taken advantage of for quite some time.

One of Bolin's co-workers at Pogue, Christie Leith, senior from Benton, Ky., may not vote for Bolin, but has positive words about the student candidate.

"I'm not a Democrat, but I'm very excited for Wesley because I know he'll do a great job," Leith said.

When asked his reason for running, Bolin references a favorite television drama.

“My sister and I love watching The West Wing,” Bolin said.

“There's a scene where one of the characters is convincing Martin Sheen to run for president and says he's tired of choosing between the lesser of “who cares”. In my age range there is a lot of dissatisfaction with politics and congressional ratings are really low. Instead of talking big talk, I think this is the best way to send a message that the individual vote matters, by running.”

Juggling his coursework, full-time employment and a political campaign is proving a little tricky without a staff, Bolin said. He sends emails and makes phone calls on lunch breaks, and is getting help from his sister, Cammie Jo, 19-yearold Centre College student.

Murray State senior Chelsea Scaturro, from St. Louis, Mo., has heard there is a Murray State student running for congress. Although she doesn't know the candidate, she thinks it's great that a student is running for office.

"There are probably people more qualified to run, but you have to start somewhere," Scaturro said.

The first issue Bolin is focusing

Alex McLaughlin || Staff writer cmclaughlin@murraystate.edu

Lori Allen/The News

Wesley Bolin announced he is running against Ed Whitfield for a seat in congress. on is raising the minimum wage. He said it’s a very hot issue, especially since President Barack Obama promoted it in the State of the Union Address last week. Bolin said that more than 300,000 Kentuckians would get that raise. He is one of those people.

“Raising the minimum wage is important to me because I'm working hourly and my friends are working hourly, and I know how impossible it is to make it even working fulltime at minimum wage,” Bolin said.

Bolin's father has spent his career writing about Kentucky political history. The senior Bolin is rallying behind his son's campaign.

“His mother Evelyn, his sister and I are all very proud of him,” Bolin said.

Both father and son hope the Murray State community will rally to support one of their own.

“Maybe people will get out and vote who don't normally, because a person in the same walk of life as they are is running,” Bolin said.

Desiree Isaac, president of the Murray State College Republicans, ac-

Presidential Search continues Staff Report

Feb. 4 1 : 4 1 p. m. A fire trouble alarm was activated in Woods Hall.

Officers were notified. A report was taken.

9:14 p.m . Racer Patrol reported a car doing “donuts” in the Roy Stewart Stadium parking lot.

Officers were notified but the vehicle was gone upon arrival.

Feb. 5 8: 0 5 a. m . A caller reported a tree falling on to a vehicle parked in the Curris Center parking lot. Officers were notified. A report was taken.

1 1 : 4 6 p. m . A caller reported a sparking outlet in Springer Residential College. Officers and the Murray Fire Department were notified. A report was taken.

Call of Fame Jan 31 - 5: 14 p.m. An officer reported a portable toilet had been blown over on 15th Street. The company responsible was notified. An information report was taken.

Motorists assists – 5 Racer escorts – 7 Arrests – 0

Ben Manhanke, Assistant News Editor, compiles Police Beat with materials provided by Public Safety and Emergency Management. Not all dispatched calls are listed.

knowledges Bolin's candidacy but still supports her party candidate.

"While Bolin is a student of and works at Murray State, I will fully support Representative Whitfield in the 2014 election," Isaac said. "Bolin will face a strong challenge if he wins the primary and I look forward to the campaign and learning more about the candidate as the election approaches."

Bolin seeks to follow in the footsteps of previous Kentucky politicians Alben Barkley, former vice president of the U.S. and Albert “Happy” Chandler, former U.S. senator.

With voter registration 2-to-1 democrat, Bolin said that this area especially has a great democrat tradition.

Before Rep. Whitfield, there has never been a republican representative serving the First District.

“There's a lot to be proud of and excited about historically,” Bolin said. “I think about this a lot as a history student and the son of a history professor. What I am doing is not really unique, it's just something we've gotten away from in the last couple of decades.”

The Gentry House, Murray’s only transitional shelter, is set to close June 30 if it cannot find funding to continue operations.

The house, established in 1997, is a nonprofit organization that provides assistance to families with children in a state of emergency.

They provide information and referrals to families looking to secure permanent housing.

The Gentry House is operating on a five-month budget to see it through until June 30 and is no longer accepting applications for occupancy.

The City of Murray is exploring options to find funding to keep The Gentry House open.

Rose Allbritten, a member of the Gentry House board of directors, brought the situation to the city council and cited the frequent change in directors as part of the shelter’s problem.

“We can’t keep a director that is willing and able to do all of the jobs that are required in that position,” she said. “People have to have a job that can sustain them and you can’t do that on $12,000 a year.”

Mayor Bill Wells remains positive a resolution can be found to keep The Gentry House operating.

“I think the community has to buy into this at some level.,” Wells said. “We aren’t under the gun to make a decision this week. We have time to revisit the issue.”

A search for new board members is ongoing. The city council has also discussed making longterm plans to help with funding.

Linda Cherry, city council member, highlighted the importance of resolving the situation.

“This service is for people with children,” Cherry said. “We are talking about the welfare of children who have no say about the situation they are in.”

Lori Allen/The News

R ED DAY: Kayc ee Ranney stand s sti ll a s a hear t i s p ainted on he r fac e for h e a r t d i s e a s e a w a r e n e s s . C h e c k o u t Th e N e w s . o r g f o r t h e f u l l s t o r y o n t h e Wom en’s Center event.

Murray State’s presidential search committee is meeting today to narrow down the remaining candidates from 10 to two to four.

Having begun the search with an initial pool of 65 applicants, this decision will be the final round of cuts before the committee makes its recommendation to the Board of Regents.

Stephen Williams, chair of the search committee, said the quality of all 10 remaining presidential-hopefuls was excellent and their strong character was

a positive reflection on Murray State’s national reputation.

Remarking on the 10 remaining candidates during the search committee’s last meeting Jan. 12, Williams said he believes that in these applicants Murray State has found its next president.

Before the candidates are interviewed and selected by the Board of Regents, the remaining two to four candidates will visit campus where they will have a chance to meet with the University’s constituencies and answer their questions.

Those meetings will take place some time in March.

Library store meets students’ needs Mary Bradley || Staff writer mbradley9@murraystate.edu

Stocked full with various snacks and drinks, Waterfield Library’s Starbooks has been a popular pit stop for students to go any time of the day when in need of a snack.

The busy store provides students with a wide selection of choices including candy bars, coffee, sodas, pastries and two soups that change daily.

While there are other on-campus dining options such as Winslow Cafeteria, the Throughbred Room and the Business Express, Starbooks is centrally located on campus.

While the store has recently removed Jasmine Thai and Sushi Bar, its popularity hasn’t wavered and looks to continue to serve students.

Sophomore Taylor Fischer from St. Louis, Mo. said she believes the store is popular among students because of its easily accessible location.

“I think it’s been so busy because it’s so convenient,” Fischer said. “If you’re in a hurry or if a class gets out and you have a few minutes to spare before your next one, it’s the perfect place to go and grab a quick snack before heading on your way.”

Fischer, who prefers to satisfy her between class cravings with Baked Lays and a 7UP, said the store has many options that attract students.

However, she said the only thing the store could work on is to stock items

Jenny Rohl/The News

Catherine Sw ift, junior from Owensboro, Ky. purchases a b ag of chip s and a sod a at the Starbooks cafe in Waterfi eld Lib rary. more often with such a large amount of customers going in and out.

“Sometimes it seems like they don’t restock their items as often as they should,” Fischer said. “I’ve been there before when a whole stack of shelves were practically empty. Other than that I think their service and options are great.”

She said she knows the workers

are busy, but with so many students wanting jobs, maybe they could hire a few more people.

Options, which include the popular items coffee, soda, water, energy drinks and the soups, are things the student workers at Starbooks try to keep constantly stocked for the busy rush hours.

Fischer said the busiest time for

Starbooks is in the morning and around Noon.

“Whenever it gets super busy, we try to make sure that there are two registers open, but sometimes even that doesn’t help,” she said. “We try to keep an eye on coffee levels, too.

We mostly try to balance keeping the registers going and keeping things stocked.”

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February 7, 2014

The News

Opinion

Opinion Editor: Carly Besser Phone: 270-809-5873

Our View

Murray State jeopardized students with Monday decision The staff editorial is the majority opinion of The Murray State News Editorial Board.

The News 2609 University Station Murray State University Murray, Kentucky 42071-3301 msu.thenews@murraystate.edu Fax: 270-809-3175

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Evan Watson/The News

Students are undoubtedly the most important part of any university.

As the primary consumers of an institution, we should be kept satisfied, safe and in high priority by our school. However, it seemed like Murray State was one university that failed to do this for us Monday.

While students at other Kentucky colleges saw cancellations due to unsafe road conditions, it was announced that Murray State would only face a two-hour delay with classes resuming on a revised schedule.

This decision showed how little concern the University had for the safety of its students and faculty members, who felt obligated to drive on treacherous, icy roads to attend school and work.

The delay’s purpose was to facilitate the University’s interest of keeping campus open. There was no consideration of who had to struggle to get there in fear of being penalized.

Fortunately, most professors were accepting of late and absent students because it was considered compromising to their safety to show up.

Driving just a short distance to campus proved to be a gamble because the roads

were not completely salted and cars were coated in ice.

Students who commuted from Marshall, Henry and Calloway counties possibly risked their lives to be here when they shouldn’t have had to.

After the December ice storm, it was apparent how ill-prepared the campus and city were for the inclement weather. This should have influenced the idea that resuming classes was more trouble than it was worth.

Public Safety and Emergency Management left a mixed message when it announced the decision by first sending a mass text Sunday saying the University would be closed Monday, Feb. 3.

Shortly after, another mass text was sent saying the delay would resume. The University further misguided students when its official website listed the school as closed, yet said the delay was still in place on its social media accounts.

Satellite campuses and laboratories saw different time delays or full cancellations, including the Madisonville and Hopkinsville locations.

The lack of uniformity for Murray State’s decision further added to our frustration.

Naturally, we were confused by the conflicting text messages and overall disorganization of communication.

This is not high school. Students have mandatory obligations other than attending class. Murray State failed to consider the fact that we are adults who, most likely, hold jobs or have families to care for.

Students should never have to choose between going to school and going to work, but the University put some of us in a position to do so.

We want to attend a school that reciprocates our spirit and lets us know that we influence the decisions that directly affect us.

We pay inflated tuition to attend Murray State and should be held in a higher regard.

We should feel betrayed that the University would blatantly disregard our welfare to keep campus open.

Is this the message that Murray State wanted to convey?

That money and classes are more important than people who are paying and attending?

At first glance, it was a simple decision to keep business going. In our eyes, it translated to a statement that we have little importance here.

Dispatches from the New Enlightenment

Bill Nye: Science changes the world Monday night at the CFSB Center wasn’t a love fest but it was close.

I’d been hearing all day from my students, “You going to Bill Nye?” “I love Bill Nye” “My sixth grade science teacher played his episodes every William week,” “You NEVER Zingrone saw Bill Nye?” Associate professor I confess I hadn’t.

Wrong generation: I’m of psychology just a little older than him and he fell in between my kids’ generations, so no, I’ve never seen a “Bill Nye, The Science Guy” show.

He had them eating out of his hand; this guy has almost rockstar status. Beneath the nerdiness and homespun humor is an educated, scientifically literate man who loves science and loves innovation and vision and does not want to see this country fall behind in the challenge to solve the future’s problems and make the next great discoveries.

Bill roamed through his experiences in space exploration, throwing in tidbits of scientific knowledge regularly along the way, displaying an impressive familiarity with modern knowledge of space and our tiny speck of a world floating in it.

He purposely went into a lengthy aside on global warming, using the runaway greenhouse effect on the planet Venus as a backdrop for displaying and reviewing the hockey stick graph of the Earth’s rapid recent temperature rise that the global warming deniers have made so infamous.

He featured it as calmly and accurately as any other of the dozens of scientific facts he

explained along the way in between the jokes and anecdotes, nerdy asides and admonishing the crowd of delighted listeners in his most diabolical voice to “change the world.”

As corny as his delivery deliberately was at times, he was dead serious about encouraging the young of this country to embrace science and change the world for the betterment of all.

The emphasis was on the science throughout and when one of the audience members during the hour-long Q-and-A described the hockey stick graph as a theory, Bill politely but immediately corrected him that no, it was data: reliable, corroborated data from temperature recordings, tree rings, ice cores, etc.

He also described the update to the temperature profile of the earth extending back further in time which now resembles a sickle and really demonstrates even more clearly the rapid rise of temperature worldwide in recent times.

He really pushed innovation to “change the world” again as it has so unexpectedly in the past and noted the recent unmanned moon landing by the Chinese … space exploration spurs innovation. We need to stay in the game.

We need more solar energy like his watch, rooftop water heater and solar panels for electricity on his house.

Bill stressed again and again we could make all this solar and wind power viable for all with better battery technology, better power distribution, more investment, more emphasis on the future.

Bill also stressed the importance of women in science and in response to one of the questions about population control, he flat out said “educate women.”

When women are educated, they have choices that compete with the choice of hav-

ing children and they have fewer children. He avoided commenting on the roadblocks of conservative religions that deny them birth control. Bill did a nice job sidestepping the clash of religion and science throughout.

When asked directly if he thought religion and science conflicted he reiterated the practical observation he’d made earlier in the talk that six billion of the seven billion folks on the planet all embrace science yet also have spiritual leanings of some kind, so of course it can be done.

So Bill Nye leaves Murray State and goes to Ken Ham’s house, the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., for the great “debate” of Creationism vs. Science.

Ken spouts Biblical genealogies and all the same creationist arguments and says repeatedly that one can’t observe history, such as we can’t see a species turn into another in the past, and Bill puts out data we know from science, much of it utterly unobservable.

Most of science is unobservable, like noone who uses electricity including Ken Ham has ever seen an electron.

Creationism is an obnoxious scam that no debate setup will decide or win. Bill Nye did what needed to be done, present the science, a glimpse of the oceans of data that support an old earth, an old universe and evolution. In the end Ken Ham had only his strained interpretation of a 2,000 year old book.

Nye pointed out you can’t keep denying all this evidence (which grows by the second, while Ham’s 50-100-year-old arguments stagnate). Ham and the creationists are going to be busier by the day figuring out how to dodge, diss, ignore, refute or pretend that science doesn’t exist including evolution and the age of the earth.

Thank you, Bill Nye, for calmly presenting the science.

The News

Opinion

February 7, 2014

5A Did she really say that?

Letters to the Editor Dear editor, Let’s take a second to reflect on the last few days about snow and sleet and think of the choices that were made by the University in response.

This is not me calling for a revolution or getting up in arms about Murray State’s choices on how to handle inclement weather, this is simply me displaying the situation from an average student’s viewpoint.

You know, the one Murray State should want to hear.

When faced with inclement weather, every educational institution has to figure out which to prioritize: the students’ safety or the students’ need for education.

In 100 percent honesty, it’s a catch 22. You will have students who are on both sides of the spectrum and any choice you make in the situation will be looked at poorly upon by at least a fraction of the student body.

The weather this Monday was terrible, but you also have to remember that several students are having their first exams this week and a worldrenowned scientist was flying in from Los Angeles specifically to educate, inform and entertain the Murray State student body.

If Murray State had closed school on Monday, they would have had to cancel Bill Nye and moved around

countless exams which would have made everything a huge mess.

So, we can see that Murray State prioritized the students’ education in this situation, which they can’t fully be ridiculed for.

We all pay a large amount of money to have this institution educate us and they were only trying to keep that promise to us by keeping school open.

One thing I am thoroughly upset about is this “Inclement Weather Schedule” which was enacted by the University here recently.

Not only was this plan extremely confusing, but it was poorly advertised and was spread by a simple email and word of mouth.

When Murray State says that all classes will have a two-hour delay, but then in reality they release a graphic representation of the schedule that shows they actually mean one-hour and 50-minute delay it results in countless students (including myself ) becoming extremely confused about the schedule and showing up 10 minutes late to class (which I also did.)

In high school, two-hour delays weren’t exactly snow days, but we loved those extra two hours of sleep and Xbox time just as much.

But this is no longer high school, Murray State. Those two hours of

We can embrace the ‘F word’ simply pushing the schedule back in hopes of the ice melting (which it didn’t) heavily impacted several students’ schedules who simply can’t push their personal and professional life back two hours.

Even though I am a full-time student, I also have a part-time job on campus and I am the president of a Greek organization.

I am easily not the busiest student at Murray State, but my life can’t be simply pushed back two hours like it could when I was in high school.

I missed several hours of pay because of the schedule and I was just lucky I work on campus and my boss understood the situation.

Now, let’s think of those who the schedule impacted more heavily; students who have full or part-time jobs off campus then had to choose between their educational and their professional obligations to their workplace, which is a situation that Murray State should have considered before making this delay.

What about commuters? A large part of our student body regularly travels from the surrounding areas like Paducah and Hopkinsville, where the roads were terrible.

These students already run on a strict schedule because of their commute time and you go and

throw a two-hour delay at them and act like you are doing them a favor?

Get real.

In all reality, Murray State was handed a tough hand this Monday that left them in between a rock and a hard place.

Even though I would have loved to have a snow day where I didn’t have to put on pants and waking up at noon was socially acceptable, I think Murray State made the right choice in not canceling school even though it was an unpopular decision.

I do think Murray State really needs to look over how they will handle inclement weather in the future and try to come up with a consistent and understandable plan that is communicated to the students in a timely manner, and not the night before in a campus email.

Oh, and as always, Go Racers!

Zac Garrison Junior from Owensboro, Ky.

A Professor’s Journal

Reminiscing on the many joys of winter A good, deep snow purifies the air, clears the mind and beautifies the landscape. I tell people how I yearn for snow, and they look at me as they often do, with a mystified look of disbelief.

I know they are thinking about icy, slushy roads, cleaning off windshields, Duane Bolin shoveling walks and driveProfessor of ways and those piles of scarves, coats and wet history socks and boots at the back door. I don’t mind the ice, although I know it is dangerous. Just move more slowly, afoot and behind the wheel.

It all goes back to our family’s move when my brother and I were small boys from Arlington, Ky., in Carlisle County to Fort Worth, Texas. In Fort Worth I yearned for snow, however, during our five years there, it snowed only once, if you could call it that. It was a one-inch dusting that lasted all of one day, an all too brief powder that failed to produce the magic of the crystal beauty I remembered in Kentucky.

Instead, I choose to remember the delicious experience of a Kentucky teenager: rolling over to listen to a local station on a bedside radio, the announcer reeling off school closings, in alphabetical order, schools called off for the day or if we were lucky, even longer. My high school was Webster County, so I had to wait patiently, expectantly

Cheers and Jeers Cheers & Je e rs i s w ri tte n by t he O p i ni o n Ed itor.

Questions, concerns or comments should be addressed to cbesser@murraystate.edu.

Comics

until the announcer finally made it to the “Ws.” If my school’s name was called, there was no better feeling in the world than to flick off the radio, pull up the covers and hunker down for an extended winter nap on into the morning.

We were usually called in by the coach for basketball practice, anyway, but these snow day practices were simply not the same as the usual afterschool sessions.

Exhilarated by the snow, we made it to the gym before the coaches, dressed quickly in an icy locker room and goofily took the court, playing the fool until the coaches arrived. We heaved shots from the bleachers, threw basketballs up through the rafters and tried Meadowlark Lemon hook shots from half court.

Once, the head coach sneaked in and caught us.

He witnessed our shenanigans and promptly ordered us to the end line for two-and-a-half hours of wind sprints and block out drills. We really didn’t mind too much. When practice was over, we headed out into the fading afternoon to a winter wonderland.

We made circles - cutting donuts - in the empty school parking lot, skidding and sliding around in the snow and ice, before finally making it out to the cleared and salted main highway 41-A into town. Those were the days.

We gathered at someone’s house to eat popcorn and watch television, all the while thinking about the next day. Had it snowed enough to call off school for another day?

Winter snow days in western Kentucky were so much better than the snowless winters we spent

Cheers to ... Bill Nye We were both starstruck and excited to see our childhood hero visit Murray State. A few sex and drug jokes later, Nye really convinced many of us to strive and change the world.

Jeers to ... The University for not canceling class Monday.

Is it your assumption that all of us live on campus? Many people risked their lives to come to class because they felt like they would be penalized if they didn’t. Time to prioritize students a little higher, Murray State.

in Fort Worth.

In Arkansas in January 1994, a huge snow came the day our daughter Cammie Jo was born. We brought her back to our faculty house, stepping carefully across the uncleared driveway with our precious cargo.

Back for a visit in Kentucky, it snowed one Halloween, and Wesley made a snowman in his grandparents’ front yard to greet the trick-ortreaters. I also remember a heavy snowfall one Easter morning in the 1960s.

We gathered in the quiet hush of early morning for a community sunrise service. We sang “In the Garden” as the delicious smells of coffee and cinnamon rolls wafted up from the church basement.

After the service, we partook in an Easter church breakfast. Then with the service and breakfast over, we filed out of the church into the pristine white miracle of Easter snow.

I changed into sweats, cleared the snow off the outdoor basketball court by our house and shot baskets for the rest of the morning. That’s what a teenager did in Kentucky in those days.

Now, as I write this column, I am sitting by thefire in our family room, and guess what? Even though the snow has all but stopped, ice has covered the limbs of our trees and a combination of snow and ice cover our front yard, backyard and the streets as well.

I wish I could stand next to a window and, peering out with my father, hear him say in the inflection and in only the way that my father could put it, “My, it’s really coming down out there.” I wish I could hear my dad say that one more time.

Jeers to ... The Super Bowl Quite possibly the most uneventful Super Bowl game ever. Peyton Manning threw the game from the first seconds, and it was all downhill from there. We like close games and underdogs, not blowouts and rookie mistakes.

Cheers to ... Murray State developing relationships in China A new sister school is in the works for Murray State, which means more campus and cultural diversity. We like seeing new faces. It’s like a big, happy melting pot.

I had an interesting experience in my sociology class last week. Our professor asked how many of us would consider ourselves feminists.

He didn’t deCarly Besser fine the word.

Opinion Editor He simply asked. Not surprisingly, I was the only one among three other female classmates to raise my hand.

Next, he asked us how many of us believed that women should have equal pay in the workplace along with equal opportunities for career advancement.

Everyone in the class raised their hand with the exception of one.

After seeing our reaction, he said, “this means you would all be considered feminists.”

There is such a stigma attached to the ‘F word’ that even fellow women are reluctant to admit they believe in gender equality.

People readily assume that a feminist is a woman who backlashes the patriarchy with a shaved head, unshaven legs and an agenda to make women the superior gender.

We think of extremist ‘feminazis’ who feel oppressed when someone compliments the way they look and refuse to step foot in a kitchen without having to say something about it.

Is that fair to attach that stereotype to the word? I hate to break it to you, but anyone who is a feminist believes that women serve more of a purpose than pleasing their husbands.

If you don’t believe this, you advocate the idea that women don’t deserve to attend Murray State and get a degree. Why would they need to if they shouldn’t have a career anyway?

If you believe that a woman who works hard deserves to have a fulfilling, high paying career with leadership opportunities, you might just have to consider yourself a feminist.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be a traditional housewife, but do not restrict this one role to all women and believe that it is the right thing to do.

Social roles among women are not the only roles damaged by our feelings towards the ‘F word.’ Men, this is why you will probably be chastised for being a stay-at-home dad or someone who likes to cook.

Our social constructs require men to be a breadwinner. If men cook and raise children, they are not considered real men.

These cookie-cutter ideas for the roles of men and women are becoming thinner as time progresses, but I see examples every day of how we are still a product of our time.

Society is changing, but why do we have to advocate the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009? Call me a feminist, but I figure that two equally qualified people should receive the same pay for doing the same job, no matter what their genders are.

Humans are so different, which makes it difficult to categorize them into two distinct sets.

These are basic beliefs in feminist theory. What I am explaining is not groundbreaking, but so many people forget what the word feminist really stands for. Is the ‘F word’ really that bad? cbesser@murraystate.edu

Cartoon Time With Tater

By Tate Kinney

The News

News

6A

February 7, 2014

FIRE IT UP

Murray welcomes Station Burger Alex McLaughlin Staff writer cmclaughlin@murraystate.edu

Photos by Fumi Nakamura/The News

Keri Stevman, sandwich maker for The Station Burger Company prepares a burger.

Upon entering The Station Burger Company customers see televisions turned to sports channels, first responder memorabilia lining the walls, rubber boots perched on countertops and pictures from firefighters.

The first impression of The Station Burger Co. is the same you would get from your typical burger joint.

Paducah, Ky., resident Carl Medlin opened the first The Station Burger Co. restaurant in Paducah three years ago.

The creation of this restaurant came about as a result of Medlin’s talent as a cook.

The story goes Medlin made a burger so delicious that his friends told him he should sell it.

Murray is now the location of the restaurant’s second installment and it has ambitions to be involved in the community.

As a part of this mission, the locally-owned eatery uses local meat and produce from McCartney Produce Company.

Medlin prides himself on supporting the community’s first responders.

Specialty restaurants such as Firehouse Subs focus mainly on firefighters, but The Station Burger Co. looks to include and honor all first responders in the community.

Every article of clothing that is hanging in the restaurant is donated by the local police and fire departments.

Murray’s Station Burger Co. is decorated with memorabilia donated by Calloway County first responders.

A unique quality of The Station Burger Co. is their collection of uniform department patches from first responders.

Murray’s collection is yet to blossom, but Paducah’s collection is extensive and even includes a patch from a survivor of 9/11. Medlin said he hopes to see Murray’s collection grow.

The Station Burger Co. general manager Jeff Daywall said he is interested in honoring the restaurants philosophies of supporting not only first responders, but also the community.

“Good food, good atmosphere and good service is our focus here,” Daywall said. “Since Carl is a firefighter himself, he has a lot of pride in that. We do fundraisers all the time for local first responders.”

In the short time the Murray restaurant has been open, they

have held several fundraisers, including a benefit for a local firefighter of Murray who lost his house in a fire.

“We just had a fundraiser last Saturday for a local firefighter,” Daywall said. “We put a night where 20 percent of all proceeds went to his family. We ended up raising about $2,500 to help his family recover.”

Daywall said he intends to provide opportunities for Murray students and student organizations to get involved with The Station Burger Co. mission.

“We have local fundraisers with local organizations every Monday and Wednesday,” Daywall said. “College students always receive a 10 percent discount. We always make sure the local games are on the television. We enjoy helping the community.”

Now Hiring!

Apply now for Editor-in-Chief for The Murray State News Application deadline: 4 p.m. March 10th

Submit an application & resume at 111 Wilson Hall

THE NEWS .ORG

February 7, 2014

Section B

The News

Sports

Sports Editor: Ryan Richardson Assistant Editor: Nick Dolan Phone: 270-809-4481 Twitter: MSUSportsNews

# of years since women’s tennis beat Arkansas State before Saturday

26

Swing and a Drive

U-S-A, U-S-A

BATTLE FOR NO. 1

Racers, Bruins fight for top OVC spot Jonathan Ferris || Staff writer jferris2@murraystate.edu

Photos by Jenny Rohl and Kate Russell/The News

Top: Senior guard Dexter Fields tries to keep his opponent from driving to the lane. Bottom: Junior forward Jarvis Williams attempts to keep the Belmont player from scoring.

Women end losing streak to Red Wolves

When Murray State trailed by 11 with 1:12 left to play, fans in attendance probably did not think the Racers would have a chance at a game-tying buzzer beater.

That’s exactly the scenario junior guard T.J. Sapp found himself in, however, when he stole an in-bounds pass with three and a half seconds to go.

Sapp streaked up the court with the ball for the final shot which could have sent the conference’s top two teams into overtime.

Senior guard Dexter Fields said he thought Sapp had a good chance at making the basket.

“I looked at the clock and there were two-something seconds left and Sapp is pretty fast,” Fields said.

“He got the closest he could and he had a pretty good look at it. To be honest with you I thought it was going in, but the shot just didn’t fall.”

Sapp’s shot rimmed out as time expired, handing Murray State a heartbreaking 99-96 defeat.

The Racers trailed by as many as 14 points early in the first half. The Murray State defense couldn’t contain Belmont’s senior duo of guard J.J. Mann and forward Blake Jenkins, who combined for 50 of the Bruins’ 99 points.

“We just weren’t able to defend them for 40 minutes,” said Head Coach Steve Prohm. “We defended them at times, but they really hit us with a couple big bursts. What we found out tonight was that our kids

Ryan Richardson || Sports Editor mrichardson5@murraystate.edu

For the first time in 26 years, women’s tennis defeated Arkansas State to improve to 2-0 in the spring season.

The most competitive game of the day came from senior Carla Suga, who has been the Racers’ most consistent player the past three years in dual matches.

Her final semester didn’t start off well, as she lost the team’s only match against Lindsey Wilson, but this week she bounced back and became more comfortable with her new racket.

“It has made me have to switch how I play,” Suga said. “I was having a tough time last week and even in practice but focused on taking smaller steps.”

The racket change was not due to Suga’s play, but because the brand discontinued the racket Suga had played with for years. With the adjustment to stringing and how the ball moves off the racket, Suga had to adapt.

“It is a lot more powerful,” Suga said. “I was hitting a lot of balls out of bounds because I would hit with the same speed and power as my old racket.”

In her three years at Murray State, Suga has won 43 dual matches, including her three-set victory Saturday. After winning the opening set 6-2, Suga fell behind and lost the second set 6-3. Facing a final set for the victory, Suga focused in.

“The previous game I focused myself on the upcoming

see DEFEAT, 2B

see LEAD, 2B

tvia@murraystate.edu

see BATTLE, 2B

Track ties, sets records The distance medley relay team tied a school record and set the pace for the rest of the Murray State track and field team at the Indiana Relays.

With a time of 12:08.11, the team of juniors Abbie Oliver and Brittany Bohn, freshman Taylor Adcock and sophomore Emma Gilmore finished fifth in the event. Their time was the fastest in the OVC this year.

Oliver said she and her teammates wanted to break the record, and they knew they had a chance before the race.

“I think we were all ready and knew that we could do what we needed to do on the day,” she said. “We all went there with a goal and although we did tie it, we didn’t exactly break it, we did what we needed to do.”

Typically, the women run their individual events first, but in the meet the relay was their first event, keeping them fresh. Still, it was not an easy race.

“I was just running for my life,” Oliver said. “I was just hanging on to the girls ahead of me. I knew if I tried to race them rather than just run, then the time would just come with racing.”

Oliver also found success as an individual, as she posted a personal best of 18:11.41 in the 5,000-meter run.

Though many Racers finished in the top

Tom Via || Staff writer

have a lot of grit and a lot of character, but we just have to show a better resiliency on the defensive end for 40 minutes.”

The Racers battled back, thanks in large part to strong play from freshman guard Cameron Payne. The first-year point guard scored a career-high 29 points and tallied five assists and four rebounds.

Murray State retook the lead with 4:22 left in the first half, and the teams headed into the locker room tied at 45.

Foul trouble took its toll on the Racers as they tried to keep pace with Belmont’s blistering offense in the second half.

Three Murray State starters found themselves with four fouls each with more than seven minutes to play, forcing Prohm to leave much of his offensive production on the bench. “(The foul trouble) hurt,” Prohm said. “Our depth is one of our Achilles’ heels with our team. Our core is really just six guys. Maybe I should have gone a little deeper into our bench at times, but the game wasn’t presenting itself where I thought we could.”

Belmont began to pull away as the second half wound down. Staying at a deficit between seven and 11 points, the depleted Racers began to lose their cool.

The frustration boiled over with 1:15 to play as Prohm lost his temper with the officials and drew a costly technical foul. Mann hit one of the

Few things in our lives unite people the way sports can.

Ninety-five percent of the time, sports unite the communities and regions which make up specific fan bases.

Jonathan Whether it’s Ferris Racer Nation, Staff writer Hockey Town or Cardinal Country, sports have a way of bringing together people of all different demographics, careers and life stages.

Every now and then, however, something even cooler happens.

Every few years, sports unite entire nations.

The Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, begins today, and I for one am beyond excited.

I still remember the immense anticipation four years ago in Vancouver as the American men’s hockey team made its improbable run to the gold medal match against Canada.

I remember the uncontainable excitement when Zach Parise scored with 24 seconds to go to tie the game and send it to overtime.

I also remember the crushing defeat when Sidney Crosby wristed a shot into the top shelf of the Americans’ goal to end a game for the ages.

More than any of those things, however, I remember watching the games with family and friends.

There are rare occasions every few years when sports unite the entire country around a common cause. This, to me, is the most unique and compelling part of all of sports.

Usually we, as a country, are at odds with one another – whether we’re rooting for rival teams or arguing about taxes and health care reform.

Nothing in our society has the power to unite 300 million people the way sports can.

Even if you’ve never heard of some of the athletes who will be competing over the next two weeks (don’t worry, I don’t keep up with the professional curling circuit, either), they’ll have flags next to their names and that’s reason enough to cheer them on.

Rooting for the red, white and blue is about so much more than gold medals or blue ribbons.

It is about a nation coming together, despite all of its problems and differences, and cheering on our own. jferris2@murraystate.edu

Jenny Rohl/The News

Juniors Brittany Bohn (left) and Abbie Oliver (right) run around the track in a morning practice.

WHAT’S

SOFTBALL LEADERS

RIFLE FALLS

INSIDE

Two veterans prepare to lead the team, 3B

Racers lose to Nebraska, ready Game day advertisements disappoint students overall, 6B for OVC tournament, 4B

SUPER COMMERCIALS

MOVIE REVIEW ‘That Awkward Moment’ not fit for Valentine’s Day, 7B

The News

Sports

2B

February 7, 2014

DEFEAT

BATTLE

From Page 1

From Page 1

tiebreaker in case it happened and it allowed me to prepare to start,” Suga said.

Leading 4-2 in the tiebreaker, Suga refused to drop a pivotal point that gave her momentum.

“She made me run from side to side and I got every single ball and it drove (my opponent) crazy,” Suga said.

With momentum on her side, Suga won the final set 10-3 to claim her first dual victory of the season.

In singles play, the Racers won five of the six points against the Red Wolves.

Playing in the top draw, junior Andrea Eskauriatza earned her second win of the season over her Arkansas State opponent with a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

Freshmen sisters Eleonore and Verginie Tchakarova also earned victories. After teaming up in No. 1 doubles and earning a close 6-4 win, the two split apart but continued to win.

Playing in No. 3 draw, Eleonore won in straight sets, while Verginie played in the No. 5 draw and won 8-2.

In the spring season, neither of the sisters have lost a match.

In the No. 6 draw, sophomore Erin Patton defeated her opponent 8-4 to improve to 2-0 on the season as well.

The Racers’ only loss of the match came in the No. 4 draw. Sophomore Megan Blue played in the longest first set of the day but came up short, falling 6-5.

The loss in the opening set gave Arkansas State momentum and the match as Blue fell 6-1 in the final set.

Suga said the victory for Murray State was a big one.

“It was great to finally defeat Arkansas State because it was one of those teams I had never beaten,” Suga said.

The victory of the Racers ended a 10match losing streak to the Red Wolves.

LEAD From Page 1 spots on the first day, they were not as competitive the second day, according to Head Coach Jenny Severns.

“Day one people came out of the gate firing on all cylinders and really getting after it,” she said. “They were really aggressive and I think part of that was there were some school records on the line. We’re still learning to compete day one

ensuing free throws to push the Bruins’ lead back to nine.

“I do want to apologize for my actions on the sideline,” Prohm said. “I probably got a little bit too animated with some of the officiating. I thought I showed a little bit of youth there. I have to be better with that.”

The Racers refused to let Prohm’s technical rattle them, however, as they worked to cut into the deficit in the game’s final minute.

Junior forward Jarvis Williams forced a turnover and found Payne for an open three to cut the Racers’ deficit to four with 46 seconds to play.

“It was encouraging that we showed that we have great character and some toughness,” Prohm said. “If you told me we’d give up 99 down here, I wouldn’t think our chances of winning would be very good.

We got a chance to tie it and re-

ally if I don’t get that technical foul, that shot is for a chance to win the game.”

The loss drops Murray State to 8-2 in conference play. The Racers still maintain a strong grip on first place in the OVC West, but now trail Belmont for the top overall spot in the conference.

The Racers continue their road trip Saturday night when they visit Tennessee State.

The Tigers have had a subpar season thus far, as they have posted a 2-9 conference record – leaving them in the bottom spot in the conference.

Murray State will have to deal with the conference’s leading scorer, however, as Tennessee State is led by senior guard Patrick Miller.

Miller, the All-OVC First Team selection, averages 23.3 points and four assists per game.

The Racers return to the CFSB Center for a three-game home stand against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Eastern Illinois and Morehead State.

Murray State and Tennessee State tip off Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in Nashville, Tenn.

Men’s OVC Basketball Standings Jenny Rohl/The News

Senior Carla Suga hits a shot in her three-set win against an Arkansas State opponent Saturday.

Murray State has a chance to carry over the momentum with a pair of matches against Memphis and Chattanooga this weekend.

The Tigers are nationally ranked No. 33 coming into the match against the Racers and have defeated Murray State in the last three matches.

With one losing streak ended, Suga believes the team can defeat the Tigers.

and then come back and bring that same effort. It’s not that they’re not capable. It’s just mentally staying geared up is kind of tough.”

Despite any mental barriers, several women were able to set personal records, including junior Tonia Pratt in shot put, Oliver in the 800-meter run, sophomore Alicyn Hester in the 3,000-meter run and junior Ashley Conway in the long jump.

Severns said there is always the worry of reaching a plateau after setting so many personal bests, but she is not too concerned.

“I’m sure there will be a point in the

“We just have to focus on what we are doing and how we are playing and not what Memphis is doing,” Suga said. “If we can do that, then I think we can stand up well against them.”

Murray State faces off against Memphis at noon today and follows that up with a match against Chattanooga at 9 a.m. Sunday. Both matches will be played at Memphis.

season where we level off, but it’s OK as long as they keep getting better when it matters at the end of the year,” she said. “Each week we have a goal and know what we want to accomplish, and we know if we do that we’ll be where we want to be for OVC.” In addition to the team setting the main goal of making it to the OVC Championships, members of the team also set personal goals.

Oliver said she has an ultimate objective she wants to achieve by the tournament, but she sets smaller goals she tries to meet each week in order to measure her improvement.

East Belmont Eastern Kentucky Morehead State Tennessee Tech Jacksonville State Tennessee State

“I know I can run faster than what I did on the weekend and I have a lot of things to work on,” she said. “But it was my first 5K of the season and I was happy with it.”

The numerous personal records and high placement have given the team extra motivation, according to Severns.

“It actually gets them motivated to run even faster or throw even farther,” she said. “They start to imagine what they can do by the end of the season. People may get nervous some, but training helps them know they can get better.”

This week’s training was in prepa-

West 9-2 7-3 6-3 4-5 4-6 2-9

Murray State Eastern Illinois SIUE Austin Peay Southeast Missouri UT Martin

8-2 6-5 5-5 4-5 3-7 2-8

ration for the Saluki Open at Southern Illinois. The team is on the road today and Saturday, competing in Carbondale, Ill. After this weekend, the team has only one more meet before the OVC Indoor Championships, which will be held Feb. 27-March 1 in Nashville, Tenn.

Oliver said all the team has to do is transfer the practices into the meets.

Said Oliver: “We’ve all been working hard, so we just have to put what we know we can do in a practice into a meet and (set personal records) and run faster and throw faster and jump further.”

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The News February 7, 2014

SOFTBALL STANDOUTS Sports

File photo

Senior infielder Leslie Bridges looks out into the field as she steps up to the plate.

3B

File photo

Junior CheyAnne Gaskey gets set before delivering a pitch from the mound during the Racers last spring scrimmage.

Senior ready to f inish Junior pitcher invests in w i nn i ng sea so n career on high note Mallory Tucker || Staff writer mtucker11@murraystate.edu

Softball and faith are the two things Leslie Bridges feels define her life.

A senior on the field, Bridges graduated in December with an undergraduate degree in applied mathematics and is working on her master’s degree in business.

“I feel like really my whole life is pretty much softball, school and walking with the Lord,” Bridges said. “I feel like my biggest passion is definitely to love the Lord and see other people love him too. Whether it’s on my team, off my team, just really anywhere.”

In addition to her involvement with Campus Outreach when she has time, Bridges is about to start her fourth softball season at Murray State.

She hopes her team builds off its undefeated fall season.

“I really think that we’re in a good place right now and we’re going to be starting off well,” Bridges said. “I think that we’ve got a group of 20 girls who are focused and who are committed to working hard and getting better every day. It’s just put us in a really good spot to go into season (this) week.”

Head Coach Kara Amundson said she has watched Bridges, one of only two seniors, grow as both a player and a leader on the team.

“She’s definitely stepped into a leadership role over the past two years, especially since I’ve been able to be the head coach here and been able to see her develop,” Amundson said. “She’s not somebody who’s going to be incredibly vocal all the time, but she doesn’t need to be.

“She does a really good job of talking in small groups, and leading in small groups, which I think is a great thing to have out of a leader. “ Amundson said Bridges is not an in-yourface type of player, but leads in her own, unique effective ways.

In addition to Bridges’ growth as a leader, Amundson said Bridges has matured as a

SUMMER JOB at KENTUCKY 4-H CAMP

softball player.

One of Bridges’ most exciting moments in softball came early in her college career, however. As a freshman, she secured Murray State as the last team to qualify for the OVC Championships with a two-run home run as a pinch hitter.

“That’s one of my favorite stories,” Bridges said. “We had to take the series to get into the conference tournament. I think that I started the games on Saturday – I’m pretty sure I might have struck out maybe four times that day combined – so ended up getting benched, with good reason.”

She said coming into that Sunday, she knew there was a possibility she might get to pinch hit.

“I was just trying to mentally prepare myself and go into the day calm, leaving the day before behind,” she said.

She popped the first pitch high in the air and foul, but the catcher fumbled the ball to the ground, giving Bridges a second chance.

“The next pitch (the pitcher) throws me ends up going over the fence, and puts us ahead, and we end up winning the game,” Bridges said. “That was the first home run of my college career.”

Despite an exciting beginning, both Bridges and Amundson want nothing more than an enjoyable and successful end to Bridges’ career, with a strong legacy of her faith on and off the field.

Amundson said Bridges has seen a lot of changes over the past four years in the development of the program.

Amundson said Bridges will be able to say she helped set standards for the team in terms of softball performance and in terms of what kind of people Amundson wants for the program.

“Leslie is the epitome of what you want a student-athlete to be like,” Amundson said.

“In terms of what she does in the classroom, what she does on the softball field, but even more so the kind of person that she is. And I think that’s going to be her legacy.”

Jonathan Ferris || Staff writer jferris2@murraystate.edu

Before heading home for Winter Break, junior pitcher CheyAnne Gaskey and the rest of the Racer softball team received a focus word for the upcoming season: Invested.

Prior to the start of each season, second-year Head Coach Kara Amundson and her coaching staff pick a word for their team to focus on. Last year, the word was fearless.

The word served Gaskey well as she took on a much larger role in the Racers’ pitching staff. The Morgantown, Ky., native appeared in 38 of the team’s 53 games, posting a 13-9 record and racking up six saves – a Murray State record and good for sixth most in the nation.

In the fourth season in program history, Gaskey led the Racers to the OVC Championships where they defeated No. 1 Eastern Illinois before losing in the semi-finals to Jacksonville State.

Gaskey pitched the final 2.2 innings of the game, where she allowed no runs and only two hits. The team came up short, however, as the game ended in a heartbreaking 2-1 loss – handing Murray State a third-place finish to end the season.

“Last year was awesome,” Gaskey said. “We’ve always had great team chemistry and that’s really important to us and to our success. That really carried us through last season. Third place is not bad, but we were all very disappointed. We all thought we should have won and we know we had the talent.”

Long before Gaskey’s breakout season, however, she dominated batters with the Butler County High School team.

Gaskey was immediately thrown into the fire as a freshman when an older pitcher suffered a season-ending injury.

“I had an older pitcher above me and she kind of took me under her wing and taught me,” Gaskey said. “But, she ended up getting hurt so I had to take over during my freshman year. At the time I didn’t know what I was doing, but looking back that was so good for me. It made me such a better pitcher by my senior year.”

This proved to be the first step in a remarkable high school career. Gaskey pitched in all but one of

Internships are available Deadline for application March 7th

the Bears’ games during her four-year career. She helped lead the team to its first district championship during her junior season. The team then repeated and earned a second championship in Gaskey’s senior season.

As she began looking at colleges, Gaskey had her mind made up.

Though former Murray State Head Coach Jay Pyron recruited Gaskey throughout her high school days, she initially declined his offer, planning to attend Western Kentucky. “(Western Kentucky) was 20 minutes from where I lived and I wanted to stay at home,” Gaskey said. “I’m very close to my family, and I didn’t want to go far from home, so I just planned to walk on at Western (Kentucky).”

However, the story took an interesting turn and Gaskey called Pyron to see if he still had any openings.

“We had a bit of a miscommunication with the coaches at Western (Kentucky), so I got on the phone with (Pyron),” Gaskey said. “I talked to him and told him the situation and he told me, ‘I still want you.’ At that point it didn’t matter if I was going to be homesick. I had worked hard to play softball and that’s what I was going to do.”

Gaskey admitted it turned out for the best.

Now looking ahead to a new season with a new focus, Gaskey finds a deeper meaning in the word invested.

“I couldn’t think of a word that fully described what invested meant to me,” Gaskey said. “So I picked a number – 110 percent. For me, invested means that I’ll be at practice every single day, giving every single thing that I have. That’s not just physically, but it’s mentally as well. It also carries over to the rest of my life, just making sure I’m constantly in the present and focused.”

As the Racers begin their season today against Central Arkansas at the Tiger Classic in Baton Rouge, La., Gaskey said the team is on the same page as far as its goals for the 2014 season.

“Invested is a great word for us this season because we have to stay focused on the long term and what we want out of this season,” Gaskey said. “We know what we want - we want that ring at the end of the year.”

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The News

Sports

4B

February 7, 2014

18 added to 2014 roster Staff Report

Rifle loses to Nebraska, prepares to host OVCs

Lori Allen/The News

Freshman Sam Harris makes adjustments to his rifle before firing down range during training earlier this week.

NCAA top 20

Nick Dolan || Assistant Sports Editor ndolan@murraystate.edu

The rifle team suffered its fourth loss of the year when it traveled to Lexington, Ky., to face Nebraska.

The No. 11 Racers were defeated 4,652-4,593 at the hands of the No. 6 Cornhuskers in their final regular season match before hosting the OVC Championships.

Seniors Mikey Burzynski and Bill Harvey and junior Kelsey Emme led the way for Murray State in smallbore.

Burzynski finished fourth overall, shooting a 574, while Harvey and Emme tied for fifth at 571.

Sophomore Tessa Howald finished ninth in the event with freshmen Jack Berhorst and Sam Harris finishing at 12th and 13th, respectively. “Getting on the road is a little bit of a distraction,� Head Coach Alan Lollar said. “We were a little shorthanded last weekend and that was a bit of a distraction. That was, I think, the biggest part of why we didn’t shoot the way we have been shooting.�

While the Racers had a solid day in smallbore, they could not find their way in air rifle.

Only Howald and Harvey finished inside the top 10 in air rifle.

Howald shot a 583, finishing eighth, and Harvey took ninth at 582.

Emme, Harris and Berhorst took 11th13th, and Burzynski tied for 14th.

Now the Racers turn their sights to the next challenge as they host the OVC Championships at Pat Spurgin Rifle Range Feb. 8-9. “We’ve been talking about it all year long,� Lollar said. “We’re looking for-

1. West Virginia 2. Kentucky 3. Alaska-Fairbanks 4. Jacksonville State 5. Nebraska 6. Army 7. Air Force 8. Ohio State 9. Memphis 10. Texas Christian

ward to the chance to come back home and stay at home.� “I think everybody is excited about coming home. It’s a lot of work, but we’re excited to put on a good championship for the OVC and the other teams.�

The team is 2-1 against conference opponents, including an upset of No. 4 Jacksonville State earlier this season.

Burzynski said even though the team is coming off a loss, it has not lost any confidence as it heads into another tough weekend. “We’re feeling confident that we’re going to beat JSU, because JSU is our main competitor,� he said. “We feel like Morehead is going to put up a good fight. So is UT Martin, but we’re all feeling pretty confident and feeling ready.�

The Racers are 6-0 at home on the

11. Murray State 12. Mississippi 13. Navy 14. UT Martin 15. North Carolina State 16. Akron 17. Nevada 18. Morehead State 19. Columbus State 20. UTEP

year and will attempt to stay perfect as they head into this competition. “(Being at home) has been our advantage,� Lollar said. “It’s sort of our homefield advantage. You have to try to take this as just another match and you’re going to shoot it how you’re going to shoot it; that’s just the way it is. You’re successful when you can do that.�

The Racers are now ranked No. 11 nationally heading into the tournament.

No. 4 Jacksonville State, No. 14 UT Martin, No. 18 Morehead State and No. 19 Columbus State will make the trip this weekend.

Burzynski shrugged off the notion of there being any added pressure in hosting the OVC Championships.

Said Burzynski: “(There’s) not (any extra) if we just handle our business.�

Murray State football Head Coach Chris Hatcher had high praise for the incoming class that will try to improve on a six-win season. “I really think this may be the best signing class I’ve had since I’ve been here,� Hatcher said. “We were really strict on the guidelines for the players we were looking for and we didn’t deter from it.�

The defense was the point of emphasis for the Racers’ coaching staff on the recruiting trail as it sought out talent for 2014. With six players in the secondary graduating, Murray State signed both high school and college talent.

Two of those were transfers from the FBS. Senior cornerback Chris Allen played two years at Memphis and will have two years remaining at Murray State.

Junior cornerback Shawn Samuels-Connel appeared in seven games while at Marshall University. Samuels-Connel will have three years of eligibility after redshirting his freshman season at Marshall.

On the offensive side of the ball, the goal was to recruit size.

One of the signees is a freshman offensive lineman Joe Irby from Franklin Road Academy in Nashville, Tenn., and was recruited for his ability to play multiple positions on the offensive line.

With the first phase of the recruiting done, Hatcher and his staff are still recruiting until the opening of camp in July.

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5B

The News

Features

Features Editor: Hunter Harrell Assistant Features Editor: Breanna Sill Phone: 270-809-5871 Twitter: MSUNewsFeatures

HEALTHY HABITS Five tips for students to ensure an energized, illness-free semester Katrina Yarbrough || Staff writer

Manage stress and exercise

kyarbrough2@murraystate.edu

With the temperatures steadily dropping, a decrease in daylight hours and a full schedule to maintain, students may find it difficult to manage their energy and health levels as they go about their daily tasks.

Luckily, staying energized and healthy requires similar precautions that make it easier to remember.

As children, students may have been taught that keeping their hands washed would prevent them from getting most common illnesses. However, as adults, they’ve discovered that it takes more than soap and water.

According to the Center for Disease Control’s website and the pamphlets available at Health Services, there are more ways than one to stay energized and healthy this semester.

Managing stress levels will keep the body from overworking itself. With class, stress can have a major impact on a student’s health. Organizing daily activities into a time schedule or a list can help erase worry.

Include time to laugh. Laughing can improve mood and eliminate stress.

Read a funny book or watch a comedy.

Making time for oneself to relax and enjoy the day are ways of managing stress.

“Laughing literally burns calories,” said Cameron Bishop,

sophomore from Taylorsville, Ky. “Having a good mental health and emotional health are huge parts of your overall physical health.”

Exercising can be a way to focus unwanted stress levels on something more active.

Although it may seem that exercising would use up energy and make doing anything impossible, it replenishes energy levels if done periodically and carefully.

Don’t have time to go to a gym? A brisk walk to class can be just the thing to get the body going.

Drink water and eat healthy Water intake is important for the body to regulate itself. Sodas are the preferred choice among most young adults, but they take a massive toll on energy levels and the way the body operates.

“Water is what makes your body run,” said James Murphy, freshman from Belleville, Ill. “It maintains the balance of the bodily fluids and aids in the function of important body processes. It also helps keep hunger under control.”

This is also true about the foods that are consumed throughout the day. Fast food and other processed items will keep the body going but the effects are sluggish and harmful.

Replacing one candy bar a day with a small bag of nuts or swapping a bottle of Dr. Pepper for a water will make all the difference in the way a person feels.

“Your body needs the right amount of nutrients or else it won’t function as well as it should,” Murphy said. “Small meals with a balance of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and vegetables around every three hours every day will keep the body’s metabolism up and you’ll have constant energy.”

Hand Washing Using antibacterial soap to scrub hands under warm water for at least 20 seconds has always been an important rule for health. By doing so, a person is eliminating most of the harmful germs and bacteria that could have accumulated throughout the day.

“Most people believe antibacterial gels are OK substitutes,” said Tyler Slack, senior from Madisonville, Ky. “But there is nothing better for your protection against harmful, everyday bacteria than washing your hands with warm, soapy water. So, I absolutely believe in this (tip).”

Also, make sure to use a tissue or the inside of the elbow when coughing or sneezing in order to combat spreading more germs.

Fresh air and staying warm Fresh air can be beneficial to maintaining energy as it allows a person to breathe in natural air that has not been filtered by dehumidifiers or circulated by air conditioners.

“I make sure to spend as much time as I can away from heavily trafficked and congested areas,” Slack said. “Fresh air does make a significant difference to me but I also notice a significant difference when my home is well-ventilated.”

However, in the winter months, going outside may be difficult to do on a regular basis.

Torrey Perkins/The News Layer clothing and keep facial features covered K e l s e y H u e l s m a n n , s o p h o m o r e f r o m T r e n t o n , I l l . , g e t s a s a l a d t o h e l p h e r a c h i e v e h e r N e w Y e a r ’ s r e s o l u t i o n t o s t a y healthy. from the wind.

V is i t t h e d o c to r Regular checkups are recommended. Even though a person may not be sick, it is still a good idea to make sure the body is running smoothly.

Visiting a doctor will allow them to discover more ways to keep yourself healthy and energized.

With these five tips, staying healthy and energized throughout the cold season is possible. As long as a person takes care of themselves, it should continue to run at full speed.

Faces&Places

Personalized coasters Senior Cadet seizes opportunities add extra flair to home Bran don Cash || Staff writer

bcash1@murraystate.edu

It can be hard deciding what to do after college, but Daniel Taylor, senior from West Springfield, Va., has it all figured out.

Taylor is a senior cadet in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program at Murray State and comes from a long family line of military veterans.

Both his father and older brother went to Murray State and were also a part of ROTC. Taylor is a battalion commander and spends most of his time preparing for classes and training junior cadets.

“He has proven to have genuine care for the cadets in the program and the reputation of ROTC at Murray State,” said Paul Denson, officer in charge at Murray State. “He has vastly improved his physical fitness and continues to help others improve theirs.”

Taylor’s father was the first in his family to join ROTC at the University and continued on into the military after graduating and was a part of an artillery unit.

While Taylor’s father was in the military, his family moved numerous times and it was important to his father to keep his military life out of his family life, Taylor said.

Taylor said, however, that he wasn’t pressured into

joining the military, but that it just seemed natural to join.

Taylor is pursuing a degree in architectural engineering. After graduation he hopes to become active duty and be placed somewhere he can use his architectural skills.

“One of the great things about the military is that they help you plan out your life,” Taylor said. “So when I joined I had my graduation plan completely filled out.”

However, Taylor’s motivation to join the ROTC program did not stop there. He said other than having fixed plans for graduation, there is also a job available right out of college.

“I saw a lot of opportunities with ROTC,” Taylor said. “A lot of these people after college are looking for jobs right out of school and I pretty much have one guaranteed.”

Taylor recently went to Leadership Development and Course, or LDAC, where he received the highest rating a cadet can earn and was selected as RECONDO, an award that is given to less than 5 percent of cadets.

“It’s really amazing to get to lead a platoon of 40 people through daily exercises and objectives,” Taylor said. “It really lets me test my abilities and see

Katrina Yarbrough Staff writer kyarbrough2@murraystate.edu

For years parents have taught their children basic table manners with the hopes they will carry them for the rest of their lives.

One important rule is to always use a coaster when putting a glass on any coffee table.

Coasters can be relatively inexpensive but sometimes dull. If they are supposed to be used for a long time, why not make them interesting?

4. Allow the Mod Podge to dry before spraying a layer of clear glaze onto the coaster. The scrapbook paper will be sealed and the clear glaze will protect it from being damaged.

5. Allow the coaster to dry and then it’s ready to go!

see ROTC, 6B

M a te ri a ls N e e d e d You will need tiles, clear glaze spray Mod Podge, scrapbook paper, scissors and a paintbrush.

Ste p s 1 . Trace the tile’s shape onto a single sheet of scrapbook paper and cut along the trace marks so that the scrapbook paper fits onto the tile.

2. Apply a layer of Mod Podge to the top of the tile using the paintbrush.

Kate Russell/The News Daniel Taylor, senior cadet in the Reserve Officer Training Corps program received the highest rating a cadet can earn.

3. Place the scrapbook paper onto the tile and apply another layer of Mod Podge. This will seal the paper to the tile. If there are any air bubbles from the Mod Podge, using a finger to smooth them out will work.

Not only can these be made and used at home, but they also make great gifts for parents or friends who enjoy decorating their homes.

Don’t go out and buy the expensive dried flower coaster when a bright coral chevron coaster can be made at home.

Although this example uses scrapbooking paper as the decoration, photographs or stickers may also be used to create a more personalized item.

The News

Features

6B “Entertainment news sure to spice up your lunch conversation”

THE

WATER COOLER Information and photos from The Associated Press Compiled by Breanna Sill

CLAY AIKEN TO RUN FOR CONGRESS Former “American Idol” runner-up Cl ay Ai ke n joined the race Wednesday for a spot in Congress for North Carolina.

Aiken is seeking the Democratic nomination and shared that he does not believe his sexual orientation will have a sway with voters.

HOFFMAN AUTOPSY INCONCLUSIVE Four people were taken into custody Wednesday on drug charges after police began investigating the death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

Hoffman was found dead Sunday with a needle in his arm and tests conclude there was heroin in his system.

A toxicology report and autopsy on the actor’s body came back inconclusive. More tests will be needed.

Soundbyte

ROTC

1. The Parent Trap

From Page 5B where I stand amongst the other cadets.”

Taylor also received a small metal coin for his accomplishments at LDAC. This is called a challenge coin and is popular among members of the U.S. Military.

“There’s always a story behind these things and hopefully I can get more of these and even more stories,” Taylor said.

The ROTC program helps students develop their skills as a leader in and outside of the military to push them to become outstanding students, according to Denson.

Cadet Taylor maintains a competitive GPA and was recently selected to attend a seniorlevel conference at West Point, the United States Military Academy, on April 24.

Taylor was selected as one of 108 ROTC cadets from across the U.S. The conference helps further develop and inspire senior cadets before they receive their commission and become officers.

Like his father, Taylor plans to stick with the military until retirement.

lashback riday

Compiled by McKenzie Willett

2. There’s Something About Mary

Flashback to 1998 when Madonna came out with one of her oldest albums “Ray of Light,” many women wore cargo pants and strapped tops, while men wore baggy trousers and blazers with shoulder pads were popular, and the Denver Broncos won their second Super Bowl. These moments were worth flashing back in time for.

5. A Bug’s Life

4. The Truman Show

3. Saving Private Ryan

Super Bowl commercials stir controversy Madison Wepfer Contributing writer mwepfer@murraystate.edu

America’s favorite Sunday finally arrived complete with snacks galore, Bruno Mars and the best commercials aired on television. Of course, watching the game and the halftime show is great, but what the majority of viewers look forward to the most is the commercials.

However, according to Murray State students, the commercials this year were a little disappointing.

“I thought the Super Bowl commercials this year weren’t very good compared to previous years,” said Kelsey Henderson, senior from St. Louis, Mo. “There were no shockers.”

Past Super Bowl commercials have shocked and awed their audiences. That is how they got their reputation of being the best commercials aired all year.

The commercials are oftentimes one of the main reasons why people watch the Super Bowl, especially if their favorite team is not playing. Of course, the Puppy Bowl is a close second. This year, students agreed it was sad to see the commercials lacking.

“Overall, they could have been better,” said Erin McCallon, sophomore from Kirksey, Ky. “I was upset they leaked the

commercials beforehand, which took the surprise out of it.”

However, there were definite diamonds in the rough.

According to students, some of their favorite commercials either tugged at their heart strings or made them laugh.

“My favorite commercial was the time machine one from Doritos,” said Lane Northcutt, junior from Frankfurt, Ky. “It was funny and didn’t really push the product, but it was a memorable commercial.”

Others enjoyed the return of the Budweiser Clydesdale. Last year, the horse befriended a child and the commercial portrayed the child growing up and the bond between the two. This year, Budweiser took a cute and cuddly approach.

“My favorite would be the puppy and the horse one because it was cute and I’m an animal person,” Henderson said.

“Also, Budweiser makes me think of home because I’m from St. Louis.”

Other students enjoyed the celebrity endorsements and found them more entertaining and creative than the other commercials on game day.

“The Tim Tebow commercial was by far the best,” said Lena Hartlage, junior from Lousiville, Ky. “He talks about not having a contract and he runs through fire carrying puppies. He’s a rock star

d Tweets e r u t Fea of the week

“Thank you, the one earbud on my headphones that stopped working after two weeks. You are no longer my earbud. You are my ear-enemy.”

F

February 7, 2014

A compilation of Tweets that made us laugh, cry or scratch our heads.

–Jimmy Fallon via his “Thank You Notes” segment on Tuesday

This week’s topic: #SuperBowl

and a doctor. He basically does everything you can do without a contract. Plus, he’s hot.”

According to news sites, the top five commercials are similar to the ones that students chose. The media chose commercials such as the Muppets driving a Toyota and Budweiser’s to salute our troops.

Although some commercials pulled at viewers’ heart strings or got a good laugh out of them, this year had some controversial commercials, too.

Social media posts regarding the controversy surrounding Coca-Cola’s “America is beautiful” advertisement in several languages caused more of an uproar than expected. However, many students found it creative and inspiring.

“My favorite was the Coke commercial with the different ethnicities singing ‘America the Beautiful,’” said Tyler Burch, Senior from Belleville, Ill. “It is basically a song about how awesome America is.”

The languages that showed up in the commercial were the most common immigrant languages used in the U.S. including German, Irish, English, Spanish, Tagalog, Senegalese, French and Hebrew. The commercial served as a tribute to the diversity of America in religion, culture and language.

“We pride ourselves on being diverse and being a melting pot of different cultures,” said Olivia Dreckman, junior from Louisville, Ky. “I liked that they used #americaisbeautiful and that it highlighted what makes (Americans) most beautiful.”

Although the commercials had their high points, they also had some flops.

The worst commercials, according to students, were GoDaddy and CarMax. Viewers have high expectations each year, but this year students agreed the commercials were almost as disappointing as the game. Sorry fans, maybe next year.

Photo courtesy of budweiser.com Puppy meets Clydesdale in Budweiser’s commercial.

Brad Goreski

DiGiorno Pizza

@mrbradgoreski “It was worth watching the #superbowl to see the #bestbuds commercial, other than that, snooze.com” 2 Feb 14 9:11 p.m.

@DiGiornoPizza “YO, THIS GAME IS LIKE A DIGIORNO PIZZA BECAUSE IT WAS DONE AFTER TWENTY MINUTES #SuperBowl #SuperSmack #DiGiorNOYOUDIDNT” 2 Feb 14 7:40 p.m..

Tanisha Long @tanishalong “Damn... Denver must feel like I did after my last boyfriend told me he wasn't my boyfriend. #SuperBowl #GirlCode” 2 Feb 14 7:35 p.m.

The Iron Sheik @the_ironsheik “Russell Wilson have the sex with anybody he want tonight. #superbowl” 2 Feb 14 8:56 p.m.

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Features

February 7, 2014

WHAT’S HAPPENIN’?

TODAY • All day Mid America Arenacross Series 5, William “Bill” Cherry Agricultural Exposition Center • 7:30 p.m.

Monty Python’s “Spamalot,” Playhouse in the Park

S A T U R D A Y

• All day Mid America Arenacross Series 5, Expo Center • 6 p.m.

Zac Brown Band, CFSB Center • 7:30 p.m.

Cinema International: "Marley," Curris Center Theater

SUNDAY

• 5 p.m.

Water Aerobics with Debbie, Wellness Center • 6:30 p.m.

Belly Dancing with Marcie, Wellness Center • 7:30 p.m.

Not My Life: film on human trafficking, Curris Center, Barkley Room

• All Day Everything Eagles Van Tours, Golden Pond Visitor’s Center • 7:30 p.m.

Monty Python’s “Spamalot,” Playhouse in the Park

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If you would like an event to appear here or on TheNews.org, email us at features@thenews.org. Please submit events by noon Wednesday for consideration.

T U E S D A Y

• 4:30 p.m.

Full Body 30 with Stefan, Wellness Center • 6 p.m.

Power Hour Circuit with Kaleb, Wellness Center

MONDAY

• 6:30 p.m.

W Yoga I Beginner E with Therese St. Wellness D Paul, N Center • 7:30 p.m.

E Yoga II Intermediwith Therese S ateSt. Paul, D Center Wellness A Y

THURSDAY • 11 a.m.

“Real World Market,” Curris Center Dance Lounge • 7 p.m.

Men’s basketball vs. SIU Edwardsville, CFSB Center • 8 p.m.

PRSSA presents “Stupid Cupid” anti-Valentine’s Day party, El Mariachi

Movie Review

Photo courtesy of entertainmentwallpaper.com

Miles Teller, Zac Efron and Michael B. Jordan play three friends who place a bet on staying single in the film “That Awkward Moment.”

‘Bromantic comedy’ switches perspective Madison Wepfer Contributing writer mwepfer@murraystate.edu

Three guys hitting the clubs, looking for chicks and living the high life is the surface plot of “That Awkward Moment.” But, like any typical romantic comedy, three bachelors avoiding love as best they can find a deeper meaning in relationships and find that they have been mistaken about love all along.

Mikey (Michael B. Jordan) comes home to find that his wife wants a divorce, while Jason (Zac Efron) and Daniel (Miles Teller) have been sleeping around, trying their hardest to avoid commitment.

In an attempt to “live while

they’re young” and make the best of their friendship, the three guys make a bet with each other to see who can stay single the longest.

The film is witty and cute at times but highly offensive to women other times. It has its glowing moments of tact, but it also made me hate men with a passion.

Let’s start with the good, then we’ll move on to the bad and the ugly.

The two female leads were independent, smart women.

They were not over-sexualized and they were not the typical female love interest.

Although they were only present in the movie to move along the plotline, they both had a purpose and

a personality. For that I give the film respect.

In addition, the three friends had undeniable charisma on-screen. They played off each other well.

Plus, I really didn’t mind seeing Efron shirtless. Let’s just say, the boy grew up.

On the other hand, the whole purpose of the three main characters’ motivation was to lie and cheat on women.

Essentially, women were there to give them temporary satisfaction and stay out of their lives until the next time they needed a quick pick-me-up.

Maybe I am a little biased because I am a woman, but come on. Materializing women is not cool no matter

who you are.

However, something I enjoyed was that this is one of the few films that tells a love story from the guy’s point of view. It may be a pioneer to an entirely new genre of film altogether. I’ll call it the bro flick or the bromcom.

We’re used to romcoms told from a woman’s perspective. The woman is distressed in looking for love. The woman finally finds someone who changes her mind about relationships. However, in “That Awkward Moment,” the viewer follows the story of three guys.

As do most classic romcoms, they all live happily ever after. All three friends move on into new chapters of their lives

and discover new meanings to love and relationships.

Although the film may offend just about every girl on the planet, it is well-balanced with raunchy scenes, clever bro banter and “awe” moments. Serious scenes are scattered throughout the film, but it is more comedic than dramatic.

Do not rely on the trailer to reveal all the funny parts. The film was all shock and awe throughout.

I’m not sure if I would recommend it for a Valentine’s Day date, but if you are looking to bro-out for the night or just see naked Efron, definitely go see it.

Trust me, you will not be disappointed.

Bieber Fever With all the controversy surrounding Justin Bieber in the media recently, I found the idea of making him the subject of my column this week a no-brainer.

Breanna Sill I had the pleasAssistant ure, and yes, he Features Editor was a pleasure, of meeting Justin in June of 2011, when he was at the height of his fame. He was in Nashville, Tenn., for the CMT Awards and my friends and I were bound and determined to meet him.

In the days preceding the awards we thought of every option possible to try and figure out where he would be. We called hotels, car services and we eventually wound up at the airport.

When we got there, a security guard came up and asked us if we were waiting for Justin, and then informed us we had missed him by about five minutes.

He also confided in us that he would be flying back out the next day, after the awards, but he would not tell us when he was leaving or where he was going.

The next day, my friends and I showed up at the airport around 10 a.m. and set up camp. We were the only people around and we were prepared to spend the entire day there, but 30 minutes later Justin showed up.

He was wearing baggy jeans and sunglasses and he had toothpaste in the corners of his mouth.

My friends and I made a pact not to scream and to act as calm and collected as possible, and that is exactly what we did.

Justin came up to us and asked if we wanted pictures or autographs. He came to me first and before I could hand my camera to one of his body guards he snatched it from me and offered to take it himself, selfie style.

Literally, he was one of the absolute nicest celebrities I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

He was completely down-to-earth and could not have been any sweeter to any of the people who approached him.

He was so grateful and acted like we were the ones making his day.

Despite his present drama, I like to think that the sweet kid I met nearly three years ago is still in there; he’s just going through a rough time. Cut the kid some slack- no one is perfect. bsill@murraystate.edu

See It

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The News February 7, 2014