The Murray State News February 6, 2015
TheNews.org
Vol. 89, No. 19
Parking citations total $51,000
UNIVERSITY
21.6
Mari-Alice Jasper
percent
Assistant News Editor mjasper1@murraystate.edu
Erica Fort, senior from Terre Haute, Ind., said she has received up to six parking tickets per semester since she enrolled at Murray State in 2012. “I think they have my car memorized,” she said. With parking citations ranging from $30 to $100 depending on the severity of the violation, takes in approximately $91,000 in all citations per year from wayward students like Fort. Fort said she had trouble getting started this semester because she had parking tickets still on her account that she could not pay off. The total exceeded $100 and she was informed she would have to make at least a $100 payment to register for classes in her final semester. “This is my senior year,” she said. “If I hadn’t been able to get all the classes I needed to graduate I would have had to spend another semester here.” Susan Ray, parking supervisor, said Parking Management has distributed about 1,700 “wrong zone” citations at $30 a piece this academic year, those citations alone topping out at $51,000. “Wrong zone” citations apply to zoned parking, visitor parking and no parking zones. Ray said parking lots closer to buildings on campus are the most heavily ticketed, because they are used more often than lots farther away. She said the weather, time of day and even which semester it is has an impact on the number of parking violations. “The entire campus is monitored and parking is enforced 24/7,” she said. Fort said she received most of her citations while parked near Faculty Hall or Sparks Hall. She said in one incident while she was parked outside Faculty Hall she witnessed several other students going out to their cars parked near her car, but she was the only one who was penalized. “I feel like they were playing a prank on me,” she said. Ray said in addition to “wrong zone” citations, “no
see CITATIONS, 2A
Editor-in-Chief
mbradley9@murraystate.edu
In a 23-4 vote, Murray State Student Government Association senators put off a motion Wednesday to change the SGA treasurer eligibility bylaw, with just two weeks left before the application deadline. The motion, proposed by SGA senator Michael Mann, is to change Article 3, Section J of the SGA bylaws. The bylaw states that any applicants for the treasurer position must have completed ACC 200 (Principals of Accounting I) or AGR 333 (Agribusiness Records and Analysis) with a grade of C or better by the end of the academic term in which he or she is elected. Mann’s proposal was to
INSIDE
News Editor
PUBLISHER
77.4 percent
Nicole Ely/The News
Textbook profits benefit publisher, not University Ben Manhanke
Chief Videographer bmanhanke@murraystate.edu
Walking through the rows of textbooks in the University Store, there is one name which students curse under their breaths more than any other: Murray State’s. Pearson, McGraw-Hill, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., Reed Elsevier and Cengage: names which students should find familiar after purchasing textbooks from their companies for several years are often spared disparaging remarks. “To sum it up in one word: extortion,” said Nathaniel Davis, junior from Clinton, Maine. “Textbook prices are basically targeted towards naive freshmen who will buy their books at face value. I feel like someone higher up the line at Murray State is hoping these people will be kicking themselves later when they see they could get them at a much cheaper price online.” According to recent data from the National Association of College Stores, however, the majority of textbook profits go toward the publisher, not the universities toward whom most students’ anger is directed. A 2008 report by NACS found 77.4 percent of textbook profits go to the
publishers where the sum is split between, but not limited to, marketing (15.74 percent), the authors (11.7 percent) and basic costs for the publisher including materials and employee wages (32.2 percent). Approximately 21.6 percent of the cost of a textbook goes toward a university and its bookstore. Students in the United States spend $655 each year on required course material according to NACS meaning textbook publishers are making, on average, $506.97 per college student. And the cost of textbooks is continuing to climb. Donald Klukan, textbook manager for the University Store, said in the past 11 years he has seen textbook prices jump up as much as 15-20 percent a year. Mark-ups in more recent years, he said, have only averaged a couple of percent a year, but are still perplexing to him. “I don’t know where to begin,” said Klukan. “I remember the first time I ran a purchase order for $150,000 and it blew my mind. Now to run a purchase order to Pearson or somebody like that for $250,000 to $300,000 is not uncommon.” In the past 35 years, textbook prices have grown 812 percent, according to a
see TEXTBOOKS, 2A
The fifth and sixth sexual assaults in 2014-15 came to students’ attention within the past week, as “timely warnings” from Public Safety and Emergency Management arrived to students’ email inboxes. With one occurring in the fall, and one just two days ago, discussions and concerns of the assaults have once again arisen on and off campus. The sixth assault on Feb. 3 took place in the Roy Stewart Stadium parking lot. The crime log lists the assault’s category as “sex offenses – forcible” with a description of “unwanted sexual content by acquaintance.” The vague description gives the crime an enigmatic quality for a purpose. Protecting victims is of utmost importance in situations like these, when the crime is not just physical, but also mental. According to the Center for Disease Control, victims of sexual violence are often plagued by fear, anxiety, eating disorders triggered by stress and anger, depression and suicidal thoughts. In their lifetime, about one in five women and one in 71 men have been raped, according to the CDC website, and one in two women and one in five men experienced other forms of sexual violence. David Howe, public relations officer for the Murray Police Department, said the most common reasons victims of sexual assault hesitate or refuse completely to come forward are fear, shame and sometimes complete denial of the events that transpired. “Sexual assault is any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient,” states the description of sexual violence given by the U.S. Department of Justice. “Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling and attempted rape.” A study from the Depart-
see ASSAULTS, 2A
Striking bylaw would change treasurer eligibility two weeks before deadline Mary Bradley
Amanda Grau agrau1@murraystate.edu
SGA applicant eligibility change put off
WHAT’S
Fifth, sixth assaults reported
TEXTBOOK PROFITS
eliminate the course requirements, particularly for those who have not enrolled in one of the two classes or have a transfer credit equivalent to be eligible to apply for treasurer. “I believe it will open up opportunities for students to a position they might want to run for,” Mann said in his proposal. The debate following the proposal included some support for Mann, with senators stating that the treasurer will not be the sole individual with oversight of financial matters, but will have help from other executive members and the SGA adviser, Jeanie Morgan. However, most elected senators disagreed with the proposal, citing instances that the treasurer is required to handle a significant amount of money for the association
and the fact that the proposed change falls too close to the application deadline of Feb. 20. Approximately $170,000 is handled annually by the treasurer. The position also entails several other financial responsibilities for the association, including: • Collection, accounting and distribution of funds • Endorsing all expenditures • Chair the Student Senate Finance Committee • Prepare and present the SGA budget. Clint Combs, senator for SGA, said he urged other senators to refrain from voting for the change to the bylaw, stating that it falls too close to the application deadline, which has been advertised for weeks with the existing
requirements. “This gives an unfair advantage to potential candidates who have just heard about the change after today’s meeting,” Combs said. “(It is unfair) to people who might have wanted to apply earlier, but didn’t meet the requirements despite wanting to apply.” Combs said he did not support the proposed change at the time, but said he believes it could be discussed at a later time, which was debated and agreed upon in various motions. SGA elected senators voted in majority to put off the motion until the Feb. 25 meeting, which falls five days after the application deadline. The motion and any affiliated debates regarding the bylaw change will be discussed during that meeting.
Corrections: On Jan. 30, 2015, The Murray State News printed an error in the article, “Jenkins Smith speaks on shooting.” The date for the speech was listed as Jan. 10, but will actually be held on Feb. 10. On Jan. 30, 2015, The Murray State News printed two errors in the article, “Lecturer of women’s rights to come to campus.” It should state that Jessica Grounds is the co-founder, former executive director and current co-chair of the board of directors for Running Start. Additionally, the U.S. ranks 60th worldwide in women’s political empowerment on the gender gap, not in female representation in politics. The News regrets the errors.
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ROTARY CLUB
OUR VIEW
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
ELECT-HER
Rotary Club to send students to Ghana, 6A
Textbook industry should become centered on digital, 4A
Murray State women’s basketball win in OVC game, 2B
Speaker encourages women to seek leadership positions, 5B
News
2A
ASSAULTS From Page 1 ment of Justice found that although sexual assaults are statistically common, only 5 percent of rapes and attempted rapes on college campuses are reported. Of those cases involved, 90 percent of victims knew their attacker. In 89 percent of those cases, alcohol was involved. In sample study of 1,882 college men, David Lisak, professor at University of Massachusetts, Boston and Paul Miller, professor at Brown University, reported on “120 men whose self-reported acts met legal definitions of rape or attempted rape, but who were never prosecuted by criminal justice authorities.” The study showed the majority of those “undetected rapists” – about two-thirds – were repeat offenders. The average number of rapes per each offender was about six. 2013 heralded a new win for the American Association of University Women, an organization that “has been empowering women as individuals and as a community since 1881,” according to the website. “For more than 130 years, we have worked together as a national grassroots organization to improve the lives of millions of women and their families.” Act S.47 reauthorized the original 1972 Violence Against Women Act, also known as Title IX, along with adding a
TEXTBOOKS From Page 1 2012 study done by the American Enterprise Institute. This exponential growth is more than three times that of the Consumer Price Index, the average inflation for all goods and services, during this same time period. Klukan said for the spring semester he spent approximately $1 million on textbook purchases, primarily on “consumables,” un-bound looseleaf textbooks and those with access codes, which can’t be reused. Contributing in a smaller part to the large bill Murray State is running up is the purchase of used books from whole sale companies and new textbooks or new editions of previous textbooks requested by teachers. Brenton Bailey, senior from Murray, said he spent around $420 on textbooks for this semester. Although the price is steep he said he has bought his books from the University Store all four years because of the convenience of not having to order them from online. “Sometimes it’s a little pricey,” Bailey said. “I had a Spanish book one time that was almost $300. Granted, I was supposed to be able to use it for all the semesters of Spanish I needed to take, but they switched editions in the middle of my classes so I had to buy another almost $300 textbook.” Many students, tired with the constant updating of text-
The News
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One is too many. We’re certainly creating more awareness, more education. The good news, if there is any good news, people are reporting it so we can get them the help they need. –Don Robertson Vice President of Student Affairs
few points, including: • Universities nationwide must report the annual numbers for domestic and dating violence and stalking incidents. • Gender and nationality-motivated hate crimes must be added to annual statistics. • Security reports must include the University’s prevention programs for dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking, along with the procedures and training followed once a crime has been reported. • Clear options and support for victims of sexual violence, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking must be provided for students. • Students must be allowed to bring their choice of advisor to a disciplinary hearing. In regard to the recent cases on Murray State’s own campus, Don Robertson, vice president of Student Affairs said obviously there’s a serious issue. “One is too many,” he said.
“We’re certainly creating more awareness, more education. The good news, if there is any good news, people are reporting it so we can get them the help they need.” Camisha Duffy, Title IX coordinator, could not be reached for comment. If you know a victim of sexual, domestic or dating violence, the American Association of University Women website said the first thing to do is believe them. “Often a victim’s worst fear is that the person they tell will not believe them,” said the site. Ask the victim if they need medical attention. If they do, go to the nearest hospital, but unless it’s a medical emergency, leave it up to them. “When a person is assaulted, they can feel a loss of control over their body and their life,” said the site. “If you push them to tell you more than they volunteer, to report the assault, or to submit to a medical exam, you can unintentionally perpetuate that loss of control.” Most importantly, know the resources on campus and help them contact those resources.
book editions and their rising prices due to the addition of online codes and other media supplements, are being driven to find alternative places to make their purchases. JJ Adams-Jones, graduate student from Paducah, Ky., said she spent $200 on textbooks this semester by ordering them from Amazon. Usually by ordering her textbooks from Amazon, she said, she spends $50 – $100. “I use Amazon because I know I can buy new textbooks from them for the same price I can buy them used at the bookstore,” Adams-Jones said. “When I studied abroad in Spain I spent $30 on the same amount of textbooks that would cost me around $200 here. I’m not really sure why there’s that much of a discrepancy.” Despite more and more online sources popping up in recent years to offer students alternatives to bookstore prices, many students still take their business to the University Store. And these students are still not happy with the prices. Klukan said students and teachers’ griping about the cost of textbooks is nothing new to him, but the blame he said shouldn’t lie with Murray State, but with the publishing companies. “I don’t choose the books,” Klukan said. “I don’t invent the prices, I just adjust things and make sure they’re accurate so that students get what they need as cost effectively as possible and instructors have the resources they want available. Really I’m just a logistics guy.”
CITATIONS From Page 1 registration permit displayed” citations are among the most common. Approximately 4,000 citations have been issued this academic year alone. Each violation results in a $60 fine, collectively $240,000. Ray advised that students should read and know the parking regulations on campus
February 6, 2015
WHERE TO TURN Women’s Center 809-3140 – 103C Oakley Applied Science
University Counseling 809-6851 – 104C Oakley Applied Science
Health Services 809-3809 – 136 Wells Hall
Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity and Access 809-3155 – 103 Wells Hall
Title IX Coordinator 809-3155 – 103 Wells Hall
Student Affairs Judicial Board 809-6832 – 425 Wells Hall
Murray Police Department 753-1621 – 407 Poplar St.
Calloway County Sheriff’s Office 753-3151 – 701 Olive St.
Purchase Area Sexual Assault Center 1-800-928-7273
National Domestic Violence hotline 1-800-799-7233
before the semester begins, because parking zone enforcement begins on the first day of scheduled classes, according to the Parking Management website. Murray State’s parking regulations can be accessed by scanning the QR code on the back of any Murray State parking permit, or by checking Parking Management’s website. Ray warned students to not use someone else’s per-
mit or allow someone else to use theirs as this can result in a misdemeanor charge, according to Kentucky’s Revised Statutes. Ray said Parking Management reviews lot usage on a regular basis and annually re-evaluates the parking zones on campus. Fort, a student worker in the continuing education department, suggested there should be a separate parking permit that gives University and fed-
eral student workers more parking privileges. “Most of the time I’m trying to transport something for work when I get ticketed,” she said. Ray encouraged students to call Parking Management with any questions, even ones that seem silly. “Bottom line,” she said. “If you don’t read it in the regulations and you haven’t spoken with Parking Management, don’t park there.”
Kory Savage/The News
A commuter student receives a parking citation on the academic side of campus, where parking rules are enforced between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays.
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Small-town living has its benefits Mari-Alice Jasper
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Tiffany Dankovic, senior from Cadiz, Ky., said she was in culture shock after transferring to Murray State after spending two years at the University of Kentucky. The culture shock wasn’t just from moving to a city twelve times smaller, but the cost of living shrank too. “When I moved up (to Lexington) it was my first time renting an apartment and making adult decisions,” she said. “So I just assumed that paying $590 to share an apartment was the standard everywhere.” Although about 27 percent of apartments listed for rent in Lexington, Ky., are less than $500 per month, 68 percent of the apartments listed for rent in Murray are listed as less than $500 per month, according to the census survey data. “So when I came down here and saw that rent for a one-bedroom apartment was like $400, I thought to myself, ‘I can definitely do this,’” she said. The cost of an apartment for any student has an impact on their life- style while in school. Morehead University, is a school about the same size as Murray State, with approximately 11,000 students enrolled as of 2014, according to their enrollment statistics.
Nicole Ely/The News
Each semester students search high and low for off-campus housing such as houses, apartments or duplexes. More than half of the apartments surrounding Morehead University averaged $450 to $499 per month in rent, according to the U.S census. In Murray college students can choose to live on campus in the
residential colleges or to live off campus. Off-campus apartments that cater specifically to students, like Campus Evolutions, provide a smooth transition from dorm life to independent life for students.
Apartments are more popular near larger universities like University of Kentucky and University of Louisville. In Louisville, 31 percent of apartments are listed for less than $500
per month and the average cost of living is 5.9 percent lower than the national average, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Near smaller universities like Eastern Kentucky University and Morehead University, students living off campus are more likely to live in small, privately-owned apartment complexes. However these are more difficult to find, especially in an unfamiliar area. “If you are looking for a place (to live) in Lexington, you will find a place,” Dankovic said. “But that isn’t always the case here.” Dankovic said when she lived in Lexington she just went online to find an apartment for rent, but here the process took a lot more footwork. “When I looked up apartments on craigslist all I could find were Campus Evolutions apartments for rent,” she said. “You’re best bet if you are trying to find a place around here is to go to the Chamber of Commerce instead of searching online.” The Murray-Calloway County Chamber of Commerce has a rental list of apartments that are available in the area that they sell for a small fee. This list is confidential. Dankovic urged students to do their research before signing a lease anywhere. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” she said.
Students bring water to Ghana Brittany Risko || Staff writer brisko@murraystate.edu
The Murray Rotary Club is looking for students or faculty interested in working on an International Rotary clean water project in the Sunyani district of Ghana. Walter Hughes, of Rocky Mount, Va., presented a video about the project last summer, and the project is one of four concurrent Rotary International grants since 2006. Twenty-five percent of all deaths in children under the age of five are attributed to unsanitary water, according to Water.org. “The club is looking to students to get involved in a worthwhile international project,” Martin Tracy, director of vocational and international service committee of the Murray Rotary Club. There is an organization on campus who works alongside this project called Catch the Wave. Tracy said Catch the Wave collaborates with the Living Waters of the World, which is a Christian ministry that provides sustainable clean water to communities in need. Mutually beneficial relationships between volunteers and communities are also fostered in order to build support systems for installing water purification system in 25 developing countries, like Honduras, Guatemala and Kenya. The club is supporting a grant that will provide Ghana with 11
P O L I C E B E A T
Kory Savage/The News
Elevators on campus are routinely serviced to ensure the safety of passengers.
Elevator issues arise Brittany Risko || Staff writer brisko@murraystate.edu Courtesy of Martin Tracy
Women and children in Ghana gather around a well to get fresh drinking water. new boreholes. Boreholes are deep holes in the ground used to find a source of water. Three repaired boreholes, 76 new bathrooms, 20 computers at three different high schools and training for local contractors to install and maintain the toilets, are also part of the services being provided by the grant, according to a press release regarding the project. In the future, there may be
training opportunities in well repair, installation of micro-toilets in Ghana with a Rotary group in September. Tracy said since students may have difficulty volunteering because of their class schedules, they could get involved by promoting the project via social media and by contacting local businesses who may want to donate to the project.
Within a four-day time span, students from Faculty Hall, the Fine Arts Complex and various Residential Colleges reported having problems operating the elevators in their building. Additionally, seven people reported being stuck in elevators. Mike Dunnavant, director of Building and Grounds Maintenance, said approximately 25 elevator “out of service” calls are received each month on average. He said of those calls about two to three involve an actual “person stuck” situation. Even though all 58 elevators on campus are routinely serviced by licensed elevator technicians through Facilities Management and annually inspected by Kentucky officials, they
Jan. 30
Feb. 1
Feb. 3
12:49 a.m. A caller from Hester Residential College reported a noise and alcohol complaint. Officers were notified and a report was taken. 5:55 p.m. Public Safety and Emergency Management received a general incident reporting form in reference to harassment. Officers were notified and a report was taken.
1:58 p.m. A caller from Winslow Dining Hall requested an ambulance. Officers, Murray Ambulance Services and Student Affairs were notified. The person was transported and a medical report was taken. 10:15 p.m. A caller from Franklin Residential College reported a burned decoration hanging on a door. Officers and the State Fire Marshal were notified.
8:26 p.m. A caller advised of a motor vehicle collision in the intramural field parking lot. No injuries were suffered. Officers were notified and a report was taken. 11:02 p.m. Racer patrol reported a reckless driver near Mason Hall. Officers were notified, but the driver was gone upon their arrival.
Jan. 31 10:38 a.m. An officer conducted a traffic stop in the Quick Lube parking lot. A verbal warning was issued to a driver who failed to comply with right of way laws. 1:16 p.m. A caller from Hester reported the smell of marijuana. Officers were notified and a citation was issued for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Feb. 2 12:04 a.m. Racer Patrol reported a reckless driver in the Roy Stewart Stadium parking lot. Officers were notified and a written warning was issued for reckless driving. 7:33 p.m. An officer conducted parking enforcement in the Faculty Hall parking lot. Five parking citations were issued.
Feb. 4 6:36 a.m. A caller from Hart Residential College reported an ashtray that had smoke coming out of it. Officers are the State Fire Marshal were notified. 2:29 p.m. A caller reported a sexual assault to Public Safety and Emergency Management. Officers were notified and a report was taken.
still have times when there are mechanical issues. “The elevators operate safely and are maintained on a day-to-day basis,” Dunnavant said. Despite reports of students being stuck in elevators, most students continue to take them. Allie Phillips, senior from Louisville, Ky., said getting stuck in an elevator isn’t something she worries about. “I’m not claustrophobic,” she said. “I know if I ever did get stuck I would eventually get out.” Laura Owens, senior from Owensboro, Ky., said she was more worried about how many people were taking the elevators at one time, than getting stuck on an elevator. “I don’t decide whether or not to take an elevator on the chance that I may get stuck,” she said.
Call of Fame Feb. 2, 10:58 p.m. - A caller from Elizabeth Residential College reported an assault. The assault occurred off campus. Officers, Calloway County Sheriff’s Department and Murray Ambulance Services were notified. The person refused transport by Murray Ambulance Services. Motor Assists: 5 Racer Assists: 1 Arrests: 0 Mari-Alice Jasper, Assistant News Editor, compiles Police Beat with materials provided by Public Safety and Emergency Management. Not all dispatched calls are listed.
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February 6, 2015
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Textbook industry is overinflated The staff editorial is the majority opinion of The Murray State News Editorial Board. On top of the nightmare that is growing college tuition rates, students have to stress about textbook prices. According to the American Enterprise Institute, college textbook retail rates grew 812 percent in the past three decades, making them increase faster than healthcare, college tuition rates and the inflation of the economy. This bubble in the education industry means students will spend an average of $655 annually on their books. The University’s former campaign said that buying on-campus means that we are helping bolster the economy of campus. If we eat, shop and live on campus, the idea is that the University will grow. But does this apply to buying our books at the University Store? One-fifth of this is given to the bookstore to cover operating costs while the rest goes to the publishers. While we grimace at our text-
book receipts we should consider the sources of our frustration. The Internet is the main culprit when it comes to rising textbook prices. Students who try to dodge retail prices will look to places like Chegg and Amazon to cut costs. Chegg allows students to rent discounted textbooks, and Amazon sells used and older editions of books for a fraction of bookstore prices. This leaves publishers with limited options to make a profit. In turn, they overprice their material and make new editions as often as yearly to make their product relevant. These ballooning prices are then handed down to the University, which has no choice but to sell at retail. The rise in textbook prices is leading to an overall lack of commitment from students, who will rent or buy older editions before they decide to pay full price on new books. Sometimes, we choose to not
buy textbooks at all. We’re afraid to buy new because we know we will get less than half of its worth when we go to sell back. Long lines at the bookstore, long receipts and Chegg shipping boxes are indicators that we have accepted our fate. We make big purchases assuming that textbooks are a fact of college life and we should just put them on our student accounts and move on, but we could try more innovative options. For professors, getting students to read chapters before class can be nearly impossible. as much as we pay for the books, they don’t see much action. Other universities have experimented with innovative curriculum that eliminate textbooks altogether. The University of Kentucky offers iPads at discounted prices so students can access information online instead of using books. Professors will encourage students to bring
their tablets and laptops to class before they tell them to bring the book. They can access PDFs online, download educational programs and expand beyond the one dimension of textbooks. Some courses are also learned completely on CDs or applications because they engage students with practical exercises. If the University partnered with developers of educational softwares, they could avoid the prices of publishers while still making a profit that won’t leave students in more debt. There will be opponents of going digital in education, but this change can teach students how to think critically, use more than one source of information and draw their own conclusions about how they best learn material. Sometimes, the old way is the best way. But because we can barely afford to keep up with our old ways, we should consider embracing change.
Dayone’s Manifest
Is Nationwide on our side? The Super Bowl is one of the most exciting and viewed sporting events in the country. To the fans, celebrities and athletes, the Super Bowl brings excitement from every corner of the nation. Personally, Taurus Moore unless my Graduate student from team is playing in the big Wadesboro, N.C. game, I pay close attention to the advertisements that have been successful since the Super Bowl started. This year’s advertisements weren’t as pleasant and funny as they have been in the past. The game itself was enjoyable, but when it comes to the world of advertising, it is obvious that not a lot of effort or thought was given within these commercials. One commercial that really stood out for
me was the widely-discusssed Nationwide ad. Basically, there was a child that was stating he would never go on an adventure, experience cooties, get married, live his life, etc. Why? Because he is dead.
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Advertising in this form is not a helpful way of getting the peoples’ attention. It didn’t help them create an environment of safety. -- Taurus Moore
”
This was one of the most depressing commercials I have ever watched on Super Bowl Sunday. It gave me the sense that Nationwide believes it is important for children to know that they need to be insured because if they don’t, they will die. Usually, Nationwide gives a positive message with their ads. They let their clients know they are on their side. It’s stated in the famous jingle: “Nationwide is on your side.” From this commercial alone, it doesn’t seem that way. If accidents happen to anyone that is in-
sured with them, they should be able to help them by all means. Advertising in this form is not a helpful way of getting the people’s attention. It didn’t help them create an environment of safety. It is more frightening than helpful, especially for children. When I saw this commercial, I was shocked by the dead boy and the brief description that was shown in the end of the ad. Peyton Manning, who was featured in one of Nationwide’s commercials during the majority of the NFL regular season, may have wondered why his sponsor chose such a skeptical approach. The commercial was a disappointment for many viewers across the nation. The message was very somber for a big sporting event such as the Super Bowl. It is supposed to be a time of joy and fun when everyone is watching football. Nationwide has been receiving scrutiny due to this advertisement. An insurance company is supposed to help their clients’ lives, not advertise the end of them. Is Nationwide really on your side? Only you can make that call. However, don’t let the advertisement itself make you believe that Nationwide will not be helpful as far as finances and health are concerned, but be cautious of the message that they are sending.
The News
Opinion
February 6, 2015
5A
Letter to the Editor
I Have A Lot of Feelings
The parking games
Parking tag: $45-$75. City The writers of the recent Letter sexual orientation. They nearly do so the level of hatred, you could also tions people make based on the way sticker: $50. to the Editor on the subject of LGBT when they recognize that “the proargue that cake bakers in the 1960s their hips move when they walk or Parking rights and protections conveniently posed ordinance essentially elevates would not have felt it a matter of the pitch of their voice, for instance. tickets: $30mask their prejudices behind the sexual identity and sexual orientation hatred for them to refuse to make So, the argument does, indeed, $100. claim that they are only interested in involve the culture of Murray. Does to civil rights status on par with race a cake for an interracial couple. If Rage when fair debate and good public policy – Murray want to recognize that LGBT and ethnicity.” They claim that they we followed the logic of Nelson and I cannot find that they are not advocating discrimi- do not support “ugly or bigoted treatpersons deserve the same treatment French’s explicit argument, it might a parking nation. Yet, the debate is clearly and as Catholics, Baptists, African Amerment,” but this statement demonbe just fine to revise the ordinance to spot for the directly about the city’s ordinance icans, Asian Americans, women, strates that they clearly support delete ethnicity and race. Or, while life of me: on discrimination. The proposed 50-year-olds? Or does it want to perdiscrimination, or a “difference in we’re at it, why punish business ownpriceless, revisions, which French and Nelson sist in the belief that LGBT people treatment,” for LGBT persons, ers for discriminating at all? Against endless, reoppose, are designed to have the orare somehow lower than other people implying that they ought not be anyone? dinance read that it would be “unlaw- “elevate(d)” to the status of others The argument about “drag(ging) and from a legal standpoint may be Allison Borthwick lentless. ful, based upon race, color, religion, treated as such? who are protected. The language of one’s sex life into the hiring process” Advertising Sales According to Murray national origin, sex, age (over 40), “elevation” here says a lot about the is simply illogical and absurd. If an Manager State’s webgender identity, sexual orientation, attitude of the authors and their oremployer does not know the sexual site, more familial status or physical disability ganization when it comes to LGBT orientation of a potential employee, Jeff Osborne than 3,000 students live in the resiof any type, to discriminate in empersons, whether they want to admit he or she cannot discriminate. That’s Associate Professor dential colleges. That means a lot of ployment, public accommodations or it’s a bigoted attitude or not. true. But, the aim of the ordinance of English students enter the Hunger-Gameshousing practices.” Nelson and French use the wedis not to provide opportunities to like arena that is finding a parking ding cake scenario to help make their inflict punishment on employers. It Nelson and French object to the Joshua Adair spot every time they come back from claim made by the Editorial Board case against the supposed negative should be clear to these two college Assistant Professor making the brave decision to stray that opposition to the revisions effects of the proposed change to the educated citizens that the aim of the of English off campus. The odds are almost amounts to supporting discriminaordinance. From their point of view ordinance is precisely to protect ponever in their favor. tion. This objection is completely it’s OK for cake bakers to be punished tential employees when the employer Despite how hopeless the parking illogical. The actual wording of the for refusing to bake a cake for, say, an is aware of their sexual orientation. This letter was signed by situation already is and despite how ordinance concerns who may or interracial couple’s wedding, The real issue resting behind this dumuch we pay to park here, it is going may not be discriminated against. but it’s not OK to punish the same plicitous rhetorical move, though, has 80 other Murray State facto get worse. When March ends, SO They need to own up to the fact that cake baker for refusing to bake a cake nothing to do with the act of sex. ulty and staff. To see the WILL OUR LIVES. No, I’m just kidthe debate is directly and explicitly for a same-sex couple. We’re talking about gender identity – ding. But the construction of New about whether it should be lawful to the ways in which people move, talk, That is discrimination – treating full list of signatures, visit Franklin Residential College will endiscriminate–“to make a difference one couple differently from another. dress, etc. – and the fact that many tail the permanent loss of four rows in treatment” (Webster’s Dictionary) And, while they might argue that people are regularly treated differof spaces on the south side of Hart –on the basis of gender identity and such discrimination doesn’t rise to ently simply because of the presumpResidential College. More than 100 parking spaces are, as over-exaggerIssues, Observations and Sometimes Rants ated as this may sound, life-changing. I understand and appreciate that we pay considerably less for parking permits than other schools. I’ll take a $75 parking permit over University of Louisville’s $590 one any day. What assignment. This is the gins. It’s a conversation started in a classroom, I do not understand, however, is the If you don’t show up prepared, how then can sweet spot. When continued during an internship and developed logic behind taking away these rare, you really participate in the conversation? You the classroom exthroughout your career. precious spaces without a backup I know it’s happening when a student asks quesknow, that conversation where your career beperience becomes plan. Drivers have already paid for a tions about material I will cover later in the lecgins. more than rudiparking permit that should guarantee ture or maybe next week. mentary instruc If you haven’t completed the assigned reading, a parking spot, only for more than Yes! Here is a mind working to assimilate you will be sitting on the sidelines, trying to untion. Something 100 of those spaces to be taken away derstand what the rest of the class is discussing. knowledge. Here is an active mind considering happens just in the middle of the spring semester. new learning within the context of prior learning. Sort of like trying to understand a conversation in Students, faculty and staff have about this time a language you don’t speak. Sort of like trying to A mind considering the implications of what it has of the semester. been pleading for more parking lots just learned. Yes! Here is a mind that is truly in play a song without knowing the key. Classes are not and parking garages for a long, long That’s why pre-requisites are so important. attendance. Time to conduct class! merely taught; while now. The most we have gotten Though I’ve never taught foreign language, I Your courses are arranged in a particular order to in return lately is parking lot rezonthey are concan imagine how satisfying it can be. In the beform a curriculum. Like scenes in a movie, they ducted. And that ing. ginning it’s about vocabulary, sentence structure are arranged sequentially. Start watching a movie Yes, you can ask residents of is exhilarating. and pronunciation. Eventually, you have entire 30 minutes in, and you won’t know the characters, Franklin Residential College and Old It means that stuconversations, fluently. And with that comes the the setting or background. dents are converRichmond Residential College to reward of knowing that you have helped enable You’ll be tugging at the sleeve of someone else sant about things park in the lots behind their buildKevin Qualls someone to interact with millions of other people watching the movie, asking questions. Then they ings. However, I have been here for they did not even Professor of in a way they never could before. miss some of the dialogue. know only a few going on three years now and those weeks ago. It goes Though I’ve never taught anyone to play a You don’t want to be that person. Don’t avoid lots have been and probably always mass communications musical instrument I can imagine how satisfying pre-requisites and don’t miss classes. It’s a drag on will be mostly barren unless resibeyond students’ that can be, too. In the beginning it’s about proper everybody. ability to regurgitate terms of art and memorized dents are required, not asked, to park technique, how to make the individual notes and Instead, I invite you to join the conversation. facts. It is their ability to interact with abstract there - ease of access and all that. chords. It’s theory and scales, practice and more And for those of you already attending and partic- Maybe make those lots brown zones, ideas and concepts in a way that evidences actual ipating, thank you. You make teaching a rewardpractice until, finally, there’s music. Now there’s a understanding that gives meaning to the classlike those of Regents Residential Colbeautiful outcome. ing profession. room experience. That’s what calls many of us to lege and White Residential College. This is the fruit of attendance and participation. And the conversations with your college proteach. Open blue and red zones on the Most syllabi contain a line item about class atI suppose it applies to all academic disciplines. fessors don’t have to end after you are graduated. residential side of campus to those tendance and participation. It’s easily overlooked Assignments and assessments are designed to The best emails and phone calls are from former with yellow parking tags, at least in favor of other content about what work has to bring about that fruition. students who, in the course of their career, reach after 5 p.m. Faculty, staff and combe done and when. Maybe in future semesters I’ll That music recital isn’t going to go so well if the out to say, “Hey, do you remember that thing we muters will have left and on-campus put this line in bold. Maybe even all CAPS. It’s student shows up without first learning their part. discussed in class? It just happened.” Or even bet- residents will have somewhere to happening. I want you to know how significant it That conversation in Japanese, French or Gerter, “here’s something new in the industry that I settle in for the evening. is. man is going to be pretty one-sided if the student wonder if you are aware of.” Build a parking garage instead of shows up without first completing the vocabulary This is where the narrative of your career be Tell me all about it. yet another residential college, in lieu of remodeling or adding onto one of the many usable buildings ... Harper Lee already standing. If it is a matter of ... Rand Paul The iconic “To Kill a MockThe Kentucky senator shushed needing more space, maybe consider the possibility that Murray ingbird” author recently a female reporter and told her State’s campus, residential colleges announced that she will be reand classrooms may not have been to “calm down” during a live built to house the 11,000 student leasing a new book. Awesome, interview on CNBC Tuesday. record-breaking enrollment year a break from “50 Shades of Have fun winning your female people keep boasting about. Allow Grey.” students with the regional discount voters back. or certain scholarships to move off campus sooner than their junior year. Do SOMETHING. Please, do not take away that many ... Dog poop. ... Cameron Payne. spaces and leave us scrambling to park somewhere relatively close to It’s great that we’re a The Murray State pointguard our home away from home, with the Questions, comments or concerns should be dog-friendly campus, but some became the 41st player in everlasting fear of parking enforceaddressed to cbesser@murraystate.edu dog owners simply don’t feel school history to join the ment officers following our every wrong-zoned move. Think of the like picking up after their pets. 1,000 point club. We like children - and my sanity. Think of It’s an easy procedure. Get a seeing our own do great some sort of plan before I sell my plastic bag and pick it up bethings on the court. car and live in my office in the newsroom. fore we step in it. Gross. Congratulations, Cam! aborthwick@murraystate.edu
TheNews.org.
Qualls: Conducting class
Cheers and Jeers Cheers and Jeers is written by the Opinion Editor.
Comic
Cheers to
Jeers to
Jeers to
Cheers to
The 49th Supershow By Katie Wilborn
The News
News
6A
February 6, 2015
Career fair makes networking easy Amanda Grau || News Editor agrau1@murraystate.edu
Networking is the first step in what, for some, can be a long journey to achieve their career goals. Hutson School of Agriculture hosts an annual career fair for students interested in the agriculture field to aid in taking that first step. “I’m just trying to get my name out,” said Mark Ledford, junior from Cadiz, Ky. Ledford is studying agronomy – the study of plants’ use as fuel, land reclamation, for food and the technology needed for those purposes. Networking was his goal while at the fair, where booths lined the Curris Center Large Ballroom Feb. 4. Prospective employers waited to meet prospective employees. “The traffic has been really good,” said Joe Ben Bogle, representative from Ag Connections, a crop-management software developer. “Everyone’s been more polished – not dragging when they come up.” Bogle visits Murray State every year for the agriculture career fair, using the opportunity to build the hiring pool for his company. He may not have positions to fill at the time of the fair every year, Bogle said, but handing in a resume keeps the door open for when one does. Sharit Spurill, with Perdue Agribusiness, not only had several full-time positions and internships to fill, but also hired six fresh graduates in the last few months. The experience many companies look for wasn’t high on Spurill’s list.
A non-agriculture major wasn’t a deal-breaker either. Instead, it was about what students’ interests were and the mentality they express during an interview, she said. There are a variety of positions to fill, from human resources and marketing, to agriculture representatives, Spurill said. What’s most important is a student’s passion. “When students come up we ask them what year they are and what their major is,” she said. “Just because they’re in agriculture doesn’t mean they’re interested in what they’d be doing for us. People will do what their passion is.” Matching passions to jobs is the point of the fair, said Christy Watkins, recruitment coordinator for the Hutson School of Agriculture. “(The fair) gives all students, freshmen to seniors, the opportunity to see what’s out there,” Watkins said. “A lot of the (employers) here are our graduates.” The Agriculture Leadership Council has sponsored the fair once a year for about 25 years. Watkins said the goal is to increase it to twice annually, but scheduling conflicts always prevent that from happening. The agriculture career fair is catered to students in the Huston School of Agriculture, but the Agriculture Leadership Council works closely with Career Services to ensure all students have a variety of opportunities. Employers also come and talk to classes individually, whether at the request of the Agriculture Leadership Council or on their own, and students are given further opportunities to network with companies.
Seattle’s Best replaced with Java City Coffee across campus
Nicole Ely/The News
Tori Heddinger, junior from Mariah Hill, Ind., and Austin Reed, junior from Monticello, Ill., speak with agricultural company representatives.
Mari-Alice Jasper Assistant News Editor mjasper@murraystate.edu
Amanda Grau || News Editor agrau1@murraystate.edu
For the past four years Dining Services and Racer Hospitality has been serving Seattle’s Best Coffee, but now they are brewing up Java City’s coffee. Paula Amols, director of Dining Services and Racer Hospitality, said the decision to replace Seattle’s Best Coffee with Java City came about because the price of Seattle’s Best Coffee has continued to raise over the years. Amols said this jump in price was not reflected in the prices customers were paying A change had to be made, she said. “We felt it was a good, socially-conscious, switch,” Amols said.
Java City donates coffee to homeless shelters and other non-profit organizations and participates in charitable events across the country, according to its website. Java City coffee regularly donates a portion of their proceeds to charities and initiatives to help with modern social issues. Amols said later on in the year Murray State students will be given the opportunity to vote which organization benefits from the Java City sales on campus. Java City has also agreed to create a unique “Racer” blend coffee just for Murray State. With this transition the brand of tea bags for sale has also switched from Tazo tea to Bewley’s tea. Amy Crump, manager of Retail Operations for Dining Services and Racer Hospitality, said by serving Java City products there is a chance the cost of hot tea on campus may decrease but there isn’t a pos-
sibility of price reduction for coffee in the near future. Ashley Travis, junior from Shelbyville, Ky., said she wasn’t fond of the new coffee being served, but it would be okay for someone who just wants a quick cup of coffee. “The quality is really bad,” she said. “I would rather make my own.” Travis said she gave the new coffee a chance, but she ended up throwing it out. “It tastes burnt,” she said. “And there’s no telling how long it has been in (the pot).” Shelby Hall, senior from Louisville, Ky., said she drinks coffee from campus three to four times a week and she can’t taste the difference between brands. The brand switch is only in Waterfield Library, Business Express, the Throroughbred Room and Winslow. Hart Cafe and Throroughbrewed Cafe will continue to serve Starbucks coffee.
February 6, 2015
Section B
The News
Sports Editor: Mallory Tucker Assistant Sports Editor: Kelsey Randolph Phone: 809-4481 Twitter: MSUSportsNews
TALK OF THE
TWITTERSPHERE
SPORTS ANALYSTS WEIGH IN ON RACERS
Sports
Taking No. 18
Red’s Report
In case you missed it
Men’s basketball win 18th straight
Mallory Tucker Sports Editor mtucker11@murraystate.edu
It was a slow start but a strong finish for the Racers Thursday night at the CFSB Center as they claimed their 18th straight win against the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 82-72. The Redhawks won the tip and put the first points on the board, leading for the first nine minutes of the game. A layup by junior forward Tyler Rambo put the Racers ahead of the Redhawks 16-15, and the lead was quickly added to as senior forward Jarvis Williams slammed for two more. Southeast Missouri battled back and took the lead once again two minutes later. “I’d say around (win) 15, that’s when we really started to be like, hey man we can do something special,” Williams said of the streak. “As far as like, the 2011-12 team. We don’t really talk about it, but that’s something we’re looking forward to – trying to beat their little record. And just establish our own kind of deal here at Murray State. You always hear about that team in the past, and we’re just trying to put our own stepping stone at Murray.” The game was tied at three more points during the first half before the Racers were able to pull away and keep a consistent lead. The Racers entered the second half leading 36-31. The Racers, now nationally ranked 15th in field goal percentage, 18th in assists per game and 19th in points per game, are the only remaining undefeated team in the OVC and hold the second-longest win streak in the country, following only the University of Kentucky. Belmont, the OVC East leaders, are the Racers’ closest conference competitors with two OVC losses. Southeast Missouri cut the Racers’ lead to just one basket a minute into the second half, but were unable to find the lead as Murray State consistently pulled away. By just ten minutes into the game, two players from each team found themselves in foul trouble. Southeast Missouri’s senior
Hayley Hays/The News
Senior forward, Jarvis Williams dunks the ball against Southeast Missouri State Thursday. forward Nino Johnson and sophomore guard both tallied four fouls while Murray State’s junior forward Wayne Langston and senior forward Jonathan Fairell racked up the same. The Redhawks’ freshman forward T.J. Thomas joined his teammates with four fouls just a few minutes later. Williams took to the line most frequently for the Racers, shooting 14 free throws at 50 percent. Fairell fouled out with just under five minutes left to play, one of his fouls being a technical. The Redhawks attempted to tighten their defense as the clock wound down, but even with 10 steals to Murray State’s seven and just a six-point deficit with under a minute to play, they couldn’t cut the lead enough to contain the Racers. Sophomore
point guard Cameron Payne, the newest member of Murray State’s 1,000-point club, tallied 16 points during the matchup while senior guard T.J. Sapp scored 19 and Williams added 23, many of which came from dunks. The clock timed out as the Racers stalled, beating Southeast Missouri and extending their win streak to 18, stealing the nation’s attention one game at a time. The Racers travel to take on the Austin Peay State Governors at 7 p.m. Saturday in Clarksville, Tenn. “Everybody knows it’s a big time rival game for Murray,” Sapp said of Austin Peay. “We treat them just like anybody else right now. It’s another opponent in our way of our goals and what we planned to do.”
Athletes receive presidential seal of approval Kelsey Randolph
Assistant Sports Editor krandolph3@murraystate.edu
After winning the OVC championship, volleyball players came off the court in tears of joy and the first person to greet them off the court was University President Bob Davies. Through his first seven months on the job, Davies has made it a point to visit all areas of athletics, not just the nationally-recognized basketball team. “When our teams play other schools, that becomes their Super Bowl,” Davies said. “The students and faculty are so talented and to just be part of that and see their Super Bowl it is a big deal and if that paves a way for other students then that’s great.” Davies has made connecting with students a priority. He walks through campus daily and said he makes it a point to interact with students, coaches, athletes and fans no matter if they win or lose. “Prior to coming to Murray State, Davies built a reputation for being fully engaged with students and he’s not disappointed,” said Athletic Director Allen Ward. “I know our student athletes work extremely hard representing the University and they’ve commented how many times they appreciate Davies visibility and support.” Davies said he tries to attend at least one sporting event, theatric
WHAT’S
INSIDE
Kory Savage/The News
President Bob Davies photographs two students during the OVC volleyball tournament championship game at Racer Arena Nov. 12. event, music concert or University event involving students each week. Athletes are an important part of student life, he said, and quoted a previous University President saying sports are the front porch to the school. “When they win, they win with respect, class and integrity and when they don’t win, they do it with re-
spect, class and integrity,” Davies said. “That’s the front porch. It starts with student athletes, emphasis on the student part.” Student athletes such as Robert Broadstreet, freshman rifle shooter from Ozark, Mo., said it feels good to see the University president come to the range, as Davies did during the MSU Tri Match No. 2.
“It was cool to show our president what we can do,” said Ivan Roe, freshman rifle shooter from Manhattan, Mont. “We got off the line and he greeted us telling us we did well. You don’t get that every day and it meant a lot to us.” With Davies’ taking notice of athletics, the growth of sports is recognized by more than just students. Ward said because of the role he (Davies) plays in marketing for the University, Davies has high expectations for intercollegiate athletics and the students involved in it. “You’re going to have bumps and bruises,” Davies said. “As long as we don’t have a plethora of them we’re OK. But I’ve talked to the coaches they understand that we need to have exemplary students in and out of the classroom.” Ward said because of the constant changes going on within Division I sports, it is important to have an involved president. “We’re fortunate to have that at Murray State with Davies,” Ward said. “He’s been outstanding to work with.” Davies said he enjoys his interactions with the students and it isn’t just for publicity. To him, taking selfies with students and tweeting with them gives him a sense of involvement in their lives. “To me it’s all part of the University,” Davies said. “If our students put themselves out there then that’s good. They are all very important.”
Just a few months ago I wrote an article about how I didn’t think the Seattle Seahawks would make it to the Super Bowl. Kelsey Randolph I was Assistant very wrong Sports Editor and I can’t i m a g i n e how this piece of my home is functioning. I bit my tongue this weekend and watched my favorite NFL team play to their wits’ ends. As a Seahawks fan, there wasn’t a second of the game I was bored. As a journalism major and an advertising minor, there wasn’t a second of the break I was bored. I can certainly say there wasn’t a second of Katy Perry’s performance with Missy Elliot or Lenny Kravitz that lulled me. I jumped at the screaming goat and shed a tear during the Microsoft spot about empowering. I also wish I could take a cruise after the Carnival Cruise’s commercial and, like everyone else, my jaw dropped during the Nationwide deceased child spot. There was no boredom in my house during the Super Bowl. As a part of one of my favorite sporting traditions I can’t help but be excited I saw the Seahawks for the second year in a row compete for the Lombardi trophy. While I saw them compete, I can’t say I saw them be graceful in their closing plays. In case you missed it, the Seahawks lost. I’ll be the first one to say, though, the Seahawks made a bad play. The win probability was at 84.9 percent after a timeout with 1 minute 6 seconds left and that percent dropped to 84.4 percent when Marshawn Lynch ran behind the left tackle for fouryard gain while Wilson passes to wide receiver, Ricardo Lockette was seemingly open until the Patriots cornerback Malcom Butler intercepted, costing the Seahawks their second Super Bowl. If you still don’t understand, it means the Seahawks put Lynch, who is known for his “beast mode” running style, behind. If you’re curious as to how many people watched this play go down, here’s the skinny. The Super Bowl XLIX last minute clash drew in 114.5 million viewers and brought in 71 share of television which means of all the people with their TV on, 71 percent of them were watching the Super Bowl. Just so you know, the fourth quarter fiasco brought in 120.8 million viewers, which is a new record. When I say everyone was watching, I mean everyone with a TV knew something was going on. I am slightly ashamed that 120.8 million people were watching my beloved players psych themselves out. They beat themselves. They saw what we all saw, which was the title. It was within reach, but they were so anxious and excited that they let it get to them. I will say, congratulations to the New England Patriots because they did win, and congratulations to all their fans for believing they could be louder than the 12th man. I won’t predict next year’s game, since I mistakenly said we wouldn’t be back this year. But I believe the boys have every power to play their way back to the top. I suspect the next few weeks the only thing we’ll remember from this game is the Coach’s bad call and the disgraceful fight. Let’s just remember at one point in time the Seahawks were an underdog and showed us all that victory is within everyone’s reach. krandolph3@murraystate.edu
TENNIS STREAKS
SEASON OPENER
STUDY ABROAD
AWARDS SEASON
Men lose five straight, women win four, 3B
Softball travels to Georgia for tournament, 3B
Deadlines approach for students to study abroad, 5B
What to expect from two of Hollywood’s biggest nights, 6B
The News
Sports
2B
Track and field break school, personal records
Da’Sha Tuck || Staff writer dtuck@murraystate.edu
Murray State track and field claimed new records last weekend at the Indiana University Relays in Bloomington, Ind. “Indiana was definitely a step in the right direction,” said Head Coach Jenny Severns. Brittany Bohn, Emma Gilmore, Tia Weston and Natalie Pattin now hold the record in the 3200-meter relay with a time of 9:15.09. The school record, set in 1990, had been 9:27.74. “They broke the school record by 12 seconds and that was awesome. I’m really proud of all of them,” Severns said. Tonia Pratt set a personal record in the weight throw with a distance of 19.58 meters, which is a U.S. Track and Field qualifying distance. This was a career-high for Pratt. She landed a spot on the Murray State all-time best list once again. Pratt also set a personal record in the shot put with a distance of 13.94 meters. In shot put, Pratt placed fifth out of 18 competitors. “This meet was a good stepping stone for me,” Pratt said. “I’m starting to see all my hard work from all season start to pay off.” Other athletes who had season-best performances at last weekend’s meet include: -Pattin competed in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:38.03, a personal best. -Vallery Korir set a personal record in the 3000-meter run at 10:09.90. -Abbie Lukens landed on the Murray State all-time best list when she threw 12.77 meters and placed 10th out of 18. Going into this next week, the Murray State track and field teams will travel to Carbondale, Ill., for the Carbondale invitational. Severns said the meet will be one of the more competitive of the season but is confident that her team will continue to improve.
Sport Shorts
February 6, 2015
NEW COACH, NEW TEAM STEWART ANNOUNCES FIRST SIGNING CLASS, INCLUDES 11 LINEMEN MORGAN ALEXANDER Nickel 6’2” 215 lbs. from Paducah, Ky.
NOAH BANKS O-Line 6’6” 310 lbs. from Pensacola, Fla.
CHASE BOLING Linebacker 6’2” 235 lbs. from Lexington, Ky.
MATTHEW CHRISTIAN Quarterback 6’3” 205 lbs. from Opelika, Ala.
BRAXTON COUCH Safety 5’11” 180 lbs. from Lexington, Ky.
WES DREWERY Long snapper 6’3” 230 lbs. from Franklin, Tenn.
JENSEN FEGGINS WR 6’2” 200 lbs. from Bowling Green, Ky.
COLIN FRICKEY DE 6’3” 240 lbs. from Clearwater, Kan.
BEN LUPER O-Line 6’5” 280 lbs. from Springfield, Mo.
GRIFFIN MARTIN DE 6’2” 250 lbs. from Elba, Ala.
RHETT MORRISON P/K 6’3” 190 lbs. from Muscle Shoals, Ala.
BRANT NEWMAN O-Line 6’2” 286 lbs. from Germantown, Tenn.
JAKE O’MARA Quarterback 6’4” 215 lbs. from Maysville, Ky.
Jenny Rohl/The News
Head Coach Mitch Stewart embraces his wife at a signing day meet-and-greet Feb. 4 at the Racer Room in Roy Stewart Stadium.
TOBY OMLI
DREW RUTLAND
COLLIN TRAVIS
Safety 6’0” 200 lbs. from Brookeville, Kan.
Tight end 6’5” 215 lbs. from Memphis, Tenn.
DE 6’5” 230 lbs. from Benton, Ky.
SILAS OWENS
MARQUEZ SANFORD
RYAN TYLER
DE 6’4” 240 lbs. from New Market, Ala.
Corner 5’11” 170 lbs. from Macon, Ga.
Linebacker 6’3” 215 lbs. from Indianapolis, Ind.
ZEKE PIKE
KWAN STALLWORTH
DRAKE VANHOOSER
Quarterback 6’6” 250 lbs. from Edgewood, Ky.
O-Line 6’4” 295 lbs. from Lithonia, Ga.
DE 6’0” 245 lbs. from Princeton, Ky.
ORRIN RAGLAND
AJ TAYLOR
CHRIS WHITE
WR 6’1” 186 lbs. from Gadsden, Ala.
DE 6’2” 260 lbs. from Chicago, Ill.
O-Line 6’3” 310 lbs. from Daphne, Ala.
Women win OVC game
For more sports news in a minute or less follow us on Twitter: @MSUSportsNews
Racers beat Redhawks to break losing streak
Murray Woman’s Club recognizes female student athletes
Kelsey Randolph
Assistant Sports Editor krandolph3@murraystate.edu
Members of the Murray State championship women’s golf, tennis and volleyball teams were recognized by the Murray Woman’s Club Feb. 2 at a celebratory dinner. The purpose of the Murray Woman’s Club is the mutual improvement of its members and the promotions of any worthy public cause in addition to practical, civic and educational work and purely cultural studies.
Baseball kicks off season with First Pitch Dinner The Murray State baseball team gathered with former players, coaches and other supporters Jan. 29 at the Murray Room in the CFSB Center to celebrate the beginning of the 2015 season. Guest speaker and former Murray State player Kirk Rueter spoke to the attendees about his time playing for Coach Johnny Reagan. Rueter was the 1991 OVC Pitcher of the year and played in the major leagues for 13 years. Kevin Moulder will kick off his inaugural season as head coach for the Racers on Feb. 13 at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Kalli Bubb/The News
Freshman guard and forward Ke’Shunan James battles a Redhawks player for a two point shot.
After a nine-game losing streak, the women’s basketball team has finally taken a win, defeating the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (1-9) 86–81. After a 3 point shot made my sophomore guard LeAsia Wright, the Racers were in the lead. During the last seven minutes in the first half, the Racers regained hope while holding on to at least a ten point lead as the clock counted down. “We made plays down the stretch,” said Head Coach Rob Cross. “Basketball is a players game and we were running and instead of settling for a contested shot we went for it and finished it out.” The Racers, coming out of half time with a 10 point lead, racked up their points making it a 15 point lead. The last ten minutes of the game proved to be tough as the Racers tied with the Redhawks. With a three point shot and a free throws, the Racers were back on top and sealed the game with a win. “It was a long time coming,” said senior guard, Keiona Kirby. “We’ve been close but it felt good to close it out.”
Next Meeting:
Sophomore guard Julia Fox made her comeback Saturday, Jan. 31 against the UT Martin Skyhawks (9-0) after sitting out for injury. The Skyhawks ended up giving the Racers loss No. 9 Jan. 31, but not without the Racers putting up a fight. For a brief moment in the second half, the Racers cut the Skyhawks’ lead to eight, but a few good free throws by UT Martin allowed them to put the game at 95-85. With six regular games left before the OVC Championship, Cross said there is a rejuvenating feeling about wanting to take a win as much as the team does. Cross said the players have been distracted by the losing streak and not focused on the game play in front of them. He said it has been a habit for them to worry about the buzzer games, such as the one against Morehead State (6-3), which was their first game in the conference Jan. 3. “It’s what I’ve been preaching since day one,” Cross said. “Worry about the task at hand and be better in practice today. You have to be task oriented instead of results oriented and the chips fall where they may.” The Racers travel to Clarksville, Tenn., to face the Austin Peay State Lady Govs at 3 p.m. on Feb. 7.
Tuesday Feb. 10 at 4 p.m. Wilson Hall room 111
Professor Bob Valentine, publisher of Murray Life Magazine, will be there to speak about the magazine industry.
The News
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February 6, 2015
3B
Tune Squad scores one-point victory Blake Bernier || Contributing writer dbernier@murraystate.edu
were going to try and go up on the foul and get three free throws,” McGill said. The BCM Ballers inbounded the ball to McGill and he dribbled to the three-point line and went up for the shot with three defenders surrounding him. At the last possible moment McGill decided to pass to Irby under the basket. Irby did a pump
Men Independent A 1. Zulu Warriors 2. Bad Boys
fake in an attempt to draw contact and went up uncontested for the layup as the buzzer went off. “I thought there was more time on the clock and there wasn’t,” McGill said. “But we got a good look there at the end.” The layup pulled BCM Ballers within one point, but it wasn’t enough in the end.
Intramural standings
Independent B 1. Mighty Ducks 2. Free Ballers
Women
Independent C
Independent A
Residential College
Residential College
Fraternity
Sorority
1. Racer Mix 2. Monstars
1. Blue Ballers 2. Richmond Shenanigans
Results as of Tuesday, Feb. 2.
Tune Squad edged out a one-point victory Tuesday night against the BCM Ballers in an exciting contest between two evenly matched teams. Each team had plenty of depth on the bench to keep players from getting too tired. During the first half, Tune Squad leading scorer Will Elledge put in 10 points and helped his team get out to an early lead. Tune Squad scored the victory with a final score of 37-36. Elledge played one year of basketball in high school his freshman year. On Tuesday he displayed a natural skill with the ball and left defenders standing still with a spin move that he utilized often. “I think it catches the opponent off guard, and I like using it,” Elledge said. He was also efficient from the three-point line, hitting 75 percent and he finished with 21 points in the game. BCM Ballers couldn’t get anything going on offense and struggled to handle the physical play of Tune Squad in the first half. The most physical of the Tune Squad players was Travis Reed who received a technical foul in the second half for pushing a player. The BCM Ballers failed to capitalize on the foul, missing both free throws. By the end of the first half, Tune Squad led 2011. BCM Ballers got a spark in the second half from two unexpected sources. Jacob McGill and Joe
Irby helped lead a comeback that just came up short. “It shocked everyone,” Irby said. “I haven’t played since middle school, but my shots finally started going in.” McGill scored six in the second half and made a crowd-pleasing reverse layup to cut the deficit to five with two minutes left to play. “We have a good team, and we like playing together,” McGill said. “Credit my teammates; they got me open on some screens, and I was lucky enough to put it in, but we just needed one more.” With a minute left in the game BCM Ballers trailed by three, 37-34. The BCM Ballers had only committed three fouls at the time and still had four fouls to commit before Tune Squad would be forced to shoot free throws. It took time to chase down the ball handler four separate times and Tune Squad was able to burn most of the clock. With 8.7 seconds left, the BCM Ballers finally reached the bonus and forced Tune Squad to shoot a one-and-one. On the first attempt Tune Squad missed and BCM Ballers rebounded the ball and called their final timeout with 7.3 seconds left. As the teams huddled to prepare for the final possession, each team outlined a plan. Tune Squad decided they didn’t want to foul at all but would run a full-court pressure to run time off the clock. “We just wanted to pressure them full court and see what happened,” Elledge said. For the BCM Ballers, the strategy was to rush down the court and hope to get fouled while attempting a three-point shot. “We thought they were going to foul us so we
1. Hart Ravens 2. Hester Hedgehogs
1. Hart A 2. Richmond A
1. AGD Squirrels 2. AOII Pandas
1. Sigma Phi Epsilon 2. Pi Kappa Alpha
Tennis streaking in opposite directions Softball season starts
Blake Bernier || Contributing writer dbernier@murraystate.edu
Da’Sha Tuck || Staff writer
The women’s tennis team has won four straight matches, and the men’s has lost five straight. Over this past weekend the women’s team won against Alabama A&M, Lindsey Wilson College and Lipscomb University. During the weekend, every member of the team won a singles match except for sophomore Virginie Tchakarova. She missed the games due to an illness. “The trainer and I discussed the possibility of her playing in the match on Sunday but we decided that the best thing for her was rest,” said women’s Head Coach Jorge Caetano. “Luckily we have eight good girls so other girls can step in.” In the match against Lipscomb on Sunday the women lost their first point of the weekend when they lost the opening doubles point. Later that day freshman Nancy Karaky lost her singles match. Those were the only points the women lost since losing 5-2 to Tennessee on the 24th. This was Karaky’s first loss at the collegiate level. “She got tight after a few calls but she will get better with experience,” Caetano said. “She had never lost a set before this.” On Friday the women will travel to Memphis to play a night match against the Tigers. As the women roll, the men are looking for the positive through this tough stretch of their schedule. The men dropped all of their matches this weekend but they managed to stay healthy and compete with three good schools. “I know it’s tough on my guys, but I hope that by playing this tough schedule it will make us better for when we open OVC play,” said men’s Head Coach Mel Purcell. “We have two more tough matches this Friday and after that they get a break until the 28th.” Freshman Will True and sophomore David Hess won their singles matches against Abilene Christian, scoring the only two points for Murray State on the weekend. For the men
The Murray State softball team will start the spring season in Georgia with five games in three days this weekend, including one against the No. 12 Georgia Bulldogs. During the five-game tournament – the 8th Annual Red and Black Showcase – the Racers will play Coppin State on Friday, Illinois on Saturday, and Winthrop on Saturday and Sunday. Head Coach Kara Amundson said the team will see all different types of pitches and plenty of speed on the basepaths. “I’m just ready for us to go out and compete,” Amundson said. “I’m excited to see how well we respond to different talent levels we will be playing against.” The Racers ended the spring 2014 season at 32-23 overall and 16-9 in the OVC. Returning this season are eight out of the ten starters for the Racers. Among these are outfielder Mo Ramsey, pitcher CheyAnne Gaskey and infielder Shelbey Miller. Also the Racers will have two OVC All-Newcomer honorees, pitcher Mason Robinson and infielder Jessica Twaddle. “I feel strong going into this
dtuck@murraystate.edu
Photo Courtesy of Murray State Athletics/The News
Head Coach Jorge Caetano coaching at the match against Lipscomb University. the question going into the weekend was whether they could hold up for three matches with just six players. “These guys work out with the basketball team twice a week to work on their endurance and conditioning,” Purcell said. “We will be doing a lot of running and just trying to get into better shape during our three week break.” The men are getting ready to play a doubleheader Friday in Indiana as they will take on Indiana University Bloomington and Citadel Military College. Purcell is hoping his players can improve their doubles play, specifically their play at the net. “The doubles point is huge because it’s the first point you can win,” Purcell said. “So winning that puts us up 1-0 right out of the gate.” Over the weekend the women will look to continue their streak, and the men will look to end theirs.
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next tournament against Georgia,” Gaskey said. “People always hype games like this up and to me we have played Tennessee and LSU so going into this I just want us to have fun and take care of what we can.” At this level of the sport, Amundson said there is always room for improvement in the physical aspects of the game, but she said that it is mind over matter at this point. The players have set goals for the season and she expects them all to exceed those. Amundson believes that the mindset of players is what sets teams apart at the end of the season. “We work on mental toughness a lot,” Amundson said. “We know they can play. They have the skill. It’s about what kind of mental strength we can bring to the game. Being committed all the time and always having confidence when you are at the Division I level is what it takes if we want to compete at the end of the year.” After this weekend’s tournament in Athens, Ga., the Racers will go back on the road Feb. 13 through Feb. 15 for the Samford Softball Tournament in Birmingham, Ala. “It’s my last season,” Gaskey said. “I just want to leave it all on the field.”
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February 6, 2015
STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION AWARDS The Murray State University Student Government Association is now accepting applications for the following Awards:
Jim Baurer Outstanding Staff Service Award
Ralph H. Woods Memorial Award
Established to honor and recognize a staff member who has gone above and beyond the call of prescribed duty and shown exceptional dedication with regard to the students of Murray State University. Application deadline Noon, February 20, 2015.
Established to honor and recognize a student or students who have made an outstanding contribution in service and leadership to Murray State University. Application deadline Noon, March 9, 2015. Applications are available in the CSI office, MSU News and www.murraystate.edu/sga. Please contact the SGA in the Center for Student Involvement office for additional information 270-809-6951.
Max Carman Outstanding Teacher Award This award is given in recognition of the recipient’s teaching excellence as evidenced by his/her effectiveness and ability to motivate and inspire students in the classroom and outside the classroom. Application deadline Noon, February 20, 2015.
NOMINATION FOR STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION'S MAX CARMAN OUTSTANDING TEACHER AWARD I,
(your name)
nominate (professor)
, would like to for the award.
Please complete the following information: 1.
2.
4. What qualities do you feel this professor has that would qualify him/her for this award for outstanding classroom performance?
What department does the faculty member teach in?
*REQUIREMENT FOR AWARD: FOUR (4) YEARS FULL TIME TEACHING EXPERIENCE AT MURRAY STATE UNIVERSITY Student's signature
Date__________
Major
Phone_________
Have you had the professor in class? If so, what classes? Email address________________________________________________
3.
DEADLINE - NOON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2015
Is the professor available for assistance outside the classroom?
STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION RALPH H. WOODS MEMORIAL AWARD APPLICATION Form to be filled out by nominee or person making nomination and submitted to Jeanie Morgan, Student Government Association, Center for Student Involvement office, with three (3) letters of recommendation, no later than NOON, MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015. NOMINEE ________________________________________________________ Campus Address__________________________________________________ Email Address___________________________________________________ NAME OF NOMINATING ORGANIZATION OR INDIVIDUAL _________________________________________________________________ ADDITONAL COMMENTS
ACTIVITIES
NOMINATION FOR STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION'S JIM BAURER OUTSTANDING STAFF SERVICE AWARD I,
(your name)
nominate (staff )
, would like to for the award.
Nominee name______________________________________________ Campus address____________________________________________ Campus telephone number___________________________________ Email address_____________________________________________ Please complete the following information: 1.
2. What qualities do you feel this staff person has that would qualify him/her for this award?
What area does the staff member work in?
*REQUIREMENT FOR AWARD: FIVE (5) YEARS FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT AT MURRAY STATE UNIVERSITY Student's signature
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Email address________________________________________________ DEADLINE - NOON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2015
February 6, 2015
5B
The News
Features Campus Features Editor: Breanna Sill Assistant Features Editor: Madison Wepfer Phone: 270-809-5871 Twitter: MSUNewsFeatures
Q&A
with Abigail French, director of the Women’s Center
Women
Tiffany Whitfill, staff writer, sat down with Abigail French, director of the Women’s Center to discuss women in leadership and how to get involved here on campus.
Win Tiffany Whitfill || Staff writer twhitfill1@murraystate.edu
see STUDY, 6B
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Day-in and day-out routines and gloomy weather can put any student into a rut, so why not do something about it? Murray State offers a cornucopia of courses in other countries. The Office of Study Abroad offers programs across the world for week-long, month-long or semester-long trips. For some students, studying abroad is fulfilling a graduation requirement – students in the Honors Program are required to do so at least once. For others, it can be a fun, educational trip or even a way to meet classmates before their first semester. For Ray Hecht, junior from Jackson, Mo., his trip to Quito, Ecuador, was the latter. “The program gave me the opportunity to meet other incoming freshmen before school actually started, as well as coming into college with credit hours,” he said. In July of 2012, Hecht went on the trip as a part of the Abroad 101 program for incoming freshmen and completed the HUM 205 class, Humanistic Study Abroad, for credit hours. “My time in Ecuador was unforgettable,” he said. “I was exposed to another culture and frequently pushed out of my comfort zone. It helped me grow as a person and I learned a lot from my experiences.” Hecht was notified prior to the trip about an available scholarship by the Office of Recruitment, so he applied and was awarded it, he said. Students who wish to apply for study abroad scholarships may do so through a variety of departments and programs on campus, which are detailed on Murray State’s website. “I would definitely recommend it to other students, especially the Abroad 101 course for incoming freshman,” Hecht said. “It gave me a chance to get to experience another culture and learn about how other people in the world live.” While the deadlines for trips through the fall of this year have passed for signature programs designed by Murray State faculty, students can still apply for summer programs through the Cooperative Center for Study Abroad until
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kmacallister@murraystate.edu
wl/Th
Kayla MacAllister || Staff writer
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Study Abroad deadline approaching
Hann
Jessica Grounds had an epiphany at eight years old that set the tone for the rest of her life. While riding in the car on a typical day, Grounds’ grandmother said to her “you know that boys are the bread winners.” At that moment, Grounds refuted the argument and recognized that women have as much to contribute to the world as boys do. On Wednesday, Murray State welcomed Grounds, co-founder of Running Start, to campus to give a speech about her experiences with politics and how students may become involved. The speech was interactive and began with some background information about her life. Of the audience that attended “Elect Her,” respondents had worked on political campaigns as well including: Lyndon Johnson, Mitch McConnell, Nelson Rockefeller and Jimmy Carter. After attending college and an internship in Washington D.C., Grounds realized there was a yearning in her mind to move across the country from San Diego, California, her home state, to Washington D.C. Grounds turned these stressers into motivation, took a lot of risks, a piece of advice she would give to anyone wanting to run for a leadership position, and began researching. Instinctively, Grounds knew to be successful in her career searches she had to network. “It’s often more about who you know than what you know,” Grounds said. Grounds’ first attempt to connect with like-minded individuals was successful as she began to research a female candidate, who she found through a list-serv, who was running for congress at twenty-seven
years old, just two years beyond the minimum age. It was at the fundraising event for this candidate that Grounds found a comforting group of individuals. Grounds said research shows women have to be asked seven times before they will run for office. Because of these barriers and research indicating younger candidates were not on the horizon at the moment, Grounds cofounded an organization called Jessica Grounds speaks to students in Mason Hall Wednesday night. Running Start. Founded in 2007, Running Start ers. Grounds reflect on a day she was asked provides political experience for girls ages to visit a high school where girls were play14 to 28. ing sports for the first time. It was during “What we see is girls start stepping back in a game of badminton that Grounds had an their leaderships around college,” Grounds unforgettable experience. said. “We knew that girls were stepping back “This man is walking around the court and we thought, we can catch them at high and yelling things I could not understand,” school.” Grounds said. “I looked to Andrea, my inter The two things Running Start implepreter from the embassy, and asked what is mented were introducing them to role modhe saying to them? And she said, ‘he is yellels and teaching skills. These women role ing Good job! You’re awesome, go do it!’” models that the girls were talking to had top Grounds said she took a step back and reics that the girls could relate to personally. alized the man was looking at the girls and Through that pioneering work, Running believing they are the future of their counStart has trained about 8,000 girls. try. Grounds tied this example back into Through their research, Running Start has college students being important as well found about 60 percent of the participants and she hopes that students make an impact have obtained a new leadership role. at Murray State or wherever life takes stu Another experience Grounds has pardents. ticipated in the political realm was going “I believe in you and I hope you’ll look to to Tajikistan to speak with girls and boys stand up and be a leader here in college and about why it matters that women are leadbeyond,” Grounds said. “We need you.”
TW: Why is it important that Murray State students listen to this lecture? AF: This lecture is the first event in a series called “High Five” about women’s leadership and women getting involved in leadership roles. This particular event is about politics, Jessica Grounds, our speaker, is the co-director of Running Start, and she speaks about young women getting involved in politics, why that’s important, she speaks about women being under-represented in political leadership, so it’s really important for students to understand it’s important know getting involved now is as important as getting involved later. TW: Are there any implications of a gender gap in Murray State’s employment or enrollment? AF: Pretty typical that there are more women enrolled in programs however, then when you look at how many women go on to be in leadership roles in those career fields, so say 56 percent are women, leadership roles in fortune 500 companies that is only about 14 percent, there’s a big difference when you go from the education to what it looks like in the career field. TW: How do students become leaders on our campus? AF: First of all you’ve got to be informed on what opportunities a lot of people don’t know about like student government is or what they do, they don’t know about opportunities like RCC in the residential colleges they just aren’t aware that we have those opportunities or how to get involved if they do know about those opportunities, the first step is helping students be aware which is why we have SGA and RCC will both be here tonight with applications and information but it is also important for people to understand that our leadership isn’t reflective, our leadership is supposed to speak for the whole population, and when your leadership only reflects a single part of the population, in most cases the “white man” then you’re not having effective leadership. TW: What is your experience with getting into the director’s position? AF: I came in at a time when there were a lot of transitions going on in Student Affairs. My first year as a director here was also the first year of about four other directors in Student Affairs and they were all actually women, so it was kind of an interesting transition period where we really saw a lot of women stepping into those roles. I have been here three years, we have had our first female VP, Jackie Dudley, we have seen Renee Fister be promoted to the assistant to the President which is a huge position on this campus.
Cable subscriptions low since online steaming gained strength Tiffany Whitfill || Staff writer twhitfill1@murraystate.edu
With thousands of movies and TV-series featured and the amount of users increasing each year, Netflix offers an entertainment experience for all consumers – including college students. Accessing television shows, movies and Netflix original series has a price tag of $8.99 per month. Other comparable online streaming services such as Hulu and Amazon Prime have fewer subscribers combined than Netflix, according to a Nielson TV survey. The survey, conducted in September 2013, said 38 percent of Americans use Netflix while 18 percent uses Hulu and 13 percent use Amazon Prime Instant Video. Binge-watching has become an epidemic with the online video streaming service. Nielson’s survey also found 88 percent of Netflix users reported watching three or more episodes of a TV show in a single day. While statistics show the number of subscribers in America, USA Today reported an estimated 10 million people use Netflix without paying for the service. An appealing feature that Netflix provides is its original series, only offered by the service. The Netflix original series “Orange is the New Black” won three awards at the Screen Actors Guild Awards last Sunday. February will be a busy month for Netflix as it welcomes 41 TV series and movies including: “Gimme Shelter,” “Spartacus: Complete Series,” “Earth to Echo” and “Mr. Peabody & Sherman.” The provider will also say goodbye to 40 TV shows and movies including: “Batman & Robin,” “Ali, Panic Room,” “Red Dwarf: Seasons One-Nine” and “Transformers Prime: Seasons One-Three.” (Source: New York Daily News) While Netflix thrives off of its increasing amount of members, cable companies are seeing a change in there services. On Jan. 29, Time Warner Cable reported in its fourth-quarter report about a 5 percent or $479 million decrease in revenue when compared to 2013 revenues in video. This effect is hitting close to home as well. Murray Electric has seen a change in its cable subscribers. Chad Lawson, network technician, said Murray Electric’s
Haley Hays/The News
Andrew Skovron, junior from Louisville, Ky., takes a break from studying to watch Netflix instead of cable television. cable subscribers are at an all-time high. However, a year or so ago, they moved from having more video subscribers to having more data subscribers. Lawson said even with the high number of data subscribers, most clients have both cable and data plans. Lawson said it is apparent that video streaming is attributing to the high data and Internet usage. “We think of all our streaming to be in the same category, whether it be Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, YouTube, etc.,” Lawson said. “During peak Internet usage times, 70-75 percent of all our Internet traffic is streaming video of some type, with Netflix being far and away the vast majority.” Lawson said the industry estimates say that number will be 90 percent within the next 3 years. “We mostly see streaming as being a supplement to cable (linear as it is referred to) video service,” Lawson said. Lawson said, with the increase in the pop-
ularity and usage of Netflix, Murray Electric has seen growth in the amount of overall bandwidth usage to the Internet. “With this increase in usage, we are having to continuously upgrade our equipment and network to try and keep up with that growth,” Lawson said. “We are currently in the process of doing a system upgrade that, when completed, will allow us to better deliver streaming and other data services to our customers now and for the years to come.” Netflix started streaming in 1999 and Lawson said he thinks it will advance even more in the next five years. “With the onset of higher resolution services (Ultra HD or 4K as it is known), streaming will be the quickest way in delivering that new content that is filmed on that platform,” Lawson said. “With exponential increases in programming costs that cable
see NETFLIX, 6B
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The week ahead... FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
February 6, 2015
If you would like an event to appear on the calendar here or on TheNews.org, email the Features Editor, Breanna Sill, at bsill@murraystate.edu. Please submit events by noon Wednesday for consideration.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
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THURSDAY
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7:30 p.m. Cinema International: “Shoot the Piano Player,” Curris Center Theater
7 p.m. Valentine’s Bazaar, Curris Center Ballroom
2:30 p.m. Playhouse in the Park presents “Arsenic and Lace,” Murray Central Park
7 p.m. Trades of Hope co-founder, Chelsie Antos, will speak at Gigabytes
7 p.m. Author and inspirational speaker Missy Jenkins will speak at the Curris Center
4 p.m. “Wildest Weather” planetarium show, Golden Pond Planetarium and Observatory, Land Between the Lakes
7 p.m. “Forever Plaid” dinner theater, Holmes Family Restaurant
NETFLIX From Page 5B providers are being charged, the whole cable ecosystem will have to change.” Despite all the changes and growing opportunities in web streaming, Lawson said he believes younger people are more likely to transition to a web streaming only-environment. “Younger folks have grown up in a society and environment that has what it wants, when it wants. I don’t mean that in a bad way, like being spoiled, it is just part of being in a ‘connected world,’” Lawson said. “That is the way a lot of people want their video, when they want it and to some degree, where they want it.” Lawson said for those who decide to get rid of their cable plan, there are services that Murray Electric can provide to allow users to watch online. “For all those people that want to ‘cut the cord’ and get all their video OTT (over-the-top content), we will still be here to provide that connection to their streaming services.”
STUDY From Page 5B Feb. 27. Melanie McCallon Seib, director of Education Abroad, said that the Study Abroad page on the University website is the place to go for students who have any questions. “Our website is a one-stop shop, so they can start their application on our site and anything they need to do with CCSA would be linked out from our application,” she said. For students who are planning further into the future, McCallon Seib said that the deadline for winter trips is set for mid-September and that the deadline for spring and summer trips is at the end of January.
Awards season prize fights What to expect from two of Hollywood’s most star-studded occasions Taylor Inman|| Staff writer tinman1@murraystate.edu
As we race through awards season, we see the actors, musical artists and films they love either being praised and awarded or cast aside. How will your favorite contenders end up at the end of the 2015 awards season?
THE GRAMMY AWARDS • Album of the Year:
This year’s Album of the Year nominees are one newcomer against four Grammy veterans. Sam Smith’s album “In The Lonely Hour,” will be running against Beyonce’s “Beyonce”, Ed Sheeran’s “X,” Beck’s “Morning Phase” and Pharrell Williams’ “GIRL.” But despite the hard odds, Sam Smith is still expected to sweep the competition along with his five other nominations this year.
• Record of the Year: Record of the Year and Song of the Year have almost an identical ballot, with the only difference of Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” being nominated for Record of the Year and Hozier’s “Take Me to Church” being nominated for Song of the Year. The rest of the contenders for the two categories are Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass,” Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off”, Sia’s “Chandelier” and Sam Smith’s “Stay With
Me.” Again, Sam Smith is expected to win these nominations as well, with his only real competition being Swift. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, country musician Eric Church predicts the outcome of this particular award. “‘All About That Bass’” was a big record, but I can’t see anything other than Taylor here,” he said. “She stands far above the rest. ‘Shake It Off’ is just hooky as hell.”
THE ACADEMY AWARDS • Best Picture: And the Oscar goes to…who knows really? There are many strong contenders this year for Best Picture, including “Boyhood,” “American Sniper,” “The Imitation Game,” “Birdman,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Whiplash,” “Selma” and “The Theory of Everything.” All of these films have not only raked in excellent reviews from critics but also support from the general public. Out of all of these, films the one that has the greatest support from general moviegoers is “American Sniper.” The film has conjured a rally of American nationalism, but it’s also worth saying that “Boyhood” won Best Drama Motion Picture at the Golden Globes and “Birdman” won Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the Screen Actors Guild
awards. Other films in the category have gotten other awards this season, such as “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “Selma.” Gathering the information that they can from the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild awards, predictors, like US Weekly, pin the race for Best Picture between “Boyhood” and “Birdman.” “Boyhood” took 12 years to make and follows the story of a young boy maturing into an adult; the picture has been praised for the risk it took to film the same actors over 12 years and for the actors themselves to stick with the same project for such a long time. “Birdman” is the story about a washed-up actor who played a superhero icon and tries to recover his family and ego before the opening night of his own Broadway play.
• Best Actor in Motion Picture:
Critics predict the tightest race this entire season will be between Eddie Redmayne who starred in “The Theory of Everything” and Michael Keaton’s performance in “Birdman.” Newcomer Eddie Redmayne is being pinned as the underdog in every nomination he’s had this award season. Redmayne took home Best Male Actor in a Drama Motion Picture at the SAG awards. The Grammy Awards air live from Los Angeles at 7 p.m. on Feb. 8. on CBS and the Academy Awards air live from Los Angeles at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 22.
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February 6, 2015
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MAGIC MIKE XXL
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andy lassner @andylassner Christian Grey and Magic Mike have ruined everything for regular men. 2:21pm 4 Feb 2015
Ellen DeGeneres @TheEllenShow A surprise guest brought me the #MagicMikeXXL trailer. Boy, did he get in shape. Someone’s been Channing his Tatum. 12:55 4 Feb 2015
MTV UK @MTVUK Brace yourself ladies & gents, the new #MagicMikeXXL trailer has arrived and it’s smokin’ HOT! 3:30pm 4 Feb 2015
Eric Schwartz @ericschwartz #MagicMikeXXL and #50ShadesofGrey...finally, women are treating men like objects. If I don’t get any action this year, its MY fault. 12:55pm 4 Feb 2015
MARVEL’S DAREDEVIL TAKES NETFLIX Netflix has dropped the trailer for its new series, “Marvel’s Daredevil.” The show will follow Marvel’s superhero, Daredevil, as he fights crime in Hell’s Kitchen in New York City. The show will star Charlie Cox, Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll. The 13-episode series will debut on Netflix April 10.
HARPER LEE SEQUEL IN THE WORKS Recluse author Harper Lee has announced a shocking comeback: a sequel to “To Kill a Mockingbird.” It takes place when Scout is an adult reminiscing about her childhood. The book will be titled “Go Set a Watchman” and is expected to be released this summer.
Photo courtesy of io9.com
Four teens discover how to travel through time, but experience difficulties in “Project Almanac.” The film stars Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Allen Evangelista and Sam Lerner.
Sci-fi flick falls short of expectation “Project Almanac” fails to live up to previous time travel movies in the science fiction genre. John Gruccio || Contributing writer jgruccio@murraystate.edu
IHEART AWARDS NOMINEES ANNOUNCED The nominees for the 2015 iHeart Music Awards have been announced. Nominees for Artist of the Year include Iggy Azalea, Taylor Swift and Luke Bryan. Other categories include Best Fan Army and Best Lyrics. The ceremony will take place March 29 on NBC.
Soundbyte “Will you love me even though I’m throwing up on stage?” -Justin Bieber after vomiting at an Arizona concert
When it comes to sci-fi films, time travel is one of the hardest subjects to tackle. You have to be innovative and give a never-before-seen feel. “Project Almanac“ is a contemporary adventure with no believable drama. On his way to academic success, boy genius David Raskin stumbles upon a home video from his past while looking through his deceased father’s effects. In the video, he spots himself at his current age. While dealing with both how he will afford his tuition at the prestigious MIT and how to speak to the girl of his dreams, David elicits the help of his sister and friends and starts to build a time machine. However, what seems like good fun and games at the start soon turns into a frightening nightmare when time starts to change drastically and violently. “Project Almanac,” directed by Dean Israelite, stars Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Allen Evangelista, Sam Lerner and Virginia Gardner. I will say that the whole found footage concept is a very novel idea. However, it is being overused, not as much as 3D, but it is almost certainly getting there. While I still say that the 2012 film, “Chronicle” is the best film in this category as of yet,
“Project X” is definitely a close second. Between putting together a good group of up-and-coming actors and showcasing the overall fun involved while messing with time travel, Israelite shows promise in his first project as a director. The actors show a whole host of characters ranging from insanity to charisma, which is impressive for a group of novice actors. Where they mess up, however, is when they channel too much of their energy into teenage shenanigans. These characters are college-age at best. It is easy to blame the actors for this, but the script is where most of the blame falls. If everything else were to fail in a film like this, the script would have to be the glue that held it together. Take the scenario I just suggested and turn it around and you will have exactly what stunted this film. The script is the main piece holding this film back. It does give you the satisfaction of revenging bullies, making memories and getting the girl. Those parts are relatable, but the drama is almost non-existent. When you meddle with an intensely and potentially cataclysmic subject such as time travel, you must have believable moments of true drama. Also, what is up with no great twists
in sci-fi films these days? Those are the best parts. Even with the explosions everywhere, action director Michael Bay producing the film, “Project Almanac,” fails due to the writing. As far as whether to see it or not, I say see it because it does give a new and interesting take on time travel. But do not get your hopes up that something amazing will come before your eyes.
Quick Facts Title:
Project Almanac
Rating: PG-13
Cast:
Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Allen Evangelista, Sam Lerner, Amy Landecker, Gary Weeks, Macsen Lintz and Virginia Gardener
Similar to: Project X Looper Premonition
In high school, I was a weird child. I wasn’t popular or an athlete or a nerd. I was a theater kid. You know, plays, musiMadison Wepfer cals, miming (yes, miming), Assistant choir - the Features Editor works. When I found myself in an English class filled with jocks and “popular” kids, I felt like I was in a drama kid’s living hell. We had the same idea about each other – the popular kids and the drama kids – they thought we were freaks, and we thought they were idiots. Being the obnoxious and stubborn kid that I was, I played up the part of the weirdo who mimes and sings for fun. So when our teacher told us we had to write a speech about something we believed in, I did not want to ruin their preconceived notions about artsy kids. While everyone else wrote about summer, football and family, I chose to go a different route - a route that no one else would even consider because of the humiliation that would most likely follow. I chose to write about bologna. I believe in bologna. Although it’s pink, a color that no natural food could possible be, and its contents are unknown to its consumers, I believe in bologna. To put it in familiar terms, if steak is a successful, tuxedo-type, bologna would be the red-headed step child. That’s one quality that makes bologna so lovable to me. People may tease it, mock it and claim that it’s “synthetic meat” or “unhealthy” or “made out of leftover animal parts,” but to me, it’s a delicious combination of all animals compressed neatly into a tube of synthetic casing. Bologna accepts every animal. How’s that for a non-discrimination policy? To me, bologna is a fond memory. My grandma always has one meal ready for me when I go to visit her: a bologna sandwich, chips and dip and an RC Cola. Fantastic. It may seem like a trivial snack to everyone else, but to me, it’s a memory of times spent with my grandmother, and that’s something special. Thank you, bologna. A lot of people treat bologna like it’s something to be ashamed of. If you were eat a bologna sandwich and your friend caught you, what would you say? You’d give them some excuse about how you’re making it for your dog or you’re doing a science experiment about pink slime. I challenge you: next time you think about eating a bologna sandwich, shout it to the world. “I’m eating bologna and I’m proud of it!” I think Oscar Meyer was onto something when they marketed bologna with cute little kids and a clever jingle. Maybe they knew that the ingredients of the “mystery meat” were in fact bologna (pun intended), but nevertheless, they were sitting on a gold mine of deliciousness. Oscar Meyer most definitely has a way with b-o-l-o-g-n-a. My teacher didn’t really appreciate the fact that I made fun of her assignment and preached to the class about bologna for three minutes. But at the end of the day, I don’t care what any of the bologna-haters think, anyway. mwepfer@murraystate.edu
Out this Week
Read It
“Obsession in Death,” by J.D. Robb
See It
“Jupiter Ascending”
Hear It
“Shadows in the Night” by Bob Dylan
Rent It
“John Wick”
Play It “Evolve”
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The News
February 6, 2015