The @MSSquirrels Twitter account has parodied our furry campus friends and interacted with students and President Bob Davies. Of course, it would be ... nuts ... for us to not ask a few questions. See page 5B.
The Murray State News March 17, 2016
TheNews.org
Vol. 89, No. 23
LiveSafe outpaces call box technology Alicia Steele || Staff writer asteele5@murraystate.edu
Nahiomy Gallardo/The News
Murray City Council passes resolution on 16th Street Ashley Traylor Staff writer
asteele5@murraystate.edu
After months of speculation about plans for 16th Street, Murray City Council passed a resolution to ensure safer road conditions for pedestrians and traffic. The plan is to convert 16th Street into a boulevard-style road with fewer crosswalks and a hedgerow to prevent jaywalking. “As a council, we want to make the right decision,” said Dan Miller, chairman of the transportation committee. “We are all living in Murray and we all want a safe university.” The resolution was sent to Frankfort, Kentucky, to be approved by the state in order to get the project on the highway budget. Miller said Murray was favorably approved for studies on how to improve the street, so he believes that money will be allocated for the project because it is a top priority for the safety of the students and vehicular traffic. The street sees 7,000 vehicles and 12,000 pedestrians daily, according to WKMS. The city council began proposing suggestions about 16th Street two years ago, but there was never a consensus. City council members wanted to make the right decision because it is one of busiest corridors, and the council wanted feedback from students and community members before voting on a plan, Miller said. Money was allocated to hire engineers to study different plans for the street to make it safer. Some of the ideas proposed were an over-under bridge and an al-
INSIDE
Interim provost to be named soon Alicia Steele || Staff writer
atraylor@murraystate.edu
WHAT’S
Since the activation of the LiveSafe app in August, Public Safety and Emergency Management has received more than 700 tips from the app, but only 14 call box activations since the beginning of the academic year. Roy Dunaway, interim police chief and director of emergency management, wrote in an email that the tips received through the LiveSafe app included alerts about suspicious activities and assaults. “I would encourage the university community to download this safety app,” Dunaway wrote. Dunaway wrote that while the LiveSafe app users can instantly chat with Murray State Police in a live session, users can also allow Murray State Police or a friend to track them via GPS and get access to Murray State maps, emergency procedures and call box locations. However, the call boxes are not as frequently used. Dunaway wrote that 39 emergency call boxes are located around campus, but public safety has only gotten 14 notifications through those phones this academic year. The call boxes were used five times between Jan. 20 and Feb. 23, all of which were unfounded, according to crime logs from Public Safety. “These activations have ranged from accidental activations to students in need of medical attention,” Dunaway wrote. He wrote that upon activation of an emergency call box, the caller is imme-
diately in contact with Murray State Police. Students say they prefer to use the app over the call boxes on campus. “I am a very private person, and the call box is very public and open,” said Selena McCord, junior from Puryear, Tennessee. McCord said she has used the LiveSafe app twice, but never the emergency call boxes. She said the first time she used the app, Public Safety responded quickly and she was very happy with the experience. However, the second time McCord used the app, she said she had reported that a preacher on campus was “harassing students and making the environment unsafe.” She said they again responded quickly but told her there was nothing they could do. “I would have loved to have been given more information about who I could contact about the situation,” McCord said. “Or maybe even some information to the counseling center, as some of his statements were very derogatory towards women and those of the LGBTQ community.” Taylor Fischer, who graduated from Murray State in December, said she used the LiveSafe app last semester and they were quick to respond. However, Fischer said her situation did not occur on campus, so Public Safety notified the Murray Police Department and kept watch for the person she had described to them. “I would definitely recommend this to other students because it made me feel like I knew that I was being taken care of and cared for,” Fischer said.
President Bob Davies has decided on a new interim provost, who is to be named before Spring Break, after Tim Todd announced last week that he will leave the interim provost role and return to his post as College of Business dean. Adrienne King, vice president of Marketing and Outreach, confirmed Davies’ decision to The Murray State News Wednesday. King said she could not say who Davies’ choice is to replace Todd as interim provost and vice president of Academic Affairs. Todd said in an email to
College of Business faculty it was his choice to return as dean. “I am very happy to share with you that I will be coming home to the College effective April 1st,” Todd wrote. Among the names Murray State faculty and staff are mentioning as potential internal candidates for interim provost are: • Renee Fister, a mathematics professor and former Faculty Regent who became the senior presidential advisor for strategic initiatives in 2014. • Renae Duncan, associate provost for undergraduate education. • Steve Cobb, dean of the College of Science, Technol-
ogy, and Engineering. • Tony Brannon, dean of the Hudson School of Agriculture. • Robert Pervine, associate provost for graduate education and research. “I’d like to see Renae Duncan get it,” said Bob Lochte, who is retiring as chairman of the department of journalism and mass communications. Todd spent more than 10 months as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs after the former provost, Jay Morgan, accepted a job with the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education last May. Todd’s request to return to
see PROVOST, 2A
CORRECTIONS Nicole Ely/The News
Students cross 16th Street, which sees 12,000 pedestrians daily. ternate route circling behind the Biology Building on the Gene W. Ray campus. The plan to turn the street into a boulevard-style road with fewer pedestrian crossings and a hedgerow will allow for sidewalks and bike lanes, said Tim Choate, engineer and project manager, in an interview with WKMS. “I think the hedgerow is a good idea, but if they’re going to take out crossing walks then that’s going to make it more congested. That means cars are going to be stopped longer because more kids are going to be going through,” said Shelbi
FAIRY WINGS
Brock, sophomore from Newburgh, Indiana. Construction on 16th Street will not begin until the budget is approved and the council members and engineers meet more to discuss the final design of the resolution, Miller said. He said the project will take time and nothing will happen tomorrow, but the council has a plan for the future. The street will not undergo construction until at least 2017-2018 because there is a lot that still needs to be finalized on the project. It would be good to wait on
see 16TH, 2A
OUR VIEW
Challenge raises money for new Spring Break 2016: Break hospice house, 6A from tradition, 4A
On Feb. 18, 2016, The Murray State News article “Hazing prevention aims for zero tolerance” misstated the situation leading up to the 2014 death of a Penn State Altoona student, Marquise Braham. Braham had not been diagnosed with or treated for any mental illness, according to court records. Additionally, the article failed to attribute the information outlined about Braham’s death. Facts about fraternity hazing’s role in Braham’s suicide were part of a presentation given by Evan Ditty, Coordinator of Greek Life and Student Leadership Programs. A January 2006 Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, grand jury report found no evidence that
IVAN ROE
Braham’s fraternity caused his suicide, in part, because two notes Braham left “make clear that Braham had been thinking of suicide for a very long time.” On March 10, 2016, The News printed an error in the article, “Winslow begins selfserve line.” The article incorrectly described how Dining Services’ relationship with a temporary agency would change as a result of the move to a self-serve line. The university will eliminate only the temporary staff used to keep the dining rooms clean and stocked. The News regrets the errors.
WHAT’S ON THENEWS.ORG VIDEO
Then and Now: Looking at Murray State over the years, on YouTube.com.
SGA RESULTS
Check out the results of the Student Government Association elections on page 2A and online at TheNews.org.
SQUIRRELS ON TWITTER
Rifle team sophomore prepares We slid into the DMs of MSU Squirrels to chat, 5B for an Olympic journey, 1B
The News
News
2A
March 17, 2016
Sen. Rand Paul Combs secures SGA visits sold-out win by a landslide Curris Center Kayla Harrell || News Editor kharrell4@murraystate.edu
Kelsey Watznauer Chief Copy Editor
kwatznauer@murraystate.edu
Republicans from across the region met for the West Kentucky Lincoln Reagan Dinner in the Curris Center Ballroom on Saturday in celebration and preparation for the primary and general elections to come. Sen. Rand Paul headlined the sold-out event alongside several local Republican candidates. Paul’s main focus was the budget, nationally and locally. He said he believes in the individPaul ual more than the government and, therefore, a smaller government with minimized taxes. “Frankfort has to set priorities because there’s only a limited amount of money,” Paul said. “If you don’t want to take it right now from higher education, where are you going to take it from?” Paul said adding on to the current debt instead of cutting government costs is “just misplaced sympathy.” We are being spent into oblivion and the loudest voices in support of more spending in Washington right now are Republicans, he said. Prior to the dinner, more than 50 local high school and college students had the opportunity to sit down with Paul in a private session. “He seemed very nice,” said Katy King, senior from
Owensboro, Kentucky. “But I was so nervous I forgot to even mention that I’m the president of Mock Trials or anything.” During their Q and A, students asked several questions about the presidential election and the time Paul spend in the race. Paul said he has chosen not to endorse any candidate, but one of his biggest concerns is that Republicans won’t continue to win elections without diversity and without changing the dynamics of the party. “Status quo and inertia is hurting us on both sides of the aisle,” Paul said. James Comer, Jason Batts and Michael Pape, candidates for U.S. Representative in the First District, each spoke briefly, having first drawn swords instead of straws to determine their speaking order. Candidates from eight Kentucky House and Senate districts were also in attendance and encouraged voters to get to the polls to give Republicans their best chance to gain majority in the House. “We need west Kentucky solid red,” said Rep. Kenny Imes, R-Murray. “I ask you earnestly to support these candidates that are running with us tonight.” For his contribution to the growth and leadership of the local Republican Party, Winfield Rose, professor of political science, was presented with the Pioneer Award on behalf of U.S. Congressman Ed Whitfield. The Republican Party wouldn’t be what it is today without President Barack Obama, said both Rose and Rep. Steven Rudy, R-Paducah.
Incumbent Student Government Association President Clint Combs won the executive position again with about 500 more votes than his opponent, Patrick Hooks. Because Hooks did not win, he said he plans to apply for the vacancy in senator at-large. There were 1,002 combined votes cast for the candidates, with 735 for Combs and 267 for Hooks. “I have been a senator for four years,” Hooks said. “I really want to make a difference.” Combs said he planned to come back for his master’s degree, and Gov. Matt Bevin’s proposed budget cuts to higher education motivated him to run again for re-election. “One of the big things I want to do is continue to advocate for Murray, continue to advocate for higher education,” Combs said. “We knew it was
Nahiomy Gallardo/The News
Clint Combs won the SGA presidential election by garnering more than 70 percent of the vote. going to be tough. That kind of sealed the deal.” Combs said SGA has produced more legislation within this year than over the past few years. “This year we worked really hard to get our student senators and other bodies to start looking more into the issues on campus, producing legislation and really taking a stand for our students,” Combs said. Caitlin Dunaway, SGA treasurer election winner, won
with 622 votes, defeating opponent Paula Jaco by 341 votes. Chance Roberts, 2016 RCA vice president election winner, won with 452 votes. He defeated opponent Bryan Beals by 188 votes. “We are trusted by students to serve another term,” Combs said. “I’m going to keep working for the students.”
FULL RESULTS
President – Clint Combs Vice President – Nathan Payne
Secretary – Tori Wood Treasurer – Caitlin Dunaway RCA Vice President Chance Roberts Senator At-Large Collin Morris Keegan C. Rhines Michael Mann Brianna Barnes Evan Laird Autumn Graves A.J. Pittman Education and Human Services Senators Cassidy Carroll Mimi Eaton Humanities and Fine Arts Senator Daniel Hurt Science, Engineering and Technology Senators Amanda Shoemake Michael Gunter Agriculture Senators Kaleb Houston Connor Moore Caleb Brannon Nursing and Health Professions Senators Amanda Lilly Jaq Stephenson Nicholas Bontrager
Because of an editor oversight, Housing’s Best of Murray win was not printed in our March 10 edition. We apologize for the error. Congratulations to all winners and thank you to those who voted!
Best place to work on campus: Housing By Alicia Steele The housing department was voted “best place to work on campus” by the Murray State community because of its close staff in each residential college, and the amount of return from each job. Housing offers a variety of jobs to students including being a residential adviser (RA), a day desk clerk, a night desk clerk, a housing office worker and a maintenance handyman. Kristopher Cowan, residential advisor in Elizabeth College, said while working as an RA he is able
to work in a fast-paced environment in which he learns something new every day. “It helps you get out of your comfort zone and find out who you truly are,” Cowan said. Cowan said he enjoys getting to know his residents and making an impact in their lives, and he enjoys working with his fellow staff. “I have a fantastic staff that I work with that I wouldn’t trade for the world,” Cowan said. “Your staff members become some of your best friends and you all feel like one big family that would go and do anything for one another.”
Nicole Ely/The News
Concealed gun bill could change carrying on campus Alicia Steele || Staff writer asteele5@murraystate.edu
For the last month, the University of Texas has been entangled in a debate over allowing anyone with a concealed carry license to carry a concealed gun on campus, an argument that has prompted professors and students to send letters and sign petitions to protest this new law, set to take effect in August. Murray State prohibits all weapons on university property, including classrooms, office buildings and parking lots. However, the Kentucky House has a bill pending this session that, if passed, could change that. Kentucky House Bill 211, cosponsored by Republican state Reps. Kenny Imes, R-Murray, and Richard Heath, R-Mayfield, would allow anyone who holds a valid concealed deadly weapons license or temporary permit to carry concealed weapons on public university and college campuses. This bill was introduced to the Kentucky House Jan. 11 and sent to the House Judiciary Committee Jan. 12, where it has sat since. The General Assembly has 10 working days left to pass any bill. Adrienne King, vice president of Marketing and Outreach, said if similar legislation to that of Texas were passed in the state of Kentucky, Murray State would adhere to the law.
16TH From Page 1 the construction of 16th Street since Murray State is already busy with construction projects, but it would be beneficial to start construction for the safety of students, Brock said. When construction begins, traffic will not stop, as just one lane will be closed off at a time.
“With that said, the safety of our Last year, Texas became the “However, as a president, I have campus community will always be eighth state to have provisions alan obligation to uphold the law,” our top priority,” King said. lowing people to conceal and carry Fenves said. King said that according to uniguns on college campuses, accord However, Daniel Hepworth, Murray State assistant professor versity records, 6,424 currently ening to the National Conference of and director of the criminal jusrolled students are over the age of State Legislators, or NCSL. tice program, said he is unaware 21, but she could not speak to the “I do not believe handguns beof any study that shows any signiflong on a university campus,” number of individuals that would icant rate of criminal behavior of meet specific requirements neceswrote University of Texas Presiconcealed carry permit holders, or sary to get a concealed carry permit dent Gregory L. Fenves in a letter general irresponsiin Kentucky. bility of the permit Under the Kenholders with firetucky law, an indiarms. vidual applying for “So, while there a concealed carry license must: is always a need • be a U.S. citizen for alertness when Weapons and dangerous materials are prohibited on and a resident firearms are presall property owned or controlled by Murray State Uniof the commonent, yes, I would versity. This prohibition encompasses, but is not limited wealth of Kensay that I would be tucky, comfortable knowto, outdoor areas, classrooms, laboratories, residential • be 21 years of age ing that a student colleges and other living facilities, office buildings, or older, in my classroom performance halls and auditoria, museums, dining fa• not have been or a faculty or staff committed to a member in the ofcilities, athletics and recreational facilities and arenas, state or federal fice might be refarms, parking lots, and vehicles on property owned or facility for drug sponsibly armed,” controlled by Murray State. or alcohol abuse Hepworth said. within three Hepworth said years period of when it comes to the application considering the efdate, to Texas students, faculty and staff. fectiveness of gun-free zones, he • not owe more than a year of child “So, this has been my greatest chalturns to research conducted on support and lenge of my presidency to date.” public mass shootings, which shows • complete a firearms training and Fenves said faculty, staff, stuthat a majority of them happen safety course. dents and parents have signed pewithin gun-free zones. According King said, to her knowledge, unititions, sent emails and letters and to these statistics, to be considered versity leaders have not discussed organized to ban guns from cama mass shooting, the event must inallowing concealed carry of firepus and classrooms, and he undervolve two deaths. arms on Murray State property. stands the concerns raised. Hepworth said a mass shooter’s
Miller said the street will not be shut down unless absolutely necessary. The council is focusing on receiving the funds and approval from the state for the 16th Street project, and then they will focus more on the design and construction of the plan. “The big thing tonight was getting the council all on board and passing the resolution to send to the state highway budget to say that we’re behind this project,” Miller said.
Murray State’s current policy on “Weapons and Dangerous Material:”
PROVOST From Page 1 the College of Business, where he has been dean since 2006, comes after the abrupt halt of the provost search last month. King said Murray State suspended the search until Kentucky legislators determine the university’s state funding. The provost search ex-
penses this year cost $1,894 for job advertisements, according to documents The News obtained through an open records request. However, the full provost search expenses from 20122013 totaled $10,947.50. This includes $5,507.50 for position advertisements, $2,759.67 for meals, $2,553.47 for travel expenses and $126.86 for “miscellaneous.” Davies said in a statement he knew Todd’s decision to
intention is to kill as many people as possible, and the shooter is almost always stopped by another armed individual. “It is worth pointing out here that multiple studies on defensive gun use by private citizens estimate that in about 75 percent of defensive gun cases, the firearm is never fired,” Hepworth said. “Merely presenting the weapon to the offender causes him to either flee or submit until police are able to arrive and secure the location.” Hepworth said mass shootings generally only last a few minutes, but in the time it takes police to respond, shooters are typically able to cause a lot of damage. “It is my opinion that any reasonable step taken to minimize the harm inflicted by such an event (or to prevent it altogether, if this is even possible), would absolutely be in the public’s best interest,” he said. Paige Effinger, occupational safety and health major from Evansville, Indiana, said from the mindset of a safety professional, she believes that allowing guns on campus would disrupt the level of safety. “Guns during a hazardous event would be the last thing that we would want,” Effinger said. Effinger said that if there were to be an accident – like a fire – and a gun were to go off, that would only add extra safety concerns.
step down as interim provost was not an easy one. “In our discussions, he has stated that he believes he can best assist the University by returning to this role, guiding the college and supporting University-wide efforts from this position,” Davies said in an email to Murray State’s faculty and staff. “I have great respect for Tim and support his wish to return to the deanship in the College of Business.” Davies said he appreciates
Todd’s willingness to lend his expertise throughout the last year, and said one of his many strengths is “providing collaborative leadership and working directly with the faculty, staff and students” in the College of Business. Todd also said he learned a lot in the provost job. “Being in the provost’s office for this academic year-todate has given me new insight for what a great university we have,” Todd said.
The News
News
March 17, 2016
3A
News Editor: Kayla Harrell Assistant Editor: Abby Siegel Phone: 270-809-4468 Twitter: MurrayStateNews
POLICE BEAT March 9
12:01 a.m. An Patrol officeradvised con- Mur6:51 a.m. Racer ducted traffic stop Regents ray Statea Police of anatabandoned Drive Chestnut Street.Center. A golf cartand outside the Lowry verbal warning was issued Officers were notified and anfor infordisregarding a stop sign and mation report was taken. failure to use turn signal. 11:42 p.m An aofficer conducted p.m. A caller reported a 9:48 traffic stop at 121 North and a person burning of was Coldwater Streets.aApiece citation paper to in the Price Fine to issued driverDoyle for failure Arts Complex Zen Garden. Ofwear a seatbelt. The passenger ficers, Murrayon Fire was arrested anDepartment outstanding and the and Statewas Firetaken Marshall’s warrant to Callooffice were Jail. notified and a reway County porta.m. was taken. 8:20 A caller reported a residential college flag missing. The Housing Office was notified.
March 10
12:09 a.m. A caller reported the smell in Col- a 11:22 p.m. ofAmarijuana caller reported lege Courts, Block.with Offi-no motor vehicle1000 accident cers were notified and a report injuries at White Residential Colwas Officers taken. were notified and a lege. 1:25 p.m. A person reported a report was taken. hit-and-run, non-injury motor a 7:17 p.m. An officer conducted vehicle in theBuilding Main traffic stopcollision at the Business Street lot. parking lot. was Officers parking A citation issued were notified. for driving on a suspended license. 8:51 p.m. A caller reported the smell of gas at Hart Residential Col-
March 11
12:56 p.m. An officer conducted a traffic stopMurray in the Fire James H. lege. Officers, DepartRichmond College ment, CentralResidential Heating and Cooling parking lot. Gas A citation Plant, Murray and the was StateisFire sued for were improper registration Marshall notified. A report plate, no registration receipt, was taken. no registration plate, reported failure of a 12:01 p.m. A caller owner tooutlet maintain required insparking in the 300 block offenseOfficers, and failure ofsurance, College2nd Courts. the to produce insurance card. Murray Fire an Department, Central 11:44 p.m. An officer conHeating and Cooling Plant and ducted a traffic stopwere in the the State Fire Marshal notiHeritage Hallwas parking lot. The fied. A report taken. driver was issued a citation 4:57 p.m. The Murray Policefor Despeedingwas 15 mph over the partment notified of aspeed medilimit and was served warrant cal emergency at the aVolleyball of arrest for failure appearAmin Courts. Officers andto Murray court. bulance Services were notified. The patient was transported and a report was taken.
Chalice Keith/The News
Beta Beta Beta celebrated Charles Darwin’s 207th birthday with cake and a seminar on the evolution of certain snakes in Lake Erie.
Students celebrate Darwin Day
Cody Hall || Contributing writer chall22@murraystate.edu
As 20th century geneticist and evolutionist Theodosius Dobzhansky said, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” – a concept Murray State biology professors and students reinforced at a celebration last week. Murray State celebrated Charles Darwin’s 207th birthday on March 10 with a Darwin Day event sponsored by Beta Beta Beta – TriBeta – a national biological honors society and the Murray State Watershed Studies Institute, a center for teaching about and researching watershed ecosystems. The party not only featured a cake in Darwin’s honor, but a national speaker, who presented his findings about the evolution of certain snakes in Lake Erie. Ashley Munie, junior from Breese, Illinois, and president of Murray State’s chapter of TriBeta, said this event is held every year as a way to commemorate Darwin’s contributions to the field of biology. “It is a day devoted to his contributions to science,” Munie said. “We bring in speakers to talk about their studies in evolution. Each year the topic is different,
depending on the speaker.” Darwin’s birthday is Feb. 12, and usually the event is held on that day, but after snow caused it to be canceled, organizers moved it to March to avoid that from happening again, Munie said. The field of evolution is constantly changing and it is important to stay updated. For people who are not biology majors, it is important to attend events like this because it is a chance for people to discuss and ask questions without being spoken down to, Munie said. Chris Trzepacz, biology professor and academic adviser for TriBeta, said it is important to learn about and teach evolution. “It teaches us logic,” Trzepacz said. “To have a clear understanding about anything you have to approach it logically and scientifically. And evolution reinforces the idea of the scientific method. It helps us understand our place in this world. The theory of evolution shows us how big of a family we are.” This is a time in life when students are able to see and learn from experts in their fields. Outside of college, opportunities like this will not be as available, Trzepacz said. This year Rich King, from the department of bi-
ology at Northern Illinois University, presented the findings of his research project on snakes in Lake Erie in a paper called “Detecting natural selection in real time: Implications for evolutionary responses in a changing world.” After comparing snakes from an island to those of the same species on the mainland, he found a difference in their color patterns. King suggested the snakes separated from the mainland and changed to better fit their environment. Because of the changes in climate, we are seeing a shift in different species and in years to come there will most likely be some that cannot evolve fast enough, either becoming extinct or endangered, King said. Rachel Mittelman, visiting assistant professor of history, said there is evidence that climate change has even affected human civilizations in the modern world. “In the archaeological record, we can track climate change,” Mittelman said. “In the Mediterranean, there was a massive demographic shift. People from the Aegean Sea area moved all over the Mediterranean. There has been famine in Syria for quite some time, and the people are fleeing because of it.”
Sigma Alpha educates fifth-graders about GMOs
March 12 1:46 p.m. Officers conducted 3:46 a.m.stop Officers conducted a a traffic in the Residential check of a person on North 12th College circle. A verbal warnStreet. The person was arrested and ing was issued for failure to transported to Calloway County Jail wear a seatbelt. for alcohol in a public 11:46 p.m.intoxication A caller reported the place. A report was taken. smell of marijuana at James H. 9:09 p.m. Residential A caller College. reported Richmond a smoke detector activated at Officers were notified and an Springer Residential College due to report was a information hair dryer. Officers weretaken. notified
Nicole Ely/The News
Dining Services will host a regional conference during Spring Break to improve dining.
Murray State hosts dining conference
and no threat of fire was found. An information report was taken.
March 13
12:42 a.m. An officer advised 4:42 p.m. A caller reported a theft Safety of aapossible ofPublic property from vehiclefight from in progress at Hughes 14th Alexander Hall. Officersand were noStreet. altercation was detified andThe a report was taken for termined to be verbal and an theft of under $500 by unlawful information report was taken. taking from a vehicle. 6:12 p.m. the 11:34 a.m.AAncaller officerreported conducted smell of marijuana at Hart. Officers a traffic stop at 15th Street and were notified Drive. and an A information University citation report was taken. was issued for failure to wear a seatbelt. 2:47 p.m. A caller reported an unauthorized company selling
March 14
8:09 a.m. An officer conducted products at Winslow a traffic on stopcampus in the BP parking Dining Hall. The caller was relot on Main Street. A citation ferred to Student Affairs. was issued for failure to wear a 6:12 p.m. A caller reported the seatbelt. smell of natural gas at the Old Fine 5:30Building. p.m. TheOfficers, Murray Police Arts Central Department reported informaHeating and Cooling Plant, Murray tiondepartment, in reference to unwanted Fire Murray Gas and sexual by an were acquainthe State contact Fire Marshall notitance Public was Safety. Officers fied andto a report taken. were notified and a report was taken. Motorists assists – 8 Racer escorts – 1 Arrests – 2 Arrests - 1 Assistant News Editor, Mary Bradley, Escorts 0 Beat with materials compiles Police Motorby assists - 1Safety and Emerprovided Public gency Management. Not all dispatched calls are listed. Abby Siegel, Assistant News
Editor, compiles Police Beat with materials provided by Public Safety and Emergency Management. Not all dispatched calls are listed.
Love Police Beat? You can check it out every week online, too, on TheNews.org.
McKenna Dosier/The News
Murray State’s chapter of Sigma Alpha taught fifth-graders about genetically modified organisms at Benton Elementary School. Bailey Bohannan || Staff writer bbohannan@murraystate.edu
Sigma Alpha’s national philanthropy is Ag in the Classroom, but this year the Murray State chapter participated in the Ag in the Classroom Challenge hosted by Monsanto. Each semester the agriculture sorority teaches a classroom of children in the surrounding areas a lesson about agriculture. This semester, Monsanto hosted an Ag in the Classroom Challenge where chapters of Sigma Alpha could choose from a list of topics to teach about and compete for a monetary award. The Murray State Sigma Alpha chapter accepted the challenge of teaching the Benton Elementary fifth-grade class about genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. This is the first time Sigma Alpha has participated in the Ag in the Classroom challenge hosted by Monsanto. Shelby Fuhr, junior from Columbia, Illinois, said although she does not know if it will be hosted again next year, Ag in the Classroom will keep happening and if the challenge continues, they will not back down. “It’s really [Monsanto’s] goal to put agriculture in a positive light and educate people about what GMOs are and what their company is doing to make a positive impact on agriculture,” Fuhr said. Fuhr helped plan and orchestrate the event this semester, and she said the chapter had many topics to choose from to teach the students about. They chose GMOs because they wanted the chance to educate the students about the topic in a way they could easily understand. Melissa Schenck, senior from Boston, Kentucky, and a member of Sigma Alpha, was in charge of making the lesson plan with another member of the chapter. “Monsanto gave us a variety of topics to choose from; what are GMOs and why do farmers use them, is a big farm necessarily a bad farm, crop protection, pollinators and a couple others,” Schenck said. “We chose GMOs because it’s kind of the basis for modern day agriculture.” At first, Sigma Alpha planned to teach
one class of fifth-graders; however, Benton Elementary allowed Sigma Alpha to host a workshop with the entire fifth-grade class. In total, the sorority had 12 girls teaching five different classes for an hour, Schenck said. “The challenge kind of took on a life of its own and got bigger than we had expected it to be,” Schenck said. “Now, we’re hoping that we can do something like this more often.” Working with an entire class of fifth-graders and keeping their attention can be challenging, Schenck said. She said she saw excitement from both the students and her sisters as they talked about agriculture and GMOs. “When we left their classrooms these students were really excited to tell their parents what they learned,” Schenck said. “It was a great experience for our sisters because they were kind of reminded of their passion for agriculture.” Although her major is not agricultural education, Schenck said her personal passion for agriculture was rekindled because she loves teaching people about agriculture. Schenck said a lot of the girls helping out at this event are agricultural education majors, and this type of hands-on experience refocused those girls and reconfirmed their decision to choose that major. Allie Steiner, sophomore from Cincinnati, is an agricultural major in Sigma Alpha. She said even though she is planning on teaching agriculture at the high school level, she enjoyed teaching the fifth-graders of Benton Elementary very much. “I think that I quickly realized that kids that young just want to have fun and that’s what I focused on,” Steiner said. Getting involved with the community and educating the youth is very important to Sigma Alpha, Fuhr said. “We care so much about our organization and a lot of people don’t know what our purpose is and they don’t know what we do. So for us to be put in that positive light, I think would just do leaps and bounds for us in helping us better our image and getting our name out there,” she said.
Cody Hall || Contributing writer chall22@murraystate.edu
During Spring Break, Murray State will host a conference covering topics like better tasting burgers, locally-grown foods being served on campus and the changing tastes of the next generation of students. March 20-22, the 2016 Southern Regional Conference of the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) will be held in the Curris Center. At the conference, chefs and food service workers from different universities will share ideas on how to improve their respective dining services. This will be the first time that Murray State has hosted this event. The effects of these conferences can already be seen at the university, said Tim Bruce, Murray State department chef. The ideas for the unlimited meal plan, the food truck and the selfserve model that Dining Services has been switching to in Winslow Dining Hall all came from these conferences. “It’s a professional organization of people who do what we do,” Bruce said. “Directors, managers and chefs that all work in the same business get together and share ideas, get some education sessions going, hopefully expand our program.” The website for NACUFS, nacufs.org, has the full list of topics that will be covered during the conference. The food service association holds an annual conference in each of its six regions. During the summer, it holds one on a national level. Two years ago, Murray State volunteered to host the regional conference. “We were actually meant to
do it in 2017, but they asked us if we could possibly move it up because they were going to do 2016 in Nashville but it was too expensive, so we agreed to do it,” said Paula Amols, director of Dining Services at Murray State. The event will bring the food service departments of 21 different universities, with more than 200 attendees coming to the conference. The conference will bring good business to the town, and will be free advertisement for the university, Amols said. “What’s nice for Murray is they are filling up local hotels,” Amols said. “We had blocked rooms at Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Best Western, and last I checked those were about full, so we were sending any spillover to the Quality Inn.” Vendors will set up throughout the conference so those attending can sample new products. Amols and her staff have multiple events planned for the conference attendees, such as dinners both at and around the university, musical performances during the dinners, a special show by hypnotist Tom DeLuca, a professional cooking performance and the culinary challenge. The challenge is sanctioned by the American Culinary Federation. “They are paying for all the meals and the rental of the Curris Center,” Amols said. “Catering is doing the food that is here on campus, but we will bill them as a client like we would anyone else. So actually we will make some money off it because they’ll pay us for the catering.” The conference will cover subjects such as specialty coffees, the changing generation of students and using more local food on the college levels. All could possibly be implemented at Murray State in the future.
4A
March 17, 2016
The News
Opinion
Opinion Editor: Allison Borthwick Phone: 270-809-5873
Our View
2609 University Station Murray State University Murray, Kentucky 42071-3301 murraystatenews@icloud.com Fax: 270-809-3175
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Editor-in-Chief • 270-809-6877 mbradley9@murraystate.edu Kayla Harrell News Editor • 270-809-4468 kharrell4@murraystate.edu Allison Borthwick Opinion Editor • 270-809-5873 aborthwick@murraystate.edu Connor Jaschen Features Editor • 270-809-5871 cjaschen@murraystate.edu Kelsey Randolph Sports Editor • 270-809-4481 krandolph3@murraystate.edu Kelsey Watznauer Chief Copy Editor • 270-809-5876 kwatznauer@murraystate.edu Austin Gordon Online Editor • 270-809-5877 agordon4@murraystate.edu Jenny Rohl Advertising Manager • 270-809-4478 msunewsads@gmail.com Alex Hilkey Advertising Production • 270-809-5874 shilkey@murraystate.edu
Selena McPherson/The News
Spring Break 2016 breaks from tradition The staff editorial is the majority opinion of The Murray State News Editorial Board. When you lend someone an article of clothing, you probably expect it to be returned washed and folded – good as new, or as good as the condition you last saw it in. Sometimes this simply isn’t the case. You get it back and there’s a ripped hole no amount of patchwork will attractively cover up and it smells not-so-faintly of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Now imagine a giant article of clothing with more holes than fabric, drenched in every type of alcohol known to man and covered in sand: Panama City Beach, post Spring Break, ladies and gentleman. Panama City Beach, or PCB, Florida is such a massively popular Spring Break destination that a website exists solely for that purpose: PCBeachSpringBreak. com. According to said site, PCB is the “Spring Break Capital of the World.” Every year, this city lends its beaches to hundreds of thou-
sands of college students who blow in and out within a week’s time and leave little more than the devastation of a drunken hurricane in their wake. Thus, when looking at the pros and cons of being such a monumental tourist attraction throughout the month of March, the PCB Chamber of Commerce decided the cons outweighed the pros and has made some changes for the current Spring Break season. According to their website, the following ordinances have been passed: • Increasing the Amount of Civil Penalties for Open Containers Violations • Prohibiting Balcony Climbing • Prohibiting Parking in the Right-of-Way in Scenic Corridors After Dark • Alcohol Hours of Sale During March • Prohibiting Drinking in Commercial Parking Lots During March And possibly the biggest let-
Kalli Bubb Photography Editor • 270-809-5878 kbubb@murraystate.edu Cameron Witte Chief Videographer cwitte@murraystate.edu Joe Hedges, Ryan Alessi Adviser, Co-Adviser • 270-809-3937 jhedges@murraystate.edu, ralessi@murraystate.edu
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down for some Spring Breakers: • Prohibiting Alcohol on the Sandy Gulf Beach During March They clearly know that subtlety doesn’t work well on college students looking for a good time. According to Ordinance 1353, against the consumption of alcohol on beaches, “beaches in this state represent one of the most valuable natural resources of Florida and it is in the public interest to preserve and protect them … the City finds them to be a tremendous resource and asset to the community.” Public intoxication and littering aside, these ordinances were also put in place to prevent incredibly serious crimes. According to a report by the Bay County Sheriff’s office, 2015’s Spring Break season was a record-setting year, and not in the good way. Here are the numbers: • 93 guns confiscated • 507 drug-related arrests
• 2,423 total arrests • 19,439 collective calls for service (Panama City Beach Police Department and Bay County Sheriff’s Office) These numbers don’t even include unreported sexual assaults and cases of alcohol poisoning, among other potentially-fatal situations. So before you leave for Spring Break outraged over the stance this travel destination is taking against popular Spring Break pastimes, consider the possibility that this sets a good, not bad, precedent for other Spring Break destinations. Nobody is taking away your right to have a good time. If you’re at least 21, nobody is taking away your right to drink responsibly. These ordinances are about two very important things: respect and safety. Respect yourself, others and the cities you’re visiting. In fact, leave it better than you found it.
Some Things Considered
Truth in jest I like to think of myself as a pretty active person – I danced for 15 years, try to work out, and periodically convince myself I’m into yoga in order to attempt weird balances and twists a beginner should never do. On top of my at-times foolish fitness trials, I’m fairly Hallie Beard clumsy; this means that, at Junior from any given time, Louisville, Ky. I’m sporting 3-8 unsightly bruises on my ultra pale skin. Recently, I tripped over my own feet and fell into my dresser and onto the floor, leaving a couple of large, nasty bruises on my arm. I wore long sleeves to conceal them for a few days, but the weather didn’t permit that for long and the bruises had to see the light of day. As expected, friends noticed them and gasped at their ugliness. What I didn’t expect was that several people over a span of about two weeks (lucky
for me, my hideous bruises have impressive lifespans) asked me if they were the result of an angry boyfriend. The first time it happened, I was more concentrated on the fact that someone thought I was in a relationship when I’m single as a Pringle. But, after a couple more comments, I realized just how grim the situation was.
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Until I can show off my casualties of a good day at the gym or a laughable trip without being interrogated, we’re not done here.
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Most people initially made a joke of it – “No one’s battering you, right?” or “Is someone being mean to you?” with a chuckle and a shake of the head, as if the battered housewife/girlfriend cliché is too dated to be anything but hilarious. After the joke, though, most people uncomfortably followed up with a quieted, wary check-up. “But … seriously,” they’d say, “no one did that, right? Do you promise? Would you tell me if that was the case?” The amount of concern I witnessed was truly heartwarming; if my bruises were caused by relationship violence – which, to be clear, they were definitely not – it’s comforting knowing I’d have the support of friends and colleagues. But these exchanges have also troubled me.
What does it say about our so-called progressive, modern society that someone’s first reaction to seeing a woman with a bruise on her arm is that an abusive boyfriend caused it? Why did each person who confronted me feel so compelled to investigate my explanation as if it were a lie? Some men (and women) ask why we need feminism, why it’s still relevant or how people, now, could possibly still have concerns about the well-being and equality of women. This is why. Not everyone who commented on my bruises was a woman, but every woman brought up abuse. Though masked in hesitant attempts at humor, fear was at the root of those comments and questions – fear that I had been hurt, fear that I wouldn’t tell the truth if I had been, fear that abuse was happening close to them. It was as if my bruises were a dark reminder to all of these women that the scenario, no matter how we joke about it, is not unheard of today. It saddens me that mentioning abuse is a knee-jerk reaction to visible injuries on women. This is not to say that abuse doesn’t also happen to people of another gender or in non-heterosexual relationships; it can happen to anyone in any kind of interaction. But, we cannot sit and say that feminism has no purpose anymore or that women’s voices aren’t reactive. Until I can show off my casualties of a good day at the gym or a laughable trip without being interrogated, we’re not done here. Let’s keep working.
The News
Opinion
March 17, 2016
Letter to the Editor
My grandfather was a lifelong Republican from Paducah, Kentucky. Despite never finishing high school, he valued education. He saw his daughters finish college, and later two grandsons. He wanted to pay for my education too, but died of pancreatic cancer before that came to pass. I entered Murray State in the last wave of students that could finish with Pell Grants alone and graduated with honors and two publications. For graduate school, I became a custodian at Murray State to get my tuition waived because that’s what was available at the time. I work full time and keep a 4.0 GPA while presenting papers at conferences and volunteering for the Humane Society. I value my education enough to scrub toilets to get it. Gov. Matt Bevin says that Kentucky needs engineers, and that students should be discouraged from studying French Literature and other “impractical” majors. However, Murray State’s most popular majors are nursing, pre-vet/animal health, OSH, business/administration and agriculture. By offering to defund the humanities to provide incentives for “profitable majors,” he shows at best a gross misunderstanding of what students
already gravitate toward. Besides, Toyota has manufacturing plants here in Kentucky that require people with engineering backgrounds and fluency in both Japanese and English. Kentucky needs bilingual engineers. My intuition suggests that he’s framed this budget problem in the context of funding the sciences at the cost of the humanities to diminish all higher education. However, he doesn’t seem to understand how either colleges or businesses work. To start, we have to be accredited by the SACSCOC. The accreditation process demands that to be classified as a legitimate university, entire areas must be offered to all students (the organization’s pamphlet outlines this in point 2.7.3). By privileging one area over another using funding incentives for students, he risks crippling certain departments and jeopardizing the university’s accreditation. Also, universities attract businesses. From the point-of-sale arena of restaurants and retail to career-oriented businesses, universities drive the communities around them. If his proposed budget cut of 100 percent from the state appropriation over four years goes through, univer-
5A I Have a Lot of Feelings Reality check
sities will dramatically cut programs, becoming less attractive to students; dramatically cut labor, increasing unemployment; and dramatically raise tuition, creating fifty million dollars in student debt (just from Murray State) every year. If a university’s funding is attached entirely to graduation/employment rates, we risk running diploma mills, places that coddle students, leaving them unprepared for the workplace. He isn’t solving a problem, but instead is just moving it around. I call the 100 percent funding cut a cut and not “performance-based funding.” That public universities should compete against each other for 10 percent of their state funding is ludicrous. Some of our neighboring states, like Ohio and Tennessee, do this in a reasonable way: 25 percent of funding is performance-based, measured against each university’s own performance in previous years. The idea that Murray State should have to compete directly with Western Kentucky University, University of Kentucky and University of Louisville is a naked attempt to cripple the commonwealth’s smaller schools. State universities are placed regionally for
a purpose – to be regionally accessible – and that precludes gladiatorial combat for existence, to say nothing about our accreditation requirement (2.11.1) for financial stability. If his budget passes and the state appropriation that comprises roughly 30 percent of our entire budget becomes a yearly variable, Murray State’s future becomes precarious at best, nonexistent at worst. The problem is that he’s doing the wrong thing for the right reason. Kentucky is broke because of a long tradition of borrowing money to pay for necessities instead of funding them properly. Parts of the state government have expanded without the revenue locked in to actually support them. Remarkable people do come from Kentucky, but they need available and affordable universities. If this budget breaks the higher education system, we’ll just be ushering in a great “bright flight,” making sure that Kentucky is a state such people leave instead of gravitate toward.
Clay Wyatt
Alumnus from Draffenville, Kentucky
I’ve Got A Story For You
Getting it done As nearly as I can tell, here’s how this country is supposed to work. First, everyone is free to look for happiness, get happy and stay that way. Most people are happy if they are reasonably healthy, have most of the things they need and some of the things they don’t need but want. Second, if you have some shortRobert Valentine age in health, food, Senior lecturer possessions or relaof advertising tionships, the Constitution gives you the freedom to do whatever you can to correct that situation. It’s not always easy, but it is always your responsibility and you are free to do what you can to fix it. Third, most people are born into families, and all of us have friends and acquaintances who can help in time of need. They are a back-up plan when everything we have tried seems to have failed. From money to housing to food to a warm hug and a patient, listening ear, your family and friends should be there for you, and you for them. Shortly after I was married, Vicki woke me at 3 a.m. one late spring morning after the telephone
had started the job of disturbing my sleep. “Let’s go,” she said. Someone’s house had been struck by a tornado and her network of friends was calling out the militia. “What are we going to do?” I asked, pulling on my boots. “We’re going to be there,” she said, and we were. It is what you do. Finally, we come to governments. As individuals, we cannot exterminate a plague of mosquitoes, build a road from Murray to Hazel or construct a hospital. We cannot even do that as a family or, perhaps, as a community. That’s where governments come in. A government, after all, is just a big collection of people with something in common, all of whom have agreed to work together sometimes for their common good. Cities, states or nations, we have to work together no matter who we are or where our grandparents came from. Governments that know their role and respond to what people really need seem to work pretty well. The bigger they get, the easier it is to lose sight of what they should do, but wise people can
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... since 1960 ... we have not elected a president who was under six feet tall and did not have a full head of hair.”
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still get the job done with everyone’s help. But lately, we have not been electing the wisest people to lead the governments. As Dave Barry observed, since 1960 (when television got involved in campaigns), we have not elected a president who was under six feet tall and did not have a full head of hair. In short, Dave seems to be saying we elect TV personalities rather than political leaders. Abraham Lincoln could not win this year (not very photogenic; squeaky voice), nor could Harry Truman (too short; Missouri accent). Now, one of the party front-runners is encouraging his supporters to beat up hecklers and protesters. Some presidential candidates have said, “Oh, shut up,” when hecklers interrupted them. Some have invited hecklers onto the stage to debate the issue. No one in this country, lately, has encouraged supporters to attack dissenters. Mr. Trump, not content to demean the office with a public discussion of his private parts, has done just that – proudly and unapologetically. It’s like a movie, isn’t it? Great entertainment. But this is not a film; the consequences of this behavior won’t end when the credits roll. Mr. Trump’s supporters probably won’t wear brown shirts, but they will respect rights just as the last such candidate’s supporters did. Divisiveness, demeaning and disrespect for the rights of others has never produced a worthy government or a decent society. You need to talk. You need to vote. Say what you will and vote as you please, but find someone to lead a united society of people in search of happiness. It’s your job. It is how we get things done in this country.
Jeers to ... Double standards.
Cheers and Jeers
Cheers to ... Spring Break. The sun is shining and the tank is clean (shoutout to the “Finding Nemo“ fans) - Spring Break is upon us. Whether you’re spending the week on sandy beaches, with family or here in Murray catching up on work/your Netflix queue, enjoy yourself and come back ready to finish the semester strong.
We’ve passed the halfway mark in the semester, and many students are looking at their midterm grades with a smile, a frown or utter confusion because they’re looking at nothing at all. Come on, professors. If you’re going to expect us to complete work on time, grade our work in a timely fashion as well.
Cheers and Jeers is written by The Murray State News’ Opinion Editor.
Jeers to ... Donald Trump.
Cheers to ... Murray animals.
Questions, comments or concerns should be addressed to aborthwick@murraystate.edu
Comic
This man has encouraged and sparked riots, offended people in just about every demographic, is entertaining the support of the Ku Klux Klan - the list goes on. And somehow people are not only seriously considering him for the presidency, but he has a substantial amount of votes that may actually put him there. The terror is real.
Sun’s out, pups out! With the recent improvement of Murray weather, people are starting to walk their dogs around campus, and if that isn’t delightful, I don’t know what is. Here’s to you, our four-legged friends.
Displaced anger and apathy are as rampant as the injustices we misunderstand and ignore. I’m taking an elective called Social Problems this semester with about 60 other students and, Allison Borthwick as the name of the class sugOpinion Editor gests, we talk about some heavy stuff. The professor will play YouTube videos that show images of children who are addicted to cigarettes, enslaved women overseas working with hazardous American waste to turn a profit, infants deformed because of malnutrition, etc. More than half the students in the class don’t even look up from their phones, let alone bat an eye. We’re lectured and informed of global, widespread issues and it hardly phases us because, frankly, who’s surprised? The shock value of staggering statistics and the pleas of hungry children has been replaced by an underwhelming sense of déjà vu. We’ve seen and heard it all before. “You better finish all the food on your plate, honey. There are starving kids in *insert any third-world country here*.” We didn’t take that seriously when we were younger – why would things be different now? The other day I was scrolling through my Facebook news feed, a pretty generous term for something that’s really just a platform for “I’m proud to announce…” posts and animal videos, and actually came across a piece of news. All I saw was “something something Kentucky something something blocks interracial/interfaith marriages something something,” shook my head and kept scrolling. I couldn’t even bring myself to click on the link and read more because the headline alone screamed hopelessness and exhaustion. We’re all just out here in the proverbial trenches of a regressing society, bracing ourselves for the blow of more disappointment and bad news, right? Not necessarily. I’m a white, middle-class American, so I’m not even in the front line of battle or in active duty – I’m just reading about and watching the coverage from the comforts of home, waiting for someone else to end the war. The closest I’ve gotten to actually being in the trenches is when Gov. Matt Bevin proposed a budget that would affect my higher education, but even so, I’m graduating this May. We all know about that particular injustice, and when the news broke it was the most actively angry I’ve seen my peers and professors get about something in a long time. And then we published an editorial about a proposal to change our student classifications to something more politically correct and Murray-themed and the outrage in response to it was even more astounding. That editorial reached tens of thousands of people, got thousands of post-clicks, was shared by nearly 100 people and blew the articles about budget cuts and performance-based funding right out of Facebook’s performance-based algorithm. Michael Dobbs, former Student Government Association president, was one of many who shared the editorial. “Call me crazy, but if students raised a fuss about the budget cuts to higher education proposed by Frankfort as much as they are about the idea of changing the traditional class rank terminology, their voices just might be heard,” Dobbs wrote. We need to reassess our priorities and move from being a passive public to an active public. aborthwick@murraystate.edu
What is a “break?“
By Selena McPherson
The News
News
6A
March 17, 2016
Fairy wings challenge fundraises for Hospice House Abby Siegel
Assistant News Editor asiegel@murraystate.edu
The Murray community has grown wings to financially support the new Anna Mae Owen Residential Hospice House, which will require an estimated $600,000 per month to operate. The money raised from the annual Murray Half Marathon will support the new hospice house. Included in the runners’ race fee is a set of strap-on butterfly wings that runners are encouraged to wear during the race to remember or honor loved ones and celebrate their race training. The wings are being used to symbolize transformation, the cycle of life and rebirth. “Many people think of them as a way their loved ones are reborn and still with them,” said Emily Conrad, senior from St. Louis and intern at the Murray-Calloway County Hospital. Non-runners can also participate in the “Why We Wear Wings” campaign by accepting or challenging others to wear them through the RE/MAX Butterfly Challenge. A similar concept to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, people must take a video of themselves wearing the wings and challenge someone else to wear
them, and then upload the video to Facebook by tagging RE/MAX Real Estate Associates – Murray. The challenge has raised over $7,000 so far and has sold more than 500 wings. “Murray is a giving community,” said Nicole King, senior from Hopkinsville, Kentucky. King is an intern at the Murray-Calloway County Hospital Endowment for Healthcare and has participated in recruiting wing challenge participants. Tracy Williams, RE/MAX realtor, said she is optimistic that they will raise more money because the challenge still has a month to go and is “really starting to pick up.” Williams said she is envisioning a “sea of butterflies taking off” when the race begins. The challenge has become a community event that has united organizations, businesses and prominent leaders within Murray. Among the butterfly challengers is Murray State President Bob Davies, who was challenged by the Murray-Calloway County Hospital CEO Jerry Penner. Others include Vanderbilt Chemical, Murray Police Department, Calloway Circuit Court Clerk’s office, Parker Lincoln Ford and Murray State’s chapter of Alpha
Delta Pi among other businesses, organizations and individuals. Wing challenge participant and city of Murray Mayor, Jack Rose, officially declared April 15 – the day before the race – “Wing Day” when Murray-Calloway citizens are encouraged to wear their wings in town to show support for the new hospice house. “That will be an interesting day,” Williams said. In addition to fundraising, one of the goals of the campaign is to bring awareness to hospice and its purpose in the community. “Another huge goal of ours is to just connect better with the community and the university, so we love going out and talking with all these people and getting them involved with this amazing cause,” Conrad said. Murray has continued to support the cause as organizations and businesses have continued to challenge each other daily. “I really think Murray is the best community for this,” King said. “The more I tell people about the challenge, the more I am encouraged.” Wings in a variety of colors can be purchased for $10 at the Murray-Calloway County Hospital Endowment Office, Murray-Calloway County Hospital cashier or from RE/MAX in Murray.
Emily Harris/The News
Nicole King, senior from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, interns at the Murray-Calloway County Hospital Endowment for Healthcare and recruits members to participate in the challenge.
Psych Department will speak on LGBT issues within families Mikayla Marshall Staff writer
mmarshall5@murraystate.edu
The Dr. and Mrs. Gary Brummer Colloquium Series presents Rachel Farr on “The kids are all right,” on March 29. Farr will present in the Wrather West Kentucky Museum Auditorium from 7-8 p.m. The talk will discuss child development and family dynamics in adoptive families with lesbian and gay parents. Farr is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky, where she directs the Families, Adoption and Diversity (FAD) Lab. Her work involves research related to diverse family systems and issues of adoption
through the lenses of developmental and community psychology. She also researches how issues of race, gender and birth family contact are relevant in adoptive families. She started her work in graduate school and built a network of lesbian and gay parents across the United States who were willing to have her observe interactions in the home. “It’s really cool because so often a lot of the research is just a survey, and this has a lot more external validity,” said Eric Smith, assistant professor of psychology. He said he expects her data will show that kids with lesbian and gay parents will be on an equal playing field as kids with hetero-
sexual parents. It will challenge the notion that kids who grow up in that environment will become gay themselves or be at risk for psychological harm. Smith said Farr challenges people and has solid data to back up her claims. “I could see where some people might think the topic is too forward-thinking, but that’s the direction we’re headed in,” said Mary Kathryn Curtis, freshman from Mayfield, Kentucky. She said she would like to hear Farr speak and present new data on the topic. The Williams Institute at the University of California conducted a study in 2013 that estimates as many as 6 million American chil-
dren and adults have an LGBT parent. “The hardships that are placed on families today that either have an LGBT person at top of the household or as one of the children are very real; there’s still the cultural barriers,” said Jody Cofer Randall, coordinator of LGBT Programming. She said this is a very relevant topic, especially considering Senate Bill 180, which could have a negative impact on a lot of people, not just LGBT individuals. Lawmakers have said that the bill could interfere with interracial couples and businesses refusing to serve them. She said it could negatively affect daily lives. Even though studies have shown
that there is no psychological harm caused when LGBT parents raise a child, legislation still struggles with allowing those individuals to adopt. Most studies, like the Williams Institute study, show that the most important thing is for children to have two parents in the household. Farr’s talk will continue to support these parents and their right to adopt. Cofer Randall said that Murray State is a safe place for LGBT individuals, but there is still work to be done regarding policies. “The policies weren’t written to exclude those students but they weren’t meant to include them either,” Cofer Randall said. She said she is excited about the data Farr will be presenting.
March 17, 2016
Section B
The News
Sports Editor: Kelsey Randolph Assistant Sports Editor: Mark McFarland Phone: 270-809-4481 Twitter: MSUSportsNews
Sports
Journey to the Olympics Sarah Combs Staff writer scombs8@murraystate.edu
Ivan Roe, sophomore from Manhattan, Montana, begins his Olympic preparation, aiming for a spot on the USA Olympic Rifle team. Somewhere between classes, traveling and training for the NCAA Championships, Roe has earned a potential spot representing the USA Olympic Air Rifle Team in Rio de Janeiro during the summer. If Roe is able to clinch the position, he will be seventh in all-time Racer history. The last time Murray State Rifle team experienced Olympic competition was in 2004 with Morgan Hicks. Roe’s competitive rifle career began his senior year in high school. However, the dream began when his dad picked up a flier and signed him up for a BB gun safety course and shooting program at a local gun shop. Roe instantly fell in love with the sport and his love for the sport grew with his dreams. “It’s always been a dream of mine to do the Olympic walk in the opening ceremonies.” Roe said. “Walking with the United States is what I’m most looking forward to.” Training won’t change much for Roe regarding the transition to Olympic performance, but there will be small alterations. Roe said he isn’t training his mental game any differently but instead of training integer for college matches he will train decimal for international. “The shooting is not any different because you are trying to shoot right in the middle,” said Head Coach
CORRECTION On Thursday, March 10, The Murray State News printed and error in the article, “Softball wins two at Wilson/Demarini Classic.” The article spelled Kara Amundson’s name Kara Admundson. That it is incorrect, her name should be spelled Kara Amundson. The News regrets the errors.
See an error? Email us at murraystatenews @icloud.com
WHAT’S
INSIDE
Alan Lollar. “The difference is the number that appears to you on the screen.” International matches are scored differently than college. Each shot is graded 10.0-10.9. International counts the decimal points to figure the score and break ties easier. The higher the decimal point is, the deeper it is and Roe says that’s where he wants to be. A perfect score in college competition is 600 whereas a perfect score in international is a 654. Not only has Roe led his team on the range, but he leads his peers in the classroom as well. Establishing Murray State history, Roe was presented the Elite 90 award at the NCAA National Rifle Championship. In order even to be considered for this award, the athlete must first make it to a national championship, which is composed of the top rifle teams in the entire nation. Once an athlete is able to accomplish that, they must have a higher GPA than every other athlete at the National Championship. “Ivan is the epitome of a student athlete,” said director of athletics Allen Ward. “He does everything he is supposed to do inside the classroom and also certainly does it out on the range. All of his hard work is paying off for him. I couldn’t be more proud.” The Elite 90 is a very select type of award. It speaks well of Murray State and how Ivan represents not only the Rifle program but the athletic department as a whole. Roe’s involvement has brought positive publicity to the university and set a new standard for the student-athlete.
File Photo/The News
Ivan Roe, sophomore from Manhattan, Montana, sets his sights before preparing for NCAA Tournament and his Olympic training.
Rifle shoots to No. 2 Sarah Combs Staff writer scombs8@murraystate.edu
The Murray State Rifle team ranked third in the country after a win in the NCAA Rifle Championship in Akron, Ohio. The Racers improved five spots since last years’ national appearance finishing eighth. The team exceeded the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association expectations finishing third this year after being ranked sixth in the 2015 CRCA preseason poll. The team’s potential didn’t go unnoticed as the year proceeded. The team moved up one spot to be ranked fifth after defeating UT Martin in their season opener. A month later after other teams competed, the Racers moved to the fourth spot,
RACER SOFTBALL
shooting a school record of 2,341 in smallbore and 4,693 for their overall score. The Racers tied West Virginia for first place in the CRCA Top 20 rankings and broke their own school record set a week earlier against the University of Kentucky with 2,368 smallbore, 2,366 air rifle and 4,717 aggregate. The tie with West Virginia marked Alan Lollar’s first experience holding a top spot on the CRCA Top 20 rankings. West Virginia won their fourth consecutive championship with 4,703. Texas Christian University finished second with 4,694 and Murray State logged 4,690. The Racers came within 13 points of a National Champi-
see NCAA, 2B
Injuries plague Racers Mark McFarland
Assistant Sports Editor mmcfarland1@murraystate.edu
Murray State dropped three of its four games last week, losing 11-1 to the University of Kentucky and losing two conference games to UT Martin. The Racers have had recent struggles not only with their play on the field but with injuries to the team as well. Murray State has lost junior outfielders Aaron Bence and Brandon Gutzler because of injury. Gutzler is out for the season with a broken leg after he ran into the fence chasing a foul ball in the 7-4 victory over UT Martin on Saturday. Bence broke his hand when he got hit by a pitch in the Lindenwood-Belleville game March 2. He tried to go the next game but went 0-2 with two strike-
INTRAMURAL GAMES
Murray State goes 2-2 at Jack- Volleyball begins season with sonville University, 3B competitive spirit, 4B
outs before he was replaced in center field. Head Coach Kevin Moulder said it is tough to lose two of your best hitters and still come out on top. “The complexion of our team completely changed with pretty drastic injuries to two of our better hitters,” Moulder said. “No one is going to feel sorry for us. We are not going to replace the numbers that Bence and Gutzler put up, but it’s going to have to be a collective effort.” Gutzler is a former national player of the week who has a .385 batting average with five home runs, 24 RBIs and seven doubles. Bence is hitting .444 with one home run and five RBIs on the year. Moulder said the injuries are the main reason the team’s run production has been down.
HULA HOOPS
Just a couple weeks ago the team was second in the country in runs scored behind Vanderbilt University.
UT MARTIN
The Racers traveled to Tennessee to take on the Skyhawks in their first conference series of the season. The trip did not turn out to be what the Racers had hoped for as they lost two games out of the three. The defense for Murray State struggled as junior lefthanded pitcher Jack Hranec and first baseman gave up five runs in his 4.2 innings pitched, though only two of the runs were earned. Murray State did not score until the top of the fourth inning when junior first baseman
see INJURIES, 2B
A HISTORY
A lesser-known art, ingrained in Murray State alumni focus on campus, 6B childhood memories, 5B
The News
Sports
2B
March 17, 2016
Moments you might have missed
Nicole Ely & Jenny Rohl/The News
SPUNKY SPIRITS: (Top, left) A fan of the men’s basketball team throws her hands up in confusion to a call made by the referee on March 2. (Top, right) Dunker bites his nails during the last few moments of the first round of the OVC Tournament on March 3. (Left) Junior forward Gee McGhee jumps for a layup during their preconference game against Brescia on Dec. 30.
INJURIES
NCAA
From Page 1 Ramsey Scott hit a two-run home run to take the 2-1 lead. The Racers couldn’t hang onto the lead as the Skyhawks scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, two hits and a sacrifice fly. Three of the four runs scored in the inning were unearned runs charged to Hranec. Murray State committed two errors in the game leading to three unearned runs. Murray State fought back as it scored a run in the top of the eighth inning and two in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game going into the last half inning. UT Martin, however, ended the game on a walk-off single to bring home the win in a 6-5 victory over the Racers. In game two, Murray State and UT Martin were locked in another close game as the Racers edged out the Skyhawks 7-4. Neither team scored a run until the top of the third inning when junior catcher and outfielder Tyler Lawrence doubled in the first run of the game, giving the Racers a 1-0 lead. Murray State added two more runs in the top of the fourth inning off a single by Scott and a bases-loaded walk issued to sophomore infielder Caleb Hicks. UT Martin came back as it got one run in the bottom of the sixth inning and scored three more in the bottom of the seventh to take the 4-3 lead over Murray State. The Racers tied the game in the top of the ninth and held the Skyhawks scoreless in the bottom half of the inning to send the game to extra innings. Murray State scored two runs in the top of the 11 inning off a double from Hicks and a single from junior outfielder and infielder Adam Bauer. Murray State kept the Skyhawks off the board in the bottom of the inning to secure the 7-4 in 11 innings. However, the team lost Gutzler for the year due to a broken leg suffered in the game. In the first game without Gutzler, the Racers struggled
Tessa Howald, senior from Ozark, Missouri, finished her Racer career with a 598. Howald gave all four years to Murray State AthFrom Page 1 letics. Howald plans to focus onship. in pediatric social work. The team brought home an Her favorite memory of the extensive list of accomplishweekend was winning the ments including All-Ameritie-breaker for second place can, academic and individual in air rifle against TCU. awards. “From where we started It’s hard to deny the posmy freshman year to where itive influence that a great we are now is just amazing,” coach can have on a team. Howald said. “I will always Lollar led his team to set sevtake what I learned here and eral records throughout the apply it to my life.” 2015-16 year, won the 2016 The Racers comprised. OVC Championship and deone senior and four underlivered a performance that classmen to compete at Nalanded them tionals. The a third place pressure From where we in the nadidn’t phase started my fresh- t h e t e a m , tion. A fair amount of man year to where h o w e v e r , this team’s who shot s u c c e s s we are now is just their avercan be atscores. amazing. I will al- age tributed to “These five Lollar who ways take what I s h o o t e r s received ent into learned here and w the Collethe National giate Rifle apply it to my life. C h a m p i Coaches Asonship and sociation’s shot the seaNational - Tessa Howald, senior son match Coach of the averages from Ozark, Missouri Year. that they Not only carried in,” did the Racsaid Lollar. ers have the knowledge and “Looking across the board at guidance of the best coach national scores, teams don’t in the country, they also had normally perform the way several All-Americans that they perform during the year were named Saturday night because of the pressure and in Akron, Ohio. the distractions.” Ivan Roe, sophomore from Lollar said the team’s goal Manhattan, Montana, was is always to train at a high named first-team All-Amerilevel, compete as close to can by the CRCA and named that level as they can and First-Team selection in both to stay consistent. These air rifle and smallbore by the five were able to accomplish National Rifle Association. that. Barbara Schlapfer, fresh“We deman from Gais, Switzerland, termine was named All-American at success by the banquet, Second-Team whether or Honoree by the CRCA. not we do MacKenzie Martin, freshwhat we man from Fairhaven, Massashould be chusetts, received Honorable expected Mention from the CRCA and to do with NRA in air rifle. Martin also our trainreceived Second-Team mening and the Lollar tion in smallbore from the talent and NRA. skill we are given,” Lollar Ben Estes, sophomore said. “They got 100 percent from Ozark, Missouri, was out of what they had. You also named second team in can ask nothing more than smallbore by the NRA. that.”
“
”
Lori Allen/The News
Brandon Gutzler, junior outfielder will be out the rest of the season with a broken leg. as UT Martin defeated them 19-6. The Racers gave up 25 in the loss and committed one error. The Skyhawks scored in every inning except for the fourth. Moulder said he wants his team to learn from the mistakes they made and to move on and get better for this weekend. The Racers will play a home conference series this weekend against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. SIUE swept the Racers last season
and have played a difficult non-conference schedule this year. The Cougars have played teams like University of Louisville, Missouri State and University of Memphis and have a 0-12 record on the year. “They’re struggling a little bit right now; they played a tremendous non-conference schedule,” Moulder said. “So their record is not good, but if you look at the teams they played, there’s a reason for it.” Over Spring Break the Rac-
ers will play the University of Memphis at 6 p.m. on March 22 at home and will then travel to Austin Peay State for a series March 24-26. Next month, the team will host a baseball camp for young baseball players in the area. “That’s a fun way and a good way to promote our brand with the younger kids in the area, and I think it’s good for those kids to be around the college players,” Moulder said.
The News
Sports
March 17, 2016
3B
Women’s tennis splits weekend in Tennessee Sarah Combs Staff writer
lot of energy and were all supportive.”
scombs8@murraystate.edu
The Racers went 1-1 this weekend, pulling out a 4-3 win on Friday against Lipscomb but losing their match Saturday against Wright State 7-0.
Nahiomy Gallardo/The News
Pitching Coach Kristen Emerling throws Wednesday as the team prepares for conference play this weekend.
Softball wins two before conference play Mark McFarland
Assistant Sports Editor mmcfarland1@murraystate.edu
The Racers played a four game series against two teams in Jacksonville, Florida last weekend and came away with a 2-2 record. The other teams were Ball State and host Jacksonville. Murray State lost to each team once and beat each team once as it record moved to 8-10 on the season. Head Coach Kara Amundson said in order for the team to get better, they have to continue to get better every time they step onto the field. “Whether that means winning or losing, that part to me doesn’t really matter right now. Of course, I always have to win I’m super competitive and I don’t really like to lose, but in the scope of big picture, if we can continue to get better as a team and execute better as a team, then we are going to be in a pretty good spot,” Amundson said.
JACKSONVILLE
The Racers’ first game against the Dolphins ended in a 4-2 loss on Saturday.
Jacksonville jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead after a stolen base, an error and a sacrifice fly. Murray State was held scoreless until the third inning when they were able to tie the game at two behind a single from junior infielder Jessica Twaddle. The two runs scored on the play, but neither run was earned because of two errors earlier in the inning. The Dolphins scored a run in each of the third and fourth innings, which was enough to push them past the Racers 4-2. Twaddle went 1-4 on the day and had to two lone RBIs for Murray State. Both the Racers and the Dolphins combined for 17 hits in game two as Murray State mercy-ruled Jacksonville 9-1 in five innings. Senior infielder Shelbey Miller led the Racers by going 2-3 with four RBIs and a walk. Sophomore pitcher Haven Campbell went three innings giving up four hits, zero runs and hit one batter. Senior pitcher J.J. Francis went two innings giving up four hits, one earned run and walked
two batters in relief of Campbell. The Racers finished the game with nine hits, nine runs and zero errors in the winning effort to split the series between the Dolphins.
BALL STATE
The Racers started out the weekend with a 6-1 win over the Ball State Cardinals. The Cardinals scored in the top of the first inning off of an illegal pitch from junior pitcher Mason Robinson. However, Robinson bounced back and pitched seven innings, letting up one run on six hits and zero walks. Robinson also struck out four Ball State batters. The Racers had seven hits and one error in the win over the Cardinals. Junior outfielder Mallory Young led Murray State going 2-3 with one RBI and was followed by Miller who went 1-3 with an RBI. Ball State battled from a 4-1 deficit in the bottom of the sixth inning when the Cardinals scored eight runs. Murray State committed two errors in the game and gave up seven hits. Haven
started the game and went five innings, giving up four hits and three earned runs. She also hit a batter and walked four other batters. However, she struck out six Cardinal batters. Junior infielder Taylor Odom led the Racers by going 2-3 with three RBIs. Junior catcher Jocelynn Rodgers hit 2-4 and finished with an RBI of her own. The Racers play two games at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday at Racer Field before they head to Southeast Missouri State to open up conference play with a doubleheader on Saturday and one game on Sunday. Amundson said the tough non-conference schedule should help the team feel prepared for the conference schedule. “I’ve always kind of had the belief that you’ve got to play the best to be the best,” Amundson said. “We’ve gone through some adversity this year, we’ve had some really good games and some really bad games to be honest with you. I think the best teams are going to learn from that kind of stuff.”
Fishing tradition Equestrian team rides into weekend western semifinals continues on Justin Gaston
Contributing writer jgaston2@murraystate.edu
Over the years, Murray State’s bass fishing team has been successful and continued to be one of the best collegiate bass fishing clubs in the nation. The Anglers were established in 2004 and didn’t take long to become well-known. In 2009, the Anglers were named the U.S. Boat National Champions. The Anglers currently rank 58 out of 329 schools in the Bass Association of College Anglers School of the Year standings but are expecting a big rise in the standings after points are added from last weekend’s tournament. The past two years the Anglers have finished second place in the standings for school of the year, but the Anglers’ team president, Ryan Kirkpatrick, says they have their eyes focused on placing first this year. Kirkpatrick, junior from Lindenhurst, Illinois, is confident this will be the Anglers’ year. Last weekend at the biggest collegiate bass event of the year at Kentucky Lake, the Anglers’ Ryan Lancaster, sophomore from Shelby, North Carolina, placed seventh overall after starting off day one winning his session and reeling in the second-largest bass of that day, a 6.71 pound largemouth. Jake Krish, senior from Louisville, Kentucky, reeled in a 5.68 pound largemouth placing him sixth in his session and finishing in the top 40. The Anglers’ credit their success over the years to two
key elements: location and the size of their team. The Anglers are only 15 minutes away from Kentucky Lake, which Bassmaster magazine described as “one of the most consistent bass fishing destinations” and ranking 12th in the 2015 best bass lakes Bassmaster article. The Anglers also have the largest collegiate bass team in the nation with members from Minnesota to North Carolina. The Anglers bring out as many as eight teams to their tournaments with two members per team. The top six anglers are chosen to compete in the national tournaments. “We’ve got guys from all over and that really helps when you’re traveling to all these different places,” Kirkpatrick said. The Anglers are always looking to add fishers to their team, hosting club meetings the first Wednesday of every month for anyone looking to come out and join them. The meetings take place in Room 404 in Business Building South. The Anglers also host eight club tournaments just for the people of Murray to come be a part of, including the Murray State Invitational which is hosted by the Anglers in honor of Kyle P. Dieling, one of the founders of the Murray State Anglers. The Anglers hosted the fifth annual invitational in February. The Anglers will continue their ACA tournament at the Cabela’s Collegiate Bass Fishing Open at Lake Dardanelle, March 25-26. This will be their second of the 15 national tournaments they are participating in this year.
The RacCaetano ers were LIPSCOMB scheduled The Racers match against to host Wright State for their Lipscomb was pushed back first home game at the BenFriday, which caused a quick nie Purcell Tennis Courts turnaround for the Wright on Saturday, but traveled to State match. Clarksville to compete be Erin Patton, senior from cause of weather conditions. Memphis, Tennessee, and The Racers felt fatigue Haily Morgan, freshman early in the match, losing the from Anthem, Arizona, set doubles point and opening the pace for the Racers, winsingles in the trailing posining their doubles match 6-3. tion. Despite the early loss, Megan Blue, senior from Caetano said the team was Mississauga, Ontario, and able to learn from the situfreshman Amina Hadzic ation and will be prepared from Esbjerg, Denmark, for similar situations in the couldn’t find the beat, losing future. their match 6-3. However, “We saw a lot of positives,” freshman Jeanne Mason, juCaetano said. “We gotta be nior from Dinard, France, able to bounce back and be and juready for n i o r everyA l i n a thing.” Schibol, Murray junior S t a t e f r o m couldn’t H a m find its b u r g , groove G e r and were - Head Coach Jorge Caetano m a n y , swept by delivered Wright a win and the doubles point State through singles 7-0. for the Racers finishing their The Racers saw a glimpse match 7-5. The win gave of hope from Hadzic, who the Racers an early 1-0 lead took the lead early in her going into singles. singles match but couldn’t The Racers struggled in finish, falling in the second singles but were able to and third match 6-3, 6-3. The pull enough wins together Racers fought through their to finish off the day. Blue matches but the Wolves reset the bar, winning her sinsponded every time. gles match 6-3, 6-1. Hadzic “They had answers for followed suit, earning the everything,” Caetano said. second win 7-6. Schibol de“When we came with a lot of livered the promise of a win energy, Wright State just had for the Racers, wrapping up answers.” her singles match 7-5. The Racers look forward “They played great tennis; to starting the OVC on Frithey were very supportive at day at Morehead State. The midnight,” Head Coach Jorge Racers then play at 10 a.m. Caetano said about the Racon Saturday at Eastern Keners late night. “They had a tucky.
They had answers for everything. When we came with a lot of energy, Wright State just had answers.
“
”
Men’s tennis loses two in Nashville Clara Firtos
Contributing Writer cfirtos@murraystate.edu
Chalice Keith/The News
Top: Becca Brigel, senior from Oswego, Illinois, helped the equestrian team take High Point Team on the second in the Middle Tennessee State competition. Left: Laura Ganvik, sophomore from Union, Illinois, helped the equestrian team win the championship at the Murray State show. The team finished its regular season and Regional competitions Feb. 19 and 20.
W R I G H T STATE
The Murray State men’s tennis team fell against University of South Carolina 6-1 last Thursday and against Lipscomb 7-0 on Friday. “Playing against these teams are tough because they are all ranked teams and they are good,” said junior Anjan Kashyab from Tell City, Indiana. “But the best way for us to bounce back is to look at the OVC matches. I think we have a good chance of doing well. Playing these teams help prepare us.” During the singles competition against South Carolina, sophomore Marcel Ueltzhoeffer from Oftersheim, Germany played at No. 1. Ueltzhoeffer lost his single match at 6-3 and 6-4. “I got my chances and I know I can play with those guys,” Ueltzhoeffer said. “I am now looking forward to the OVC Tournament.” Will True, sophomore from Bowling Green, Kentucky, played at No. 2 and lost his match at 6-2 and 6-1. The rest of the men lost their matches. Freshman Javier Villar from Madrid, won his match due to his opponent’s walkover. During the men’s doubles, Ueltzhoeffer and partner freshman from Mannheim, Germany David Schrott, were unable to continue their match because South
Carolina took the 1-0 doubles point lead; this left the duo with a score of 4-5. Ueltzhoeffer said although they were a point behind, they still could have won the match. He believes he and Schrott make a great team. As for the match against Lipscomb, Murray State’s Ueltzhoeffer played as No. 1 again during the singles competition. No. 2 player True suffered a loss at 6-0 and 6-3. No. 3 Schrott was defeated by his opponent 6-0, 6-4. During the doubles match junior David Hess from Louisville, Kentucky, and his partner Villar had to settle for an unfinished score of 4-3. The doubles point was given to Lipscomb. Hess says despite the loss he is still hopeful that the team will work their way up to the OVC Tournament. He says the team seems more pumped up about it this year. In preparation for conference play, Head Coach Mel Purcell said he is having the boys work on their doubles more. Men’s tennis will play Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky this weekend for the OVC Tournament. Men’s tennis also split their doubleheader against Tennessee Wesleyan 4-3, 2-4 on Tuesday, March 8. This was the first match they have won since Olivet Nazarene 4-3 in January earlier this year.
Sports
4B
IM: Not all just fun and games
The News
Justin Gaston
Contributing writer jgaston2@murraystate.edu
Intramural sports, like volleyball, carry a weighted energy. When the students of Murray State step on any field or court, they never leave their intensity behind. Some students are former players just going out for the love and fun of the game; other students are out competing to be called champions. Albert Diaz, junior from Jackson, Tennessee, enjoys watching his friends play on the court and considers the games pretty exciting. “It’s kind of fun yet funny at the same time,” said Diaz, adding that he finds humor in how serious the games get. “They’re definitely not in the pros, but you can’t tell them that,”
March 17, 2016
Diaz said. Casey Schulte, senior from Bar Whether it is the fraternity, sotelso, Illinois hopes her team can rority, independent or residential turn it around and win the IM teams competing, there are good championship for their sorority. matches all around. Schulte said her sorority has been Lambda Chi Alpha very successful in leads the fraternity every intramural league with an undesport except for volfeated record of four leyball, but they are wins and no losses. looking to change Sigma Phi Epsilon that. and Sigma Chi trail The sorority B in second with three league is close with wins and one loss. Tri Sigma B leading The sorority A the way with five league has two - Jacobi Collins, sophomore resident wins and zero losses of Lee Clark and they are folteams tied for first lowed by the Alpha place with four wins Delta Pi Lions who and one loss (Alpha have three wins and one loss. Sigma Alpha A Team, Sigma Sigma Sigma A) with one sorority follow The women’s residential college league is just as competitive as ing with three wins and two losses the sorority league, with Elizabeth (Kappa Delta A). leading the league with five wins Alpha Gamma Delta A team’s
“
Oh no, I’m playing to win. I wouldn’t come out to lose.
”
and zero losses. Springer/Franklin A and the Hart Ravens are both trailing closely in second with four wins and one loss, but it can be any team’s game when the playoffs arrive. Erin Harper, senior from Princeton, Kentucky and athletic director and captain for the Lee Clark Girls said she is hopeful that her residential college can win it all. “I mean I think we definitely got a shot at it,” Harper said of her team’s chances to win the tournament. Clark’s Jacobi Collins, sophomore from St. Louis, shares the same feeling about the team goals. Collins says she enjoys volleyball because it’s fun, but she also comes out to win. “Oh no, I’m playing to win. I wouldn’t come out to lose,” Collins said.
IM Standings Women’s Sorority A
Men’s Fraternity
1. ASA A Team and Tri Sigma A
4-1
1. Lambda Chi Alpha
5-0
2. Kappa Delta A
3-2
2. Sigma Phi Epsilon
4-1
Sorority B
Independent A
1. Tri Sigma B
5-0
1. Arabian Gulf
4-0
2. ADPI Lions
3-1
2. Tri-Lam
4-1
Independent A
Resiential College
1. Murray State ACErs
6-0
1. Lizo A
2. Omega Mu
0-0
2. Richmond A and Hart A 4-1
Co-Recreation North
Residential A 1. Lizo A
5-0
1. White
2-0
2. Hart Ravens and Springer/Franklin A
4-1
2. Lizo
1-1
1. Lizo B
5-0
1. Hart
2-0
2. Hart Attacks
3-1
2. Hester Co-Rec
1-1
Residential College B
Justin Gaston/The News
A player for Lee Clark Girls spikes the ball in their win over Regents A March 10.
5-0
South
Results are as of Tuesday. Standings courtesy of IMLeagues.
The Murray State News wishes you a fun and safe Spring Break! Follow us over the break for all your campus updates! F: The Murray State News T: @MurrayStateNews // @MSUSportsNews W: thenews.org S: @MurrayStateNews
March 17, 2016
5B
The News
Features
Features Editor: Connor Jaschen Assistant Features Editor: Gisselle Hernandez Phone: 270-809-5871 Twitter: MSUNewsFeatures
A TALE OF A NUTTY SQUIRREL
@MSSquirrels
But soft! What light through yonder acorn breaks? It is the Tree, and Squirrels are the sun! Arise, fair Squirrel, and eat the envious nut 1:28 PM - 12 Feb 2016
Dogs are like the Paparazzi; always trying to pursue #CelebSquirrels #FamousSquirrel Can we get them for stalking us? #StalkersOfSquirrels 11:46 AM - 1 Feb 2016
Taylor Inman || Staff writer tinman1@murraystate.edu
Opinions are like squirrels – every college campus has a million of them. It just so happens that, at Murray State, the squirrels know how to use Twitter and they aren’t afraid to speak their minds. The little critters have used their Twitter handle, @MSSquirrels, to let their tiny little squeaks be heard. The Murray State News decided we needed to give the squirrels a better outlet to let us all know exactly where they stood on topics of great importance, like the presidential election or Kim Kardashian’s nude selfie controversy. So, we walked over to knock on the nearest tree for their insight. Emily Harris/The News
Q:
How are the squirrels handling all of this rain?
A:
We squirrels are not a fan of all this rain. The only good thing about the rain is when we dig for our nuts we can wash the dirt off. We use our tails to protect ourselves from the rain like a built-in umbrella.
Q: A:
Q:
Where do the squirrels stand on this whole Kim Kardashian nude selfie controversy?
A:
We’re huge fans of selfies (actually won the selfie contest earlier this year to be honest). We always take ours in the nude.
Q: A:
Why do the squirrels on campus get so close to people? We are just trying to be friendly with the students of MSU. We want to see this great university grow and the best way to do that is by making the students happy. We have also been told that students are only able to afford peanuts (or something like that), and we LOVE peanuts.
Q:
Would you vote for Kanye if he actually ran for president?
A:
No way! He’s even nuttier than Trump!
Q:
Where is the best tree? Like THE best tree?
A:
This is an ongoing debate for us. Some of us think that pine trees are the best because of the pine cones and the protection from the weather and mean birds. It’s this squirrel’s thought that the best tree is the oak tree by the President’s house. I love all the acorns in the fall. It’s tall enough to see the students trying to dodge the cars crossing the road (we know the feeling).
It’s just plain nuts!!! If this is seriously under consideration, might we propose you name yourselves after a more noble animal … like the squirrel? Ground Squirrels = Freshmen, Red Squirrels = Sophomores, Tree Squirrels = Juniors and Flying Squirrels = Seniors… “Walnut” that be a lot of fun?
Hula hoops, journey from the playgrounds to college campuses dtuck@murraystate.edu
Hula hoops have been around since the early 1950s, but now hula hooping is being used as flow art, the use of a variety of movement such as dance and object manipulation to achieve a mindful clarity. “Flow arts have been around for a long time and are super prominent in the music festival world,” said Melanie Davis, sophomore from Mt. Vernon, Indiana. Hula hoop flow art is about stretching your mind, Davis said, and thinking about what can be done with it. Creativity and patience are key.
LIVING IN THE COMMUNITY
“The hula hooping community revolves around a principle of unity,” said Jen Smith, senior from St. Louis. “We try and spread love and positivity to each other.” Smith said it is not about competitions. She said each hula hooper has his or her own original flow and other hula hoopers just respect and appreciate that they all have a passion for the same art. Although there are not competitions to attend, hula hoopers gather at events such as Bonnaroo and other festivals
Q: A:
Now the world knows, the squirrels of Murray State are not that different from the students on campus. They both share strong political opinions and would do just about anything for food. And when there’s a group of students taking selfies on the Quad, there’s probably a group of squirrels close by doing the same, except like Kim Kardashian, they opt to take all of theirs in the nude.
What do you think of the change proposed for the grade classifications? (Freshman to Mustang, Sophomore to Blazer, Junior to Palomino and Senior to Secretariat).
Da’Sha Tuck || Staff writer
The squirrel behind the candidate.
throughout the year. When there is not a festival, hula hoopers stay connected through social media. Smith said she is a part of a Facebook group with over 40,000 hula hoopers. There they share videos, memories, hooper bloopers and anything hula hoop related. “You can learn from each other but should never make it about who has more skill, it is honestly just about having fun,” Smith said. Davis said the flow arts community is one of the most accepting and open groups she has ever known.
GETTING STARTED
Smith and Davis are friends and now involved heavily in hula hoop flow art. The women agreed that, to be successful in this flow art, creativity and patience are key. Davis said if there is anyone who thinks they may be interested in learning this art, they shouldn’t hesitate. “I don’t think I know a single hooper who wouldn’t love to help someone start their flow journey,” Davis said.
PERFECTING THE FLOW
Smith said the hardest part is keeping hula hooping interesting. She said it is pos-
sible to experience burnout when there isn’t something new and exciting to do. “You can get really into your flow sometimes, and it’s nice to let your body move with the hoop,” Davis said. Both Davis and Smith said they spend countless hours practicing their art. Sometimes Smith substitutes hooping for the gym. She said hooping can be a great workout. Smith enjoys practicing her hooping around campus but especially behind Alexander Hall. She blares her music and loses herself in her art. “She made it look so beautiful and effortless,” said Emma Franklin, senior from Alton, Illinois. “It’s an artistic expression of emotion.” This type of hooping is becoming more and more visible on social media. Davis said the act of hooping is both energizing and relaxing, so it is a win – win. Hula hoop flow art is not just about spinning a hoop, it is about exploring the mind and body in a different way. “It is all about self-expression,” Smith said. “You can match your flow to your mood and nobody can take your individuality and nobody can cop your style. It is just you expressing yourself in any way you like and I love it.”
The students at Murray State need to know: who are the squirrels supporting in the upcoming presidential election? This is an easy question. We are supporting the nuttiest candidate – Donald Trump. To be honest with you, Trump is not human. He is really a squirrel that we have disguised as a human so we can make cutting down a tree a crime. If you look close enough at Trump, you will notice that his hair is really a squirrel tail that we have dyed blonde. The media would like to think Trump is a nut case … little do they know how true they are!
Q:
Are you feeling “the Bern”?
A:
We like the Bern, too. We find him a little seedy so we like that, but he supports jail birds which are not our friends. I mean, really, who would want to support a group of flying poop-poop heads? Have you ever had a bird poop on you or your car? Squirrels don’t do that crap to our human friends.
Philanthropic inclusion, new direction for IFC Connor Jaschen Features Editor
cjaschen@murraystate.edu
The Interfraternity Council, or IFC, has been taking a hard look at the lack of participation between fraternities and how involvement can be improved. On the heels of Alpha Tau Omega canceling their scheduled philanthropic dodgeball tournament, Keegan Cameron, president of ATO, said the plans fell through because of a lack of participation. “It was partly on us,” Cameron said. “We didn’t give people enough time to plan to be there and with it being dodgeball, I guess it was a little more fraternity-related than sorority-related.” The marketing of the event toward fraternities marked a change of pace compared to what is considered the norm for philanthropies at Murray State. From Sigma Pi’s Fall Festival
to Pi Kappa Alpha’s Peak Week, fraternities have traditionally only allowed for sorority participation, leaving fraternity-on-fraternity cooperation by the wayside. ATO was positioned to be the first fraternity to successfully garner such widespread cooperation in recent years. Evan Ditty, coordinator of Greek life and student leadership, said the heart of this inter-organizational disconnect lies not only with the organizations, but the on-campus rivalries and competition that develop between them. “I do think that the root of the problem is that fraternities are so used to competing with each other,” Ditty said. “Whether it’s for grades or members or for the sorority events, that they feel like they have to compete in terms of their philanthropy as well.” Ditty said the theme of competition, while positive and healthy,
see FRATERNITY, 6B
The News
Features
6B FRIDAY
THURSDAY
SATURDAY
March 17, 2016
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
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7:00 p.m. FAME Drag Show, Curris Center Ballroom
4:00 p.m. Harry M. Sparks Distinguished Lecture Series, Alexander Hall Auditorium
6:00 p.m. Chow Down for Hounds, Metropolis Community Center, Metropolis, Kentucky
All Day Final day of AQHA Show, William “Bill” Cherry Agricultural Exposition Center
5:00 p.m. Alumni Easter Egg Hunt, Sid Easley Alumni Center
8:00 a.m. Museum Exhibit: The War Between the States, Wrather West Kentucky Museum
8:00 a.m. Art for the people: WPA Exhibition and Events, Clara M. Eagle Gallery
Murray State: Then-and-Now Brianna Willis || Staff writer bwillis2@murraystate.edu
Ninety years ago this summer, the graduating class of 1926 walked out of their commencement ceremony in Wrather Hall and immediately walked to Wells Hall, where they founded what we now know as the Alumni Association. “The whole idea of an alumni association is to support and promote the idea where engaged alumni are critical to not only universities, but any institution,” said Mark Welch, director of Alumni Relations. Welch is an alumnus of Murray State. He graduated in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science in radio-television and a minor in journalism. He stayed for his master’s in mass communications. “At that time the department was called Journalism, Radio, TV and Film,” he said. “So, I wanted to be a TV news anchor,” he said. “That is what I wanted to do, but I got involved with WKMS as a sophomore and fell in love with it.” As an alumnus who stayed in Murray with his wife Karen, who is also an alumna, Welch said he has noticed many changes on campus and in the city itself. He said it was a time of construction, with many changes coming to Murray and Murray State constructing new buildings, such as Roy Stewart Stadium. Welch said he remembered when Waterfield Library was first built. “It was the student center at
Left photo courtesy of Pogue Library. Right photo by Chalice Keith/The News
The Quad from the 1930s ‘Mayday celebration’ (left) compared to the Quad in 2016 (right), complete with renovations, like the Price Doyle Fine Arts Building and the relocated Shoe Tree. that time, so the T-Room [Thoroughbred Room] was downstairs,” he said. Welch said students jokingly would refer to Murray State as “Muddy State” because of the heavy rains they experienced in the 70s as well as the construction at that time. He recalled being an employee for WKMS and being able to interview the first driver under the newly constructed overpass many students cross today. While the tangible aspects of campus have been torn down or newly built, Welch said the atmosphere of campus remains the same and said Murray is a great place to study and then put down roots. He and his wife have raised two sons in Murray, both of whom are alumni of Murray State. Welch said between his wife, his sons and
FRATERNITY From Page 5B is also carried forth in the very essence of some philanthropic events held on the other end of the spectrum by sororities. He said fraternities are routinely pitted against each other over a week to see who can win competitions or raise the most money, with the inclusion of events like “spirit point” competitions or change wars. Michael Mann, president of IFC, said the competition aspect is not only a role in philanthropy, but imperative in the IFC’s goals of furthering inter-fraternity participation. “If we can somehow swing that [competitiveness] to make that the new
himself they have received seven degrees. Tim Miller, former president of Murray State and professor emeritus of accounting, is the first and only president to have graduated from Murray State, and his wife Patsy is the only first lady to have graduated from Murray State. Prior to his retirement, Miller taught for 47 years. Miller originally attended Eastern Kentucky on a football scholarship. His sophomore year, he transferred to Murray State with a baseball scholarship. “It [Murray State] was really different from Eastern Kentucky,” he said. “I couldn’t believe people would see you on the sidewalk and say ‘hi’ and ‘how are you?’ It really was a friendly place and I loved it from day one.”
competition for fraternity events, […] I think that would be great,” Mann said. “However, I think that may be tough to do.” While the competition is there, the same divisive gap hasn’t been observed as often in sorority philanthropies, with high participation and teams routinely being assembled between sororities, no matter which organization actually hosts the event. “I think that [sororities] focus more on the sisterhood of the event,” Ditty said. “There is a sense of rivalry, but I think women – when it comes down to those rivalries coming down to a head – are not as physical about it, which is the big difference.” While the separation between fraternities is one issue, Ditty said he would like to see the divide between Greeks and non-Greeks narrowed in philanthropic
Miller met his wife after she transferred from the University of Kentucky. They married on Christmas Day in 1966. Unfortunately, the Shoe Tree was not a tradition then, otherwise they would have nailed shoes up, Miller said, smiling. One of the biggest changes Miller has noticed about campus is the growth Murray State has experienced over the years. “When I came in 1963 we had about 3,500 students,” he said. “Now, today we have over 11,000 students, so it has really grown student-wise.” Miller also said that in terms of the student-body makeup, the amount of international students has grown, remembering hardly any international students when he first arrived. Miller jokingly said that, back then, “international student” meant they were from New Jer-
work. “There’s kind of like this exclusivity idea when it comes to philanthropy events that we need to start moving away from,” Ditty said. “Things like cancer, mental health awareness – things like that are not exclusive to Greek organizations.” As for reaching out to non-Greeks, Cameron said his organization had in fact considered also taking that first step of outreach onto the residential side of campus, but plans never came through. “I think, personally, that it is a good idea to get them involved, because you build relations with non-Greek people, potentially and that would just get people more involved in Greek life,” Cameron said. However, Mann said that divide was a bit harder to bridge, as many philanthropy events tend to edge the line between regular and social event. The
sey. “It really adds so much diversity to campus,” Miller said. Miller also noted that an increase in social media has lead to a change in campus culture. He said that now it seems students have a wider array of events to attend and passing information via social media has increased students’ ability to be selective. “Back then, we didn’t have social media and there wasn’t that much to do, so everything was word of mouth,” he said. “There was a large student turnout to all of the campus events, like football games and basketball games.” Miller said that the growth in educational opportunities is a benefit to campus. He said there are a lot more class offerings and majors now, which he attributes to the young faculty who
differentiation matters; because of the special courses Greeks must take to participate that non-Greeks do not, a liability dilemma is brought forth. How does an organization enact risk management policies on members of the public they have no control over? “These risk management and social policies are a way for the Greek system to protect itself,” Mann said. “Now, if other non-Greek organizations decide that they want to start doing that, then I think that will help them out.” Mann said no matter what changes do or do not take place, it will have to be cultural before it is systematic. “There is only so much that the leadership can do,” Mann said. “It takes, you know, a collaborative effort from everyone in Greek life if we want these philanthropies to be successful, because that’s why we joined.”
went out to bring new companies and courses to campus. “When I started teaching, I was 23 and many of the faculty were in their 20s,” he said. “We went out and recruited new companies to come and recruit on campus.” One thing that has not changed over the years is the atmosphere that makes Murray State and Murray such a great place to live and study. Both Welch and Miller said Murray is still a friendly place and a great place to raise a family. Miller said that he was shocked by how friendly campus was, and this continues to be true today. Welch said that this summer will be the 90th anniversary of the first graduating class and in turn, the Alumni Association. Welch said one of the interesting things about this anniversary is finding that a family has produced five generations of Murray State students. He said this connection to ancestry and the university is an interesting one, and one he hopes to explore and honor. “Having that ancestry so rooted in campus is just awesome,” he said. “We are going to try and find a way to honor that family.” Miller offered one bit of advice for new students: one of the most important things they can do is to pick a major they will be happy with. “That will be more important than money,” he said. “You need to be satisfied and fulfilled in what you do.”
CORRECTION On Thursday, March 10, The Murray State News printed an error in the article, “Let’s talk politics.” The article incorrectly spelled the name of Ashleigh Kendall as “Ashley Kendal.” The News regrets the error. See an error? Email us at murraystatenews@icloud. com.
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2016
Gateway magazine is a special publication of The Murray State News. Be sure to pick up your copy today!
The News
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March 17, 2016
7B
MEDIA REVIEWS Underground thriller buried in twists outside. He further states that the world as it used to be is gone. She then discovers that another man named Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.) is also living in the bunker. He confirms that a disastrous event has taken place outside but isn’t exactly sure what has happened. Uncertain of what to think, Michelle tries to resolve whether what she is being told is lie or if something truly catastrophic has transpired outside and is preventing them from being able to leave the bunker. A couple of months ago, no one knew that this film even existed. The film’s cast and crew did an excellent job at keeping this movie and its plot top secret, much like what was done with the first film. Audiences will enjoy this because they will go into the film having no idea what is going to happen or what the story is actually about. As mentioned before, this picture is a standalone film, separate from the first “Cloverfield” movie, so the viewer doesn’t need to have seen the first one in order to understand or appreciate this one. While the original is essentially an action/monster movie, this new film is more of a suspenseful mystery. This flick is jam-packed with twists and turns,
Adam Winn || Staff writer awinn@murraystate.edu
“10 Cloverfield Lane” is a loose sequel to the 2008 film “Cloverfield,” and the term “loose” applies because, though this movie may exist in the same universe as the other one, it is a complete stand-alone film. Filled with an endless supply of suspense, drama and action, this new film is not only astounding, but even surpasses its predecessor as a unique, captivating work of art. The plots starts off with a woman named Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) packing up and moving her belongings out of the apartment that she and her fiancé shared. It’s revealed she does this because of an unknown fight the couple recently had. Not long after, she ends up in a car wreck that causes her vehicle to flip off the road. As soon as she wakes up, she finds herself in a nearly empty room, with her right foot handcuffed to a pipe. Soon after, her captor reveals himself to be a man named Howard (John Goodman). He informs her that they are inside an underground bunker near his farmhouse because an unknown, apocalyptic event has taken place
so even when the audience thinks that they have the plot figured out, they usually don’t. The viewer discovers things at the same time as the characters do, which allows the story to have a good build-up that, in turn, keeps the viewers’ interest peaked. The cinematography has a claustrophobic vibe to it, which helps set an unnerving sentiment for the audience. It also makes the spectator feel as if they are actually there, trapped in the bunker like the rest of the characters. The entire cast deserves a round of applause, not only for keeping the film a secret, but for their individual character portrayals. Winstead did an amazing job playing the lead role. She makes the audience truly sympathize with her character and the newfound circumstances in which she finds herself. Goodman, however, stole the movie with his outstanding portrayal as a socially-awkward man and the audience can never tell if he’s actually a good guy or if his character has ulterior motives. This new film is more than what meets the eye. Theatergoers looking to watch a movie that will keep them thoroughly entertained from the first scene down to the very last one are sure to find this more than enjoyable. “10 Cloverfield Lane” is a rare movie experience and is one that audiences will certainly not want to miss. Photo courtesy of www.polygon.com
Rock album bound to fade away after initial hype Nick Erickson || Staff writer nerickson@murraystate.edu
3 Doors Down is a band that everyone knows, even if they don’t know it. Their post-grunge hits swept the globe in the early-mid 2000s, topping the Billboard charts. From “The Better Life” to the present, the group has lost attention to other similar bands like Daughtry, but that didn’t deter them; their newest album is here, and it ventures into all-too familiar territory. “Us and the Night” is as much of a 3 Doors Down record as one could get, but perhaps that is where it falls short. Will their latest effort help them break the “Kryptonite Band” stereotype? Likely not. Opening the album with “The Broken,” the band fades in with a bright guitar melody, a simple yet powerful drum beat and the glossy singing of frontman Brad Arnold. A prominent synthesizer line carries throughout the choruses and adds a nice flare to the music. Clocking in at less than three minutes, this track is one of the highlights of the record, featuring strong one-liners
that could go on the band’s merchandise. “Your heart is the only friend you have in this whole world,” Arnold sings over the first verse. As simple as it is catchy, this track shines. Lead single from the album “In the Dark” features Arnold singing of the risqué topic of having sex in the dark, hence the name. The song sounds like a slightly-up tempo rendition of the first track, with its similar chord progressions and vocal melodies. Despite this, the chorus’ main vocal hook of “she likes to do it in the dark” will plague listeners’ ears for at least a day or so, as hard rock seems to be formulated to do. There is slight variety on this album. The chorus of “Living In Your Hell” is a basic rock chorus, but the pitch modulation in the last line catches ears and is actually creative. “Love Is A Lie” starts off with some interesting choices of power chords on the guitar and some strong singing of how Arnold was wronged by a girl, but after the intro, the track falls back into the album’s handful of clichés: lackluster but smooth vocals, basic guitar, bass lines and easy to follow drumming.
Closing the album is the most surprising track, “Fell from the Moon.” Unlike the other guitar-driven tracks on the record, this track starts and is carried mainly by a simplistic piano line. Drums, bass and faint guitar accompanies it shortly after. The key change halfway into the track, however, feels out of place and forced. “Formulated” is the word to describe their album, in both positive and negative ways. Eight of the 11 tracks run almost the same length of three minutes and 50 seconds, give or take a few. The songs might be overly-saturated with the same structure, or the singing might sound the same by the end of the first track, but one thing is for sure: this album will sell copies because 3 Doors Down is well-known. 3 Doors Down might have already lived to their ultimate glory and hype in the 2000s, but “Us and the Night” will garnish some hefty record sales. They are likely to keep the attention span of millions for a short time, though it lacks the substance to really stand out among a large pool of rock bands. Here’s to the good old days, 3 Doors Down.
Photo courtesy of www.teamrock.com
This One Time
Prettiest View T h e prettiest view in my hometown was from our own p r i v a t e mountain. OK, so it wasn’t a mountain Connor Jaschen per se; it was acFeatures Editor tually an abandoned building, one part of a set of factories only ever used for storage on rare occasion, but otherwise completely forgotten. During the day, workers at the plant worked around it, but at night, it was ours. It was a bit of a sketchy way to go, I admit. You had to go downtown and find the railroad tracks, follow them all the way down and then pry the door open just enough so the horde of gangly teens could squeeze through. Then, it was a seven-story climb on winding stairs until you got to the top floor. From there, you would have to climb a ladder that led to the roof: the final destination. I am not condoning trespassing or anything, but these are the days I look back on and laugh. I mean, think of it: we were a bunch of kids trying to find our way through eight stories of broken glass and darkness, all to get to the roof of some abandoned building no one but us seemed to care about. When we got to the top, though, it was always worth it. From there, you could see the whole city, sparkling and glistening in the night as people moved to and fro, living their lives just like we were. Now, my town wasn’t particular large or lively by any means, but it was big enough to have a sea of lights glistening beneath us. When we were on that roof, we weren’t those kids with a chip on our shoulder for no better reason but because we were born in a boring town. We were the watchers of the world, and in those moments, we were hundreds of feet above everyone for the first time in our lives. We didn’t do it because of the thrill or the trouble we could get in. Instead, we took hold of those little moments, just to see a different way of being. There was an idea that if you were willing to take that chance, you could see our entire city – hold it in your hands, almost. I’ll never forget those nights, looking out over the town like we owned it. Eventually, they tightened up security after someone (not in our group) decided to begin breaking things. I honestly don’t think whatever vandal who did that understands the view he stole from us kids. The point is, sometimes the best places to be are often off the beaten path. Yeah, it was seven flights of stairs and a really sketchy ladder, but when it came down to it, it was a new view of the town we knew by heart. Don’t be afraid to put that extra work in for something that, at the time may seem a bit mundane. Take a new look at something every once in a while. The best views always come with a climb. cjaschen@murraystate.edu
Out this week
Read It
“The Bob’s Burgers Burger Book” by Loren Bouchard and others
See It
“Allegiant”
Hear It
“Visions of Us on the Land” by Damien Jurado
Rent It
“The Big Short”
Play It
“Fallout 4: Automatron”
8B
The News
March 17, 2016