The Murray State News

The Murray State News September 22, 2016

TheNews.org

Vol. 91, No. 5

FAMILY W E Staff report

Murray State will welcome Racer families onto campus this weekend giving students the opportunity to show off a campus-wide surge of Racer pride, complete with a costume contest, a football game and a pageant.

The university will be treating parents to a free picnic in the Quad, a fall fanfare concert in Lovett Auditorium and a football game as the Racers take on Southeast Missouri State at Roy Stewart Stadium Saturday night.

Also on the weekend schedule are six other sporting events, including volleyball games, a rifle match, a soccer game, a softball scrimmage, and a track and field 5K.

Murray State Racer Athletics created a 90s theme for the

EKEND SP

weekend, titled “It’s a Full House,” including a costume contest and a 90s photo booth at the football game, along with giveaways with 90s themed prizes and Racer gear.

“We’re just encouraging everyone to come out,” said Matt Hall, Murray Racer Athletics director of multimedia and production.

Murray Racer Athletics created a parody video using “Full House” as the theme, featuring Racer athletes such as Mark Ventura (track and field), Olivia Chatman (volleyball) and Jesse Blackburn (football).

“We went to Goodwill and bought some clothes and we had them [the student athletes] dress up like they did in the 90s,” Hall said. “It took us about two to three days to get them all filmed,

and they had a really good time doing it.”

In addition to the larger events of the weekend, the Wellness Center will be open to families, the Curris Center Theater will be showing an international film, there will be a campus ministry party in the Springer Residential College side lawn and the Clara M. Eagle Art Gallery will be holding exhibits, free of charge.

According to Murray State’s online family weekend page, families planning to attend the event must register and pay a $20 fee which will cover the cost of up to six football tickets, meals throughout the weekend and additional entertainment.

Parents have the option of registering online, but walk-up

ECIAL

registrations will also be welcomed on Friday 3 to 6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Curris Center.

See below for a comprehensive schedule of the weekend’s events!

Lori Allen/The News

Schedule of Events – Family Weekend 2016 Friday, Sept. 23

Saturday, Sept. 24

Sunday, Sept. 25

• 8-10 a.m. – Farewell • 3-6 p.m. – Parent check-in, Curris • 9 a.m. – Residential College Continental Breakfast, Winslow Center Reception, residential college Dining Hall • 6 p.m. – Family Zumba & Volleylobbies ball, Wellness Center • 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. – Parent check-in, • 7 p.m. – Mr. MSU, Lovett Curris Center Auditorium • 10:30 a.m. to noon – Honors Col• 7:30 p.m. – Cinema International, lege drop-in, Franklin lobby, playing “Güeros”, Curris Center Curris Center • Noon to 2 p.m. – Free Family Picnic, Quad

The News

News

Page 2

September 22, 2016

Construction obstruction Adams family, a Racer legacy

Alicia Steele

Assistant News Editor

asteele5@murraystate.edu

Family and friends of Murray State students traveling to town this weekend for Murray State’s annual Family Weekend can expect to experience delays because of ongoing road construction in the city.

JCPenny Entrance Closed

According to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), the entrance to JCPenny on U.S. Route 641 was closed Monday and will be closed through the weekend and into next week.

“Motorists traveling U.S. 641/16th Street at this location should use extra caution at this busy intersection,” according to the KYTC. The entrance will be closed for about two weeks, during which time motorists may access the JCPenny parking lot via the Kroger entrance or by Captain D’s.

Lane Closures on Route 121

Paving along Route 121 will run to KY /Coldwater Road intersection, for approximately 0.93 miles, according to the KYTC. “Motorists should be alert

for one-lane traffic with access controlled by flaggers along this work zone,” according to KYTC. According to KYTC, this project is approximately 65 percent complete and engineers believe the project is on track for completion in late fall 2016.

Late Night Milling and Paving

Night milling and paving along U.S. Route 641/12th Street will begin tonight from state Route 1550/Glendale Road extending 2.04 miles north along U.S. Route 641/12th Street, according to KYTC. The contractor plans to start milling this section on Thursday night and continue through the weekend, followed by paving Monday through Wednesday of next week, according to KYTC. “To avoid traffic delays along this busy section of U.S. 641 the contractor will work from 8 p.m., CDT, to 5 a.m., each day,” according to KYTC. According to KYTC, approximately 25,000 vehicles travel this area each day.

“Motorists should use extra caution where equipment, flaggers and construction personnel are along the roadway in close proximity to traffic flow,” according to KTYC.

Ashley Traylor Staff writer atraylor@murraystate.edu

Screenshot courtesy of Google Maps

Mr. MSU strutting into the weekend Michaelyn Modglin Contributing writer

mmodglin1@murraystate.edu

Alpha Omicron Pi is preparing to host their 36th annual Mr. MSU Pageant Sept.

23 to kick off Family Weekend.

“Mr. MSU is a male pageant that stars student leaders from various organizations,” said Jessica Loyd, AOPi’s chapter president from Herrin, Illinois.

“The philanthropy event is held every year to raise funds for the Arthritis Foundation.”

said Meghan Keeney, AOPi’s philanthropy chair from St. Jacob, Illinois.

Keeney said the pageant raises roughly $10,000 each year.

Sixteen contestants will be competing for the title of Mr. MSU this year.

The contestants are Austin Spicer, Grant Knox, Wyatt Seed, Cooper Myatt, Sam Sonnier, Jacob Woosley, Jacob Shutte, Justin Davis, Arron Workman, Dylan Poole, Matt Turley, Clark Adams, Adam Culbreath, Seth Procasky, Tyler Ander-

son and Eric Johnson.

Keeney said the 2016 Mr. MSU theme is “The Bachelor,” which she said was inspired by the popular TV series.

The contest will be judged by Dana Howard, the social media marketing manager, Heath Keller, an associate professor, and Mallory Laplant, the assistant director of recruitment and coordinator of new student programs. Laplant is also an alumna of AOPi. All are employees of Murray State.

The contestants go through

preliminary interviews. They are also judged on their talent and formal wear. In addition, there will be a Mr. Congeniality and Mr. Photogenic portion to the contest.

“The philanthropy chair has been planning and preparing for this event since April of last semester,” Loyd said.

Tickets will be on sale this week in the Curris Center for $7. Tickets will also be available at the door for $10. The doors to Lovett Auditorium will open at 6 p.m. Friday night and the pageant will begin at 7 p.m.

Callie Adams comes from a family where being a Racer is a tradition.

Adams, sophomore from Murray, is a fourth-generation Murray State student.

When Bill Adams, Callie’s paternal grandfather and exBoard of Regents member, died. Murray State became more than just a university to Adams.

Bill was diagnosed with leukemia at the beginning of his granddaughter’s freshman year.

Adams said she remembered visiting her grandfather in the hospital fondly; even then he had Murray State on the mind. She said he made sure to check in on her, see if she was making friends and, most of all, make sure Murray State was her home.

Adams said she realized how special Murray State was to her family after his passing.

“When he passed away, the biggest bouquet of flowers at his funeral were from Murray State,” Adams said.

“That just really struck me as Murray State cares for their students and their faculty and their staff,” Adams said.

Adams said realizing that Murray State appreciated her grandfather for the tremendous work he had done for Murray State pushed her over the top.

“That really hit home for me and that’s when I realized how much Murray State has

really affected my family,” Adams said.

She said when making her college decision, she had a gut feeling Murray was where she was supposed to stay and she wanted to continue the Murray State legacy because it is a part of who she is.

“It is something that greatly influenced my great grandparents, greatly influenced my grandparents, greatly influenced my parents into being who they are in their occupations and their professions and as people,” Adams said. “Why not keep that tradition alive and see what it can do for me?”

Adams is involved in the Kentucky Educator’s Association, The Middle School Club, Racers for Christ through the University Church of Christ and she works in Alexander Hall as a student worker.

She is also a sister of Alpha Omicron Pi, where she serves as the keeper of ritual.

She said being involved in these campus organizations pushed her out of her comfort zone and has helped with her communication skills and networking for her future career.

Being involved in these organizations helps her give back to a community, which has given so much to her, she said.

“The Murray community has really really blessed my life and the people I love,” Adams said. “Because of that, I want to continue to give back and participate.”

The News

News

September 22, 2016 News Editor: Abby Siegel Assistant Editor: Alicia Steele Phone: 270-809-4468 Twitter: MurrayStateNews

POLICE BEAT Sept. 14

4:02 a.m. A caller reported the smell of hot rubber at Elizabeth Residential College. Officers and Central Plant Heating and Cooling were notified and the smell was determined to be from the mechanical malfunction of a water fountain.

8:45 p.m. A caller requested a vehicle unlock at the Roy Stewart Stadium parking lot. Officers were notified.

Sept. 15

9:22 a.m. A caller reported information in reference to unwanted sexual contact by an acquaintance at a residential college. Officers were notified and an information report was taken.

8:14 p.m. A person reported information in reference to an incident that occurred on Eastern Kentucky University’s campus via the LiveSafe App. The Eastern Kentucky University police department was notified.

‘Conversation and Dessert’ sparks discussion on violence Michaelyn Modglin Contributing writer

mmodglin1@murraystate.edu

Student Affairs and the Kentucky Council of Churches held their annual “Conversation and Dessert” with the topic of How We Relate to Violence, Tuesday to discuss the differences in how the community responds to violence and create a place to talk about it.

More than 86 individuals attended, including students, faculty and community members.

The program was facilitated by Peggy Hinds, interim executive director of the

Sept. 16

1:23 a.m. An officer conducted a traffic stop on Broach Avenue.

A citation was issued for speeding 15 mph over the limit and for an open alcohol container. The driver was arrested for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, 1st offense, with aggravated circumstances.

12:04 p.m. A person reported a theft of a motor vehicle. Officers were notified and the vehicle was located and no crime had occurred. An information report was taken.

Sept. 17

2:01 a.m. An officer conducted a traffic stop on 16th Street. The driver was arrested and issued a citation for driving 16 mph over the limit, operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol (1st offense), first-degree fleeing or evading police and receiving stolen property more than $10,000.

4:23 p.m. A caller reported the smell of natural gas in the 100 block of College Courts. Officers and Central Heating and Cooling Plant were notified.

There was no natural gas leak, the smell was from an electric oven malfunction. No threat of fire was located.

Sept. 18

12:46 a.m. A caller reported a noise complaint at the 600 block of College Courts. Officers were notified.

1:21 a.m. An officer conducted a traffic stop at Miller Street and North Broach Avenue. A citation was issued for driving 15 mph over the limit and failure to produce insurance card.

Sept. 19

1:38 p.m. A caller reported a non-injury motor vehicle collision in Regents Residential College parking lot. Officers were notified and a collision report was taken.

1:48 p.m. Central Heating and Cooling Plant received a fire alarm activation at Faculty Hall.

Officers, Facilities Management and the Murray Fire Department were notified. Activation was determined to be due to a mechanical malfunction.

Sept. 20

12:10 a.m. An officer conducted a traffic stop on Paramount Drive and issued a verbal warning for speeding.

4:50 p.m. A caller reported a parking complaint in the Alexander Hall parking lot. Officers were notified.

Racer assist – 0 Motorist assist – 3 Arrests - 2

Alicia Steele, 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.

Page 3

Kentucky Council of Churches.

“The goal of the event is to bridge the divide of differences in the community by building relationships and to encourage the community to explore what can be done here to deal with violence,” Hinds said.

Jody Cofer Randall, LGBT coordinator and founder of the event, said it’s important because violence happens everywhere.

“It is certainly a timely topic that impacts all of us in different forms, whether we choose to recognize it or not,” Cofer Randall said.

They also discussed different types of violence that students,

faculty and members of the community have been exposed to.

When asked specifically about violence within the community, students reported the relevance of Yik Yak, sexual assault and alcohol abuse on campus.

The groups then discussed ways they could contribute to stopping the violence, such as being open to new cultures, educating the community and facilitating community discussion.

“We live in a society that is kind of hate-filled and discriminatory,” said Matthew Allen, junior from Tompkinsville, Kentucky. “I am hoping that something like this event can be used as an educational tool, as well as a way to prevent Murray from becoming a place where this hate festers.”

During the gathering, Cofer Randall said she is concerned with students’ ability to respond to violence and possible controversy that the fall election may bring.

“Our students don’t know how to counter-protest in a productive, safe, educational way,” she said.

“I’m afraid our students have been coddled in certain ways that when this happens this fall, they are not going to be ready to respond to it.”

President Bob Davies spoke near the end of the event.

“Look at the diversity in this room,” Davies said. “It is imperative that we acknowledge and learn from that.”

He said Thursday’s event achieved three of the four values of Murray State.

He said these values include being educated by everyone, creating an environment that fosters dialogue about tough issues and embracing others that are not like us.

Cofer Randall announced the forwarding of the conversation through the upcoming events of a panel discussion series and the real spectrum film series that will be starting later this month.

Contributed by Emily Baucom /The News

President Davies holds ‘Coffee with Bob’ Emily Williams

Contributing writer ewilliams15@murraystate.edu

Students, faculty and staff were given the opportunity to interact directly with President Bob Davies and other university leaders over a cup of coffee Thursday morning, Sept. 15 during “Coffee with Bob.” Davies said he has held regular “Coffee with Bob” meetings for three years – since the beginning of his presidency here at Murray State – with the purpose of giving everybody in the university a chance to come ask him and the leadership team any questions they may have as well as to simply build community within Murray State.

“I firmly believe in being accessible and available,” Davies said. “Sometimes people are a little afraid to come up to me or members of our leadership team as we come across campus, and over a cup of coffee, it’s just kind of one of those things that eases that transition.”

Senior Presidential Advisor for Strategic Initiatives Renee Fister said because of Davies’ many time commitments, the meetings will be held fewer times this year, but they will also be open to all students, faculty and staff, rather than segregating the meetings as they have done in the past.

Kyle Britton, freshman from Springfield, Illinois, was one of the students taking part in the event and said he came after seeing a poster on campus advertising the opportunity.

“I came because I like coffee and I like networking,” Britton said. “They say Dr. Davies is pretty friendly so I thought I’d just stop by to say hi and maybe talk to some people.”

Davies said the event also gives him the opportunity to receive feedback and to ask students, faculty and staff what is on their minds. He said it helps him keep his finger on the pulse of the university.

“To me, if we have three, it’s worth it. If we have one, it’s worth it,” Davies said. “It creates that conversation. It’s about being connected.”

Contributed by Kelli O’Toole/The News

President Bob Davies fills his cup during “Coffee with Bob.”

Contributed by Kelli O’Toole/The News

President Bob Davies talks with Faculty Regent Katherine Farmer and other event attendees.

Webpage created to boost enrollment Matthew Parks Staff writer

mparks6@murraystate.edu

Fred Dietz, associate vice president of enrollment management, said during the Board of Regents meeting Sept. 9. Murray State’s latest enrollment numbers show a slight overall decline for Murray State, while there was an increase in freshmen enrollment.

Dietz said the overall decline in enrollment registered at around 2 percent.

However, he said the incoming number of freshman increased by approximately 2.5 percent to 1,500 new freshmen enrollments.

The largest drop in enrollment numbers came from first-time graduate students, which dropped by approximately 21 percent, according to the enrollment report.

Dietz said official enrollment numbers will be available in October.

Charley Allen, web manager for branding, marketing and communication, said one of the tools Murray State has implemented in order to increase future enrollment is a webpage called ‘My Opportunity.’

Allen said the page is a part of the new branding Murray State has been un-

www.murraystate.edu/myopportunity

The ‘My Opportunity’ webpage is being used as a recruiting tool for incoming freshmen. dergoing.

Allen said the ‘My Opportunity’ page was designed to be a stand-alone experience, serving as an interactive information page for potential Murray State students.

“The website is primarily a freshmen recruiting tool,” Allen said.

Allen said the webpage was designed by himself, Karen Muehlbauer, copy editor, and Daniel Fukuhara, web specialist.

He said Shawn Touney,

director of communication, and Adrienne King, vice president of university advancement, were also key in developing goals for the project.

Muehlbauer said the branding team pushed out the project in August and have attempted to drive potential students to the webpage through social media advertisements.

“We’re trying to develop a new tone of voice for the university,” Muehlbauer

said. “One that’s less serious and academic, and more friendly, approachable and conversational.”

Muehlbauer said the end goal of the project is to be an attention-getting and informational site that drives potential students towards Murray State’s website, where they can find all the information they need about the university.

Allen said the team hopes the project will give students a better feel for the

attitude and atmosphere of Murray State.

“We wanted the website to have the same feel a student would get if they interacted with people on campus,” Muehlbauer said.

Muehlbauer said the website will evolve over time as part of Murray State’s continuing recruitment process.

The ‘My Opportunity’ webpage can be reached at www.murraystate.edu/myopportunity.

Page 4

September 22, 2016

The News

Opinion

Opinion Editor: Hallie Beard Phone: 270-809-5873

­

Connor Jaschen

Our View

Editor-in-Chief • 270-809-6877 cjaschen@murraystate.edu

Jenny Rohl Business Manager jrohl@murraystate.edu

Abby Siegel News Editor • 270-809-4468 asiegel@murraystate.edu

Hallie Beard Opinion Editor • 270-809-5873 hbeard2@murraystate.edu

Gisselle Hernandez Features Editor • 270-809-5871 ghernandez1@murraystate.edu

Most college applications are out to learn the same things via pesky demographic boxes: check here if you’re a citizen, check here if you’re a race we acknowledge, check here if you’re non-traditional.

And, while you’re at it, check here if you’re a convicted felon, if you don’t mind.

For many

Austin Gordon Online Editor/Advertising Production • 270-809-5877 agordon4@murraystate.edu

Nahiomy Gallardo Advertising Sales Manager • 270-809-4478 msunewsads@gmail.com

McKenna Dosier Photography Editor • 270-809-5878 mdosier@murraystate.edu

Aaron Peck Chief Videographer apeck1@murraystate.edu

Stephanie Elder-Anderson Adviser • 270-809-3937 selder@murraystate.edu

The News 2609 University Station Murray State University Murray, Kentucky 42071-3301 murraystatenews@icloud.com Fax: 270-809-3175

TheNews.org The News welcomes commentaries and letters to the editor. Submissions should be 600 words or less, and contributors should include phone numbers for verification. Please include hometown, classification and title or relationship to the university. The News reserves the right to edit for style, length and content. No anonymous contributions will be accepted. All contributions should be turned in by noon on Monday of each week via email to hbeard2@murraystate.edu.

Contributions to The News are the opinion of the author and not that of The Murray State News.

The News strives to be the university community’s source for information. Our goal is to present that information in a fair and unbiased manner and provide a free and open forum for expression and debate.

The News is a designated public forum. Student editors have authority to make all content decisions without censorship or advance approval.

The paper offers a hands-on learning environment for students interested in journalism. The campus press should be free from censorship and advance approval of copy and its editors should develop their editorial and news policies.

The News is prepared and edited by students and is an official publication of Murray State University. The first copy is free. Additional copies are available for 25 cents at 111 Wilson Hall.

their institution through public safety. That’s solely the applicant’s responsibility, though, and the institution can’t randomly request to know if a student might be a sex offender.

For students who feel uneasy knowing Murray State doesn’t look into the criminal past of their

SELECT ALL THAT APPLY

Kelsey Watznauer Chief Copy Editor • 270-809-5876 kwatznauer@murraystate.edu

Will Murray State follow the trend, then, and remove the box from our applications?

It’s a trick question – Murray State has

applicants, a question addressing criminal history is just another box to skip over, an insignificant “N/A.” But for many Americans, that check box is the difference between hitting the gas or having to stay stuck in park.

Last week, the State University of New York (SUNY) chose to remove from their applications the question regarding felonies, according to an article in U.S. News. In quoting New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, the article spins this as a new trend, citing other schools (a total of 61) that have also removed this roadblock of a question.

We applaud this decision, as having the question often halts and prevents potential applicants from ever getting through the process and obtaining a college education.

Before the question was removed, two out of three SUNY applicants failed to complete or make it through the application process after checking “yes,” according to a report on the issue.

never inquired on an application about an applicant’s criminal record, said Fred Dietz and Jennifer Smith from the admissions office. What matters in admission decisions is what is on the application: scores, essays and GPA. In not prodding an applicant about their past record, a school already communicates to that applicant that they have the right to educational opportunities, regardless of where they come from or what they’ve been through.

To ask a question like that and want to know, up-front, about an applicant’s history could be a form of discrimination, Dietz said.

So, forget trend-setting New York – Murray State has been ahead of the game on inclusion and non-discrimination for a while.

But if we don’t ask applicants about their past, what stops a student like Brock Turner from coming onto campus?

In the case of sex crimes - a class D felony in Kentucky – a person is required to register as a sex offender in their place of residence and report it to

Selena McPherson/The News

Mark McFarland Sports Editor • 270-809-4481 mmcfarland1@murraystate.edu

The staff editorial is the majority opinion of The Murray State News Editorial Board.

applicants, consider this: not all classified felonies are violent in nature at all, and many are quite the opposite.

While getting caught with a joint is a misdemeanor in Kentucky, attempting to stamp it out or get rid of it before facing police could be considered tampering with physical evidence, a felony.

Chances are, a large portion of college students have committed felonies, whether or not they’ve been convicted. If you have forged a signature, removed a flower from a grave or eavesdropped, you’ve committed class C, D, and C felonies, respectively.

Let’s say you’ve never committed any crimes in your life and you’re still unsure about the safety of campus without a legal gatekeeper on the application.

Without succumbing to paranoia, remember that a criminal doesn’t need to enroll to come onto campus. Waterfield Library offers memberships to community members without background checks. Murray State’s beautiful campus attracts all walks of life, none of whom are screened before taking their dogs on walks through the quad.

Oddly enough, now may be a good time to recall the 1939 film “ The Wizard of Oz,” in which Glenda asks Dorothy if she is a good witch or bad witch. Dorothy is appalled, replying, “I’m not a witch at all. Witches are old and ugly.”

Glenda laughs because – big moment for dramatic irony here – the sparkling, pink-clad character is a witch, too.

If knowing Murray State doesn’t ask about felonies frightens you, realize we’re probably not facing evil witches engulfed in fire. Some witches are good and some are bad, but we’re all some kind of witch trying to make it through Oz. Think of Murray State as a forerunner, showing everyone the road to the Emerald City in Technicolor.

Making Headway

More women, less Tomi Lahren Dylan Doyle || Contributing writer ddoyle2@murraystate.edu The research is clear – we need more women in media.

A large percentage – 62.1 percent, to be exact – of all news in 2014 was generated by men, and higher positions in media are even more likely to belong to men, according to the Women’s Media Center. This disparity between men and women is getting better with time, but very slowly, almost certainly because young girls aspiring to be journalists and media personalities have a plethora of excellent role models, like Rachel Maddow and even Samantha Bee. They also have a very good example of what not to be in the form of Tomi Lahren, host of her own show on “TheBlaze,” where they apparently have something against using the space bar. Lahren is a conservative political commentator by trade and a vocal Trump supporter, but let us not go too far down that rabbit hole.

You have likely read and formed your own opinion about 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s controversial refusal to stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner,” but long story short, he sat out the national anthem in a show of solidarity with those African-Ameri-

cans facing discrimination by police and other groups.

What you may not have heard: Megan Rapinoe, member of the 2015 World Cup-winning American women’s soccer team, came out in support of Kaepernick. Rapinoe plans to kneel during the anthem for the foreseeable future because, as a gay American, she relates to his experience.

As you may have guessed, Tomi Lahren had a thing or two to say about Rapinoe’s actions.

Since Lahren has built a career on pandering to the alt-right and prattling her ill-informed opinion under the guise of real news, this is not altogether surprising – Lahren is definitely not afraid to tiptoe the line of acceptable speech. That being said, she crossed that line during her rant about Rapinoe.

“Hey Megan, do you know what they do to women and gay people in many countries around the world?” Lahren rhetorically asked.

“They stone them and throw them off buildings.”

Just so we are all on the same page: yes, Lahren is actually saying LGBT Americans should be grateful for a government that refrains from murdering them. As should people of color, presumably. Since this country is not as antagonistic towards minorities as it could be, the American justice system is completely

absolved of any wrongdoing.

An analogous situation: I hit a pedestrian with my car. In court, I show the jury a picture of a serial killer. The jury finds me not guilty because someone else committed a worse crime once upon a time. This logic is completely faulty.

Tomi Lahren appeals to the extreme nationalism which characterizes the far right – the kind of blind pride in one’s country that reacts viscerally to any and all criticism of that country. When minorities in America take a stand against injustice, she sees it as disrespect towards the military and first responders and refuses to hear another word.

Instead of acknowledging her own privilege and attempting to think about other perspectives, she takes any perceived anti-American sentiment personally and counterattacks with venom.

I hate to imagine a little girl seeing a Tomi Lahren video and thinking that women have to spout vindictive bile to be in the media. I hate to imagine anyone agreeing with Lahren’s point of view, much less idolizing her. But what we show our children matters. What they see on their screens matters. Mass media is a very large and very important stage, and we need to think very carefully before we give people like Tomi Lahren a microphone.

OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Hallie Beard Opinion Editor

Dylan Doyle Junior from Marion, KY

John Muenzberg Lecturer of philosophy

Robert Valentine Senior lecturer of advertising

Rachel Wood Junior from Birmingham, AL

The News

Opinion

September 22, 2016

Page 5

Letter to the editor

Excerpt from William Palmer, assistant professor of engineering:

While on campus last week, an eager young student placed a card in my hand. It was for a magic show at Lovett Auditorium with the name Maze. She said he was a really good magician.

So, my wife and I got a little excited to actually have something different to do in Murray on a Saturday evening.

We got there a little early, paid our $5 each, found some friends and made sure we could see the stage because, you know, it’s a magic show.

Or at least we thought it would be a magic show. Actually, the magic show itself was just an illusion, it was fake.

Finally, there was loud music and flashing lights, no doubt trying to emulate the movie Now You See Me. It was loud and fairly effective, but mostly just loud.

Some magic started and it wasn’t bad, but not great. It was about that time that something didn’t seem quite right. The language and the phrasing of the magician seemed familiar somehow, not quite so much like a magic show, but more like a larger scale manipulation of the audience, more like a deceptive recruitment con.

Why did I suspect a con? Over the years, I have been invited or innocently attended several deceptive recruitment cons unintentionally.

In recent history, they are sponsored by socially -manipulative organizations such as EST, Scientology and some Christian organizations that

use cult-like tactics for recruitment. And after being burned a couple of times, you develop con radar. The experience has never been pleasant for me. Let’s just say the radar went off in a big way.

Typically the manipulative organization creates an event or party and invites a significant number of sympathetic supporters to seed the crowd. The key is they then go out in the public and try to entice unsuspecting individuals to take part in the party or event with the intent to persuade them later on. The event or party usually starts out innocently enough, but after a while, subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle pressure comes to bear on the innocent attendees to join the organization that sponsored the event.

At our fake magic show, after a couple more tricks I did a quick search of the name of the show on my wife’s phone and sure enough my radar warnings were validated when I discovered the show in Lovett Auditorium was in reality an Evangelical Christian Event. I whispered to my wife and friends that our show wasn’t quite on the up and up and that we might want to leave shortly.

A few minutes later, the magician said there would be a break because he was going to start talking about what he thought the world was really like and how we were all being fooled in our own lives. It was now obviously time for the hard sell part of the deceptive recruitment plan.

He basically gave everyone who didn’t want to hear about his beliefs 90 seconds to leave.

Some Things Considered

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Jeers to ... Brangelina

Cheers to ... Glamour

Well, it happened: Hollywood’s favorite couple (besides possibly Kanye West and Kim Kardashian), Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, filed for divorce, according to CNN. Sure, celebrities break up every day, but those two have been through a lot (of kids) together.

If they can’t make it, who can?

It’s that time of year again: the 36th annual Glamour Drag Show is going down on Thursday, Sept.

22 in the Curris Center. Grab a friend, buy a ticket and support one of the sparkliest, fiercest and most exciting events of the fall semester. When else do you get a free pass to yell, “Yaaaaasss!”?

Cheers to ... Diversity!

CHEERS & JEERS

The 68th annual Emmy Awards was one fit for 2016, full of incredible talent and diversity.

Rami Malek was the first nonwhite actor to win for a dramatic lead role in 18 years, and it was the first time that a person of color was nominated in every lead acting category.

Jeers to ... “Skittles” Donald Trump Jr. tweeted a photo in which he compared Syrians to Skittles. The photo reads, “If I had a bowl of Skittles and told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful?

That’s our Syrian refugee problem.” The photo is brought to you by the letter X for xenophobia!

Cheers & Jeers is written by The Murray State News’ Opinion Editor. Questions, comments or concerns should be addressed to hbeard2@murraystate.edu The Fine Print

The not-so-great debates Robert Valentine || Contributing writer rvalentine@murraystate.edu I am personally offended when I hear about the pending “presidential debates.”

That’s probably because I am a debater. I spent eight years of my life in high school and college on debate teams and more than 10 years after college as a debate coach. Calling political debates by that name upsets me as much as a soccer player would be upset by calling foosball “table soccer.”

Debate is an orderly discourse between two or more competing points of view, usually held in public for the purpose of testing which ideas are worthy of belief. Participants should remember that the point of the debate is not to defeat an opponent but to demonstrate the truth of a position taken on a matter of policy, value or fact.

Therefore, you can see instantly that lining up 10 or 12 people whose only interest is in being elected to high public office is not a good setting for an actual debate. In such horrific demonstrations as the primary “debates,” there is no setting forth of facts and applying of common values to a proposed policy. There is only time for vague assertions about what one will do if elected followed by a generous helping of character assassination from all the other people involved.

No civilized person would permit his or her spouse to subject the whole family to this kind of public abuse of mind and character. Happily, there is no law requiring spouses of any kind to be very civilized. Besides, as so-called “reality TV” demonstrates, civility doesn’t seem to interest us for long.

In a real debate, speakers should, at all times, be as courteous as possible to one another. Their common enemy is the absence of a certain truth, not the opposing speakers.

A beautiful speaking voice or an ability with public address may prove advantageous, but the listeners are encouraged by the tradition of debate to pay strict attention to proof, logic and reason as tests of an argument.

Arguments ad hominem are to be avoided and, when they occur, to be deplored by both sides.

Ad Hominem (“against the man”) is an argument that tries to disprove another argument by pointing out real or supposed flaws in the character of the speaker — not in the argument itself.

Obviously, there is no logic to rejecting an idea because someone is thin or heavy, too young or too old, is poor or wealthy or is of this religion or that.

If the worst moral character on the planet argues that the sun will come up in the east, it will not rise in the west just because he or she is not

a reputable person. Facts are facts and reasoned arguments are valid regardless of who speaks them.

As you see, the current practice of televising presidential candidates for a series of ad hominem remarks is very far from the purpose of debate and is, quite clearly, a commercial device to raise money for networks at the expense of the political process. It is a boon for pseudo-journalists who will dissect the potential meanings of every syllable or non-verbal nuance. The jobs of many “commentators” and “comedians” are at great risk after the election. What will they speak about?

The fact that candidates are willing to collaborate in this crude and humiliating entertainment does not disprove its uselessness so much as it condemns the candidates for their participation in a debasement of both politics and rhetoric.

It condemns us, too. If we are willing to pretend that this crude, immature character assassination meets our standard for reasoned discourse, then we will get what we deserve.

Listen, watch, think and then let candidates, parties and networks know what you think. It may be that we need better choices in all three categories.

At least the debates will answer that question, if they answer no others.

By Hallie Beard, Opinion Editor Through some soul-searching and introspection, I’ve acquired some alarming knowledge about myself: I have a gambling problem.

Don’t worry, I’m not confessing an addiction to slot machines or card games at lavish casinos or throwing bill after bill on a horse at Churchill Downs. I don’t gamble money, and I’ve never set foot inside a casino. But I gamble everyday, and you should, too.

As students who produce work that will be seen by others – whether that’s a piece of writing, an oral presentation, a sketch or a lesson plan – we must decide while preparing those pieces if we will take a gamble or play it safe. Maybe you’ve stumbled upon an astute idea that contradicts scholarly research, or maybe you plan a lesson using a concept you haven’t been taught. Something in you says, “Hey, I’m smart enough to know what I’m talking about, and this feels right.”

You want to listen to that voice, but considering your status in the classroom, university or social circle quiets it. Another voice says, “Don’t try anything new. The experts are right, and you are wrong.

Stick with the plan.”

So, you make the play: you either put your knowledge and grit to the test, or you surrender, not ready to face the repercussions of a bad gamble.

I’m a big fan of asking my friends for advice on a multitude of issues – outfits, relationships, dinner choices, you name it. One of my good friends, though, pointed out something about my asking that’s both true and most likely frustrating: when I ask for advice and receive a majority opinion, usually with sound reasoning behind it, I do the opposite. Despite all the effort my friends have gone to in order to equip me with the best decision, I take my bow and do a 180.

For a long time, I couldn’t figure out why I did this. Was I just being contentious? Did I not trust the opinions of my friends? Did I have some strange, ultra-delayed rebellion coming out in those trivial decisions?

It was none of these things. Of course I trusted my friends, and I didn’t want to waste their time just to cause a debate.

When faced with the decision alone, I wasn’t ready to gamble.

I knew the right answer – my instincts never lead me astray, in the typical human way. But I couldn’t commit to what I knew was right.

Instead, I had to see all the cards from every angle, thinking it was an issue of knowledge or computation.

But I didn’t need to see any cards – I already knew my play. So when everyone else chimed in, all I had to do was turn up the volume on the voice who says, “You know what’s up. You know what you want.”

To the group, it seems I’m taking a gamble. How could I turn my back on all the support they just gave me?

In writing a paper, how could I risk writing the sentence I want to write when I already know how to write the one I should write?

In the end, you know the evidence doesn’t stack up. Your gut is not one to bow down to logic or reason.

You have to gamble every day and be confident in facing whatever follows.

The payoff won’t always be as glorious as you expect, and there’s always the chance that you’ll miserably fail. But if you play it safe, what’s there to learn? Where’s the agency in safety?

Live a little. Develop a gambling problem. You might get lucky one day. hbeard2@murraystate.edu

MCPHERSON

SELENA

Comic Found a friend

Page 6

September 22, 2016

The News

Sports Editor: Mark McFarland Assistant Sports Editor: Sarah Combs Phone: 270-809-4481 Twitter: MSUSportsNews

Sports ­­

Contributed by Emily Baucom/The News

FA ILY WEEKEND Friday Sept. 23 WTennis

@ Central Arkansas WVolleyball - 7 p.m.

UT Martin - Racer Arena

Saturday Sept. 24 Cross-country @ Austin Peay State Vball - 2 p.m.

SEMO - Racer Arena Football - 6 p.m.

SEMO - Roy Stewart Stadium

Staff report Murray State athletics are gearing up for Family Weekend, with the Racers set to compete in six sporting events starting Friday night.

Racer volleyball will kick off the weekend, starting their OVC schedule as well as playing their first home match of the season. Murray State is coming off a 1-2 record last weekend at the Billiken Invitational in St. Louis. The Racers have played a non-conference schedule up to this point, coming out with a record of 5-7. Murray State is the reigning OVC Regular Season Champion and suffered a loss in the OVC Tournament Championship at the hands of Belmont in 2015.

The Racers will take on UT Martin at 7 p.m. Friday at Racer Arena, and will be back in action at 2 p.m. Saturday at Racer Arena against Southeast Missouri State. After this weekend, the Racers will be back in action at 7 p.m. Tuesday Sept. 27 at Racer Arena, where they will host Austin Peay State.

Racer football will look to put a 0-3 start behind them, as they will also host Southeast Missouri State. SEMO is 0-3 as well and is coming off a loss in which it led by 11 in the fourth quarter, only to lose 27-24 at the hands of Indiana State. Murray State struggled against Missouri Valley Conference opponent Southern Illinois last week, losing 50-17 on the road. The Racers have played the University of Illinois, losing 52-3 and Missouri State, at home, losing 28-22.

Kickoff for the game is set at 6 p.m. at Stewart Stadium.

Also at the football game Racer Band will perform before, at halftime and throughout the entire football game.

Sunday morning will start with a

bang as the No. 2 ranked rifle team in the country will host No. 19 UT Martin at the Pat Spurgin Rifle Range. The Racers are lead by nine-year head coach and three-year Coach of the Year Alan Lollar. Junior Ivan Roe from Manhattan, Montana, also leads Murray State, who came just a few points shy of making the U.S. Olympic Team. The match between top 20 teams the will begin at 9 a.m. Sunday.

Murray State softball started its fall season last week with a doubleheader against the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Southern . The Racers finished the doubleheader 1-1 with a 4-0 win over UMSL and a 1-0 loss at the hands of SIU. The Racers will come home this weekend and play a double header, Sunday against Union University. The first game will begin at 1 p.m. with the second game slated for 3 p.m. This will be the first of three doubleheaders hosted at Racer Field this fall.

The Racer soccer team will begin its run to defend their OVC Regular Season Title and their OVC Tournament Title at 1 p.m. at Cutchin Field. Murray State will host Morehead State in the team’s first OVC match of the season. Last season, the Racers finished with a perfect, 10-0 OVC record to earn the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. They then went on to sweep the tournament to claim the crown in Head Coach Jeremy Groves second season at the helm. Murray State may have to finish the season without senior midfielder Lyssie Wright as she suffered a knee injury in the 5-0 loss at the University of Kentucky. After this weekend’s game, the Racers will travel to SEMO, Friday Sept. 30 and then travel to UT Martin Oct. 2 for a two-game road stint.

Sunday Sept. 25 WGolf @ Jacksonville State Rifle - 9 a.m.

UT Martin - Pat Spurgin Rifle Range WSoccer - 1 p.m.

Morehead State Cutchin Field Softball - 1 p.m. & 3 p.m. Union - Racer Field

Chalice Keith/The News

Graphic courtesy of Sarah Combs/The News

Rifle sets sights on UT Martin in season opener

Junior Ben Estes from Ozark, Missouri, is one of three juniors on a team with no seniors.

Blake Sandlin

Contributing writer bsandlin1l@murraystate.edu

Chalice Keith/The News

With their season set to open this weekend, the Murray State rifle team will get their first taste of OVC play as they face UT Martin, ranked 19th nationally in the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association preseason poll.

Head Coach Alan Lollar said he is very confident in his team and is excited to get the first match of the season under his belt in order to evaluate what his team needs to work on.

“I think we’re prepared to have the first match of the year,” Lollar said. “We have to shoot in a real match with the clock running and the pressure on in order to evaluate really what we need to do.”

Despite the excitement around the match, Lollar said that nerves will still play a big factor, especially with the addition of two freshmen to the rifle roster.

“Everyone has nerves. For the freshman, there is only one first match in college,” Lollar said. “You have to get past it because they have absolutely no idea what to expect. And so they will be much better prepared for their second match than they will be for their first one.”

One big advantage the Racers have for their game Sunday

is getting to shoot at their home range, which, Lollar said, plays a big role for his team.

“We are very comfortable at home because we shoot here every day,” Lollar said. “We know the lighting; we know the sight lines, so it does help to shoot at home.”

The Racers will be facing off against a team coached by Bob Beard, a former Murray State shooter who was the first to receive All-American honors at Murray State.

Lollar has high praise for Beard and said that he’s a great coach who has had a lot of experience at the competitive level.

He said he believes that Beard will do everything he can to have his team ready on Sunday.

“They have some great things that they’re trying to do this year to improve it even more,” Lollar said of UT Martin’s program. “I look forward to seeing them in a competitive match and I’m just looking forward to getting the season started.”

With no seniors on the roster this year, the Racers are going to have to rely on their junior leadership this season.

One of them, All-American shooter, Ivan Roe said he is excited to open the season to see what his team is capable of.

“I’m definitely excited. I want

see RIFLE, page 7

Marky Mark Talks Back

Life Lessons in Sports

What can sports teach the world? One of the things that to mind is friendship. Teammates are always there for each other and friends are always there for each other so naturally the two go hand in hand.

When athletes play sports in high school and college they are with their team Mark McFarland every day, Sports Editor and somet i m e s nearly every minute of every day, therefore getting close to one another. Some of people’s best friends in their entire lives are their old teammates.

Day in and day out, someone is always going to need the help that a teammate or best friend can provide.

Coaches are always saying to have each others backs no matter what the score is in the game and no matter what the other team is throwing at them. The problem is, sometimes we, as human beings, take it for granted. We will do some stupid things to anger a teammate or a friend and it will be hard to earn that trust back.

This is why teams at all levels will have “team-building” camps or exercises at the end of practice or for a week. The Murray State Racers football team got to go to a team-building experience at Fort Campbell, an Army base on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.

Head Coach Mitch Stewart and his football team learned about leadership along with doing some team-building exercises to get the trust between them even greater.

Trust is a bond between people who are close, and that trust can help when teammates can lean on and trust each other to get after it and go hard in the next play, or in life when two or more friends can trust each other and take on the world. Losing that trust, both in life and athletics can take a big toll on how well a fundamental unit can work together.

Most sports are not individual sports – they are team sports. In team sports, working together and trusting each other is the No. 1 thing that helps a team win a game. During the summer, go look at any high school football team during two-adays. It will most likely be doing some sort of mental toughness drill at the end of one of the practices. Many of these drills will help bring teammates together and will teach them to learn how to trust one another and work together.

One of the most famous of these drills is carrying a teammate on your back and carrying him the length of the football field. Another drill is where a teammate is blindfolded and has to roll the length of the field with another teammate telling him how to get there, whether to go left, right or straight.

Coaches realize the importance of trust inside of sports and this lesson will help kids build trust outside of sports and in their friendships.

Sports is not just about entertainment; it is also about learning valuable lessons that may help someone be prepared for the next level in competition, or how well someone can do in their life.

Life, unlike sports, is not a game, but the parallels between the two are always there. mmcfarland1@murraystate.edu

The News

Sports

September 22, 2016

Page 7

Women’s tennis begins fall season Blake Sandlin

Contributing writer bsandlin1l@murraystate.edu

The Murray State women’s tennis team opened up their season last weekend, traveling to Austin Peay State to play in their Fall Invitational.

The University of Central Arkansas, Austin Peay, Lewis University, UT Martin and the Racers were all in attendance at the invitational.

Amina Hadzic, sophomore from Esbjerg, Denmark, opened the tournament in singles Friday with a loss, falling to Asel Jumamukhambetova of UT Martin in 3 sets, winning 6-7, then losing 6-0, and 10-7.

Claire Chang, freshman from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, won in 2 sets against Andrea Plantada Cortesx of UT Martin, winning 7-6, 6-1. Chang then lost her next match against Claudia Yanes Garcia of Austin Peay, losing in two sets 6-0, 6-0.

Alina Schibol, senior from Hamburg, Germany, lost in two sets to Nora Mindiyarova from Lewis University, falling 6-2, 6-3.

Jeanne Masson, sophomore from Dinard, France, lost in two sets to Jemima Potter of UT Martin, 6-1,6-2.

Sara Bjork, freshman from Malmo, Sweden, lost to Ol-

RIFLE From Page 6 to see what we can do this year.

I really want to see what other teams can do so we can see how we stack up,” Rowe said. “It’s always a little nerve-wracking because it’s the first match, but everyone just wants to go out there and see what happens.”

Roe said UT Martin has a very young team with a lot of new recruits so he believes that the Racers’ experience should be a big advantage when they face off this weekend.

“We have a lot of experience with our shooters, who [have] shot a lot of big matches, and they have the experience needed

haBurak of UT Martin in 3 sets, 4-6, 6-2, and 10-8. Bjork then won her consolation match 6-4 and 6-1 to advance to the consolation final.

In doubles, Hadzic and Masson faced off against Garcia and Covington of Austin Peay, losing 6-1.

Chang and Schibol teamed up in doubles facing Jerrima Potter and Jumamukhambetova of UT Martin, losing 7-6.

Despite what seemed to be a tough weekend for the Racers, Head Coach Jorge Caetano said he was pleased with his team’s performance, as well as the support they showed one another.

“The way we were supporting each other was very good,” Caetano said. “They were being loud, and they were being very supportive of one another. That’s a really big thing.”

Caetano said he believes the more his team plays, the better they will become.

“With our returners, they struggled a little bit with some of the matches, I think they were a bit rusty,” Caetano said. “The more we play, they will get better.”

Despite the play of the Racers’ returning players, Caetano said he was very impressed with the play of his new freshmen, Chang and to stay cool under pressure, so that’s going to help,” Roe said.

Roe said the underclassmen on the team have been stepping up a lot in practice and that they have the potential to lead the nation with their scores this year.

Lollar encourages everyone to come out to the match this Sunday and said that this is one of the biggest matches of the year for fans to come watch.

“We’re hoping everybody comes out on Sunday morning.,” Lollar said. “We’ll start about 9 in the morning. We just hope to see all of our friends and fans this weekend.”

Lollar said if someone were to come to a match this would be the one.

The match against UT Martin will start at 9 a.m. on Sept. 25 at the Pat Spurgin Rifle Range.

Bjork, who played their first match for Murray State this weekend.

“The newcomers going out there and getting their first wins as Racers was very good,” Caetano said. “They were calm and they didn’t feel any pressure, so I’m very happy with that.”

Caetano said that getting to go up against OVC competition like UT Martin and Austin Peay was good for the girls so that they can see what they will be up against once team play begins in the spring.

The Racers will face even more competition this weekend as they travel to the University of Central Arkansas for another invitational tournament.

Caetano said he is looking forward for his team to play so they get into a rythm even if they are playing teams who they may not see normally.

“They have around 8 teams coming, some in our conference,” Caetano said. “Most of them are not in our conference so it’s good to play different teams and different people. It’s going to be good experience for our team. I think the level of competition will be better and they will be on the same level, so I think we are going to compete even better this weekend.”

Jenny Rohl/The News

Sophomore Amina Hadzic from Esbjerg, Denmark, won her first set last weekend but lost her next two to lose her singles match.

Womens soccer loses, gears up for OVC season

Staff report The Racer soccer team traveled to St. Louis Tuesday night to take on the Billikens before coming home to begin the OVC season.

It took 103 minutes for the Billikens to score the winning goal to beat the Racers 1-0 in overtime.

St. Louis outshot Murray State 24-7 in the game. The first half was much of the same story as the Racers attempted just four shots to the Billikens’ 13.

Junior forward Harriet Withers led the Racers with six shots in the game, four of which were on target. Murray State forced the St. Louis goalkeeper to make five saves, while the Racers freshman goalkeeper Kaylyn Talfair made 12 saves on 13

shots on goal in her first start for Murray State.

The Racers return home for Family Weekend to host Morehead State in the team’s first OVC game since winning the OVC Tournament last season.

Morehead State is 3-5-1 on the season with its first OVC game Thursday at home. The lone tie for the Eagles came against the University of Tennessee Chattanooga in a double overtime 0-0 match.

The Racers beat UTC at home Aug. 26 2-0 behind goals from freshman forward Emma Heise and junior midfielder Aaron Lankster.

Murray State is 1-4-1 on the season and will try to defend its regular season OVC Championship and its perfect conference record.

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Sports

Page 8

September 22, 2016

Colt Challenge USA stops in Murray Staff Report Last weekend, the William “Bill” Cherry Agricultural Exposition Center hosted a colt starting competition.

According to the Colt Starting Challenge USA website, colt starting is the process of a younger horse training to become a competitor. From thoroughbreds to show horses, these mammals come from all over the United States to show that they’re ready for the big time.

The competition is hosted by Colt Starting Challenge USA and hosts 30 different events that all lead up to the National Finals in Las Vegas. This year, around the halfway mark of the season, one of those stops was in Murray.

The competition was held over two days and consisted of five different sessions. Four of the sessions were all about showing what the horse had been trained to do. Each of the trainers took time to talk about training the

horses and how to react when something didn’t go the way they planned.

For the fifth and final session, the trainers got to mount their horses and complete an obstacle course as fast as possible.

Horses and trainers from all over the United States traveled to Murray to compete. Six trainers arrived this weekend from states like Florida, Georgia and Alabama to take the prize.

Colt Starting Challenge USA has hosted colt starting competitions since 2012 and encouraged an audience during a statement previewing the competition.

The show takes 7 hours, with the schedule having a three-hour shift on Friday and a four-hour shift on Saturday.

Many other horses and trainers will be competing to travel to the 2016 Colt Starting World Championships with competitions beginning at 3 p.m. on Dec. 5 and closing at 5 p.m. on Dec. 7 in Las Vegas.

Chalice Keith/The News

Teams compete at the William “Bill” Cherry Agricultural Exposition Center in Murray.

Racers split first fall doubleheader

Tierra Reese

Contributing writer treese1@murraystate.edu

Week Two LEADERS

RB DeAngelo Williams - 4 pts QB Matt Ryan - 51 pts Defense Vikings - 35 pts

WR Kelvin Benjamin - 37 pts

TE Greg Olsen - 25 pts

40 30

Kicker Graham Gano - 26 pts Dan Bailey - 26 pts

20

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50

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will need more time for recovery,” Swieton said.

Racing in the rain and mud, Meagan Smith, junior from Danville, Kentucky, finished with a time of 18 minutes, 34 seconds in the 5K. Smith said she had a 10-second improvement from the past meet at Belmont.

“I think I did well in the first two-thirds of the race, I just need to work on continuing to push through the finish, that last mile,” Smith said.

Smith said she is showing the freshmen the ropes this year into their collegiate careers.

“Overall, I think we are doing really well,” Smith said. “A lot of people have been improving. I think we’re getting stronger as a team.

We’ve been working together really well during the race. I think this is definitely the strongest team we have had in a long time.”

Both teams will compete on Sept. 24 at Austin Peay State before another big meet at Notre Dame the following week.

essary improvements after their first doubleheader.

“In the first game, we had a lot more opportunities to score runners that we didn’t take advantage of,” Amundson said. “In the second game, we didn’t score at all even though we had runners in scoring position at different times, but I do think we did a good job of trying to make adjustments; it just wasn’t clicking at the plate and Southern Illinois’ pitcher is a really good pitcher.”

The Racers’ next doubleheader is against Union University and will take place at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Sept. 25 at Racer Field.

40

At the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic, the Murray State cross-country team competed during rainy weather conditions.

The men ran in their first 8K race of the season and the women ran in the 5K race.

The men’s team finished second to last, putting them in 22nd place. The women finished in 15th place.

Mark Ventura, junior from Slade, Kentucky, was the top runner with the best time of 26 minutes, 22 seconds in the 8K from Murray State. Ventura said although the team as a whole did not finish as well as he had hoped for, the added interval training starting this week will help for better results in the next competition.

“We’ve been doing a lot of fartleks (long distance training method), but with intervals, you can go as fast as you can so that should increase our speed,” Ventura said. “I am looking forward to that training hitting us in the future. She

wants us to have that training under us for OVC, which is our main goal.

Ventura said the first 8K run is always difficult, especially for the freshmen, but this year Ventura said they did well and a lot better than he did as a freshman.

“Usually, our first 8K is pretty slow just because we’re not used to it and it’s the freshmen’s first 8K ever but they performed way better than my first 8K,” Ventura said.

“They killed it.”

Zach Balleau, freshman, from Eureka, Missouri, placed second top runner for Murray State with a time of 26 minutes, 41 seconds.

Head Coach Jenny Swieton, said she will be switching up the workout routines to be prepared for the Notre Dame competition coming up in a few weeks.

“We will actually do one less workout a week, since they have been used to three a week, but the ones that we will do will be harder. The races that are coming up are bigger and more important so we will hit it hard, but they

“That loss can be attributed to timely hitting by Southern Illinois,” Amundson said.

“They scored in the bottom of the seventh so it was literally a walk-off hit up the middle. It was back and forth all game long. We’d get runners in scoring position and then their pitcher and defense would do what they needed to do and vice versa. It was a really good game and it was something you’d expect to see in the spring, not in the fall.”

Amundson said she believes there are always aspects of her team’s game that can be improved on and has already identified the nec-

40

Cross-country trains for OVC

“You just never know what to expect to see in the fall,” Amundson said. “But it felt like it was a spring game. It felt like it was a real game for us, and that’s how we talk about these fall games and it’s how we need to approach them. I don’t like to lose ever, whether it counts or not, and if Sunday speaks at all for how we’ll perform in the spring, I think we’re in good shape.”

That competitiveness was certainly put to the test on Sunday as the Racers experienced a seven-inning long stalemate ending in a walkoff base hit by Southern Illinois.

50

The Murray State softball team closed out their weekend doubleheader with split results, beating University of Missouri-St.Louis 4-0 and losing to Southern Illinois 1-0.

The doubleheader opened up the fall season for the Racers, completing two of the eight games scheduled for their spring season prerequisites. Head Coach Kara Amundson reiterated the goals of the Racers for their exhibition games and the progress they made last week-

“During the course of the day literally everybody played,” Amundson said. “We definitely had a chance to envision what our spring lineup will look like. One of the things I told the players to do was to be stars in their roles.

What that means is regardless of if you’re starting, coming off the bench or in the bullpen - it doesn’t matter - always be a star in your role and be the best player and teammate you can be in any moment.”

Despite the games not counting towards the regular season, Amundson said she looked to keep her players focused and competitive in preparation for the spring.

40

cmorris29@murraystate.edu

end.

“I was really proud of how we competed,” Amundson said. “The fall season is just a way for us to get out and compete a little bit and see what we have early on. I was really, really proud of how we came out and just strictly competed and executed things. Our defense made some really good plays so I was just happy with how the day went.”

With the fall season containing purely exhibition games, the team will have plenty of opportunities to experiment and develop.

Amundson said she took advantage of one of those opportunities on Sunday.

30

Contributing writer

20

Colin Morris

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September 22, 2016

Features

Features Editor: Gisselle Hernandez Assistant Features Editor: Brianna Willis Phone: 270-809-5871 Twitter: MSUNewsFeatures

dtuck@murraystate.edu

Growing up an army brat and attending a Catholic school, Sam Bussey, Murray State alumna from Paducah, Kentucky, had doubts about coming out, but now she is confident and displays that confidence in drag.

“It w as o n e of those things, as I got older I thought maybe I’d grow out of it,” Bussey said.

“I remember talking to myself saying ‘It’s just a phase, it will go away, I bet everyone has these thoughts.’

So I suppressed them.”

COMING OUT

Bussey said she also worried about what her family would think.

In order to try and fit into the standard, Bussey dated a guy throughout the majority of her high school ca reer. When that ended, Bussey met her first girlfriend and everything changed, she said.

It wasn’t until Bussey’s sophomore year at Murray State that she outwardly revealed her true self.

“Finally, I was just

­

like I’m tired of hiding all this stuff, I can’t do it anymore,” Bussey s a i d .

“I’m not even who I want to be and I have suppressed this for so long that I just can’t help it anymore.”

Bussey said she remembers the first time she told her mom she was a lesbian.

“I remember telling my mom there were going to be a lot of changes happening and for her not to freak out,” Bussey said.

After a back and forth conversation with her mother, neither of them wanting to actually say the words, Bussey said her mom finally just looked at her and said “I know, and I have known but I don’t care.”

Bussey said having her mother openly accept her was an immense relief. She said she had always heard horrible stories about parents shunning their children after admitting they were gay or lesbian. Bussey said she is very lucky to have the mother she has.

She also said her brother was very supportive. He told Bussey he would never marry a woman who did not accept her.

Bussey’s father, on the other

w o r e baggy jeans, E c h o ,

Rocawear and all these flatbill hats,” B u s s e y said. “That wasn’t me at all and I didn’t like it.”

She said after a while and a few more style attempts she let go of worrying about dressing to a stereotype and just dressed in whatever she felt comfortable wearing.

“I don’t want to say I developed a certain style,” she said. “I just found me.”

She said her confidence began to flourish and those around her could tell she was happy.

BECOMING TREY RAWLINGS

hand, was not supportive of Bussey’s identity. She said that was difficult for her to deal with but she has moved past it.

TRUDGING THROUGH TRIAL AND ERROR

Bussey said after she came out to her family, she went through a trial and error phase trying to figure out who she was and who she wanted to be.

“I went through this hip-hop stage where I

In the time it takes to read this article, 75 children will be dead from drinking contaminated water.

“There are still more than 600 million people in the world living without clean water,” said Roger Weis, founding faculty coordinator of WAVE. WAVE is an on campus/community organization focused on funding the purchase and installation of water purification systems nationwide.

Weis started WAVE on Murray State’s campus two years ago to work directly with Living Waters for the World, a global nonprofit organization that installs water purification systems for countries in need. WAVE is the only college organization working directly with Living Waters for the World.

“Committed to providing clean water for a generation.

Living Waters for the World volunteer water teams focus their activity within LWW’s established international networks: Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, Southeast Mexico and Yucatan Mexico,” said Wil Howie, Living Waters for the World Founder.

Last year, WAVE raised more than $3,500 for Living Waters for the World. With that, one

Contributing writer prother@murraystate.edu

Students and community members came together last weekend at Lovett Auditorium to witness the Maze: an illusion show hosted by Jim Munroe, an illusionist who was diagnosed with leukemia and who we profiled in last week’s paper.

The Maze is an illusion show that ties in a bigger message about how we all have one right path for us but to find it, you must look at things through a different perspective, Munroe said.

“It may seem like you’ve hit a dead end, but that’s because you can’t see the whole picture,” sophomore Caroline Cropp from Lexington, Kentucky, said.

Munroe said you need to look at things from a different perspective; just like Ph oto ter a cou when you see an illusion it rtesy of UNW looks like one thing is happening, but in reality, another Mexico. thing is going on. He ties in “I haven’t been involved with all the illusions with how life WAVE that much but from what works.

I know, WAVE itself is making a “A maze is a puzzle with positive impact,” Belcher said. interconnected pathways WAVE has already had its that all finish in a dead end first member meeting for the except one,” Munroe said. semester, but there is plenty of “Life can feel like a maze, estime to get involved. pecially in college, when all “Our students get to feel good the paths look the same and about what they are doing,” the only way to find the right Weis said. “Meanwhile having one is after you’ve hit that the opportunity to be involved dead end.” with a global non-profit.” see , Page 10 One way Munroe helps get For more information, contact his message across to his auWeis at rweis@murraystate.edu. dience is not just by doing “To me, It’s unacceptable,” magic tricks, but he incorpoWeis said. “I’ll keep doing this rates those tricks into someuntil I can’t breathe because I rething people can relate to. ally believe in it,” Weis said.

6 to 8 million people die annually from water-related diseases. .o rg

dtuck@murraystate.edu

purification system was bought, shipped and installed in a small village of several thousand people.

Weis, his leadership team and student members believe this year they can do more.

WAVE is starting off with almost $3,000 in donations from local businesses. This year’s goal is $5,000.

The second annual Splash Down Events will begin this semester. Members of WAVE will be selling water bottles for a dollar in front of the Curris Center, playing paint darts (three darts for a dollar, selling paper water bottles that can be purchased, colored and hung up at the bookstore and other events including a Halloween Ping-Pong Tournament.

WAVE has adopted Guatemala for this year’s fundraising.

All proceeds will go directly to water purification systems for Guatemala.

Weis said he asked the Living Waters for the World coordinators where the largest need was and Guatemala was in the worst shape.

Other than having events on campus, WAVE goes out into the community to raise money as well. Weis said they visit churches and host what they call “bucket brigades.”

Tim Belcher, from Murray, has been involved with Living Waters for the World for 8 years.

He said he had the opportunity to help install a water system in

Piper Rother

c a u se

Da’Sha Tuck

TREY, Page 10

Magic mixed with reality

Making waves for a Graphic courtesy of Austin Gordon/The News

Bussey said she first heard about the Murray State Alliance her second year. Once she heard about the drag shows, she said she was immediately interested.

Alliance is an organization on campus that is focused on supporting LGBT Racers and allies, which are people who don’t necessarily identify as LGBT but are in support.

The first drag show Bussey performed in was in the Fall of 2007.

Alliance hosts a drag show twice a year. All the proceeds go to Alliance to help further their mission.

Even though Bussey had

never even been to a drag show, she was determined and confident she would perform in the next one, she said.

Jody Cofer Randall, coordinator of LGBT Programming, has known Bussey since she first began performing in drag. Randall has seen Bussey progress from her first drag show to last spring’s show.

“I remember encouraging Sam to get up on that stage and explore the world of drag because I knew Sam had the makings of a really fun entertainer,” Cofer Randall said.

Bussey said looking back her first drag performance was a learning experience.

She remembers it very vividly and described it with a smile.

With her first show behind her, B u s s e y began to refine her image as a drag king.

She needed a name.

“For some reason, my friend and I had this inside joke about trees and she kept saying tree, tree, tree,” Bussey said. “Then it hit me, Trey. My name would be Trey.”

She said as she was thinking, she was looking around her room w hen she hap- see

Graphic courtesy of Austin Gordon/The News

Da’Sha Tuck

Staff writer

Staff writer

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The News

PETS

Contributed by Kelli O’Toole /The News

Volunteers at the Maze magic show hosted by illusionist Jim Munroe.

“We’re always looking for thematic things that people care about: love, money, connections,” Munroe said, “Then we try and put tricks to those themes.”

The themes helped keep the audience interested and focused on the show for it hit what most people care about.

“I feel like with the themes, people were more interested in it because if it was just trick after trick I would’ve been bored after 20 minutes,” sophomore Ali Wilks from St. Louis said.

Munroe said they try and pair each trick with a theme, but one trick that was performed was Munroe swallowed a string and then had Cropp pull it out of his stomach. What made it look real was the help of cameraman and tech crew member Brice Harney from Lexington, Kentucky.

“With the string illusion, people saw that a string was coming out of his stomach,” Harney said. “But if you see, a close up of the string tugging his skin it amplifies the

effect.”

Harney has always been involved with magic but after hearing Munroe’s message and what he believed in, he felt a calling that he had to be apart of the show.

“I was so enthralled by the way he shared his message and his skills with illusions, I was like ‘I have to be a part of this,’” Harney said. “There's something so much more about this than just capturing people's attention; it's about sharing what we believe to be true.”

Munroe said what the people of the Maze believe to be true is that even though good and bad things happen in people’s life, those things happen for a reason and that there is more going on than what we can see, just like with illusions.

“I think that all the random circumstances that we face point to something,” Munroe said. “With a seemingly random set of circumstances, there might be something bigger going on behind the scenes.”

Features

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Features Editor

ghernandez1@murraystate.edu

Murray residents and Murray State students had a furry weekend filled with sloppy, wet kisses courtesy of Murray’s Tractor Supply Store Co. event culminating their Pet Appreciation Week.

The nationwide farmer lifestyle company hosts Pet Appreciation Week every year in September, with deals on pet supplies, coupons and drawings hosted throughout the week. The main event took place Saturday at the Tractor Supply Store in Murray to celebrate pets. Those who wanted to become pet owners could admire the dogs the Humane Society of Calloway County brought out for adoption.

The Humane Society has been a part of past Pet Appreciation events the Tractor Supply Store has hosted, having both community members and Murray State students volunteer for the event.

Cassie Barber, volunteer at the Humane Society, said the event is highly beneficial for the Humane Society, especially with today’s era of technology.

“There is a greater awareness leading to people adopting homeless animals,” she said. “There are

Chalice Keith/The News

From Page 9

pened to see a basketball and started playing with the idea of Spalding as a last name.

Eventually, though, she decided on Rawlings, instead.

Trey Rawlings has been stealing the show ever since.

Bussey said she was shocked the first time a student came up to him as Trey after a drag show wanting to take a picture with him. She said it was unreal.

“I felt like I was portraying

September 22, 2016

Tractor Supply Store celebrates pet week

Gisselle Hernandez

TREY

The News

this character that may have been someone I wanted to be but not necessarily,” Bussey said. “I just felt so confident as this person to be receiving all this attention because just as Sam, I never got that.”

Bussey said performing in drag is a great experience because the performer gets to be someone else for a while. She said normally, people don’t get that opportunity but with drag its possible.

While Rawlings was continuing to flesh out his image, he met a friend who soon became his “Drag

Mom:” Chris Moorehead.

Rawlings and Moorehead quickly became close as Moorehead began to guide Rawlings as he became more prominent in drag. Moorehead helped Rawlings design costumes, routines and further shape his image.

AND BEYOND

Rawlings continued to perform in Alliance’s drag shows until Bussey graduated in 2010.

After graduation, Bussey went to law school, passed the bar and currently works at a law firm in Paducah.

things like Pet Finder, a website for online adoptions. These people who adopted a dog today saw her on the internet first, and they came to meet her and adopt her today.”

Aaron Tacker, store manager of the Tractor Supply Store, said the idea to do a Pet Appreciation Week happened because the company is pet-based and corporate rolled out the event to help what Tacker said was the biggest issue: pet adoption. “[The Humane Society] being right up front at the event helps the traffic and people see [the pets] when otherwise they wouldn’t see them at the animal shelter,” he said.

“As a company, we want to do that, something big that can help our customers but also have fun with it.”

Barber said there is a preapproved application families have to fill out before adopting a pet to make sure it goes to a good home. Barber reminded those wanting to adopt that it is no easy task to have a puppy, but that it requires constant care and commitment. That afternoon, a few pups were adopted, making families smile as they clutched the new member of the family.

Tanner Hall, freshman from Central Virginia, was one of the students who signed up to volunteer at the pet adoption booth. He said the event is something he would gladly

But she has not been able to stay away from drag. Rawlings never stopped coming back each year to perform in Alliance’s drag shows.

Those who have seen Rawlings perform were sad to see him go after graduation.

“I worried that after Sam graduated from Murray State and went to law school, we would lose their talent, but Sam has returned for what I think has been every show to publicly give back to the Alliance and Murray State,” Cofer Randall said.

This year, Rawlings will

be hosting as well as performing.

Alliance is hosting its Fall Glamour Drag Show Thursday, Sept. 22. It will be held in the Curris Center Ballroom and the doors open at 6:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $10 and students get in for $7 with a student ID. Rawlings said as much as he enjoys the attention he gets from fans, he wants everyone to know Bussey is taken and couldn’t be happier.

Her girlfriend said she enjoys the shows.

attend every year.

“I’d like to think that everyone can benefit from having an animal in their life,” he said. “And I know this event in particular definitely will help the animals of the Humane Society.”

Among the Humane Society, there were other community groups like the Murray State rodeo team, who was grilling burgers for donations; Daisy, the brand of airguns, which had a small enclosed shooting range to raise money for the robotics team and the Animal Health Technology group.

Tacker said this year was the first time they had the rodeo team and Daisy being a part of the event in an effort to involve the community more.

“We kind of reached different corners because we hit a little bit of the youth, the college and even the animals,” he said.

Tacker said any and all pets were welcome. The event had a watering station, tennis balls and information on spaying and neutering for the pets that made the trip out to the store.

“It’s nice to see so much of the community come out,” Barber said.

“And it’s good for the dogs to get socialized, to get petted, too, even if they don’t get adopted.”

“Naturally, other girls give heart-eyed stares while she’s Trey, and that can be a little unnerving at times,” said Paige Holshouser, Bussey’s girlfriend, from Paducah.

“But then I remember that I was one of those girls a few years ago.”

Students can come out this Thursday and support Murray State Alliance and all the kings and queens who will be performing at this year’s Glamour Drag Show.

“People tip, and once I even found a rolled up dollar with a phone number inside my pants,” Bussey said.

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Features

September 22, 2016

Pop Culture Corner

Photo courtesy of glamourmagazine.com

Brad and Angelina officially split Tuesday brought bad news for many fans of celebrity romance. It was officially announced that actor and actress Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are filing for divorce. Pitt requested that everyone respect their privacy, especially their children’s privacy. People everywhere are certain to mourn the loss of such an iconic relationship. #RIPBrangelina

Photo courtesy of theduran.com

Trump family back at it again in the news Donald Trump Jr. has hit the headlines this time in place of his father. He tweeted an image donning the campaign logo comparing Syrian refugees to Skittles candy. Many people, have taken to Twitter to express their outrage with the metaphor. Skittles’ Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Wrigley America, which produces Skittles, responded to an email by one Twitter user, saying Skittles does not support comparing humans to candy.

Soundbyte “Brad and Angelina. How am I supposed to go to work today?”

-Chrissy Teigen, Summing up how everyone is feeling about the current state of celebrity affairs.

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Aldean lacks heart and soul Nick Erickson || Staff writer nerickson@murraystate.edu

In today’s society, a large amount of people enjoy modern country music.

With that being said, there is also a huge portion that loathes it. A wellknown stereotype is that most country music on this century has a very narrow lyrical plane, with a majority of songs focusing on booze, scantily-clad girls and of course, pick-up trucks and tractors.

While it might seem fair to give chart-topping singer Jason Aldean the benefit of the doubt, it’s a faulty assumption. With his newest release “They Don’t Know,” Aldean successfully lives up to the proclaimed “bro-country” taglines, with his overproduced voice tackling the same rehashed subject matter.

Album opener “Lights Come On,” released prior to the album, is arguably a stand-out track on the record, solely because Aldean sings of gearing up for a huge stadium show the following night. Trying to touch upon a seemingly heartfelt testament to his enjoyment of performing for fans, it

feels insincere upon being buried in synthesized vocal filters, which noticeably have tweaked his voice to sound eerily perfect. The same applies for the instrumentation, which although being noted in the album credits as actually having been performed, the glossed-over guitars and drum kicks don’t feel authentic.

It would not be a stadium-country album without the abundance of tracks driven by sexual-urgency. Aldean does his best to make moves on ladies on “Bad” and “Comin’ in Hot.” “Show a little too much when you dance like that,” he says in an awkwardly-seducing manner. Meanwhile, tracks such as “Whiskey’d Up,” singing to the one he loves and comparing her to the warmth of his alcohol, feel as if Aldean attempted to write clever, romantic thoughts while actually inebriated. Beyond all that, Aldean didn’t even write many of the songs on the album, making an already worn-out subject seem even more inauthentic.

“All Out of Beer,” too, has a similar topic of binge-drinking to cope with the longing of the girl he wants.

“The only time you show up here is

Photo courtesy of store.jasonaldean.com

when you’re lonely and I’m all out of beer,” he sings to her. Though a sensitive topic to some, it just feel plain repetitive and overdone, not holding its weight against other chart-topping country stars.

One might expect Aldean to branch out of not just his own comfort zone, but the genre’s comfort zone as a whole. “They Don’t Know” has moments with some rather forced emotion, yet Aldean seems to be so stuck up on wooing women and alcohol consumption to even skim the surface of the vast expanse of vocabulary the English language has to offer.

For die-hard fans of stadium-inclined country, this might be worthy of a few plays, but for others, Aldean is a sure pass-up.

Photo courtesy of wallpapersite.com

“Sully” allows audience members to feel the emotions of the day when Captain Chesley Sullenberger saved everyone on Flight 1549 by landing in the Hudson River.

‘Sully’ floats to the top Nick Erickson|| Staff writer nerickson@murraystate.edu

On Jan. 15, 2009, Captain Chesley Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles of Flight 1549 struck a flock of birds, lost both engines and were forced to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River. Narrowly escaping the jaws of death, the duo managed to safely land and save the lives of all 150 passengers and five crew onboard.

Since that invigorating day more than seven years ago, Sullenberger and Skiles have both been widely regarded as heroes. Director Clint Eastwood has taken it into his own hands to encapsulate all of the energy, tension and emotions in the air from that day. The new film “Sully” successfully places viewers in the cockpit while the horrific situation unfolded.

Legendary actor Tom Hanks portrays Sullenberger. Known for his versatility in acting, from an animated toy cowboy to Saturday Night Live skits in the mid-90s, Hanks also is not shy to portray a lead in an intense-paced film. Besides ob-

viously dawning a close representation of how Sullenberger looks in real life, Hanks does a phenomenal job of portraying a pilot desperately, yet calmly, attempting to keep all on-board the flight safe through a well-executed and short landing scene. Eastwood depicts Sullenberger’s modesty throughout the entirety of the movie, as if he was just doing his job, despite being the hero everyone needed. Through all of the chaotic-nature of the situation, Hanks does a good job of keeping his role collected.

Along with the fantastic acting job of Hanks, actor Aaron Eckhart, famous for his portrayal of Two-Face in “The Dark Knight,” portrays Skiles, and is a worthy choice of having done so. The action of the film, while largely involves the actual plane incident, also involves the legals issues that arose from the water-landing.

Federal officials question Sullenberger and Skiles and subject both of them to an investigation which could cost them their flying licenses.

It is arguably as eye-widening as the plane scenes and adds to the realism of the film, showing more of the be-

hind-the-scenes to the entire Flight 1549 incident.

Eastwood also touches upon how Sullenberger actually has a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder from the incident, haunted in his mind by what could have happened and how things could have went horribly wrong. Eastwood captures effectively disturbing 9/11 imagery in those scenes, and it’s very moving, setting in the darkness of those realizations into the minds of viewers.

The only downside to “Sully” is that at times, it feels like it is dragged out a bit much. As the actual rescue of the passengers took merely 24 minutes, a chunk of the film’s 96-minutes is spent getting to know background passengers who need to be saved by Sully. Despite that, the action of the plane scenes and the tension of the legal issues and personal in-depth analysis of Sullenberger’s mind postplane landing make up for it.

“Sully” is a gripping visual representation of the events that unfolded that cold January morning. With the believable acting and edge-of-yourseat moments and rising action, “Sully” an informative thriller.

Incorrigible, Defiant Woman

Safety First R e cently, I have had a series of experiences that have left me feeling incredibly u n c o m fortable on Brianna Willis campus.

Assistant From hate groups to Features Editor walking alone at night from Faculty Hall to Springer Residential College, my safety has been on the forefront of my mind a lot the past few weeks. Even engaging online with people I consider friends has been difficult for me lately.

I want to respect people’s opinions. However, at what point can I keep allowing people to say things to me that directly threaten my existence. Is that an opinion then? Rather, a clear erasure of my existence by actively choosing to deny me or diminish my experience as a woman and a person of color.

In a time of exams, presidential elections and general life happenings, this concern about my safety has added to my stress. I know I am not alone in this feeling, last weekend commiserating the current state of affairs with friends over a beverage in the back of a restaurant, was eye opening.

How did we get here? How did we let ourselves get so stressed the only remedy is crying, or even worse letting the stress make us physically sick.

What happened to self-care?

What happened to treating ourselves? Why have we let politics, racism, sexism and life break us down so far we’re struggling to get back up? Another hashtag, another catcall, another test it seems to be never ending.

It is in these times I am reminded of the importance of safe spaces and taking care of ourselves first and foremost.

So here are some tips and some myths I want to address so we can all have a successful semester.

There is nothing better than having a “safe space”. Whether that’s your bathroom, a friend’s house, a favorite restaurant or even your job, having somewhere you can retreat and just be for a second. Be with yourself have friends and co-workers support you through troubling times.

There is nothing selfish about taking care of you. If you need to be alone, if you need to cancel plans, if you need to spend money, do it. Take care of yourself before you focus outwards.

How can you help someone else, if you’re not fine yourself?

Buy that new dress or pant suit, order that dessert and watch one more episode before you study.

Whatever helps you focus and recenter, do it.

There is nothing wrong with asking for help. I had a professor email me to check in, and if I had swallowed my pride and let them know in advance, who knows how much less stressed I would have been. Counseling might be a good option for those of us who suffer from depression, especially when the seasons change. Asking a boss or a coworker for help when something is too difficult can help alleviate unwanted stress.

I am thankful for my safe spaces, for my network of friends who support and understand the need for self care. Here’s to face masks and long showers this weekend. #TreatYoSelf bwillis2@murraystate.edu

Out this week

Read It

“Born to Run”

by Bruce Springsteen

See It

“Magnificent Seven”

Hear It

“Divine Feminine”

by Mac Miller

Rent It

“Free State of Jones”

Play It “FIFA 17”

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September 22, 2016