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THE MUR R AY STATE

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April 29, 2021 | Vol. 95, No. 26

@MurrayStateNews

NEWS

OPINION

SPORTS

FEATURES

Student parents find new normal in pandemic

Anderson talks about impact of being adviser

Band performs first live concert after a year

page 2

page 4

Baseball sweeps EKU over Alumni weekend page 5

page 7

COVID19 cases drop in spring Jakob Milani Staff Writer jmilani@murraystate.edu Colleges across the commonwealth of Kentucky have been attempting to make the college experience safe as the 2020-21 school year has gone on and Murray State has been able to do so, registering the third lowest number of positive cases among the eight public institutions of higher education in the 2021 spring semester.

For schools like Murray State, COV I D - 1 9 c a s e s h a v e b e e n down during the spring semester compared to the fall semester. A look into each university’s COVID-19 case count on their respective websites show just that.

Murray State has had 99 positive cases, making for a total of 576 positive cases this school year.

Kentucky State University reported the fewest positive cases so far, with 31 cases in the spring semester.

Meanwhile, the University of Kentucky has had the most positive cases this semester with 1,324 positive cases, followed by the University of Louisville with 573 positive cases.

Eastern Kentucky University followed with 263 positive cases this semester while Morehead State University has had 82 positive tests.

Western Kentucky University has reported 1,292 total cases across the school year. Northern Kentucky University recently reported that there are 101 active cases on campus.

Murray State freshman secondary education major Madeline Oxendine said she thinks cases are down this semester because everyone has followed the guidelines so well.

“I think everybody realized how significant of a situation we’re in and that wearing masks and following guidelines is the way to go,” Oxendine said. “I feel like the guidelines have helped as far as social distancing and wearing masks and limiting capacities. It’s shown a difference this semester.”

Oxendine also pointed out the size of colleges across the state as a reason for why numbers might be down.

“There aren’t as many (students) here as there are in, say, UK,” Oxendine said. “I think that plus our compliance with the guidelines has really helped this semester.”

see COVID-19, page 3

Paige Bold/The News President Bob Jackson observes Murray State engineering students E-vehicle.

Engineering students build E-Vehicle Ben Overby Staff Writer boverby2@murraystate.edu A team of six students in Senior Design I and II spent the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters designing and building the E-vehicle, a two-person off-road vehicle with a 17-horsepower electric engine.

School of Engineering Chair Danny Claiborne said he finds and allocates funds for all senior design projects. With other faculty members, Claiborne also approves funds for projects based on seniors’ proposals.

“The School of Engineering has been successful in building several types of vehicles in the past,” Claiborne said. “The Engineering Physics students have participated in a gas-operated Baja buggy for many years. The Electromechanical Engineering Technology students have participated in a hydraulic bicycle competition and have won that competition at the national level two times.

This is the first e-vehicle attempted by the School of Engineering, and I am very excited about the success of the senior design team and the engineering faculty.”

Claiborne said the funds for this project were provided by a University foundation account established by Johny Russell who was one of the engin e e r s o n t h e o r i g i n a l NA S A Moon Bugg y. O ther state-allocated funds provided by the University also go towards these projects, but the Russell

funds were needed to complete the project due to its high costs.

Claiborne said the e-vehic le is a per f ect ex ampl e o f the learning opportunities in the engineering program.

“D uring the last semester of the engineering students, many hours are dedicated to their senior design projects,” Claiborne said. “ We are very proud of our seniors, particular ly during a ver y challenging time, to successfully complete a project of this magnitude and impact.”

Senior engineering physics major Tyler Whetstone said all of the design and anal y sis work was completed in the fall semester while the team built the vehicle during the spring semester. “ S i n c e we h a ve 3 m e c h a n ical-focused people and 3 electrical-focused people, we divided the car into subsystems accordingly; for example: chassis, suspension, motor, etc.,” Whetstone said. “ We eac h had diff e re nt ways of coming to our final designs, but the entire team has a group design report that we each contributed to according to our portion of the project.”

Whetstone said part of the proposal process wwas giving an estimated budget for the project to be approved by Murray State. The students purchased all of their materials through the approved budget.

“All online purchases are ordered through the engineering department’s amazing administrative assistant, and all in-person purchases are done with the card given by

the same,” Whetstone said. “Our team had to designate a “purchaser” for the project, that being the only person who sends requests and actually has to be there for purchases. That person was me, so I did that and kept track of our budget throughout the semester.”

Whetstone said the most difficult aspect of the project was getting all six subsystems of the vehicle to fit together perfectly. He said although the team ran into a lot of unforeseen issues while building the vehicle, they were always able to work through it and ended up with a project they are proud of.

“It ’s a really awesome project that I am glad I got to be a part of,” Whetstone said. “I think electric vehicles are definitely the way of the future, although how soon I don’t know, so getting to build one was really great. Our vehicle is really tough, even if it isn’t perfect.”

W hetstone said the vehic le was a great legacy to leave behind at Murray State.

Senior engineering physics major Jackson Arnold said teamwork between the students working on the project was vital to its success.

He said it took a lot of time and dedication from all members of the group to complete the vehicle.

“It was a group effort to build the vehicle for sure,” Arnold said.

“No individual built it and we all participated in cutting tubing, welding the chassis, wiring components, and troubleshooting ever ything along the way.”

see E-VEHICLE, page 3

News

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April 29, 2021

Parents in the pandemic Student parents find new normal in pandemic Brittany Kenner Contributing Writer bkenner@murraystate.edu All students have had to readjust to the new normal after COVID-19, but one group has had to work harder than others.

Student parents have had more difficult struggles trying to balance their academic lives with being caretakers. When COVID-19 hit, it changed how these students view classes and childcare. For many students, switching to online classes made it easier to balance schoolwork and their children, but for others it posed challenges.

Senior creativing writing maj o r M a k e n n a C row l e y f o u n d out she was pregnant with her daughter Charleigh in 2019 and had her in Januar y 2020.

Crowley said when the pandemic hit, going completely online and transitioning to Zoom c lasses benefited her and her boyfriend with balancing academics, Charleigh and their jobs.

“I like Zoom classes because I am able to stay home with my daughter during them,” Crowley said.

“They are harder to pay attention to sometimes if my daughter needs my attention at the same time, but they have definitely made it easier on me to be able to stay home and do things while also being ‘in class.’”

There are still challenges that come with staying home, Crowley said.

“One of the biggest challenges for me has been making sure I get all of my work done while making time for my daughter, too,” Crowley said. “It makes me feel guilty having to do school work over playing with her sometimes.”

Another one of the challenges has been not showing Charleigh as much of the world as she’d like, Crowley said.

Chenise Nolan, a senior criminal justice major, had mixed feelings about Zoom classes. Nolan also said Zoom is a convenient option for parents when a child is sick or when childcare is hard to find.

Nolan said more Z oom options should be available to students, especially parents because it would allow non-traditional students like themselves to be more involved and receive a more traditional educational experience.

Levi Brandenburg/The News Makenna Crowley and her 15-month-old daughter Charleigh have adjusted well to online class instruction.

Senior nursing major Natalie Cunha said Zoom is harder for her since there is always something else she can be doing at home.

Cuntha said her childcare situation actually got easier when the COVID-19 pandemic began because her husband, who w o r k s i n t h e U. S. Na v y, w a s able to work from home rather than being gone five days out of the week. This allowed him to take their four kids to and from school, freeing up some extra study time for Cunha.

Nolan, Cunha and junior elementary education major And r e a Wa t s o n a l l a g r e e d t h a t Murray State has been ver y

supportive of them as non-traditional students with children.

Cunha said there are some classes that can’t be replicated on Zoom or online, such as math and science. After taking a statistics class online last semester, Cunha said the format did not work for her, especially with children at home.

Watson said that one of her classes was posted as a Zoom class during registration but was actually a hybrid class. Since she works full-time, has a young son and is currently pregnant, traveling to Murray three times a week wasn’t something she could do. Her instructor allowed her to complete the entire course via Zoom rather

than coming into the main campus on scheduled days. By being allowed to take the course fully on Zoom, she could continue working and attend class.

“I feel like I’m getting more out of school by being able to be in a Zoom class,” Watson said.

S ince she lives in Hopkinsv i l l e , K Y, a n d a t t e n d s c o l l e g e a t t h e H o p k i n s v i l l e re g i o n a l c a m p u s , Wa t s o n s a i d Zoom has allowed her to feel more invol ved in her c lasses.

College students with children have had to take on childcare, adjusted classes and other effects of the pandemic, but the University and faculty have been helpful.

April 29, 2021

COVID-19 From Page 1

Murray State freshman non-profit leadership major Alissa Peal said students are finally taking into consideration what they need to do this semester.

“I do think the guidelines have helped keep the case numbers low last semester and lower them this semester,” Peal said. “I also think the free vaccines that we are giving out have helped us a lot.”

Peal said the size of the community in which the college or university is in also plays a role in the number of on campus cases.

“We are a smaller school and our community isn’t as big, so we don’t see a lot of people coming in and out,” Peal said. “But we also have to take into consideration that we live in a county and a city that has a lot of older people so we are trying to protect them as well.”

Murray State, Morehead State, Kentucky State and the University

News

of Kentucky were the only public institutions in the state to forego a spring break. Of those three institutions, Murray State, Morehead State and Kentucky State have the lowest number of cases in the spring semester O xendine attributes Murray State’s success with low COVID-19 cases to students not being able to travel as much during this semester, although that brought a b o u t c h a l l e n ge s o f i t s ow n .

“I think that our numbers were down because we weren’t able to travel as much,” O xendine said. “Even though the lack of a spring break helped the numbers, it didn’t help us mentally and emotionally and that should be considered with the COVID guidelines. The lack of physical connection with other people has taken a toll despite the numbers.”

Peal also said she believes the numbers would be a lot higher than they are had there been a spr ing break this semester.

“I know a lot of students like to go to the beach,” Peal said.

“That’s just a college thing. That would ’ve made things worse.”

E ve r y t i m e t h e g ro u p h i t a h u g e ro a d b l o c k , A r n o l d s a i d they fixed it there or came back to it. Arnold said he was proud to be a part of the project to show that the technology behind electric cars is something students can comprehend. “ We h a d s o m e e l e c t r o n ics problems and stayed late to sort ever ything out and check wires and at the end of the night it was dr iving,” Arnold said. “ There were a lot of hard parts that came with this project, but nothing that ever made us stop fabrication completely.”

the college experience while keeping its students, faculty and staff safe.

Most schools are doing so by encouraging students, faculty and staff to get vaccinated, despite some wanting schools to mandate them.

As far as Murray State goes for the fall 2021 semester, if this will be required of students, faculty and staff, it will not be mandated according to Jackson.

“While the University cannot require vaccinations due to several state and federal legal issues, coupled with an individual’s ability to opt out of receiving a vaccination by law, we strongly encourage our campus community to get vaccinated,” Jackson said in the email. “To date, based on these reasons, coupled with the emergency use authorization provision as applied by the Food and Drug Administration, COVID-19 vaccinations have not been mandated by Governor Andy Beshear, the Commonwealth of Kentucky or the federal government.”

The Murray State News will continue to report COVID-19 case numbers on campus weekl y and wil l update our readers amidst the pandemic.

JavaTalk

FRENCH PRESS BASICS STEP 1: BUY A FRENCH PRESS STEP 2: PREHEAT THE COFFEE PRESS AND COFFEE MUG STEP 3: GRIND THE COFFEE BEANS OF YOUR CHOICE ( OR ASK YOUR BARISTA FOR A RECOMMENDATION ) STEP 4: MEASURE OUT YOUR COFFEE GROUNDS. YOU WILL WANT TO USE 1 TABLESPOON OF COFFEE GROUNDS PER 4 OUNCES OF WATER FOR THE BEST Photo courtesy of Tyler Whetstone The E-Vehicle has a 17-horsepower electric engine.

E-VEHICLE From Page 1

Murray State President Bob Jackson announced via email on Tuesday, April 27, that the University will no longer require masks outdoors on campus. The announcement comes after Gov. Andy Beshear released a statement that said that masks will no longer be required in outdoor events with less than 1000 people.

“Murray State University (MSU) strongly encourages all members of our campus community and beyond to get a COVID-19 vaccination,” Jackson said in the email. MSU and our healthcare partners have been administering COVID-19 vaccinations at the Regional Vaccination Center at the CFSB Center since February. Our faculty, staff and students who desired a COVID-19 vaccine at this location have received one. Also, many members of our campus community have used other healthcare providers, pharmacies, the Calloway County Health Department, among others, for their vaccinations.”

With the spring semester coming to an end and preparation for fall 2021 , colleges and universities across the Bluegrass State will look to bring a sense of normalcy back to

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S e n i o r e n g i n e e r i n g p hy s i c s majorShariq Fayaz Lnu said he worked on the brakes for the vehicle, but ever yone worked together for most of the project.

Lnu said none of the members had any experience in welding or bending of the pipes. Hooking up the steering and the test drive were the most memorable parts since the members could see their car finally work.

“Out of everything, the most memorable part thing I’d take from this is the amount of exper ience I gained work ing on the car, and I was really happy to spend time with my team,” Lnu said. “ There were so many unforgettable moments made with the team, which I will never forget and cherish for the rest of my life.”

TASTE! STEP 5: BOIL YOUR WATER. LET IT SIT FOR 30-45 SECONDS AFTER IT COMES TO A BOIL! STEP 6: EMPTY THE WARM WATER FROM YOUR CARAFE STEP 7: POUR YOUR COFFEE GROUNDS INTO THE CARAFE STEP 8: POUR THE BOILED WATER INTO THE CARAFE. MAKE SURE TO POUR IT EVENLY OVER ALL THE GROUNDS! STEP 9: STIR STEP 10: WAIT FOR ABOUT 5 MINUTES STEP 11: SLOWLY, CAREFULLY PRESS THE GROUNDS DOWN WITH THE PRESS ON THE LID OF THE CARAFE STEP 12: POUR YOUR COFFEE INTO YOUR FAVORITE CUP AND ENJOY!

Opinion

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April 29, 2021

Signing Off Anderson talks about impact of being adviser I made a decision in the spring of 2000 that changed my life forever. I decided to attend Murray State and study journalism.

I would go on to earn my bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate from this great institution.

In 2012, I had the pleasure of joining the journalism and mass communication department as an adjunct lecturer.

Four years later, I moved into the role of assistant professor and publications adviser.

Since Aug. 2016, I have taught journalism courses and advised The Murray State News.

It was a chance for me to share my years of media experience with aspiring collegiate journalists.

I had the chance to take students to conferences in Minneapolis, Washington D.C., Louisville, Bowling Green and Richmond, Kentucky. I’ve worked with five incredible editor-in-chiefs who have gone on to have amazing careers in their respective fields. I have run across campus at 10:30 p.m. with my editors because fire alarms were going off in the Blackburn Science Building, and then called Murray State Police to come let us back in to Wilson Hall just before midnight because in our mad dash to get to the breaking news, we all forgot our keys. I called my editor-in-chief ’s mother after he wouldn’t answer the phone for breaking news. We can laugh about it now. I’ve been in the newsroom some nights until 4 a.m. overseeing the production of the weekly newspaper.

I had the chance to work with students from all over the world, including Belize and Pakistan. My students have covered everything from the Marshall County High School shooting to the Richmond explosion to the change in university presidents to a presiden-

Editorial Board

tial election to a global pandemic and everything in between.

My chosen field of academic research is trauma journalism. I had no idea when I started in this position how often I would be using what I’ve learned. We’ve had a number of tragedies to cover in the last five years, unfortunately. However, I feel as though I was better prepared to teach these students about the proper way to cover traumatic events as well as how to cope with the trauma they endured themselves while reporting the stories.

My favorite part of being the faculty adviser of The News is the ability to teach students in a real world setting. There is only so much a professor can teach in the allotted time in the classroom. However, as adviser, I was not bound by the scheduled class hours. Breaking news can and will happen at any time of the day or night; so you must always be ready to teach. It doesn’t matter if you are in the middle of moving into a new house or taking your son to daycare in your pajamas, breaking news is going to happen and you have to be ready to advise the students how to cover it.

Yes, those really did happen.

To President Bob Jackson and his administration, I appreciate how open and available you were to my students. To Provost Tim Todd, thank you for your support in creating a broadcast studio in the newsroom and the ability to start an online newscast. To Dean David Eaton, Chairman Allen White and the faculty of the journalism and mass communications department, thank you for allowing our students to ask questions, make mistakes and most importantly, learn from the best.

Yes, I said mistakes. We have made them over the years but I was always proud of how

the students handled it. Each mistake was an opportunity for a teaching moment and I did my best to seize that opportunity. I teach my students to follow the code of ethics from the Society of Professional Journalists and to use that to guide their decision-making.

The News is an award-winning student media organization. I take great pride in the numerous awards the students have won over the years. Many of you don’t see the effort that these students put in. Let me tell you, it’s a lot! Their work has been picked up by local, regional, national and even international media organizations.

To my current and former students, thank you. You gave me a sense of purpose when I needed it most in my life. You have each touched my heart in a way that is difficult to put into words, even for a journalist.

While adviser has been one of the greatest titles I have ever held, the greatest is mother. As I type this column at 9:03 p.m., my 17-month-old son is running around in the newsroom entertaining the staff. I will certainly miss production nights with “my kids.”

The best part is that while I will no longer wear my adviser hat, I still get to keep my teacher hat. And that means I will still get to work with the incredible students (including “my kids”) in the JMC department. Yes, you will always be “my kids.”

It has been a pleasure to serve in this role.

I have no doubt The News will continue to be as successful as it has been for the last 94 years. Simon and team, you will always have my support.

Dr. Stephanie Anderson

Gage Johnson Cady Stribling

Dr. Stephanie Anderson Daniella Tebib Editor-in-Chief News Editor

Faculty Adviser Production Manager gjohnson17@murraystate.edu cstribling1@murraystate.edu sanderson37@murraystate.edu dtebib@murraystate.edu Pam Goodwin Breanna Kinder Chief Copy Editor Ad Sales Manager

pgoodwin1@murraystate.edu msunewsads@gmail.com

Joey Reynolds Simon Elfrink

Chief Videographer Sports Editor jreynolds38@murraystate.edu selfrink@murraystate.edu

The News welcomes commentaries and letters to the editor. Sub-

missions 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 gsteffen@murraystate.edu.

Jillian Rush Gabe Steffen Photo Editor Opinion Editor jrush4@murraystate.edu gsteffen@murraystate.edu

John O’Neill

Dionte Berry Online Manager

Features Editor joneill4@murraystate.edu dberry1@murraystate.edu

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

Contact Us 2609 University Station Murray State University

Murray, Kentucky 42071-3301 TheNews.org

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 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.

April 29, 2021

Sports

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Baseball sweeps EKU over Alumni Weekend Simon Elfrink Sports Editor selfrink@murraystate.edu After a pair of OVC season series losses, Murray State came back to Johnny Reagan Field on Friday, April 23, and Saturday, April 24, to take on EKU over Alumni Weekend and Johnny Reagan Day. The Racers took the Colonels by storm, winning all three games to sweep the series.

Game One Freshman right-handed pitcher Jack Wenninger tossed the first pitch of the series at 1 p.m. on Friday, April 23. Wenninger threw six innings on the mound, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks. Wenninger struck out four batters on the mound and earned his fourth win of the season.

Wenninger got to pitch with a lead behind him early on in the game. Redshirt junior third baseman Bryson Bloomer hit a single to score senior second baseman Jordan Cozart, giving the Racers a 1-0 lead in the first. A solo home run off the bat of redshirt freshman designated hitter Jacob Pennington pushed the Racers’ lead to 2-0 in the top of the second inning.

Luck with the long ball spread to EKU’s lineup in the top of the third inning when freshman infielder Santiago Peralta hit a solo shot to lead off the inning.

Zeroes crept across the scoreboard until the top of the sixth inning when EKU turned the tides with another big fly, a two-run blast off the bat of sophomore shortstop Logan Thomason. The Colonels led 3-2 going into the bottom of the sixth inning.

Senior Ryan Perkins tied the game at three in the bottom of the sixth inning with a double to right-center field. Redshirt junior shortstop David Huddleson singled to score Perkins, giving the Racers a 4-3 lead.

Bloomer contributed again in the seventh inning with an RBI single to push the lead to 5-3. Redshirt junior center fielder Jake Slunder punched one to right field in the bottom of the eighth to score another run, making the score 6-3.

Redshirt junior right-hander Conner Holden came in to pitch in the top of the ninth to put the final nail in EKU’s coffin, earning his fifth save of the season.

Game Two Murray State opened game two with a short ceremony in honor of Coach Johnny Reagan, for whom the Racers’ baseball field is named after. In honor of Murray State baseball’s past legend, the Racers changed into throwback jerseys with “Breds” across the front and the number 36—the only retired number in Murray State baseball—on

Simon Elfrink/The News Redshirt junior center fielder Jake Slunder scores on a wild pitch against Eastern Kentucky.

the back. The number 36 was portrayed on a flag in right field and on the chalk behind the plate as well.

Freshman righty Cade Vernon went three innings on the hill in the second game on Johnny Reagan Day, giving up four hits and a three runs and striking out a single batter. The first run was unearned after junior outfielder Caleb Upshaw drove home a runner who reached on a throwing error early in the first inning.

The Racers responded with a crooked number in the bottom of the first. Slunder led off with a single and made his way all the way to third on a wild pitch. Another wild pitch allowed Slunder to score during the same at-bat, tying the game 1-1.

Perkins came through with two outs and two runners on with a twoRBI double down the right field line, giving the Racers a 3-1 lead.

Murray State continued to tack runs on in the bottom of the second inning. Slunder’s speed and aggression on the basepaths aided him once again as he rushed home on a wild pitch all the way from second base. Cozart, despite surely being slighted that Slunder robbed him of an RBI, hit a solo homer to center field during the same at-bat, making the game 5-1.

EKU’s junior second baseman Daniel Harris IV lightened the lead with an RBI single in the top of the third. Upshaw followed suit with an RBI double to cut the lead to 5-3.

The Racers stayed on the offensive, chalking up another run on a sacrifice lineout from redshirt junior catcher Tanner Booth. A trio of runs scored later on in the inning on a series of errors and wild pitches gave the Racers a convincing 9-3 lead in the bottom of the third inning.

The Racers tallied one more when senior right fielder Brock Anderson hit a no-doubter to right-center in the bottom of the fourth to make the Racers’ lead 10-3.

The scoring completely stagnated until the top of the eighth, when Upshaw’s hot bat drove a solo ho-

mer over the left-center field wall.

The Racers stopped the bleeding, but EKU found more life in the top of the ninth inning when Malik Pogue walked a pair of batters.

Harris found a ball in the heart of the zone and jumped on it, punishing Pogue for his free baserunners with a three-run home run to left field. An RBI single from Peralta closed the gap to just two runs, but the Racers were finally able to stifle the upstart Colonels’ offense thanks to another save from Holden. This allowed the Racers to take a 10-8 victory in game two.

Game Three Both teams stepped onto a soggy Johnny Reagan Field on Saturday, April 24, for the last game of the series. In an attempt to let the day’s rain dry up, the game was set for 5:30 p.m., but a heavy mist remained throughout the majority of the game and made it difficult for the moisture to go anywhere. Still, Murray State scraped the field into playing condition and the Racers took the field for the last game of the weekend.

Graduate right-hander Sam Gardner got the start on the hill in game three. Gardner’s last start was the historical nine-inning shutout over Belmont, and Racer fans who braved the wind and rain were eager to see what he would bring to the rubber in the final game of the series. Gardner did not disappoint and went seven innings on the mound, allowing only two runs on six hits and a pair of walks. Gardner brought some of his best pitching of the season with him and fanned nine batters on Saturday.

Bloomer continued to put the ball in play when the Racers needed him to in the first inning, driving in another run with a single to left field.

The Racers took advantage of four errors committed by EKU’s defense throughout the game. The first error came on a ground ball to third base off the bat of Cozart, who then reached first base and got another RBI out

of the deal to make the score 2-0.

Slunder hit an infield single that amounted to an RBI in the fourth inning before the Colonels finally found the scoreboard with a solo home run in the top of the fifth from sophomore infielder Charlie Ludwick.

Murray State found an opportunity to push the lead back to three when Pennington sent a ball tailing away from both outfielders in the right-center gap for a twoout triple. Crump stepped up to the plate and smacked a ball into shallow left-center field. The ball hit a patch of wet grass and died in the outfield, and Crump saw his chance to stretch a single into a double. However, the Colonels’ center recovered the ball and threw him out on his way to second, ending the inning. Still, Crump managed to score Pennington from third to give the Racers a 4-1 lead.

Freshman catcher Will King hit an RBI single to right center to score a run in the top of the seventh inning to close the Racers’ lead to just two runs.

Murray State’s offense came back with a vengeance in the bottom of the seventh as Perkins hit a line drive to left field with two men on base. The left fielder seemed to have a read on the ball, but at the last second he lost his footing to the wet grass and failed to come up with the catch. Perkins made a triple out of the encounter and two more runs scored. Redshirt junior first baseman Trey Woosley drove Perkins in the next at-bat with a ground ball to second base, making the score 7-2.

The Colonels tried to make a lategame rally after getting a run across in the top of the eighth inning, but some key pitching from the Racers’ bullpen kept EKU in check and ended the game with a 7-3 win.

With the first three-game sweep of the season, Murray State improved to 21-16 on the season and 11-4 in conference play. After picking up a loss against Southern Illinois University on Tuesday, April 27, Murray State will go head-to-head with Morehead State for a four-game OVC series from Friday, April 30 to Sunday, May 2.

Hunt honored in last tournament as head coach Andrea Jameson Contributing Writer ajameson1@murraystate.edu As the spring golf season comes to an end, Head Coach Eddie Hunt retired after 20 years of coaching the Murray State men’s golf team beginning in 2001.

The 2021 season finishes with two strong suits for the men’s golf team as they contributed to the Racers placing 9th in the Ohio valley men’s championship tournament.

Seniors Avery Edwards and Austin Knight competed in their last OVC championship event which took place in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

Edwards finished in 10th place with scores of 76-69-73—218 while Knight placed 41st in the

tournament with scores of 77-8273—232. Senior Connor Coombs placed 34th shooting rounds of 78-73-77—228 while sophomore Carson Holmes took home 55th place shooting 78-81-83—242.

Senior Quinn Eaton only competed in the first two days, making rounds of 81-77—158, as freshman Tyler Powell subbed in for Eaton by carding a 77 in the final round of the tournament.

Hunt’s coaching career at Murray State ended with the 2021 season.

His fellow OVC coaches honored Hunt by giving him a signed OVC pin flag to recognize his retirement.

As this season concludes, featured moments include Powell earning the All-OVC Newcomer Team for the 2020-2021 season. Powell averaged

Photo courtesy of Racer Athletics Head Coach Eddie Hunt holds up his OVC Flag after his final touenament as head coach.

a 77.5 in five events after 13 rounds, making the ASU Spring Classic in Prattsville, Alabama, one of his best tournaments by finishing in 10th

place. Knight was able to capitalize on his last regular season tournament as a Racer on Tuesday, April 13, when he won the Big Blue Intercollegiate.

Sports

6

Photo courtesy of Racer Athletics Senior shortstop Sierra Gilmore had five hits and five RBIs against the Panthers.

April 29, 2021

Photo courtesy of Sandy King Senior center-fielder Jensen Striegel had five hits in the Racers series against EIU.

Gillmore shines, softball takes two against EIU Jakob Milani Staff Writer jmilani@murraystate.edu The Murray State softball team won their second straight series on April 23, through April 25, when they defeated EIU two games to one.

Game One Junior right-hander Hannah James took the mound for the Racers in game one and saw trouble early. James gave up three hits in the first three innings, but the Racers defense helped hold the Panthers scoreless.

The Racers took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the third when senior shortstop Sierra Gilmore singled up the middle to bring home senior center fielder Jensen Striegel. The Racers extended their lead in the fourth inning with a double from senior first baseman Lexi Jones, making it a 2-0 ballgame.

The Panthers answered in the bottom of the fourth with a home run from freshman catcher Amber Cieplinski, bringing the Panthers within one run of the Racers.

Cieplinski also managed to draw the only walk for the Panthers in

the game in the bottom of the first.

Runs kept coming in for the Racers as Gilmore hit a homerun in the top of the fifth inning to bring in Striegel and make it a 4-1 game. Gilmore finished the game with three hits and three RBIs. The Racers tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh with a hit from freshman outfielder Bryce Adkinson, followed by a sacrifice fly from junior second baseman Lindsey Carroll. The Panthers weren’t able to make a comeback, giving James her seventh win of the season with a score of 6-1.

Game Two

Senior right-hander Taylor Makowski was handed the ball on Sunday, April 25, to lead the Racers in game two. Through 3.1 innings, she allowed six hits and a run to cross home-plate.

Gilmore continued her dominant weekend with a single in the top of the third, bringing home Striegel and sophomore third baseman Lily Fischer. Those two RBIs made it a 2-0 game heading into the bottom of the third inning.

The Panthers made it close in their half of the inning. Junior shortstop

Megan Burton hit a deep home run to center field, making it a one-run game. Makowski managed to pitch her way out of the inning, leaving the score 2-1 after the third inning.

Makowski started the fourth inning with some trouble, allowing the first two batters to each get a hit.

Sophomore right-hander Jenna Veber took over after the second batter and pitched out of the jam, including a strikeout and a popup to Gilmore.

Veber held off the Panthers for the remainder of the game, marking her seventh win of the season. The Racers took their second win of the series, defeating the Panthers in game two 2-1.

Game Three James got the start on the mound for the Racers in game three. She struggled from the get-go, allowing three hits and three runs through the first three innings.

The first run in the game came from the Panthers in the bottom of the second when freshman designated hitter Abi Stahlhut doubled to center to bring a runner home. This gave the Panthers an early 1-0 lead over the Racers.

After a home run from Burton

in the bottom of the third inning, James was replaced on the mound

by Veber. She managed to pitch her way out of the inning, leaving the score 3-0 in favor of the Panthers.

The Panthers weren’t done there as they added another run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Freshman third baseman Aniyah Holt singled to left-center to bring home freshman left-fielder Abby Taylor, making it 4-0 Panthers.

The Racers failed to make any comeback in the game, falling to the Panthers in the final game of the series. James received her ninth loss of the season after giving up three runs, including the three-run homerun to Burton.

The Racers’ last game was on Wednesday, April 28, against the University of North Alabama Lions. The Racers didn’t manage to put any runs on the board and allowed 11 runs by the Lions, including two grand-slams in the game. This added another loss to Makowski’s record, making her 5-3 on the season.

The Racers finished the week with a 19-26 record overall and a 16-12 record in the conference.

The Racers pick back up on Saturday, May 1, and Sunday, May 2, in a three-game series against SEMO.

Features

April 29, 2021

7

Olivia Underwood/The News

The department of music held their spring concert on Thursday, April 22.

Band performs first live concert after a year Ciara Fuson Staff Writer cbenham@murraystate.edu After streaming performances for over a year, the Murray State department of music had their first live concert on Thursday, April 22.

The Bright Days Ahead spring concert, organized by Director of Bands Trae Blanco, introduced live music back to campus after 14 months.

The concert took place at 6 p.m. on the lawn next to Waterfield Library and drew a crowd of students, faculty, alumni and community members.

Music department students said that live performances are the best way to showcase their hard work.

“Live performances are so important because then you are able to get the full effect of the piece,” said Cristian Velez, a junior tuba player from Owensboro, Kentucky. “This is our opportunity as musicians and artists to be able to share with the public what we have been able to work on.”

The concert featured the symphonic band under Director Brent

Johnson, the jazz orchestra under Director Todd Hill and the wind ensemble under Blanco.

Bright Days Ahead signified a new beginning for the department of music as COVID-19 restrictions are being eased.

With social distancing and masks required, the concert was approved to be held outside on the corner of 14th and Olive Street.

As the students prepared to perform in front of a live audience again for the first time since Feb. 2020, they felt a mix of emotions.

“I was excited but also a little nervous,” said Aaron Beach, a junior trombone player from Paducah, Kentucky. “This is the first time we’ve been able to perform live in a while but [I was] nervous because we had a very high standard to live up to.”

The pressure of this performance was especially high for the seniors of the music department. The concert, which recognized the soon-tobe graduates, would be one of their last performances at Murray State.

“It was an immense amount of

pressure on the musicians as well as our conductors to put on an enjoyable program for our campus community,” said Katie Zheng, a senior trumpet player from Madisonville, Kentucky. “We wanted to share all the work we have put in since the pandemic [that] began over a year ago.”

These live performances are also an essential part of music education that students haven’t been able to engage in because of the pandemic.

“We as music majors need to be under that kind of stress so we can get used to feeling nervous while performing in front of others and push past the nerves to really play how we rehearse,” Beach said.

The last three semesters have been very difficult for the department of music. COVID-19 guidelines have made playing instruments in large groups a challenge; however, the department was able to put together a show.

“Despite the challenges that went into planning and rehearsing for the performance, I think the concert as a whole went very well,” Zheng said.

“Months of preparation behind the scenes from individual practice and group efforts finally paid off.”

Once the concert actually began, the students felt a sense of joy and relief as they got back into their groove.

“Once we started I could feel the energy coming from the ensemble and the nerves went away,” Beach said. “After hearing and playing through what we all had prepared together for the first time in a long time felt so good. I can’t explain it.”

The hour and a half long concert featured music from the musical “Fiddler on the Roof ” and from the “Star Wars” trilogy, among several other pieces. This concert can be a symbol of “Bright Days Ahead” as the campus attempts to return to a sense of normalcy.

“With live performances slowly being reintroduced, I’m very excited to continue hearing the hard work put in by our faculty and students in the future, especially as a proud alumnus of Murray State,” Zheng said.

Advertising professor retires after 47 years Simon Elfrink Sports Editor selfrink@murraystate.edu Murray State’s department of journalism and mass communications has spent the spring semester preparing to send off Robert Valentine, who has been an instructor in Wilson Hall since 1974.

Valentine explained his move from New York to Kentucky was not a linear decision. After bouncing around the nation for business opportunities for his father, the Valentines eventually wound up in Bowling Green, Kentucky for a while.

“We got here at the end of my fourth grade year,” Valentine said. “I graduated high school in Bowling Green.”

While in high school, Valentine’s love for communication and speaking emerged when he joined the debate team. Valentine said the success he found competing in high school debates helped him land scholarships to a few colleges but he decided to go with the University of Kentucky.

“That scholarship pretty much covered all the cost, so that was a no-brainer,” Valentine said. “I wanted to go there anyway because they had a terrific reputation. It would be like going to Notre Dame for football, so I wanted a piece of that.”

After graduating from UK, Valentine had his heart set on pursuing a master’s degree. However, Valentine was interrupted when he was drafted into the military, a two-year experience Valentine describes as interesting.

“Generally speaking, it was great,” Valentine said. “I wouldn’t trade it for

anything. I was in there with a lot of guys—19, 20-year-old guys, 17, 18-yearsold sometimes—who had never been away from home and hadn’t any college and it was a real eye opener for them.”

After a couple of years in Korea, Valentine returned to UK to reinvest his time into his master’s degree he wanted so badly. He was initially in a history program, but an unexpected opportunity had him thinking of another path.

Upon returning to UK, Valentine was offered a job as the assistant debate coach. Valentine, having enjoyed debating when he was in high school, saw this as a chance to continue to do something he enjoyed with the added bonus of being paid a semester salary. The only problem was the chairman told Valentine he could not take the job with the debate team unless he was majoring in communication. Not wanting to let the opportunity pass, Valentine switched his major right away.

Valentine got a taste of theater in graduate school when he adapted a short story by Mark Twain for the stage. While in Lexington, the young scholar also dabbled in comedy by doing three consecutive April Fools productions on local television. Valentine enjoyed his work in graduate school with the debate team, and he felt good with where he was.

However, shortly after dipping his toes in theater, Valentine’s time in graduate school ran out. While he would have gladly spent another year or so learning and teaching there, the chairman met with Valentine once again to remind him his 18-month program had gone on for three years

Photo courtesy of Murray State Robert Valentine retires after 47 years of teaching at Murray State.

and it was time to go. Not wanting to leave, Valentine resisted, and when the chairman told him about a job opening in Murray, Kentucky, he could not have been less interested.

“That’s out in the country somewhere; I don’t want to go there,” Valentine had said. “I’m not interested in being a speech teacher. I was thinking I wanted to be a debate coach.”

The chairman persisted and gave Valentine 48 hours to prepare for an oral examination in front of the committee to receive his long-overdue master’s degree. After seeing that it was time to move on to the next chapter of his life, Valentine finally agreed to take the examination. “ I g uess I d id ok ay,” Va lentine said. “I got the degree. I don’t know how those things [happen].

I’ve been on committees and I’m still not sure how they happen.”

It was only after taking the job at Murray State that Valentine met Robert McGaughey. The two hit it off almost immediately in their shared love for comedy, and before long, Valentine came to see McGaughey like a brother. Valentine said McGaughey went on to become like a member of the family. “ Ever y T ha n k sg iv ing, e ver y Christmas, he was there,” Valentine said. “He came to our house and we couldn’t have it without him, except we had to remember to go get Pepsi. He was a big Pepsi fan.”

See

VALENTINE Page 8

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VALENTINE From Page 7 Their partnership developed almost as quickly and naturally as their friendship. The two jesters would casually go back and forth with a joke here and there until one day, McGaughey began reciting an old comedy routine that Valentine knew.

“People said ‘Do another one!’ and we said ‘We don’t have another one,’” Valentine said. “That was just an accident. ‘Oh, you should get another one.’ And so we carried on like that. It was like a two-man show. One man would tell a bunch of jokes, then you’d go back to this guy, and then he would get a drink.”

When the director of Murray State’s Summer Orientation caught sight of their impromptu act, he approached Valentine and McGaughey and asked them to be the entertainment for Parents Night at Summer O. After that, the pair were asked to do their show for the kickoff dinner at the Fulton County Banana Festival.

From there, they toured the eastern United States, bringing their comedy all over the region with the traveling name: “The Communicators.” Valentine recalled doing shows in Phoenix, Tampa, D.C., Atlanta, Louisville, Nashville and Chicago, to name a few.

While the goal of making their audiences laugh was of great importance to “The Communicators,” Valentine and McGaughey focused heavily on telling stories with serious undertones so they could always deliver a message.

“A lot of the stuff we used was humorous, but it was built on real research literature about how men and women communicate differently,” Valentine said. “They have different communication purposes and styles, which explains a lot when you’re talking about a business economy when more and more women are moving into the corporate boardroom every day. We could illustrate it with funny stuff, but then people would remember what the substance of it is.”

Valentine and McGaughey did their last show in spring 2019 at Murray State’s Elizabeth College, just several months before McGaughey passed away. When

Features McGaughey died in June, Valentine wrote an article for The Murray State News about McGaughey’s legacy.

Throughout the later years of his career at Murray State, Valentine’s charisma and knack for storytelling landed him an interesting gig as the emcee at a Scottish celebration of the poet Robert Burns. The “Burns Supper” needed someone with natural charm and some enthusiasm that could move the evening’s celebration along, and since Valentine had an incredibly convincing Scottish accent, he decided to go for it. Like with many things he had done in his past, the one-time thing turned into a cacophony of Scottish events featuring Valentine as the emcee.

“I never figured out that I would be going here, and here, and here, and here, and doing Scottish Games and St. Andrew’s Festival, and Burns Suppers and whiskey tastings and highland games and music festivals,” Valentine said. “I didn’t see that coming. All I saw was Monday, when I could take this dress off and be a regular guy.”

Continuing to give back to his Scottish heritage in such a way is something Valentine predicts will help him fill the time he will have at his disposal once he retires. He does not think he will ever stop telling stories and trying to pass knowledge on, even if it is not in a classroom in Wilson Hall. Still, Valentine has come to form a great appreciation for Murray State since 1974, when he first came to teach.

“I have always been struck by the dedication of the faculty to the students and their careers,” Valentine said. “It is really a testament to the faculty that you have outstanding scholars and mountains of published work on the same campus with an army of people who spend so much time with and for the students. I think it’s uncommon, but it has become part of the fabric of Murray State.”

Despite his many years as an instructor at Murray State, Valentine does not see his retirement as a newsworthy event. To Valentine, it is just another thing he has to do, and he has no intention of putting the things he has been doing on hold just because he is ending a particular chapter in his career.

April 29, 2021

Robert Valentine lectures in front of a class.

“The question is: what do I do?” Valentine said. “What is it I do? And if I define that carefully enough, I probably won’t stop doing it just because I’m no longer a full-time classroom instructor with Murray State University.”

When Valentine thought about what he wants people to say about him and his time at Murray State, he took a page out of McGaughey’s book and said that he wants them to say that he helped.

File photo

“For me, I’m really hopeful that at some point I will inspire somebody, or maybe a lot of somebodies, to tell the story,” Valentine said. “The story that makes a difference for them.

People remember stories. We are the stories that we have heard that we remember and that means something to us. I would hope that I have encouraged people to tell that story to the people who matter, because that will change the world.”