The Auburn Plainsman A SPIRIT THAT IS NOT AFRAID www.theplainsman.com
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Vol. 117, Issue 22, 20 Pages
Dorm visit hours spark challenge Rachel Hampton WRITER
EMILY ADAMS / PHOTO EDITOR
Laura Bathke, freshman in pre-architecture and Natassia Buckridge, freshman in chemistry, vote in the cake decorat-
ing competition before hearing Duff Goldman of “Ace of Cakes” speak in the Student Center ballroom Tuesday night.
Bakery impresses ‘Ace of Cakes’ Staff Reports
decorating,” Goldman said. “If somebody was like, ‘Hey, can you make me a cake with a little motor in it that spins around?’ I’ll say, ‘Yeah, I can,’ because I need to sell a cake to pay my rent, so I’ll figure out how to do that.” Cochran said she enjoys watching Goldman craft his cakes. “I watch the show because I love seeing the different ways they make their cakes,” Cochran said. “It’s out of the ordinary, and I like that part of it, and I like the overall humor of the show.” Part of Goldman’s humor that can be seen on his show and on stage is his ability to laugh at himself. “I promise, I’m really cool. I’m a really cool guy, OK?” Goldman said. “I’m in a band, right? I have a TV show, I ride a motorcycle, I was a graffiti artist. I’m a cool dude!” Gillian Popenuck, customer service and food prep at Gourmet Tiger, said the cake preparation was a great opportunity for them to bond as a staff. “For all of us as a team it was kind of exciting,” Popenuck said. “A lot of times we work independently, so it was really fun to participate in the event together.”
THE AUBURN PLAINSMAN
This week there were two “cake aces” in town. The staff of Gourmet Tiger, a local bakery, won the cake competition put on because of ‘Ace of Cakes’ star Duff Goldman’s visit March 8. Goldman spoke to a full house of students in the AUSC ballroom. He told stories about his life pre- and post-stardom and said he didn’t set out to be a cake decorator. Goldman said his first interest was music, and he started making cakes just to pay the rent. “I wanted to be in a band,” Goldman said. “I wanted to be in a rock band, OK? All I wanted to do was play music for a living. So I started a bakery in my apartment and quit my job, because I just wanted to play music.” Christy Cochran, baker and decorator at Gourmet Tiger, said she and her fellow bakers can relate. “The owner now is actually a licensed veterinarian,” Cochran said. “I don’t think any of us went to culinary school. It was a hobby that turned into a job.” Cochran said Gourmet Tiger entered the competition
EMILY ADAMS / PHOTO EDITOR
Abbie Gunn, sophomore in pre-med, and Molly Lowery, sophomore in human resource management, meet Duff Goldman after his appearance Tuesday night. because many employees enjoy Goldman’s show. “It’s a great way to get word out there that we are a bakery in the area that does specialty cakes and other desserts,” Cochran said. The five-tier Auburnthemed cake, topped with a replica of a Toomer’s oak tree, took about a week and a half to make, Cochran said. She said one of their most experienced decorators handmade the tree. The rest of the staff helped make the cakes, fillings and frosting.
Students who attended Goldman’s appearence got to taste Gourmet Tiger’s cake afterward. Cochran said while Gourmet Tiger makes wedding and specialty tier cakes, they don’t make cakes as outlandish as Goldman’s. “There have been some people with kind of weird themes for cakes, but nothing that compares to ‘Ace of Cakes,’” Cochran said. But Goldman didn’t always intend to be so eccentric. “I didn’t set out to change the world of cake
University ranks fourth in grade inflation list Derek Lacey CAMPUS EDITOR
Long nights in the library studying is usually how Auburn students make As, and a recent study shows those nights are longer at Auburn than most other universities in the South. Stuart Rojstaczer is a former Duke professor who founded gradeinflation.com, a website that shows trends in grade inflation. Grade inflation is the gradual increase of grades given over time for the same quality of work, resulting in students getting higher grades for lesser work. A number of institutional problems are associated INSIDE
Community » A3
with grade inflation, including inequities between students at different universities and difficulty in identifying the students that should stand out. Nationally, grade inflation has become a problem at universities, with the average national GPA rising to 3.11 from 2.93 from 1991 to 2006, according to Rojstaczer’s numbers. “Auburn doesn’t seem to be having as large a problem as other institutions,” said Mary Ellen Mazey, associate provost for academic affairs. On his website, Rojstaczer compiled a list of the four toughest grading universities in four separate » See GRADE, A2 |
Commentary » A5
For Edward Kehoe, living in Graves Hall, gave life to an idea. “We are all adults— adults trying to expand our academic horizons,” Kehoe said. “We feel like the time we spend with other students shouldn’t be restricted to dorm hours.” Currently, the dormvisitation hours are noon to midnight, seven days a week. Kehoe and Simon Richardson, freshman in secondary education who is suitemates with Kehoe, are asking the University to extend visitation hours to 10 a.m. until 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday, and 10 a.m. until 2 a.m. Friday through Sunday. “Originally, we were using (Facebook) to get a general consensus of all the students and how they feel on these current dorm hours,” Kehoe said. “Therefore, what we said was, ‘Hey guys, if we get 600 members, we are going to go ahead and take the time out of our day to get a petition started for you guys, so we have what’s right.’” The Facebook group has
“
We are all adults—adults trying to expand our academic horizons. We feel like the time we spend with other students shouldn’t be restricted to dorm hours.” —Edward Kehoe SOPHOMORE, PRE-MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
been available for almost two weeks and has more than 700 “attendees.” “It doesn’t take much to get something going, but someone has to take the initiative, and no one has done it yet,” Richardson said. Kim Trupp, director of housing and resident life, said in the past there hasn’t been a “groundswell” of interest by students in making any changes. The hours have been in » See HOURS, A2
BY THE NUMBERS AUBURN DORM VISITATION HOURS
CURRENT: SEVEN DAYS A WEEK: 12 P.M. – 12 A.M.
PROPOSED: MON. – THURS.: 10 A.M. – 1 A.M. FRI. – SUN: 10 A.M. – 2 A.M.
TOOMER’S UPDATE
Sampling soil for herbicide
CONTRIBUTED
(Left to right) Yonnie Wu, director of the Mass Spectrometry Lab; Vince Cammarata; associate professor and cochairman of chemistry and biochemistry; and Audrey Gamble, lab assistant, test soil samples from Toomer’s Corner that will tell how deep the herbicide has spread. Gary Keever, professor of horticulture, said half the results have been delivered, but a full analysis on the results will not be made until they have complete results next week.
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Intrigue » C1
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Wasting Time » C2
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Food » C4
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Sports » D1
Recycled paper
News A2
The Auburn Plainsman
DUI ARRESTS IN THE CITY OF AUBURN MARCH 4 – MARCH 8, 2011
CRIME REPORTS FOR MARCH 4 – MARCH 8, 2011
■ Stephen C. Perry, 20, of Montgomery
March 4 — West Magnolia Avenue Theft of property reported. $250.
West Longleaf Drive Mar. 4, 10:35 p.m.
March 4 — East University Drive Breaking and entering of a vehicle reported. One Coach purse, one Coach wallet, two debit cards, two credit cards, one driver’s license.
■ Joshua T. Lewis, 24, of RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, UK Interstate 85 South Mar. 5, 5:45 a.m.
■ Loren E. Sink, 18, of Macon, Ga.
March 4 — Opelika Road Theft of property reported. Blue jeans and a T-shirt.
North College Street Mar. 5, 10:49 p.m. South College Street at West Veterans Parkway Mar. 6, 1:24 a.m.
HOURS » From A1
place for as long as Trupp can remember. She has been an employee of the University for 31 years and director of housing and resident life for eight. However, before Kehoe and Richardson’s involvement, Trupp said changing the visitation hours has been on the table for a while. “We’ve been working on this since earlier last semester, and we are about to launch a survey that’s going out to all residents,” Trupp said. The survey should be available by e-mail in the next week. Kehoe said he believes an extra hour on weekdays will make a difference in studying and will give students enough time on the weekends to entertain co-ed
We Deliver!
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Additional Toppings Available
Two Regular Oven Baked Subs
» From A1
regions: East, South, Midwest and West. In the South region, Auburn ranks fourth, behind Virginia Commonwealth University, Hampden-Sydney College and Roanoke College, respectively. In his study after introducing Auburn as No. 4, Rojstaczer said, “Eat your hearts out Bama: Auburn is
*Delivery Extra
AUBURN
1409 S. College St.
1.5 Miles West of the University next to Acapulco’s Mexican Grille
DELIVERY • CARRY-OUT LUNCH • DINNER • LATE NIGHT
March 4 — Dekalb Street Burglary of residence reported. One rifle, one notebook computer and one fixed blade knife.
March 6 — West Longleaf Drive Theft of property reported. One laptop with charger and one iPod phone with charger.
March 5 — Dekalb Street Theft of property reported. One laptop.
March 7 — Foster Street Theft of property reported. One rocking chair.
March 5 — Richland Road Theft of property reported. One Wii and one Wii game.
March 7 — Webster Road Burglary of residence reported. One DVD/VCR combo and one DVD-RW.
March 4 — Janet Drive Theft of property reported. One push mower.
■ Mary Jane McClendon, 50, of Opelika
Large Pizza Cheese or Pepperoni Order 3 or More, We’ll Deliver!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
826-5555 OVER 550 LOCATIONS
— Reports provided by Auburn Department of Public Safety
dorm room company. “The noon-to-midnight hours have been in place basically because that’s when we used to have desk operations,” Trupp said. Trupp, who came to Auburn as a student in 1976, said the dorm hours were different than they are today. “Actually when I was in school here the hours were more expanded—just on the weekends,” Trupp said. “(Visitation) started at 10 a.m. and went until 2 a.m. It was even a little more expanded then.” Other SEC schools currently have visitation hours later than Auburn’s. “It’s a matter of convenience,” Richardson said. “The library is far away from some people—living in the hill is a 20-minute walk. If it’s hot or super cold, no one wants to deal with that.” Trupp encouraged Kehoe
to get those “attending” his Facebook group to participate in the survey. “What I said to Edward is, ‘Lets let the survey run its course,’” Trupp said. “I told him I’d be glad to speak with him, but we’ve got the survey already in motion.” Kehoe argued students want to be free of the confining hours. “We are being very careful here not extend the hours to a point where temptation might occur,” Kehoe said. “By extending these hours, we hope that students treat these hours as adults.” Kehoe said he wasn’t aware his schedule would be so drastically altered. “It was just time to take a look at it, independent of the students asking for it,” Trupp said. “A petition with signatures doesn’t give us specific information that a survey will. Obviously (Edward) wanted to go about it
in the right way, and I appreciate that.” Once the information from the survey is sorted through, the proposal to change the hours would have to be considered in the long term, to make sure the changes would be what students a few years from now would also want. “Ultimately we wish to see more opportunity to expand and develop our study skills and social skills,” Kehoe said. “But the current Auburn dormitory hours are holding us back.” The changes the University would be able to give the students are undetermined. “I would not want to say if the students want this we would be able to deliver it for them because it has to go through a series of discussions,” Trupp said. “Until we see what comes back and what (students) are asking for, its hard to answer.”
just a tougher place to earn an A.” According to Rojstaczer’s work, GPAs nationally have increased each decade of the last 50 years. “I have data on average GPAs for over 200 schools across the country,” Rojstaczer said. “Given its level of selectivity, Auburn grades tougher than national averages.” He credits this tougher grading to Auburn being a public school in the South
and its engineering program. “All of those three factors tend to add up to harsher grading,” Rojstaczer said. “But even taking those factors into account, average GPAs at Auburn are lower than national averages.” While lower GPAs sound like bad news, lower average GPA does not mean students aren’t learning enough, according to Mazey. An institution’s academic
quality can’t be judged by average GPAs, according to Mazey, but by learning outcomes and achieving learning goals. “I don’t know if Auburn’s academics are more or less difficult, I don’t have the kind of information that would allow me to make such an assessment,” Rojstaczer said. “I can only say that, on average, Auburn grades more honestly than most colleges and universities.”
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Thursday, March 10, 2011
Page A3
Musician doesn’t fret over success Christina Santee WRITER
JILLIAN CLAIR / NEWS EDITOR
John Peterson performs the “dirty-man dance” at the Gnu’s Room for an enthusiastic crowd.
John Peterson is a dirty man. Of course, that’s only when he’s doing the “dirtyman dance” with a guitar in hand and a harmonica in tune during one of his high-energy, interactive vocal performances—or when he’s digging in his vegetable garden. Peterson said he enjoys sharing his passion for music with family, friends and fans. With the company of his wife and three children, Peterson enjoys playing intimate shows at venues like The Gnu’s Room, where he last performed Saturday evening. Born in Boston, Mass., Peterson grew up in Michigan where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Michigan State University. He moved to Opelika in 2003 to attend Auburn University, where he met his wife, Vikki Ashe. “The very first night I met him, he was playing music at a mutual friend’s house,” Ashe said. “That was the very first thing that attracted me to him. I’m his biggest fan.” Peterson, 28, has appreciated music for as long as he
can remember. “My whole life I’ve been interested in music,” Peterson said. “My first tapes were Beach Boys Greatest Hits and Cyndi Lauper Greatest Hits. I couldn’t imagine my life without music—I’d go crazy.” Alongside his musical career, Peterson enjoys molding young minds. “I’ve taught at Auburn for the past eight years, and I teach biology down at Troy University Montgomery,” Peterson said. “It really is like performing three days a week every time I do a lecture. You’ve got to entertain students, and so you’ve got to be funny and make gestures. In a way, it’s pretty similar to performing live.” Having a distinct flavor of sound, Peterson said he prefers to use a specific label to describe the type of music he plays. “Americana is what I like to call it,” Peterson said. “All the American-roots type music is what I like. I like blues; I like folk; I like spirituals, religious music, country. All of those different types of music I enjoy a lot—so that’s what I play.” Peterson’s inspiration for his musical compilations include performers who range from old classics to newer,
contemporary sounds. “A big one is Johnny Cash,” Peterson said. “His music was so quintessentially American. Tom Waits is a huge one, too. Maybe some Steve Earle.” Peterson’s captured genre was achieved through experimenting with different types of music and varied mixtures of tones. “I started listening to punk music a long time ago,” Peterson said. “I went from punk to alternative country which ultimately pushed me to practice traditional country.” Peterson said his inspiration comes from life in general and personal experiences that have made him the man he is today. “It certainly comes from other music,” Peterson said. “When I listen to music I always listen for what I like and what I want to emulate in my songs.” “I like things that have a historical niche, that have kind of an atmosphere to them. I like writing about things I’ve learned in my life and the point of views I have on things, but I try to make my songs sound as different as possible.” In addition to The Gnu’s Room, Peterson has also » See PETERSON, A4
Census results show expansion Auburn and Opelika’s census results help officials with growth and city planning Destiny Brown WRITER
The 2010 census results are in, and Auburn and Opelika officials are already using the data to help with city planning. “The census is a major tool in the toolkit to determine growth, planning and grants,” said Bill Ham, mayor of Auburn. “It determines how many new schools are needed, how zoning districts should be distributed and is an instrument for infrastructure.” The census form, which asks 10 questions, is distributed to every residence across the nation. “The first thing we’re working on is a state law
requiring a new redistricting plan for the city,” said Wayne Dyess, assistant planning director for Auburn. “The law says there must be equal population distribution for each district. “Over time, annexations and growth are sometimes disproportional, and we are trying to reach ideal population for each district.” According to Auburn’s website, because of constant population growth in east Alabama, Auburn continues to experience steady commercial growth. The city has recently expanded to accommodate a Publix and a number of other new retailers and restaurants in the downtown area. Opelika is also expanding exponentially. “Just during the past five years, new or expanding industry has invested almost $390 million in capital, and we’ve added over 1,500 good-paying jobs,” said Gary Fuller, mayor of Opelika. Fuller said jobs and disposable income are the engines that drive retail and » See CENSUS, A6
REBEKAH WEAVER / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
A participant of the Lee County Special Olympics swim team practices at the Opelika Sportsplex and Aquatics Center.
Swim team provides exercise, hope Jade Currid WRITER
The Lee County Special Olympics swim team helps children with disabilities develop teamwork, compete in swim meets and overcome limitations. “It’s just incredible to be around the athletes,” said John Huling, employee of the Opelika Sportsplex and Aquatics Center. “They have a passion for life I can’t describe.” The program is organized by the City of Opelika Parks and Recreation Department. The team was formed in 2009 to provide another opportunity for athletes with special needs in the community. Prior to 2009, several Special Olympics teams existed for other sports, but not swimming. Huling said besides providing good exercise, the team offers a social forum for the athletes to meet other athletes from around the state, make new friends, travel and see new places. Participation in the program builds the athletes’ self-esteem and encourages them to set and achieve
goals and reach their personal best, Huling said. Huling said the athletes’ families have an important role in the program—they give their time to the team and help any time they can. The families form special bonds and rally around and support each other since they face the same challenges of caring for special needs children, Huling said. The swim team competed in the Special Olympics Sectional swim meet Saturday at the Opelika Sportsplex and Aquatics Center. “The athletes have worked really hard, so when they have a chance to compete, they get fired up,” Huling said. “It’s fun to watch them swim and to be around the families.” Huling said the swim team is lucky to have several volunteers who make the program possible for the children. “It’s a neat experience to watch all of the different physically-impaired athletes get in the water and come alive,” said John Barron of Opelika. Barron’s daughter Dorsey won second place for the 50-meter freestyle and 50-meter backstroke events. “Participating in it is such a great
“
It’s just incredible to be around the athletes. They have a passion for life I can’t describe.” —John Huling EMPLOYEE, OPELIKA SPORTSPLEX AND AQUATIC CENTER
outlet for her,” said Dorsey’s mother, Lou Barron. Lou praised the event’s coordination. “I am proud to be a part of a community that hosts such an event as this,” she said. Virginia Waldrip, parent of one of the athletes, said the program builds the confidence of children who are disabled. She said the positive team environment swimming provides is encouraging to her son, John. David Waldrip, John’s father, said swimming on the team improves his » See SWIM, A4
Community A4
The Auburn Plainsman
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Volunteers keep Opelika beautiful Ellen Weathers Writer
Saturday’s wind and rain didn’t dampen the spirits of volunteers picking up litter as part of Opelika’s citywide cleanup. The event is hosted by Keep Opelika Beautiful, a local affiliate of Keep America Beautiful. Each year, KAB holds the Great American Cleanup from March 1 to May 31. Communities around the nation organize and participate in recycling and cleanup projects. In 2010, more than 3 million volunteers in 33,000 communities collected 76 million pounds of trash. “With the trees blooming and the grass getting greener and more flowers popping out every day, it’s an important time for us to clean up trash,” said Tipi Miller, director of KOB. Opelika’s distinction as a Tree City USA could be lost if even a few pieces of trash are seen in the city,
according to Miller. Although bad weather did lower this year’s attendance, Miller said she is still pleased with the progress. “I’m fortunate to have so many great team captains from different organizations that know how to motivate people to get involved and stay involved,” Miller said. The bulk of volunteers come from Opelika High School, where participants earn service points for their work. Local civic organizations like the Lions Club and Rotary Club also participate. Many of these groups also work with the Adopt-A-Mile program. Saturday was one of several days this year that the Lions Club will clean its adopted mile along Frederick Road. “We’re out here to make things more presentable,” said Grady Carroll, co-chairman of the Opelika Lions Club. “If nothing else, it feels good to make Opelika even more beautiful.”
“
If nothing else, it feels good to make Opelika even more beautiful.” —Grady Carroll Co-chairman of opelika lions club
Jerome Couch, chairman of the Opelika Lions Club, said snow didn’t stop him from participating in the cleanup five years ago. “It’s just about giving back to a city for all the things they’ve given us,” Couch said. “We give back because they provide police protection, fire protection, a dedicated City Hall and other things we sometimes take for granted.” Miller said the event is also a learning opportunity for citizens. “If you’re out there
picking up litter, you’re less likely to drop litter because you know how much work it takes to pick it all up,” Miller said. East Alabama Medical Center and Glad assist by donating gloves and trash bags. The Opelika Exchange Club feeds volunteers at the Opelika fairgrounds after the event. Miller said these contributions, along with no shortage of volunteers, help keep the focus on the environment. “It doesn’t really take much,” Miller said. “We have a strong group of volunteers in our community and leaders that just rally for the good of our city.” KOB’s next event, Garden in the Park, will be March 26 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. This annual arts and crafts festival will take place at the Opelika Municipal Park. Envision Opelika and the Lions Club will also be hosting events that day in conjunction with KOB.
Auburn Gas Monitor Week of MARCH 10 Location
Reg
Mid
Prem
Walmart — South College
3.389
3.509
3.629
Shell — Glenn and Gay
3.399
3.519
3.639
Circle K — Glenn and Gay
3.399
3.539
3.679
Shell — Wire
3.439
3.579
3.719
Exxon — Wire
3.599
3.699
3.799
Chevron — Wire
3.599
3.699
3.799
Chevron — University
3.599
3.699
3.799
BP — Samford and Gay
3.599
3.699
3.999
Chevron — South College
3.599
3.799
3.999
Chevron — Glenn
3.699
3.799
3.929
Average
3.532
3.654
3.799
$3.80 $3.45 $3.10 $2.75 $2.40 Feb. 17, 2011
Feb. 24, 2011 March 3, 2011 March 10, 2011
Regular
Mid
Premium
Rebekah Weaver / assistant Photo Editor
Coaches and participants get ready to begin a practice race during swim practice.
Olympics » From A3
Jillian Clair / News Editor
John Peterson plays a concert at The Gnu’s Room Saturday. In addition to guitar, Peterson plays mandolin, Dobro and banjo.
Peterson » From A3
performed at events including Auburn’s CityFest and Art Walk. “He just brings such energy,” said Tina Tatum, one of three owners of The Gnu’s Room. “He just has a wonderful family. He’s just so talented. I really feel like he could easily be on stage somewhere making tons of money. He’s just an entertainer, as well as a performer. He brings humor into his performances and just pours his heart and soul into all his music.” Peterson has been performing publicly since he was in his late teens. His
public debuts began while he lived in Michigan and continued after his move to Alabama. Peterson worked outdoor venues and open mic nights at quiet hangout spots like Big Blue Bagel & Deli. As a teacher, husband, father and Auburn student working toward a Ph.D, Peterson said his life can get busy at times, but said, “Chaos is wonderful.” “I don’t let him run wild with his music, but really I’m just there to support him,” Ashe said. “He has so much personality. I think the biggest quality of John’s personality is that he’s a pleaser. No matter what situation he’s in, he just wants to make sure that
everybody is happy.” Despite his fondness for singing, Peterson said he prefers spending time with his family. Peterson considers his three children—Cash, 2, and 8-month-old twins, Leo and Max—his greatest blessings. Incorporating music into his home life is essential. “The big priority with the kids is exposing them to as many things as possible, and one of those things is music,” Peterson said. “We dance in the kitchen all the time—it’s one of our favorite things to do. Music and the kids are definitely combined.” Although Peterson has a loyal group of followers,
he has never wanted to be signed, but only wishes to continue sharing his love of singing with the AuburnOpelika community. “It’s always in the back of my mind, but my life is being at home with my family and having a steady job,” Peterson said. “Really my life is about my wife and children. “It would be great to go around and play for people and make money off it, but something happens to your music when you do that. You start living a different life, and I’d rather have a life I can write songs about. “The point’s to get the music out there. It’s not to become famous—famous people are nuts.”
son’s muscle tone. He said he thinks swimming also improves John’s performance in the band at his school. David said the swim team staff, and Huling in particular, worked with John’s schedule and made it possible for him to play in the band and swim on the team. The team practices for one hour every Monday. “They swim a lot of laps,” said Mandy Johnson, Sportsplex aquatics director. “It keeps them in good shape.” Athletes with different levels of abilities participate on the team. Athletes with limited range of motion walk across the pool or swim with the assistance of a flotation device, while athletes with more mobility swim the length of the
pool without assistance. “It’s fun to watch them improve from year to year,” Johnson said. “Expressions of a Brave Heart” is another therapeutic program initiated by Angie Burque, assistant clinical professor in the Auburn University Social Work Program. The program is offered by the Department of Opelika Parks and Recreation. It provides art, music and dance lessons to youth and young adults with moderate to severe disabilities. The Department of Opelika Parks and Recreation is a leisure service provider that promotes wellness within the community with its events and programs. The Opelika Sportsplex and Aquatics Center provides a pool, splash center, fitness center, an adult activity center and other programs and activities.
One-day volunteer projects make yearlong impact Jenna Moran Associate Copy Editor
Service projects like The Big Event and Keep Opelika Beautiful may only be for one day, but their impact is lasting throughout the year. Adria Zellmer, 40, has worked in the Auburn University community since 2006 and learned about The Big Event only a year ago after reading the Auburn City Water Board newsletter. Zellmer became more informed of the one-day service project after speaking with members of FarmHouse fraternity where she works. The Big Event seemed especially enticing to Zellmer,
who had recently bought a house in Auburn and was in desperate need for helping hands. “My husband had broken his hand and had surgery; we were not able to do much of anything that a new house needed doing. I was trying to do it all myself,” Zellmer said. “Next thing I knew, we signed up for The Big Event, and I had 27 people show up at my house.” Volunteers helped with tasks including rerouting TV and computer cables, raking the yard and repainting rooms and shutters. By the end of the day, the 27 volunteers had
truly transformed Zellmer’s house into the home of her dreams. “I was the envy of the neighborhood,” Zellmer said. “I had every neighbor coming over to introduce themselves and wanted to know, ‘Who were all these guys at your house working and how did that happen?’” Soon, all of Zellmer’s friends and neighbors were talking about The Big Event’s visible impact on the Auburn community. Zellmer said although the volunteer project only lasts for one day, the work that goes into the project is phenomenal enough to make
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It was a blessed event for us, they took an unmeasurable amount of pressure off our shoulders in one day.” —Adria Zellmer Recepient of Big Event Service
a lasting difference on the community year-round. “It was a blessed event for
us,” she said. “They took an unmeasurable amount of pressure off our shoulders in one day.” Zellmer said she would love to see The Big Event happen twice a year, “But when you say twice a year we’re into football season, and you’re not gonna get me to stay at home if there’s a football game going on,” Zellmer joked. The Big Event will be held March 26 this year. Opelika High School is one of the many organizations that has become involved with Keep Opelika Beautiful, a one-day event focused on cleaning the city of Opelika.
This year the event took place March 5, and OHS students spent the day picking up garbage around their own campus. “A lot of other adult groups canceled for the day, but we had approximately 100 students and advisers show up, even in the rain and the cold,” said Donna Williamson, OHS activity director. “They could have been excused on Saturday because of the weather, but they came anyway.” Williamson said the service project helped the students learn the importance of keeping their city a clean and friendly place not just once a year, but all year long.
Commentary
A5
www.theplainsman.com
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Community
Our View
Time has come for rule change “Those hours have been in place for years,” said Kim Trupp, director of housing and residence life. “They’ve been approved by the Board of Trustees, and we don’t change them unless students want it to be changed.” Well, it seems the students do want them to be changed. These words by Trupp in a November 2010 article in The Auburn Plainsman have provided a rallying cry for a group of students who wish to see opposite-sex visitation hours extended. Regardless of opinions on the issue, the students should firstly be commended for their efforts. Any instance where students take it upon themselves to advocate for a rule change versus continually breaking those rules should be applauded. The reason for their efforts, however, does warrant discussion. On-campus housing is designed to serve as a transition from home life with parents
HELEN NORTHCUTT / GRAPHICS EDITOR
and curfews to independent living where anything goes. In such a situation, there must be rules. Resident assistants follow protocol (we hope) not because they wish to practice their parenting skills, but because they have the safety of their residents in mind. However, knowing this does not mean dorm rules should be taken on the chin and accepted as unchanging decrees. The policies should have
some flexibility and must be responsive to student and parent wishes. While on-campus housing must be a nurturing, transitional environment, the University shouldn’t forget it is housing thousands of young adults who are having sex, regardless of any rules. Because of this, the University should not be afraid to experiment with rule changes. Cues can be taken from
other universities that have implemented systems where certain halls have no visitation restrictions while others do. Or perhaps roommates could come together and sign an agreement as to what the standards for that room will be. This could serve to prevent arguments and confrontation when Cindy brings home Jim every night and Sally eventually gets sick of it. The possibilities for change are endless, but one thing is clear: the University should stop embracing a backward policy that turns a shy cheek to the ever-present reality of college sex. RAs should serve in an advisory capacity, offering help to students stressed from schoolwork or depressed from homesickness. They should be set free from their role of the parent away from home. Kim Trupp gave students their marching orders last fall. It is time for the University to stand up and be courageous. It must listen. And change.
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We are all adults— adults trying to expand our academic horizons. We feel the time we spend with other students shouldn’t be restricted to dorm hours.” —Edward Kehoe “FACEBOOK GROUP,” A1
Last week’s question:
How do you cope with the stresses of life? Drugs 16% Alcohol 19% Friends and Family 66%
This week’s question:
Should dorm visitation hours be changed? ❍ Yes, but with some restrictions ❍ No; rules are there for a reason ❍ Free-for-all!
Vote at www.theplainsman.com
Staff Columns
UNREST IN THE ARAB WORLD Staff commentary on the uprisings
First-hand view: my experience in Tunisia Jillian Clair NEWS@ THEPLAINSMAN.COM
I admit it. When natural disasters, revolts, wars or terrorist attacks happen around the globe, I don’t usually follow all of them wholeheartedly. I’ve never been to Afghanistan or Haiti. I haven’t spent time with the people, and as much as I wish I could give the world’s problems my undivided attention, it’s hard when I’ve never been to these places. However, when North Africa erupted in protests, I felt differently.
After spending four weeks in Tunisia last summer with some of the kindest and most hospitable people I’ve ever met, their pain and eventual joy resonated with me. I saw headlines that included cities I had visited, watched videos of protests in the streets where I had walked, and I finally saw photos of ousted President Ben Ali’s posters with the purple backgrounds (I learned that purple is his favorite color while I was there) burning in trash bins. Weeks later, I celebrated with Egyptian friends I’ve made in Auburn and in France. I have cried for Libya. For decades, these people have lived under rulers who quietly “handled” problems through
deceit and rigged elections and who lived extravagantly while their highly educated, hardworking citizens struggled to find jobs. Speaking out against the government was prohibited, Internet activity was heavily monitored, and the media was censored. Nothing about these governments was democratic. For the first time, I saw a world issue through the eyes of the people who live there rather than through my American bias. I wasn’t thinking about how this would affect U.S. foreign policy. I wasn’t thinking about how this would affect gas prices. For once, I wasn’t thinking about my own prerogatives—I thought about theirs. I’ve heard many people’s fears of the effects of the unrest in North
Africa, and sure—I have no idea what the ousting of some of our government’s favorite dictators will mean for our economy, military prowess or politics in general, but I do know that I believe these people deserve democracy, as well. Their peaceful revolutions have inspired countries all over the world to evaluate their governments and demand democratic reforms, and their hope for the future of their countries should inspire us to evaluate our own government. During an interview for an article I wrote about local Egyptians protesting in Auburn, one of the men I met said Egyptians just wanted a democratic government like the U.S.
This made me think—we have the first amendment, and we often don’t use it to its fullest potential, while these people are risking their lives simply demanding fundamental rights for their people. They want the freedom we have, and we don’t understand how lucky we are to have it. When we see problems arising in our country, we need to do something about them with the many resources we’ve been provided. We don’t have to camp out in our nation’s capitol and fear tear gas and bullets. We just have to write a letter, sign a petition or simply cast a vote. Don’t take your freedom for granted, and don’t be selfish with that freedom.
U.S. can set new direction in Arab world Nik Markopoulos COPY@ THEPLAINSMAN.COM
The ousting of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has inspired waves of protests across North Africa and the Middle East. Unrest is growing in Bahrain, Oman and Yemen because of deaths related to government crackdowns on demonstrators in all three nations. Tens of thousands are fleeing Libya as calls for leader Moammar Gadhafi to relinquish power have evolved into deadly skirmishes between government and opposition forces, the situation approaching civil war. Saudi Arabia has outlawed demonstrations altogether and authorized security forces to
stifle protests. It is unfortunate, as Libyan rebels seize ammunition depots amid bombings from Gadhafi’s air forces, that violence is the commonest means for casting off a dictatorial power. But it is more unfortunate that the United States has been complacent with thugs like Gadhafi for so long. In fact, scratch complacent— our government was negotiating an arms deal of 50 or more armored personnel carriers with Libya in the months leading up to the revolts. Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been in power for 32 years and is considered a U.S. ally in the fight against al-Qaida. Last week, in an effort to galvanize his own support, he blamed the U.S. and Israel (as expected) of ginning
up Yemen’s anti-government movement. Clearly, Saleh finds it beneficial to distance himself from America, tapping into existing anti-American sentiment by portraying the U.S. as an adversary of his regime and Yemeni independence. What an ally. The spirit of revolution sweeping the region is an enormous opportunity for America and the Western world to retool relations with these predominately Muslim nations and their people. We have a chance to support freedom for the region’s inhabitants by backing leaders who will do the same—not leaders who are, from America’s view, “better than the alternative” or who will “play nice” with Israel, but those who genuinely believe the power of government rests with the people.
Alternatively, the revolutions do pose the risk of individuals or groups just as oppressive and violent exerting influence or even gaining power under the auspices of liberation. Egyptian cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, banned from the U.S. and Great Britain for some of his views and exiled from Egypt for decades, returned to the nation shortly after the fall of Mumbarak’s regime. AlQaradawi has publicly prayed for the annihilation of the “oppressive, Jewish, Zionist band of people.” Influential Yemeni sheik Abdul Majid al-Zindani, former mentor to Osama bin Laden and termed a “specially designated global terrorist” by the U.S. Treasury Department, is advocating an Islamic state in Yemen. Al-Zindani founded a university in Yemen where Anwar al-Awlaki,
the U.S.-born Muslim radical targeted by the Obama administration for assassination, once attended and lectured. America and the West cannot again fall into the trap of acquiescing to dictators like Gadhafi and Mubarak for our own perceived convenience, for when the next generation of young Egyptians or Libyans find themselves destitute and without freedom, they too will rise up. We must be unwavering in our view when dealing with governments of foreign nations that, based on our own American experiment, individual liberty is the surest path to peace and prosperity. The sooner this happens, the sooner the people of North Africa and the Middle East will see we stand with them, not with their authoritarian leaders.
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Commubity A6
The Auburn Plainsman
When it comes to music, Jimmy knows Madeline Hall WRITER
He’s just a radio person. For more than 36 years, Jimmy Jarrell’s life has revolved around two things: radios and his wife, Pat. Together, the Jarrells own and operate Jimmy’s Car Stereo in Auburn and Praise 88.7, a local Christian radio station. Jarrell’s love for music began when he was younger
and living in northern Alabama. “There was the Mussel Shoals Sound Studio recording artists like Hank Jr. and Alabama,” Jimmy said. “I always had a dream of doing that.” Jimmy continued to work in the music industry and learn the business. “I would get involved with some group that didn’t last very long,” Jimmy said. “I would learn from what I didn’t know or do before, then join another group.” His determination paid off when he began getting jobs for rock groups. “I got to work on the equipment of Walter ‘Clyde’ Owens and the rest of The Commodores,” Jimmy said. “They sang the song ‘Brick House.’” Jimmy switched gears soon after and became involved in law enforcement.
Wanting to expand his education for law enforcement, Jimmy and his wife moved to Auburn, where he attended school, worked at a bakery and built and repaired CB radios on the side. “One day, he came home and said, ‘I quit my job. We’re buying a store,’” Pat said. “I about fell out and died. I was a housewife. I didn’t know anything about running a business.” But Jimmy knew what he was doing. “I went into business in 1976,” he said. “It grew more and more every year. Business has always been good for me.” He knows why, too. “It all comes back to having the best products, making good relationships with my customers and taking care of what I sell,” Jimmy said.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Jimmy’s success spread outside Auburn to his stores in Montgomery, Columbus, Birmingham and LaGrange. Success hasn’t made him greedy though. “I told the guys if they would work for me for 15 years, I would sell them the business and finance it for them,” Jimmy said. “Well I did, and they are still going strong.” The Jarrells have generations of families still coming to his store. “We’re installing systems for grandchildren of our earliest customers,” Pat said. “We’ve been in this business for quite a while.” If there is one thing the Jarrells don’t agree on, it is when to retire. “I’m ready to retire because I want to travel,” Pat said. “He’s not a retiringtype person though; he’s a people person.
CENSUS » From A3
residential development. The state’s population has risen 7.5 percent since the 2000 census results. Opelika, which has seen a 12.7 percent increase in population since 2000 when it was recorded at 23,498 people, finds its current population count of 26,477 people to be surprisingly low, Fuller said. “We are in process of questioning their numbers,” Fuller said. “We believe, based on the number of new single family homes built the past few years, that their count is low. “I believe we are closer to 29,000 people.” Opelika isn’t alone in its expectations of false population count. Ham said Auburn will also be going back to the census bureau for an accurate count.
The Division of Student Affairs is accepting applications for the positions of: 2011-2012
Editor-in-chief
CHRISTEN HARNED / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
Jimmy Jarrell owns Jimmy's Car Stereo and Praise 88.7. “He will probably never retire. It’s not in his vocabulary.” Jimmy said he appreciates his wife working beside him for 36 years. “Everybody says, ‘When it comes to music, “Based on previous numbers, we feel there’s a segment of the city that is off by more than 10 percent,” Ham said. In both Auburn and Opelika, the population of Hispanic/Latinos and Asians is expanding the fastest. In Auburn, the black population outpaced the white population 22 to 19 percent. Opelika shared the same outpacing with a 22 to 17 percent ratio. “People make the difference regardless of color,” Fuller said. Ham says the racial demographics of Auburn are hard to determine without being positive they’re dealing with accurate numbers. With the numbers submitted by the census bureau, Opelika currently stands as the 19th largest city in the state of Alabama, and Auburn is ranked ninth. In 2009, U.S. World and News Report named Auburn No. 2 on its list of best
Jimmy knows,’” he said. “But I would change it to ‘Pat knows’. “We have fun, we have good people coming back all the time, and we like music. That’s why I love this business.”
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Just during the past five years new or expanding industry has invested almost $390 million in capital, and we’ve added over 1,500 good-paying jobs.” —Gary Fuller MAYOR OF OPELIKA
places to live, describing it as “a place for Southern charm with collegiate vigor. A diamond on the eastern Alabama plains.” Today, the city of Auburn is known as one of the more progressive cities in the South with a nationally ranked public school system and a diverse population.
Movie:
True Grit
Wednesday, March 23 7:00 PM Haley Center 2370
Application deadline iS MARCH 11
Summer Editor Application deadline is march 31
The Auburn Plainsman
Qualifications: Must be a full-time, degree-seeking undergraduate or graduate student with at least a 2.25 cumulative grade point average at the time of qualification. Should have spent two or more years working for The Auburn Plainsman with at least one year being on paid staff or the equivalent thereof. Must have been a resident student for a minimum of three semesters. Additional details are given on the application form. Application forms are available at the Division of Student Affairs office, 3248 Student Center.
For more information, contact John Carvalho, Plainsman adviser, at carvajp@auburn.edu
Iron Chef Competition*
Wednesday, March 30 5:30 pm Spidle 238 *Must sign up in AUSC Suite 3130 to attend.
Arts and Crafts Day Thursday, March 31 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM Cater Lawn
For Event Information:
www.auburn.edu/UPC 844-4788
Campus
CEBE outreach
Surprise!
» PAGE B3
» PAGE B5
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Thursday, March 10, 2011
B Page B1
GRE omits whole sections, improves assessment scores Liz Conn ASSOCIATE CAMPUS EDITOR
College seniors looking to go to graduate school may be in luck. A revised version of the Graduate Record Examination, featuring changes in content and format, will be launched Aug. 1. “I think it’s a very positive thing,” said George Flowers, professor of mechanical engineering and dean of the graduate school. “I think it will make the GRE much more useful as an assessment tool for us being able to predict the success of a given student in a particular graduate program.” Graduate schools and business schools use the GRE as a common denominator among applicants for admission. Approximately 675,000 students in more than 200 countries take the exam each year, said David Payne, vice president and chief operating officer of the Higher Education division at the Educational Testing Service. Payne said ETS had three goals in mind for the revised GRE: test questions that accurately reflect skills a student would need in graduate programs, a friendly test-taking experience and a scoring system that admissions boards can easily interpret. The three sections of the GRE are verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and critical thinking and analytical writing. In the verbal reasoning section, the revised GRE will omit questions about antonyms and analogies. “If we think about the experience a student has in graduate school, it’s unlikely that on a day-to-day basis, they’re going to be doing verbal reasoning at the ability of
verbal vocabulary items out of context,” Payne said. The antonyms and analogies will be replaced with verbal questions that are more relevant to graduatelevel skills, as well as more reading comprehension questions. “We wanted to make sure that the skills that are measured on the test are closely aligned to those skills that are required to succeed in graduate schools or business programs at the graduate level,” Payne said. Removing the antonyms and analogies may be helpful especially to international students, said Jessica Nelson, director of recruiting and marketing for the graduate school. “It does seem that they’re trying to make it more applied rather than academic, which I think generally is helpful for all students,” Nelson said. For the quantitative reasoning section, students will now have access to an on-screen calculator. Students frequently take the GRE via computer. The current exam uses computer-adaptive technology, which means the computer chooses which questions to give students based on their previous responses. This format is designed to give students questions that reflect their proficiency level. The revised exam will still use this technology, but whole sections, rather than individual questions, will change based on previous answers. Test takers will now be able to skip around within a section and go back and change answers. “We designed the test so when a student takes the test, their test-taking » See GRE, B2
CHRISTEN HARNED / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
The 2011–2012 SGA Executive Board from left to right: Abby Basinger, chief of staff; Chris Osterlund, administrative vice president; Curry Stevenson, treasurer; Kirby Turnage, president and Vanessa Tarpos, vice president.
Turnage ready to take office Colton Campbell WRITER
A wave of excitement and relief flooded Kirby Turnage, senior in finance, when he heard his name called from the back steps of Cater Hall Feb. 8. “I was just like, ‘Are you kidding me?’” Turnage said. “It was the end of one season and the beginning of another. All of those things coming together at once—it was just too emotional to describe.” Turnage won the presidency last month with 42 percent of the total vote, beating candidates Kel Jackson and Trevor Ramsey. In the following month, the reality of being Student Government Association president has set in. Turnage said he spends his days rushing around campus, attending meetings and preparing for his term as president. “During the past month, I’ve attended several meetings with Kurt Sasser,” Turnage said. “But more and more, he’s telling me, ‘You got this one now, big daddy,’ and I go to the meetings alone.” The official exchange of power took place at the SGA installation banquet March 6. “His passion and desire for Auburn University to succeed is above and beyond the average student,” said Johnny Blankenship, junior in finance and one of Turnage’s friends and colleagues. Blankenship, who supported
Turnage during campaign week, said Turnage was calm and confident every time he saw him. “I think that confidence kept him from being stressed,” Blankenship said. “And I think that driven work ethic is going to make him a great president.” The 21-year-old from Pensacola, Fla., said dining is his first priority. “The first thing I want to do is set forth a strategic plan,” Turnage said, “a short list of goals.” Turnage said giving the administration a long list of goals would not be as effective as a short list. “If I give them 15 goals, they can cut out any number of them,” Turnage said. “But if I only give them four goals, they can’t really say ‘no’ to 50 percent of my demands.” Turnage said he will look at how other schools handle dining and will use them as basis for his strategic plan. “If Virginia Tech does it well or another Chartwells campus does it well, why can’t we do it that way?” Turnage said. “We are Auburn, and we have the resources and the capabilities to bring systemic change to something that’s not working.” Vanessa Tarpos, newly elected vice president of SGA and junior in English and political science, has worked with Turnage for three years on different projects. “We bump heads every now and then,” Turnage said. “But that’s healthy. I can’t tell you how grateful
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I want to re-establish the credibility of the position. Student disinterest stems from hearing about our platforms and then never seeing them fulfilled.” —kirby turnage SGA PRESIDENT, SENIOR IN FINANCE
I am just to have her. She’s just awesome.” Tarpos said they work well together because of their similarities and differences. “We have the same vision for SGA,” Tarpos said. “But our personalities could not be more different. He’s much more serious and wants to get things done, where I try to make things fun for everyone.” Turnage said he also has plans to improve student interest in SGA initiatives. “I want to re-establish the credibility of the position,” Turnage said. “Student disinterest stems from hearing about our platforms and then never seeing them fulfilled. When I say I want to create a ticket exchange for » See TURNAGE, B2
‘The gay preacher’ sparks free speech discussion on campus Eric Austin MANAGING EDITOR
Two weeks ago, onlookers watched a student and a preacher viciously shout Bible verses at one another. The conflict has become an Internet sensation after a video of it was posted to YouTube, now with almost 20,000 views. The student in the videos, Braxton Tanner, sophomore in zoology, has been contacted by YouTube for advertising rights. The video, titled “The Gay Preacher Draws Huge Crowd At Auburn University” was even featured on Daniel Tosh’s Tosh.0 blog. While the preachers are anything but new to campus, the incident and the video that followed have raised questions about free speech on campus. “This is a public campus,” said Steven Brown, a constitutional law professor in the department of political science. “As such, it is viewed as a limited public forum.
“A public forum would be like a park, and you could say anything you want. But in a limited public forum, there would be some rules in place.” Brown said there are time, place and manner considerations when officials determine who can speak and when. “They can say things like…you can’t use loud speakers, or you can’t use amplifiers,” he said. “Or if you’re going to have a protest, you can’t have it on College Street, you’ve got to have it down on a street west of town.” The time, place and manner considerations have been established in courts of law to ensure that institutions like schools and public offices can maintain their mission without disruption. “The trick, though, is with the free speech clause, you’re not supposed to be able to discriminate or regulate on the basis of the content,” Brown said. “The
notion is that if you allow anyone on campus, you have to allow everybody. “If you have job recruiters, and they are talking to and accessing students, then why can’t the preacher?” Capt. Tom Stofer of the Auburn Police Department said while his officers were present at the studentpreacher incident, they would only step in if a public disturbance occurred. He said his officers could ask an individual to stop what they were doing if they were becoming disorderly. “However, if we asked them to stop and they continued to do so, they could be arrested for disorderly conduct,” Stofer said. Brown said he believes the University does a good job of maintaining standards of free speech, and in the situation of the preachers who come to campus, it is the students engaging with them that presents the conflict.
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You don’t need a free speech clause for speech that you agree with.” —steven brown CONSTITUTIONAL LAW PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL XCIENCE
“It’d be very easy for the University to say ‘look at all these troublemakers, they’re causing a scene,’ but typically it’s because someone’s responded back to them and they’ve engaged in that give-and-take thing,” Brown said. Jim Wohl, University ombudsman, handles conflict between faculty and staff by sitting down with the parties and having discussions about their conflict and any potential solutions. Because of his job » See FREE SPEECH B2
EMILY ADAMS / PHOTO EDITOR
Nanette Chadwick, associate professor of biological sciences, has been named director of academic sustainability.
Chadwick named program director Annie Faulk WRITER
Associate professor Nanette Chadwick was named the new director of academic sustainability by Mary Ellen Mazey, Auburn University provost. Chadwick will collaborate with faculty to promote sustainability implemented in academic programs, and she will expand the current sustainability programs. Chadwick will work closely with Michael Kensler, director of the Office of Sustainability and campus sustainability operations, to promote sustainability
initiatives on campus. “Dr. Chadwick oversees the sustainability curriculum development and promotes interdisciplinary academic research related to sustainability,” Kensler said. “I oversee the activities of the Office of Sustainability on campus.” Chadwick works with students within the sustainability minor as well. “This involves coordinating and helping to teach courses for students in the minor, such as the Introduction to Sustainability and the capstone course for » See DIRECTOR, B2
Campus B2
The Auburn Plainsman
DIRECTOR » From B1
seniors,” Chadwick said. In 2004, Chadwick joined the department of biological sciences. She graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences, and she then pursued a Ph.D in zoology from the University of California at Berkeley. “Concepts of
GRE
» From B1 experience does not place any additional burdens on them above and beyond what they would normally experience if they were taking any test,” Payne said. The current GRE uses a score scale of 200–800 points in 10-point increments. Payne said problems arose when admissions boards perceived differences in scores between candidates to appear more significant than they actually were. For example, scores of 710 and 720 aren’t significantly different, but the
sustainability can be applied to any field, and so this minor is really about learning a new way of thinking about the world and applying it to your course of study,” Chadwick said. “Engineering students can learn how to design structures or systems that will meet the needs of future generations in a sustainable way.” In 2008, Auburn began to implement sustainability programs. According to Chadwick, 10-point increment may be somewhat misleading. “In some cases, 10 points may be the difference between answering a single question correctly or incorrectly on the old system,” Flowers said. To combat this problem, the score scales for the verbal and quantitative sections will change to 130–170 points in one-point increments. The critical thinking and analytical writing section will remain on a scale of zero to six points in halfpoint increments. Payne said the most important thing for students to know is that scores for the August exam will be reported in early November.
sustainability can be implemented with various majors. “I will work on obtaining increased external funding for sustainability research and programs on campus,” she said. “I will write grant proposals independently and in collaboration with other faculty members to initiate and expand on sustainability research on campus.” Through her research and program ideas, Chadwick
TURNAGE » From B1
game day, I really mean that.” Turnage said he knew he wanted to run for the position of SGA president after a meeting last semester. “I brought food in from outside vendors, Panera Bread and Moe’s,” Turnage said, “and I showed the difference between what we get off-campus and what we get for a higher cost on-campus.” Dining is both Turnage’s passion and frustration, he said. “I need another year,” Turnage said. “I need 12
Thursday, March 10, 2011
said she hopes to foster a connection between various fields of study. “I also am interested in pursuing research collaborations and fostering projects in the social sciences and economics, which would build on my experience in the economic valuation of natural resources and the social factors that affect sustainable use of tourism resources,” Chadwick said. According to Chadwick, more months to address it and make this stick beyond when I leave Auburn.” After graduation, Turnage said he hopes to find a job in health care administration. “I’ve grown up around health care,” Turnage said. “I’ve worked in doctors’ offices doing medical records since I was 13. “I love the overall mission of health care, the healing it brings and the opportunities to reach out to people.” Turnage said he prays for Auburn and the members of his executive team. “I do have spare time,” Turnage said. “It’s called sleep.”
her ideas for programs can be used within sustainability courses, and faculty could work closer with students to enhance the understanding of sustainability. Her ideas for implementing sustainability to students involves bringing students to work with sustainability first hand. “What about a campus food garden to both train students in sustainable food practices and to supply campus food service?”
FREE SPEECH » From B1
requirements, Wohl is experienced in conflict resolution between disagreeing parties. Wohl said he believes people engage in speech not because they seek information or resolution to a conflict, but because they wish to be entertained. “It’s not a distinction we think about a lot,” Wohl said. Bryant Haley, president of Young Americans for Liberty and a senior in wireless engineering, said his group engages students in civil discussion.
Chadwick said. “I would like to work with the studentled initiative to increase the local, whole and organic foods available in campus food service and to expand the campus farmers market.” With Chadwick’s help, students will be able to suggest sustainability projects. “I welcome suggestions and ideas from Auburn students on how we can accomplish these goals together,” Chadwick said. “You never attract attention if you stand there with a bullhorn,” Haley said. “You will never be able to yell at somebody and try to make them pay attention to you, or even less, agree with you.” Brown said he believes most conflicts arise when individuals hear speech they disagree with, and that is what the First Amendment is intended to protect. “You don’t need a free speech clause for speech that you agree with,” Brown said. “It’s speech that’s out of the mainstream, that’s a little unorthodox, that’s a little different or weird— that’s why you need a free speech clause.”
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Campus B3
The Auburn Plainsman
BranchOut, a new Facebook app, targets young professionals looking to build contacts in the working world. Above, a screenshot from a BranchOut profile page is pictured.
Facebook app targets professionals Kelly Nicastro WRITER
With just a click of the mouse, students have the opportunity to intern at Google, Nike, Disney, Warner Bros. and 20 other companies in The Ultimate Internship Contest, sponsored by BranchOut. BranchOut, the largest professional networking service on Facebook, allows members to leverage the relationships they already have on Facebook to make professional connections. The site is free and provides members with an opportunity to create a professional profile, search more than 3 million jobs and 20,000 internships and see the professional contacts they already have. “If you want to connect
professionally with a professor, career adviser or a company that could hire you and you don’t want them to see your Facebook personal profile, you can create a profile that only has your work and educational history,” said Mike Del Ponte, BranchOut marketing manager. “It provides a level of security.” The idea for BranchOut was developed in July 2010, and the BranchOut team started marketing the application in December 2010. Within two months the application grew from 10,000 to 400,000 users. “I think BranchOut is a great idea because a lot of people say, ‘It’s not necessarily what you know, but who you know,’” said Caroline Burr, junior in
early education. “After joining BranchOut, I’ve found at least a dozen people who have connections with an internship that I want.” A new aspect to the application is The Ultimate Internship Contest, which gives members an opportunity to land an internship at one of the 24 companies partnered with BranchOut. “Because BranchOut is young and The Ultimate Internship Contest is relatively unheard of, there exists a good chance that if Auburn students sign up for BranchOut and enter the contest, their applications will be looked at by the participating companies and organizations,” said Erica Meissner, marketing associate for BranchOut and senior in anthropology.
Meissner became involved with BranchOut because her sister was intimately involved in the company’s start-up. “I want more than anything to see my classmates pursue their dream jobs and internships,” Meissner said. “I know that it is through their ever-expanding networks and sites like BranchOut that they will be able to do this.” After potential interns install the BranchOut application to their Facebook accounts and submit their resumes, users obtain five endorsements from Facebook friends. Once everything is complete, the recruiters will review the candidates and follow up with the strongest ones.
The Ultimate Internship Contest was partly started because of a drop in oncampus visits by companies looking for interns, Del Ponte said. Many large companies don’t visit campuses frequently, so the online contest is an easier way for the companies to get in contact with students looking for internship opportunities. “Nike’s internship is one of the coolest internships I’ve heard about in a while,” Del Ponte said. “Nike’s internship opportunity allows an intern to help create a social media campaign for the Olympics.” Del Ponte said the BranchOut team hand-selected the top 24 internships of the year and highlighted those for college students. The
Ultimate Internship Contest officially started Jan. 19, but potential interns can apply through March 31. Positions are also available for students to intern at BranchOut. The company is offering engineering positions as well as marketing associate programs for college students who want to promote BranchOut to other college students. “We’re really committed in playing a role in helping people find their dream jobs, and more than ever with the economy it’s important for us to give job seekers new tools,” Del Ponte said. “Our numbers are going through the roof, we’re really growing, and we think that we’re going to have a really big impact on the world.”
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The Office of Information Technology has a new location at 300 Lem Morrison Dr.
OIT gets a new home Victoria Rodgers WRITER
The Office of Information Technology will have a new home this month. OIT has moved to a new building at 300 Lem Morrison Drive and will consolidate from nine different offices formerly located in Parker Hall, Telecom Building, Dunstan Hall, Property Services and the L Building. Combining these offices into one building allows OIT to be more effective and efficient, said Suzanne Webster, administrative support associate. “Having folks in separate locations makes collaboration more difficult and is confusing for the user community,” said Bliss Bailey, executive director for OIT. The new building will contain resource rooms where small groups can collaborate on projects. Larger conference rooms are also available for employees to meet.
OIT’s new home began preliminary planning in 1998, but the project languished from lack of funds for many years, Bailey said. Construction officially began in December 2009. The building is almost completely finished and the personnel have already started to move in. OIT plans to completely finish the move by March 14. One perk of having a new office is a new data center. “The data center is where most of the University’s computer servers are housed,” Bailey said. Equipment will be closely monitored at the new location. The new OIT building will now require biometric authentication for access, according to Bailey. “It has state-of-the-art capacity—more security and better provisions to protect the equipment,” Webster said. The building has backup
generators as well as a backup chiller so the facility can continue operating in case of a power outage. In case of fire, state-of-the-art technology will be use to fight the flames. “The fire detection and suppression system is extremely sensitive and uses a special ‘clean agent’ gas to snuff out a fire without damaging the computers,” Bailey said. Other services housed at the new location will include the OIT machinery, network and voice services, identity management, AU Lease, campus web solutions, classroom support and test scoring services. Although OIT’s offices and services will be based in the new building, not all of OIT’s branches will move. The help desks in RBD Library, the IMG office in the Haley Center and the student PC shop for on-campus housing will remain in their locations.
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Campus B4
The Auburn Plainsman
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Outreach organization transforms parking lot Alison McFerrin ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
One campus group is putting the park in parking lot. Civic Engagement in the Built Environment is creating a green space for the East Alabama Mental Health Center. “We call it unpaving the parking lot and putting up paradise,” said Linda Ruth, building science professor and one of CEBE’s main coordinators. CEBE is an interdisciplinary outreach organization that gets students involved with community projects. It includes a class of four to five students who make up what Ruth calls the “core” of the program. In addition, students from other disciplines are consulted as needed on different projects. A veterinary student, for example, is involved with the plans for a pet therapy element for the Lee County Youth Development Center. “It gives students the opportunity to actually get out and work, which I think is somewhat lacking sometimes,” said Barkley Mallette, senior in building science. “A lot of kids come into college and they don’t have a lot of experience actually going out and working on projects.” A staff member at EAMHC requested a grant from Home Depot with the goal of constructing a park in place of the existing parking lot. A small grant was awarded, and Anne Penney, executive director of EAMHC, then contacted CEBE to make the park a reality. “I think the consumers will love being able to be outside in a therapeutic space,” Penney said. “They
can relax, they can grow the plants and flowers that we’re going to use there—so it’s going to be both a relaxing and maybe meditative space, but also sections of it will be used for horticulture therapy.” Elliott Miller, senior in building science, said he and Mallette have been spending 30 to 40 hours per week at the construction site for the park, which will be finished sometime in April. “As of the last couple weeks it’s really great just to be outside—getting a little bit of a suntan and being outside and working with my hands rather than sitting in the classroom,” Miller said. Classroom work is not an integral part of this program. Students are involved in designing plans, acquiring supplies and donations, making presentations to clients and actual construction of projects. Penney said she’s thrilled by the progress CEBE has made on the project. “If it’s done by the end of this semester, that would just be fantastic,” Penney said. Penney was also involved in the selection of benches to be placed in the park, which were built as a competition between Structures III students. Eleven teams of students were charged with building benches primarily out of concrete, but also with the option to include other materials. Seven were chosen to be placed at the park. Seth Slatton, junior in building science and team leader of the winning team, said his team was surprised when its bench won. “I had already picked out
CONTRIBUTED
Elliott Miller and Barkley Mallette, CEBE students, work together to build a planter for EAMHC’s upcoming green space. a place to put it somewhere else—I really didn’t think they were going to accept it because of the honeycomb on the legs,” Slatton said. “I think some people overall had some better looking ones.” Alex Behringer, senior in building science and another member of the winning team, said he thought the bench competition was better than in previous years. “We thought it was kind of cool that we were able to learn more about concrete and display it as a service project,” Behringer said. “Classes in the past just kind of did whatever furniture piece they wanted to do, and it really didn’t serve
so much of a purpose other than having a new piece of furniture that no one really wanted.” Students had only three weeks to build the benches. Behringer said they first designed their bench in a 3D design program and then built a formwork in which to pour the concrete. Other elements of the park include a water feature, landscaped planters and empty planters for use by the consumers. Ruth said this project has also focused on sustainability. “Instead of tearing up all the asphalt and then coming back and pouring a hard surface where we wanted it, we cut the asphalt—so we
just sort of pulled out parts of the parking lot, and then we cut the parking lot up,” Ruth said. They recycled the extra asphalt, using some to extend the existing sidewalk and some as drainage for the planters. “Taking a parking lot and making it into a space that people can actually enjoy— I would have never really been able to visually see that,” Mallette said. “But now that I’ve gotten to work on it, it’s been pretty neat.” Ruth said she hopes CEBE will continue to grow. Her goal is to involve enough students from different programs that each student can be involved with only one or
two projects instead of every student contributing to every project. “I think as Professor Ruth continues to develop the program, it’ll really benefit some individuals throughout architecture and building science,” Miller said. CEBE is already benefiting students involved now. “I really enjoy actually doing stuff for the community,” Mallette said. “I haven’t had a lot of chance to do a lot of community service throughout college because I’ve been so busy with school and everything. So to be able to actually go out and give back to the community, I think it’s a good program.”
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Campus B5
The Auburn Plainsman
Class focuses on maximum ‘breeding value’ Elizabeth Fite STAFF WRITER
Daryl Kuhlers’ Animal Breeding class combines genetics and statistics to examine the genetic improvement of animals through breeding. “When people hear the term ‘animal breeding,’ they think it has something to do with reproduction, and it’s really not,” Kuhlers said. “What we’re trying to do is estimate the breeding value, so there’s a little confusion when I tell them on the first day we’re not going to talk about hormones or reproductive anatomy.” Breeding value is measured by the quality of offspring an animal produces and considers certain factors such as an animal’s muscling, overall health and ability to produce quality products for consumption, be it eggs, milk or meat. Genetic improvement aims to strengthen these factors through a selective breeding process over time. The class does not focus on a specific breed of animal, but instead examines whole populations or groups of animals. “What we’re trying to do is say, ‘Here’s how we make
genetic improvement for what we want the animal to do,’” Kuhlers said. “Typically we want our animals to grow faster. “For dairy cows we want them to produce more milk, and we want them to eat less feed so we can make more money. Our goal is to see how we can make these animals more productive at a lower cost.” The class spends most of its time learning formulas and equations that help predict the productivity of breeding. “I teach the principles and that they work for everything,” Kuhlers said. “You may have to do some adjustments for the specific life cycle of the animal, but it works for anything.” Students find the heavy use of math and rigorous amount of work the most challenging aspects of the class, Kuhlers said. Leslie Bowman, senior in animal science, said even though the class is assigned a large amount of reading, most of the quiz answers are numbers instead of words. “It’s a lot of equations— it’s genetics and statistics put together,” Bowman said.
The class is assigned homework, reading quizzes and discussion questions weekly and is evaluated through these assignments in addition to exams. “The students do like the discussions and the chance to interact,” Kuhlers said. “I tell them, ‘It’s time to meet your neighbor.’” Elizabeth Ortiz, senior pursuing her second degree in animal science and preveterinary medicine, said the class has opened her eyes to how much statistics plays a roll in breeding. “The class is basically about choosing the best out of your herd that you have to make genetic progress,” Ortiz said. She said the class deals exclusively with livestock, although it is possible to apply the principles to other domestic animals. However, wild animals are not studied in breeding because they use their own form of mate selection. Kuhlers said one aspect of the class that has evolved during the years is many students now are unfamiliar with farms and animals because they come from cities. “Students’ background is a little different now, so to
TIM SIMPSON / PHOTO STAFF
Professor Daryl Kuhlers returns quizzes to students in his Animal Breeding class. The class uses genetics and statistics to examine animals’ breeding value and genetic improvement. some extent I spend time explaining why this stuff is important on a farm because they don’t have a feel for that,” Kuhlers said. “If they’re not on a farm they don’t really know.” Kuhlers said it is important to remember when breeding animals, the animal must have a specific goal or purpose, whether they are horses, dogs, fish or honey bees. There is no reason to
worry about the productivity of animals intended for pleasure, such as pets or animals that the breeder does not intend to sell for profit. The purpose of an animal is whatever the breeder’s goal for the animal may be, whether it is selling that animal for food or competing the animal in shows or races. Currently the class is studying breeding predictions.
The class is required for animal science majors, but it is open to all students. According to Kuhlers, he also has agriculture education, biological sciences and several other majors in the class. However, he said a strong background in math—specifically statistics—is recommended for the class. Kuhlers has taught the animal breeding class for 33 years.
Wednesdays mark Tiger Dining birthday parties Jordan Dale WRITER
She was startled to notice a crowd had formed around her. Inching forward, they began to chant in low tones. The crowded restaurant fell to a hush as the song took form with unmistakable clarity. “Happy birthday to you.” The YouFirst initiative was developed by Chartwells, the company that oversees Tiger Dining, to maintain quality standards at Auburn University. In January 2011, YouFirst also incorporated a program to recognize the birthdays of Tiger Dining employees. Jenna Conaway, senior in English, said she remembers the co-workers singing “Happy Birthday” in
January at Au Bon Pain in the Student Center. “It was pretty loud so we weren’t sure what was happening,” she said. “But the singing and the cupcakes finally gave it away.” The program is entering its third month, and employees have responded well to the initiative, said Hudson Kus, director of Dining Services. “ YouFirst is driven from our associates,” said Gina Groome, marketing manager of Tiger Dining. “They help make our customers happy.” Groome said the YouFirst team signs a card to give to each employee.
“Every Wednesday YouFirst champions go to different on-campus restaurants and sing to employees with birthdays coming up,” Kus said. The champions of YouFirst include Laquarius “Tank” Moore and Varonica Dowdell. Nique Rowe, an employee at Au Bon Pain, said she remembers her birthday recognition in February. “They came and surprised me,” said Nique Rowe, employee at Au Bon Pain. “They gave me a $10 gift card and some cupcakes. It was really nice.” Employees also receive
discounts at various locations on campus. “It’s great to be remembered,” Rowe said. “Especially on a day as special as my birthday.” Marcus Daniels, employee at Papa John’s, said his birthday celebration was one to remember. “I had actually forgotten it was my birthday,” he said. “I asked for their order, and they just started singing ‘Happy Birthday.’ It was awesome.” Daniels, 31, said the celebration affected the way he worked. “When you have a boss who cares, it makes you want to do a better job,” he said. “So that’s what I’ve done.” Groome oversees the management of birthdays. “We have a master list
“
When you have a boss who cares, it makes you want to do a better job. So that’s what I’ve done.” —Marcus Daniels EMPLOYEE, PAPA JOHN’S
with everyone’s birthday for the month and get them a card,” Kus said. “It includes the Student Center, Terrell, the Village, everywhere.” Students have also noticed the positive effects of YouFirst. “The (employee) was so happy,” Conaway said. “I think it’s great they take a
moment to appreciate their staff.” YouFirst hosts “guest birthdays” the last Wednesday of every month to celebrate the birthdays of students and faculty from that month. “Students and faculty can bring their ID and get a free slice of cake,” Kus said. “This month it’s happening on the 30th.” Participating locations include Chef ’s Table, Southern Grille, War Eagle Food Court and Evolutions. Jake Thompson, junior in business, said he is looking forward to his birthday. “I think it’s a cool program,” he said. “My birthday’s in April, only a month and a half to go.” YouFirst will celebrate 26 birthdays in the month of March.
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Campus B6
The Auburn Plainsman
Thursday, March 10, 2011
KATIE TEIXEIRA, 18 Taking lovely to new heights, this week’s gal is a mile-high treat. She’s Katie, a freshman in biomedical sciences. From Concord, California, our gal has an unparalleled love of the outdoors. She’s made it to the summit of the tallest mountain in the lower 48, Mount Whitney. “It feels like basically you’re on top of the world,” she says of the view from up there. With a smile like that, you’ll be on top of our world for a while, Katie. Think you know an Auburn woman who has what it takes to be the Loveliest Lady on the Plains? Send submissions, with names and contact information, to campus@ theplainsman.com
On the Concourse
PT-025095
Question:
Do you think the dorms should have extended visitation hours? “Yes. I think the whole opposite-sex, noon-to-midnight rule is ridiculous.”
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Intrigue Thursday, March 10, 2011
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» Page c3
» Page C4
www.theplainsman.com
Fight the break bulge
Page C1
Championship gear remains strong in AU bookstore Destiny Brown Writer
Ways to stay healthy during Spring Break Morgan McKean Writer
It’s getting up at 8 a.m. to go running when class isn’t until 11 a.m. It’s turning down an invitation to visit Chill or TCBY. It’s choosing fruit versus fries at Chick-fil-A. Some students spend weeks maintaining a healthy lifestyle with the hopes of shedding a few pounds before debuting a new bathing suit during Spring Break But it can be easy to gain that weight back while on vacation. Doug White, professor of nutrition at Auburn, said you can’t throw it all away with a week of overindulgence. “I think the body regulates itself,” he said. “It’s going to work hard to maintain the same weight. Over a week I don’t think that it will be a really big deal.” White insisted on instilling a sense of balance to pair with the body’s compensatory mechanisms. “Now, if you’re going to be consuming more, you have to be more active as well,” he said. “If you are going to the beach and you are running, swimming, playing volleyball and throwing the Frisbee, then it might be OK to indulge at dinner that night.” White said if we keep this balance in check, our bodies will stay within a narrow range of weight. Elliot Nolan, junior in public relations, said he has been running and doing the popular P90X workout and wants to continue this while beach-hopping in Florida next week. “I’ll probably go run on the beach and get some swimming in for cardio,” Nolan said. Jessica-Lauren Roberts, registered dietician on campus who sees students, faculty and staff for nutritional assessments, said you should only indulge yourself 20 percent of the time. Roberts suggests the 80/20 rule as a good rule of thumb for a healthy diet » See Health, C2
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Photo illustration
Up in smoke Insomnia Bar and Grill stops hookah rental Miranda Dollarhide Intrigue Editor
When Insomnia Bar and Grill started renting hookahs three years ago, the option made Insomnia unique. Now with Insomnia’s recent decision to eliminate hookah rentals, the opportunity has gone up in smoke. Elgaily Elawad, owner of Insomnia, said he had to do what was right for his business. The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board paid Insomnia a visit after a complaint that Insomnia was allowing 18-year-olds to smoke, which is illegal in the state of Alabama. “It’s hard to control it,” Elawad said. “People come here to smoke hookah, eat and hang out, and I took their ID because they have to be 19, but people have friends that are 18 so I guess they smoke hookah with them.” Elawad not only owns Insomnia, but also cooks, so he said it is hard for him to know who exactly is smoking outside when he is cooking inside. “I can’t see them,” Elawad said. “I tell people, ‘Please don’t let anybody under 19 smoke hookah with you guys.’ They say, ‘Yeah, yeah, we won’t do that,’ but I guess they do it.” If an 18-year-old customer purchases food with someone that is 19 or older, Elawad said he couldn’t tell them not to sit together. “If they purchase food, they have the right to sit here,” Elawad said.
However, Elawad said the ABC Board told him if he continued to rent hookahs, and they found someone under 19 smoking, he would be fined $700. “That is a lot of money,” Elawad said. “I can’t take the risk.” Elawad said he told the ABC board to fine the underage people smoking, not him. “Why give me the ticket?” Elawad said. “I didn’t sell it to him. I sold it to a person that is 19.” Unfortunately for Elawad, the ABC board doesn’t see it that way. Elawad said they told him he was responsibly for the things that happen on his premises. One option that other states have used is renting hookah inside with the food. “In Georgia they do and in Florida they do…but here in Alabama, the health department won’t allow food and smoking inside,” Elawad said. The only option left for Elawad was to ban hookah rental altogether or pay the ABC board’s fines. Elawad said he thinks his business will be fine without the hookahs. “We are still selling the tobacco and hookah,” Elawad said. “Hopefully that can cover the short of selling the hookah outside.” For some customers, as long as Insomnia continues selling hookah products they will still eat there. Caroline Day, junior in health » See Smoke, C2
A month after the game, the Auburn Bookstore was still cluttered with everything from $5 huggers to more than $100 replicas of the national championship trophy—anything that displays the BCS logo. The BCS national championship logo won’t be hard to find in the Auburn Bookstore. In fact, the BCS national championship logo is displayed on nearly every item, especially the items that people seem to be admiring. “Everything has been selling,” said Teresa Dickman, giftware buyer for the Auburn Bookstore. “Winning the national championship has helped our business exponentially. If someone hasn’t built a man cave dedicated to Auburn yet, they’re about to.” From the No. 2 jerseys identifying Auburn’s Heisman award winner to souvenir car tags, the Auburn Bookstore’s business has been booming for the past month. “Collectables are probably our best sellers,” Dickman said. “Everyone especially wants limited edition memorabilia.” Though Dickman said it depends on the product, most things have been re-ordered within the last month. Glass plaques and prints with the Auburn 14–0 season record have been very popular in the bookstore. Currently, glassware is selling rapidly in the giftware department. There is even a three-week wait for a glass Auburn mug that displays the BCS logo, Dickman said. Besides glassware, a popular item at the bookstore is a replica of the
“
Winning the national champtionship has helped our business exponentially.” —Teresa Dickman Giftware buyer for Au bookstore
gold coin flipped at the BCS national championship game. The coin is kept in a velvet box and displays the BCS national championship logo. “There were only 5,000 of these made,” Dickman said. Another highly demanded item, currently being displayed in the middle of the bookstore, is a Wilson football, the same football brand used in the national championship game. “Wearing our national championship shirts shows our school pride,” said Cary Bayless, sophomore in English and Spanish. Plenty of Auburn hats and sweatshirts hang in the clothing department of the bookstore, but multiple racks of orange and blue T-shirts seem to be occupying every hanger. “Our best selling shirt is definitely one with the slogan, ‘This is How We Roll,’” said Piper Schouten, Auburn Bookstore employee who sells items on the Internet. T-shirts are a best-seller among Auburn fans Schouten said. “The Auburn Bookstore doesn’t plan on ending our sale of national championship gear, we plan on continuing sales throughout the year,” Dickman said.
Trees transformed into trail Kelly Tsaltas Assistant Intrigue Editor
Covering Toomer’s Corner with toilet paper is a tradition not to be forgotten, especially according to Melissa Bowman. “It brings generations together,” said Bowman, senior in theater and English. “I have a friend who is a fifth-generation Auburn student, and so that tree is the same one that her greatgreat grandfather rolled.” After she found out about the oaks being poisoned, Bowman created a Facebook group called “Turn Toomer’s tree into something we can cherish forever!”
Bowman’s wants to preserve the wood from the trees and create a memorial pathway somewhere on campus. She said her grandfather gave her the idea. “He suggested doing it for the Tiger Walk outside the stadium.” Bowman said. “You could even piece it together like a tiger, or I think tiger paws would be really cool because we have tiger paws on the roads,” Bowman said. The wood would be treated to prevent bugs from destroying it, and once the wood is placed on the ground it can be surrounded by concrete or gravel.
“It might not be the best idea, but my intention was just to get an idea going of something we could do to keep that actual tree,” Bowman said. Bowman’s affection for Toomer’s may seem odd because she is a recent transfer student from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. She has attended Auburn for two years. Although her entire family is made up of Alabama fans, Bowman said she knew she wanted to transfer to Auburn when she came to campus to visit a friend and attend a football game. “I had so much fun seeing everybody come together
like that, all rooting for the same thing,” Bowman said. “There’s a sense of unity amongst the students and fans.” She said she still keeps her UAH roots, though. Bowman said she talked to her sister, who attends UAH, about the Toomer’s poisoning. “It’s not only affecting Auburn, it’s affecting other colleges,” Bowman said. “It’s affecting everyone because it’s kind of insane what he did, so people are responding to that.” Bowman said she has been keeping a positive attitude because she has seen » See Trail, C2
Kelly Tsaltas / Assistant Intrigue Editor
Melissa Bowman’s ideas may be the future of Toomer’s tree.
Intrigue C2
The Auburn Plainsman
HEALTH » From C1
and lifestyle. “If we make healthy choices 80 percent of the time, then the other 20 percent we are free to indulge,” Roberts said. “And this rule really keeps things in perspective because there is no guilt associated when we are indulging 20 percent of the time, and our body can maintain that more consistent caloric and fat intake.” Sarah Smith, junior in communication disorders, said as soon as she gets to the beach, she is going to the grocery store. “I want to get fruits and vegetables and things I can cook so I don’t have to eat out every meal because that always has more calories,” she said. Buying groceries versus ordering out every meal is also less expensive.
The best way to maintain your weight is to be conscious of what you are putting into your body, Roberts said. She suggested ordering well-rounded meals at restaurants and asking for sauce on the side. Splitting an entree at a restaurant is also a good option, Roberts said. “Your light beer is honestly your best choice if calories are your concern,” Roberts said. “Wine and liquor are more dense, and then all of your sugary drinks are going to be high on the calorie end.” Roberts said she heard of females depriving themselves of other food groups in order to drink in their calories at night. “I cannot express how devastating that is to the body,” she said. “If you are already depriving your body of those nutrients, it is an all-out assault on your organs.”
Lee Spa Nails
SMOKE » From C1
administration, said she usually goes to Insomnia at least twice a month to buy supplies for her own hookah and grab a bite to eat. “I like the gyro and the different stuff they sell here,” Day said.
TRAIL » From C1
students from multiple college campuses come together and keep the Auburn spirit alive. “What’s funny is it kind
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For some without their personal hookah, Insomnia is no longer of interest to them. “The only reason I used to go was because they had hookah,” said Marcus Robinson, freshman in mechanical engineering. “Now that they aren’t selling it anymore, I probably won’t end up going there as much
anymore.” Even though they sell food, Robinson said he doesn’t have the money in his budget to spend eating out at restaurants. He could afford to rent a hookah because it only cost $6.95, and it could be split between a group. “It’s kind of a bummer,” Robinson said. “That was
the only place that I know of (that rents hookah).” Although Insomnia stopped renting hookahs, Elawad said his business is still doing well. “They love the food because nobody has this kind of food in this town,” Elawad said. “Nobody else has gyros, baba ghanoush and hummus.”
of united Alabama and Auburn,” Bowman said. “Through all of the rivalry, something like this—a traumatic event—brought us together.” Bowman’s Facebook group demonstrates the newfound unity. Group
members come from many different universities, including the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Florida State University. As Auburn students have said, “You can kill our trees, but you can’t kill our spirit.” “Turning it into
something good, like a pathway or something outside the stadium or anything really, would show that you might have poisoned our trees, but we’re going to turn this into something good,” Bowman said. “It shows us standing together.”
Kerry’s recipe of the week
Pot Roast
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 (3-pound) boneless beef chuck roast 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon dried thyme 3 onions, quartered 4 carrots, cut into 2 – inch pieces 2 ribs celery, cut into 2-inch pieces 4 cloves garlic, peeled 2 dried bay leaves ½ cup red wine 2 cups beef broth egg noodles or mashed potatoes, cooked
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Directions: Preheat oven to 325° F. Preheat a large oven-proof pot or Dutch oven and add olive oil. Rub all sides of the roast with the salt, pepper and thyme. Transfer to pot and begin searing. Sear the roast on all sides, about 12 minutes total. Remove roast from pot and add the onions, carrots, celery, salt, pepper and bay leaves. Sauté for about 8 minutes. Then, add the red wine and beef broth. Scrape all the flavorful brown bits off the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Add the roast back in. Place the lid on the oven-proof pot and transfer to the oven for 2 ½ hours. After 1 ½ hours, turn the roast over onto the other side. The broth should come up half way of the roast. After 2 ½ hours, remove pot from oven. Take the meat, carrots and celery out. Discard the bay leaves. Allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, with an immersion blender, blend the onions and garlic into the sauce until smooth (this can also be done in a blender). Cut the roast into 1-inch pieces. Add the roast pieces and vegetables into the sauce. Serve over egg noodles or mashed potatoes.
Contributed by Kerry Fannon
Jane Random Ashley Pigg
sophomore, nursing and Spanish ── Where are you from? Fort Payne
Do you have Bieber Fever? Somewhat
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What’s your favorite thing to do when it’s warm outside? Just sit outside and do anything.
If you had a superpower, what would it be? Invisibility, so I could see how people really are.
Who’s your favorite musician? Jason Aldean What’s a random fact about yourself? I’ve never broken a bone.
Do you watch Glee? Not regularly
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Thursday, March 10, 2011
The Auburn Plainsman
Intrigue C3
Faculty members keep more than their day jobs Alexandria Smith WRITER
They can be seen grading papers for English composition, dissecting owl pellets for biology lab or solving equations in calculus, but students rarely see their professors as a lead guitarist or singer of a band. What started as a conversation in the English department about music tastes fewer than ten years ago morphed into a group of people who get together every other week to jam. They call themselves Noisy Deirdre. “We were a bunch of people who played music together for fun,” said Tom O’Shea, instructor from the English department. “Then, we got a gig, and we needed a name. We wanted the name to sound Irish so we finally decided on the name Noisy Deirdre from the Irish legend ‘Deirdre of Sorrows.’” Noisy Deirdre does not have a set number of band members, but has an ongoing e-mail list of approximately 50 people. O’Shea, organizer of the group, sends all the e-mails as well as plays rhythm guitar. “When we meet, we usually have about five to eight people at a time; out of the large group, not everyone is necessarily active all the time,” O’Shea said. O’Shea said he would characterize Noisy Deirdre’s style as Americana or string band music. The band plays old folk songs, fiddle tunes or anything a member of the group suggests. He also said many of their songs are from the 19th and early 20th century. Noisy Deirdre usually has a fiddle, banjo, guitar, bass and recorder, along with a
few different singers. For a while, the band played with a tuba, which was an interesting addition, O’Shea said. Wiekbe Kuhn, vocalist, works in the information department of Liberal Arts and is a founding member of the group. “I enjoy the social aspect of the band,” Kuhn said. “We get together every other week to hang out for a few hours. It’s relaxing and fun and something that doesn’t require a lot of talking.” Andrew Gillespie is the assistant provost for International Programs. He said he heard about the band from Dean of Education Betty Louise Whitford. Gillespie plays the mandolin. “The band is such great fun,” Gillespie said. “We work all day, but it is also important to remember the arts and be a part of the Auburn community, and this is a fun and entertaining way to do that.” Although no students are a part of the band at this time, Noisy Deirdre has had student members in the past. O’Shea said student members tend to stay around until they graduate, so they often rotate in and out. Noisy Deirdre has performed at multiple events around Auburn including a fundraiser for domestic violence prevention at Kiesel Park and an event on Cater Lawn where other bands formed by faculty were also featured. The band’s next event is at Earth Fest, which is sponsored by the Environmental Awareness Organization. The event will be April 2 at the arboretum and will inform visitors of ways to help the environment.
Staying young, starting now College students’ health habits may affect their future Elizabeth Fite STAFF WRITER
Although college students may feel invincible, their lifestyles could be having a negative impact on their health in the long run. According to Bill Jackson, associate director of campus recreation for lifetime wellness and fitness, the first and most important part of feeling young and healthy is to stay active through exercise. “You can be active by walking to class, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking farther away from where you’re going to shop and walking, so there are many ways to be active, but staying active is extremely important,” Jackson said. “I think it’s at the top of the list.” According to Jackson, the Surgeon General recommends 30 minutes to an hour of moderate intensity exercise at least five days a week. Auburn provides numerous ways for students to stay active through intramural sports, club sports, group fitness activities, personal training and free play at campus recreation. “These activities are varied enough that everyone should be able to find something that they enjoy doing that will keep them active,” Jackson said. Jackson said he thinks the second most important thing students can do
to stay healthy is to abstain from using tobacco products, followed by getting enough sleep. “I think that’s probably where college students fail as much as anything else is trying to burn the candle at both ends by staying up late partying or studying,” Jackson said. “Research is fairly clear that at least seven consecutive hours of sleep per night is what most people need to maintain their health.” Jackson said that although college students may get seven hours of sleep in a 24-hour time span, it is the consecutive sleep that is most important. Poor health habits will begin impacting a person’s health almost immediately, and it is important to establish a healthy lifestyle at a young age. “One thing I always tell students is you have more free time at college than you will ever have again the rest of your life because once they leave college and get a full-time job, get married, have children and other responsibilities come in, if they have not developed a healthy lifestyle, the chances of them doing it after they graduate is probably very small,” Jackson said. According to Jessica-Lauren Roberts, dietician and nutrition adviser for the lifetime wellness and fitness program on campus, diet also has a huge impact on how a person ages and that person’s quality of life. She said two critical aspects of diet are staying hydrated and eating fresh food that is as close to its natural state as possible. » Read the rest online at www.theplainsman.com
REBEKAH WEAVER / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
Betty Louise Whitford, dean of the College of Education, and Andy Gillespie, assistant provost for International Programs, practice Sundays with the professor-formed band Noisy Deirdre.
REBEKAH WEAVER / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
REBEKAH WEAVER / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
Tom O’Shea, instructor of English, and Betty Louise Whitford, dean of the College of Education, practice together.
Professor of English Jeremy Downes plays the banjo during a Sunday afternoon practice with Noisy Deirdre.
Food
C4 www.theplainsman.com
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Intrigue
Q & A with Duff Goldman The Ace of Cakes star answers questions from a student audience
MARIA IAMPIETRO / ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR
Taylor’s Bakery sells a variety of cupcakes like these chocolate cupcakes with toppings.
CRISTEN HARNED / ASSIS. PHOTO EDITOR
Taylor’s Bakery’s red velvet
Local bakeries showcase unique style Mackenzie Cogle WRITER
Whether across campus or a short drive across town, there is never a shortage of fresh bakery options in Auburn. Taylor’s Bakery and Gigi’s Cupcakes are two local businesses that aim to satisfy any sweet tooth while providing their own unique atmosphere. Since opening in August of last year, Gigi’s has been a popular spot for locals and students to get their cupcake fix. For $3, customers can choose from more than 10 flavors of cupcakes, with different selections each day as well as more popular flavors available every day. Gigi’s fall and winter menu currently provides 32 flavors, and on March 21 Gigi’s will switch to its spring and summer menu. Gigi’s employee Jerre Ann Powell said on a typical
Saturday the store will sell about 700–800 cupcakes. Powell said cupcake sales were slower in November and December. Lana Smith, first year master’s student in ruminant nutrition, said she can’t get enough of Gigi’s cupcakes. “I’ve probably tried half of their flavors,” Smith said. Gigi’s offers cupcakes for weddings and other events, with cupcake stands to use with each order. Special order smaller cupcakes are also available for events for $1. Pricing and daily specials can be found on Gigi’s website and Gigi’s of Auburn’s Facebook page. Powell said gift cards from Gigi’s have become popular for birthdays and other occasions. While Gigi’s has become a hit with the Auburn community in the past year, Taylor’s Bakery has been
serving up desserts and coffee on the Plains for more than 13 years. Abigail O’Brien, sophomore in fine arts, said she feels Gigi’s is a good place to meet up with friends and enjoy a treat, but Taylor’s Bakery gives students a spot to study, hang out and enjoy coffee and a snack close to campus. Taylor’s Bakery holds cupcake explosion days each month where customers can choose from 20–30 different cupcake flavors. Owner Eade Vincent said the store sells about 1,000– 2,000 cupcakes on those days. The most recent explosion was held March. 8. Taylor’s Bakery offers just two or three cupcake flavors daily, but each regular-sized cupcake is only $1. Eade said the flavors usually depend on the type of cakes he is making for Taylor’s Bakery that day.
In addition to cupcakes, Taylor’s Bakery sells cakes, pies, cookies, brownies, large cinnamon rolls and other sweets made fresh daily, giving customers a greater selection of treats to choose from. Taylor’s Bakery also provides catering for events. “We can do just about anything with an advance notice,” Vincent said. Vincent also said nicer weather brings more customers to Taylor’s Bakery, as it does to Gigi’s. Taylor’s Bakery has gift cards available and recently began a customer rewards program. Customers can fill out a card with their name and e-mail to receive notifications on specials as well as a card to receive customer reward points. Taylor’s menu and daily specials are also available on its website and Facebook page.
Q A
What’s the most extreme cake you’ve ever made?
Q A
What’s the coolest party you’ve ever been to?
Q A
What do you think about all the other cake shows that are on right now?
We did a life-size, working motorcycle, and then that same guy also ordered a life-size baby elephant. It was pretty amazing. So we had this elephant—it’s huge—and we drove this elephant from Baltimore to Phoenix, Ariz. It had 250 pounds of gray modeling chocolate—modeling chocolate is basically a Tootsie Roll.
We went to this one on South Beach—it was called “Let Them Eat Cake,” and it was hosted by Martha Stewart. I was talking to the event planner, and I was like, ‘Do you know what we could do?’ And then he said, ‘This is our tenth anniversary, and on our fifth anniversary, a bunch of cross dressers showed up.’ So he was like, ‘We can make a tranny!’ So we made Divine, who is a famous Baltimore drag queen, in this beautiful dress holding a cake. So it’s this perfect replica of a Martha Stewart wedding cake being held by Divine. So (at the party) here comes Martha Stewart, and she’s looking at the cakes, and she gets to ours and says, ‘What flavor is this?’ I mean, really?
All those other shows? Oh, I love it. I met Buddy (Valastro) at a competition in Georgia. And there was one time we were doing Make-A-Wish, and this girl whose wish was to go to my bakery and his bakery, so her parents brought her up there with Make-A-Wish, and then they brought them all down to Baltimore, and Buddy had sent us this big box of pastries, so we sent him some T-shirts. I don’t think he wears them. You know, the more shows about baking that are on, the better we look.
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Sports
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Thursday, March 10, 2011
D Page D1
Scouts flock to Auburn for Pro Day Nick Van Der Linden Associate sports Editor
For those former Tigers not invited to last week’s NFL Scouting Combine, there was one final chance to prove their worth. Twenty-two former players competed during Tuesday’s annual Pro Day, which took a little more than four and a half hours inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. “I think we’ve all talked about it at times,” said former center Ryan Pugh. “It’s almost like it’s four years in one day. “I don’t think it’s that intense as far as combining all four years in one day, but it’s just a way to fill in the blanks as far as what kind of player you are. “They get to interact with you and see how you interact with your teammates, and they want to see you compete. I think I did that today. I think we all did that today.” Auburn split workouts into two sessions. In the first session, groups were separated alphabetically and conducted workouts including 40-yard dash, standing long jumps,
vertical jumps, 225-pound bench presses and shuttle cone drills. “Probably my routes and showing my feet—that’s the biggest thing that I think the scouts wanted to see,” said former running back Mario Fannin. “Also my hips, I’ve kind of been stretching them out more and being able to get out of my turns faster and be able to have bursts of speed. I think I did a great job just doing that today.” After those tests were completed, the players then participated in positionspecific drills one group at a time. Groups included kickers, defensive backs, linebackers, running backs, tight ends, offensive linemen, defensive linemen and quarterbacks/wide receivers. “I didn’t feel any pressure,” said former quarterback Cameron Newton. “I just wanted to come out here to have fun and compete because that is the name of the game for me. I was out here for a long time just rooting my teammates on. “I want to see them excel
in whatever they were doing. It is fun reuniting with a lot of guys, and that was fun for me. I enjoyed this whole day.” Since NFL owners and players have yet to agree on terms, a lockout might still be possible, although a 2011 without football seems unlikely. “I think they extended talks because they don’t want a lockout,” said former linebacker Josh Bynes. “I strongly believe that there won’t be one. “If there is a lockout we are still going to have to do what we need to do because they will still have a draft. I think they will get everything settled so that they can have a season.” The first round of the NFL Draft will take place April 28 followed by the second and third rounds April 29. “It doesn’t really matter what they say,” Bynes said. “All that matters is what happens when the draft comes around April 28, 29 and 30. “You may hear your name called or you might not. The only thing you can do is wait to hear your name called.”
Todd Van Emst / Auburn Media Relations
Former Auburn defender Nick Fairley runs drills for NFL scouts Tuesday afternoon.
Williams guides players on their spiritual paths Liz Conn Associate Campus Editor
As a college sophomore, he was kicked off the football team by former coach Pat Dye. More than 20 years later, he is the team chaplain. “I was a bad boy,” said the Rev. Chette Williams. “I was mean. The night I was kicked off the team, I got a relationship with Christ. “I went to see Coach Dye the next day, and his words were, ‘Let’s take it one day at a time.’” Williams, 47, attends all practices and games. He also holds Bible studies for the coaching staff Friday mornings and for the whole team the night before a game. “He’s the glue that keeps this team together,” said assistant coach Trooper Taylor. “He was really big for us
serving as a bridge between the old staff and the new staff when we came in. “He had a lot of insight on the kids and was able to help the kids adjust to us as a coaching staff.” Williams has served as chaplain since 1999. “I’m in the Athletic Department where everyone has access to me if they need me, including family members of the Athletic Department,” Williams said. Each season the team has a specific theme that Williams emphasizes in his Bible study. This year’s theme was “Going from good to great,” chosen by coach Gene Chizik. “Gene and I are more like brothers,” Williams said. “We’re the same age, and we have children the same age, so we used to baby-sit each other’s kids. Spiritually,
Chette Williams
he’s solid. He’s just a brilliant man. He’s incredible, and I love him as a Christian brother. It runs deep with us.” Williams said he also has a special relationship with quarterback Cam Newton. “With Cam, it became very personal as the season went on because we became closer and closer,” Williams said. “As the drama grew, we drew closer to each other as we drew closer to God.” Newton and Williams still stay in touch even though
the season is finished, Williams said. “We text each other quite a bit,” he said. Williams is also the campus director for Fellowship of Christian Athletes. “It’s probably the model FCA of the entire country for a college campus in that it’s reaching not only the football team, but it’s reaching out to all the sports,” said John Gibbons, state director of FCA. “Chette is just a great visionary and leader and a very powerful preacher.” Williams grew up in Winston, Ga., as the sixth of seven boys. He was 12 when he started playing football. “Growing up I’d seen all my brothers play football,” he said. “I was just waiting until I could play.” After playing as a walk-on linebacker and graduating
with a degree in adult education, Williams worked at Old Mountain Top Baptist Church in Winston before deciding to attend seminary. “I just knew there was some theological understanding that I did not have that I wanted,” Williams said. “God was speaking to me that he wanted me to study.” Williams attended New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. “I used to minister in downtown New Orleans at a homeless shelter—one of the largest homeless shelters in the Southeast,” Williams said. “That’s kind of where I learned how to preach.” In 1999, former coach Tommy Tuberville asked Williams to join the Auburn staff. Gibbons, who was the
campus director of FCA at the time, had referred Williams to Tuberville. “I think Chette is gifted as a great communicator,” Gibbons said. “He is able to really relate to the players and befriend them and lead them and mentor them. “He is just a very godly man that understands and has a giftedness to get involved in people’s lives.” Williams and his wife have three children: Lauren, 14; Caitlyn, 12; and Chette Jr., 11. “He’s a guy that doesn’t condemn people,” Gibbons said. “He’s one of the few preachers I know that just meets people where they are and builds a relationship with them. “He really tries to relate to their problems and their needs, and then he ministers to them.”
Heath Evans Foundation fights abuse Former Auburn running back leads fight against child sexual abuse Brian Woodham Assistant Sports Editor
Contributed
New Orleans Saints running back Heath Evans goes to bat for abused children at a charity softball game Feb. 17.
While New Orleans Saints running back Heath Evans excels at blocking would-be tacklers on the field, he makes his greatest impact tackling the issue of child sexual abuse off it. In 2006, Evans, who played fullback at Auburn before being selected in the 2001 NFL draft, started the Heath Evans Foundation, an organization dedicated to fostering hope and healing in the lives of children and families affected by sexual abuse. Childhood sexual abuse is an issue
that hits close to home for Evans. After he and his wife, Beth Ann, were married, Evans found out that she had been a victim of sexual abuse as a child. “Once we were able to walk her through the healing that she wanted and then desired,” Evans said, “it was a natural fit just to bring that same hope and healing to other victims who otherwise couldn’t afford it or maybe didn’t have a voice to speak up about it.” The foundation provides free counseling to victims of childhood sexual abuse and their families in Palm Beach County, Fla., and the Greater New Orleans area. Evans said his faith is important for him and Beth Ann. “For me and my wife, it’s everything,” Evans said. “We do use licensed Christian, professional counselors,
but in no way, shape or form is faith ever something that is going to drive a wedge between a victim that needs our help.” The Rev. Chette Williams, board member for the foundation, said Evans’ faith and passion for helping others was evident since they first met after Williams became Auburn’s team chaplain in 1999. “I love Heath like a son,” Williams said. “When I first got here, Heath was one of the ones that really accepted me and accepted my ministry. Normally, I take people alongside of me, but he really took me alongside of him.” The foundation also hosts charity events, such as softball games or the annual 7-on-7 tournament, that not only raise money, but also awareness of childhood sexual abuse. “It’s one of those issues that affects » See See Foundation, D2
Sports D2
The Auburn Plainsman
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Auburn outwits, outlasts, outplays recent opponents Surviving close calls in its final two games, the basketball team prepares for conference tournament Crystal Cole SPORTS EDITOR
The ball is in Auburn’s court as the team heads to the SEC tournament this weekend. The Tigers, coming off two comeback wins, face off against the Georgia Bulldogs Thursday at noon in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome. Head coach Tony Barbee said even though his team has struggled this season, he thinks the Tigers will surprise some people in the tournament. “Well, even though we have come back and won the last two, we’ve kind of done this all year long.,” Barbee said. “We’ve manufactured
some big comebacks. I know this, there are a lot of teams in the conference that are heading to Atlanta saying ‘I hope we don’t match up with that Auburn team.’” The Bulldogs (20–1, 9–7 SEC) enter the tournament following a 65–57 loss to Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Georgia leads the overall series between the two teams 88–87. The last meeting between the two teams, held Feb. 5 in Athens, Ga., the Bulldogs pulled away an 81–72 overtime win. An Auburn-Georgia game holds the record for the longest SEC tournament game. It took four overtimes for Auburn to defeat Georgia March 1, 1979, the first year of the SEC tournament since 1952. Auburn is 23–30 (.434) in the SEC tournament since its renewal in 1979. The Tigers’ only conference title came in 1985 when Auburn won four games in four days, the first team to accomplish that feat. The winner of Thursday’s game will face western
TODD VAN EMST / AUBURN MEDIA RELATIONS
Auburn coach Tony Barbee talks to his team at the Georgia Dome after practicing for the SEC tournament Wednesday. division champion Alabama in the SEC quarterfinals at noon Friday. In its previous two games against LSU and Ole Miss,
the Tigers have overcome double-digit deficits to produce a victory. Junior forward Kenny Gabriel said such wins make
the team dangerous going into the tournament. “I think it is because we play with a lot of confidence now, and everyone is just
Gymnastics goes head over heels at home Kala Bolton WRITER
The 24th ranked Tigers gymnastics team (5–6, 2–4 SEC) looks to close out the regular season with a win as Auburn hosts the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (8–7, 5–2 MIC) Friday night at 7 p.m. The Tigers are looking to finish strong at home before traveling to Birmingham for the SEC Championship March 19. This is also the last regular season game for the Redhawks, who will compete for the Midwest Independent Championship in Cape Girardeau, Mo., March 19. The Tigers are returning from a five-day road trip, which included two wins against BYU and a close loss to Southern Utah. After earning their first road win of the season March 4 against BYU, coaches and players say the team is becoming more consistent and is continuing to improve. The Tigers hit 24-for24 routines against BYU March 4 and 23-for-24
routines March 7 in the tri-meet against BYU and Southern Utah. The coaches said they are now focusing on polishing up routines for the next meet. “Now we’re trying to sharpen up the little things,” said head coach Jeff Graba. “We want the landings to come together; we want the handstands to hit; we want to look a little bit better at what we’re doing.” Graba said he is not underestimating the talent of the Redhawks’ squad. “Southeast Missouri is a very good team,” Graba said. “I hope we can do a good job against them. If we do what we did (on Monday), we’ll be fine.” After scoring a season high of 195.925 at the last home meet against Pittsburgh Feb. 25, the team seems eager to get back and perform in front of its home crowd. Junior Kylie Shields, who scored a career-high 39.300 Monday night, said she is ready to return to Auburn Arena and is optimistic about Friday’s match.
DANIEL FRIDAY / PHOTO STAFF
Freshman Abbey Habicht performs on the beam. “I definitely think just being at home with your home crowd where you’ve got your family and friends there and everyone supporting you, it makes it that much more exciting,” Shields said. “We’re definitely all excited to end our regular season at home this coming Friday, and
hopefully we’ll lead the team to another best and put that 195.9 behind and go on to something else, like a 196.” For the Tigers, this is the last chance they have to perform before they compete for the SEC title. Graba said he plans to stress the importance of
this meet to his team. “It’s extremely important,” Graba said. “This team was injured most of the first six weeks, so we’re a team that’s jelling late in the season, so every one of these is important to us. “One more home game means one more shot at preparing before the SECs.” While there is much excitement surrounding the Tigers’ last home game, the sadness has begun to sink in for the seniors that will compete in their last match in Auburn Arena. Seniors Lauren Brzostowski, Katie Hurley, Rachel Inniss and Leah Vining will be honored for Senior Night. “For me, it’s like a big farewell, and I will probably cry,” said Inniss. “Auburn has given me opportunities that I wouldn’t have gotten if I went somewhere else, and I am just so thankful. “I love performing and being able to wear Auburn and represent them.” Shields said while it will be sad to see these seniors go, she is excited about seeing their last performances.
feeding off of each other,” Gabriel said. “We are just playing off confidence and emotion and we can just play good basketball.”
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everyone,” Evans said. “Every city, every town, every color of skin, every financial makeup, rich, poor, white, black: it doesn’t matter, this issue affects everybody.” Childhood sexual abuse isn’t rare, as researchers estimate one out of four women and one out of six men are sexually abused before the age of 18. “People need to know that they’re not the only ones,” Evans said. “Our biggest area of concern is that will we ever get enough awareness out there to drive people to cry out for help because that’s really the issue.” The foundation will host the second annual Heath Evans Softball Showdown May 17 at Zephyr Field in Metairie, La., the home of minor league baseball’s New Orleans Zephyrs. The game will pit the Saints offense, captained by quarterback Drew Brees, against the defense, captained by linebacker Jonathan Vilma. For more information, visit the foundation’s website, www.heathevans.org.
Dickey adds support, good humor to young team Elizabeth Fite STAFF WRITER
Assistant basketball coach Randall Dickey is making an impact in his first season at Auburn both on and off the court. Dickey started playing basketball in the first grade and never looked back—he continued on to play point guard in high school and NAIA basketball at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark. The boy who grew up on a cattle ranch in Valley Springs, Ark., went on to become an all-region, district 17, honorable mention in college basketball. His coaching career began in fall 1983 in Hot Springs, Ark., when he become a seventh grade basketball coach. He said his greatest achievement as a coach thus far was coaching in the final four in 1995 at Oklahoma State University. Before coming to Auburn in April 2010 as a part of Tony Barbee’s program, Dickey coached for six years at Oklahoma State University, four years at Washington State University and six
years at The University of Texas at El Paso. During his time at Auburn, he has played an active part in both recruiting players and on-the-floor coaching. Dickey said the most rewarding part of coaching is seeing the players on the team grow both on and off the court. “It’s extremely gratifying to be around young men and to be able to share a small part about what you know about the game and how it attributes to successes on the floor as well as in life,” Dickey said. “I think that is the most self-rewarding part.” He said basketball is an especially difficult and emotional sport because it spans two seasons. He enjoys helping the players through the pressures and challenges of playing at the collegiate level. Dickey said although it is not always reflected in the team’s record, he is proud of the progress the team has made throughout the season. He also said he respects
RANDALL DICKEY
the longevity of the programs, communication skills and the flexibility of systems under coaches like UNC’s coach Roy Williams, Gregg Popovich of the San Antonia Spurs and Phil Jackson of the Los Angeles Lakers. “I’ve always had the aspiration to become a head coach—I’m a kind of journeyman assistant coach— this is my 17th year at this level,” Dickey said. Dickey said he is excited to be a part of the new arena at Auburn and enjoys working with the staff since they’ve been together for five years. “We have a good philosophy, we play a fun brand of basketball, so this is a exciting place to be at this time for sure,” Dickey said. Dickey said balancing his
coaching career with his family is not especially difficult since his wife, 12-yearold daughter and 10-yearold son are all involved and supportive when it comes to basketball. Point guard Joshua Wallace, redshirt sophomore and power forward Adrian Forbes, junior, said Dickey is renowned for his oldschool mentality and sense of humor. “Some times when he talks, you just can’t help but laugh,” Forbes said. Wallace said his sense of humor doesn’t keep Dickey from still being a serious coach, and he regularly helps break the game down by watching film with the team. “He’s a great coach—he can be serious at times, but he also is funny—I think he’s a little bit of a comedian,” said junior power and small forward Kenny Gabriel. “He always tells me to move with a purpose, so I guess it would be my defense and how to be a better defensive player that he helps me with the most,” Gabriel said.
GETTING TO KNOW DICKEY
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Sports D3
The Auburn Plainsman
Rugby ends competitive play with loss to Vandy Nick Van Der Linden ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR
From not winning a conference game last year to coming up just short in the SEC title game March 4, the Auburn rugby club has made a complete 180. The Tigers earned a spot in Friday’s title game following a 42–3 thrashing of the Ole Miss Rebels in the SEC semifinals. The game was originally scheduled to be played in Auburn, but was moved to a neutral site in Jacksonville, Miss., because of weather complications. Club president and flyhalf Stewart Martin said his guys were not very happy about the move, but once they arrived in Jacksonville, the team was ready to get started. “At the start of the game, you could tell that we were playing a whole lot better than they were,” Martin said. “We were more organized, and the score showed that.” The Auburn players who scored were senior flanker Nick Eyles, sophomore flanker George Kasper, senior fullback Camron Strong, freshman outside center Aaron Porter, freshman wing Ben Winiarczyk and senior inside center Joey Palazzolo. Good support and ball
REBEKAH WEAVER / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
Auburn’s flanker Chad Crosson, left, and prop Zach Bolstad prepare for the scrum, which begins a play in rugby. movement allowed Auburn to defeat the Rebels. After the win, the Tigers moved on to face Vanderbilt in the SEC title game. The championship game marked the second time this season the teams played each other, with Auburn coming away with a 28–13 victory the first meeting. This time around, it was the Commodores who got
the best of the Tigers, winning the game 9–3. “They were ready to play,” Martin said. “They had the ball for most of the game, forcing us to play defense. Palazzolo was the lone scorer for the Tigers. Although Auburn kept Vanderbilt from converting on any scoring attempts, the Commodores took advantage of Auburn’s
mental errors, scoring all nine points off of penalty kicks alone. “It comes down to knowing right from wrong and knowing the rules of the game,” Palazzolo said. “We all know them, and sometimes you get a little overzealous on certain things and make errors that cost you possession of the ball.” A large number of people
showed up last Friday, and Martin said he thinks it might have caused a few jitters in some of the guys. Auburn is finished with competitive play this season, but the Tigers will compete in the Saint Patrick’s Day Rugby Tournament in Savannah, Ga., before hosting the Kentucky Wildcats for a friendly match April 2. Although the tournament
is noncompetitive, Palazzolo said the team will continue to try to improve on skills. “We’ll correct mistakes and work on ball control,” Palazzolo said. “We had some errors handling the ball on Friday night, but our defense was very good.” Aside from the overall improvement in the wins and losses columns, Martin said the biggest attribute of this year was the number of participants. “In the past we’ve had a hard time trying to get people to go,” Martin said. “We play 15 guys, and in the past we would only be able to travel with 16 or 17 to where this year we have 28 to 30 people.” Martin said the team is not too beat up about the loss—in years to come with some extra practice, the team will definitely get better. “I keep talking about it, but we have a really, really good group of young guys, and that is key the success of the club,” Martin said. “This core group of guys is going to be around for a while, so we could turn it in to something good. I’m excited to see where it’s going, especially next year and after I’m gone since we’re only losing a handful of guys.”
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Senior Michel Monteiro and sophomore Lucas Lopasso play a doubles match during Auburn’s 4–3 loss to Georgia Tech.
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Tennis continues conference play Elizabeth Fite STAFF WRITER
The No. 21 Auburn men’s tennis team is preparing this week to face South Carolina March 11 and No. 11 Florida March 13 in its Southeastern Conference home openers. The Friday game against South Carolina will begin at 2 p.m., and the Sunday game against Florida starts at 1 p.m. at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn. “We’re fired up to play at home and try to get that first SEC win next weekend,” said head coach Eric Shore. Shore said he anticipates both South Carolina and Florida will be tough matches. “We’ve just got to get a good week of practice and get ready for Friday,” Shore said. He said he plans to focus
especially on individual technique and doubles in practice this week. The team started its SEC play last weekend with two losses on the road to No. 13 Georgia and No. 2 Tennessee. “We competed hard both days, Friday and Sunday, but I don’t think we played that well on Friday,” Shore said. Auburn fell short to Georgia, 4–0, and Tennessee, 5–2. However, Shore said the team showed a definite improvement in its performance against Tennessee. “At the end of the weekend when it’s all said and done I thought we got better,” Shore said. “It’s tough starting off with two of the best teams in the conference right off the bat on the road.” Freshman Daniel
Cochrane said his first experience with SEC play gave him a small taste of a more hostile crowd, and he expects the matches to get more intense and difficult as the year progresses. “I think the SEC away matches will be pretty fierce this year so I’m preparing myself for them,” Cochrane said. Sophomore Andreas Mies did not play against Georgia because of weather-related cancellations, but remains undefeated in singles for the season after his win at Tennessee. “This year I’m just trying to focus more on the game and what happens in the game, not what happens before or after,” Mies said. Senior Tim Puetz said he’s ready to get the SEC play underway in front of a home crowd after having a hard starting schedule on
the road. “Florida is always good,” Puetz said. “They’re about the same level as Georgia and Tennessee, so hopefully we’ll do better and get a win against a good team like them, and South Carolina is struggling a little bit this year so we’d definitely like to beat them and get that win.” Cochrane said it is important for Auburn to continue to try and pick up wins since they are hard to come by. “In the SEC there are no easy matches, but it would be quite good to pick up our first SEC win after a very tough start,” Cochrane said. “Florida I know will be very tough…but we’re playing at home this time so it should be a little bit better.” The team currently has an overall record of 7–5 and 0–2 in the SEC for the season.
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Sports D4
The Auburn Plainsman
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Capturing all angles Steven Sain works for the athletic complex, filming athletic events Nick Van Der Linden ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR
EMILY ADAMS / PHOTO EDITOR
Junior outfielder Brooks Beisner rounds third base against Radford earlier this year.
Baseball prepares for ASU Taylor Jones WRITER
As the No. 23 Auburn Tigers look to continue its early success, the Tigers face a difficult obstacle in No. 7 Arizona State. The three-game series between the Tigers and the Sun Devils will start Friday at 6 p.m. at Plainsman Park. The Tigers and Sun Devils have met before, with Arizona State leading the all-time record 6-2 against Auburn. In 2010 the Tigers and Sun Devils met for a threegame series in Arizona, resulting in a sweep of the series by the Sun Devils. The Tigers currently hold a 10–3 record. Auburn head coach John Pawlowski stressed the importance of playing solid baseball. “They’re obviously an outstanding baseball team, who are year in and year out at the top of the rankings of college baseball,” Pawlowski said.
Pawlowski acknowledged the large amount of talent that the Sun Devils have on their team, relating their talent to that of Southeastern conference rivals. Arizona State is coached by Tim Esmay. The Sun Devils have accumulated an impressive record of 9–2, including wins against New Mexico, Delaware, Northern Illinois, Kansas and the University of California-Riverside. The Sun Devils are led in batting by outfielder Johnny Ruettiger, who currently has a .417 batting average with 20 hits, 13 runs and eight RBIs. The Sun Devils also have a stellar pitching rotation, which includes Kramer Champlin, Kyle Ottoson and Alex Blackford. While facing the No. 7 Sun Devils will be challenging, Pawlowski and the Tigers are still confident that they will achieve their goals.
“Our goal is to go to the SEC tournament, to postseason play and to win the national championship,” Pawlowski said. “Our coaching staff and players expect to win, we are going to do everything we can to reach our goals.” When asked about who the Tigers will use on the mound against Arizona State, Pawlowski said juniors Cory Luckie and Derek Varnadore would start the games, but that he wasn’t sure who the third starter would be. Saturday’s game will be played at 3 p.m. and Sunday’s game will begin at 1 p.m. The Sunday game will also feature several promotions. Sunday has been named “Family Day” and “Autograph Day”, with a postgame autograph session available to all who attend the game. The team photo cards will be handed out to fans during the game as well.
From covering the infamous Barn Burner in 1996 to basketball in Puerto Rico to Auburn’s first BCS National Championship, Auburn’s videographer Stephen Sain has captured it all. After graduating from Oral Robberts University in Tulsa, Okla., in 1976, Sain moved around between stations before stumbling upon the Auburn job with the help of a friend from CBS Montgomery. Sain was asked to join in the filming of the ‘95 Citrus Bowl between Ohio State and Alabama, and was hired after Sports Information Director Kent Parker saw a video of his. “He called me and asked me if I wanted a free trip to Orlando,” Sain said. “When he described it, I realized it was a working trip, but I wanted to help, and that got me this job because he knew Kent Parker at the time.” Since cameras are not easy to come by, Sain said he mainly works alone, and because of long and strange hours marriage was not an option. “You have weird hours and sometimes you have a seven-day work week,” Sain said. “I don’t think that would work well in a marriage. The awkward part about my job, though, is that I work for media relations, but my actual work is for the television stations and networks because they are the ones actually getting
EMILY ADAMS / PHOTO EDITOR
Every Tuesday in the fall, like clockwork, Sain can be found in the athletic complex filming press conferences.
EMILY ADAMS / PHOTO EDITOR
Steven Sain sits in his office in the athletic complex. my work.” Since his tenure on the Plains, Sain has had many interesting trips, but said his favorite was a trip with the basketball team to Puerto Rico in 2000. “I don’t travel that often, and most of my trips are not that exclusive,” Sain said. Although Puerto Rico was his favorite trip, this year’s BCS National Championship came closest to fulfilling one his lifelong dreams. “My favorite memory has to be Jan. 10 of this year,” Sain said. “One of my sports dreams was to go to a Super Bowl, but that BCS championship game was as close as it can get to a Super Bowl. “It had all the media attention and all the
excitement, and being with the Auburn team was a lot of fun.” After interviewing the coaches of all the different sports on the Plains, Sain said he has grown to love the Tigers he has covered for so many years. “You get to know all these people and all these teams, so I am thrilled whenever any kind of Auburn team wins any championship,” Sain said. “I can’t imagine leaving here. It’s in my blood. “Initially I just felt like it was a job, but when you have been somewhere for a certain period of time, experienced championships and teams doing well it is hard to imagine being anywhere else.”
Estell helps lead the pack Molly Montgomery WRITER
Morgan Estell brings more to the plate than just an impressive batting average. As an 18-year-old freshman, coaches and teammates agree her dedication and work ethic make Estell an outstanding player. An education major from Kimberly, Estell became involved in sports at a young age. “I started playing tee ball, then I started playing softball when I was 9,” Estell said. “Then I played travel ball when I was 12, and that’s what got me here.” Estell graduated from Mortimer Jordan High School, where she ran cross-country and played softball for four seasons. She said her favorite softball memory was winning the 5A softball state championship two years in a row during 2008 and 2009. It was during her high school softball career that Estell discovered Auburn on a summer trip. “I came to a summer camp for softball—my old travel ball team did,” Estell
said. “I fell in love with the campus. “And from then on I was like, ‘This is where I want to go’.” It was more than just the athletics that brought Estell to Auburn, though. “It was the atmosphere, really,” Estell said. “I love the team, I love the coaches, but I just love the family atmosphere that Auburn brings.” Estell is the oldest daughter of Kerry and Linda Estell and has a younger sister, Madalyn, 13. The team will play 55 games this season and started the year with the longest winning streak in Auburn softball history. Estell leads the Tigers with a batting average of .484. Steve Johnson, assistant softball coach, said Estell has a great attitude both on and off the field. “She’s very dedicated as an athlete and in everything that she does,” Johnson said. “She’s got a maturity level as a freshman that you just don’t see a lot.” Estell said her biggest influence is Ken Hayes, a
former coach. “He has been my travel ball coach since I was 12 years old,” Estell said. “To this day, I still consider him one of the biggest reasons why I’m here and the biggest reason that I’m so successful.” In her rookie year at Auburn, Estell has stepped up to the plate and been a true team player. “She has earned the respect of all of her teammates by her dedication in the cages, the weight room and doing all the little things,” Johnson said. Johnson said Estell worked hard to earn a spot on the lineup as a freshman and her hard work has paid off. “That’s probably first and foremost, her work ethic, and the dedication of being able to put in the little things,” Johnson said. “That’s what we want other people to do as well.” In her spare time, Estell likes to exercise her creative side. Estell is a first baseman and an outfielder and said she loves the competitive nature of the sport.
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ESTELL