The Auburn Plainsman 01.31.19

SGA ELECTIONS: Meet the presidential candidates. What’s on the Feb. 5 ballot

PAGE 3

SINCE 1893

125

The Auburn Plainsman Years

online at THEPLAINSMAN.COM

A SPIRIT THAT IS NOT AFRAID • NEWS SINCE 1893

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

VOL. 126 • ISSUE 18 • FIRST COPY FREE THEN 50¢

CAMPUS

CAMPUS STUDENT LIFE

Campus impacts of #MeToo

By CARMEN McCRACKEN Lifestyle Writer lifestyle@theplainsman.com

MADISON OGLETREE / PHOTO EDITOR

Unity Walker, a master’s student at Auburn University, poses for a picture on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.

‘A much more normal thing’ Acceptance and tolerance of students who are transgender is increasing, but they say there is more work to be done

By STEPHEN LANZI

I

Campus Editor campus@theplainsman.com

t was an early evening in Skybar Cafe, mostly empty as it normally is on any given summer night — at least empty enough for Lucas, standing in the front area of the bar, to see the bathroom doors adjacent to the dance floor.

He stood there quiet for a moment, wrestling with thoughts that were coming at him quicker than he could process them. Should he use the men’s or women’s bathroom?

Some outsiders observing the situation may have assumed Lucas was trying to mentally come to terms with his gender identity, but he had accepted his identity far earlier than that evening.

Lucas, who preferred to keep his full identity private for the purposes of this story, came out as a transgender man nearly two years ago during his freshman year at Auburn, but because of strict laws on transitioning and obtaining hormone-replacement therapy, he still has many feminine physical features.

“In my head, it was like, ‘Oh, that person, they know.

They know,’” Lucas recalled.

In that moment at Sky, Lucas wasn’t questioning which gender he thinks of himself as. He was mentally going back and forth on whether he was ready to see and internalize the reactions of others.

“It was just a weird moment,” he said. “It felt like an outof-body experience, honestly.”

Which restroom did he choose to go in?

“I didn’t.”

For Lucas, being a transgender student on Auburn’s campus has little to do with how he thinks of himself and a lot to do with how others think of him. Going to the bathroom, along with many other routine and daily activities, aren’t just a part of his day. They are a part of the planning of the entire day.

“I mean, this is Alabama — not to stereotype Alabama, but it’s Alabama,” Lucas said as he laughed, looking out of the only window of the room.

Unity Walker always knew there was something different about themselves but didn’t know the terminology to

Although #MeToo is a national movement, sexual misconduct is a major concern on college campuses.

The phrase “Me Too” was being used to condemn sexual abuse as early as 2006

by American social activist Tarana Burke who began her work in Alabama. The #MeToo movement came about when she was working a camp for at-risk brown and black girls. A young girl at the camp disclosed that she had experienced sexual violence, which started to mirror some of Burke’s own personal experiences.

“The #MeToo movement is so deeply personal to people that it activates an automatic emotional response,” said Coordinator of Violence Prevention and Survivor Advocacy Melissa McConaha. “For some people, it triggers traumatic memories, or feels deeply validating, or touches on rampant misinformation, or challenges our worldview, or instills fear or anger.

But what I love most about this movement — in addition to it being solely victim/survivor focused ... — is that it’s an invitation for us to collectively sit with these stories.”

» See ME TOO, 2

ALUMNI

Tenn. gov reflects on time at AU

By CHIP BROWNLEE Editor-in-chief editor@theplainsman.com

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey isn’t the only Auburn graduate occupying a governor’s mansion in the United States. Recently inaugurated Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has an Auburn degree, too.

A 1981 graduate, Lee was sworn into office earlier this month for his first fouryear term. The Republican businessman was elected in November.

» See LGBT ON CAMPUS, 2

» See LEE, 2

FACULTY

From professor to DJ: The heart of Doctor Punk resides in 12,000 albums

By MEGAN FERINGA Campus Writer campus@theplainsman.com

He doesn’t wear a black leather jacket.

His thick, grey hair isn’t spiked but rather clean and brushed toward the left. He sports light-washed, unripped blue jeans, small, frameless glasses, white Nike shoes and sometimes an orange-and-whitestriped Auburn polo or a black-andwhite Ramones T-shirt, depending on his mood.

Tucked in the crook of one arm, he carries a stack of CDs and vinyl records, always one by The Clash on hand. In the other, he clutches a boombox.

It’s Friday morning, a little before 8 a.m., and this isn’t Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.” It’s Doctor Punk.

“That was my wife’s idea,” Doctor Punk said. “She named me. I hadn’t even

thought of a radio name yet.”

Monday through Thursday, Doctor Punk is Peter Stanwick, Auburn University’s laid-back, rosy-cheeked strategic management professor. He carries a briefcase, uses PowerPoint and has had research published in numerous journals.

But give him a microphone, two turntables, two CD players and an hour-and-ahalf on Friday mornings, and the strategic management professor transforms into the punk-rock disc jockey of WEGL’s radio show “‘80s Rewind,” always booming a rock-steady track by The Clash to commence his show.

“I think even though everyone knows The Clash, they’re still so underrated in the impact they’ve had on music,” Stanwick said. “There are a lot of great songs people have never heard of, so The Clash is always the first song.”

The alter ego of Doctor Punk was con-

@TheAUPlainsman

CONTRIBUTED BY PETER STANWICK

Professor Peter Stanwick, a WEGL disc jockey, stands with his collection of records.

ceived in 2004 at the recurring urge of Stanwick’s wife, who is also a professor at Auburn. She knew her husband had a knack for the art of disc jockeying, which could be heard in the mixtapes he made for her 30 years prior while they dated.

@TheAuburnPlainsman

“I think her first mixtape included Olivia Newton-John, Hall and Oates, Meatloaf, Huey Lewis and the News, 10 Thousand Maniacs, Fine Young Cannibals and

» See DOCTOR PUNK, 5

@TheAuburnPlainsman

news

2

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

THEPLAINSMAN.COM

NEWS

ME TOO » From 1

CONTRIBUTED BY JUSTIN WRIGHT / STATE OF TENNESSEE

Gov. Bill Lee speaks during his inaugural address on Jan. 19, 2019.

LEE

» From 1 Lee told The Plainsman that his time at Auburn was formative for him.

“My years at Auburn absolutely shaped my future,” Lee said.

“Many of my friends today are from my time at Auburn, and it was a remarkable education that’s opened so many doors for me. As they say, ‘There’s just something about it.’”

At Auburn, Lee lived in a house behind the then-Auburn theater on Burton Street along with seven other guys. Lee said they’re still friends to this day.

After graduating from college, Lee went on to work at his family’s construction company, Lee Company, where he was CEO from 1992 to 2016 and briefly served as chairman. His grandfather started the business in 1944.

His history of public service coincided with his business career.

He was a representative on the Tennessee Higher Education Committee and a Belmont University trustee. A seventh-generation Tennessean, Lee was born and raised in Franklin, Tennessee, where he resides today with his wife on their family farm. He has four kids and five grandchildren.

During his campaign for governor, Lee focused largely on a socially and fiscally conservative platform, and he defeated his Democratic opponent, former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, in the Nov. 6, 2018, general election. His campaign manager, Blake Harris, is also an Auburn graduate.

The new governor had some advice for Auburn students hoping to make a difference in the sphere of public service.

“You make a difference in life, and you will find yourself

LGBT ON CAMPUS » From 1

be able to put a name to it until coming to Auburn in 2010.

It was then that Walker met two Auburn students who had come out as transgender, and Walker realized transgender was exactly the word that described their experiences of years past.

Because Auburn did not offer on-campus housing options for transgender students, the three decided to move in together off campus, and this is when Walker began to transition.

“I like to think of transition as something that is continual,” Walker said. “So, even though I figured out that I was trans in 2010 and started transitioning in 2011, my identity is something that has continually changed as time has gone on and is something that continues to develop today.”

Although Walker came out as a transgender woman during freshman year and identified as such for a few years, Walker now self-identifies as non-binary, meaning someone who does not fit neatly within the two traditional genders of man and woman and prefers “they” and “them” nongendered pronouns.

But Walker said being a transgender woman is something they still hold dearly because of just how important of a role that time played in their life.

During the beginning stages of the transition, Walker was in a class with a semester-long group project in which the group could sometimes become more concerned with Walker’s gender than the actual work at hand.

“My partners were just screaming whether I was a boy or a girl, and it got pretty heated, and the group had to dissolve for the day,” Walker said.

During a time of deep introspection and self-discovery, the discomfort and lack of understanding from other students left Walker the subject of arguments that lacked consideration for Walker’s thoughts and feelings.

“People didn’t talk with me much to begin with, but after I came out, that amplified,” they said.

The treatment by much of the staff at the University was similar. Especially after publicly coming out, Walker would experience antagonistic remarks from staff.

“When I started openly transitioning, the staff would go in the opposite direction instead — gendering me as the gender I was assigned at birth and calling me by my full legal name and using the wrong pronouns intentionally,”

granted the opportunity to make a difference in all arenas, including public service,” Lee said. “The goal should not be political, but it instead should be about serving. If you happen to get into politics, be sure to hire a great team.”

Lee touched on similar ideas during his inaugural address.

“Our greatness has always come from the collective lives, service, commitment and sacrifice of those who came before us — because of what we have always done as a people together, in community with each other, in service to our state and to our neighbors,” Lee said in the address on Jan. 19.

The new governor promised to tackle major issues in Tennessee including crime, the opioid epidemic, health care affordability and education.

“These are the challenges of our day, and history will judge us based on how we meet them,” he said.

Lee told The Plainsman that his outlook on politics was formed, in many ways, during his time at Auburn, through his college friends and through the organizations he was involved in.

At Auburn, Lee was a Plainsman, a member of Kappa Alpha Fraternity and a member of the Phi Tau Sigma engineering honor society. He graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering.

“I have used my degree throughout my career as a businessman and will continue to as governor,” Lee said.

Like any Auburn student or alum, Lee has his favorite traditions.

“I was a Plainsman and loved my time with this group,” Lee said. “Of course, Auburn football is a powerful tradition. When the eagle flies, there’s just nothing like it. Lots of folks may not remember, but another favorite tradition is the Sani-Freeze — aka The Flush. It was a great Friday night stop for ice cream.”

Walker said.

Generally, Walker found that there was a distinct difference in the treatment from staff and the treatment from faculty. Faculty tended to be more accepting and quicker to adapt than staff members.

Over time, the malicious treatment toward Walker diminished — partly due to increasing understanding and partly due to Walker’s changing physical appearance.

“In the beginning of transition for me, I was pretty visibly trans, and as I swung pretty hard in one direction, it ended up being that I was able to — and I use the term hesitantly — pass as that gender,” Walker said. “So, I was not read as trans by people in the general public.”

Max Zinner is pursuing a master’s degree at Auburn and does research on the history of the LGBT community at Auburn. Zinner said the early 2010s were the first time that the transgender community was becoming a part of the Auburn campus community, which is precisely the time that Walker arrived on campus.

To Walker’s knowledge, there were only three students at Auburn who had come out as transgender in 2010.

The first time any portion of the LGBT community made itself present on campus was in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the Auburn Gay and Lesbian Association began the grueling process of seeking an official student organization charter in the face of vehement opposition. The process sparked national controversy as the Student Senate at the time attempted to block the charter.

There were other organizations that branched off, but any talk of the LGBT community generally stayed centered around the gay and lesbian experience. The first introduction of the transgender community to Auburn’s campus came at a safe-zone training in the early 2000s, but the inclusion of the transgender community in the training was in name only.

“It included the ‘T’ in the name but nowhere else,” Zinner said. “Everything was about ‘Let’s be more accepting of people with different sexual orientations.’ It said nothing about gender identity.”

The transgender community continued to be largely left out of the discussion of LGBT rights.

Sexual orientation was added to Auburn’s anti-discrimination policy in 2006. According to Zinner, there was some discussion to include gender identity, but it just didn’t happen.

Spectrum, an LGBT student organization, states on its AUinvolve page that it serves as a safe space for gender, sexual and romantic minorities. But even it has lacked in transgender representation in the past.

With nearly two-thirds of college students having experienced sexual harassment, statistics around sexual abuse on Auburn’s campus show that cases of reported rapes have increased.

According to Auburn University’s 2018 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, in 2017, 13 cases of rape occurring on campus were reported, with 10 of those incidents occurring in student housing facilities. Eleven instances were reported in 2016, and eight accounts were reported in 2015.

“I think there are two separate conversations going on,” McConaha said. “We have this social, grassroots awakening happening around interpersonal violence, violence against women and sexual violence. And then we have policies that are going on with the federal administration. These are very different things, and I think most people would say that they are on opposite tracks.”

Unveiled in November 2018, the revised U.S. Department of Education guidance on sexual assault reduced the responsibility of colleges and universities to respond to sexual misconduct claims and bolstered the rights of defendants.

Opponents of the department’s changes under Secretary Betsy Devos say the changes are an aggressive rollback of efforts to combat sexual assault on campus.

“The Department of Education has released their suggested policies, and they are not great,” McConaha said. “Through the lens of victim and survivor advocate researchers in the field, they’re seen as pretty regressive and restrictive.”

On Auburn University’s campus, there is intentional work being done in response to sexual assault and sexual violence.

“The Title IX coordinator has been offering training for staff and faculty on sexual assault prevention and response for many years,” McCallister said.

The language and the type of warning notices that the University uses to address sexual assault have also changed.

The warnings used to be more focused on the behavior of the victim, but now the University focuses more on the consequences of perpetrating sexual assault offenses, McConaha said.

“Not only does this movement seek to provide a path toward empowerment and healing for survivors, it also helps us better understand these complex issues so that we can more intentionally move toward progress,” McConaha said.

There are numerous resources on and off campus available for Auburn students who want to report an incident, talk to someone or support a survivor through Auburn University’s Title IX, McCallister said, dividing the resources among confidential and non-confidential.

Confidential resources include counselors through Student Counseling and Psychological Services, advocates at Safe Harbor, East Alabama Medical Center and Rape Counselors of East Alabama.

Some of the non-confidential services include Title IX process advisers, the Auburn Police Division and Opelika Police Department Secret Witness hotline.

According to McCallister, Title IX provides some guidelines for supporting survivors of sexual abuse. These guidelines include believing survivors’ experiences, respecting survivors’ fear, accepting survivors’ strong emotions and listening without interrupting.

“[Spectrum] was just coming off of a time when it was very much the gay men’s club from what I understand,” said Zinner, who came to Auburn as a student in 2011.

Walker agreed. They said because they were one of just a few transgender students on campus, the group really had to rely on one another because other people, even members of Spectrum, had trouble empathizing with their experiences.

It wasn’t until the early 2010s that the transgender community became a part of the dialogue on Auburn’s campus, Zinner said. Zinner and Walker were on the forefront of the efforts to get gender identity and gender expression adopted as part of Auburn’s anti-discrimination policy in 2013.

Zinner said that part of why the gay community was accepted earlier on than the transgender community has to do with the difference in how people must change the way they interact with people from the respective communities.

Essentially, people can mentally box off sexual orientation as how someone behaves in the bedroom, but gender identity is a part of most daily activities.

Zinner said that in many ways, a heterosexual cis-gender person doesn’t feel their identity change when thinking of a gay person, but it does when thinking of a transgender person.

“I would think of gender, in the most basic way, it’s how one presents oneself and how they’re referred to, but that still isn’t something one changes for gay people,” Zinner said. “In reality, there’s a lot more to it.”

Zinner said that more people began to come out as genderqueer at Auburn in the early 2010s, which helped increase understanding and awareness on campus.

“I guess I’ve been around long enough to notice these changes,” Zinner said. “Certainly, the general campus is much more aware of transgender issues than they were even five years ago. Previously, it’s something that a lot of people just didn’t even think about, didn’t even know about. Now, I mean I’m sure there are still people that are surprised, but it seems to be a much more normal thing.”

Zinner admitted that being able to recognize a change in Auburn’s social conscience is partially due to personal experiences formed by being immersed in social groups such as Spectrum.

Walker agreed and said that since they came out in 2010, the transgender community has exponentially increased at Auburn.

“I think that Auburn is a supportive and friendly environment in certain contexts, but that largely comes from the individuals with

whom I surround myself,” they said.

Walker said they likely have the most access to supportive environments of any genderqueer person in Auburn, which is not a shared experience for people in more conservative areas of campus. In addition to being an advisor to Spectrum, Walker is professionally involved with the LGBT community in the Office of Inclusion and Diversity and at the East Alabama Medical Center.

But even with Auburn collectively growing in acceptance and the number of comfortable places increasing, there is a lot to be desired.

Walker regularly receives strange looks, stares and whispers from strangers, especially when in public with their fiance who is also visibly queer.

“That’s something I wish I could say has decreased as time has gone on, but I think it’s something that I’m just used to at this point,” Walker said.

Whether it’s a befuddled look in passing from a stranger or an insult-laced question while on a panel, Walker is reminded of other people’s unfamiliarity and discomfort with their identity on a day-to-day basis.

Auburn has a long way to go, Walker said.

It has made a lot of progress, especially because of the efforts of Spectrum, but Walker will be pursuing a doctoral degree soon and is consciously looking for a place more accepting than Auburn, largely because their family is a queer family. They do not like the prospect of raising children in Auburn’s community.

For Lucas, understanding the experience of what it’s like to be transgender can’t be done without thinking of the sheer numbers and visibility on campus.

“Being trans at Auburn, you don’t see a lot of it,” he said. “Spectrum, yeah, you see a lot of it there, but outside, nobody really talks about it. I feel like it’s a taboo subject.”

Since beginning his transition early in college, Lucas has maintained many of the friendships that he had in high school.

“My really close friends, it’s not really a big conversation topic,” he said. “It’s not that they don’t care how I feel. They just don’t view it as a big part of me because they know me.”

On top of connecting with others who have shared experiences in Spectrum, having friends who accept Lucas for Lucas has been what has allowed him to overcome snide comments in class or getting kicked out of his house or even a mental battle in front of a bathroom at Sky. “It’s been nice having people who know me for me and that have known me for me,” he said.

“I wish it was like that for everybody because I know it’s definitely not.”

elections THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

3 THEPLAINSMAN.COM

NEWS

CAMERON BRASHER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Daniel Calhoun, left; Brooks Jones, center; and Mary Margaret Turton, right, are running for SGA president.

Meet the candidates for SGA president DANIEL CALHOUN

BROOKS JONES

MARY MARGARET TURTON

By GABBY DANCE

By EDUARDO MEDINA

By STEPHEN LANZI

Assistant Campus Editor

Enterprise Editor

Campus Editor

When SGA presidential candidate Daniel Calhoun had a friend decline a trip to visit him at Auburn due to fears of racism, he knew a cultural change needed to be made on campus.

After interning in Washington this past summer, Calhoun asked a fellow intern from Atlanta, an African-American woman, to visit him.

“When I asked her to come visit after the internship, she said that she wasn’t interested because she has friends who go to Auburn, and they said the social climate is trying to change but is still rooted in racism and tradition,” Calhoun said. “She said that if her friends think they’re not welcome here, why would she be welcome here?”

This conversation lit a fire in Calhoun that inspired him to make a change. This is why he is running for SGA president.

“My goal is to create a balanced and equitable student body for all students,” Calhoun said.

The Nashville native has a strong love for the Auburn Family himself, which is why he wants every student to feel included in the community.

As the child of two Auburn graduates, he originally didn’t want to follow his parents’ footsteps and go to Auburn. However, after touring several schools around the country, he was continually drawn back to the idea of the Auburn Family.

“With every other school that I went to, I kept comparing it to Auburn,” Calhoun said. “Auburn has always had this home feeling for me, and I really feel like that’s important for a college experience.”

According to Calhoun, his platform’s diversity component will strive to make every student feel welcome in the Auburn Family.

To do this, Calhoun would have SGA collaborate with the Black Student Union, International Student Organization, Spectrum and other campus organizations to promote a more diverse population within SGA cabinet and Student Senate.

This would include appointing voting delegates from each organization to provide different points of view during Student Senate discussions.

This component of his platform stands out among past and present campaigns. There are currently 34 voters in the Senate, so Calhoun’s platform would add several votes to that.

Max Zinner, a master’s student and member of Spectrum, Auburn’s LGBT organization, noted that Calhoun’s ideas stand out among those they’ve seen on platforms since becoming an Auburn student in 2011.

“His particular goal of giving the organization (Spectrum) a vote in Senate is not something I have seen in a platform before,” Zinner said.

This initiative — diversity — is the first focus of his platform.

Additionally, his platform focuses on efficiency and collaboration.

Calhoun wants to strive toward efficiency because he believes Auburn’s student population growth has not been well accommodated for when it comes to transportation, housing and facilities.

As a double major in marketing and Spanish international trade, Calhoun has noticed a lack of transportation opportunities within campus. To fix this, he wants to expand the War Eagle Bike Share program and speak with city officials to reignite discussions about bringing Bird or Lime scooters to campus.

“I have a class this year in Goodwin, and then I have a class 10 minutes later in Lowder, and it’s really difficult to navigate campus,” Calhoun said.

His last platform component focuses on collaboration within and outside of SGA. Calhoun would promote better communication internally between SGA cabinet and Senate and externally with student organizations like Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council and National Pan-Hellenic Council.

Overall, Calhoun’s campaign goal is to make Auburn’s campus a well-functioning and accommodating place for everyone.

“I would love ... each and every student to be a part of the Auburn Family,” Calhoun said.

Within 10 minutes of his dream university accepting him as an Auburn Tiger, Brooks Jones jumped to his computer, big-eyed and thrilled for what would come.

“I was excited to be here,” Jones said.

A junior in building science, Jones said he’s always loved being outside, working with his hands and seeing the progress that comes from pure drive. It’s this drive — to build and improve — that Jones wants to carry over if elected SGA president.

Raised in Auburn, Jones tells of having a deep care for the city and the students he saw around town while growing up.

After deciding he would run, Jones realized his connection to The Loveliest Village was beneficial.

“I knew I loved Auburn, and I knew I could bring a perspective that was unique, being I was from here,” Jones said.

Immediately, he sought opportunities that could enrich Auburn. A few of his friends were helping with an SGA campaign, so he decided to assist them.

“I loved it, and I knew I wanted to plug into SGA any way I could,” Jones said.

Jones was elected as an SGA senator at-large his freshman year. There, he got to see how change is enacted at Auburn and how one can push the needle further and further toward betterment and improvement.

“It was tough and challenging at times, it always is,” Jones said.

But the work and dedication pay off, he added. Jones has subsequently served as the assistant vice president of campus life and was on a parking committee this year — all roles he said has taught him the importance of communication with administrators and students alike.

This skill, of proactively communicating the needs of students to administrators, is fundamental to enacting change, he said, and he has this experience.

When he decided in September to run, Jones reflected on the big picture before pinpointing specific policy plans.

Looking at the big picture, he explained, would enable students to “tackle problems as a whole.”

“I knew being here, we had to find a way to unite the student voice in Auburn,” Jones said. “So I came to this platform idea, ‘One with Jones.’ And that was my vision of coming together, with everything that we have, and making that one Auburn Family.”

The best place to start is by recognizing the differences, he added.

“Diversity is talked about across the board, but if we can understand what separates me from another student, then we can be able to utilize those differences and be able to accomplish those bigger goals.”

One of his major goals is more transparency in SGA. He wants to accomplish this through round-table discussions with leaders of student organizations in order to better understand the issues and ideas on Auburn’s campus.

One of Jones’ other goals is rooted in his experience with switching majors early on at Auburn. To better inform students and assist them with the process of picking a major, Jones hopes to create a central website that would show students major/minor options, average GPA’s in each major, average salaries, possible job fields, notable alumni and ways to connect with a mentor currently working in that field.

Being proactive with parking is another goal for Jones.

The Jules Collins Smith museum, for example, could be utilized as student parking, with a Tiger Transit stopping at the area to transport passengers to campus, Jones said.

“If there is an issue that needs to be handled on campus, I know that I can find a way to work with other students and faculty members to help address those,” Jones said.

He said he’s not running for the title. He’s running for the opportunity to serve.

“I want people to know that we’re all one; we’re equal,” Jones said. “Being able to instill that mindset can make change.”

For Mary Margaret Turton, the decision to come to Auburn never really was a decision. The desire was always to come to Auburn — it was just a matter of making it happen.

“Once I realized the scholarships worked out, and I was able to come, I knew for sure that’s what I wanted to do,” Turton said.

There isn’t a specific moment that stands out in Turton’s mind that explains why she wanted to come to Auburn, but there is a single reason that validated her desire to come to Auburn, she said — the people.

“There’s just something about being here,” Turton said.

“It’s different. You can see the difference in people as well as just the atmosphere. There’s nowhere else I’d want to be.”

That reason is the same reason the junior in business analytics and public relations decided to run for SGA president this year.

After leaving the small town of Americus, Georgia, to come to a place that none of her graduating class came, Turton quickly immersed herself into the Auburn Family.

“Once I really started finding people who were like myself, whether that’s in SGA or other things being involved in, that’s when I felt like I found myself,” Turton said.

Turton has been heavily involved with SGA during her time on The Plains. In addition to being a Lobby Board member, she is currently a College of Business senator, which has included serving on the Budget and Finance Committee as well as being the director of city relations.

The campaign “Turton on Target” has three main focuses in the platform: campus life, innovation and wellness.

Dovetailing off her love of Auburn people, one of Turton’s goals as president is for SGA to partner with other organizations to produce a biweekly podcast to spotlight a student that will share a diverse pool of stories.

“SGA’s mission statement is ‘serve, promote and unify,’” Turton said. “So, I think it would be really cool on that promote and unify piece.”

Turton also set out in her platform to start a student-run task force to shorten the lengths of lines at basketball games, potentially developing a lottery-ticket system for conference games.

For dining, Turton would like to work in conjunction with Tiger Dining to make a system for students to donate unused dining dollars to Auburn students who are food insecure.

According to her platform, she would also look to bring popular dining options such as Italian, Mexican and all-day breakfast to campus. She would also advocate for a food truck stationed in front of the Rec Center that would offer healthy, post-workout options.

Under the innovation focus of her platform, Turton would like to centralize Auburn-sponsored phone apps into a single app where students could go for all of their Auburn-related needs, from a comprehensive campus calendar to academic resources and ticket portal.

For wellness, Turton would look to partner with the Med Clinic to provide on-campus students with free golf-cart rides to and from appointments. She would also work with the East Alabama Medical Center to advocate for a team of sexual-assault nurses to be incorporated into the city’s upcoming 24/7 emergency care plans.

With a wide array of goals laid out in the platform, Turton wants students to know ahead of voting that they’re not just lofty ideas.

“It’s feasible,” Turton said. “I have talked to the staff and administration that I’ve needed to talk to for the base of every single one of these platform points, and as we work together, making sure goals align, but also that it is something that we would be able to deliver.”

As a student, Turton has learned who she is as a person through learning how to make an impact, which is the exact experience she would like to provide as president.

“That’s why I want to do this — to give that opportunity to all students,” Turton said.

The runoff referendum on the Feb. 5 ballot explained

By MIKAYLA BURNS Managing Editor

The Student Government Association is having students choose whether to eliminate traditional runoff elections with a referendum on the ballot during Tuesday’s student elections.

If passed, Amendment Two on the ballot would create an instant-runoff voting system — sometimes referred to as ranked-choice voting — when students vote for major SGA offic-

es including president, vice president, treasurer and Miss Auburn.

With the new system, students would rank the candidates in order of preference rather than just choosing one candidate per office on the ballot.

SGA Vice President Schyler Burney said the amendment ensures all students’ voices are heard in SGA elections by not requiring a separate election to take place if no candidate reaches 40 percent.

Max Zinner, graduate school senator and

chair of the Code of Laws Committee, proposed the referendum to the Student Senate after doing research with other universities’ student governments.

“Texas A&M, the University of Iowa, Stanford, Duke and the University of Virginia are among some of the institutions that use a similar voting system,” Burney said.

The new system would require a single candidate receive 50 percent of the vote to win in the first round.

If no candidate wins the first round, the can-

didate who had the least number of first-place votes will be eliminated from the second round.

The second choice of that candidate’s voters will get their redistributed votes in the second round. The process continues until a candidate reaches 50 percent.

“We kind of realized there was a need to reassess the way voting is done just after seen multiple runoff elections done in the past few years,” Burney said.

Voter turnout in runoff elections is typically lower than in the general election.

campus THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

4 THEPLAINSMAN.COM

CAMPUS

SPOTLIGHT

MADISON OGLETREE | PHOTO EDITOR

Regan Moss poses for a picture on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.

‘Human trafficking is a societal issue’ Freshman spreads awareness on trafficking

By NATALIE BECKERINK Campus Writer

For Regan Moss, freshman in microbial biology, first interacting with human trafficking wasn’t seeing a blurb on Twitter or reading a missing-child poster in Walmart. It was a much more personal experience, and it has had a life-altering impact on who she is and what she plans to do for the rest of her life.

“My first exposure to human trafficking was in high school,” Moss said. “A sister of one of my classmates went missing, and it was believed she was trafficked. At that point in time, all I did was rant about the sex industry alongside some feminist jabs, which wasn’t very productive.”

Because of that experience in high school, Moss had the realization that she had a passion for the issue of human trafficking, but she

SHOPPING

also realized that she wasn’t very informed on the subject. After the initial shock of what happened to her classmate’s sister, she wanted to learn more about what making a difference might look like.

One night, Moss sat down to watch a documentary on ethical and sustainable fashion, an umbrella term for how people go about getting clothes that are ethically designed and manufactured as well as produced in an environmentally sustainable process.

That evening, it clicked that getting educated on the wasn’t enough.

“I actually didn’t end up finishing the documentary and instead, grabbed a bowl of ice cream — a weird pairing, I know — and stayed up reading about child labor and human trafficking,” Moss said.

“Since then, I have been actively reading and watching and interacting with different media to educate myself.”

When Moss came to Auburn as a freshman, she came across an

undergraduate research opportunity through Tiffany Sippial, director of the Honors College and associate professor of history in the College of Liberal Arts. Moss pursued an opportunity with RESTORE, a research team focused on sex trafficking.

Currently, Moss is also a research assistant for Lauren Ruhlmann, assistant professor in human development and family studies.

Moss was approached by Ken Thomas, associate director of the Honors College, about the college hosting events pertaining to human trafficking during January, which is Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month. “[Thomas] was very supportive and helpful,” Moss said. “I was able to host an event on Jan. 9 at Cup at Cater. People were able to come and drink ‘free-trade coffee’ and read about human traffick-

» See TRAFFICKING, 5

ORGANIZATIONS

Amazon Lockers come to campus

By TRICE BROWN Campus Reporter

A new addition to the Student Center, the Amazon Locker is a self-service kiosk that allows students and faculty to send their Amazon packages to a secure, convenient place.

According to Lady Cox, assistant vice president for student engagement, students told her they had ordered packages that were too big to fit in their mailbox at their apartment complex. Students who live in homes said they have to wait until the end of the day to get their package, which is left on their doorstep.

“Part of my job is just to improve the student experience as much as I can,” Cox said. “I’m constantly talking to companies about innovative technologies and services for students.”

Cox said she contacted Amazon for a solution that she saw on another campus, and they informed her of Amazon Lockers.

According to Amazon’s website, students and faculty are able to ship packages directly to the kiosk by choosing the student center address at checkout. Whenever the package arrives, they will receive an email notification with a code to access their locker. Additionally, students can use Amazon Lock-

er to return products, even if they didn’t ship the product to the kiosk.

Austin Chandler, SGA executive vice president of initiatives, spoke to SGA Cabinet and Senate at their Aug. 27 meeting last semester to get feedback from students at the request of student affairs.

“We’re (SGA) supposed to be the mouthpiece and the voice for the students, trying to represent all areas of campus,” Chandler said. “It’s kind of asking if this is a program or something that they would want, and we got very positive feedback.”

The kiosk is offered at no cost to students and faculty. The central location allows students to grab their package in between classes or whenever they can without having to leave campus, Chandler said. Students who live on campus can also benefit from the new addition.

According to Dee Sneed, director of campus services, on-campus students have their mail stored in a mailroom for their residence hall, which closes at 4:45 p.m. Students who ship their package to the Amazon Locker can retrieve it at any time that the Student Center is open.

Chandler said he hopes that students are responsive to the kiosk, considering how normal it is for students and faculty to have packages delivered to them.

JOSHUA FISHER | PHOTOGRAPHER

An Amazon locker sits near the Student Center Chick-fil-A on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.

FILE PHOTO

Climbing club reaches new heights

By JORDAN WINDHAM Campus Writer

The rock wall in the Auburn Recreation and Wellness Center stands lofty and imposing, daring all who gaze upon it to brave its heights. A coalition of adventurers stands ready. They are the Auburn Climbing Club.

Despite its intimidating appearance, though, climbing as a sport is accessible to beginners.

Chaz Ganey, president of the Auburn Climbing Club and fifth-year senior in chemical engineering, aims to make climbing seem approachable to all, which will debut as an Olympic event in 2020.

“Climbing can seem very scary at first, and it can get intimidating going to the climbing wall and seeing people do things that look impossible, but I guarantee you will struggle to find a more welcoming and encouraging community than the climbing community,” Ganey said.

On invitation from a friend, Ganey learned to climb his freshman year at the Rec’s rock wall and never looked back. For people who are new to climbing and interested in trying it out, Ganey recommended going to the Rec and asking the staff, who are happy to help out new climbers.

“Being a part of this club has really given me a chance to push myself physically and to see that where we think our limits are barely scratch the surface if you’re willing to push through that first

wave of self-doubt,” Ganey said.

Climbing, however, does come with its downfalls. A common accident for climbers are big falls known as “whippers,” which are especially bad if the person flips upside down.

“I’ve taken a few pretty big whippers myself, falling 30-ish feet before being caught by the rope. But the biggest whipper I’ve seen was some guy I didn’t know out at a crag (outdoor-climbing area) fell unexpectedly and fell roughly 50 feet and flipped upside down,” Ganey said. “Luckily, he was right above a big cave, so there was nothing for him to hit when he swung back in toward the wall, but needless to say that had everyone’s adrenaline pumping.”

Ganey has been with the Climbing Club since it was founded in 2016, hearing about the idea because he spent so much time at the climbing wall as well as working for Auburn Outdoors.

The club was especially of interest to him because he had stopped playing more traditional sports after high school.

“The sport of climbing, like a lot of other sports, is more about testing yourself than beating someone else,” Ganey said. “Everyone has their own thing they take from climbing, but for me, climbing allows me to test myself and to have a measure by which I can track improvement and stay active.”

The climbing team competes in around eight Southeastern competitions each year, mostly at other universities.

Auburn Outdoors hosts one of these, giving students the chance to easily check out the sport.

“Competition season is my favorite time of the year because every weekend is something new,” Ganey said. “You get to see and hang out with friends you’ve made from other schools that compete in the same circuits, and every gym and the particular routes up for that competition is different, so you never know what is going to happen.”

While competing is a big part of the club, Ganey’s favorite part of the club are his fellow climbers.

“These are some of the goofiest, funniest and most genuinely accepting people I have ever known,” Ganey said.

“Everyone looks out for everyone else, cheering them up if they’ve had a rough day or encouraging them through whatever they’re going through be it an off day at practice or something not even related to climbing.”

He ran for president because he wanted to use his passion for the sport to help grow Auburn’s climbing community.

“When I first started climbing at Auburn, there were maybe 12–15 regular climbers and maybe 10 other people would come try it out on a daily basis,” Ganey said. “Now, there are probably 30-plus regular climbers, and it is not uncommon for the climbing wall to have 25 people climbing every night.

Seeing the climbing community grow like it has in the past five years has been incredible.”

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

The Auburn Plainsman

PAGE 5

ORGANIZATIONS

Model UN team wins two regional awards

By ABBY CUNNINGHAM Campus Writer

The Auburn University Model UN team represented the country of Denmark at the South Regional Model United Nations conference in Atlanta.

The team won two Best Delegation Awards at the end of the three-day conference in November.

At this conference, teams representing different countries act as the UN. They meet as a general assembly and present different concerns that their countries have.

“You learn everything about that country far in advance,” said Ali Sanchez, president of Auburn’s Model UN group.

“You pick a topic to discuss, and you must know what your country feels about that topic. You should know all about that, and you need to be able to come up with a resolution for that topic.”

Ali Sanchez is a junior studying political science.

She started participating in Model UN three semesters ago and joined because she hopes to go into international law after her undergraduate studies.

“I have always been interested in the UN and international politics, and the UN is the biggest international body that can be,” Sanchez said. “That’s my hope for the future and why I joined Model UN.” Sanchez said the team must pick two topics to discuss at the

CONTRIBUTED BY ALI SANCHEZ

The Auburn Model UN team poses at the South Regional Model United Nations conference in Atlanta.

OUTREACH

Forestry, Wildlife Sciences featured in TV series STAFF REPORT

On Wednesday, Feb. 13, Auburn’s School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences will welcome students to a free screening of Alabama Public Television’s “Spotlight on Agriculture” series.

The series will feature Auburn University and its research on forestry, wildlife and natural resources.

The first episode, “Forestry” will air to the public on Monday, Feb. 18 at 8 p.m.

“We are grateful to Alabama Public Television and the many organizations who participated in the series to showcase the collaborative research partnership between academia, industry and government,” said Janaki Alavalapati, dean of the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences.

The School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences’ stated mission is to create future professionals and leaders, to develop new knowledge and science-based solutions and share them with individuals, families, communities and industries so that they can make informed decisions to advance their business and well-being.

The “Forestry” episode will showcase Auburn’s timber-harvest research, sustainability initiatives as well as Auburn’s research into wildlife landscapes.

DOCTOR PUNK » From 1

REM,” Stanwick said.

His future wife wasn’t the only lucky one to receive a Stanwick-original mixtape. From family to high school buddies and even his best friend from first grade, Stanwick’s signature gift was a mix of songs that he thought would be the perfect fit for that person.

The show, Stanwick said, is no different. He views it as one giant mixtape for his audience, made entirely with the CDs and vinyl records he carries from home.

The boombox he carries also isn’t just part of the aesthetic, but rather it’s a 15-year-long catalog of every show since 2004, cemented in cassette tapes.

“All I can say is, thank goodness for eBay,” he said.

Every night, Stanwick plays pool in the basement with his son John, a sophomore in high school who has guest hosted the show with his dad every so often. His sister Olivia, freshman at Auburn University, is the current co-host of “80s Rewind” with Stanwick. As Stanwick and his son challenge each other to shots at the eight ball, they listen to one of the nearly 500 hour-and-a-half-long shows in the same basement that lodges the 12,000 vinyl records and close to 5,000 CDs Stanwick has collected over the years.

“Yeah,” he laughed. “I’m a music hoarder.”

Stanwick has always loved music, a propensity he owes to his dad. Born and raised in Toronto, Stanwick recalls music constantly filling his house.

“On radio, on record,” Stanwick said.

“My dad’s family was from Poland, so we’d be hearing polkas then jazz then classical, and then Saturday afternoons, we’d listen to the opera from the Met.” Music was a family affair. Stanwick’s mom brought Stanwick and his brother to the symphony, and his dad told stories of the great jazz artists he’d listened to in New York City jazz clubs post-World War II. “It was one of those things where they really valued the cultural aspects of music and understood that sort of helps develop you as a person — that kind of love you have for it,” Stanwick said.

While his dad laid the foundation, the music scene of Toronto in the ‘70s and ‘80s provided Stanwick with a love for

“

The next episode that will air, which is named “Wildlife,” will look at Auburn’s research into game and non-game populations and their health and well-being.

This episode also discusses the complex climate change topic as well as viruses affecting the United States transmitted through animals.

The final episode “Environment and Society,” could be directly applicable to students. Auburn’s research into people’s relationships with the environment is the main focus of this episode.

The School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences’ online site states that it is dedicated to encourage and facilitate aggressive inquiry into fundamental and applied research questions relevant to management and utilization of the renewable, natural resources of the state, region, nation and world.

The first episode will be shown in Room 1101 of the school at 3:30 p.m.

“These programs will help Alabamians to better understand the value of our state’s abundant natural resources and the innovative research being done at Auburn to assure we manage those resources for the wellbeing and enjoyment of future generations,” said Roy Clem, executive director of Alabama Public Television.

It’s something that, when you love music, it’s one of those dreams come true to actually be able to be on the radio and tell other people about your love and your connection with those songs.”

— Peter Stanwick punk rock and new wave. Up-and-coming musicians journeying to New York stopped in the number of bars and outlets in Toronto’s downtown. Their pitstops are one of the reasons Stanwick will post a five-page summary to his students, listing the 123 bands and musicians he’s seen live since 1974, the year of the first performer he saw with his brother, Olivia Newton-John. His champion artist, David Bowie, followed soon after in 1976, then thrice more in 1978, 1983 and 1987. The list then sprouted with Van Halen, Lou Reed, Devo, The Police, Joan Jett, REM and The Ramones — not just once.

“Seven times,” he said.

“Supertramp, Talking Heads, Aerosmith, Queen,” he went on.

“Freddie Mercury, he’s like Bowie,” Stanwick said. “Just one of those people, a once in a life-time persona. You have to be there to understand how dominant one person can be at a concert. It was phenomenal.”

So phenomenal, he saw him twice.

“So, I’ve gotten to see a lot of great groups in my time,” he admitted.

The personal experience of seeing a musician performing in concert, hearing them live, knowing their quirks, it’s what makes music music and the art of DJ’ing so vital, according to Stanwick.

“I think the art of the DJ is dying,” he said. “I think there is great value in not just listening to music but listening to the people who are playing the music. I think being able to tell stories, it adds some color to the songs. It’s a huge value.”

For Stanwick, no matter how many times a song is streamed, without a little backstory to the lyrics, the song remains only a collection of sounds — a few notes and keys that can be disposed if not careful. “[Today’s music] is just part of the background,” Stanwick said. “It’s just there.

There’s not the emotional attachment to songs I think that there used to be.”

It’s one of the reasons Stanwick holds onto each of the hundreds of ticket stubs from all of the concerts he’s attended, why

he continues to add to his immense vinyl and CD collection and why he records every show on cassette.

“I embrace this idea that the physical copy of the music is so important — to look at the lyrics, look at who wrote the songs, who produced the songs,” Stanwick said. “All those things I think are extremely valuable to help you understand the core parts of the music.”

Between the songs and sets, Stanwick draws on his own experiences to keep to the emotional attachment resonating, such as recounting the time he urged his wife to see The Rolling Stones in 1994 because he thought Keith Richards, the lead guitarist, would die soon. Or it means remembering the teacher strike during his freshman year of high school that left Stanwick and his buddies to three months of record shops, pinball and the eventual beginning of his album collection, begun by the purchase of The Beatles’ 1968 “The White Album.” Or it’s telling of the time he calculated the precise number of albums he could buy every day based on the length of his arm to carry them from the store to the bus stop, which happened to be 20.

“It’s something that, when you love music, it’s one of those dreams come true to actually be able to be on the radio and tell other people about your love and your connection with those songs,” Stanwick said.

While in the WEGL studio, Stanwick isn’t an off-duty teacher. He might not teach strategy or international management. Instead, he teaches people to love the songs they already know. But almost more importantly, he teaches people to love the songs they don’t know, so that the life of the song will live on.

“When you have people call and request, and they request from songs you’ve played on earlier shows, you know that they’ve listened in and liked it,” Stanwick said. “So I know that I’ve served the purpose of introducing new material to them and they liked it, and they want to hear it again. That’s my favorite part.”

conference that their country is interested in.

Before they arrive, they must create position papers for their team.

Sanchez needed to present two topics in her position paper that she wanted to discuss.

Along with this, she needed to write down how the topics were affecting her country and what could help.

“You have to do a lot of preparation for it to get into the mind of the members that you are trying to represent,” Sanchez said.

The teams must present their position papers and can receive awards for them.

Auburn’s Model UN team is heading to another conference in March in Charlotte, North Carolina, called the Charolette SRMUN. They will pick another country to research extensively and represent in their next conference.

“Honestly, we have never chosen the same country because it is always fun to learn about other ones,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez said the team may be able to finance another conference in the spring.

One of their top choices is the Model United Nations at Emory conference in February.

The team will be taking part in Tiger Giving Day on Feb. 21, during which they hope to raise $5,000 to attend another conference, preferably the Emory Conference.

Also, this semester, Auburn’s Model UN will participate in a crisis simulation. This is where the model UN teams will act as a security council for any past or present emergency event.

TRAFFICKING » From 4

ing via some posters and infographics and additionally grab blue ribbon and pins.”

Moss also partnered with Free Fab’rik, a non-profit organization that provides free shopping sprees to young women in need, to host a month-long clothing drive. All the clothes donated will go to women who have escaped or been rescued from the sex-trafficking industry.

“The dignity and inherent value of these women were totally ignored through their experience in the sex industry,” she said. “Free Fab’rik is really helping these women start to recognize their worth by providing them with free and fashionable clothes that they can be confident in as they reintegrate.”

Through her research, Moss has acquired a large knowledge base about human trafficking, including the statistic that 40.3 million have been affected by trafficking.

What she found even more disturbing was that 80 percent of victims come in contact with a medical professional while being trafficked, illustrating how it can be present while still underground.

One aspect that Moss tries to be an advocate for is that people’s everyday actions can support trafficking without the person realizing it. Little things most don’t think about, such as shopping at stores that use slave labor or drinking coffee produced by trafficking victims, make all the difference, Moss said.

“Even though most people aren’t actively choosing to support slavery, unfortunately, we are at the end of a supply chain in which slaves were used in raw-materials processing,” Moss said. “So many of the things that we buy — goods and services — are produced through human trafficking. I drink coffee — excessively, actually — and I’ve become a very conscious consumer in this regard.”

Looking toward the future, Moss hopes to not just continue with her research but also continue to increase the amount of on-campus events next year.

Additionally, Moss is working on a presentation for the Southeastern Council on Family Relations and will be attending a human-trafficking conference in early February.

Moss said that an important way to help is to report any suspicious activity someone might notice to the national human trafficking hotline, which is 1-888-373-7888.

One point that Moss emphasized is that when someone learns about human trafficking, it’s important that they join the effort to put an end to it.

Each person has a responsibility to speak up for the victims who can’t speak for themselves, she added.

“Human trafficking is a societal issue,” Moss said. “Not everyone recognizes the dignity and value that each human possesses. Unfortunately, I don’t know if that’s something that can be taught. A way to start is to show that you value the lives of those around you.”

community THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

6 THEPLAINSMAN.COM

COMMUNITY

HOUSING

The dilemma of student houses Students speak on benefits of conventional housing within close proximity to campus

By ELIZABETH HURLEY Community Editor

For two years, Sarah Kate Holland lived in a small dorm room.

She began her college career living in a dorm in The Quad, sharing one 11.9 by 15.9-foot bedroom with another woman and a bathroom with three others.

Her second year was spent in The Village — an upgrade, she said. She lived on her sorority’s hall where she had her own bedroom, approximately 8.5 by 9-feet and shared a bathroom with one of her sorority sisters and a kitchionette with two more.

After two years of living in small rooms and sharing the majority of her space with at least one other woman, she knew she wanted more space. Holland, now a junior in special education, gathered two of her sorority sisters and set out to find a house to live in for the rest of their college days.

The group traveled around and found a house with room for even more of their sisters, but they ultimately decided to live in the Cedarcrest development off of Magnolia Avenue.

“I did not want to live in an apartment,” said McKenna Moorhead, a junior in apparel merchandising and one of Holland’s sorority sisters turned roommate. “I wanted to live in a house.”

Holland, Moorhead and their third roommate and sorority sister Courtney Joseph, settled on a three-story unit with room for three bedrooms.

Each woman has her own bedroom and shares two and a half bathrooms. There is a large living area and updated kitchen, plus two patios with views of the rest of the Cedarcrest development.

Many Auburn community members and alumni have said at City Council and other public meetings that the idea of students living in a house isn’t new to Auburn. Residents have often spoken of their own experience living in a house as college students.

Holland’s house was developed as a single unit in the urban-neighborhood east zone. But there is a new type of housing that has sprung up throughout Auburn that Holland’s house could possibly be classified as, according to an email from Auburn Planning Director Forrest Cotten.

The city has dubbed the new type of housing academic detached dwelling units, and the city is looking to regulate them. The City Council will host a work session on Feb. 15, at 3 p.m. where they will discuss an ordinance that regulates this new category of housing.

The units are typically five-bed, five-bath houses that have no master bed or bath. The bedrooms and common spaces are typically smaller than ones in a single-family

ELIZABETH HURLEY / COMMUNITY EDITOR

“

McKenna Moorhead and Sarah Kate Holland pose on their couch in their home in Auburn, Ala. on Jan. 15, 2019.

house, according to the ordinance that the Planning Commission approved at its January meeting.

They have sprung up throughout Auburn in recent years, especially in Northwest Auburn, causing them to become a frequent topic of conversation at city meetings among elected officials, city personnel and Auburn residents.

The city has drafted an ordinance to better regulate this type of housing. At a Planning Commission work session on this ordinance on Dec. 13, Cotten cited the private dormitory regulations the city put into place several years ago as an example of why swift action is needed to regulate this housing.

“I personally and professionally feel it is fairly urgent we get these regulations to move forward and into place,” Cotten said. “If they need to be adjusted, so be it.”

The Auburn Planning Commission and City Council have approved many housing projects as single-family detached dwellings in recent years that would likely fall into this new housing type category had the classification existed when the projects came before the governing bodies.

“I think what we can’t afford to do is nothing or to delay this any further than it’s taken us to get to this point,” Cotten continued.

Holland’s house could possibly fall into that category.

Cotten told The Plainsman in an email he is unable to say definitively if it would be one without reviewing the floor plans, which would only be required if the house’s developer was planning construction on 50 percent or more of the house and would need approval from the Planning Commission or City Council.

If the Council passes this ordinance, academic detached dwelling units would be allowed in six of Auburn’s 18 zones, three by right and three as conditional use, which means that each structure would need to be approved by the City Council.

Holland’s house, if it was reclassified to this housing category, would be allowed. Her house is in the urban-neighborhood east zone, one of the three permitted by right zones — urban-neighborhood east, west and south.

Living in a house is not for all Auburn students, and this ordinance would only affect those looking to live in hous-

DEVELOPMENT

I did not want to live in an apartment. I wanted to live in a house.

— McKenna Moorhead

es. Holland and her roommates agree that house living was a great option for them, especially since they found it saves them money and gives them the space they were looking for after their two years in a dorms.

The roommates found that their rent, which includes all utilities, would cost them about the same or even less than it would to live in an apartment within the same proximity to campus.

“When we did it, we were just like, ‘We might as well live in a really nice neighborhood in a really nice house with an awesome landlord with a lot more space,’” Holland said.

Moorhead and Holland gave the example of West and Wright, previously known as Evolve. The rent at West and Wright varies depending on the number of bedrooms in a unit and the time of year when the renter signs their lease, but the rent is comparable to Holland and her roommate’s rents.

“It’s pretty steep, but whenever you kind of run the numbers, it’s just as much as living at like Evolve or Bragg,” Holland said.

One of the main advantages the house has over an apartment was parking availability, Holland and Moorhead said.

Their house has a two-car garage and a parking space for a third vehicle, while apartment complexes, such as West and Wright, offer a parking garage below the apartments, Holland and Moorhead said.

“I know we’re incredibly spoiled living here,” Moorhead said.

Though their house would be minimally affected by the new housing category that the ordinance creates, Holland and Moorhead see the reasoning for the ordinance.

“I understand that just because Auburn is a college town, but it’s also a town where families live,” Holland said.

TRAFFIC

Traffic circle planned for North Auburn

By TIM NAIL Community Writer

The Alabama Department of Transportation, ALDOT, recently announced a plan to convert the North College Street and Farmville Road intersection into a roundabout to satisfy the rising flow of traffic into Auburn from U.S. Highway 280.

Expected to take 14 months to complete, ALDOT has worked with the city to determine the necessity of the addition.

“According to the Federal Highway Administration, roundabouts limit crashes by the very nature of their geometry,” said Haley Ansley, a public information officer

» See ROUNDABOUT, 7

CAMERON BRASHER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Construction on College street on Tues., Jan. 29, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.

College Street construction: What’s the story?

By RACHEL McGOVERN Community Writer

From the intersection of South Donahue Drive to the intersection of Woodfield Drive, the inside north and southbound lanes of South College Street are mired in traffic cones and construction.

The project’s goal is to add utilities, street improvements and landscaped medians on South College Street to improve the aesthetics of the corridor and act as a traffic facilitator, said Ben Burmester, Auburn University campus planner.

“As a part of this project, a new pedestrian crosswalk and pedestrian signal will be installed across College Street and Woodfield Drive to connect to the new walks being installed at the Gogue Performing Arts Center,” Burmester said.

The construction has been an issue

for students and others who are trying to make their way to-and-from the campus or downtown area.

“I struggle with the roadwork,” said Joseph McGlawn, a senior in communications that lives off of South College Street.

He said he understands the necessity for the road work, but was frustrated that all the construction seemed to be occurring at peak traffic hours.

“Big cities work late at night when the roads are being used the least. If we want to grow and become a big city, then we should act like one and complete the roadwork between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.,” he said.

Burmester recommends that all drivers take precautions and follow the signage and traffic control devices during construction. In addition, once the cen-

ter is built and events begin, the majority of event traffic will not align with the existing morning and afternoon peak times.

The two outside lanes on South College Street are expected to remain open during the majority of construction.

This estimated $1.2 million project is a collaboration between the city and the University. The city is funding the project, but the University is overseeing the construction as a part of the Gogue Performing Arts Center construction.

“The goal was to utilize the same design team and contractors from the University’s project to maintain any design consistencies and allow for less impact to campus and city with only one contractor working at this location,” Burmester said.

The construction is anticipated to finish in July, prior to the opening of the center.

& Flea Mall

vintage stamp machine look for a new find each week!

334-745-3221 • angelsantiqueandfleamall.com 900 columbus Pkwy, oPelika 36801 oPen everyday 10-7 • sun 1-5

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

The Auburn Plainsman

PAGE 7

PETS

TASK FORCES

Diversity Task Force starts work

By JACK WEST Community Writer

OLIVIA WILKES / VIDEOGRAPHER

Dogs cost cash: Be ready before adopting

By ELLIE FALCONER Community Writer

The idea of adopting a furry companion can be riveting for people, since dogs are known for their unceasing love and urge to please their owners.

But many people are unaware of the hefty monetary commitment that accompanies their new canine sidekick. New owners sometimes adopt a dog and then find themselves financially overwhelmed.

“Think long and hard about it,” said South College Veterinary Clinic receptionist and former veterinary tech Dani Oates. “Don’t just go because you want a dog or you just want a companion. Look at your financial situation and figure out if you can afford the services, especially vaccines and monthly (parasite) prevention.”

Oates said it’s also important to save money in case of an emergency surgery as well, such as an ACL repair or foreign body removal. “[Adopting a dog] is definitely something you don’t want to jump in with both feet, you want to weigh all your options,” Oates said.

It’s crucial to research how much it costs to own a dog and properly take care of it before you decide to adopt. Calling a veterinary clinic

before adopting to ask about the annual service costs is a simple solution, Oates said.

She said she often sees people bring dogs to the clinic who aren’t cared for properly because of financial restraints.

“Upset, mad, for sure, and heartbroken,” Oates said, reflecting on how those instances affect her. “I, personally, want to take the dog in and don’t want to give them back to the owner, or I want to sit down with the owner and say, ‘Yo, what are you doing? Is there something financial? Why is the dog like this?’”

She said prospective dog owners must understand this is a financially hefty and longterm commitment.

Lee County Humane Society Foster Coordinator Bailey Ray said the humane society experiences a lot of pet surrenders because of financial reasons.

“A lot of times, financial reasons also mean living in places that don’t allow pets,” Ray said.

“It makes me sad. Sometimes people have exhausted all avenues to rehome on their own.

On the flip side of that, we see people who don’t really try.”

Ray said if someone is weary of the financial cost or is unaware, she suggests fostering.

There is no cost at Lee County Humane Society to foster, but they do ask foster owners

provide the food and transportation for the pet.

“The most important financial thing that you need to make sure your dog has is food,” Ray said. “So, even then, you are becoming a little bit financially responsible. So, you get a little taste of what (owning a dog) entails.”

Oates recommends fostering too. “[Fostering] lets you know if you can handle it and how you feel about the commitment, time-wise, not so much financial-wise,” Oates said. “Fostering prior to adopting is a very good choice.”

The fee for adopting a dog from Lee County Humane ranges from $25 to $125. Annual veterinary canine check-ups range from $123 to $148.

South College Veterinary Clinic works with Lee County Humane Society to provide a free first appointment if someone adopts from the shelter. Also, if a pet is adopted from Lee County Humane Society and they’re not spayed or neutered, the surgery price is 50 percent off at the vet clinic.

“Dogs are great, and I recommend everybody to have a dog at some point in their life,” Oates said. “Think long and hard about it. Make sure you have the time and money to do it.”

The Auburn City Council and citizens have laid out their expectations and concerns for the Diversity Task Force ahead of its first official meeting.

The task force, an initiative of Mayor Ron Anders, was created to study the issue of diversity in Auburn and find ways to let people have their voices heard.

Ward 1 Councilwoman Connie Fitch Taylor was appointed to the task force and said she wants to see the city government more diverse.

She suggested hiring from several minority groups for open city positions.

Ward 5 Councilman Steven Dixon was also appointed to the task force.

“I would like to see [the task force] become a board or commission,” Dixon said. “Maybe add an office of diversity and inclusion.”

Taylor also suggested that the way the city advertises job openings could be improved.

Part of her job as a member of the City Council and the diversity task force is to make sure that everyone is included, Taylor said.

“If [openings] are not being put out there properly, a lot of people do not know they can be on these boards,” Taylor said.

Auburn residents said they were eager to see results from this task force.

“I think we need diversity in Auburn,” said Randy King, an Auburn citizen. “We need everybody involved, not just people who are concerned with what goes on in City Council meetings.”

Taylor also commented on the opposition the task force may receive.

“This is going to be something new, and sometimes people don’t want to adjust to change,” she said.

At the meeting, Dixon announced that both he and Taylor would be attending a seminar held by Taffye Benson Clayton, the vice president and associate provost of the Office of Inclusion and Diversity at Auburn University.

A date has not yet been set for that meeting.

GOVERNMENT

Mayor declares January Human Trafficking month

By CORY BLACKMON Community Reporter

In an official signing on Jan. 11, Mayor Ron Anders officially declared January Human Trafficking Awareness Month for the City of Auburn.

The Auburn University International Justice Mission Chapter and Auburn Police Chief Paul Register were invited to the official signing.

AUIJM is the local chapter of the International Justice Mission, which works with law enforcement around the globe to help the poor and oppressed.

Robyn Whitaker, senior in exercise science and president of the AUIJM, was present at the signing with the mayor.

“We are so excited that the mayor has recognized Human Trafficking Awareness Month,” Whitaker said. “I have spent four years on this campus raising awareness about human trafficking and hoping people would get behind the issue.”

Whitaker said it can be easy as a college student to get caught up in studies and campus life, so a lot of people forget about these kind of problems.

“It is really cool to see how this has influenced the community and the school,” Whitaker said.

“People have already reached out to me about joining IJM and wanting to know more about human trafficking.”

Anders said human trafficking has been on his mind ever since he was first sworn into office.

“I believe it was my first meeting as mayor,

ANDERS and we were recognizing our employees of the month,” Anders said. “We recognized an officer who was focused on human trafficking issues, so that was fresh on my mind.”

After discussing with the city staff and public safety leaders, Anders said he decided to start the process with the city manager to make the proclamation.

“Issues like human trafficking are the type of thing we deal with on a day-to-day basis in Auburn,” Anders said. “But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t remain vigilant and aware of what’s going on.”

He said he hopes making January a month to spread awareness of the issue will present the campus and the city with opportunities to make a difference.

“If we could raise the banner a little higher, and make the light a bit brighter, then maybe Auburn might not make a huge difference in the world, but it can make a difference,” Anders said. “And that’s worth the effort.”

ROUNDABOUT » From 6

for ALDOT. “While traditional fourway intersections have 32 possible collision conflict points, roundabouts have only 8.”

Roundabouts can help improve safety and efficiency but have sometimes faced criticism from cyclists and pedestrians, who can find them difficult to navigate, and from drivers unfamiliar with their use, according to the report.

The project is currently slated to begin Jan. 31, 2020,

though actual roadwork will not begin until spring of that year. No significant road closures will occur during the roundabout’s construction other than a slight detour on Farmville Road closer to completion “for protection of the traveling public,” Ansley said.

Before giving the green light for the project, ALDOT said the City of Auburn supplied traffic impact studies which contained details on several future developments

planned for Farmville Road.

These developments will likely increase the traffic in the area.

Taking this into account in its research, the department anticipates that the roundabout should be functioning with acceptable service in 2040.

The intersection serves as an arterial road to Auburn that can see large amounts of traffic during football season.

“We believe that the roundabout will handle game day traffic fine and will handle it safer than other intersection alternatives,” Ansley said.

UNIVERSITY

Housing Planning on living on campus for the 2019-20 academic year? Renewal Week is next week.

Visit auburn.edu/housing/apply/returning/ to apply.

Renewal Week Important Dates: Application Days: February 4 & 5 Notification Day: February 6 Room Select Days: February 7 & 8

WEB: www.auburn.edu/housing

From Auburn Student Affairs @AuburnStudents

auburn.edu/StudentAffairs

sports

8

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

THEPLAINSMAN.COM

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

SPORTS

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Tigers out of Top 25

By NATHAN KING Sports Editor

After losses at South Carolina and Mississippi State last week, Auburn basketball has fallen from No. 16 to unranked in the latest AP Top 25, announced Monday morning.

The ranking breaks the 22-week streak of Auburn being in the polls, the second-longest stretch in program history. The Tigers earned 85 points, putting them technically at No. 26.

The Tigers entered the polls at No. 22 midway through last season. Prior to that week — Jan. 8, 2018 — Auburn had not been ranked since the 2003-04 season.

In an 80-77 loss to South Carolina last Tuesday, Gamecocks forward Chris Silva scored a career-high 32 points against the Tigers’ thinning frontcourt that has been without starting center Austin Wiley (lower leg) since the Kentucky loss Jan. 19.

There’s no current timetable for Wiley’s return, but head coach Bruce Pearl said the first week of treatment went well.

“Progressing,” Pearl said of Wiley’s status. “I’d say I think they’re pleased with his healing. We talked about it being a couple of weeks, so next week will be the beginning of his full second week. We’ll see how it goes.”

Four days after the loss in Columbia, South Carolina, Auburn (13-6, 2-4 SEC) crossed the state line to Starkville, Mississippi, for a primetime, top-25 showdown with No. 22 Miss State.

The Tigers weathered an early 3-point barrage and took a lead minutes into the second half, but 27 points from Miss State guard Quindary Weatherspoon and a 16-point, 10-assist double-double from guard Lamar Peters buried Auburn late.

Despite the Tigers’ first three-game losing streak in two seasons, Pearl said fans shouldn’t panic. In fact, he predicted a tougher SEC slate in the preseason.

“I thought we had the chance to have a better team than we did last year,” Pearl said. “We’re going to lose more games than we did a year ago. I think you’ll see that dating quite a ways back, but it’s because the league is really good.”

FOOTBALL

WADE RACKLEY / AUBURN ATHLETICS

Tra’Cee Tanner (44) during Auburn women’s basketball vs Texas A&M on Thursday, February 25, 2016, in Auburn, Ala.

Tra’Cee Tanner balances athletics job, clothing line

By ZACH TANTILLO Sports Reporter

Basketball has been a part of Tra’Cee Tanner’s life since before she could dribble a kid’s size Nerf ball. But the sport doesn’t define her.

Basketball was a necessity in the Tanner family from the get-go as both her mother and father played college basketball. Teresa, her mother, was a star college player at the University of Montevallo and later coached at the University of Mobile and at South Alabama until Tanner was around 3 or 4 years old. Her dad, Tracy, played in the frontcourt at the University of Mobile in the mid-to-late ‘80s.

Marreese Speights, her cousin, won an NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2015. Speights also played for the Los Angeles Clippers and Orlando Magic, and is now playing overseas for the Guangzhou Long-Lions in China.

Even though basketball was something her sister and family were very passionate about, Tanner found herself locked into being “everything except basketball.”

“I did not want to be a basketball player growing up,” Tanner said. “I was forced into it. I wanted to be the next Serena Williams, I wanted to be a cheerleader.

“People don’t believe me when I say I didn’t like playing basketball until I was in high school. My

10th grade year was when I actually started being like, ‘I can actually be good at doing this.’”

Tanner and her sister are only two years apart, and the dynamic set at a very young age was a constant a competition between the two.

“Just being in that atmosphere made everything in my life competitive, at home, at school, me and my sister were always competitive,” Tanner said.

“It was fun growing up with someone who is not too much older than me but old enough that I could look up to her and follow in her footsteps.”

Tanner quickly realized her potential on the court. Despite her basketball skills, Tanner’s love for fashion defined her childhood, high school, college and post-graduate life, she said.

“I have always been a fashion person,” Tanner said. “When I was younger, my mom would always used to get me these little portfolios that had the little manikins in it and you could just draw whatever. So, I’ve been designing clothes for 18 years, possibly. I have been making clothes since I was in middle school. I got my actual first sewing machine my junior year of high school.”

After accepting a scholarship to play basketball at Auburn, Tanner kept that love for fashion, choosing to major in apparel merchandising and design and production management. However, that ma-

» See TANNER, 9

FOOTBALL

Russell, Davis shine in Senior Bowl

By IAN BIVONA Sports Writer

Auburn sent two players on the defensive side of the ball to the Reese’s Senior Bowl on Saturday, with Deshaun Davis and Dontavius Russell representing the South team.

The Senior Bowl is set up to showcase college football seniors in a final game before they prepare for the upcoming NFL Draft. The game is held annually in the final weekend of January at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.

The South team entered riding a three-game win streak in the bowl, and Davis and Russell hoped to ex-

tend that streak.

Davis entered the game on the second defensive series for team South and played well for the team He ended the game tied for the lead with eight tackles, three of them solo tackles.

His play helped contribute to limiting team North to only three points in the first half.

The game was held near Davis’ hometown of Prichard, Alabama. Davis was awarded with a key to the city of his hometown earlier this week.

Many of Davis’s friends and family sat in the stands during the game.

“It was special for me being able to turn around to see all those guys in one big section, and I was just trying

to enjoy the moment,” Davis said after the game. “My last time being able to play football in the state of Alabama.”

Russell finished the game with four tackles — two of them solo. He put on a display of his pursuit and hustle, forcing a fumble with under a minute left in the first half for team South, stopping a driving North team. The turnover allowed South to kick a field goal at the end of the first half. Russell had the only forced turnover for South.

As Davis and Russell prepare for the NFL draft, the pair hopes their draft stock among NFL teams will rise.

Both players are projected to be lateround draft picks.

JOSHUA FISHER / PHOTOGRAPHER

Jarrett Stidham (8) looks for receivers during Auburn Football vs. Georgia on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018, in Athens, Ga.

Stidham draft stock rising

By MAX GAULT Sports Writer

Before the 2018 season began, lofty expectations were put on Jarrett Stidham. After winning the 2017 SEC Newcomer of the Year, many labeled Stidham as a potential Heisman candidate, as well as a possible first-round pick.

However, Stidham was never able to meet those expectations and suffered from an inexperienced supporting offensive cast most of the 2018 season, headlined by the offensive line. As a result, Stidham suffered a decrease in his statistical performance from the previous season and watched as his draft stock slowly lowered over the course of the season.

After announcing his decision to enter the 2019 NFL Draft, Stidham began the process of increasing his stock with a tremendous Music City Bowl performance, in which he threw for 373 yards and five touchdowns in Auburn’s 63-14 blowout victory over Purdue.

Saturday, Stidham donned the Auburn helmet one last time as he participated in the annual Reese’s Senior Bowl, held in Mobile, Alabama, where NFL general managers and scouts test the nation’s best senior prospects in a series of drills and exercises before concluding with a full scrimmage on Saturday.

In his final game playing in the state of Alabama, Stidham took the field for the South in its 24-34 loss to the North. He totaled 30 yards after completing four passes on just five attempts. He also fumbled during his first drive of the game, setting up the North’s touchdown drive to take the lead 17-12.

Although Stidham did not have an outstanding performance in the final scrimmage, NFL scouts had been impressed by his performances in drills and QB exercises earlier in the week.

On Thursday, he was recognized by Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy by being honored with the QB of the Week awward.

Stidham stood out among eight other quarterbacks competing for the award and will hope to continue improving his draft stock at the 2019 NFL Combine and at Auburn’s Pro Day. “They’re always going to ask questions on the system you played in college versus the NFL just because it is so drastically different,” Stidham told The Athletic’s Justin Ferguson. “But at the same time, what’s your opportunity to grow? That’s where I’m trying to hit home with, and I could never learn too much. Really, I’m just trying to come out here and execute the offense and show that I can do it.”

The Auburn Plainsman

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

TANNER » From 8

jor quickly fell through as her time commitment to basketball became overbearing for the major that requires many late hours of work in the sewing lab.

Tanner was excelling as a member of the women’s basketball team, and with her solid performance came responsibilities to the team. The coaches urged her to change to a major that had less of a time commitment.

Her major at the time in the design curriculum required trips after-hours to the sewing labs to work on projects because the labs were mostly occupied during the day.

So, Tanner had to make choice between the two most important things in her life — basketball and designing. Ultimately, Tanner and the coaches reached a compromise, and she was able to stay in some aspect of the fashion industry by switching to apparel merchandising.

After a successful career at Auburn, Tanner began to receive calls from agents about the possibility of taking her talents to the next level. But shortly after finishing her college career, Tanner was involved in a bad car accident that left her without feeling in her left knee even to this day. The wreck ended any shot she had at playing basketball on the professional level.

The wreck occurred mid-internship for Tanner.

During an exit meeting with some senior administrators, they brought up the idea for Tanner to write a

proposal for the job that she currently has at Auburn.

Her current job title is assistant equipment manager of olympic sports, while also being the head equipment manager of both volleyball and women’s basketball.

Before Tanner was a full-time employee for Auburn, her job title did not exist. She thought of the job after sitting down and reviewing the athletic department’s inventory system and looking for trends in the system.

Tanner analyzed the information and took it to her boss. He then created the job she has today.

Her responsibilities include analyzing inventory and tracking allotment utilization with Under Armour for all 15 sports. She also oversees basketball and volleyball apparel as the women’s basketball and volleyball equipment manager, which entails budgeting and ordering for both teams.

“I can honestly and truthfully say we are the only equipment department that does what we do,” Tanner said. “We run our equipment department like a retail business.”

Even with her time mostly consumed with her duties working for Auburn, Tanner listened to some sound advice from her high school teacher who told her when she had time to start her own fashion company to get it done. Tanner did just that.

Her own clothing company, The Next Trend, also known as TNT Clothing, is based off her initials — Tra’Cee Nicole Tanner.

The company is a way Tanner can still express herself in ways that she cannot with her current job at Auburn.

Her business also tends to a lingering itch for design.

PAGE 9 SOFTBALL

Tigers No. 17 in preseason poll

By NATHAN KING Sports Editor

Weeks ahead of the 2019 softball season, SEC supremacy has already begun.

After being picked to finish ninth in the conference earlier this month, Auburn softball came in at No. 17 in preseason Top 25 rankings by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, USA Softball and ESPN on Tuesday.

In the NFCA poll, eleven of the SEC’s 13 teams are ranked. Florida, the odds-on favorite to win the 2019 SEC title, lead the charge at No. 5, followed by No. 6 Georgia, No. 8 Tennessee, No. 9 Alabama, No. 9 South Carolina (tie), No. 11 LSU, No. 13 Kentucky, No. 14 Arkansas, No. 17 Auburn, No. 20 Texas A&M and No. 24 Missis-

sippi State.

Missouri and Ole Miss, the conference’s remaining teams, also received votes in the poll, with Mizzou getting 10 and Ole Miss getting one.

In Mickey Dean’s first year at the helm, Auburn compiled an 11-12 record in the SEC, finishing under .500 in conference play for the first time since 2013.

The Tigers will rely heavily on ace Makayla Martin during her senior campaign. The Californian was named preseason All-SEC earlier this month. Her 1.36 ERA from last season is the second-lowest in single-season program history and was second among pitchers in the SEC last season after UF’s Kelly Barnhill Auburn opens the 2019 season Feb. 8 in Gulf Shores, Alabama, against Tennessee State.

FOOTBALL

AU recruiting director hired away

By JAKE WEESE Sports Writer

WADE RACKLEY / AUBURN ATHLETICS

Tra’Cee Tanner (44) during Auburn women’s basketball vs. Arkansas on Feb. 15, 2015 in Auburn, Ala.

Gus Malzahn must now replace another support staff member involved in recruiting.

It’s been less than three weeks since the departure of Patrick Suddes for Georgia Tech. Now, Billy High, who has been with the Tigers for the last two seasons and in 2018 was the director of recruiting, will head to the ACC and work in a similar position at North Carolina, as confirmed on Monday by Tar Heels athletics.

High’s role will be UNC’s director of football recruiting and assistant athletic director under firstyear coach Mack Brown.

High joined the Tigers in March 2017 and was promoted to director of recruiting before the start of last season. In this position, he oversaw player personnel and on-campus re-

Signature Wraps

cruiting departments.

High’s previous experiences before coming to Auburn included a defensive quality control coaching job at Eastern Kentucky in 2016.

While at Eastern Kentucky, High ran the scout-team offense in practices and was responsible for defensive scouting reports.

High has two degrees from Tennessee and began his career with the Volunteers as a recruiting intern in 2009. High graduated in 2012 and earned his master’s in higher education in 2015. During this time, High also served as an assistant coach at Christian Academy of Knoxville for four seasons.

Auburn now has three designated staffers in their football recruiting department: director of football recruiting operations Mollie Moore and recruiting operations coordinators Natasha Sanders and Elizabeth Burkett.

Savory Rotisserie-Style Chicken Caesar

Flavor-packed with double meat

Chipotle Southwest Steak & Cheese

Turkey, Bacon & Guacamole

Double Meat based on average 6” sub.

Subway® is a Registered Trademark of Subway IP Inc. ©2018 Subway IP Inc.

submul_32427_W2_Signature_Wraps_Support_Materials_NP_4c.indd 1

Or make any sub a Signature Wrap 334 W Magnolia Ave, Auburn 600 Webster Rd, Auburn 1888 Ogletree Rd, Auburn 1791 Shug Jordan Pkwy, Auburn 7730 Alabama Hwy 51, Opelika

1550 Opelika Rd, Auburn 1017 Columbus Pkwy, Opelika 2101 Frederick Rd, Opelika 1599 S College St, Auburn

1/19/18 3:17 PM

opinion

10

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

THEPLAINSMAN.COM

OPINION

OUR VIEW

Students deserve timely AU Alerts

By EDITORIAL BOARD Spring 2019

Confused, concerned, scared — Auburn’s campus community was all of those things last Thursday.

Rumors swirled about an active shooter on campus, a drug ring that ran in the basement of RBD and a live birth that occurred in Mell to cover up a police raid.

Those rumors were just that, rumors.

There was no drug ring in the basement of the library.

There was no complex police raid shrouded in the fog of a live birth in Mell.

Part of that rumor mill was influenced by real events.

The police did chase a man, Mitchell Lee Stewart, across campus after he ran from a routine traffic stop and proceeded to flee the car he was in near Spidle Hall.

Police finally tased and arrested him in front of the Student Center.

No, he did not have a gun.

Auburn city police officers pulled tasers and a gun on him in the middle of the foot pursuit.

Auburn University’s Campus Safety and Security office did not send an AU Alert or a public safety notice.

Instead, the chase and arrest were witnessed by several students on campus, who quickly shared and spread the photos, videos and rumors about the event on social media.

Auburn students’ phones were abuzz with all sorts of rumors about a threat on campus.

Twitter and Snapchat sent wild rumors to almost every students’ phone in just a few minutes; yet, University officials avoided sending any sort of campus-wide notification until about 5:30 p.m., when an email was sent out letting students know the chase was deemed not a threat to students.

In a time when schools rehearse active shooter drills and mass shootings are becoming a regular occurrence, it was not far-fetched to believe that the police were chasing a man with a gun on campus.

Many students believed that to be the case. Some barricaded themselves in rooms.

Others were ducking and running across the concourses on campus.

The officers in pursuit of the man on campus did not make students believe any different. As they passed students, the officers yelled at them to get down — with weapons drawn.

So, the rumor mill swirled. Students perceived a threat on campus because it seemed that there was a threat on campus.

They shared what they perceived to be occurring, and Campus Safety did little to make students believe that anything different was happening.

Luckily, news of Stewart’s arrest spread almost as quickly as the initial rumors of a perceived threat on campus.

The only true corrections to the record, though, came from student media and, later, from outside news sources, who relayed information from city police.

CORY BLACKMON / COMMUNITY WRITER

Students watch from a Student Center balcony as police arrest a man after a foot pursuit on campus on Jan. 24, 2019.

The silence from the University was dangerous in itself.

This silence opened the door for rumors to swirl around campus and persist with fervor until they finally made a statement, via an email hours later, insisting that there was no threat on campus.

It would have been easy to let students know that there was no threat on campus via an AU Alert immediately upon the situation’s end.

Instead, a campus-wide email was sent hours later at 5:30 p.m. In the email, which appeared defensive, officials declared that there was never a threat and assured the public that the office did the right thing.

It is the Office of Campus Safety and Security’s job to keep Auburn’s student body safe and informed.

Perhaps not every event that occurs requires an AU Alert, but at the very least, students deserve to know they are safe just as they deserve to know if they are in danger.

A campus-wide email sent in a timely manner is an alternative to an AU Alert.

It would have sufficiently informed students on what happened and the absence of a threat. That would have only worked if it had been sent immediately following the chase and arrest.

Sending a public safety notice or advisory warning via email is a more popular option with the campus security of-

fice. They are sent frequently to detail reports of arrests, assaults that occur on campus and even a rabid raccoon in 2015.

Instead of a notice from the Office of Campus Safety and Security, many students relied on the quick reporting from The Plainsman and other local news sources to understand what happened and that there had been no threat on campus.

While The Plainsman prides itself on its ability to report on such events quickly and to a large audience in the Auburn community, it is not a channel that is able to reach every Auburn student, staff and faculty member.

This apparent lack of communication, or lack of timely communication, from Campus Safety and Security with the rest of campus is nothing new and seems to be something of a habit from this office.

A rape and assault that occurred on a Tiger Transit bus in the fall of 2017 were never communicated to the student body through an AU Alert.

But recently, we have seen proper communication. Earlier in January, two AU Alerts were sent to notify students about a suspicious package that turned out not to be a threat.

If a wild raccoon warrants notification, a police foot chase through campus with weapons drawn certainly does.

When there is a public safety threat, or a perceived public safety threat, Auburn’s student body deserves a timely, informative notification.

HER VIEW

The Oscars tell a larger story about us as a whole

By CAMILLE MORGAN Contributing Columnist

With each year, at least each year since streaming platforms began to engulf television as we understand it, it seems there are less and less pop culture events that unite Americans.

The cultural landscape is fragmented, of course, by taste, but now, it is also divided by subscription models that have exponentially dissipated the need for live viewing.

Overall, though, two particular television events have always been made more or less mandatory viewing: The Super Bowl and the Oscars. Sure, there are plenty of people that would express apathy toward sports or film, but people still expected to have a peripheral awareness.

The Super Bowl can be enjoyed by even the most loathsome sports observer because every year, without fail, it offers a narrative, often of one where an underdog takes on an opponent highly favored to win.

The Oscars, however, offers an opportunity to celebrate the best film of the year.

The lowest hanging fruit is seeing a good

number of famous, beautiful people all in one room at the same time. Both reasons are perfectly acceptable.

But since its inception, and especially since the turn of the 21st century, the Academy Awards have never been just about celebrating film achievement.

The awards serve as a public opportunity to celebrate a narrative about America in that particular moment in time. Yes, the narrative within the pages of a film’s script, but also the narrative America is telling about itself.

Passive moviegoers could object to that idea and cite their own indifference as evidence, but the Oscars, like the Super Bowl, possess such a strong cultural capital that they matter with or without you.

This year, the major storyline that’s unfolding revolves around Green Book, a film about race relations in the 20th century, produced by Auburn alumna Octavia Spencer and starring Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen, and the questions revolving around its message. Chiefly, the focus is on the fact that its script was written by the son of the white character, and elements of the script have been disputed by

Ali’s character.

This is juxtaposed with the other supposed frontrunner Roma, directed by Alfonso Cuaron, which is a portrait of class and family in Mexico. It leads the nominations along with art-house hit, The Favourite, which, not for nothing, was my favorite.

The other best picture nominees are also markedly more commercial than in past years and include hits like Bohemian Rhapsody. A lot of moving parts, I know.

The question that remains, no matter which particular thread you follow this year is: what story are we celebrating?

It is both reductive and expedient to cast Green Book as just the villain this year, its crime being oversimplifying a vastly complicated and painful history of race in this country. I believe the film was created with good intentions, but the complaints coming from the communities it wishes to represent take issue with it.

Is this the story we want to celebrate? Ultimately, whose story is it?

Roma would be the first foreign-language film to win best picture, a stride that would certainly be worth celebrating.

OPINION PAGE POLICIES The Auburn Plainsman welcomes letters from students, as well as faculty, administrators, alumni and those not affiliated with the University.

Letters must be submitted to editor@theplainsman.com before 4:30 p.m. on Friday for publication.

Letters must include the author’s name, address and phone number for verification.

Submission may be edited for grammar, style and length. Please submit no more than 600 words.

THE EDITORIAL BOARD

COLUMNS & EDITORIALS The opinions of The Auburn Plainsman staff are restricted to these pages.

This editorial is the majority opinion of the Editorial Board and is the official opinion of the newspaper.

The opinions expressed in columns and letters represent the views and opinions of their individual authors.

These opinions do not necessarily reflect the Auburn University student body, faculty, administration or Board of Trustees.

CONTACT

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Admittedly, though, I can’t help but worry that it pushes the Oscars further into an esoteric corner with The Shape of Water’s win, which elicited plenty of groans from the larger population last year.

Shouldn’t we celebrate a story most people can connect with?

If that’s true, then films like the nominated Black Panther and A Star is Born, which found massive critical and commercial success, would certainly be worthy stories to celebrate.

Best picture does not connote simply the most formally beautiful film, but it’s an opportunity to celebrate achievement.

Celebration directly indicates a cause for marking something’s importance and achievement implicitly suggests progression, but which type of progress? Who are we progressing to be?

In an age of hyper-fragmentation of media, culture and politics, monolithic conclusions to these questions seem to be impossible.

No matter which narrative is told on Feb. 24, the film that is celebrated will say something about all of us.

Camille Morgan is a senior in marketing.

CHIP BROWNLEE

MIKAYLA BURNS

JESSICA BALLARD

Editor-in-Chief

Managing Editor, Operations

Managing Editor, Standards

ELIZABETH HURLEY

EDUARDO MEDINA

MADISON OGLETREE

Community Editor

Enterprise Editor

Photo Editor

SCOTT BERSON

BRYTNI EMISON

JENNIFER FARNER

Assistant Community

Opinion Editor

Video Editor

STEPHEN LANZI

NATHAN KING

LOREN KIMMEL

Campus Editor

Sports Editor

Lifestyle Editor

GABBY DANCE

TYLER ROUSH

ABBY SCHMIDT

Assistant Campus

Assistant Sports

Senior Graphics Designer

Newsroom: news@theplainsman.com Sports: sports@theplainsman.com Opinion: opinion@theplainsman.com Editor: editor@theplainsman.com Advertising: admanager@theplainsman.com

334-844-9108

344-844-9101

lifestyle

11

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

THEPLAINSMAN.COM

LIFESTYLE

RELATIONSHIPS

Hoping for a ring by spring

By CARRIE JOHNSON Lifestyle Writer

Since Auburn University opened its male-only doors to women in 1892, many students — men and women alike — have tirelessly pursued the idea that they must fall in love and be engaged by spring of senior year at Auburn.

This concept is commonly known as “ring by spring” culture.

For well over a century, many students fresh out of high school have come to Auburn in hopes of finding a special someone with whom they will spend the rest of their lives. For some, if they graduate from Auburn as a fiance, receiving their degree is simply icing on the cake. The real success, for them, lies in the guaranteed future bonds of matrimony.

Mallory Lucier-Greer, associate professor in the department of human sciences, said humans have three psychological needs: autonomy, competence and relatedness. These three needs must be met in order to maintain a healthy well-being. This means that the desire to be connected to others is foundational and

important.

However, for some people, they might focus so much on fulfilling their need for relatedness that their need for autonomy is neglected.

Lucier-Greer said navigating long-term relationships can be particularly challenging for young people, since research shows the frontal lobe of the brain continues to develop through people’s 20s. This means the part of the brain responsible for processing time and anticipating consequences is still developing.

Brain development and experience are better for making lifelong decisions, which Lucier-Greer said explains why younger couples are at a higher risk for divorce.

Lucier-Greer said some couples grow and develop together, while others grow and develop into a different person than they were when they first got mar-

» See ENGAGEMENT, 12

SPOTLIGHT

SUSTAINABILITY

Ways students can be sustainable

By LAUREN PIEPER Lifestyle Writer

VIA CHRIS LEE ON YOUTUBE

Chris Lee, student turned prankster

By MIKAYLA BURNS Managing Editor

Embarrassment isn’t in Chris Lee’s vocabulary anymore.

The YouTuber and Auburn sophomore in media studies has amassed over 18,000 subscribers since starting his channel on the popular website.

Lee received his first wave of success when he posted a prank video where he attended class lectures, all of which he was not enrolled in, and played music from his computer loudly, acting as if he accidentally forgot to plug in his headphones all the way.

With shocked faces and giggling crowds staring at him, Lee acted like it was an accident each time and fled the scene of the prank.

That video has over 950,000 views on Youtube.

“People have done blasting music in the library and stuff, but nobody had ever done it in a lecture,” Lee said. “I just kind of figured, why not? I could do it.”

When executing the prank for the first time, Lee was nervous, but each take got easier for him. Now, he doesn’t get embarrassed or nervous anymore.

After receiving an increased amount

of views and being shared online by other accounts, Lee knew YouTube was for him, and he wanted to devote more time to his channel to help it grow into a more established business and exciting job.

Alongside the prankster is his righthand-man and camera guy, Aidan Kowalski, who is a sophomore in industrial engineering. Together, the duo works hard to come up with inspired and entertaining ideas for pranks and social experiments to do around campus.

“Preparation wise, we kind of just brainstorm a bit,” Lee said. “We take inspiration from other channels but don’t try to copy exactly what they did.”

Kowalski enjoys being behind the camera and wants the spotlight to be on Lee. However, Lee insists that the channel is a team effort between the two men even though it is solely under Lee’s name.

With a New Year’s goal of 100,000 subscribers, Lee is hitting the pavement running when it comes to video ideas this year.

He started off the semester with his newest prank in which he asked a friend to marry him just to be rejected in front of a full Au Bon Pain in the Student Center. The friend was in on the joke, but

the people surrounding them felt bad for Lee. However, Lee and Kowalski have come across an issue when filming at the University: Lee gets recognized when filming.

This has made the production duo take on more, unsuspecting campuses around the region, starting with Georgia Tech. They want to make their way to Tuscaloosa, too.

YouTube channels normally see a spike in subscribers after a video goes viral, Lee said.

The popularity of the first lecture prank video increased his subscriber count, but it has since stayed level. However, he and Kowalski are just waiting on the next hit they upload to take the channel to the next level.

“We’re not worried about that,” Kowalski said. “We’re just waiting for the next big one, and it’s all intakes at this point.”

His channel has collected over 7.5 million views, but that includes football highlight videos he has uploaded.

The money is nice, Kowalski and Lee said, and it plays a big factor in their ded-

» See PRANK, 12

FASHION

Experts predict fashion trends for new year

By KENSLEY SANDERS Lifestyle Writer

Predictions for the fashion trends of 2019 are that consumers will go back to basics and be more environmentally conscious.

Charlee Vawter, junior in apparel design, said she thinks there will be a focus on simple items of clothing such as slip dresses and basic white shirts.

She said she thinks this year, consumers will be more interested in clothes with a conscience, such as clothing made from more sustainable materials.

Vawter said she believes that spring will bring along floral meadow prints in light pieces of clothing.

Chloe Floyd, general manager at Behind the Glass in Auburn, said they will be pushing neutrals in store for

spring to contrast the floral prints. She said spring trends for clothing will include ‘70s-inspired tops, crochet tops and cropped wide leg pants. For accessories, the trends she anticipates are fanny packs, basket purses and hair accessories such as head bands and decorative hair clips.

Vawter said that as summer approaches, she thinks there will be a transition into

clothing made from cotton and linen. There will be simple pieces with special touches from designers, such as unique or mismatched buttons.

Floyd said she thinks there will be an emphasis on brands such as Free People, BB Dakota and Cupcakes & Cashmere.

There is a big prediction for lighter, earthy pieces of clothing.

In college, it can seem like living sustainably is a challenge, but Jennifer Morse, the Office of Sustainability’s communications and outreach coordinator, said living sustainably is actually easier.

To buy a water bottle on campus everyday might seem like it’s convenient, but according to Morse, it is definitely not.

“It is not easier to buy your own water bottle,” she said.

“Bringing a reusable one is less money, you don’t have to wait in line and you don’t have to contribute to waste of plastic.”

Using Weagle Water stations is cleaner than buying water in a plastic bottle, Morse said.

The Office of Sustainability offers ways sustainable living can be implemented in everyday college life.

One of Morse’s examples is alternative transportation, such as Tiger Transit, walking, riding a bike or car pooling.

Morse suggested bringing a reusable bag when shopping at the bookstore or grocery store and carrying reusable silverware so plastic does not have to be used.

The sustainability office gives out reusable silverware at different events on campus.

“We have our action guide online,which has a lot of behaviors people can do like bringing refillable water bottles and bringing a baggy for leftovers to prevent food waste,” Morse said.

She explained how living sustainably on campus can be very simple. Morse said we just have to be aware.

Morse said the Office of Sustainability will be doing a trash audit on Cater Lawn on Jan. 31.

“We are only doing trash,” Morse said. “We are going to separate it out and say, ‘This is recyclable on-campus, this is recyclable off-campus, this ends up in landfill and this is compost.’”

This event will show how the Auburn community can know and see where its trash should end up.

Morse said an obvious way to live sustainably is to avoid littering. She believes if the campus is kept up to look nice all the time, people will

be less likely to litter.

“However, you can adopt a spot on campus through the Adopt-A-Spot program,” she said. “All you have to do is pick up litter in that area once a month.”

The framework of sustainability is shown on a compass that the office implements in their work. It shows that to have true sustainability, nature, economy, society and wellbeing need to be in alignment.

“A lot of people think sustainability is just nature,” Morse said. “But in order to protect the planet, you need a functional economy, society and wellbeing.”

She said it is a complex system.

“We use the compass as a reminder you can’t heighten one of these at the expense of another,” Morse said.

Although the Office of Sustainability is not in charge of recycling on campus, the bike share or Weagle Water, the office is a connecting piece to how these programs got started.

Because of their resources, Morse said students and groups can come to the office and ask for the contacts of people who can make change happen on campus.

She said the office prides itself on trying its hardest to make things in Auburn as sustainable as possible, including how events are planned.

People interested can access their Green Event Guide on the sustainability website.

“Everyone has events like birthday parties, chapter and even meetings,” Morse said. “[The website] has tips on how to make all kinds of events sustainable from having people being able to access it, like on Tiger Transit, and making sure there is a wheelchair ramp for accessibility.”

Morse believes that sustainability is an all-encompassing issue that no one can say does not apply to them.

“Sustainability applies to everyone and all majors,” she said. “Whatever it is you care about, you want it to be sustainable.”

The Office of Sustainability will host Heather Hackman to speak on social justice on Feb. 18. The talk is called “Finding Common Cause: Sustainability Through a Social Justice Lens.”

The Auburn Plainsman

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

ENGAGEMENT » From 11

ried.

People recently out of college also typically experience a stressful transition period, so some people might not be ready to give what it takes to be in a relationship, and that is OK, Lucier-Greer said.

Lucier-Greer said she encourages Auburn students to embrace University of Denver psychology professor Scott Stanley’s advice by following the “decide, don’t slide” philosophy.

“Are you consciously and actively deciding to be in this romantic relationship because you want to be and this is the best choice in your life?” Lucier-Greer said.

She said this question is particularly important in periods of transition.

“Or, on the flip side, are you just going with the flow and sliding through transition without much intentional decision making with your partner?” Lucier-Greer said.

Lucier-Greer said letting cultural patterns like “ring by spring” determine the next steps in your relationship would be an example of sliding through a relationship.

She said it can be helpful to seek resources to understand the science behind a healthy relationship, such as taking marriage classes and premarital counseling so that people can make sure their relationships are supporting all three psychological needs.

Gin Jager, sophomore in apparel merchandising, said whether we want it to or not, the idea of finding love finds a way into almost all conversations. She said it appears everywhere in movies and music — and it seems to be what most people believe their purpose in life centers around.

PRANKS » From 11

ication to the channel. However, in the end, if they didn’t enjoy making content for YouTube, they would not be doing it.

“Really you just try to make people laugh, make people happy,” Lee said.

Many laugh as they view Lee’s pranks, but with fans come haters.

Lee has experienced hate on social media, mostly in the comment sections of his accounts.

However, he doesn’t let it get him down. “[The hate] is inspiration for me – the classic answer,” Lee said. “I used to care a lot about what other people

“In daily conversation, it may be a distorted one-night-stand kind of thing or the ‘wanting what’s best for another person’ kind of thing, but it comes up all the time,” Jager said. “We all may be in different stages of it, but when most people look at their future lives, they see college, then marriage, then kids, etc.”

Jager said the importance of romance and finding someone has been ingrained in everyone’s mind at a young age when watching movies and reading stories of heroic romances.

When people get to college and are finally independent, many experience dating for the first time and realize they could realistically marry whoever they are dating, Jager said.

“We’re all just looking for that validation from someone because we think that’s what will complete our lives,” she said.

Rebecca Feldman, junior in psychology, said this mentality is not as favorable for students as it may seem.

“I feel as if there might be a pressure that comes along with the desire to have life all sorted and figured out before graduation,” Feldman said.

Feldman disagreed with the presumed necessity of making such a commitment before college graduation.

She believes college should be a time for students to form rationships and a time for students to find themselves.

Feldman said too often students jump into romantic relationships for the sole purpose of being in a relationship and that many of these types of relationships have high chances of separation in the future.

According to Feldman, students should compare the amount of time they spend trying to decide what career to pursue for the rest of their lives with the amount of time they spend trying to decide what person with whom with

think.”

Kowalski said Lee used to read through all of the comments, which could get him down at times.

Since the first video, Lee has stayed away from reading opinions and taken the negative comments with stride.

“Now, it’s like they envy me,” Lee said. “I’m making profit off of this.

People know who I am, and I don’t care what another person thinks anymore.”

Lee surrounds himself with Kowalski and other good friends that know who he truly is.

“We’re not that big yet,” Lee said.

“We’re like, I don’t need to focus on what other people think. Just keep doing me and just trying to improve

To Place an Ad, Call 334-844-4130 or email admanager@theplainsman.com

PAGE 12

to spend the rest of their lives.

She believes students should be wary of rushing into any type of lifetime commitment.

They have plenty of time left to find a soulmate, she said.

“Personally, I was never a fan of the pressure to find your spouse in college, let alone being engaged before graduating,” Feldman said. “In fact, I somewhat avoided the idea and always hoped to graduate single so that I could experience life on my own for a while.”

Feldman said she learned if you are eager to find someone, you won’t find them and if you are eager to remain single, then you will find someone you want to spend your life with.

“It’s funny how life seems to work that way,” Feldman said.

Emma Pitcock, junior in marketing, said many students feel obligated to find a spouse here at Auburn because of the traditional expectations that come with growing up in the South.

There is pressure to find a man to take care of you as soon as you can,” Pitcock said.

However, Pitcock acknowledges not everyone is made for marriage.

“It’s been interesting navigating and staying true to my independence while feeling the pressure to fit the Southern ‘ring by spring’ mold,” Pitcock said.

Anna Beebe, 2018 Auburn alumna, said most Auburn senior year engagements look something like this: the boy tells the girl’s friends about his plans for asking her to marry him, such as when and where the engagement will happen, so that the girl’s friends can make sure the girl has her nails freshly manicured in time.

“It’s like there’s a certain formula for meeting someone and getting engaged,” Beebe said.

Beebe said people think it all must be done

myself like my videos and getting to the point where you don’t have to prove anything.”

Through the pranks and laughs, Lee and Kowalski still prioritize their studies and try to respect the University when embarking on video ideas.

They don’t want to do something to upset the University and find themselves dismissed from campus.

The year has only just begun, and Lee and Kowalski have already uploaded their first prank of the year.

They are excited to see where it takes them, but they know they have a lot of hustling ahead of them to reach their year-end goal of 100,000 subscribers.

“This is only the beginning,” Lee said. “2019 is the year.”

in a certain way.

“Whether you like it or not, someone will most likely be taking pictures of the moment you say ‘yes,’” Beebe said. “Whether you like it or not, you will have an engagement party afterward, and you must make an elaborate ‘We are getting married’ post on social media and so on.”

Beebe said she and her fiance chose to break that mold when they got engaged last spring.

She said no one other than their parents knew anything about the engagement, and her manicure was a week old at the moment of the engagement.

There was not a single photo taken other than an excited selfie from 30 minutes after the fact, she said.

Beebe said it was perfect.

She said she didn’t have a set timeline or goal to be engaged within a certain timeframe and would still want to marry her fiance even if she had to wait years longer to be engaged to him.

There is no need to rush a commitment that is meant to last a lifetime, Beebe said.

Though this pressure to get a boyfriend so they can marry right after graduation was in the back of her mind when she came to college, Michella Minyard, junior in human development and family studies, said she now views the ‘ring by spring’ mentality as unimportant.

“I realized it’s not my timing, but the Lord’s,” Minyard said.

She said the conversation was heavily talked about among her friends.

“It caused a lot of comparison and jealousy in my own heart of the girls who did have boyfriends,” Minyard said. “But, as my experiences have grown, I’ve realized that I only want Jesus’ timing and to be in line with His desires and timing, whether that means getting married now or at 30.”

CONTRIBUTED BY CHRIS LEE

Chris Lee fake proposes to a friend, Aubrey Hinely, in Au Bon Pain for a prank video.

JOSHUA FISHER / PHOTOGRAPHER

TIGERMARKET

Abbigail Hickey, Auburn Universitys campusPrint dietitian speaks with The PlainsDeadline: man on Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 in Auburn, NoonAla. three business days

prior to publication.

Release Date: Thursday, January 31, 2019

Line Classifieds

Display Classifieds

15 words................$6 Extra Words............40c Bold Outline.....$1 per ad

Local.......$11 per col inch National..$16 per col inch 1col x 4 min to 1col x 8” max

@TheAUPlainsman

@TheAuburnPlainsman

The Auburn Plainsman is not responsible for the content of the ads. Ads that seem too good to be true usually are.

@TheAuburnPlainsman

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Word that appears four times in a 1963 film title 4 Roof tiles 10 Deadens, as a piano string 15 Media agcy.

16 Roadster in the Henry Ford Museum 17 How sardines are packed 18 Mythical bird 19 With 63-Across, ending lines of a poem by 72-Across 21 Hydrocarbon group 23 1995-2006 New York governor George 24 Alice Sebold novel, with “The” 27 The W in kWh 31 Athlete’s peak performance 32 Wines and dines 34 Thrill 36 Credits list 39 Place for spectacles 40 __ Navy: discount retailer 41 Harmful spells, in the Potterverse 44 Gen-__ 45 Like universal blood donors 47 Nantes notion 48 Drill parts 49 Symbolized 52 Roof features 54 WWI battle river 55 Really cool place?

60 “Indubitably!”

62 Hot pot spot 63 See 19-Across 68 __ Van Winkle 69 Tolkien ringbearer 70 Tell 71 Sheep’s call 72 Poet who used the starts of 24-, 41- and 55-Across to describe the woods 73 Old-Timers’ Day VIP 74 Unspecified amount

DOWN 1 Diego Rivera creation 2 Speed skater Ohno 3 “Mary Poppins” and “Mary Poppins Returns” actor 4 Component of the “at” sign 5 Chaney of horror 6 Toss in 7 Beat 8 Cuban boy in 2000 headlines 9 One curing meat 10 Saucer, e.g.

11 Like many ’60s-’70s protests 12 __ juice 13 Trough guy 14 Road sign caution 20 Move gently 22 Safecracker 25 Initial disco hit?

26 Smokey, for one 28 1964 Anthony Quinn role 29 Religious belief 30 Dynasts of old Russia

33 What H, O or N may represent 34 Pirate riches 35 Choir group 37 __ lift 38 Tiny bit 41 Lair 42 Great Barrier __ 43 Hot streak 46 Stretches 48 Sweet root 50 Actress Falco 51 Itch 53 Evening star

56 Southend-onSea’s county 57 Focus group surveys 58 Water brand 59 Give back 61 Harness race pace 63 Fave pal 64 Be in the wrong 65 Egg __ yung 66 “Mangia!”

67 Zeta follower

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

By Ed Sessa ©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

01/31/19

01/31/19