The Auburn Plainsman — 02.21.2019

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019

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CAMPUS

CAMPUS

Police ID wounded officer

Democrat-Reporter editor Goodloe Sutton.

Auburn police officer shot

VIA FACEBOOK

Editor’s award axed after KKK editorial

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

Police identified the officer, who sustained serious injuries during a traffic stop of a robbery suspect, as Officer Justin Sanders, 30, from Auburn.

Sanders’ shooting Friday evening launched a massive manhunt for the suspect, Christopher James Wallace, 38, from the Spanish Fort, Alabama, area.

Sanders had attempted to stop Wallace near Dollar General on Opelika Road after a report of a robbery on Dean Road at about 5:30 p.m.

The manhunt ended with a shootout and a fire that engulfed a building at Crossland Downs, a condo complex on Wire Road.

The suspect and a woman with him died at the apartment by murder-suicide. The apartment was then engulfed in flames.

A GoFundMe has been set up to benefit Sanders as he recovers.

Sanders, a five-year law enforcement veteran, is assigned to the patrol section. He is a native of Auburn and a graduate of Auburn High School.

After being shot “multiple

The Lee County coroner said Monday the suspect involved in the shooting of an Auburn police officer Friday did not die in a fire as initially reported by police but instead by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Lee County Coroner Bill Harris said the suspect’s death and the death of an unidentified 36-year-old woman with him were the result of a murder-suicide.

“It is believed that Wallace shot the female suspect and then turned the gun on himself in a murder-suicide,” Harris said in a statement. “Where each suspect was shot is not being released at this time as the case is still very early in its stages and ongoing.”

» See OFFICER, 2

» See FRIDAY SHOOTING, 6

By MIKAYLA BURNS and CHIP BROWNLEE Managing Editor and Editor-in-chief

CORY BLACKMON / COMMUNITY REPORTER

editor@theplainsman.com

Police respond to a reported shooting at the Dollar General on Opelika Road on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019.

Suspects die in murder-suicide: coroner

By CORY BLACKMON and CHIP BROWNLEE

Community Reporter and Editor-in-chief Sites and timeline Friday nightof shooting Sitesofand timeline Friday night editor@theplainsman.com

FEATURE

‘Gun-wielding Nazi’ shocks coffee shop

The events of Friday night unfolded over course of five hours over five hours Thethe events unfolded

Dollar General Officer shot. 6 p.m.

The Drug Store Site of robbery. 5:30 p.m.

Main Campus Uninvolved

Auburn Veterinary School Shots nearby. Locked down at 9 p.m.

Crossland Downs Suspects’ murder-suicide and fire. About 9:30 p.m.

The members of Auburn University’s Journalism Advisory Council moved quickly Tuesday to revoke a community journalism award from Goodloe Sutton, the editor-publisher of The Democrat Reporter who published an editorial last week calling for the return of the KKK. After initiating the vote Tuesday morning, a majority of the members have already voted to rescind the award. Some members have not yet voted.

The Auburn Plainsman first reported the nature of the editorial, which published on Feb. 14 under the headline, “Klan needs to ride again.” In it, the paper’s editor, Goodloe Sutton, called for the Klan to “raid the gated communities” of Democrats and “Democrats in the Republican Party” who he

CHIP BROWNLEE / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

» See KKK EDITORIAL, 2

CAMPUS

By CHIP BROWNLEE and TIM NAIL Editor-in-chief and Community Writer editor@theplainsman.com

Police briefly investigated an incident Tuesday evening at a coffee shop in Auburn during which eyewitnesses said a white man who appeared to be in his mid-20s stood on a chair, yelled Nazi slogans including “Heil Hitler” and flashed a gun to the cafe’s manager.

Customers called police at Mama Mocha’s on Gay Street after the man — who hasn’t been identified by police — walked in with a young woman, ordered a coffee, sat down by himself on a couch for a while and proceeded to stand in a chair in the middle of the cafe to shout Nazi and white nationalist rhetoric.

“He was giving Heil Hitler arm motions pretty aggressively,” said Sarah Barnett-Gill, the owner of the coffee shop, known for its minority and LGBT-inclusive atmosphere.

“He loudly started talking about Nazi rhetoric and White Lives Matter and giving a racist monologue.”

The cafe’s manager, Richard Trammell, said he was outside on the phone when the incident started, but he rushed back inside when he saw the man wave the Nazi salute.

“As he was walking out, I told him not to come back, and he showed me his gun,” Trammell said. “I have a Black Lives Matter pin on, and being a black man, I wasn’t really shook. I wasn’t really scared. But it was a very charged

» See MAMA MOCHA’S, 2

VIA AUBURN UNIVERSITY

The Tony and Libba Rane Culinary Science Center will be a 142,000-square-foot facility.

New dining facility, other major projects approved The total estimated cost of the approved projects is roughly $232 million

By SCOTT BERSON Assistant Community Editor community@theplainsman.com

The Auburn Board of Trustees approved a slate of capital improvements to campus Friday, including the construction of a new central dining facility, a large classroom and laboratory space, a culinary science building and a new structural testing laboratory for engineering research.

The total estimated cost of the approved projects is roughly $232 million.

@TheAUPlainsman

SGA President-elect Mary Margaret Turton told The Plainsman she was especially excited for the new dining facility and classroom complex.

“Those are going to be huge for students,” she said. “I look forward to working with all the people in this room to make sure students are represented.”

Turton also said she was excited about the “unique” opportunities the culinary science center would provide for students.

As part of her campaign platform, Turton said she would

@TheAuburnPlainsman

“partner with the culinary program and College of Agriculture to bring farm-to-table cuisines to the new culinary science center.”

The board also approved a plan to expand surface parking by as early as fall 2019, approved an architect for the new College of Education building and approved a new bachelor of social work major at Auburn University at Montgomery.

The board also approved plans to renovate the Village Dining facility and to begin work on various improvements to campus utilities and infrastructure.

Outgoing SGA President Dane Block called the meeting a “bittersweet time.” He thanked the

board for listening to student input during his tenure and said the relationship between students and the board is one of the things that makes Auburn unique.

“I want to thank you all for desiring that input, and I want to challenge you, moving forward, to always seek that opinion, because it is truly valuable,” Block said.

The main business of the board was approving work on several major construction and development projects across Auburn’s campus. Trustee B.T. Roberts chaired the meeting.

Trustees quickly voted to ap-

» See TRUSTEES, 2

@TheAuburnPlainsman

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019

THEPLAINSMAN.COM

NEWS

KKK EDITORIAL » From 1

said were “plotting to raise taxes in Alabama.”

Journalism Advisory Council Chair Anthony Cook — the executive editor of Consolidated Publishing, which owns the Anniston Star — said the council voted Tuesday by email to strip the award.

“For a lot of people, the response is just shock,” Cook said.

“The initial thought was hopefully this is satire. But looking at the reporting around the editorial, we see that he has not backed down from anything he said in the editorial. In fact, he’s doubled down.”

The Montgomery Advertiser called Sutton for comment. He confirmed he wrote the editorial and went further, falsely claiming former slaves were among the members of the Klan. And further still, suggesting the revived Klan could “clean up D.C.” by lynching Democratic leaders.

“Our members are all over the region and the country, so we have initiated a vote of our members by email to withdraw the award that was given to Goodloe Sutton,” Cook said.

Sutton and his late wife Jean, the paper’s managing editor and chief reporter until her death in 2003, earned Pulitzer Prize consideration and other journalistic accolades during the 1990s for reporting that exposed corruption in the Marengo County Sheriff’s Office. The award honors small-town newspapers.

Linden, the small town where the paper is published, is the county seat of Marengo County in West Alabama, near the Mississippi state line. It has a population of less than 2,000. Sutton and The Democrat-Reporter have received more than a dozen Alabama Press Association awards.

The Alabama Press Association has censured Sutton and suspended his paper, The Democrat-Reporter. The association may vote at its next meeting on expelling the paper from the group.

Auburn awarded the pair the Distinguished Community Journalism Award in 2009. Sutton received the award for himself and his wife, who was honored posthumously. Her award is not being reconsidered, Cook said.

“We’re holding him accountable for what he said,” Cook said.

The paper, published in the small town of Linden, Alabama, has a history of publishing a wide range of offensive editorials.

The content runs the gamut from homophobic pieces to calls for public hangings.

“We’ll get the hemp ropes out, loop them over a tall limb and hang all of them,” Sutton told The Advertiser. He went on to compare the KKK to the NAACP, saying, “The Klan wasn’t violent until they needed to be.”

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Alabama, the state’s only black member of Congress, and Sen. Doug Jones, D-Alabama, have publicly called on Sutton to resign from his post at the paper.

“For the millions of people of color who have been terrorized by white supremacy, this kind of ‘editorializing’ about lynching is not a joke – it is a threat,” Sewell tweeted Tuesday. “These

TRUSTEES » From 1

prove the construction of a new 48,000 square-foot, 800-person dining facility at the current location of Parker Hall and Allison Laboratory.

Associate Vice President for Facilities Dan King said the Student Center is “swamped” during dining hours and hoped this new facility would take pressure off the building. It would provide a more “all-you-care-to-eat” atmosphere for students, he said.

King said Aramark offered to contribute $26 million toward construction of the facility as part of their contract pitch, and those funds will now go toward building the new

DEMOCRAT-REPORTER ARCHIVES / CHIP BROWNLEE / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The Democrat-Reporter under Goodloe Sutton has published a number of racist, homophobic and sexist editorials.

comments are deeply offensive and inappropriate, especially in 2019. Mr. Sutton should apologize and resign.”

The University of Southern Mississippi said in a statement that Sutton has been removed from the school’s Mass Communication and Journalism Hall of Fame. Jean Sutton has not been removed from the hall of fame.

“The School of Communication strongly condemns Mr. Sutton’s remarks as they are antithetical to all that we value as scholars of journalism, the media, and human communication,” the statement read. “Our University’s values of social responsibility and citizenship, inclusion and diversity, and integrity and civility are the foundation upon which we have built our School and its programs.”

U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, echoed those sentiments in a statement.

“The rhetoric displayed by the Democrat-Reporter is disturbing, disgusting and entirely unacceptable,” Shelby said. “I urge the newspaper to issue an apology and the publisher to resign from his duties. We cannot tolerate this sort of repulsive speech, particularly from our fourth estate.”

The Alabama NAACP president Benard Simelton spoke with AL.com, telling the publication that the editorial should warrant an investigation.

“He’s out of touch with reality,” Simelton said. “It’s obvious that he’s a racist, and I know it’s a private newspaper apparently. But this is going out into the public domain, and he should do himself a favor and resign.

dining hall. It is expected to open by fall 2020.

The board also approved the start of a project to renovate the Village Dining facility.

Improvements will include upgrades to the kitchens and moving a Chick-fil-A into the building to replace the current food truck.

Three major academic buildings were approved as well.

The Tony and Libba Rane Culinary Science Center, which will be located on South College Street across from the Auburn Chapel and next to The Auburn University Hotel, will include classroom and lab space as well as a hotel, teaching restaurant, brewery and rental living units.

Raymond Harbert, an at-large trustee, called the project a “game changer” for Auburn and the region as a whole because it

“In addition, I think it needs to be looked into by the FBI because, in my opinion, he’s making threats to legislators and telling them that the Klan essentially needs to take care of the Democrats.”

Since The Plainsman’s initial tweets and the story from the Advertiser, national and international publications like The Washington Post and BBC News ran stories on Sutton’s editorial.

As a newspaper editor himself, Cook said he was appalled and offended by the editorial.

“This is a byproduct of a really small paper operating where there is not somebody there to say, ‘Hold on, are you sure we want to print this?’” Cook said. “For me, as an editor at a newspaper, I just can’t imagine something like that going into our newspaper and being presented as the voice of the paper. And I don’t imagine that ever being allowed even as a column.”

Cook said the editorial is not in line with how society has progressed.

“It’s not in keeping with what we stand for as an organization,” Cook said. “It’s certainly offensive to me personally. Particularly as an African-American editor, I feel a responsibility to that part of the community that this newspaper serves. I just consider it a betrayal.”

The Council voted unanimously to revoke the award.

“I can’t imagine it being anything other than a unanimous vote,” Cook told The Plainsman before the final vote was in. “It’s pretty clear what he said. I would be shocked if I learned anyone in our organization espoused those types of views.”

would generate revenue to offset its cost.

Trustees joked about who would get first dibs at the residential units.

It is expected to open by April 2021.

Other approved projects include the 151,000-square-foot Academic Classroom and Laboratory Complex, which will help replace classroom space when the Haley Center is eventually removed, and the Advanced Structural Testing Laboratory, a large laboratory space capable of “extreme structural testing” and other engineering work.

The ACLC would include classroom space for 2,000 students and would require the eventual demolition of Allison Laboratory and Parker Hall. The Central Dining Facility would be adjacent to the ACLC. Trustee B.T. Roberts called the ACLC a “huge, kind

of a landmark building that we’ve been discussing for years.”

The ACLC is expected to open by fall 2021 and the ASTL by fall 2020.

Finally, the board approved plans to move forward with the University’s parking plan, which could create two new surface parking lots on campus by as early as fall 2019.

“We are trying to fast track this,” Roberts said.

But there may still be trouble for drivers around campus.

An expansion of utilities like hot water and electricity to the east side of South College Street is expected to cause some “disruption” along the street, starting over the summer and possibly lasting until the beginning of the fall semester.

MAMA MOCHA’S

OFFICER

» From 1

situation.”

The store’s manager said police are not pressing charges because they did not witness the event and the man had a license for the gun he carried and briefly flashed.

“He said he wasn’t doing anything and was just talking to people,” Barnett-Gill said. “They had to let him go tonight.”

Some of the witnesses at the shop expressed frustration that charges aren’t being filed.

“Police handled it. I mean, not a lot was done. We say he is banned, but that doesn’t keep him from coming back,” Trammell said. “Especially with the security issues of him having a gun, we’re kind of on our toes now.”

Police confirmed they responded to a disorderly persons call at the business. They identified the suspect only as a 21-year-old male.

“It was determined that the suspect was legally in possession of the weapon concealed on his person,” police said in a statement. “The incident did not occur in the presence of APD Officers; as such, any criminal charges would have to be filed by a complainant.”

Eyewitnesses and shop staff said the man’s name is Zachary Taylor Hay. The Plainsman has not independently confirmed the name, but the store’s manager said he got the name from police who identified the man by that name.

He is being banned from both of Mama Mocha’s locations.

A number of people of color, including staff, were present at the shop when the man yelled the racist and

» From 1 white nationalist rhetoric.

“They were rightly traumatized by that,” Barnett-Gill said. “My staff ran out immediately and told him to get down and that we don’t say things like that here. That’s when they noticed he was wearing a gun.”

He left and went to his car at that point without any physical altercation, witnesses told The Plainsman.

“He got down, and the barristas stood firm and tried to walk toward him,” Barnett-Gill said. “He left the front door, and he was screaming that this is a free country and he has a right to free speech and he can say whatever he wanted.”

Some people from the shop went to the car and took a picture of the license plate, which they provided to police. A roaster and two barristas were working Tuesday. The manager of Mama Mocha’s other location, Richard Trammell, was also there.

Trammell said Hay made sure his gun was visible as he was leaving, and a woman was with Hay. He had her leave before he broke out into his tirade, eyewitnesses said.

No one interviewed by The Plainsman was able to take video footage because the incident happened so fast, but staff are looking into whether they might have security footage.

The incident left cafe-goers shaken and scared.

“It’s really disorienting to think about — in a place like Auburn, in my cafe, which has always been inclusive and loving and never aggressive — that a gun-wielding Nazi got up and started

TIM NAIL / COMMUNITY WRITER

Police interview witnesses after a man entered Mama Mocha’s on South Gay Street, yelled Nazi slogans and briefly flashed a gun.

screaming at the people of color,” Barnett-Gill said. “It doesn’t even seem like it’s real.”

Barnett-Gill said she was thankful her staff stayed calm and got the man out of the cafe without serious physical incident.

“That could have been really bad,” Barnett-Gill said. “The gun was tucked in his pants, and he would have had to lift his shirt to show it to them.”

Trammell said he felt the incident wasn’t random.

“Being one of the more liberal places in Auburn and one of the more open places in Auburn, I definitely feel like it was targeted,” Trammell said. “For him to do that is very asinine, but it’s also terrifying.”

Trammell said it points to a larger is-

sue of white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups feeling emboldened.

“In light of the recent editorial that came out from Linden, calling for the KKK to band back up and start lynching people, it definitely feels like it was a part of that,” Trammell said.

Similar incidents have happened nationwide.

A man shouted “Heil Hitler, Heil Trump” during a performance of “Fiddler on the Roof” last year in Baltimore.

Witnesses to that event said they were afraid the man, who was later found to have been drunk during the incident, was about to pull a gun.

“I come from a city in North Alabama that had an active KKK in the community, and it was scary then and scary now,” Barnett-Gill said.

times” Friday, ambulances transported Sanders to East Alabama Medical Center, where he was in stable condition.

He was then transported to UAB Medical Center in Birmingham.

He is recovering from his injuries.

“We are thankful for the staff at East Alabama Medical Center for all they did to save Officer Sanders,” Auburn Police Chief Paul Register said. “We are very proud of the bravery he displayed in attempting to arrest someone dangerous to this community. We are humbled by the outpouring of public support; we are also very proud and appreciative of the dozens of law enforcement personnel who responded within minutes to aid in preventing further violence by those responsible. More than anything, we are thankful that Justin will recover.”

The case remains under investigation by the Auburn Police Division, Opelika Police Department, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s State Bureau of Investigation and the State of Alabama Medical Examiner’s Office.

opinion

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019

THEPLAINSMAN.COM

OPINION

OUR VIEW

Ride-hailing partnership next big thing for Auburn EDITORIAL BOARD Spring 2019

Auburn has had a contentious relationship with app-based ride-hailing services. Four years ago, many would have never thought services like Uber and Lyft would return to Auburn’s streets.

Now, not only are Uber and Lyft back in Auburn, the University is accepting bids and working on a contract for discounted rides around Auburn’s campus.

These efforts were made possible largely thanks to past SGA Presidents Jesse Westerhouse and Dane Block.

Westerhouse ran his campaign on the promise of bringing Uber back to Auburn, and he succeeded. Block has been heavily involved in the process of getting subsidized rides after seeing similar programs initiated at other colleges including The University of Alabama.

The obvious benefit of subsidized rides is a cheaper fare, but subsidizing this service actually has larger implications for Auburn’s student body.

Lately, ridership on the University’s Tiger Ten transit line has hit a new low.

Tiger Ten is the transit line that rides from downtown and back on weekend nights — 10:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. — and was long touted by the University as a safe, free way to get home after a night out at the bar.

Since its inception, ridership has declined.

With easier services like Uber and Lyft, students are less likely to take a slow and sometimes inconvenient bus.

The rape of an Auburn student on a Tiger Ten bus in 2017 by two transit drivers also

likely dealt a blow to the system.

Even after the extra safety measures the University and First Transit — the contractor who oversees the Tiger Ten and daily transit lines — took to improve safety on the Tiger Ten line, including adding security personnel on each bus, ridership hasn’t improved.

Many students were already wary of the late-night transit system, which often seems to take too long since only a few buses run on the line and have to make longer routes than those that run during the day.

Valuable student fees are funding this relatively unused service.

Many students, however, have let this waste of student dollars go unnoticed. Most have not thought about the benefit another service could provide.

The University and SGA, however, has noticed this and has taken action. Although the University has not yet made it clear if the subsidized services are replacing Tiger Ten completely, at least some of the money set aside for Tiger Ten will fund this new venture.

A subsidized ride-hailing service is something many students didn’t know they wanted.

Students are already taking Uber or Lyft rides home late at night. Subsidized rides will only serve to make it cheaper and help encourage students to make safe decisions when going out.

Ride hailing will not just be subsidized at night time. Auburn is looking to implement a contract that allows for 24-hour subsidies.

The late-night discounts will probably be heftier, though.

The University of Alabama — whose model helped spur Auburn’s decision to seek a ride-hailing partnership — discounts 15 per-

VIA UBER

cent of the cost of a ride during the day, which increases to 25 percent during peak bar times on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights using the ride-hailing service Lyft.

Other cities that have partnerships to subsidize rides — one city lowered the cost of rides to as little as 50 cents — have completely integrated subsidized ride-hailing into their public transit systems.

These dramatic decreases in ride costs are

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

implemented to increase shared rides and use of safe transport.

Although something as drastic is not likely to be implemented in Auburn, the prospect of a cheap, safe and more sustainable mode of transportation is exciting.

It is encouraging to know that the University and SGA are continuously looking to change and come up with creative methods for problems on campus.

HER VIEW

Agriculture is more than just farming

By MAGGIE SMITH Contributing Columnist

CAMERON BRASHER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

No Southern Living Hotel? Change height ordinance back to 65 feet

By SUSAN HUNNICUTT Letter to the editor

No Hotel? Change the Ordinance back to 65 feet.

During the mayoral candidate forum in August 2018, I questioned the candidates about how they felt about the 75-foot height in the urban core. Ron Anders replied that he had voted for it because the Southern Living hotel “needed” the extra 10 feet to make the project financially viable. Every other candidate said they wanted the 65-foot height.

Now, it appears the Southern Living Hotel will not be built. Although the Lifestyle + Hotel Group (LHG) is looking for another downtown location, who knows how

long that may or may not take. In addition, whatever land they may find for their project may not require the 75-foot ordinance to be “financially viable.” And in the end, it is not the City’s responsibility to look after a developer’s finances. It is the City’s job to look after the long-term future of Auburn and its citizens.

Change the height back to 65 feet now. If future developments want 75 feet, the Planning Commission or City Council can review the developer’s request for a possible variance at that time, but the downtown urban core needs to return to 65 feet, as the stated reason for the change no longer exists.

Any present projects that have already been approved for 75 feet can

be grandfathered in. All new projects, from this point forward, need to comply with 65 feet. There is no reason to wait until the LHG may possibly find another site downtown. Several possible developments can come up before then.

And there are currently too many overcrowded 75 foot high buildings downtown.

City Council: bring up the 65foot ordinance for the urban core now and pass it. You can see the effect the 75-foot ordinance is already having on downtown. Do the right thing, Auburn City Council. For the future of our Village — bring up and pass the 65-foot ordinance for the urban core.

Susan Hunnicutt lives in Auburn.

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

When most people think of agriculture, what comes to mind are farmers in a corn field, and while farming is definitely an important aspect of agriculture, it is certainly not the only part of it.

Within Auburn’s College of Agriculture, there are departments ranging from biosystems engineering to agricultural economics to entomology. So not only can you learn how to farm if you so desire, but there is also an array of educational opportunities within agriculture.

Biosystems engineers work to build more efficient technology and production methods to create a cleaner and healthier planet, agricultural economists study the economic impact of agriculture and entomologists work to discover healthier ways to protect our food from insect pests and diseases.

These are just some of the aspects of agriculture that many people are unaware of. The AU Bee Lab focuses on researching honey bees and pollinator health, the animal sciences department prepares students for veterinary school and a degree in turfgrass management allows students to learn how to manage a variety of different sports fields.

Another thing agriculture is not well known for research. According to Auburn’s College of Agriculture website, “Scientists in each of our eight departments conduct research on a wide

range of subjects related to agriculture, forestry, natural resources, rural and economic development and the environment.”

Research projects focused on food safety, irrigation development and aquaculture are just a few of the ongoing projects that College of Agriculture researchers are working on currently.

We are living in a time where people are more concerned than ever before about where their food comes from, and agricultural sciences are the gateway into the knowledge of food production.

Animal science, food science, crop science and fisheries are all areas of agriculture that play a major role in developing healthier and safer ways for our world to produce and process food for the ever-growing global population.

It is also important for agriculture-related information to be distributed to the public accurately. The knowledge gap between the agricultural industry and the general public has led to a large amount of inaccurate information regarding organic farming, genetically modified organisms and a variety of other issues. Agricultural communications is the area of agriculture that works to help bridge this knowledge gap.

All of these aspects provide proof of why agriculture has one of the most diverse areas of study to offer.

Maggie Smith is a junior in agricultural communications.

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SUSTAINABILITY

Auburn’s oasis

An expansion plan for the medicinal plant garden

By SCOTT BERSON Assistant Community Editor

For years, Auburn’s Medicinal Plant Garden was an oasis.

The tiny wonderland, just southeast of the Auburn RV Field, held a collection of about 100 medicinal plants, maintained with care and love by curator Tia Gonzalez and a team of volunteers.

The vibrant rows of flowers, herbs and shrubs attracted communities of honeybees, frogs and birds. Entomologists flocked to the garden to study its rich tapestry of benevolent bugs, some of which were hard to find anywhere else in Lee County. Master gardeners and school groups came by for tours.

That’s all gone now.

The space where the garden once flourished has been scraped clean, covered in dirt and gravel as a parking lot for the new Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center. But Gonzalez said the garden will soon be reborn bigger and better than before as part of the College of Agriculture’s new Teaching and Demonstration Garden.

“There will be multiple gardens,” Gonzalez said. “It will be crisscrossed with walking paths and bike paths that students and the community can use. So not only will it be interesting if you’re interested in agriculture, but it’s going to be open space you can use. That’s the big picture.”

The master plan for the new teaching garden envisions a collection of plots connecting to the south end of the Donald E. Davis Arboretum. The medicinal garden, the “Old Rotation” cotton experiment, crop gardens, and other projects will all be part of the new plan.

“I think we have more than double the space we had last time.

So that part is good, but it’s on a highly eroded soil on a slope, so we’re going to have to deal with those issues more than we did at the other site,” said Dennis Shannon, a professor at the College of Agriculture’s department of crop, soil and environmental sciences.

The first seeds of the garden were sewn more than a decade

CONTRIBUTED BY AUBURN UNIVERSITY

A collection of plants at the Medicinal Garden.

ago when Shannon decided to research medicinal plants.

“I asked for a little piece of ground on the agronomy farm in what was then the crops garden, where I could just plant out different plants because I wasn’t familiar with them, and see how they were adapted and, you know, as a possible source of material if I decided to do research on them,” Shannon said.

The goal of that research, Gonzalez said, was to see if Alabama farmers could sell high-value medicinal crops like turmeric on their land.

The research ended, but something unexpected happened: more and more people were interested in seeing the plant collection. So Gonzalez, who is a landscape designer, partnered with Shannon to turn the project into a full public garden.

It was difficult at first. The rows of plants were far too close together to lead tours effectively, and the repetitive rows of identical shrubs weren’t very attractive. Gonzalez decided to mix things up by planting many different species in clusters, boosting the diversity and transforming the space into a real garden.

It was a big change. Now, the garden was more open to visi-

tors, who could come for tours or plant sales without stumbling over each other or the plants. Plus, the garden had suddenly acquired some new inhabitants.

“The beneficial insect population increased incrementally,” Gonzalez said. “Bugs are good, bugs are your friend. And we also started getting birds and mammals and reptiles in the garden as we increased the diversity. It was very interesting.”

Keeping the garden humming along was a tough task — not least because its operation receives no funding from the University.

“Right now, its operating 100 percent on donations,” Shannon said. “My department used to contribute $10,000 or $12,000 a year, but that’s stopped. It’s all donations.”

“We don’t have any funding from the University. The support we get from the university is land. The rest is up to us,” Gonzalez said.

She suspects she’ll need volunteers again soon. But for now, she is focused on an expanded vision for what the new garden will bring to Auburn.

“I don’t want our garden to be just for people interested in medicinal plants,” Gonzalez said. “If you step back and look at the University as a whole, there are few majors within the University that could not use the garden in some way.

“I want to group our new garden by geography, so you can take a trip around the world by walking through the garden.

You can teach history through plants and make it more interesting, make it more engaging.”

At the core, she said the new garden would be about connection — connection to all academic disciplines, to the community and between people and their environment.

“It shows you what you can do in your own yard,” she said.

“It’s important to be a good example of environmental stewardship on every level. You can easily make the mental jump from medicinal plants to physical health, but more importantly, you should be able to make the jump to medicinal plant gardens to environmental health.”

TRADITIONS

A look into the history of Auburn’s traditions

By HANNAH LESTER Campus Writer

Auburn is widely known as The Loveliest Village on The Plains, the school of War Eagle, the home of Aubie the Tiger, Nova and Spirit. According to the Auburn Creed, students believe in Auburn and love it and live their lives by The Creed. Alumni visit for tailgates, and students say hey on Hey Day. But when did the traditions actually start, and why has it become a large part of Auburn?

Olive Goldsmith wrote a poem “The Deserted Village” in May 1770. Not only does Auburn take its nickname from this poem: “Sweet Auburn, Loveliest Village on the Plains,” but also the Tigers: “where crouching tigers await their hapless prey…”

War Eagle is Auburn fans’ slogan for a game as a greeting or a cheer. The infamous words encompass many emotions.

There are different legends, however, that describe how War Eagle began.

According to Auburn’s legends page, the cry emerged in 1892. A Civil War veteran attended an Auburn football game against Georgia.

Haley Roberts, sophomore in pre-med nutrition sciences, enjoys the history and tradition. Roberts said the professor had a pet eagle that he had found while in the war

that couldn’t fly, so it sat on his shoulder.

“All of a sudden, like during half time, the eagle actually came up and flew around the stadium, and so they started cheering, ‘War Eagle,’ and they were like, ‘Oh my God, the war eagle,’ and so they thought, the football team thought it was for them, and then they won the game,” Roberts said.

But some accounts have stated more ominous endings, which say that after the success, the eagle crashed and died.

The fight song, ”War Eagle,” according to Auburn’s official account, has been the official fight song since 1955, commissioned by Roy Sewell and written by Robert Allen and Al Stillman.

Another well-known Auburn tradition Auburn is the 125-year-old Auburn Creed.

Desean Tinsley, junior in social work, is a former Camp War Eagle counselor. He said in preparation for the summer with incoming freshman, they use the creed regularly.

“We really learn how to apply it to our everyday lives, and it really made me appreciate Auburn more and really feel the Auburn spirit, and it just really gave me much more love and meaning to-for Auburn University,” Tinsley said.

Auburn students can find lines of the creed around campus and they celebrate this together for one week each year.

“Creed Week is a program created by

SGA to highlight the history and spirit of the Auburn Creed,” the student government association says on its website. “Each day of Creed Week will be dedicated to a set of lines from the Creed and celebrated through events and activities that will encourage the Auburn Family to ‘Live the Creed’. Through an array of partnerships between SGA and other groups across campus, we hope that the program will demonstrate what it truly means to ‘believe in Auburn, and love it.”

The Auburn University Seal has myths and legends of its own.

“If you step on it, you will not graduate in four years, you won’t find your Auburn true love and your family is cursed with, like, three generations of Alabama fans,” Roberts said.

In order to break the curse, some rumors state that you must jump in the president’s fountain at midnight on a full moon while others claim that the jumper must be naked.

Debates on the legend persist, but ultimately, students know not to touch the seal until they graduate.

The official Auburn University mascot is Aubie the Tiger, though Auburn eagles are flown on gameday. Aubie can be seen parading at campus events, kissing unsuspecting students, interacting with children on game days and more. His look has

INVOLVEMENT

Mentors foster bond with local children

By HALLE BOSO Campus Writer

When asked which Project Uplift memory had stuck with them the most, Auburn students Mary Grace Burkes and Jessie Floyd were unanimous.

“Our very favorite thing we did with our kids was taking them to the Auburn University locker room the Friday before a home game,” Floyd said.

“We got to go onto the field and see what the football players do each Saturday. Our kids were so excited about this opportunity, and it was really a bonding experience for us.”

Project Uplift is a mentoring organization at Auburn University.

They focus on helping children develop happy, constructive lives in order to reduce the delinquency rate in Lee County.

It is governed and funded by the Lee County Youth Development Center’s Board of Directors.

The organization strives to attract Auburn students to help young children stay on a path toward academic and personal prosperity.

“Project Uplift encourages mentors to be a light to their mentees and to be there for them in any capacity that we can,” Floyd said. “Because of this, we could not help but want to be a part of it.”

Burkes, senior in rehabilitation and disabilities, and Floyd, senior in elementary education, have been sorority sisters, friends and partner volunteers at Project Uplift since they were freshmen.

They said they had a number of reasons why they were attracted to Project Uplift.

“We decided to join Proj-

ect Uplift for many reasons,” Floyd said. “The first being that both of us love children, and we wanted to give back to the greater Auburn-Opelika area. The University offers many ways to do that, but Project uplift is unique in that it offers opportunities for long-term relationships where we get to show two young children our lives and mentor them through their elementary years.”

Through the organization, the pair of mentors have devoted several hours each week.

They mentor two elementary-aged sisters, Taylor and Taniya.

During their time with the sisters, the girls will go to the park, attend a Project Uplift event, hangout at the big sisters’ house, do arts and crafts or, on special occasions, get ice cream.

“Our experience has been beneficial because it has given us a deep appreciation for diverse culture and lifestyles,” Floyd said. “Without this opportunity, we would’ve never fully understood the greater Auburn-Opelika community. We’ve gotten a chance to spend time with a family who is encouraging and tight-knit.”

As the two girls approach graduation, they have glowing reviews for their time with Project Uplift and their little sisters.

“We have seen how a relationship can grow so much in just a little time,” Floyd said.

“It has been wonderful to support our two kids through three years of their elementary school. Not only did we make some of the best memories with them, but we also learned how to care for, support and love children really well.”

JOSHUA FISHER / PHOTOGRAPHER

Spirit flies during the Eagle flight prior to Auburn Football vs. Southern Miss Saturday, Sept. 29, in Auburn, Ala.

changed throughout the years, along with his unique costume designs.

“I mean, I think he’s a great crowd motivator and everything,” said Hannah Welch, second-year pre-vet poultry science student. “He gets everybody pumped up, especially the students. Even the fans at home.”

Oct. 3, 1959, was Aubie the Tiger’s first appearance. He was the face of the Auburn vs. Hardin-Simmons football game.

“A popular character among Auburn fans and one of the most animated mascots in the country, Aubie is the living spirit of Auburn,” the official Auburn website says. “His striking good looks, personal appeal and daring antics combine to make the character fans cannot ignore. It is often said women love him, children adore him, and men want to be him.”

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019

The Auburn Plainsman

ACADEMICS

PAGE 5 DINING

‘It really scared me’ What it actually means to take a ‘W’

By KAYLA KELLY Campus Writer

During many college students’ academic careers, they will make the difficult decision to drop a class in the middle of a semester, leaving a W on their transcript.

This W represents a withdrawal from a course after a certain date instead of letting a failed course affect the student’s grade point average. At Auburn, this comes into effect after the 15th day of classes in the spring and fall semesters and after the fifth day during the summer.

If a student decides to withdraw before the 15th day of classes, no letter grade or W for the class will be assigned on their transcript.

However, if they choose to withdraw after the fifth day, but before the final 15th day, a $100 charge will be put on the student’s eBill.

Nonetheless, these W’s leave a mysterious void, and when looking at the transcript, there is no explanation as to the long process that went into making that decision.

“I debated for about a week whether or not to withdraw from a class that I was struggling in,” said Hope Campisano, freshman in hospitality management. “I had no idea what a W would mean on my transcript in the future, and that doubt really scared me from proceeding to withdraw from the course.”

It gives no indication of how poorly the student was doing or why they had to leave the course.

This void can bring stress to students planning to apply for jobs or other programs, such as law school, medical school or other forms of graduate school. Many students worry that those reviewing their future applications will have a feeling of disapproval if they have a W. “I was never asked about the W on my transcript,” said Lindsey Freeman, Auburn alumna with a degree in accounting. “It seems like a lot of employers rely on the honor system when it comes to stuff like that. I think if you have a good reason for why it happened and can explain it, there should be nothing to be nervous about. It’s more how you handle the situation after that people truly care about.”

Deb Paradis, academic advisor, said it is important to check first with the Financial Aid Office, The Veterans Resource Center or any kind of scholarship the student may have to understand how the withdrawal might affect it.

“If I have any advice to give students who are considering withdrawing from a course, I would always check with financial aid or if you belong to any scholarship or aid,” she said. “Also, have a conversation with your professor first.”

Paradis also recommends that before making a permanent decision for their transcript, the student should visit their professor’s office hours to discuss the issue further.

Students never know how much their professor is willing to help and possibly guide them back on track before they decide to ultimately leave the course, Paradis said. If a student does choose to withdraw from a course, the effect isn’t as paramount as many think, unless it starts to become a pattern.

“I think withdrawing from a course is neither bad nor good but neutral,” Paradis said. “It can become a habit for some students, and that’s where I would raise a red flag, but it can also be a very good thing if not used too often. If the student is continually using it to avoid challenging classes or using it multiple times, then they could consider different options like a change of major.”

Students that choose to move further in their education and apply to other institutions or programs should be prepared beforehand to answer any questions a committee may have for them when looking at the W’s on their transcript.

This also carries over to potential employers or internships.

When it comes to students debating taking a W on their transcript, taking fewer is better than taking more in the long-run, and one or two most likely won’t hurt the student, said Addye Buckley-Burnell, assistant director of career development.

“When employers typically look at a W, they usually just scan them, and if they see a lot they may take that as a red flag for commitment, but one or two doesn’t usually cause alarm,” she added.

ORGANIZATIONS

Organization spreads education, awareness of eating disorders

By ABBY CUNNINGHAM Campus Writer

After a two-year absence, the Auburn University Body Image Education and Eating Disorders Awareness organization is back on campus.

Alissa Heath, senior in nutrition and dietetics, has brought back the organization in hopes of bringing awareness of eating disorders to Auburn’s campus.

The organization’s big event, “Love Your Body Week,” is coming up at the end of the month.

Each day has a theme: Mirrorless Monday, Talk About it Tuesday, No Weigh Wednesday and All Foods Fit Friday.

Heath added that on Thursday, the organization will team up with Yoga Rave at the Rec Center.

“So overall, each day has a specific thing about loving your body and promoting that on campus,” Heath said.

The organization will be on Haley Concourse during this week, promoting its cause to all the students and faculty who walk by on campus.

Heath explained that AUBIE-EDA was previously on campus but dissolved two years ago, so she and the rest of the organization’s members started to bring it back in November.

She believes that bringing the club back is in full swing now, especially with Love Your Body Week coming up.

“It started to dissipate after one of the dietitians left, who was one of our advisers,” Heath said. “Then, the president at the time didn’t really do anything to try and get the club running again smoothly, so it just kind of dissipated after that.”

Heath decided to bring the club back in hopes of raising awareness on campus and getting involved in the club’s purpose.

“I am majoring in nutrition dietetics, and I am hoping to be an eating-disor-

der dietitian after I graduate, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to get involved with eating disorders on campus through this club,” she said.

Not only did Heath bring the club back, but she also brought in some new ideas the club could build on.

Along with the monthly meetings, which sometimes involve survivors or dietitians telling their stories, Heath has added training for members to be registered to promote health of every size.

This is something that the club has never done before in its years at Auburn University.

“Before I graduate, I just hope that I can hand the club off to someone that can really take care of it and can really promote healthy eating on campus, and that all foods fit,” Heath said.

Heath hopes that students will come to their display on the concourse, especially since they will have scale smashing on Wednesday.

SPOTLIGHT

Inside the job of a student recruiter

By TIM NAIL Community Writer

Chances are that if someone walks around campus, they’ll see a tour group of the next potential wave of Auburn students and parents, discovering what the University has to offer.

At the helm is a cheerful, orange-and-blue-shirted representative who holds the answers to any and all questions visitors may have.

That person is one of more than 60 student recruiters who work for the Office of University Recruitment. They are often the first face that welcomes visitors to the University.

Recruiters give campus tours and work on and off campus for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

Matthew Oberkirch, junior in biomedical sciences, is among this school year’s guides and said the position is some-

thing he knew he wanted ever since his own tour of Auburn before becoming a student.

“I had never visited campus before and really had no idea what to expect,” Oberkirch said. “However, I had an amazing student recruiter giving my tour, and she made me and my family feel very at home and comfortable in Auburn. It was so easy to see her love for the University and all of the great students here, and she sold me on Auburn after about 15 minutes.”

Oberkirch looked to become a future recruiter in the spring term of his sophomore year.

After turning in an application in February and going through a series of interviews, he found himself welcomed aboard for the next semester by the end of March.

Overall, he felt the process was swift and straightforward, and he has found his time in

the recruiter program to be enlivening.

Among all his tour sessions, his favorite experience comes from one of the earliest he led.

“It was a pretty small tour with only two families, and both were big Auburn fans,” he recalled. “As we passed by the stadium on the Eagle’s Nest, one of the kids on the tour led us all with a ‘Warrrrr Eagle, hey’ cheer. It was one of the funniest moments I’ve had as a student recruiter and serves as a great example of some of the people you will meet on your tours.”

Oberkirch recommends that any student considering applying to the Students of Auburn Recruitment program in the upcoming academic year should start their application process now.

The application can be found at auburn.edu/recruiters.

Forms are due on Feb. 22 at

noon.

Once the deadline closes, the opening round of interviews is set throughout the week of Feb. 25 in a group format.

Those called to return will be asked to attend an additional one-on-one evaluation during the week of Mar. 4.

Following this, the Office of University Recruitment will announce its new guides at callouts on the back porch of Cater Hall.

The new group of student recruiters will be mentored by three current recruiters who will show the new group how they go about conducting tours.

Then, the incoming recruiters will attend two retreats in the spring and fall before officially moving into their position.

“As a whole, it is a pretty quick turnaround from when you apply to when you are accepted,” Oberkirch said.

DUBRAY MCNEAL / PHOTOGRAPHER

The Tapingo App opens up on a mobile phone on Nov. 10, 2018.

Tapingo use grows significantly

By TRICE BROWN Campus Reporter

Tapingo, the smartphone app that allows Auburn students to order food on-campus without waiting in line, has quickly become popular among students.

Glenn Loughridge, director of campus dining, said there has been a continual increase in users, with no sign of that number leveling off.

After its soft launch in early September 2018, Tapingo saw its user base grow considerably. During the fall semester, Tapingo facilitated roughly 77,000 orders, Loughridge said.

From the beginning of spring semester to mid-February, Tapingo processed 59,000 orders.

On average, there are 108 percent more orders per day in the spring semester compared to the fall semester.

“It’s exponentially growing; we not done growing yet, I don’t believe,” Loughridge said. “It’s clearly something that students want and are using.”

Tapingo charges a small fee on each of its orders. It ran a promotion where it removed the fee for a period of time to attract customers.

Loughridge said the biggest complaint of students tends to be the lines for dining. Long lines at popular dining locations contribute to students feeling time compressed, Loughridge said. Tapingo allows students to place their order and not wait in a long line.

“I think, ultimately, what it’s saying is students want to do business with their device,” Loughridge said.

Paul Mangarelli, chef manager for Aramark, said students aren’t using the primary appeal of Tapingo. The primary benefit of Tapingo is not having to wait in a line, he said, but students order through the app and wait at the location for their meal to be ready, defeating the purpose.

Mangarelli manages Olilo, Fresh from the Plains and Salad Works. He said Salad Works has a large congestion problem, although it is getting better.

According to Mangarelli, Salad Works recently optimized their system via the integration of an iPad to scan tickets when the order is ready. Additionally, the number of tickets in queue cannot exceed nine to help with the congestion.

Loughridge said there is an internal parameter in Tapingo that is set by dining location that estimates how long it would take that location to prepare a Tapingo order at a specific time of the day. For some locations, he said, that system works fine, but for places like Chick-fil-A and Salad Works, it couldn’t keep up.

Mangarelli said Olilo and Fresh from the Plains usually receive about seven to 10 orders a day, while Salad Works can receive up to 200 orders per day and Chick-fil-A can receive up to 600.

In those locations, they installed the iPads to scan the tickets, which notify students that their order is ready for them to pick up. In the other system, students are notified that their order should be ready after an amount of time set by the internal parameter of a location has passed.

Mangarelli said the new system helped the congestion, but they are planning on installing shelves where students can pick up their Tapingo orders.

Loughridge said Tapingo was recently purchased by GrubHub, so there could be new opportunities in the future, but Auburn has not been approached about any as of now.

He said dining services would like to offer delivery, but it would have a significant cost and negate the purpose of campus dining.

The community aspect of dining is important, Loughridge said. They want students to be together when they eat, not holed up in their dorm rooms.

“Our hope is that we create spaces that students want to be in,” Loughridge said, ”and therefore, they get to see each other and interact and we have that social connection as well as, you know, that collegiate connection where you’re in a class together.“

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COMMUNITY

RELIGION

When the ritual begins Alabama’s largest pagan church calls Auburn home

By GABBY DANCE Assistant Campus Editor

Two children play on the wooden steps of a creaky building, laughing and squealing as the moon starts to rise. Their mother calls, and they scurry toward her voice, finding their place in the sacred circle as the smell of incense swirls in the air. It is time for what they came for — the ritual.

This is a meeting of the largest pagan church in Alabama, Church of the Spiral Tree. Based in Auburn, it was founded in 1997 and has remained in town since.

According to its members, pagans are often stereotyped for their beliefs by outsiders and seen as witches or “devil-worshippers.” While some pagans do identify as witches, not all do. Each person follows their own path in the religion.

“You can relate it to how Christianity has a lot of denominations,” said church founder Linda, who asked for her last name not to be printed. “We have wiccans, druids, faerie faith. I’m kind of drawing a blank on some of the names because there are so many, but you get the point.”

The group meets eight times a year for each sabbat on the pagan Wheel of the Year, which symbolize seasonal changes. Today, they’re celebrating Imbolc, the first signs of spring.

According to Gwydion Silverhawk, the church’s ritual coordinator, this holiday is the origin of Groundhog Day. Legend says that on Imbolc every year, a Gaelic deity who controls the weather takes a break to gather her firewood for the rest of the winter. If the weather is sunny on Imbolc, she is taking more time to gather firewood, signaling a longer winter. If it is storming, she has already completed her gathering, and the winter will be shorter.

The actual ritual ceremony is the main event, but the group meets beforehand to make crafts. For this holiday, they make brooms to symbolize sweeping out the season of winter.

The small group sits on tree stumps planted in a circle as they craft and chat. Church members travel to Auburn from locations across the state, including Huntsville and Tuscaloosa, so this religious meeting is also a reunion of old friends. The last time they met was in December.

One of the most energetic in the group is Kayli Hall, a transgender woman and dedicated pagan. She is cutting branches for the brooms, putting them in a pile for the others to grab from.

As she returns from her car with a saw for the branches, she also presents a drawstring pouch filled with palm-sized, smooth, gray stones. They are magic river stones, she says, to act as a seed for one’s crops in the new season.

Hall, an Opelika resident, was formerly known in town as “The Wizzard” and was noted by her eccentric style of dress. Now, she dresses similarly, yet more feminine. Today, she wears a shimmering purple-and-blue sequin skirt that resembles mermaid scales over a pair of classic blue jeans. She also wears her signature wizard hat, decorated with colorful flowers.

While showing her outfit, she turns around, revealing a patch on the back of her jacket displaying the words “the real story” accompanied by a wizard hat.

The jacket, she says, was always her favorite and got holes in the back after excessive wear. She decided to patch it with a shirt, which she found wrapped around a statue she bought from a thrift store.

“I thought it was perfect because it has a wizard hat with an old-timey clock, which are all aspects of magic that I practice with,” Hall said.

The shirt was originally from a high-school theater play, saying “the real story of Oz” on the back.

She decided to trim it to just say “the real story” to symbolize her journey through life.

She takes a long drag of her cigarette, then gingerly tucks it behind her ear as she speaks about her path to paganism. It was gradual, she says, but the magic in her was always there. She was raised in a Christian church and later followed Buddhism. From there, she found paganism.

“I was raised with a certain level of mysticism, believing in the power of prayer and healing hands,” Hall said. “Magic’s always been something I’ve loved. I was born as an empath, so I can feel people’s emotions.”

Hall credits paganism with guiding her through life. She realized she was transgender during a meditative ritual in 2008.

She marches to the beat of her own drum in paganism, not following a specific path. In her magic, she finds traditions from various cultures and adapts them to fit into her craft.

“I study things like a scientist,” Hall said. “I study other people’s research, but I don’t take anything from other people’s cultures without giving them credit for it. I look at the principles and understand how it could be done my way without using their religion or their beliefs.”

Other church members have also adapted paganism to fit their personal beliefs. Linda follows the faerie faith, which she described as following aspects of Celtic tradition and working with nature spirits.

“You think of a religion as worshiping a specific entity, and we [faerie faith] don’t do that,” Linda said. “I’m a little bit of an anomaly, kind of like a pagan atheist.”

Some are still finding their path, like 29-year-old Billye Welburn. He runs a vegan restaurant from his home and was first introduced to the church when catering an event for them.

Welburn notes that the people in his life were very quickly accepting of his religion, a luxury many

pagans do not experience.

“I have been fortunate to never be in the broom closet,” Welburn said.

“By the time I had encountered paganism and took it into my own life, I was at a point where I didn’t really worry about what other people thought.”

This concept of “the broom closet” is something widely discussed among the group. It is why Linda declined to reveal her last name — to protect her identity from others who may look down upon her religion, mainly her employer.

“I don’t want to out myself just yet,” Linda said.

This fear runs deep in the community due to others having negative experiences. In 2014, an Auburn University professor was notably terminated from her job without reason, which she suspected was because the University discovered her pagan beliefs.

“A lot of people who are unfamiliar with paganism have some negative associations about it,” Welburn said. “Some people don’t want to have that stigma affect them.”

Despite this, most members of the church noted Auburn as being more accepting of paganism than other areas of Alabama.

“In the South, there is a kind of religious conservatism that we were born in and small-town mentality, but I think Auburn is one of those towns that’s growing past that,” Hall said. “The University helps.”

The church hosts Pagan Pride Day in Auburn once a year, which gives people in the Auburn community the opportunity to meet the church members, likely breaking down any stereotypes they may have about them.

During the Imbolc ritual ceremony, Silverhawk noted the church’s gratitude for the general acceptance they have in the Auburn community.

“There could come a time when we have to be underground again, but we live in a place where we can celebrate and worship the old gods,” Silverhawk said.

Popular media may depict pagan rituals as an eerie scene, but their ritual was quite the opposite.

The ceremony radiated the same energy as any other main-stream religious meeting. It was serious, yet friendly and light-hearted. Silverhawk told jokes between steps of the ritual, prompting a quick break from stillness for the other church members.

They began by calling on the elements of earth, wind, fire and air to “open the circle.” Silverhawk then delivered a speech about the significance of the holiday, similar to how a Christian preacher would speak to their congregation.

One prominent aspect of the ceremony was the sharing of “cakes and ale.” For the cakes, they shared Little Bites muffins, and for the ale, they shared apple juice instead of an alcoholic beverage, so the children could participate.

They closed the circle, repeating the calling of the elements, while the smell of potluck meals wafted through the air, waiting to be devoured.

Silverhawk then blew out the altar candle as the crowd cheered.

“So, concludes this Imbolc rite. Huzzah!”

LOGAN ELLISON / PHOTOGRAPHER

Kayli Hall shows her jacket Saturday =, Feb. 2, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.

SCHOOL

Area schools can now provide life-saving drug

By DREW DAWS Community Writer

A statewide initiative from the Alabama Department of Education and Alabama Department of Public Health now allows schools to administer naloxone, a drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, according to a news release.

Lee County Schools and Auburn City Schools recently implemented this initiative, which can potentially save the lives of high school students.

Lee County Schools Superintendent James McCoy said he believes it is important for medical staff to be prepared to address as many health issues as possible.

“We are aware that this life-saving drug and procedure is not mandated at this time, but we elected to begin the training process,” he said. “We provide the most current training available to

FILE PHOTO

our staff.”

McCoy said although Lee County Schools has seen no evidence of opioid use in the student body, he believes staff should be able to respond quickly in any situation.

“Although we have not seen any evidence of opioid abuse in our schools, we recognize it is a national crisis,” he said. “We want to give our medical staff as much time as possible to become familiar with the symptoms and learn how to administer the naloxone correctly.”

Brenda Lindahl, nurse administrator for Auburn City Schools, said nine Auburn City School faculty members have already been trained to administer naloxone.

“They had to perform a return demonstration and reiterate back to me what some possible symptoms of an opioid overdose are,” she said.

Faculty must be careful when administering the drug because it can cause the recipient to go into cardiac arrest. All faculty that are trained to administer the drug are also CPR certified.

When the drug is administered, emergency services must be called, Lindahl said.

Auburn High School offers a course that warns students of the dangers of drug use and encourages them to make wise lifestyle choices, she said.

“The Alabama Course of Study: Health Education and the Alabama Course of Study: Physical Education are utilized,” Lindahl said. “Teachers include healthy living that also coincides with making good choices and encompasses drug prevention and education.”

While raising awareness of the opioid crisis plays a critical role in educating students on drug abuse, Lindahl wants to be prepared should a student overdose.

SHOOTING » From 1

A manhunt for Wallace ended with dozens of shots fired near Auburn’s veterinary school at Crossland Downs, a condo complex across Wire Road. The veterinary school briefly went on lockdown.

Other new details will be released when possible, Harris said.

The case remains under investigation by the Auburn Police Division, the Lee County Coroner’s Office, the State Bureau of Investigation and the FBI. The male suspect was 38-year-old Christopher James Wallace.

Harris said Monday that Wallace is from the Spanish Fort area.

The female suspect’s name is still being withheld pending notification of a next of kin.

The Auburn Police Division confirmed Harris’ findings Monday.

“Both have also been identified as being involved in the shooting of Officer Sanders,” the Auburn Police Division said in a statement. “A preliminary examination by the State Medical examiner indicates that they both died as a result of gunshot wounds. It appears that the female initially sustained a fatal gunshot injury followed by Wallace sustaining a self-inflicted fatal gunshot injury. Weapons consistent with causing the fatal gunshot injuries were recovered adjacent to the bodies at the scene

by Law Enforcement.”

The police officer was identified Saturday as Justin Sanders, a five-year veteran of law enforcement. He was taken to East Alabama Medical Center and then to UAB Medical Center in Birmingham. He is recovering.

Sanders tried to make a traffic stop after a robbery was reported at a pharmacy near the 400 block of Dean Road.

The state fire marshall’s office is investigating the fire’s cause.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019 CITY COUNCIL

The Auburn Plainsman GOVERNMENT

Organization aims for political reform

By CORY BLACKMON Community Reporter

CORY BLACKMON / COMMUNITY REPORTER

Connie Fitch-Taylor sits at Auburn City Council on Feb. 5, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.

City Council delays housing ordinance again

By CORY BLACKMON Community Reporter

Auburn City Council decided, after much deliberation, to table the vote on a new city ordinance that would introduce a new classification of housing.

The new type of houses, classified as academic-detached dwelling units, are typically five-bed, five-bath houses that have no master bed or bath and are typically smaller than rooms in a single-family house.

The new ordinance would allow the city to regulate these new types of houses, which have been debated at City Council meetings over the last few months.

The Northwest part of Auburn was at the center of the discussion, an area where these houses have sprung up more commonly in recent years.

Several Auburn residents came forward during the open public hearing to speak on the topic. Nick Hayes, Auburn resident, said the new ordinance would strip property owners of their rights.

Hayes, along with several other Auburn residents, argued the ordinance would both deter investors from developing the northwest section of Auburn and negatively affect property owners throughout the city.

Citizens like Lindburgh Jackson said the new housing ordinance ignores the best interests of the citizens who live in the northwest section of Auburn.

“As it pertains to the northwest end of Auburn, which I have been very concerned with with this type of housing, I think it is a little bit too little too late,” Jackson said. “The people of Northwest Auburn, when the Northwest Auburn [plan] was being put together, they were excluded. They were not involved.”

Connie Fitch-Taylor, Ward 1 representative, said the northwest section of Auburn was neglected in the past but believes it is the choices that are being made now that will ultimately shape the area.

“The damage has been done on Canton Street, but that does not kill the neighborhood,” Fitch-Taylor said. “We still have people who live in that neighborhood who are concerned about what’s going up.”

Fitch-Taylor said the developers who invest in the area are only building student housing and that pushes families out of the area.

“I have no problem with students, don’t get me wrong,” Fitch-Taylor said. “But you put them up in a neighborhood, and it’s like nobody is considering the people that [were] already there.”

Councilmember Bob Parsons also voiced his opinion before the ordinance was brought to a vote.

“I don’t think we are ready at all,” Parsons said. “There is no way we are ready to make a decision on this.”

Parsons said the job of the elected councilmembers is to hear the wants and needs of the citizens. Parsons also said since the Northwest section is predominately African-American, it is the job of the city to support underrepresented demographics.

“I see my job as a City Council member, as a representative of this city, is to take care of the members of the city,” Parsons said. “I believe we need to get a backbone and represent the most underserved in our community.”

Parsons said the Council needs to meet with more people and make a better attempt to find compromise and common ground before moving on with the ordinance.

Councilmember Tommy Dawson countered Parsons, saying that he didn’t believe anyone in the city was underrepresented.

“I appreciate Mr. Parsons comment, but at the same time, I don’t feel like anyone in this city is being underrepresented,” Dawson said. “I feel like Mrs. Taylor does a good job of representing her folks, and I try to represent mine. I don’t think anyone is misrepresented because of the color of their skin.”

Dawson said he believes it is the right of the property owners to do what they want with their own land.

“I just — for the life of me — this is America, I think you have the right to sell your property if you want to and the right to buy if you want to,” Dawson said.

The ordinance was ultimately denied unanimous consent by Councilman Steven Dixon and will be moved to the March 5 meeting agenda.

Councilwoman Kelley Griswold asked that the Council meet with the appropriate city staff and residents before that time to avoid further delaying the vote.

This is not the first time the ordinance was tabled for a later date. The ordinance was drafted in December 2018 and has been continually pushed back.

“I personally and professionally feel it is fairly urgent we get these regulations to move forward and into place,” Auburn Planning Director Forrest Cotton said in a previous interview with The Plainsman. “If they need to be adjusted, so be it.”

The Council is planning on having another meeting with residents and the Planning Commission before voting on the ordinance. However, City Manager James Buston said those meetings could delay the voting date further.

“What we can do is put it on the agenda for two weeks, and if we don’t have it all resolved in two weeks, we can table it to a date certain after that,” Buston said. “Two weeks may be a short tie to get this all ironed out.”

PAGE 7

of the political spectrum, Pudner said.

“People say we’re kind of a unicorn in the meeting,” Pudner said.

“We’ve got sort of a conservative background, but we come to work every day doing something that lines up with someone who is actually progressive.”

The organization also focuses heavily on educating voters on how to make the most out of their votes and how to make the biggest impact with their decisions.

“We try to do the research and find the right language for educational papers to inform people about reform and how it benefits everyone,” Pudner said. “Some of the people really reacted well to the ‘drain the swamp’ term we used, which was another way of saying campaign finance reform.”

One of Pudner’s goals for TBOR is to create an open-source app that helps people to run their own campaigns without getting addicted to big money, he said.

The hope is that with low-budget campaigns standing a better chance, more candidates will focus on siding with the people as opposed to big-money agendas.

“The reason low-dollar candidates often fail is because they don’t know how to do it,” Pudner said. “You spend 80 percent of your time raising money, and it’s this whole addictive process, and we want to cut out that whole addiction.”

In a time of political divide and agenda-driven politics, one Auburn-based group is working to find compromise and put power back in the hands of voters.

John Pudner, executive director of Take Back Our Republic, took control of the organization, which is located on Magnolia Street in the heart of downtown Auburn, in 2014. He helped transform the organization from a political campaign group to a group working to fix the system, Pudner said.

TBOR seeks to educate people on campaign finance issues and how they can affect citizens. The organization also teaches citizens how to support candidates and legislative organizations that favor individuals as opposed to corporations.

“The end goal for us [is] we want Americans to once again have faith in the system,” Pudner said. “That includes faith that candidates are focused on them, not just out-of-state or big money [interests.]”

Pudner, who has experience running political campaigns, wanted to alter TBOR from its political campaign state and turn it into a nonprofit educational organization.

“Just seeing the corrupting influence of money on politics and how constituents were becoming less relevant got me and some other Republicans wanting reform,” Pudner said. “Some Republicans actually called me and asked if instead of running campaigns I would be willing to try and fix the system.”

He wanted to make the group a place where conservatives feel at home with reform, Pudner said.

“We want conservatives to be comfortable with reform because in a lot of cases there are a lot more progressives working on these corruption issues, and we don’t think there is any reason for that,” Pudner said.

One of the reasons TBOR is located in Auburn is to help differentiate itself from other groups that have strong political ties or party loyalty. “We are not in the middle of the whole D.C. thing,” Pudner said. “We’re outside the beltway. I don’t think we could have started this in Berkley and said, ‘Hey, we’re the conservative group.’”

DUBRAY MCNEAL / PHOTOGRAPHER Being outside of D.C. helps the group to think differently, and Political group’s sign hangs above West Magnolia Avenue in Auburn, keeps the organization close to the constituents. He hopes to create more understanding and compromise between the two sides Ala. on Feb. 15, 2019.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019

THEPLAINSMAN.COM

FOOTBALL

SPORTS

BASEBALL

Carson Skipper highlights 17-strikeout day for Tigers

By SUMNER MARTIN Sports Writer

CAMERON BRASHER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Jarrett Stidham (8) gears up for a throw during Auburn Football vs. Washington on Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018 in Atlanta.

Carson Skipper’s night began with an early deficit, but it ended with a career milestone.

Four pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts, with Skipper accounting for eight, as Auburn cruised past Alabama A&M, 10-1 inside Plainsman Park on Tuesday night.

After a hit-by-pitch and back-to-back errors in the top of the first inning, Alabama A&M took an early 1-0 lead over Skipper in his first career start.

The freshman from Trussville, Alabama, then responded with eight strikeouts, including five in a row, with no walks in four innings to earn his first career win.

“I think one of the highlights for me was definitely Carson Skipper shoving the ball in the strike zone,” said Auburn head coach Butch Thompson.

“He was running about seven seconds in between pitches, and on a day like today, man, if he wants his shortstop and center fielder and everybody to want him on the mound, that’s a good way to go about your business.”

Skipper (1-0) held the Bulldogs to one unearned run on two hits and threw 67 pitches, with 49 of them going for strikes after earning a save Friday.

Elliott Anderson threw two scoreless innings in relief, allowing one hit and striking out two before Will Morrison and Blake Schilleci combined to strike out five and close the game.

“Staying away and going soft late in the count,”

Skipper said of his approach Tuesday night. “Their hitters are very aggressive so they’re always swinging hard and fast. You just got to try and stay away from their bats as best as you can.”

The Tigers scored four in the third and three in the fifth to pull away from the Bulldogs down the stretch as 14 batters combined for 13 hits. Rankin Woley led Auburn, going 3-for-3, with a double and two RBIs while freshman Ryan Bliss also batted two runs of his own.

“Woley had a big double to start out the 13th inning against Georgia Southern and came right out today and went backside right in the first inning,” Thompson said. “He had three big hits for us tonight and was kind of the catalyst there.”

Despite Auburn’s 3-1 start, the season has not been without adversity.

The Tigers dropped one against Georgia Southern in the opening series this weekend, after two out of three games going for extra innings, and players who were expected to be leaders, like Steven Williams and Will Holland, have had slow starts.

Thompson, however, just explained that it’s just a part of the process.

“I’m kind of redefining my expectations as we go, and right now the expectation is to dominate a routine play,” Thompson said. “We’ve got 60 ball games left in our season and we’ll figure out expectations later on. This ball club’s expectation needs to be holding each other accountable to the routine facets of the game of the baseball.”

Stidham hosting youth football camp in Auburn

By NATHAN KING Sports Editor

In the thick of his NFL Draft preparations, former Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham will be returning to The Plains to coach up future Auburn football hopefuls.

Stidham will be hosting a youth football camp in his name April 14 in Auburn.

The exact location of the camp is unspecified.

The camp has 250 spots for all positions, taking participants from ages 6 to 16.

Stidham’s announcement says each camper will receive individual instruction from the two-year Auburn starter.

“How strict is the age restriction?” former Auburn running back Kerryon Johnson joked in the comments of the post. “Asking for myself.”

After his two seasons leading the Tigers offense, Stidham ranks third in program history in completion percentage, fourth in completions, sixth in passing yards and sixth in passing touchdowns. His 2017 and 2018 seasons rank No. 2 and No. 4, respectively, in single-season passing yards. His 246 completions in 2017 rank first for a single season in Auburn history. This past year’s 224 are second.

Despite his shortcomings in 2018 after being pegged preseason second team AllSEC, Stidham’s measurables and arm talent still have him projected in the secondto third-round range in April’s NFL Draft. He’ll attempt to improve that stock further at Auburn’s Pro Day on March 8.

“I think Stidham, when he was at Baylor and then Auburn, it showed that he could — at one point, I thought he could be a first- or second-round pick, so he’s got talent,” ESPN’s Mel Kiper said on a conference call Tuesday. “I don’t think he gets out of the third round. It wouldn’t shock me if he went mid-to-late second, so he’s going to be up there.”

FOOTBALL

Auburn, UGA hoping to move game earlier in schedule

By BEN KEY Sports Writer

The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry may come earlier in the 2020 football season.

According to a report from 247Sports’s Brandon Marcello, Auburn and Georgia’s football programs are close to an agreement on moving the game earlier in the season, beginning in 2020.

The move is in an effort to reduce the burden of November for both teams. The month traditionally includes either both home or both away games against Georgia and Alabama on Auburn’s schedule. According to the report, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and the 14 SEC schools are currently in the works to move the game up as early as September or October.

This would be a drastic change for the rivalry game, which has occurred in November since the first meeting between Auburn and Georgia in 1937. It is possible this change could hold through the 2024 season, when the current SEC rotation will end, but details are still in the works.

It has been tradition for Auburn since 2012, when the SEC expanded to 14 teams, to travel to Tuscaloosa and Athens in even years and then play

both at Jordan-Hare in the odd number years. Since this change, Auburn has been winless against both teams on the road.

Auburn athletic director Allen Greene said last season Auburn would be willing to play back-to-back road games in the series to fix the issue. Georgia did the same from 201213, playing two straight years in Jordan-Hare to iron out conference realignment issues when the SEC added Texas A&M and Missouri.

The Tigers have only defeated both rivals in 2013 and 2017, when they played both at home in the final two Power 5 games of the regular season.

On the road, however, Auburn is a combined 0-8 since the 2012 season.

This even and odd year scheduling would not be able to be changed until the 2025 season, but moving up the Georgia game is a compromise currently in the works, per the report.

Auburn is scheduled to play Massachusetts on Nov. 14 for the 2020 season, which is the weekend the Tigers normally play Georgia.

If the move does occur it will be the first time since 1936 that the teams will not meet in November. Auburn and Georgia have faced off 122 times in the regular season, and if the move occurs, it would only be the seventh ever to not be played in November.

WADE RACKLEY / AUBURN ATHLETICS

Carson Skipper pitches during Auburn baseball vs. Alabama A&M on Feb. 19, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019

The Auburn Plainsman

MEN’S BASKETBALL

PAGE 9

FOOTBALL

Auburn’s current bracket projection

By JAKE WEESE Sports Writer

Like a lot of times this season, Auburn comes into the week having gone 1-1 in the SEC the week prior.

Auburn started last week by losing to Ole Miss 60-55 but rebounded to beat Vanderbilt 64-53.

In the Monday edition of Bracketology, Auburn moves up to an 8-seed and would play 9-seed Ohio State in the first round.

The SEC has eight teams projected in the

Monday edition of Bracketology.

LSU is a 4-seed, Florida checks in as a co12-seed with Temple, Mississippi State is a 7-seed, Ole Miss holds firm as 8-seed, Kentucky is a 2-seed, Tennessee holds firm as a 1-seed and Alabama checks in as a co-12-seed with Arizona State.

Auburn (17-8, 6-6 in the SEC) hosts Arkansas (14-11, 5-7 in the SEC) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. CST. The Tigers then travel to Lexington to take on the No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats (21-4, 10-2 in the SEC) on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. CST.

TODD VAN EMST / AUBURN ATHLETICS

Wesley McGrif via Auburn Athletics

McGriff hired as secondary coach

By ZACH TANTILLO Sports Reporter

MADISON OGLETREE / PHOTO EDITOR

Bryce Brown (2) and Malik Dunbar (4) celebrate during Auburn Men’s Basketball vs. Florida on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.

BASEBALL

Wesley McGriff is returning to The Plains.

McGriff, a former Auburn defensive assistant, is back on Gus Malzahn’s staff again as a defensive assistant, Malzahn announced Wednesday morning.

“I’m very appreciative and excited to be rejoining Coach Malzahn and the staff at Auburn,” McGriff said. “Auburn is a program with outstanding players, coaches and tradition. Coach Malzahn is a great coach and leader and I look forward to helping Auburn win championships.”

Last week, two-year secondary coach Greg Brown reportedly left Auburn to become the corners coach at Purdue.

McGriff previously spent one season at Auburn in 2016 as secondary coach and co-defensive coordinator. His coaching, along with that of first-year defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, helped lift the Tigers from 11th in the conference in scoring defense the previous year to No. 2 in 2016. Auburn’s run defense and third-down conversion rates improved, as well.

With McGriff coaching defensive backs, Auburn’s secondary gave up 44 less explosive plays in 2016 (144) than 2015 (190).

“We’re excited to have Wesley return to our program,” Malzahn said. “He is an outstanding coach and recruiter. He brings great passion and energy and will be a great fit with our defensive staff.”

Following his Auburn stint, McGriff was named defensive coordinator at Ole Miss weeks prior to Auburn’s Sugar Bowl against

Oklahoma. He was then promoted to Rebels associate head coach July 20, 2017.

In Oxford, McGriff’s defense produced two NFL Draft picks in Breeland Speaks and Marquis Haynes, taken in the second and fourth rounds, respectively. McGriff also coached at Ole Miss in 2012 as co-defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach before heading to New Orleans as a defensive backs assistant from from 2013-15.

In his stint with New Orleans, the Saints ranked fourth in the NFL in yards per game, second in opponent passing yards per game and fourth in scoring defense.

After McGriff’s 2018 Rebels defense ranked ninth-to-last in the FBS in total defense, he was let go. In January, the Tallahassee Democrat reported McGriff had been hired on Willie Taggart’s staff at Florida State. However, according to the report, McGriff had not yet signed a contract. The deal was never completed, and McGriff’s name came to the forefront regarding the vacant Auburn secondary spot when Brown left for Purdue.

McGriff’s hiring is the third assistant coaching turnover of the offseason for the Tigers. A week ago, Tim Horton accepted a position at Vanderbilt working under Derek Mason after Auburn’s hiring of Carnell “Cadillac” Williams as the new running backs coach.

Former offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey also accepted an offensive coordinator position at Kansas before taking a head coaching job at Troy. Auburn replaced him with Memphis offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham.

I believe

IN HONESTY and truthfulness, WITHOUT WHICH

I CANNOT WIN AIthe RESPECT CONFIDENCE

&

OF MY

fellow men.

JAKE WEESE / SPORTS WRITER

The new LINE-X dugouts in Plainsman Park

New season, new dugouts for Auburn baseball

Spring Break is right around the corner! As this muchneeded vacation approaches, keep in mind the values of the Auburn Creed: obedience to the law, honesty and truthfulness and being Auburn men and women.

By JAKE WEESE Sports Writer

As Auburn gets ready for a new baseball season, Plainsman Park, the home of the Tigers for the past 67 seasons, is also getting ready for a new year.

While coach Butch Thompson brings in 19 newcomers and 17 veterans for the 2019 campaign, Samford Stadium-Hitchcock Field at Plainsman Park, which has been named one of the top venues in the country for college baseball by D1Baseball, has also gone through some changes before the 2019 season.

Not only is the home dugout now dedicated in name to Auburn’s winningest coach in program history, Hal Baird, but now both dugouts have been sprayed with a protective coating to protect the dugouts from the unpredictable year-round weather conditions that trouble Auburn — and the rest of Alabama.

Auburn baseball teamed up with the company LINE-X, which specializes in protective coatings used in a number of applica-

tions to protect truck bed liners, automotive accessories, commercial, industrial and manufacturing solutions.

“LINE-X was very excited to partner with Auburn to provide a long-lasting solution to the environmental conditions and impact of everyday use,” a LINE-X executive told The Plainsman. “First, the original coating was mechanically removed to expose the concrete. Next, a LINE-X primer was applied to provide a self-leveling moisture barrier.

Then a LINE-X pure polyurea, which was color matched to Plainsman Park Green was applied to provide the physical properties and the application advantages.

“Lastly, a LINE-X UV stable topcoat was applied that will provide long term UV protection and define all of the logos on top and front side of the dugouts.”

“Special thanks to @LINEXProtects for giving our dugouts a facelift and making them more durable,” Auburn baseball wrote on its official Twitter. “The new coating will withstand all kinds of weather to keep our dugouts looking and performing their best. #WarEagle”

Review the full Auburn Creed at

auburn.edu/main/welcome/creed.php

From Auburn Student Affairs @AuburnStudents

StudentAffairs.auburn.edu

The Auburn Plainsman

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019

PAGE 10

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Late Mike Mitchell named SEC legend

By JAKE WEESE Sports Writer

Former Auburn All-American and AllSEC player Mike Mitchell has been selected as Auburn’s 2019 Southeastern Conference Legend. Mitchell will be honored posthumously during the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee on March 13-17.

Mitchell was 55 when he died on June 9, 2011, after his two-year battle with cancer.

Mitchell was a second team All-American in the 1977-78 season at Auburn and was also a four-time All-SEC selection. During Mitchell’s four-year career at Auburn from 197478, he garnered three first team All-SEC distinctions.

Mitchell was born in Atlanta but became a native of San Antonio, Texas, during and following his NBA days. Mitchell was a highly productive player while at Auburn; the small forward is currently the all-time leading rebounder — ahead of NBA hallof-famer Charles Barkley — with 996 rebounds. Mitchell also ranks second on Auburn basketball’s all-time scoring list with 2,123 points.

Mitchell also ranks second in three other categories for the Tigers: Field goals made (926), attempted field goals (1,830) and alltime scoring average (20.4).

Mitchell’s No. 30 jersey was retired in a ceremony at Auburn Arena on Jan. 19, 2013, and he is a part of the illustrious group of six players to have his jersey in the rafters.

Following his Auburn career, Mitchell was a first-round selection in the 1978 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Mitchell played in the NBA for ten seasons from 1978-87 with a brief return in 1990. During his 10-year career, he spent time with the Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs, where he averaged 19.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.

Mitchell finished his NBA career with totals of 15,016 points and 4,246 rebounds with career shooting splits of 49.3 percent from the field and 77.9 percent from the free-throw line.

At one time, Mitchell claimed the Cavaliers single-season scoring average and points scored in a season record until Leb-

Mike Mitchell via Auburn Athletics.

Signature Wraps

ron James broke the records.

1981 was Mitchell’s final season in Cleveland before being traded later in the season to the Spurs. Mitchell’s 1981 was a highly successful one — he averaged 24.5 points and 6.1 rebounds to rank eighth in the NBA in scoring along with being an NBA All-Star that year.

While with the Spurs, Mitchell got his chance in the playoffs. The Trio of George Gervin, Artis Gilmore and Mitchell would help lead the Spurs to back-to-back Midwest Division titles.

In the 1982 NBA Western Conference Finals, Mitchell would shine against the Showtime Lakers averaging 25.7 points and 8.3 rebounds, but the Spurs would ultimately lose in four games.

The final 12 years of Mitchell’s 22-year professional career were played overseas in Italy. After his basketball career ended, he returned to San Antonio, where he worked with at-risk children.

Mitchell, who posthumously joined the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame in 2018, was best remembered off the court as a friendly individual by his son Mike Jr. in an interview with the San Antonio Express-News’s Tom Orsborn.

“He was a people person, and he used to love (those interactions) and he loved how the city treated him,” his son said. “He could go anywhere in the city and people would recognize him as Mike Mitchell, but they wouldn’t treat him necessarily as a star. They would treat him as one of the other people, and he did the same with them.

“He didn’t treat them like he was better than them. He treated them like they were on the same level. I think that’s his legacy off the court.”

Mitchell is now one of 14 former greats from the SEC to be recognized by Auburn, joining John Mengelt, 1999; Gary Redding, 2000; Sonny Smith, 2001; Bobby Cattage, 2002; Bill Alexander, 2003; Charles Barkley, 2004; Rex Frederick, 2005; Lee DeFore, 2006; Henry Hart, 2007; Wesley Person, 2008; Doc Robinson, 2009; Chuck Person, 2010; Jimmy Fibbe, 2011; Chris Morris, 2012; Ronnie Battle, 2013; Gerald White, 2014; Chris Porter, 2015; Jack Stewart, 2016, Marquis Daniels, 2017; and Joel Eaves, 2018.

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lifestyle

11

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019

THEPLAINSMAN.COM

LIFESTYLE

FILM

Film professor and students predict Oscar outcomes

By LAUREN PIEPER Lifestyle Writer

In the film genre class taught by Andrea Kelley, there is much in-class discussion on today’s multimedia pieces; specifically movies. With the annual Academy Awards airing on Feb. 24, the class and Kelley have their predictions for who the Oscars will go to.

“We talk a lot about popular films and how the industry, via awards shows like Oscars and the Golden Globes, makes sense of them through genre,” said Kelley, assistant professor in the department of communications and journalism. “For instance, we

FOOD

Chef makes fine dining casual

By ABIGAIL MURPHY Lifestyle Writer

Sword & Skillet is a permanent-position food truck that brings coastal-style cuisine to the community.

The food truck, located off of Bent Creek Road outside of the Exxon gas station, is a seasonal business that is open from mid-September to April on Wednesdays through Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Although the food truck will be closed from Feb. 16 to March 5, the food truck has a website, Facebook and Instagram for customers to check in the meantime for more updates.

Torrey Hall, chef and owner, said he changes the menu every week.

Items on the menu include sriracha honey fried chicken, a mahi-mahi sandwich, blackened shrimp tacos, a chipotle chicken and corn quesadilla and seared sesame crusted ahi tuna.

However, there are two menu items that stay constant — the skillet fries topped with braised pork, cheddar cheese, green onions and spicy mayo and the Mexican street corn, which is a grilled corn on the cob with chipotle aioli and cilantro.

Hall said he tries to incorporate Mexican-inspired food with his weekly menu.

“It’s just the food I do,” Hall said.

“I can do anything, so I just put a little twist on it — it’s kind of my California-coastal cuisine kind of food.”

Hall said he hopes to make the food truck a way to make fine dining-style food more accessible on a day-to-day basis.

“I’m a real professional chef in a food truck,” Hall said.

When he is not at the food truck, he is a partner of The Landing at Parker Creek by Lake Martin in Alabama.

Before the food truck, Hall ran a busy restaurant on the beach in San Diego and has been a professional chef for 22 years.

Hall said he is originally from Hawaii, and, with much support from his mother, he trained in California.

Hall moved from California to Auburn with his wife, Jordan Whitley, and both said they are focusing on their family with their son.

“We did a food truck because we have a little boy, and we just want time with our family. With the truck you can open and close and, you know, just see where it goes from there,” Whitley said.

With the food truck, Hall wants to focus on creating good food and good relationships.

As of now, he doesn’t have plans to open a restaurant, and he’d rather keep things small with the food truck, he said.

However, for the fall, they are hoping to work on some tailgating packages with the football season.

Along with his wife helping out in the front, he has a friend from The Landing who helps in the back, and they have gotten support from the gas station owner, as well.

“We’re hustling in there,” Hall said.

“But still pumping that much food out of that little tiny food truck, but it’s good. It’s fun.”

Hall said at the end of the day, it always comes back to making good food.

“Just trying to bring good food to Auburn,” Hall said. “That’s my goal.”

discussed the inconsistencies of the Globes placing ‘Green Book’ in the best musical and comedy category and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in the drama category.”

Using her background knowledge of films and award shows, Kelley made her predictions for the award show.

“My guess is that Alfonso Cuaron’s ‘Roma’ will sweep the awards,” Kelley said. “It is a beautiful film that feels deeply personal while offering insights into the politically-charged, cultural landscape of 1970s Mexico.”

Some of her students also predict that “Roma” will take many of these cinematic awards, specifically Best Picture.

Zach Callaghan, senior in media studies and one of Kelley’s

HEALTH

Z

Z

Z

Z

By ABIGAIL MURPHY Lifestyle Writer

With the stress of mid-terms, it can be easy to toss and turn at night and have a hard time falling asleep, but Shashi Sharma, sleep specialist at East Alabama Medical Center, pointed out sleep is vital before taking exams.

“One of the reasons we sleep is to consolidate our memories from the day before,” Sharma said.

Because of this, he continued, having a good night sleep can be helpful when testing.

“You will make better guesses,” Sharma said.

“You will remember more material, and you will

students, joined classmate Jake Talley, junior in psychology, in choosing “Roma” to win this category.

“I personally believe it is an amazing film. The cinematography is beautiful, and the directing is flawless,” Callaghan said. “I also believe it will edge out the other films because history has shown us that the Academy tends to lean towards independent films in this category.”

Talley said all evidence points toward “Roma” winning.

“Numbers don’t lie, and ‘Roma’ has already swept with multiple high profile award wins, giving it strong legs on its road to

» See OSCARS, 12

Expert shares tips to get better, healthier think more analytically after a good night sleep.”

Even though this is true, it can be difficult to get a good night rest when stressed, Sharma said.

He said having trouble sleeping is just one symptom of stress. Stress can also manifest in headaches or chronic pain. Sleeping troubles are just one issue of a complex problem.

However, Sharma provided some tips to help.

One thing that will take effect over a course of time is trying to get a routine of sleep down, Sharma said. Those who have a more consistent routine of going to bed and waking up in the morning will have an easier and shorter transition time from the body being awake to going to sleep.

Little things like avoiding caffeinated beverages four to five hours before going to bed helps, Sharma said. He advised trying to avoid naps during the day because it can throw off the sleep cycle for that night.

He also said to avoid exercising an hour before going to bed to help the body wind down.

Even planning on a time to try to get to bed can be helpful. Sharma said making one’s way to bed 45 minutes to an hour before hoping to fall asleep is another beneficial thing to do.

Sharma said other beneficial practices include turning off the T.V. and putting phones

away at least 20 to 30 minutes before going to bed as a way to minimize the amount of bright light someone is exposed to before trying to fall asleep.

“There are parts of the brain that rely on signals to keep you awake, and one of those signals is just light, just bright light,” Sharma said.

Once in bed and preparing to go to sleep, Sharma recommended some breathing exercises, like counting breath to help calm the mind and body.

“You will just take a breath in,” Sharma said.

“That’s one. You breathe out. That’s two. Three, four and then when you get to 10, you start over again, and you just let the thoughts come and let them go, and if you forget where you are in the count, start over again.”

If rest does not come after 20 minutes of trying to fall asleep, Sharma recommended trying to get out of bed and try reading a book until the tiredness comes back over and then try going to sleep again.

Even though getting to sleep can be frustrating at times, Sharma assured students that most sleep problems will get better as people get older, and sleep will come eventually.

“There’s this feeling of sleepiness that usually only has one cure, which is to sleep,” Sharma said.

SPOTLIGHT

MIKAYLA BURNS / MANAGING EDITOR

Imberli Vontrell performs at the Pride on the Plains drag dinner on Feb. 2, 2019, in Opelika, Ala.

From the military to drag queen

By ELIZABETH HURLEY Community Editor

Strutting around the second floor of Irish Bred Pub in high heels and a skin-tight cocktail dress, one of the night’s entertainers sips from a straw in a plastic cup etched with a beer logo waiting to take the stage.

After maneuvering through the growing crowd with ease, the entertainer finally makes it to the door. Stepping outside into the crisp evening air and pulling out a cigarette to take a few drags before flicking it away, the performer hears the music and crowd growing louder inside — it’s time to start the show.

Tim Peacock, 30, started performing in drag during his time in the military when he was stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia. One of his best friends introduced him to the world of drag after he found

himself having a difficult time fitting in with the other members of his platoon.

“Being in the military kind of put me in a dark place — having to hide myself to avoid harassment and bullying,” Peacock said. “It had just brought me to an extremely dark place.”

Going into the military was to join the unofficial family business and a way to leave his small town outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. He was stationed across the U.S. and deployed in Iraq for a year.

Gaining acceptance during his four years of service was difficult as a gay man in the military. Peacock found himself on the wrong end of jokes, but his platoon members ensured that only they could make fun of him. Still, this made Peacock feel like an outsider to the group.

“It’s an awful feeling to fight for other people’s rights in this coun-

try that I don’t get to have,” Peacock said. “At the point that I was in the military, gay marriage wasn’t legal, and it was very hard to get up and go to work every day knowing that.”

Peacock found himself struggling with few friends that knew the true him. That’s when Imberli Vontrell came along.

Vontrell was the person Peacock became to get away from the politics of the military. She was, and has been for the last 10 years, a way for Peacock to express himself and get involved with the gay community.

“I needed a way to be able to hang out with the gay community by also keeping myself hidden and secret from other military folks because they would come out to the gay bars all the time,” Vontrell said. “Doing drag kind of opened my eyes and head. It helped me in so many ways.

I’ve always said that drag saved my

life.”

Vontrell first performed at a bar in Columbus, Georgia. While visiting the bar one night, Tim Peacock met his now-husband Chad Peacock.

Chad Peacock was enthralled with Tim Peacock but became skeptical when he first saw Vontrell performing, thinking he did not want to date a drag queen. Those thoughts, however, soon passed.

“He [Tim] has pretty much helped me become the person I am,” Chad Peacock said. “Just because of his confidence of who he is and how proud he is to be himself, it inspired me to come out to my family and friends.”

Chad and Tim Peacock grew together, and have been together for 10 years and married for three of them.

» See VONTRELL, 12

The Auburn Plainsman

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019 ART

18 women artists’ work on display

By CARRIE JOHNSON Lifestyle Writer

The Auburn Arts Association is filled with pieces of art created by 18 different women artists as it hosts the Winter 2019 Invitational.

This year’s event, entitled “18 Women Artists,” is in the art gallery at the Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center through Feb. 25.

Each of the artists was invited by the Auburn Arts Association to submit a piece of work of the artist’s choosing. The guidelines for the pieces displayed at the exhibit were that each painting must be two-dimensional — no sculptures or ceramic pieces.

The reasoning for this is due to a display of 450 bowls that will be held in the same room as the “18 Women Artists” exhibit on tables in front of the women’s art on Saturday, Feb. 23.

Margaret Gluhman, the gallery director at the Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center, said she asked the artists to limit the subject-matter in their art that they submitted for the exhibit.

The art pieces should consist of abstractions, landscapes, still-life and collages, rather than portraits and people, she said. The art on display varies throughout the exhibit. The intent of the exhibit was to display many different mediums of art, Gluhman said.

Sheri Schumacher, a retired faculty member of the Uni-

OSCARS » From 11

Oscars glory,” Talley said. “Boasting a diverse and profoundly affecting story, ‘Roma’ easily lives up to its expectations as a gorgeous, sweeping epic that the Academy normally loves to endure with a win.”

Livi Edmonson, sophomore in media studies, is a weekly film review writer for a newspaper in Georgia.

“I started writing film reviews for the Union Recorder Newspaper in Milledgeville, Georgia when I was 17,” Edmonson said. “It turned into a weekly film column where I write reviews for the paper every Friday, and during Awards Season I have my predictions published the weekend of the shows.”

Edmonson agrees that “Roma” will take Best Picture.

“I think ‘Roma’ will win because what seems to have resonated with critics is that it is a foreign film that

versity’s department of architecture, has a piece of artwork on display that she created using fabric. The title of her piece is “Striation.”

Although the Auburn Arts Association asked artists to avoid submitting still-life pieces, Ann Waid’s piece on canvas called “Still Life” is still included in the exhibit because of the way it complemented the pieces around it, Gluhman said.

In honor of the exhibit guidelines, however, Waid also submitted an oil painting on canvas called “Landscape.”

“All of the pieces are so different, but still they all seem to relate to one another,” Gluhman said. “I asked women whose works haven’t been shown here recently to bring a piece for the exhibit so that people can see what new types of art they are working on currently.”

Gluhman said three of the artists on display have never been shown at this gallery before.

“The result of reaching out to these women is an exhibit full of beautiful variety, yet similarities as well,” Gluhman said.

Gluhman said she does not have a favorite piece of art displayed in the exhibit.

“My favorite is coming in and seeing the whole show,” Gluhman said. “I love that I can appreciate each piece of art in new, different ways each time I look at it.”

Gluhman said she has loved art all of her life, and as an artist, she enjoys creating art through collages and photography.

was completely in Spanish and black and white, yet it still appealed to American audiences,” Edmonson said.

The veteran film reviewer stuck with this prediction as the winner, but she said she would pick another movie to take the title of Best Picture.

“I think that the film ‘Green Book’ deserves to win because it is heartfelt and powerful and a film for absolutely everyone,” Edmonson said.

“Roma” is nominated for 10 awards in the following categories: Best Picture, Best Actress (Yalitza Aparicio), Best Supporting Actress (Marina de Tavira), Best Director, Foreign Language Film, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Production Design and Best Sound Editing.

However, Kelley said she thinks Spike Lee might give Cuaron a run for his money in the Best Director category.

“Spike Lee has a good chance of winning best director for ‘BlacKkKlansmen,’” Kelley said. “It is another

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great film that anchors the racial politics of the 1970s in our present moment.”

Edmonson agreed Lee could win but said she sees Cuaron to be the “best bet” to win.

“He has a huge winning streak in place right now,” Edmonson said.

She also referenced his past win for his direction in 2014 for his film, “Gravity.”

“By now, Cuaron is a veteran to the director category, and ‘Roma’ is easily his best work,” Edmonson said. “However, I do think that Spike Lee could very well be the upset in this category, especially since he has never won an Oscar and he definitely deserves it this year.”

“BlacKkKlansmen” is nominated for six awards in the following categories: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Adam Driver), Best Director, Best Original Music Score (Terence Blanchard), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing (Barry Alexander Brown).

PAGE 12

VONTRELL » From 11

Chad Peacock now manages the bookings for Vontrell’s drag performance group ROYGBIV. They also work together with Pride on the Plains, in which Chad serves as the president to promote the LGBTQ community in Auburn and Opelika.

“When it comes to ROYGBIV, it’s very much back to that team thing,” Chad Peacock said. “I always tell people I’m just the booking director, he’s the show director … I value his opinion, his input more than anything, then I make moves from there. Pride on the Plains is kind of the opposite.”

Pride on the Plains often puts on drag events for the community such as their drag brunches, which Vontrell said is one of her favorite performances.

“One of my favorite moments of doing drag was doing drag brunch at Zazu’s,” Vontrell said.

“It allows all ages to be able to come to the show. It was great to meet the younger LGBTQ community that can’t necessarily make it out to the bar.”

Once Peacock completed his service in the military, he moved to Auburn to be closer to Chad Peacock and became a hairdresser.

One night while he was out with friends, a waiter recognized him as Vontrell and suggested starting a drag show in Auburn.

From there, ROYGBIV was formed. The drag performance group began with Vontrell and one other performer. They would perform once a week at a local bar, each putting on multiple numbers.

Since then the group has grown to include eight members that rotate weekly at the Irish Bred Pub in Opelika.

Vontrell has kept her and Tim’s lives separate, though they do overlap.

“Especially since I do work in the beauty field, I do get to meet a lot of future and potential clients while I am out doing drag,” Peacock said. “Especially when clients see the product that I put out on me with styling my own wigs and

doing my own makeup.”

Vontrell also competes in drag pageants. She began competing because they are a way, especially in the South, to climb up the drag ladder, Vontrell said.

She currently holds two titles, Miss Carrot Toss and Miss Drudge City Pride, but has held four throughout her career. During her pageant tenure, she has found herself constantly learning more about drag.

The pageants take a lot of work, time and money. They have also given her opportunities she never would have had.

“My favorite [performing] moment was being able to perform at Hamburger Mary’s,” Vontrell said. “That is a huge milestone or stepping stone in the drag community. Being able to perform at such a prestigious location, which is in Daytona, that was one of my favorite moments.”

Pageants have also afforded Vontrell the opportunity to work with other drag queens.

Vontrell has mentored Colana Bleu, also a member of ROYGBIV, through several pageants, helping her to win the title of Miss ROYGBIV. “It’s amazing [to perform with Vontrell,]” Bleu said. “She pushes you to do better because she’s such a good queen. When you’re a drag queen you don’t want to live up to and do everything that everyone else is doing. But you want to be on par and on her level, and she’s the best drag queen we have in Auburn.”

It’s not uncommon for Vontrell to hear comments like this.

It’s one of her favorite parts of performing when she gets to talk to audience members after a performance, and they are in awe of her skills.

It’s one of her favorite parts of performing, getting to hear the crowd react when she performs tough skills like death drops. But the best part of performing is the self-confidence it gives her.

“I always say doing drag gives me the boost of self-confidence I don’t necessarily have as Tim,” she said. “Just hiding behind the makeup and wig, you’re able to get away with anything doing drag.”

JOSHUA FISHER / PHOTOGRAPHER

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

ACROSS 1 ’90s-’00s Olympic soccer notable 5 Literary captain 9 Leaks slowly 14 Burn soother 15 Zippo 16 Computer text code 17 They’re not loyal 18 Unyielding 20 Golfing group 22 Base for money 23 Swallowed 24 “Harry Potter” reporter __ Skeeter 25 Not much 27 Anthem contraction 29 Blue, on the Danube 31 Noir hero 32 Lose oomph 34 Movie SFX 35 Purim heroine 39 Centers of attention 40 What unfixed malfunctions usually do 42 Flight-related prefix 43 “Burnt” color 45 Coastal bird 46 Sound of an angry exit 47 LSU conference 48 Chicago-style pizza chain, informally 50 Education org.

51 Started, as a conversation 55 Car dealer’s abbr.

57 Acct. that may be rolled over 58 Half a numbers game 59 Seattle pro 62 Going back, in a way 65 Arch type 66 Often harmful bacteria 67 Basmati, for one 68 “What, will these hands __ be clean?”: Lady Macbeth 69 Thick 70 “Futurama” creator Groening

71 “Baseball Tonight” channel

DOWN 1 Roxie __, “Chicago” role 2 “There oughta be __” 3 Grand Prix, for one 4 Soccer superstar Lionel 5 Edible elephant, say 6 Fabled also-ran 7 Hubbub 8 Xhosa’s language group 9 French holy women 10 Bilingual subj.

11 Grand display 12 Mary-in-mourning sculpture 13 Agreed (with) 19 Skillet dish with ham and peppers 21 Wagering shorthand 25 Supercharge, and a hint to what’s literally hiding in the four longest Down answers

26 Take the role of 27 Does in 28 Morlock victims 30 Memorable time 33 Infomercial brand 36 FAQ spots 37 Q.E.D. word 38 Type of tomato 41 Spigoted server 44 Suit go-with 49 Fed. benefits agency 51 Located

52 Jiffy 53 Hispanic penguin in “Happy Feet” 54 Render harmless 56 Lake Geneva river 59 Religious offshoot 60 Bawl 61 “Ol’ Man River” composer 63 Raised trains 64 Through

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

By Peter A. Collins ©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

02/21/19

02/21/19