The Auburn Plainsman 03.03.16 Issue

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A Spirit That Is Not Afraid

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Thursday, March 3, 2016 Vol. 123, Issue 22, 12 Pages

Aviation

campus

New report shows SGA mostly Greek Corey Williams Campus Editor

a target line on the runway. In the power-off event, the plane’s engine has to be in idle on the final approach.

“I got involved as a freshman,” Wolbart said. “I came out here and figured it would be a good way to get involved in a campus activity.”

Wolbart also got his start early at 15 years old and obtained his pilot’s license when he was 17.

“I’m not doing any more training,” Wolbart said. “I’m kind of building my flight time by training other students here at Auburn, and I’ll probably do that for another two or three years.

Then I’ll be off to the airlines.”

During the Sunday practice open to the media, pilots were practicing their landing skills.

Student government members are approximately three times more likely to be involved with a Greek organization than the rest of the student body, according to SGA’s recently released State of Diversity Report. Seventy-two percent of SGA members are affiliated with a sorority or fraternity, while only 25 percent of the general student body participates in the Greek system.

Drake Pooley, Diversity and Multicultural Affairs committee chair, said the disparity most likely stems from lack of communication opportunities.

“It’s so easy to go to a chapter and speak for 30 seconds and reach 200 people,” Pooley said. “There aren’t many other places on campus you can do that.”

Students in Greek organizations are more likely to have higher socioeconomic backgrounds than their non-Greek peers, Pooley said.

“If you look at Greek Life, specifically fraternities, it’s not very diverse at all,” Pooley said. “In a perfect world, if Greek Life was fully diverse, I don’t think these would be too much of a problem.”

The other State of Diversity Report categories — race, gender, year, college and international students — were more balanced. The vast majority of the student body, 79.5 percent, and of SGA, 86.6 percent, identifies as white.

The only major disparity in the race category was the “other” option. The options listed on the survey included white; white, Hispanic; black or AfricanAmerican; two or more races; Asian; and Hispanic.

Approximately 7 percent of the student body chose “other.” Nobody in SGA identified with that option.

Women make up more than half of SGA. But, Pooley said, that might be misleading. Five out of seven executive board members and nine out of 11 assistant vice presidents are men. Women hold the majority of minor positions, however.

“I don’t think you need the report to see the problem,” Pooley said. “All you need to do is go to

» See flying, 2

» See Diversity, 2

armand de laureal / photographer

An Auburn University Flying Team pilot practices landing at the Auburn University Regional Airport.

Flying team qualifies for nationals Jim Little

Editor-in-Chief

The War Eagle Flying Team doesn’t compete on the normal field. It competes on the airfield.

Students in Auburn University’s aviation program will take their flying skills to a national championship in Columbus, Ohio, from May 9–14.

The team is part of the National Intercollegiate Flying Association, a group of college aviation programs that organize competitions for students.

“That can be explained as the NCAA of flying,” said Hampton McDonald, junior in business and safety officer for the War Eagle Flying Team.

McDonald had his first flight lessons when he was 13 years old. Starting young is common

theme with many of the flying team’s pilots.

The team practices every Sunday at the Auburn University Regional Airport. They compete in several knowledge-based events, but it’s the air events that take the most practice.

Peter Wolbart, sophomore in aviation management and the team’s top pilot at their most recent competition in Melbourne, Florida, in October, explained the events at a practice open to the media Sunday, Feb. 28.

Three events are held in the air: a navigation event, a message drop event and a landing event.

The message drop event is where a pilot drops a small container 200 feet above the ground to hit a target.

The landing events are broken into two categories, a power-on and power-off event. In both events, the pilot tries to land the plane on

dining

election

Super Tuesday: Hughes upsets incumbent Treese mAdison Ogletree / photographer

Au Bon Pain’s prepackaged salads are on display in the Student Center.

Breaking down how your on-campus dollars are spent Emily Esleck

Managing Editor

It’s almost halfway through the semester, and for some, dining dollars are dwindling. Eating on campus can be convenient and a good way to network with other students, according to Bill Sallustro, resident district manager for Chartwells, the contracted company Auburn University chose to help run Tiger Dining.

Some students feel their meal plan monopoly money disappears within the first months of the semester. However, a closer look at how Chartwells prices on-campus food and services reveals the margin for profit is approximately .02 percent — minimal, according to Sallustro.

He said in the pricing system there can be hiccups. A couple of people sit at a computer and punch in the price for each item for the specific location on campus, Sallustro said.

Approximately one week ago, the price of a Starbucks Doubleshot Energy espresso drink was $5.44 instead of the usual $3.49.

Although this was noticed last week, the price was incorrect since August, according to Glenn Loughridge, director of campus dining.

The error was corrected Monday, Feb. 29.

Sallustro said the Doubleshot drink costs $2.18, but Chartwells sells it for $3.49. He also said for every dollar, Chartwells receives 19.5 cents, which is given to the University to pay for operation costs and utilities to keep dining facilities running and to pay the 300 employees who work for Tiger Dining. If there is anything left after packaging costs, Sallustro said they make profit off the remainder. He said this year Chartwells made approximately $30,000 in profit.

Tiger Dining receives approximately $130,000 in sales Monday–Thursday, according to Sallustro, and Fridays drop to $80,000 with a significant decrease Saturday and Sunday, where sales dip to $20,000 and $30,000–

» See dollars, 2

Jim Little / Editor-in-Chief

Brandon Hughes and incumbent District Attorney Robbie Treese speak to the Lee County Republicans Club.

Maria McIlwain Community editor

Kris Martins Copy editor

After serving as Lee County district attorney for the past six years and as prosecutor of the county for 16 years, Robbie Treese did not secure the nomination March 1 for the upcoming term.

“Wow, 16 years,” Treese said with a sigh upon news that Hughes had announced victory before the final results.

Brandon Hughes challenged Treese for the nomination and won with nearly 3,000 more votes than Treese.

“I think it was very much a statement of the

people of Lee County,” Hughes said.

Hughes said he will bring a “culture of service” to the district attorney’s office from day one.

“I can promise we’re going to be a serviceoriented district attorney’s office,” Hughes said.

“I can’t wait to get to work.”

Hughes thanked his supporters and said he already has ideas for when his term begins in January. Hughes, an Auburn University at Montgomery graduate, began his legal career with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office in 2002.

Hughes said he prosecuted cases, from

» See super tuesday, 2

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The Auburn Plainsman

Thursday, March 3, 2016

politics

DUI reports The following were arrested and charged with driving under the influence by the Auburn Police Division from Feb. 24-29:

Alabama presidential primary results Republican

Feb. 24 - George Robert Crowell, 28 28, Gentry Drive at 1:26 a.m.

Donald Trump

376,353

43.4%

Feb. 27 - Stephen Thomas Morrow, 23 South College Street at 1:14 a.m.

Ted Cruz

183,168

21.1%

- Antonio Ramos, 23 South College Street at Harmon Drive at 3:35 a.m.

Marco Rubio

159,802

18.7%

Feb. 28 - Kyle Theodore McKeever, 35 South College Street at Duval Drive at1:54 a.m.

Ben Carson

88,969

10.3%

John Kasich

38,374

4.4%

A full crime report provided by the Auburn Department of Public Safety is available online at ThePlainsman.com.

–Reports provided by the Auburn Department of Public Safety

Democratic

(334) 329-7777 2059 S College St, Auburn

diversity » From 1

the website and see who holds the top positions.”

SGA President Jesse Westerhouse said a new SGA branch, outreach, was created this year to combat the diversity issue.

“Communication with sororities and fraternities is so streamlined,” Westerhouse said. “Greek organizations kind of have an advantage when it comes to getting people ready. (The outreach branch) will be tasked with going around campus and keeping people updated with what we’re doing. We’ll

Dollars » From 1

$35,000.

Auburn has the lowest meal plan rate compared to other universities, according to Sallustro. He said approximately 20 percent of students have the on-campus meal plan of $995 with the rest of the population having the offcampus $300 plan.

“The idea of this plan was never to be a plan to [eat] like every single meal because you know that’s impossible, right?” Sallustro said.

Loughridge said a student is paid every summer to conduct the Market Basket Survey, which determines prices for all foods, drinks and services offered on campus.

Sallustro said they go to comparable restaurants in the community similar to the on-campus venue. He said they weigh how much meat and toppings each item has and compile a presentation Loughridge and Sallustro use to decide prices.

Sallustro said a couple of years ago the SGA treasurer at the time conducted the survey and found Au Bon Pain’s portions were better for the value compared to Panera Bread.

According to Loughridge, on-campus restaurants have

have a presence in big organizations and small organizations.”

Harlan Bailey, appointee for assistant vice president of outreach, said he’s still figuring out his new position at SGA’s Feb. 29 meeting.

“Since it’s new, I have a bunch of questions, and if you have a bunch of questions, ask me,” Bailey said.

“And if you have any suggestions, also let me know because we are looking for outreach from SGA.” Claire Tully contributed to this report.

See graphic on page 3 to keep prices within 5 percent of the off-campus counterpart. Some students see high prices of items in an oncampus convenience store and compare them with gas station prices on the same product.

However, Sallustro explained the gas station’s prices can be less because they have other products such as gas, cigarettes or alcohol to offset the cheaper price.

“We sell food and the services, and that’s all we have,” Sallustro said. “We’re a little bit more restricted on those prices.”

Karlie Cowell, sophomore in psychology, said she feels there is a good selection of food on campus, and most products are reasonably priced.

“Some of it, I feel like, is kind of expensive like Chicken Salad Chick,” Cowell said. “It’s always like $10. I mean, they do give you a lot of food, but it still seems kind of expensive to me.”

Cowell said she would like to see a more cafeteriastyle dining option with more home-cooked meals.

Since Auburn has a retail campus dining system instead of a meal system, Sallustro said it gives students more flexibility in choosing what they want to eat.

Hillary Clinton

310,022

77.8%

Bernie Sanders

76,446

19.2%

gurden smith / Graphics Editor

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton won every Alabama county in their party’s respective primaries. SOURCE: Alabama Secretary of State’s office

SUper tuesday » From 1

misdemeanors to homicides, until 2006, when he took a job with prosecution litigation.

As results were still filing in Tuesday night, March 1, Treese read aloud, a quiver in his voice, an email of support and prayers from a fellow district attorney.

Shortly after, with 22 precincts reporting, Treese conceded alongside his wife and two children, despite others’ suggestion to hold out until all precincts were in.

After a long pause, Treese thanked his supporters, family and friends and praised the legacy those around him helped create in making the district attorney’s office “one of the best and most respected in the state.”

“Of course, I’m disappointed more so for everybody that I let down more than anything else,” Treese said.

Treese said he will take his next actions one step at a time.

“The lesson learned is I should’ve paid more attention to the political consequences of my acts — trying to do the right thing for the right reasons every single time and letting me worry about the consequenc-

es,” Treese said. “Well, here are the consequences.”

U.S. Senate After a hard-fought battle for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination, incumbent Richard Shelby came out on top, with approximately 65 percent of the vote.

“It was a good race,” said Jonathan McConnell, Shelby’s main challenger in the five-man race. “It was good for the democratic process. I was honored to meet so many great people and have so many great people working for us.”

McConnell, former Auburn SGA president, received almost 28 percent. He said he was happy to have the opportunity to run and will support Shelby in November.

“I think we’ve got to maintain our Republican majority in the Senate in order to get stuff done,” McConnell said.

Shelby said he is looking forward to the general election in November.

“Serving as your Senator is a privilege and responsibility that I do not take lightly, and I will continue to stand up against big government for all Alabamians and Americans,” Shelby said.

U.S. House of Representatives Mike Rogers won the District 3 GOP

primary by approximately 70 percent — a new record for him — but he isn’t taking anything for granted.

He said he will be facing the same opponent in November as he did two years ago.

“Folks know what their options are,” Rogers said.

Rogers said he was thankful for his campaign’s hard work and “humbled” by the results of Tuesday’s primary.

Rogers said he wants to be there for his constituents.

He said his primary concern is increasing national security spending and keeping the nation safe.

“They want to know that there’s someone in Washington that’s looking out for them,” Rogers said.

Larry DiChiara congratulated Rogers and said he would support Rogers.

“We gave the folks an alternative,” DiChiara said. “We did our best to get the message out. Seventy percent of folks want him to remain their representative, and I certainly respect that and hope he represents his constituents well. That’s what they deserve.”

Jim Little and Chip Brownlee contributed to this report.

Armand de laureal / Photographer

Birds fly in front of Jordan-Hare Stadium in a view from a Cessna aircraft flown by the Auburn University Flying Team Safety Officer Hampton McDonald.

flying » From 1

Two orange road cones marked the target line on the runway.

Members of the team not flying sat in folding chairs next to the runway and watched for when the single-engine Cessna 172’s wheels touched the runway. As the plane came in on approach, the wind was blowing constantly at 15–20 mph, which made conditions tougher. The pilot landed the plane in the tough crosswind but over-

shot the target and immediately throttled the engine back up to take off again.

“Twenty-five feet over,” a member of the team said over the radio to the pilot.

At one point during the day, there are five planes in the air circling the Auburn airport practicing landings.

The sound of airplanes circling above is what got McDonald interested in aviation, whose home was near the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

“I’m from Atlanta, so Delta Airlines tends to fly over the house every 10 minutes,” McDonald said. “That was my start in aviation, and I’ve been in love ever since.”

Auburn has one of the nation’s oldest aviation programs, and that’s what drew McDonald to it.

“I chose to come to Auburn because I love the city and I love the history of the aviation program,” McDonald said. “I’ve heard so many good things in the [aviation] industry

about Auburn.”

During the practice, McDonald took a flight over campus where the baseball match between Auburn and Southern University could be seen from 2,000 feet, and a flock of birds gleaming in the sunlight passed between the plane and JordanHare Stadium Those sights are part of the reason McDonald and his teammates said they love flying.

“I love the freedom of it,” McDonald said. “There’s so much space in the air.”

Campus

3

Thursday, March 3, 2016

ThePlainsman.com

Campus

CONSTRUCTION

Possible pedestrian plaza discussed at Mell Street open forum Rachel Sprouse CAMPUS WRITER

Potential plans for the Mell Corridor were proposed in front of community members, students, faculty and staff in the Foy ballroom on Feb. 25.

Questionnaires were distributed for the audience to fill out as representatives from Facilities Management presented various alternatives for how the Mell Street space could be developed.

Tommy Holcombe, landscape architect, presented the preconstruction conditions of the Mell Street area, then began to show future possibilities for the area surrounding the Mell Classroom Building.

Holcombe said the simplest option to keep the street like it was and have the street left open.

“That’s the reason we’re here is to see if we can come up with a better way to do that,” Holcombe said.

Options such as closing off the street and converting the area into a pedestrian plaza, having a pedestrian plaza with a one-way transit path and two-way bike lanes were proposed. Other options included relocating the library-service lane and Mary Martin Hall’s service lane to improve

the parking area around Ross Square and adding a new transit stop by Ross Square.

Variations and combinations of these ideas were depicted on PowerPoint slides for the audience to view as they completed their surveys.

Some included adding permanent welcome stations at the intersection of Mell Street and Roosevelt Drive or at Mell Street and Thach Avenue.

Connor Taunton, freshman in architecture, said while he thought there were many good ideas presented, he wondered why changes could not be made to other parts of campus.

“Why can’t we also do this to Thach as well and close that off to just pedestrians and transit?” Taunton said.

“That would connect nicely to the new Samford development where they have the new walkway with all of the trees and Toomer’s Corner.”

Stone Ray, freshman in architecture, said the ideas proposed at the forum seemed to favor driver access.

“It’s progress, but I still feel that from what I saw on the screen today, this was still leaning more toward satisfying automobiles than pedestrians,” Ray said.

Placing roundabouts at crowded intersections was another idea proposed at the forum. One option presented was to add a roundabout to the Roosevelt Drive and Mell Street intersection and another was to add one with pedestrian walkways at the intersection of Samford Drive and Mell Street.

Ray said he thinks roundabouts only work if they’d be tight enough for the pedestrian to feel comfortable as well.

“Balancing that congestion at Samford and Mell is hard but also accommodating the pedestrians as well,” Ray said. “I think the only appropriate place for one would be the Samford intersection.”

Holcombe said at this point, anything is a possibility, but thinks the “idea of [a] one way Mell” Street is worth looking into.

“We’ve got one more place where we have the potential to make it more pedestrian-friendly, more usable,” Holcombe said. “It’s really all about the students, so that’s what we’re trying to do is make sure they’re happy.”

Ray said he would like to see a situation where the Mell Street area was redone as a pedestrian plaza with tem-

ARMAND DE LAUREAL / PHOTOGRAPHER

Auburn University Flying Team Safety Officer Hampton McDonald flies a Cessna plane over the Mell Street construction.

porary access for cars and buses. “[That could work] especially in the summer time if the kids aren’t here, cars could use it,” Ray said.

Taunton said he disagreed with Ray about having driver access on the potential pedestrian plaza.

“I think it should be solely pedestrian and transit except for in the summer months when there are fewer students around,” Taunton said. “Students shouldn’t have to worry, ‘Oh,

what time is it? Am I going to be hit by a car today?’”

Ben Burmester, campus planner, said the next step is to gather input from the forum and develop new options and take them to different constituents such as Tiger Transit, the City of Auburn and SGA. The next open forum will be held September 2016, where the three to five main ideas will be presented to the public, according to Burmester.

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Meet Sarah Pitts, Harry S. Truman Scholarship finalist Claire Tully CAMPUS WRITER

PITTS

Sarah Pitts, junior with a double major in English literature and Spanish, was recently named a finalist in one of the nation’s most prestigious academic scholarships.

Pitts said the final step she is preparing for is an interview before a panel from the Truman Board.

Pitts said she is most interested by modern and postmodern literature and literary and political theory.

“My academic endeavors, especially my time in the English literature track at Auburn, have taught me to think critically, to express myself eloquently and to interrogate the world like a text,” Pitts said.

Outside of her academic en-

deavors, Pitts said she is a collegiate women’s B cyclist for Auburn’s club cycling team, the Auburn Flyers.

“I cycle around 100 miles per week, and I wish I had time to ride four times that amount,” Pitts said.

Pitts said her favorite memory at Auburn was the result of a spontaneous biking expedition with a friend.

“Last semester at 11 p.m. on Nov. 30, I got a text from my best friend asking if I wanted to ride my bike to Tuskegee National Park to camp,” Pitts said.

Pitts said even though they didn’t bring blankets or sleeping bags, it was still her favorite college moment.

“By 4 a.m., we were so cold and miserable that we packed

up and cycled back to campus, covered in mud and pine straw and tired as dogs,” Pitts said.

“We collapsed in my bed at 6 a.m. and got maybe an hour of sleep before making it to 8 a.m. classes … and that’s how I went impulsively camping in December with no sleeping bag — one of my absolute favorite memories from college.”

DIVERSITY » From 1 and 2

SGA

Student Body

KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSIT Y

kennesaw.edu/summer

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• Over 1,000 courses to choose from • Online, hybrid and on-campus courses are available • Course sessions of two, four, six and eight weeks • Application and document deadline is April 1, 2016

Learn more: summer.kennesaw.edu Office of Undergraduate Admissions • 770.423.6300

CONTRIBUTED BY SGA

Campus 4

The Auburn Plainsman

Thursday, March 3, 2016

APPS

University to promote positivity on Yik Yak Claire Tully CAMPUS WRITER

In recent years, ever-changing technology and social media growth have affected the social dynamic among university students, and unfortunately some of these changes have been negative because of hateful messages on apps such as Yik Yak. Bobby Woodard, vice president for the Division of Student Affairs and associate provost, said students must know their comments are never truly anonymous when they are linked back to their mobile devices.

“There are several apps across campuses now that appear to allow users to post anonymous comments, but in fact, they are not anonymous because the apps are tied to the mobile device they are using,” Woodard said.

It’s challenging to eliminate these negative comments on applications because of the limitations it could put on freedom of speech, according to Woodard.

“While some universities are exploring options to put geofences on their campuses to block the apps, there is a concern that this would limit the right to free speech on campus,” Woodard said.

“There are several pending legal actions about whether institutions are violating free speech by limiting apps on their campuses.”

Woodard said he is making an effort to educate students on the effects of being participants on apps such as Yik Yak. “One of the best ways to conquer bad speech

is with more speech that is positive in nature,” Woodard said. “We are making an effort to educate people on the effect that their participation in apps such as Yik Yak can have, not to eliminate the app, just education on how actions on these apps can affect others.”

Woodard said it can be difficult to keep up with all of the social media changes constantly occurring.

“A challenge in social media in general is that it’s forever changing, especially with new apps that allow so-called anonymous comments and posts,” Woodard said. “We are working to understand those platforms and try to educate others on how to use them in an inclusive way.”

Woodard said he hopes members of the Auburn Family would take a stand if they saw something inappropriate online.

“Many of our Auburn Family live by the Auburn Creed, and they refrain from posting comments online that are hurtful or destructive,” Woodard said. “When our students see or hear inappropriate comments online, I hope they will respond.”

Woodard said taking this stand would be abiding by the Auburn Creed to be helpful to each other.

“At Auburn, we believe in the human touch, which cultivates sympathy with my fellow men and mutual helpfulness and brings happiness for all,” Woodard said. “Even online, we can stand up for each other and speak out against hurtful speech.”

“

One of the best ways to conquer hate speech is with more speech that is positive in nature.”

—Bobby Woodard

VICE PRESIDENT FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS

STERLING WAITS / GRAPHIC DESIGNER

The University is making an effort to educate students about Yik Yak, according to Student Affairs VP Bobby Woodard.

POLITICS

MADISON OGLETREE / PHOTOGRAPHER

LEFT: Students receive free T-shirts and other campaign items.

RIGHT: A student holds his protest sign.

‘Stump for Trump’ bus draws supporters, protesters Corey Williams CAMPUS EDITOR

Supporters of presidential candidate Donald Trump — and protesters — gathered in the field across from the medical clinic Feb. 27 to greet the “Stump for Trump” campaign bus.

The bus was scheduled to stay on campus from 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Most supporters left soon after receiving free T-shirts and signs from the campaign staff.

Tommy Shaw, campaign bus owner, said he likes “everything” Trump stands for.

He originally bought the bus for his two Maltese dogs. After the dogs’ deaths, Shaw decided to use the bus to help candidates — even Gov.

Robert Bentley used it during his campaign.

Shaw’s vehicle was recently commissioned as a Trump campaign bus for Alabama.

“I’m very proud of that,” Shaw said. “I’m proud of what we’re doing here.”

Perry Hooper Jr., chairman of the Central Alabama Trump for President Campaign, said it was his idea to bring the campaign to “God’s country.” He doesn’t know when, but he said the campaign will make another stop in Auburn.

“People love Trump in Alabama, but especially in Auburn,” Hooper said. “They believe in a strong military. They believe in a strong economy. They have confidence in Donald Trump, and obviously the students love him.”

Austin Phillips, senior in kinesiology, said he has been a Trump supporter since “day one.”

He’s been to rallies for Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the past, but prefers the atmosphere at Trump events.

“He’s a different animal,” Phillips said.

Both protesters and supporters remained civil throughout the event.

“The Trump campaign can come here,” said protester Blake Willoughby, senior in political science. “That’s fine. But we as students can’t stand idly by and watch it happen if we don’t agree with it. We’re voicing our opinions the same way they are.”

Other protesters think Trump’s views do not represent Auburn students.

“Auburn is a family — black, white, Muslim, Hispanic, Asian, whatever — we’re a family,” said protester Nora Brown, senior in theatre.

“Trump does not support that, and I don’t like his campaign being on our campus.”

Members of the New Age Conservatives, a new group of Auburn students, also peacefully protested the event.

“Our goal is to promote compassionate conservatism,” said NAC member Jakob Geiger, freshman in political science. “We want to show people that not every Republican supports hate.”

EVENTS

‘Cosby Show’ star to speak during HERstory month S taff Report

Keshia Knight Pulliam will be the keynote speaker for the Multicultural Center’s Women’s HERstory Month event Wednesday, March 9, at 6 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom, according to an Auburn University press release.

The event is free and open to the public.

Known for her role as Rudy Huxtable on the hit sitcom “The Cosby Show,” Pulliam has established a career as an actress, motivational speaker, entrepreneur and philanthropist, the release states.

Her work on “The Cosby Show” garnered several NAACP Image Awards,

PULLIAM

Young Artist Awards, a People’s Choice Award, a Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award and many other honors.

She remains the youngest

actress ever nominated for an Emmy Award for best supporting actress.

Pulliam founded the Atlanta-based production company, Kizzy Productions, and is the founder of Kamp Kizzy, a nonprofit organization for young girls.

She will discuss following one’s passion and her path to success.

The Women’s HERstory month event will be sponsored by the Community and Civic Engagement Initiative in the College of Liberal Arts, the Office of University Writing and ePortfolio Program, the Division of Student Affairs, the Women’s Center and the Women Studies Program.

Opinion

5

Thursday, March 3, 2016

ThePlainsman.com

Opinion

OUR VIEW

Go out and apply for SGA cabinet

GURDEN SMITH / GRAPHICS EDITOR

Spring 2016 Editorial Board

Although the SGA elections have passed, there is still a way to directly influence its direction for the next year.

Apply for SGA cabinet positions.

We encourage students to apply and let their voices be heard. An issue commonly cited by students is that student government leadership isn’t reflective of the student body it represents.

This is most apparent when it comes to the amount of Greek students on campus compared to the amount of Greek SGA

members.

Approximately 25 percent of Auburn students are involved with Greek Life, with the remaining 75 percent being unaffiliated.

In SGA, the representation is almost flipped. Twenty-eight percent of SGA members are non-Greek, and 72 percent are Greek.

This makes sense for a couple reasons.

Fraternities and sororities vote in blocs, so their candidates usually have solid support without having to put forth very much effort to garner votes.

Furthermore, folks involved in Greek Life are the type of people who are more inclined to get involved with all sorts of things, SGA included. Older Greek leadership pushes younger members to pursue leadership roles.

But we believe such a disparity in the amount of non-Greek students on campus and the amount of non-Greek students in SGA is unreasonable.

It’s important to note that current Greek SGA members do not bear all of the blame for the situation.

Greek SGA members can’t be slighted for having the desire to acquire SGA positions.

That sort of behavior should be encouraged.

Non-Greek-affiliated students must put forth more effort to have their interests more accurately reflected in the student government.

Another criticism from students is that, although there is a good percentage of women in SGA, there aren’t enough in high-level leadership positions.

Some students are simply unaware of the cabinet positions. However, this year SGA members such as Trey Fields and Benjamin Baker have made great efforts to inform students about the cabinet positions.

These positions include but are not limited to: executive director of elections, director of schools’ council, assistant vice president of finance and director of Auburn Answers. Some of the duties these positions include are overseeing student elections and managing student government relations with the Balfour ring company.

Cabinet applications are due March 6 at 7 p.m.

We encourage all students to take a look at the available positions and to take the time to apply for one.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Respect people’s right to be human As I studied on the third floor of RBD, a group of four guys took a table five down from mine.

We faced the lawn between RBD and West Thach, where a group was meeting to practice something like tai chi.

While the tai chi group stretched, the guys immediately took notice, speculating whether they would fight or do parkour.

Fun jokes, sure. But the guys, who seemed unaware I or anyone else sat nearby, erupted when the tai chi group began bending their knees and shaping the air in unison.

“Oh my god,” said one, laughing. “What are they doing?”

“Dude, dude,” said another. “Film that.”

“They look ridiculous. Look at everyone walking by staring at them like they’re idiots.”

The only onlookers I saw seemed more curious than anything. Excitement, laughter, amusement. “Dude, will you film me if I run out there and do it with them?”

Their camera was broken, but they carried on. Show some respect, I wanted to tell them. I wanted to tell them to act like college students, like adults.

I wanted to ask them how they would feel if while praying or exercising arduously, someone began mocking them, holding back laughter while caricaturing their motions.

Then they would sense the seriousness,

the meaning, that tai chi appears to hold for those practicing it on the lawn below.

But what if these guys don’t treat their forms of prayer or exercise or any ritual as serious, as genuinely meaningful? What if they have no respect to give?

One guy joked that another’s comment was racist. Regardless of whether the comment was racist, I wanted to tell them, it lacked the respect that allows others to be human to us. It lacked the respect that makes us ourselves human.

I wanted to tell them.

SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE PLAINS

Response to “University to plant descendant oaks March 4-5” Faye Jones “Can’t wait to make a trip to see The Oaks!!!”

Response to “Auburn chief operating officer named aththletic director at UConn” Lona R. Cotney “Great opportunity. Good luck.”

Response to “Alabama could catapult Trump to the presidential nomination” Teresa Smith “Trump represents the frustration of the American people and a vote against the establishment unfortunately. Trump will.not change a thing has nothing to lose in speaking all his rhetoric. In the end, if Trump wins the Republican, come November, we will essentially vote for two liberals from New York City.”

Juanita Hoskins “That would be an embarrassment for Alabama.”

Response to “Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions endorses Trump” Vicki Vessels Johnston “Luckily, I already never have and never will vote for Jeff Sessions.”

Penne Laubenthal “OMG!!!! Amen, Vicki. NOR his crony Richard Shelby!!!”

Response to “Clinton scolds Alabama Republicans in her visit to Miles College” Elizabeth Anderson “Nobody who works a full time job. That’s a sad commentary on America, and something our parents and grandparents didn’t have to worry about.”

Greg Breland “Then maybe they should earn skills and get better paying jobs. Problem solved. Liberals are always looking for a way to make people victims when they’re simply a product of their choices.”

Response to “Richard Shelby runs for sixth term as senator” Alex Carter “There should be term limits, and he knows it.”

Carson Williford is a senior in English Literature.

Review of ‘Assassins’ by Telfair Peet Theatre I’ve been attending Auburn’s theatre plays since I was a freshman at Auburn. I always love going to see what new production is being performed at Telfair Peet Theatre.

Saturday evening, Feb. 28, I attended the Auburn University Theatre production of “Assassins.” I try my best to at least make it to one or two plays a semester, and to put it simply, “Assassins” didn’t disappoint.

The musical challenged the audience to take a different look at historical presidential assassinations and the motives with which the assassins acted upon.

The opening and closing songs were upbeat, with the cast — playing the assassins

and attackers of presidents McKinley, Ford, Lincoln, Garfield, Reagan, Nixon and Kennedy — emphasizing the idea that “everybody has a right to be happy.”

I appreciated that the play allowed the audience to see that, while some of the attackers portrayed in “Assassins” were mentally unstable, several of them were rational men and women acting out because of their past, their inability to cope with their current situation or their desire to be revered and remembered — even if hated by the masses for the rest of history.

Throughout the play, I was thinking on those around me daily who truly are hurting,

or have a deep desire for love and attention, and how that simple desire can lead to a lot of good or a lot of bad.

I applaud the cast and crew of “Assassins” for doing a wonderful job challenging me as an Auburn student — especially with the political and social climate of hate and intolerance of minority groups within our country during this time — to stand up and remember to let every voice be heard.

And I hope the rest of the Auburn Family does the same.

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Community Thursday, March 3, 2016

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ARTS

Toto, we’re not in Auburn anymore

Community

POLITICS

Student heads to Kansas for music competition Liz Maddux

COMMUNITY WRITER

Christian McGee spends six hours per day in front of a row of thin black-andwhite keys.

Her fingers tap against them in a rhythmic fashion as music pours out of a big black box.

There is a Bible verse written on a white board propped up against the corner of the wall, directly in McGee’s line of vision.

McGee, a senior in music, has been using her hands to create melodies since she was 8 years old.

“We lived on a farm, and I would always get out of doing things like mowing the lawn and doing the dishes when I was practicing piano,” McGee said. “My grandparents would never want to bother me when I practiced, so I would practice all the time to get out of chores. It is funny because I still do it today. Like if I don’t want to write a paper, I will practice instead.”

In two weeks, McGee will drive to Kansas and compete in a national competition March 21.

The idea to enter the competition came to McGee after she saw a flier for the event on a table. The event will feature the talents of other musicians such as vocal and string.

McGee’s parents wanted her to graduate from Auburn with a nursing degree, but when McGee realized she would not be able to have a minor in piano if she followed her parents’ wishes, she devised a new plan.

“I actually didn’t tell them right at first I had changed my major,” McGee said.

“I literally just kept running out of excuses of why I wouldn’t be a piano major. I mean, obviously, everything is fine now. My parents just wanted me to prove to them I could actually make money off of it, so I started teaching.”

McGee now teaches piano to several middle school-aged students at their homes.

“I love all of my students,” McGee

DAKOTA SUMPTER / PHOTO EDITOR

Loaded handguns would be allowed in cars without a permit with new state legislation.

Local law enforcement opposes new gun bill

LIZ MADDUX / COMMUNITY WRITER

Christian McGee has been playing piano since she was 8 years old.

said. “They are so awesome.”

McGee also plays music at Auburn University President Jay Gogue’s house during his dinner parties, where she said she comes up with most of the music in her head.

“My cousins love [for] me to play for them as well,” McGee said. “They like anything by Taylor Swift. I don’t know a lot of her songs, so sometimes I have to get them to play it first, and then I can play it. They love it.”

McGee smiled as she began to play the first song she ever learned on piano.

The melody sounded like a sped-up “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” except instead of the usual lyrics, McGee was singing “Mississippi Hot Dog.” “Christian is unlike any college musician I have ever seen,” said Daniel Haddock, senior in music. “She knows what she wants to do in the future, and she has her eyes set on the prize. There is honestly nothing she cannot do.”

McGee’s future plans include working with other musicians.

“I want to do collaborative work,” McGee said. “I like to play with people who sing opera, and everybody needs a pia-

nist for their recitals and competitions.”

A few of McGee’s favorite musicians include clarinet player Martin Frost, Nikolai Medtner and baritone musician Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.

“Frost seems like he would have such a quirky personality,” McGee said. “Dietrich can sight read songs to perfection and is just incredible, and Medtner has a more folkish vibe to it, but it is so catchy and probably my favorite.”

McGee rubbed her upper arms while crossing her hands across her chest.

She said sometimes her arms cramp.

She receives massages frequently at Aromatherapy and Massage Center on Opelika Road.

“The best part about Aromatherapy is that they know me well enough now that they come to watch me play and cheer me on,” McGee said.

Other music students see McGee’s passion shine through.

“Christian is such a talented musician,” said Patty Holley, junior in music education. “She puts her whole heart into everything she does, even if it is just her and the piano practicing. She is really an inspiration to our entire program.”

BUSINESS

Chipotle still popular despite brief closure Liz Maddux

COMMUNITY WRITER

Despite the rough past few months the chain endured, including several food poisoning outbreaks, and in some instances E. coli, loyal customers still continue to pour into Auburn’s Chipotle.

Chris Arnold, public relations director for Chipotle, said the restaurant has been working on a solution that will hopefully prevent further outbreaks of food sickness.

“We did a really comprehensive review of food safety practices, from farm to restaurants,” Arnold said. “From that assessment, we developed a food safety plan, which we hope will establish Chipotle as a leader in food safety.”

Arnold said on the day Chipotle closed its doors, the new plan was being taught to em-

ELLEN JACKSON / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Chipotle closed for a few hours on Feb. 8 for food safety training, howecer the chain is still popular.

ployees nationwide.

Will Kelley, freshman in business, said he still eats at the restaurant.

“I was skeptical about eating at Chipotle for a while after the E. coli outbreak,” Kelley said. “I actually had not eaten there for about two months, but when they offered a free burrito after closing their

stores, I was sold.”

Chipotle offered one free meal to customers to make up for the closure.

Mackie Arbaugh, sophomore in public relations, said she wasn’t worried about the outbreak occurring in Auburn.

“Food sickness outbreaks happen,” Arbaugh said. “Chipotle is not the first restaurant

chain to have this situation occur. I still ate at the Auburn location because I had not heard of anyone in this area being affected by it. I was just eating dinner there last week, and the line was wrapped all the way around the restaurant. So I do not think the Auburn location will have any problems profit-wise.”

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

City Council reaches settlement with developer

Lily Jackson

COMMUNITY WRITER

After much deliberation, the Auburn City Council agreed to approve a settlement with Landmark Properties, the developer of The Standard at Auburn, which will be at the corner of Glenn Avenue and Gay Street.

According to city documents, The Standard at Auburn would be 65 feet high, provide student housing equal to 683 bedrooms and would be available for move-in Aug. 1, 2019.

The council had previously met in several executive sessions to discuss threatened litigation against the city.

A moratorium on new private dormitories was enacted

in the city Dec. 15, 2015.

The resolution states Landmark’s right to continue the development and approval process will not be affected by the City of Auburn’s efforts to enforce the moratorium.

Landmark will be granted 18 months from approval to acquire a zoning certificate and 90 days after that to acquire a building permit.

Despite objections voiced

by Susan Hunnicutt, public relations organizer for Keep Auburn Lovely, the City Council pressed on with the decision that was proposed in the opening discussion.

“The type of buildings you have in a place does dictate the social order and social culture that you have,” Hun-

nicutt said. “So if you want to keep on attracting people with hearts and compassion and kindness, then you need to have that small-town feel. You start putting up 75and 80-foot buildings, you’re gonna attract a different type of person, and you won’t recognize Auburn anymore.”

Tommy Dawson, Ward 8 councilperson, responded to Hunnicutt’s comment concerning the people Auburn attracts.

“You can build a hundredfoot building, you can build a 200 foot building, but you will never ever take away what makes Auburn great, and that’s the people,” Dawson said.

Hunnicutt said the City

Council should table the issue for two more weeks to gather more opinions.

Mayor Bill Ham, in coherence with the rest of the City Council, disagreed with Hunnicutt’s opinion to table the settlement and said it would be a bad decision.

“I understand that they’re trying to hold your feet to the fire, and they’re threatening a lawsuit, but still, don’t you think you ought to consider all options and not just react?”

Hunnicutt asked.

Ham said no one had “held his feet to the fire” and assured those present that many options and opinions were considered while making the decision to approve the settlement.

Chip Brownlee

COMMUNITY REPORTER

A bill that would allow individuals to have loaded handguns in their vehicles has passed the Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee, despite major opposition from many in Alabama’s law enforcement.

Senate Bill 14, introduced

by Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, would allow anyone to carry an accessible, loaded handgun in his or her car without obtaining a license.

Under current Alabama law, individuals must obtain a concealed-carry pistol license to carry a loaded pistol in their vehicles.

The bill has faced intense opposition from law enforcement all over the state.

The Alabama Sheriffs Association and the Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police actively lobbied against the bill during committee hearings.

Auburn Police Division Chief Paul Register is a member of the AACOP. He helped the association lobby against the bill over the past several weeks.

“We feel very strongly that (the bill) would not be good for the safety of our citizens and for law enforcement as well,” Register said. “It takes some ability from us to be able to get people off the street that might otherwise commit crimes.”

The bill has several unintended consequences that could be detrimental to the safety of Auburn’s residents, according to Register.

“Often we stop someone, and they have a firearm,” Register said. “We make an arrest because they don’t have a permit. It prevents crimes down the road.”

Register is not alone in proclaiming the bill will threaten public safety. Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones testified against the bill before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“The way the law stands now ... that law has allowed us

to save lives,” Jones said. “It’s not a gun rights issue. It’s not that I don’t want law-abiding citizens to have access to a firearm to protect themselves and their family. I’m all for that. I’m an advocate of that, but I’m also an advocate of public safety.”

According to Jones, the Sheriff’s Department has documented cases where requiring concealed-carry permits has prevented further crimes and injury.

“If Senate Bill 14 passed, the permit requirement [to have a loaded handgun] in a vehicle would be removed,” Jones said.

“As a result, in previous scenarios where we’ve made an arrest based on individuals having a firearm without a permit, then it could easily end up in a situation where we make the same traffic stop, and instead of making an arrest, we allow them to go on their way. It might result in a crime occurring later on with that firearm.”

According to Jones, many proponents of the bill say criminals aren’t going to follow laws.

“That’s the point,” Jones said. “If we have a law in place that they aren’t going to follow, that continues to provide us with a tool to take enforcement action against them.”

Jones and Register, who both oversee dozens of law enforcement officers responsible for maintaining public order and safety, were also concerned about the safety of their own law enforcement officers.

“When an officer walks up to a vehicle and they see a firearm, that heightens the officer’s awareness of a situation,” Register said. “If this bill passed, an officer walking up to a vehicle doesn’t know if that’s a confrontational situation or someone who has the weapon legally. It does create some additional measures that law enforcement will have to take to determine if its a threatening situation when someone has a firearm in the car.”

Thursday, March 3, 2016

The Auburn Plainsman

Community 7

Sports Thursday, March 3, 2016

SCOREBOARD

FOOTBALL

Men’s Basketball (11-18, 5-12)

8 ThePlainsman.com

Sports

Springing Back

FILE PHOTO

Last Week at Alabama (L, 65-57) vs. Texas A&M (L, 81-63) THIS WEEK March 5 at Mississippi State (1:30 p.m.)

Women’s Basketball (18-11, 8-8)

Madison Ogletree / Photographer

Coach Gus Malzahn looks on as his team stretches before Auburn’s first practice of the spring.

Malzahn: ‘We’re going to go out there and redeem ourself’ Evan McCullers

Assistant Sports Editor

Auburn athletics

LAST WEEK vs. Texas A&M (L, 57-49) at Florida (L, 56-49) THIS WEEK March 3 vs. Missouri (11 a.m.)

(In Jacksonville, Florida)

BASEBALL (4-3)

New orange and blue cleats shining atop the freshly cut grass and field paint on a warm Tuesday signified one thing for the Auburn football team — a new beginning.

The Tigers are looking to rebound from a 2015 campaign that saw them go from a preseason No. 6 ranking to a disappointing 7-6 record.

“Our guys are extremely excited to get out there,” said Auburn coach Gus Malzahn before the Tigers’ first practice on Tuesday. “They’ve done a super job up to this point with our mat drills in the weight room. You can tell this is a very close group.

You can also tell that they’ve got a chip on their shoulder from last year, which I think is very healthy.”

However, a new year doesn’t necessarily mean different problems.

Four players will compete this spring, and possibly longer, to solve one of last year’s biggest problems — the quarterback play.

Jeremy Johnson and Sean White

split starts at the position in 2015, and both struggled at times.

Johnson, the heir apparent to former quarterback Nick Marshall, started the first three games of the season but threw six interceptions.

White took over for Johnson in the middle of the season before a knee injury forced him to miss four games.

The rising sophomore threw for over a hundred more yards than Johnson, but he tossed only one touchdown in seven games.

Much like the team as a whole, the two quarterbacks have attempted to put last season in the rearview mirror.

“This is a new year, and that’s what we’ve been preaching to our guys,” Malzahn said. “You can use those things as far as having that chip on your shoulder to help motivate you, but they’re moving forward.”

Tyler Queen and John Franklin III are expected to challenge the two returners for the starting job.

Queen redshirted in 2015 after undergoing Tommy John surgery early in the season. He will be on a “pitch

count” of 50 throws per day this spring, but Malzahn believes his elbow is progressing nicely.

Franklin III transferred from East Mississippi Community College and enrolled in January.

Many anticipate Franklin III, a rising junior, will make a strong push for the job, as Malzahn has expressed his willingness to return to a fastpaced offensive attack.

The 6-foot-1, 174-pound Franklin was recruited as an athlete and is the best runner of the four.

He has been compared to Marshall, the orchestrator of the read-option offense that led Auburn to the national championship game in 2013.

“Tempo is a big factor with us, and at times, we didn’t have great tempo last year,” Malzahn said. “We will play extremely fast in the spring and just get our guys back in that mode.”

The quarterbacks will be given equal reps in the 13 practices leading up to the spring game April 9, and Malzahn did not rule out the chance of having live practices in the spring,

which he did in 2013 when Marshall was competing with Johnson, Kiehl Frazier and Jonathan Wallace for the job.

“Right now, we’ll have great competition in that [quarterback] room,” Malzahn said. “Everything they do, we’ll make sure we chart, we grade everything, and see what comes of it.

My experience is when you’ve got good competition, it brings out the best in everybody.”

The Tigers averaged 173.6 passing yards per game in 2015, which ranked 110th in the nation.

Malzahn is confident that a return to the up-tempo, run-first offense will work wonders for the passing game, regardless of which quarterback ends up taking snaps.

“It’s a new year, and from a coach’s standpoint — especially a head coach’s standpoint — you evaluate the things from last year that you need to improve on,” Malzahn said.

“We know what they are, and we’re going to go out there and redeem our self.”

BASEBALL

FILE PHOTO

LAST WEEK vs. Florida A&M (W, 11-2) vs. Southern (W/W/L) vs. Alabama A&M (W, 15-1) THIS WEEK March 2 vs. Alabama A&M (3 p.m.)

March 4 vs. Troy (6 p.m.)

SOFTBALL (15-1)

FILE PHOTO

LAST WEEK vs. Boston College (W/W, 5-1, 6-0) vs. St. John’s (W, 9-0) vs. Western Illinois (W, 14-1) vs. Indiana State (W, 21-0) THIS WEEK March 5 vs. Murray State/Bryant (12:30 p.m./3 p.m.)

Thompson’s winding road leads to Auburn

Jonathan Hefner Sports Writer

From the University of Georgia, to Auburn University, to Mississippi State and now back to Auburn, competing in the SEC is nothing new for Auburn baseball coach Butch Thompson.

Likewise, neither is being in Alabama.

Alabama is where Thompson received his education, earning his bachelor’s degree in history at Birmingham Southern College in 1992 and a master’s degree in sports administration at UAB four years later.

While still in school, Thompson began his career as an assistant coach at Birmingham Southern — ­ following a brief, one-season stint at Huntingdon College — where he helped the Panthers go 296-134-1 in seven seasons.

Shortly after completing his education in 1996, Thompson accepted the head coaching position at Jefferson State between his time at Birmingham Southern and led JSCC to a 39-12 record in his only season as head coach, including a Division II World Series berth.

Most recently, the Mississippi native was the associate head coach as well as the pitching coach for Mississippi State, where he coached for seven seasons and served on the 2013 team that finished second in the College World Series.

Thompson is well-known, specif-

SHOE ROOM

ically for his expertise on the mound and his recruiting ability. Twenty-three former players under Thompson have been selected in the MLB Draft, nine of which have pitched professionally.

In addition, Baseball America and the American Baseball Coaches Association named him the National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2014.

But before all of this success, Thompson had to grind.

His first job as an assistant at Huntingdon paid $150 per month, along with a meal card and a dorm room.

He didn’t quit, simply because he loved the game.

Once he earned his way into the SEC in 2002 at Georgia, he embraced the competitive atmosphere that came with coaching in the SEC and turned down multiple head coaching offers from smaller schools.

He refused those offers not because of the pay, but because he enjoyed competing in the SEC so much.

So when Auburn offered him the head coaching position in October of 2015, it was “a dream come true,” Thompson said.

Thompson’s contract with Auburn is a five-year deal worth $350,000 per year.

It’s easy to say that his new contract is a step up from his first gig.

Thompson was hired after the firing

Contributed by Auburn Athletics

Butch Thompson, no stranger to coaching in the SEC, has called getting the Auburn head coaching job “a dream come true.”

of former Oklahoma head coach Sunny Golloway.

Golloway served as Auburn’s coach for just two years before being released, following a 36-26 overall record and an NCAA Regional berth.

Because Auburn’s athletic department claimed Golloway violated team rules, Golloway was not able to collect

his $1.25 million contract termination buyout.

He is currently fighting the University, claiming to have been let go without reason, and is pursuing a settlement.

Thompson has high expectations for the team this year, but if the Tigers struggle, don’t expect him to give up.

He never has.

Voted #1 Great Brands & Best Prices Hundreds of Brands // Thousands of Shoes Save 35% - 80% off of Dept Store Prices 941 Opelika Road, Auburn, AL 334.821.5367 / / w w w. t h e s h o e r o o m . c o m M-F 10-7 :: Sat 9-6 :: Sun 1-5

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Sports 9

The Auburn Plainsman

BASKETBALL

Around the SEC: LSU looks to finish strong C.J. Holmes sports@ThePlainsman.com

Every (Bull)dog Has Its Day: Ware leads Mississippi State to upset win over South Carolina 58

Final: Mississippi State 68, South Carolina MSU: Gavin Ware 16 pts, 12 reb

When these two teams met back on Jan. 26 in Columbia, Michael Carrera scored a career-high 34 points in an 84-74 win.

This time around, Carrera was held to 6 points, and it was Ben Howland and the Bulldogs (13-15, 6-10 SEC) who got to flex their muscles — knocking off the Gamecocks on Saturday in a game where they never trailed.

Mississippi State was powered by Gavin Ware, who recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Craig Sword and Quinndary Weatherspoon added 14 points apiece, and I.J. Ready had a career-high five steals.

Mississippi State shot 45.5 percent from the floor in the win and turned up the effort defensively, finishing with a season-high 13 takeaways.

Sindarius Thornwell scored a team-high 12 points for the Gamecocks (23-6, 10-6 SEC), who only shot 30 percent for the game and were outscored 20-12 in the paint and 15-2 in transition.

Taking Control: Vanderbilt moves into fourth place in the SEC with win over Kentucky Final: Vanderbilt 74, No. 16 Kentucky 62 VANDY: Matthew Fisher-Davis 20 pts, 4 reb Despite an offensive onslaught from freshman Jamal Murray, who scored 21 of his 33 points in the first half, the Commodores (18-11, 10-6 SEC) were able to use a 13-2 second-half run to take a 51-47 lead, and they never looked back.

The Wildcats (21-8, 11-5 SEC) were awful in the second half, shooting 26.9 percent from the field, and they went scoreless over the final 3:47 of the game to give Vanderbilt its 13th home win of the season.

Matthew Fisher-Davis paced the Commodores with 20 points and four rebounds. Jeff Roberson added 16 points and eight rebounds, and Damian

Jones contributed 15 points, eight rebounds, one assist, one block and a steal.

Tyler Ulis was the second-leading scorer for Kentucky with 12 points.

Vanderbilt has now won seven straight in Memorial Gymnasium and has beaten consecutive ranked opponents for the first time since 2012 after losing 13 in a row to top 25 teams.

Always Finish: Blakeney’s career-high 32 lifts LSU over Florida Final: LSU 96, Florida 91 LSU: Antonio Blakeney 32 pts, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk Freshman Antonio Blakeney played hero ball for the Tigers (17-12, 10-6 SEC) on Saturday, netting eight consecutive free throws in the game’s final minute to end the team’s three-game slide.

Ben Simmons had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Tim Quarterman added 15 points for LSU. The Tigers shot 56 percent for the game and led by as many as 18 points before Florida was able to cut the lead to 1 with less than a minute remaining.

John Egbunu scored a career-high 22 points for Florida (17-12, 8-8 SEC).

The month of February hasn’t been kind to

Haskell Whittington / The Daily Reveille

Antonio Blakeney (2) and his career-high 32 points propelled LSU to a big win over Florida.

LSU. However, thanks to the play of Simmons and Blakeney, the Tigers are still on track for a doublebye in the SEC Tournament and can solidify that bid with a strong finish to the regular season.

C.J. can be contacted at sports@ ThePlainsman.com

SOFTBALL

Kasey Cooper named SEC Player of the Week Nathan Deal Sports Writer

Contributed by Auburn Athletics

Cooper’s dominance at the plate continued last week, as she was named SEC Player of the Week after batting .438.

For the No. 3 team in the nation, a week of dominance did not go unnoticed by its league. Auburn's Kasey Cooper was named the SEC Softball Player of the Week for Feb. 21–28.

In six games, she had a .438 batting average with 11 hits, 11 RBI and seven runs, helping the Tigers outscore their opponents 73-3.

“It's a great feeling,” Cooper said. “I feel like we all played really well. We showed what Auburn is about and what we're capable of. This time it was me, and next time

it's going to be another teammate.”

Cooper has had a terrific start to the 2016 season, as she leads the team in home runs (6) and RBI (26).

She has actually been surprised by the success, as she did not see such a hot start coming.

“It’s just a credit to my teammates and my coaches, because they’ve gotten my swing where it needs to be, and my teammates are there before and after me to pick it up and make it work,” Cooper said.

Coach Clint Myers hasn’t been quite as surprised by the junior’s success.

“Kasey Cooper’s always been a leader,” Myers said.

“Having her in the lineup makes coaching a lot easier.

She’s a phenomenal defensive player and a phenomenal offensive player. She can go out there and, just with her presence, change the demeanor and the energy level of what we’ve got to do ... She’s the unspoken leader, but everyone keeps their eyes on Kasey,” The Dothan, Alabama, native is also on the verge of history.

She has 42 home runs in her career, which is tied for the school's all-time record.

Her next homer will put her

all alone at first place.

The prospects of breaking the record excite Cooper, but that's not because of personal glory.

“It just means I'm setting a foundation for future success,” Cooper said. “Records are there to be broken. I'm going to do my best to put a good swing on a great pitch and set a record that'll be broken.”

Cooper potentially had a chance to break the record against UAB on Tuesday, but the game was rained out. Instead, she’ll have to wait until Auburn plays Murray State and Bryant University on Saturday.

Sports 10

The Auburn Plainsman

Thursday, March 3, 2016

This Week in Auburn Sports Men’s Basketball Feb. 27 at Alabama L, 65-57

With 3:20 left in the second half, Bryce Brown buried a deep 3-pointer and, as he trotted back down the court, stared into the sea of crimson that surrounded him with three fingers pressed against his head.

The bucket cut Auburn’s deficit to 1 point against its fiercest rival, which was playing for its NCAA Tournament life.

But Brown’s basket was one of few for Auburn in the second half, as the Tigers made just four field goals in the final 14:57 of game time on the way to an ugly 65-57 loss at a packed Coleman Coliseum.

“The longer we got away from halftime, the worse it got,” said Auburn coach Bruce Pearl. “We didn’t execute well. We didn’t. I’ll give Alabama’s defense credit, but I’ll take the blame.”

Turnovers and free-throw shooting doomed Auburn on Saturday as it attempted to sweep the season series against Alabama.

Thirteen of Auburn’s 18 turnovers came in the second half, and Pearl’s squad made just four of its 12 attempts from the charity stripe in the final 20 minutes.

“Our free throws and our turnovers, you know, they kind of speak for themselves about what this game could have been if we took care of that,” said Auburn forward Tyler Harris, who scored 7 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in his return from a concussion suffered against Ole Miss. “But I feel like we gave up a great fight, and we competed out there. Some things you just have to work on and get better at.”

Auburn did not make a shot from the field until Brown’s first 3-pointer with 14:27 in the first half, but the Tigers closed the half on a 15-7 run to stay within striking distance.

The hot stretch continued after the break.

T.J. Dunans knocked down a jumper on Auburn’s first possession of the second half, sparking a 15-3 run in which Auburn made its first eight shots of the second half.

The run was highlighted by another Brown 3-pointer, which gave Auburn its first lead of the game with 18:09 left.

Before Alabama could stop the bleeding, the Tigers had stretched their lead to 10 and flipped the momentum in front of the stunned crowd.

It didn’t take long for Retin Obasohan, Alabama’s leading scorer, to stop the slide.

The senior took over the game in the second half, scoring 14 of his game-high 16 points in the final 20 minutes.

“Retin’s our leader, there’s no doubt about it,” said Alabama forward Michael Kessens, who added 15 points for the Tide. “Sometimes we try to let him do too much. I think tonight we did a good job of hanging in there as a team, and then when it got close, Retin just took over.”

As Obasohan began to assert himself, Auburn’s offense grew stagnant.

Auburn scored only 2 fastbreak points in the game, and Pearl said the lack of pace had a big impact on the Tigers’ lack of offense down the stretch.

“I don’t think we ran the fastbreak well in the second half,” Pearl said. “I like to play at a much

Armand du Laureal / photographer

Anfernee Grier connects on a dubious double during Auburn’s win against Southern on Feb. 27.

faster pace than that, and we walked it up. We walked the ball up in the second half, and it put a lot of pressure on your halfcourt [offense]. We should’ve run better.”

Obasohan reclaimed the lead for Alabama on a layup with 5:46 remaining, and the Tide never lost it again.

Auburn missed 11 of its last 14 shots and was outscored by 17 points over the final 13:42.

“I don’t know if you’d call that a good game, from the standpoint of I don’t know how good both teams played,” Pearl said. “But it was certainly a competitive game.”

Despite Brown’s 14 points and Cinmeon Bowers’ double-double, Auburn lost for the 12th time in its last 13 games away from Auburn Arena.

Pearl said the reason is simple.

“Too many turnovers,” Pearl said. “Too many missed free throws. Didn’t make enough plays down the stretch, and Alabama did.”

Baseball

Feb. 28 vs. Southern L, 6-5 The Auburn Tigers looked to sweep the series with Southern University but fell short, dropping game three of the series 6-5 Sunday, Feb. 28, at Plainsman Park.

A baserunning error caused the Tigers to miss an early opportunity to put runs on the board in the bottom of the first. With one out, Joshua Palacios on second and Jordan Ebert on first, Niko Buentello smacked a line drive off the “Green Monster” in left field.

Ebert attempted to go from first to third, but Palacios only made it to third after appearing to slow

himself down watching the ball. Ebert was tagged out in the basepath.

Auburn coach Butch Thompson said because of that they “ended up scoring no runs.”

“It’s our park and our wall,” Thompson said.

“For the back runner to run up the lead runner there was unfortunate. The run could have been the difference in the outcome of the game.”

Starting pitcher Gabe Klobosits found himself in trouble in the second inning.

Southern’s first baseman John Pope hit a threerun home run to give Southern a 3-0 lead, its first lead of the series.

Klobosits managed to get out of the top of the third with no damage.

Palacios hit an RBI single down the right field line to score Foster from second for the Tigers’ first run of the game in the bottom of the inning.

Klobosits had trouble again in the fourth inning.

True freshman Casey Mize came in to relieve him after he gave up two runs with one out and two on base.

“I thought Casey did a tremendous job of coming in,” Thompson said. “Once he got in the ball game, to finish the game and give us a chance to win, that’s all we could ask for.”

Mize struck out there and walked none in 5.2 innings pitched for Auburn. He allowed one unearned run on three hits.

Auburn continued to fight, scoring a run in each inning from the fifth through the eighth.

“We clawed and clawed,” Thompson said.

Jackson Burgreen came in to pinch hit for Damon Haecker in the bottom of the eighth, hitting a double and scoring a run on a balk by the pitcher to cut the deficit to 6-5.

But the Jaguars continued to play their best de-

fense of the series, and the Tigers’ second baserunning error stopped them from scoring a run.

Anfernee Grier advanced from first to second when Palacios singled to left field, but was tagged for the final out of the half inning after trying to advance safely to third.

“That was the difference in the ballgame,” Thompson said. He added that they trust Grier to make the decision to run from first to third, but that the left fielder made “a perfect throw.”

“It was the third out of the inning, kind of the cardinal sin of baseball, but I have trouble finding fault with the aggressiveness of the play,” Thompson said.

Thompson said playing more “team baseball” instead of taking individual at bats and swings would have helped the team offensively. He said playing more cohesively would have given the Tigers “a chance to connect as an offense ... to play offense and score runs.”

Touching on the element of playing as a team was Thompson’s message to the players after the game.

“I told them we win or lose together,” Thompson said. “I told them another definition of positive is a proper response. It was pretty easy to check out or be mad, but every one of us has this uniform on, and I expect a proper response for everybody that cares about this.”

This was the third one-run loss for the Tigers, who are now 4-3 on the season. Auburn returns to Plainsman Park at 3 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday for games against Alabama A&M.

Equestrian

Feb. 27 vs. South Carolina W, 15-5 The No. 1 Auburn equestrian team strengthened its hold on the top-ranked spot Saturday, as the Tigers throttled No. 9 South Carolina, 15-5.

The Tigers (8-1, 4-1) began the day by sweeping Equitation over Fences and Equitation on the Flat, the latter of which was keyed by senior Elizabeth Benson’s 96-75 win over Lizzie van der Walde.

With the win, Benson became the program leader in career wins in the event with 39.

Auburn, behind wins by Benson, Ashley Foster, Hayley Iannotti, Ashton Alexander and Caitlin Boyle, took every matchup in Equitation over Fences. Iannotti tacked on an 86, tying her seasonhigh, while Benson and Alexander added seasonhighs of 96 and 95, respectively.

In Horsemanship, the Tigers were able to pull in a pair of wins behind seniors Griffin Knight and Hannah Loseke. Another 5-0 sweep came after intermission, as Foster, Alexander, Boyle, Benson and Tory Hoft collected wins in Equitation on the Flat.

The day ended with three wins in Reining for Auburn, as Allie Dusha, Alexa Rivard and Blair McFarlin each took home victories.

Benson was named Most Outstanding Player in both Fences and Flat, and Knight collected her first MOP of the season in Horsemanship.

Another SEC foe awaits the Tigers, as No. 3 Texas A&M visits The Plains on Saturday, March 5.

Compiled by Evan McCullers, Liz Devita and Sam Butler

Contributed by Auburn Athletics

LEFT: Elizabeth Benson competes in Equitation over Fences in Auburn’s win over South Carolina on Feb. 27. RIGHT: Cinmeon Bowers rises up for a shot against Alabama on Feb. 27.

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Intrigue

Thursday, March 3, 2016

11 ThePlainsman.com

Intrigue

AWARDS

Professor ranked in top 25 real estate authors Amanda Myles INTRIGUE WRITER

Justin Benefield, associate professor of finance, was ranked 21st among the top real estate authors worldwide for 2011–15 by Real Estate Academic Leadership rankings.

“The purpose of the Real Estate Academic Leadership rankings is to highlight the authors and institutions demonstrating achievement in intellectual contributions to the field of real estate,” said Jesse Saginor of Florida Atlantic University, who produced the rankings.

These rankings are based on the number of publications from 2011–15 in the top three peerreviewed real estate journals, which are Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, the Journal of Real Estate Research and Real Estate Economics.

Benefield co-authored six publications in the three journals during that time.

“For the most part, what I publish is related to residential real estate brokerage, and that’s reflected in most of those publications in those top three journals — looking at topics like does limited service brokerage work for real estate consumers as opposed to the traditional commission model of real estate sales,” Benefield said.

Benefield said he is currently working on other projects, which he has hopes will get in those top journals as well.

“One of them is looking at this relatively new concept of co-listings, and we’re using that basically as a proxy to look at this idea of teams in real estate brokerage,” Benefield said. “So that’s a project I’m pretty excited about, and it’s something that the general public has some level of familiarity with.”

In total, since 2011, Benefield has had 16 publications, and he has only been out of school for 10 years.

“You have to be interested in what you’re doing in order to put the kinds of hours in that are necessary, and I’ve been fortunate in that I am really interested in the topics I study,” Benefield said. “It does touch on people’s real lives. The single largest investment that most people are going to make is their house, and I like to look at things that have to do with that buying process, so there are real world applications, which I think

ELLEN JACKSON / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Justin Benefield ranks 21st among the top real estate authors worldwide.

is neat.”

Ken Johnson, associate dean and finance professor at Florida Atlantic University, said he was a graduate student at the University of Alabama and was teaching undergraduate real estate classes when he first met Benefield.

As a senior at the University of Alabama, Johnson said Benefield wrote a paper that was for a class that was eventually published. He said it was an excellent article, especially for a first time, and Johnson said he could tell even then that Benifield had the potential to do something bigger.

“He wasn’t necessarily considering being an academia, but he was able to read the other academic papers, understand them, synthesize them, do some statistical analysis,” Johnson said. “He kind of had all the parts in place.”

Johnson said he has since co-authored somewhere between four and six papers with Bene-

field.

“Justin is really good with understanding what we would call the literature,” Johnson said. “He could read significant numbers of papers and see where items are missing in the literature. He has a natural ability to do that.”

Benefield is also excellent with econometrics, makes virtually no errors in his work and he is an exceptional writer, according to Johnson.

“He can boil down all the high-end academics to something that somebody can understand and use to make a decision in their life,” Johnson said. “So we would call that having impact in academia.”

Johnson said Benefield is an editor with Florida Atlantic University, and he will be made senior editor of the Journal of Housing Research sometime in the next couple of months.

Jon Wiley, real estate professor at Georgia State University, has also known Justin for a long

time, as they went to the same graduate school together, wrote under the same dissertation adviser and were both professors at the College of Charleston.

Wiley said this new ranking system is interesting in that it ranks real estate authors based on the publication count of the top three journals from the past five years, rather than counting the number of publications over someone’s lifetime, which could favor people who are no longer active in research but allow them to still end up relatively high on the rankings.

“That is one reason why Justin shows up so high on that list,” Wiley said. “He has had astonishing productivity in that period. He’s published mainly on residential brokerage literature … and he’s done a very good job of moving the literature and our knowledge forward on all these different things that affect housing prices.”

Benefield has also done work in other areas, including sustainable development, according to Wiley.

“Justin did a study on the impact of green design in the market for office space, and that was actually the first study to document that there is an economic benefit to doing sustainable development, and it had a huge impact,” Wiley said. “I think as of today, it’s had almost 200 citations in other published works. As a result of that information coming out, it had a huge impact on the market place as developers went out and were increasingly incentivized and saw the benefits from this research.”

Wiley also noted that while most people have about 30 publications in their whole career, Benefield has had that many publications in just 10 years, with a large number of those publications in top journals.

Wiley credits Benefield’s successes to his carefulness and thoughtfulness as a researcher as well his productivity.

“For just one data observation, he might spend an entire day making sure that it’s exactly right,” Wiley said.

Wiley said a lot of schools would be thrilled about having Justin as part of their faculty.

“He could go to just about any university in the world if he wanted to,” Wiley said. “Auburn’s lucky to have him.”

Intrigue 12

The Auburn Plainsman

Thursday, March 3, 2016

ENTERTAINMENT

Former student continues acting Amanda Myles INTRIGUE WRITER

After completing the past fall semester at Auburn, Mackenzie Lintz moved to Los Angeles for her career as a rising actress.

Lintz starred as Norrie Calvert-Hill in the CBS television series “Under the Dome,” and she also had a role as a tribute girl in “The Hunger Games.”

Attending college is usually something that happens slowly over time or later for actors than everybody else, Lintz said.

“For me, I booked out of the industry for my first fall, which was my off season for ‘Under the Dome’ anyway, so that I could go to Auburn,” Lintz said.

Walking on campus as an official Auburn student was a dream come true, Lintz said.

Because her father graduated from Auburn, Lintz said Auburn was all she knew since she was a baby.

“I had always wanted [to go there],” Lintz said. “It’s definitely something I will always be proud of.”

She completed two semesters on campus and one semester online with Auburn, she said.

CONTRIBUTED BY MACKENZIE LINTZ

Mackenzie Lintz, former student, lives in Los Angeles to continue her acting career.

“I will always be so thankful for the opportunities I received there,” Lintz said.

Lintz, who will finish her degree online and on time, said Auburn will most likely be her only oncampus college experience.

Katie Gray Carlson, junior in elementary education, met Lintz on sorority Bid Day of 2014 when they both ran home to Alpha Delta Pi. Katie said Lintz was an awesome friend and a role model to others.

“Lots of people can testify to that,” Katie said.

“I honestly forget sometimes that she is an actress because she is so humble and down to earth.”

Katie said it always catches her off guard when she sees Lintz on television, but she loves it.

“I always text her when I see her on TV,” Katie said. “She is so gracious about it. It’s so encouraging to see someone with an amazing heart for the Lord glorify him in a really public setting. I know so many younger girls look up to her, and she sets a really great example.”

Benjamin Carlson, junior in architecture, met Lintz through his sister Katie on the way to a Braves baseball game during freshman year.

Benjamin said he was not sure what she would be like, knowing she was actress.

“You see actresses on TV and always wonder what they’re really like,” Benjamin said. “When I met Mackenzie, I quickly realized she was just a girl in college with a great personality, who’s fun to talk to and who has good taste in music.”

Benjamin said seeing Lintz on screen is a weird sensation.

“Imagine seeing somebody you go to school with suddenly right there on your TV,” Benjamin said. “My reaction when watching ‘Under the Dome’ for the first time was just kind of like me smiling the whole time, because it was so weird to see somebody I see on campus, somebody I’m friends with right there on the TV show. It’s kind of surreal in a way. But Mackenzie is really good at what she does, and that makes it really fun to watch her.”

Lintz will be in Los Angeles for the next full year, and possibly longer.

“There are so many more jobs out here, and it’s a good place to set up in my industry,” Lintz said. “I will be auditioning all year and hoping for the best.”

Lintz said she loves the opportunity to play characters that people can relate to and learn from.

“You never know who can be touched or affected by a character or performance,” Lintz said.

“Getting to tell a new story from a new perspective every day is what I would be lucky to do for the rest of my life.”

TECHNOLOGY

Unlocking one phone could unlock all Rachel WIlliams INTRIGUE WRITER

In light of the current legal proceedings between the FBI and Apple Inc., privacy in the digital era has become a hot topic.

In February, a fedural judge requested by the FBI issued a court order demanding Apple write code to get around the encryption and passcode security of a specific phone used by a suspect in the San Bernardino terrorism case.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, recognizing threats to the company and customers, issued an official and public request for the demand to be dropped.

Tech giants such as Microsoft and Google, who easily could have been wrapped up in a case

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like this, are voicing their support for Apple.

Given a deeper look, the reality of this story extends beyond the one suspect and to the world.

While we all know we release our personal information to our phones and computers, we do so trusting this data remains encrypted and safe.

Unlike many people from older generations, I don’t think twice when I give my thumbprint to my iPhone or when I log into my bank account. I keep emails with plane tickets and store messages and contacts for people I connect with.

The function of these devices and their core value to our lives hinges on our ability to seamlessly connect aspects of our lives while maintaining mental peace in our security.

On occasion, the all-knowing features of smartphones, homes and cars make me uneasy.

If you can say, “Hey Siri,” and she responds, that means she could have been listening all along.

Technically, Apple writing code to open back-

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door access to a variety of features has the potential to affect us all. If ever employed or hacked beyond an individual under investigation, it would be a violation of users’ privacy.

If code can be written to unlock a phone, it can also be written to turn on the GPS to know the location of my home — something I’m uncomfortable with other people having secret access to.

Thinking about the greater picture, I much prefer that the code for a third party to access this information never be written. Code written just for the government is still a security breach waiting to happen.

For now it seems like the tech companies are on our side, resisting the court order. Their platform is to maintain our life stories encrypted within their data vaults, for only us to access.

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An order to unlock an iPhone places privacy at risk.

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