The Auburn Plainsman 04.18.2019

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THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2019

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CAMPUS

CAMPUS

Trustees approve parking project

By STEPHEN LANZI Campus Editor campus@theplaisnman.com

IRELAND DODD / PHOTOGRAPHER

Rwandan student, Yvette Kayirangwa, speaks about the Rwandan genocide on April 11, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.

‘Forgiving is not forgetting’ A student’s story in the wake of her country’s genocide

By TRICE BROWN and JORDAN WINDHAM Campus Reporter and Campus Writer campus@theplainsman.com

At 7 months old, young Yvette Kayirangwa and her family huddle together, afraid to leave their house. Outside, radicals search for them and people like them, adding names to an ever-growing list of people to kill.

The militants swept through villages and the neighborhoods of cities like Kigali, where the Kayirangwa family lived, annihilating anyone belonging to the “wrong” class of people.

But they couldn’t hide forever.

April 7 marked the 25th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide.

This massacre defined Rwanda for decades, but the country emerged from the ashes.

It all started with a crash.

ONE HUNDRED DAYS OF BLOOD When Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana’s plane was shot

» See KAYIRANGWA, 2

Campus will have 1,000 new parking spots in the fall.

The Board of Trustees approved an initiation project to add 600 on-campus parking spots in addition to the parking lot being added at the Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center.

The $3.5 million project will add 300 additional paved spots to the West Campus Parking Lot for residential students and 300 spots to the Hayfield Parking Lot for commuter students.

Don Andrae, director of transportation services, told The Plainsman the spots should be finished by the start of the fall 2019 semester.

“I don’t think I’ve ever won before and gotten 1,000 spaces in one year,” Andrae said.

The project will be financed by the University General Fund and parking fees.

The project will eliminate the entrance from Woodfield and improve the entrance from Donahue of the Hayfield Parking Lot. The lot will have another entrance connected to the parking lot of the new Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center.

Andrae said they are hoping a project will be approved to add a bus pick-up stop off of Lem Morrison Drive.

He said they already have a route planned for a Tiger Transit bus to take students from the lot to closer to central campus.

Andrae also said they are set to repave the Coliseum Parking Lot and potholes in the area near The Hill dorms.

“We’re not going to ever have parking close in the campus area because there’s no place to do it, but that’s another reason to have the transit system,” Andrae said.

They also plan to add a Bikeshare hub next to the Hayfield Parking Lot. Andrae said the preliminary actions of the project are already under way.

CAMPUS

Senior to return to classes just 11 months after truck accident

By MEGAN FERINGA Campus Writer campus@theplainsman.com

Dangling from Cole Burton’s right wrist are four rubber bracelets: a grey, two orange and a navy.

He can’t tell you exactly when the bracelets got there — it was sometime last summer, sometime when his brain hadn’t become totally alert yet — but he can tell you they’ve never come off since.

In white ink, the grey reads God is Bigger, a gift from his preacher. A matching orange and navy read I know God’s working so I smile.

“They’re from Philip Lutzenkirchen’s dad,” Cole says, his bright hazel eyes blazing in the sunshine as he sits in the shade of a leafy green tree at the Atlanta Shepherd Center’s garden patio, a picturesque hideaway in a fortress of clipboards, catheters and rehabilitation equipment.

The last one, another orange, reads TeamNickChole.

“One day, sometime after I’d emerged, I was looking at it.” Cole rolls his wrist to inspect the band he’s donned the last 11 months. “I said, ‘Mom, who’s Chloe?’ And she looked at me and said, ‘Cole, that’s you.’”

Less than 330 days ago, the doctors told Cole’s parents their son would remain in a vegetative state the rest of his life.

It was nothing against the doctors. The examinations pointed to no meaningful recovery, towards a life dependent on tubes, machines and wires. Even if he woke up, Cole

would probably never walk again or sit up on his own. He might never laugh or smile or talk.

“Thank God for doctors,” Cole says with a grin that’s nearly as permanent now as his nose and ears. “But thank God they can be wrong sometimes.”

On May 24, 2018, Cole and 17 other Auburn students studied rock formations off a U.S. Highway near Glencoe, Alabama, as part of a geology field trip when an impaired driver veered off the road’s side, striking Cole and his lab partner, Nick Hood. The two were airlifted to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital. Cole, 21, from Decatur, Alabama, sustained a diffuse axonal injury, a number of broken bones and an unknown tear in his small intestine that sent his body into spouts of septic states, nearly costing him his life four times.

For 21 days, he remained in a coma.

“Talking to your best friend when he can’t talk back is the hardest thing anyone can go through,” says Cole’s sister Libba, a freshman at Troy University.

Hood, unfortunately, later passed away.

Five days after arriving at UAB, doctors offered to withdraw services and place Cole into palliative care, but Cole’s family refused, clinging instead to Ephesians 3:20.

“This is a huge paraphrase, but it says God can do more than we can even imagine to ask,” says Charlie Burton, Cole’s dad. “Medically speaking, a path forward wasn’t practical, but through God…” “We just wanted to give him a chance,” Tina Burton, Cole’s mom, says.

“So we said, we’re going to keep praying, and

COMMUNITY The Plainsman goes on a ride along with Auburn police Police officers patrol the streets day and night keeping the city safe Page 6

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CONTRIBUTED BY COLE BURTON

Cole Burton’s first time opening his eyes after the accident.

doctors you keep doctoring. We’re going to trust God,” Charlie says.

Today, Cole walks into the Center from the garden with a gentle glide, a scarcely noticeable limp to the left. A Wednesday, he’s on his way to his noon physical therapy session, a four-times-a-week routine that encompasses anything from E-stem biking to harnessed treadmilling to lifting weights. Over his sixfoot-two-inch slim frame, Cole wears his usual uniform – a navy ROTC t-shirt with a yel-

low Navy emblem over the heart and matching gym shorts with the same emblem on the left thigh.

His light brown hair is cut short and fades along the sides. Nikes adorn his feet, though he’s more of an Under Armour guy. They’re grey, his favorite color, partly because of its neutrality but mostly because it’s the color of the Navy ships and planes he’s dreamed of

» See BURTON, 2

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Life in Kigali was unsustainable for many due to the economic collapse of the country, leaving families like Kayirangwa’s to return to their hometowns.

Growing up in her father’s village, Kayirangwa went to school and played with neighborhood kids whose fathers were serving sentences for their role in the genocide.

She said she would try to find differences between those kids and herself, trying to find any logic in the genocide perpetrators’ actions. She found none.

“We speak the same language,” she said. “We have the same skin color. We are maybe the same height. There’s no difference, you know?”

STEPS TO ERUPTION

IRELAND DODD / PHOTOGRAPHER

Rwandan student, Yvette Kayirangwa, speaks about the Rwanda genocide on April 11, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.

KAYIRANGWA » From 1

down, decades of ethnic resentment against the Tutsi people erupted into genocide.

The country was already in the midst of a brutal power struggle between the Rwandan government and the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a group of Tutsi refugees in neighboring countries looking to return to their homeland.

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda had troops stationed in the country to facilitate peace as the war concluded, but they were blindsided by — and completely incapable of preventing — the racially charged chaos.

UNAMIR peacekeepers were only allowed to use their weapons in self-defense.

Through paved streets and dirt roads, Hutu voices echoed “cut down the tall trees,” a racially charged mantra to kill any Tutsi in sight. The ties that once united this community were now severed by the machetes of neighbors.

Over the next 100 days, over 800,000 Rwandans were killed and buried in mass graves.

Most of the dead were Tutsi, victims of a vicious propaganda campaign that branded them as cockroaches and the source of all Rwandan problems.

The carnage was only stopped by the RPF, who steadily swept across the country and pushed militant Hutus, who orchestrated and participated in the genocide, out of Rwanda.

But Rwanda’s problems were not over. Now, Tutsis and Hutus had to figure out how to live together again.

TERROR IN THE AFTERMATH “Man, people were so scared,” Kayirangwa said, now an Auburn chemistry doctoral student. “There was so much guilt on the side of perpetrators — the people who killed — and there was so much fear on the side of victims and survivors.”

Kayirangwa’s family had it better than most.

In cities like Kigali, Tutsis like her mother were anonymous Rwandans, with only their IDs giving them away as Tutsi. In more rural areas, though, the group each family belonged to was hard to hide. Flying under the radar was essentially impossible.

In the decades following, these communities

BURTON » From 1

serving on since he was old enough to hear his grandfather’s aviation tales.

Cole knows these halls. His old inpatient room is just there, room 243, previously glazed in enough Auburn paraphernalia to put Charles’ Barkley’s March Madness desk to shame.

Casing the window was a display of get-well cards, photographs and notes – so many, nurses on breaks would waltz into the room just to look at them all. An Auburn flag covered the door.

“I started that,” says Cole as he passes his old neighbors’ doors covered in flags of their own, his friend Jared’s still boasting a purple JMU flag.

He makes his way towards the elevators, smiling and waving at every person he passes –nurses, a therapist, a number of patients – his bracelets still bouncing on his arm. It’s Shepherd culture.

“You see somebody here the way that they are, that’s not always the way they’re going to be,” Cole says.

“I was in a chair, I wasn’t treated like I was in a chair. Of course, I was helped like I was, but I felt like a person.”

remained fractured.

According to Kayirangwa, some people were afraid to leave their houses. Seeing a neighbor with a machete cutting grass for their cow would cause them to flee, terrified that their life may be in danger.

Many of these people lost multiple — or all — members of their family at the hands of their neighbors, Kayirangwa said.

While perpetrators were punished for their crimes, eventually, they had to return to their communities, and all parties involved had to learn to live in the aftermath.

Communities relied on gacacas, a traditional Rwandan court system, to deliver justice.

Perpetrators would confess to their crimes, and others would give testimony of what happened. Survivors and families of victims were often in attendance, hoping to find answers.

“For a long time, people did not know where exactly their family members were buried,” Kayirangwa said.

Gacacas allowed families to find their lost loved ones and give them a proper burial, allowing them to begin the long process of healing and forgiveness.

“Of course, forgiving is not forgetting,” Kayirangwa said.

A MIRACLE Kayirangwa’s family was eventually discovered in their Kigali home by militant Hutus and dragged off toward the pit where they were to be slaughtered and discarded.

While they were waiting for other victims to arrive at the pit, one of the militants burned Kayirangwa’s mother with a tip of a hot gun, leaving a scar on her ankle.

“Everybody in that neighborhood that was Tutsi, they were all sitting around that big hole,” Kayirangwa said.

As the militants were waiting for the signal to kill, the RPF arrived in that neighborhood, saving the lives of those Tutsi people. The perpetrators fled the country that day, once they realized that the RPF had reached them, Kayirangwa said.

“It was just by chance; it was a miracle,” Kayirangwa said.

Her family stayed in Kigali until 1999, around the time Kayirangwa was starting primary school.

If you asked Cole’s family 11 months ago if they thought Cole would be walking the halls, they would’ve probably told you no. Cole would’ve been shocked too Everyone would’ve been shocked.

“The more I learn about my injuries the more I’m like, ‘Crap, I was seriously there?’” Cole says. “It’s really hard to believe.”

On June 15, 2018, Cole emerged from his coma at UAB, seven days before being transferred to Shepherd’s intensive care unit, still largely unresponsive. Four days after emerging, Cole couldn’t verbalize anything. A right-side brain injury left Cole’s entire left side immobile. He couldn’t show emotion, a condition known as a blunted affect.

He couldn’t brush his teeth. He took food through a tube, and he couldn’t sit up from his pillow or put on his ROTC t-shirt without assistance.

“We didn’t know if this was all we could get from this point,” Tina says.

Prior to the accident, Cole weighed 175 pounds. He woke up 136. He has no recollection of May 24 or the month following, but he’s seen videos. He mostly laid in bed, lifted an arm or scanned his surroundings blankly. “When I see myself in the coma, per se, I don’t really get mad or anything,” Cole says. “I just get a little bit more thankful ev-

The decision to commit genocide is not impulsive. The Rwandan genocide stemmed from decades of division.

“Every thinking person could tell there was going to be something coming up very soon,” Kayirangwa said.

When Rwanda was colonized by Europeans, the economic classes of Hutu and Tutsi were interpreted as racial categories.

The European considered the Tutsis to be more European and less brutish than the Hutu, claiming that the Tutsi were descendants of the biblical Ham. This policy manifested in official passports, classifying the bearer as either Hutu or Tutsi and calcifying the divide between them.

The minority Tutsis were favored by the colonial government, which drove the wedge even deeper between the people of Rwanda.

“The system was designed to — it was exploiting everybody — but [the colonial government] was exploiting the Hutus more, and the Tutsis definitely used that opportunity to exploit the Hutus,” said Matthew Clary, an Auburn political science professor.

This system continued for decades until the decolonization of Rwanda in 1962, when the Hutu majority began to command political power. The Hutus used this upheaval of the hierarchy to keep the Tutsis from regaining power.

“Now that [the Hutus] have power, they’re gonna make sure they keep things where they are the ones making the decisions,” Clary said.

This reversal came full circle when the Hutus began spreading propaganda that branded Tutsi people as outsiders in Rwanda because of their Hamitic descent alleged by European colonizers.

“Literally if I put a Hutu and a Tutsi next to each other right now and gave you like a brief description of the two, you probably couldn’t tell me the difference between them,” Clary said.

In the wake of the Holocaust, the United Nations formed the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in an attempt to prevent another genocide from happening.

However, the international community did little to stop the atrocities from happening in Rwanda.

The United States was unwilling to get involved in Rwandan issues.

A failed intervention in Somalia the year prior discouraged the U.S. from intervening in the issues of African countries.

“After the Holocaust, the refrain is ‘never again, we’ll never let this happen again,’” Clary said. “After Rwanda, the refrain is ‘never again, again,’ and so the next one is gonna be ‘never again, again, again.’”

A NEW RWANDA The post-genocide Rwandan government

ery time I see it.”

Emergence is a process, not an immediacy. While he was awake, it was nearly July before Cole became “alert,” or aware of where he was.

The problem was, he didn’t know why he was.

“I didn’t know why I couldn’t talk, why I couldn’t walk,” Cole recalls.

“Honestly, I don’t know how I wasn’t frustrated.”

One of Cole’s earliest memories is having his feeding tube removed from his side at Shepherd and the taste of waffles. He heard the word “rehab” over and over, but as the doctors advised his family not to relate the accident until Cole himself asked, out of fear of re-traumatization, it was weeks into Shepherd therapy before Cole learned why he wore a bracelet with his name on it, why he sat in a wheelchair and why he couldn’t say the words in his head out loud.

“I had to come to a new reality,” Cole says. “I was 21 for 18 days. Then I went back to truly being like a kid. I had to learn everything twice.”

On August 22, Cole was placed into outpatient therapy, still in a wheelchair and still unable to speak full sentences. A typical day for Cole began at 8:30 am sharp. Breakfast as a community – waffles and an omelet.

Speech therapy followed, then occu-

realized the role the division of Hutu and Tutsi had on violence and hatred. In order to prevent a genocide from happening again, dramatic steps had to be taken.

The specification on Rwandan IDs that classified Rwandans as either Hutu or Tutsi was removed, and a greater emphasis was put on Rwandan identity.

Kayirangwa said Rwandans are tolerant of intermarriage between the ethnic groups, even though they know who was Hutu and who was Tutsi.

“People, deep down, they still know ‘I’m a Tutsi,’ ‘I’m a Hutu,’ but it’s not in our IDs, and you can’t really use it to get anywhere,” Kayirangwa said. “People chose to just, you know, leave it.”

The 25th anniversary is a time to reflect on what happened, but also a time to think about how Rwandans want to see their country, Kayirangwa said.

For the country’s youth, who were born right before or after the genocide, it’s important to know the reasons behind the consequences they can see, like lost family members, she said.

Local events are organized around this time of year for students to learn about the genocide.

Survivors and perpetrators give their testimonies to the students, leaving a sharp impression.

“Back in the days, people used to tell the whole, raw story of what happened,” Kayirangwa said. “These days, people try to focus more on the whole and how they healed.”

In the years since, people have come a long way for healing, Kayirangwa said.

Now, people can sit and drink with someone who assassinated their families.

“By just looking at what they express on the outside, you can tell that people are really not consumed anymore by what happened in the past,” Kayirangwa said. “They have forgiven each other.”

Kayirangwa said she gets all of her stories from her mother, and other knowledge of the genocide from school, where it was a frequent topic.

Whenever her mother would tell Kayirangwa stories of her and her family’s survival, she would always tell her daughter not to hate the children of Hutus who killed their family and the families of others, or try to determine who is Hutu and who is Tutsi.

“Some parents in Rwanda have chosen to not talk about it with their children, which I think is very horrible because they will learn it the wrong way,” Kayirangwa said. “But some other parents chose to be very brave and talk about it with their children in a very good way — tell them what happened and what should be done in order [for it] to not happen again.”

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE Kayirangwa now pursues a doctorate in chemistry, concentrating in diabetes research.

She came to the United States on a Rwandan-government scholarship for her undergraduate studies at Spelman College.

The new Rwandan government has been successful, she said. It wants people to unite and focus on common problems, like poverty, malnutrition and disease.

“It’s a government that I’m proud of,” Kayirangwa said. “This government has made people — so many Rwandans — proud of their country.”

She said she’s hopeful for Rwanda’s future and thankful for the government’s investment in her education.

One day, she thinks she will go back to Rwanda to give back to those who put so much effort into getting her where she is today.

But for now, April is a time of reflection.

pational therapy, individual physical therapy, group physical therapy, physical therapy meets recreational therapy and neurophysiology group time. Some days, he danced to “Shoot” with Libba in his bed or worked on his mad, sad and happy facial expressions. He went to church with his parents. He spent an extra ten minutes in the harnessed treadmill, an extra 15 on the bike.

He played Yahtzee to strengthen his memory and cognitive skills. And after it all, he’d return to his room, only instead of getting ready for bed, he’d take out his tools to practice his eye therapy, and maybe, if he wasn’t exhausted, watch Spongebob to lull him to sleep.

“It was Patrick’s voice,” Cole explains with a grin. “I wasn’t at the point where I could understand huge things, but I could comprehend what they were doing while they were doing it.”

Some people might call it motivation to keep going, to not lay in bed refusing to get up.

“There was maybe one morning,” Cole admits, though it was only a quick thought. An early morning, he didn’t feel great, and he knew he could stay in bed and no one would say anything. “I also knew Philippians 4:13. This means all things, which means I can face the day, even

if I have to use it sometimes to do something just as simple as getting out of bed.”

Cole doesn’t believe in the easy way. For him, there’s only one way.

“Mentally, I haven’t given myself another option,” Cole says. “People say I’m motivated. They see motivation as someone who is always ready to do something grand, but motivation is just about consistency. I notice that I’m consistently willing to do the things that are inconvenient. I know I have to work hard to get back.”

At first, it was learning to stand from the wheelchair, to say hello, to say Libba’s name. Then it was performing their secret handshake. By September’s end, Cole left his wheelchair for a walker. He worked his way to over 500 steps on the NuStep machine, an impossibility a month before. He left the walker for a gait belt, then a gait belt for another person’s arm. By November, Cole was walking on his own. In January, he was almost 170 pounds. On March 16, 2019, Cole ran his first 5k. The next weekend, he ran his second, his ROTC group at his side.

“They stayed back, ran at his pace,” Charlie says, his eyes beaming. “It almost looked like a Secret Service detail around Cole coming across the

» See BURTON 4

opinion

3

THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2019

THEPLAINSMAN.COM

OPINION

OUR VIEW

Tornado victims still in need of finacial relief EDITORIAL BOARD Spring 2019

This Sunday marks seven weeks since an EF4 tornado ravaged parts of Lee County, with some of the most devastating damage concentrated in Beauregard.

More than three hundred homes were destroyed or damaged in the storm. 23 people lost their lives.

Seven weeks have passed, and despite hundreds of thousands of dollars in aid and countless man hours, much of Beauregard remains in disrepair.

Lee County, however, is determined to rebuild. The people of Beauregard are determined to rebuild. But right now, aid is slowing, FEMA has left and insurance money for many residents has not arrived.

FEMA’s Disaster Recovery Center left Lee County late last month, leaving many residents still needing help and aid, waiting on crucial dollars in aid to be sent by the agency.

FEMA approved more than $900,000 to assist repair the damage caused by the tornado. But, many of the over 600 applicants are still waiting on money to arrive — well over a month after the tornado struck.

Perhaps more startling than slow payments from the federal government is that many of the Beauregard residents are still waiting on insurance payments.

Some residents are confused about how and who to receive and attempt to pursue payments from.

Many houses damaged by the tornado look like the tornado struck yesterday.

Yes, some residents have already started rebuilding, but others have not even been able to afford to pick up the storm debris littering their lots. For these residents, their lives remain in those pieces of debris — trapped, frozen in time, waiting. For these residents, their lives remain on hold.

Financial contributions from communities have poured in to help these residents, providing needed support while they sit in insurance-federal aid limbo.

Lee County has shown its true colors, stepping up to help these families in need.

But, there is only so much money the public can provide.

Sen. Doug Jones, D-Alabama, has been pursuing a disaster relief bill in Congress that would help fund disaster relief efforts in Alabama, specifically Lee County and the

EDUARDO MEDINA / ENTEPRISE EDITOR

Tornado damage in Smiths Station, Alabama

Wiregrass.

But a disaster relief bill has been struggling to pass as members of Congress have been torn on how to fund relief efforts in Puerto Rico.

While this federal aid remains stalled and delayed, Gov. Kay Ivey has encouraged peo-

ple to donate to the Governor’s Emergency Relief Fund.

The GERF has already seen $134,000 raised to help the tornado victims of Lee County.

Alabama continues to rise when everything else fails.

HIS VIEW

Discussion around Tiger Woods warrants nuance

By JACK WEST Opinion Writer

On Sunday, The New York Times said Tiger Woods’ win at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, had “instantly returned him to the top of the sports world.”

Many other news outlets didn’t go quite that far, but there seemed to be a general consensus that this was a come-back story.

A lot of talk has now even turned to Woods possibly overtaking Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 major tournament victories.

Woods, 43, has now won 15 major tournaments — including five Masters Tournaments in Augusta — and is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers ever.

But that’s not his whole story.

This latest win is so special for the golf world because it is Woods’ first Masters win since his fall from grace on the night after Thanksgiving in 2009.

Woods married Elin Nordegren in 2003 but had multiple affairs throughout their marriage.

In the early hours of Nov. 27, 2009, Woods crashed his Cadillac SUV outside his home in

Florida and was then treated for minor injuries at a nearby hospital.

Investigations into the matter showed that Woods and Nordegren had been having a dispute after she uncovered his affair with Rachel Uchitel.

In the ensuing months, 14 women came forward to say that they had also had affairs with Woods. Because of this, the golfer lost sponsorships and was harshly criticized.

Woods then appeared at a press conference in February 2010 and issued a lengthy apology.

He apologized to his wife, his children, his employees and his fans.

Following this, Woods also faced a multitude of physical injuries that prevented him from either participating in or winning many major tournaments.

For roughly a decade, he seemed to drop out of the mainstream of golf. Because of that, Woods’ win at the Masters this weekend is being called the peak of his 11-year comeback story.

But Woods’ return asks as many questions about how we, as a society, should interact with disgraced public figures as it does about pars

and fairways.

First, it is important to make a distinction between Woods’ behavior and the allegations made against many other famous men as part of the #MeToo movement or athletes who have been implicated in sports drugging scandals.

Woods may have cheated on his wife, but none of his alleged mistresses accused the golfer of forcing himself on them, and he never benefitted professionally from any of this unethical behavior.

He didn’t commit a crime, and cheating on his wife didn’t help his putting game.

What we are left with is an individual whose personal life has been clouded by wrongdoing, but who still has a skill that is widely recognized as being important.

The essential question then becomes: Can we celebrate this person for his/her specific skill while condemning or ignoring the immoral, but not illegal, aspects that we dislike?

The important factor is how related that work is to the behavior that we find morally reprehensible.

In Tiger Woods’ case, marital affairs tend to have little relation to a person’s golf game.

It is important to remember that Woods didn’t win the Masters Tournament because of popular opinion; he was just the best golfer on the course that day.

We can spend a lot of time debating the behavior of this athlete, but since none of it was illegal, I find it hard to condemn him eternally, especially considering how little it has to do with golf.

Nevertheless, as an informed public, we should always remember that our idols and athletes are still human.

Therefore, we should reprimand them for their immorality without completely shutting them out of public life.

However, the nuance that this story deserves was not present enough in most of the coverage Woods got.

Like most situations, this one refuses to be fully covered by any broad statements, and complexity tells the truest story.

Woods should not be “instantly returned [...] to the top of the sports world,” just because of one Masters win, but he also shouldn’t be shoved out altogether for behavior unrelated to golf.

HIS VIEW

‘Farewell, Auburn’: A message from your former SGA president

By DANE BLOCK JR. 2018-2019 SGA President

Auburn students, simply put, thank you.

Over a year ago, you elected me to represent you as your student body president. With a full heart and a clear conscience, I can confidently say that serving you for the betterment of Auburn has been one of the biggest blessings in my life thus far.

You all provided me the opportunity to fulfill a passion of mine: to interact with people and share the same love that was given to me.

I came into Auburn as a brighteyed freshman eager to do anything and everything. But I quickly found out I cannot do everything and that I

shouldn’t, but that I can do something and that I should.

What I aspire to have accomplished and what I will strive to do in this subsequent phase of life is challenge the community around me with three things.

The first is to be steadfast in your desires. If something seizes your heart, pursue it and go all in for it.

The strongest motivation one has is fueled by personal emotion. Whether it is in the classroom or on campus, find what captures your heart and run with it - don’t look back.

Secondly, pick up the torch and be a pioneer. Auburn achieved immense stature because of those who have come before us. However, we must not settle. Auburn students will inevita-

bly lead, but by being grateful for the present and hoping for the future, we push past the status quo and embark on a journey that will transform Auburn and the world around us for generations to come.

Lastly, discover a community that will hold you accountable, be the helping hand in strenuous times, and be the first to celebrate when the good times are rolling.

The challenges of life will come.

The foundation and the community around you, however, will be what holds the walls up when it feels as if the world is crashing down around you.

Often times we play the Riddler, making situations more difficult than needed. In these situations, set one foot in front of the other, take it one

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

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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.

because dining on campus is secondto-none and the best has yet to come.

To close, the love I possessed for Auburn coming in is an ember compared to the blaze it is now, and I have the student body, faculty, administration and the community to thank for this.

Auburn is a remarkable place full of great things to explore, but most importantly, it is full of great people. It is our responsibility to take full advantage of this, work hard and earn what we are given, and leave Auburn better than we found it.

All friends of Auburn, it has been real and it has been a whole ‘lotta fun - thank you for the ride of a lifetime.

War Eagle and God bless!

Dane Block Jr. is a senior in inance.

THE EDITORIAL BOARD

CONTACT

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

word at a time, and lean into those around you for support, guidance and encouragement.

To those graduating, I pray for safety, a desire to go above and beyond and peace through this roller-coaster ride ahead as you embark on your career and make that guap.

To those embarking on another year at Auburn, I pray you never take a second of your experience for granted and make the most of every opportunity.

The sand is falling at a faster pace in the hourglass than we all want. Please – pretty please, as my mother taught me to say, enjoy it all and leave no stone unturned.

On a lighter note, though, budget your lunch money on the Tiger Card

CHIP BROWNLEE

MIKAYLA BURNS

JESSICA BALLARD

Editor-in-Chief

Managing Editor, Operations

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ELIZABETH HURLEY

EDUARDO MEDINA

MADISON OGLETREE

Community Editor

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BRYTNI EMISON

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NATHAN KING

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SPOTLIGHT

JENNIFER FARNER / VIDEOGRAPHER

Auburn student and horseback rider Savannah Valentine brushes her horse.

‘Horses are my escape’

Bringing a horse to college helps students with stress

By ABBY CUNNINGHAM Campus Writer

Going to college is a huge time commitment, so bringing a horse along for the ride would seem like an unnecessary burden, but for some students, they couldn’t make it through school without their companion.

Natalie De Jongh, senior in wildlife ecology, brought her horse to Auburn her junior year because she wanted to see her more than just on holidays since she lived three hours away.

She got her horse, Alyss, when she was just a baby and currently rides her horse for fun.

“I got her when she was a couple months old, and I’ve had her ever since,” De Jong said. “We’re friends.”

At first, De Jongh had Alyss in pasture boarding, which is cheaper than most places but required a lot of work on De Jongh’s part.

“It didn’t require any help or taking care of her,” De Jongh said. “I was up there every morning and night, doing everything by myself. It was really stressful, and I was not sure if I could even do it anymore.”

She then moved her horse to a place where people could take care of Alyss for De Jongh, but it was expensive.

“It’s a whole different rent, but I feel like it’s so worth it for me personally because I was getting so stressed because I was dealing with everything by myself and being up there at 6 a.m. and going straight to class, or when it was raining. I would get really worried about her,” she said. “Knowing that there are people taking care of her is taking a big weight off of my anxiety.”

With the new boarding for her horse, De Jongh has more time to go and see Alyss while still maintaining her academic life.

She makes an effort to visit Alyss at least three times a week.

“It’s been very nice to go out there and get rid of stress, be out there in the outdoors and be with her,” De Jongh said. “It helps with my anxiety, and I like having her around and being able to play with her.”

De Jongh said keeping a horse with you in college is not for everyone, considering that it is stressful and expensive.

“It can be very stressful, and you need to be sure that you have a good support system before bringing your horse up here,” De Jongh said. “You also need to be sure that you have an exit strategy, that you can send them back easily if it wasn’t working out.”

Savannah Valentine, junior in integrative biology, also brought her horses, Wildcard and Buddy, to college with her.

Valentine believes that working with her horses has helped her pick her field of study.

“I feel like having a horse and being involved with horses has brought out the more scientific side of myself,” Valentine said.

“I’ve done a lot of things not the average person would do. I’ve sewn up a horse’s neck, I’ve witnessed horse eye surgeries and the other night, I’ve had to tube feed a calf. Had I have not done those things, I would have never picked something more scientific.”

Before college, Valentine trained Buddy for hunter jumper and participated in competitive riding.

However, she had to retire him because he had a heart murmur.

She got Wildcard in 2017 and has enjoyed simply riding rather than competing.

“I definitely could not live without them,” Valentine said. “I did not want to go back and forth from home to go see them and worry about how they’re doing because I am very hands on.”

Valentine keeps her horses at The Farm at Betsy’s, where she works for free boarding.

She helps ride the horses, feeds them, makes sure that all of the horses are healthy, checks on the fences and feeds the cows that are on the property.

She added that she does her school work at night or early in the morning. Valentine then works every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and she sees her horses those evenings and on the weekends.

Valentine agrees with De Jongh that her horses are a huge stress reliever.

“Horses are my escape,” Valentine said. “Whenever I’m out there, no matter what I’m doing, I feel like I’m on a separate island, totally disconnected from everything else.”

Kaitlyn Dendy, sophomore in organismal biology, brought up her horse, Bacardi, to continue her athletic career on the the Eventing Team.

Dendy has been riding since she was 5 years old and has been a competitive rider ever since.

“I knew Auburn would offer me what I would need to be a successful equestrian and to be the best rider I could be,” Dendy said.

Dendy keeps Bacardi at Silver Linings Equestrian and spends most of her mornings at the barn with him to train.

She schedules most of her classes during the evenings so she can be with Bacardi in the mornings and work on homework during the afternoon.

“It’s important to schedule ahead of time and know when to ride,” Dendy said. “I like to keep everything consistent so that I am on a schedule. It takes a lot of planning, but it is so worth it.”

Dendy believes horse owners have to give their animals the time they deserve.

“It wouldn’t be too nice to them to bring them down here and not spend as much time with them as you should,” Dendy said.

“It’s important to keep that a priority.”

Because of this priority, Dendy can’t study abroad or take long vacations in case her horse gets sick or needs something.

All in all, even though there are many differences in boarding, lifestyle, types of training and types of riding, most horse owners at Auburn seem to agree on the fact that horses help relieve stress.

When Dendy is on the back of her horse, she can forget about all of her life stressors.

“I would not be able to come to Auburn if I did not have my horse,” she said. “I see him every single day, I ride six days a week to train, and I remember telling someone how much I do, and they said, ‘Oh, that must be a lot.’ But I honestly couldn’t do it without my horse.”

COLLEGE COSTS

Tuition lowered for Southern Union students

By STEPHEN LANZI Campus Editor

Auburn and Southern Union State Community College have agreed to a partnership that makes Auburn more affordable for transfer students.

Trustees approved the program, Path to the Plains, at its meeting on Friday, April 12, 2019.

The program aims to make Auburn more accessible for two-year transfer students.

“As a landgrant institution, Auburn University believes that access and affordability are paramount in our efforts to expand and elevate educational opportunities in Alabama,” Provost Bill Hardgrave said in a memo to the board.

It is aimed at highly motivated students who desire a four-year degree but face financial barriers. Trustees agreed to set the tuition rate at $129 per credit hour for the four semesters that students are concurrently enrolled at each of the institutions, which is the same rate in-state students pay at Southern Union.

Auburn’s student and professional fees will also be waived for participating students.

The program will initially be offered to a limited number of students studying biosystems engineering, public relations or geospatial and environmental informatics.

Nearly 900 students from two-year institutions transfer to Auburn each year to complete their degrees.

CONTRIBUTED BY COLE BURTON

Cole Burton greets Athletic Director Al Greene .

BURTON » From 2

finish line.”

But Cole’s not finished yet. Officially discharged from Shepherd’s outpatient program, Cole still attends physical therapy four times a week. He runs on his off days.

In April, Cole plans to take a driving test to return to the road in his 1998 GMC Sierra, a moment of anticipated independence for the soon-to-be 22-year-old. He’s enrolled in an online class at Auburn, and come August, he’ll return to campus for his geology degree. And after that?

“I like to tell people I’m on a bus,” Cole said. “I’m not driving it, I’m just a passenger. We have somebody that has tomorrow planned out.”

Ultimately, Cole is still Cole. His favorite football player is still Cam Newton.

His celebrity crush is Jennifer Anniston.

CONTRIBUTED BY COLE BURTON

A sign made for Cole Burton by his mother’s first grade students.

His guilty pleasure is a Chick-fil-A cookiesand-cream shake, a daily indulgence when regaining the 40 pounds he lost while in his coma. And he still dreams of serving in the Navy.

“Early on, I set what I thought would be limits for Cole. He has blown through all of them,” Charlie said. “I think becoming part of the Navy is less of an obstacle than all the things he’s already accomplished. We’re already so far ahead.”

As his dad says, Cole’s way is a quieter one, one that revolves around the little things, the baby steps. But sometimes the quietest ways are the strongest. Cole doesn’t believe he’s breathing, walking and talking again for one sole reason. “Ephesians 3:20 tells us, ‘God says for the plans I have for you,’” he said. “I’ve checked every version of the Bible I can. I haven’t found one with just a singular ‘plan’ yet.”

Every day, Cole finds a new reason, or maybe it’s the same reason as the day be-

fore, but every day has a reason. So today, as Cole presses the elevator button for the blue-and-white clad gymnasium on the bottom floor, he holds the door open for an older woman in a wheelchair. He says ‘hello’. He asks how her day is, how she’s doing, all with a smile that hasn’t left his face since breakfast.

“The little things, they’re huge really,” he said. “I don’t like to think I’ve got some grand plan for my life. I wake up and think, ‘Okay, God, what do you have for me today?’”

And just as Cole is about to step on the elevator, he pauses, turns to his parents and nods gently towards the stairwell across the hall. Charlie shakes his head with a knowing chuckle, following his son and wife into the stairwell.

“I always want to take the elevator, but Cole always wants to take the stairs,” Charlie said.

He takes them because he can.

The Auburn Plainsman

THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2019

PAGE 5

TRUSTEES

DREW DAWS / CAMPUS WRITER

The Auburn University Board of Trustees meets on April 12, 2019, at The Hotel at Auburn University.

Trustees criticize governor’s higher-ed budget

By EVAN MEALINS Community Writer

The Auburn University Board of Trustees expressed disapproval at the recent state budget proposed by Gov. Kay Ivey.

Jimmy Rane, trustee and chair of the governmental affairs committee, included the discussion of the proposed budget in his report at the Board of Trustees meeting on Friday.

“The bad news is that [Ivey’s] budget was not kind to Auburn,” Rane said. “Let me repeat that. It was not kind to Auburn.”

On March 19, Ivey introduced her budget recommendations for the fiscal year 2020.

The proposed education budget for the 2020 fiscal year is the largest in the state’s history, totaling $7.1 billion, including $1.2

billion for higher education.

However, the budget gives Auburn University only a 5 percent increase in funding, the lowest increase of all colleges and universities in the state, according to Rane.

“Considering the fact that Auburn University educates more Alabama students than any institution in the state, and for us to receive the lowest percentage increase is totally unacceptable,” Rane said.

The University of Alabama received a 7.5 percent increase.

Athens State University received the highest increase of all colleges and universities, receiving an 11 percent increase in funding.

Rane pointed out that Athens State University is in the district of Sen. Arthur Orr, the chair of the Finance and Taxation

Education Committee.

President Steven Leath, Provost Bill Hardgrave, CFO Kelli Shomaker and chief of staff Steve Pelham met with Orr and Sen. Del Marsh earlier in the week to present their case for a greater increase in appropriations.

Marsh pledged his support to help improve Auburn’s appropriations, and Orr indicated he has a solution to help improve funding for higher education, according to Rane.

Rane said Orr plans to have the education budget in committee next week. The Legislature has over half of its legislative days remaining.

Both Ivey and Marsh are Auburn alumni.

The growing education budget is funded largely by sales and income taxes.

SPOTLIGHT

SPOTLIGHT

Public relations ranked third in nation

By KAYLA KELLY Campus Writer

CONTRIBUTED BY ELIZABETH ESSAMUAH-OUANSAH

An Auburn nursing student sees a patient at Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital in Sekondi, Ghana.

Auburn groups adopt Ghana pediatric ward

By KAYLA KELLY Campus Writer

During this past March, a group from Auburn University’s Outreach Global and School of Nursing students and faculty had the opportunity to travel to Sekondi, in the western region of Ghana.

They not only provided free health care services to the people of Sekondi, but they also adopted the pediatric unit of the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital.

“I started this initially as one of our strategic goals and plans of Outreach Global about 10 years ago,” said Royrickers Cook, vice president of Outreach Global and associate provost.

In addition to assisting in the health care system, the students and faculty also donated medical supplies, stuffed animals and books for the children of Sekondi in their second trip to the region.

“We have a special partnership with the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, where we have been working with the president and vice chancellor very closely,” Cook said. “In this office [Outreach Global], we have intentionally focused on the continent of Africa, whether East or West Africa.”

With the help of Cook, Elizabeth Essamuah-Quansah, director of Outreach Global and Ghana native, had the idea to start helping the people of Ghana by establishing an annual free health care program.

“I had this idea, and I passed it by Dr. Cook who supported it,” Essamuah-Quansah said. “We then involved the dean of

nursing. He also embraced the idea.”

The dean took an exploratory visit to the region with Essamuah-Quansah, and after meeting with government officials, the plan was a go.

In 2017, Auburn donated medical supplies to the emergency unit of the hospital in Sekondi.

After traveling multiple times to the hospital, Essamuah-Quansah led a needs assessment in order to best decide which part of the hospital was in demand of the most help.

“We wanted to be strategic,” she said.

“After several visitations to the hospital during the 2017 program, it became clear the pediatric unit was a ward to adopt. The condition there was poor, and the decision was made to focus most of the resources to the pediatric unit.”

During their time in Ghana, not only were the students and staff from Auburn University grateful for the opportunity to be working closely in different communities of Sekondi, the people of Ghana were also overjoyed.

“You should have seen their faces just handing them registration numbers for examinations and offering them the opportunity to be screened by our student nurses and local doctors,” Essamuah-Quansah said.

Valarie Thomas, associate clinical professor, said everyone she interacted with was receptive and kind.

“Their smiles were infectious,” Thomas said. “The hugs, laughs and warm reception will be with me for a long time.

It makes you wonder how so many people with so little can be so grateful. I think we forget the small things in life are the most treasured.”

Ghana is a prominent developing country in West Africa with growing economic development, a rich heritage, history and culture, Cook said.

However, some Ghanaian communities do not have sufficient health care service or medical resources.

In addition to providing aid, students were able to learn more about Ghana’s health care system.

“An important part of the learning process is the outreach piece and the practice piece,” Cook said. “For these students to have the opportunity to work for populations that are underserved and to learn how to operate and assist in that environment is important.”

The trips put on through the partnership with the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital will continue to happen annually and are open to all students at Auburn University.

Cara Borowski, senior in nursing, said she has never been a huge fan of spring break.

She said she used to think it was wasted time and didn’t serve a purpose.

“Ghana changed that,” Borowski said.

“In the 10 days we were there, I saw beauty I couldn’t imagine in both the scenery and the people, was given the opportunity to help those who couldn’t help themselves and discovered a new meaning to the profession of nursing.”

Auburn’s public relations program was recently ranked third in the nation by Study.com.

The University of Northwestern Illinois and Appalachian State University were the only programs to rank higher than Auburn.

Terri Knight is a lecturer and the associate director of the public relations department. She has been in this role since 2016 and manages multiple components of the program.

Knight has been at Auburn since 2011 and has watched this program develop over the years.

She believed there were many reasons that Auburn received this recognition, one of the most important being the faculty.

“We’ve really elevated the brand in the last several years,” Knight said. “We’ve had a lot of new faculty that have come on, and so, they’ve brought a new, fresh outlook on things.”

Another aspect of the public relations program that Knight believes put Auburn so high is service learning, which gives students an idea of what working in the real world is like.

“We use real clients in the classroom, and we treat each group like its own agency, so they are really able to build on that,” Knight said.

Additionally, the program has added a number of electives to enhance the breadth of education. These courses include politics and public relations, social media and public relations and international public relations.

Knight said the variety of courses allows students to explore different areas of the field and discover what they are specifically passionate about.

According to Knight, when Auburn received this recognition, the graduates of the program were some of the most excited about it.

“I was so surprised at how many graduates reached out to me to say they were really excited that we were recognized,” Knight said. “I think it’s because they knew the work was great because so many of them are working in the industry.”

Placing third in the nation was also rewarding to students who are currently in the program.

“I think it also helps existing students in understanding that once they put that down on paper and have it on their resume, it’s something that will bring more value to them,” Knight said.

The public relations program has plans to continue growing and improving.

TRUSTEES

Summer improvements planned for Village Dining facility

By DREW DAWS Campus Writer

Village Dining will undergo extensive changes this summer, adding new dining options and renovating current spaces.

Trustees approved the resolution, which is expected to cost $3.8 million, during its meeting Friday morning.

The project includes an all-youcare-to-eat kitchen space, dining room improvements, extensive equipment upgrades, new back-ofhouse epoxy flooring and an additional point-of-sale entry, accord-

ing to an executive summary by the Property and Facilities Committee.

Glenn Loughridge, director of campus dining, said the goal is to provide a community-oriented dining experience with local produce and meats.

“Local is one of the things that we are really going for in our dining halls,” he said. “We specified in our contract that 20 percent of our purchases would be local.”

Tiger Dining plans to add healthier options to the menu at Tiger Zone in the Village Dining facility. This will give students a wide variety of food to choose from.

“There will be some vegan and vegetarian options that we are going to be offering this fall,” said Gwen Ward, administrative specialist of campus dining. “This will be a place where students who have special dietary challenges can go look at the menu and order anything they want.”

Tiger Zone has several four-person tables, she said.

Since students tend to sit alone, she said she hopes adding community-style tables will change that.

“Family dinners are important because that’s where people connect,” she said. “And what we are re-

ally trying to replicate is giving students more opportunities, more places where they can connect.”

“It is our philosophy that, being the Auburn family, everybody needs a seat at the table,” Loughridge said.

Interior renovations will give Village Dining an upscale appearance, he said.

The first phase of the project also includes renovating the Chick-fil-A in the Student Center while adding a second Chick-fil-A in the Village, replacing 844 Burger.

The current restaurant in the Student Center has two service lines.

Part of the renovation includes con-

densing that down to one, he said.

“Having a single place where all the food is going will streamline that process and get food out faster,” he said. “We already do a transaction every 11 seconds, but we’re hoping to be able to beat that going forward.”

Loughridge also said the second Chick-fil-A will allow the University to expand its use of the fast-food chain.

Along with these projects, campus dining will offer new meal plans starting in the fall. Students can make changes to their meal plan up until the 10th day of class, he said.

community THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2019

6 THEPLAINSMAN.COM

COMMUNITY

Ride Along POLICE

Auburn police patrol the city day and night. The Plainsman got an inside look

By ELIZABETH HURLEY Community Reporter

The familiar black and white Ford Explorers, each topped with red and blue lights and emblazoned with the image of an eagle and a banner, roam the Auburn streets day and night.

Each is a moving office. A computer is stationed to the right of the driver. Papers are stacked tall in the passenger seat, and citations are printed from the passenger head rest.

The cars are equipped for a variety of tasks, since officers spend the majority of their 12-hour shifts in them. They mostly handle traffic accidents and other straight-forward calls, but the possibility of something bigger is always looming in the distance.

“I do like patrol because you never know what’s going to happen,” said Sgt. Matt Adams. “It’s always interesting, and there’s never a dull moment.”

Auburn officers usually ride solo, with 15 to 20 officers patrolling during the day and night shifts. Each officer is assigned a specific section of Auburn and responds to calls within that area.

That’s where Adams and the other sergeants step in. They patrol the entire city and check-in on officers taking calls.

“As a supervisor you’re not checking on them,” Adams said. “You just want to make sure they’re okay, they’re safe.”

It’s not just supervisors checking-in. Any red and blue lights in the distance are a calling sign to all officers. Whenever they see those lights, they drive straight for them and assist in any way they can.

“The group I work with on my shift is a great group of guys,” Adams said. “They make my job a lot easier because they work hard. They know what they’re doing. They make my job as a supervisor a whole lot easier.”

Officers keep tabs on one another from inside their patrol cars. In place of the center console lies a radio, where Auburn’s 911 center calls out to all the officers.

Calls also pop up on the computer. They are color coded based on priority, so it’s easy for Adams and other officers to spot where they are needed most.

“It’s always evolving, law enforcement,” Adams said.

“From how I started with no computers to now, how we live off of electronics.”

Calls are often self-initiated. Officers often stop whenever they see something they can help with, and Adams is no exception.

Stranded motorists are one of the more common sights officers will offer their aid with, and this particular Friday night before Auburn basketball’s Final Four appearance was no exception.

As Adams was driving near campus, he noticed two cars in the center lane between the engineering building and Chipotle along Magnolia Avenue.

He flicked on his lights and two cameras begin recording, one from the front of the car and the other from the back. As he exited, the closing door vibrated the patrol car. He called out on his radio to let dispatch know he was approaching a motorist.

Like clockwork, just minutes later, another officer joined Adams, and they worked with the motorist to jump start the car, but to no avail.

But even while helping out a stuck motorist, the officers had an effect on the traffic around them Cars slowly passed by on either side of the stopped vehicles. As the other drivers approached the red-and-blue lights, they prepared themselves, often straightening their posture and adjusting their grip on the steering wheel.

Their eyes followed as they drove past the scene, their hands poised at 10 and 2 and cell phones tucked away.

Sights like this are common, both near and far from accidents. When drivers see the black and white cars, they often

LOCAL SPORTS

OLIVIA WILKES / VIDEOGRAPHER

drive more safely, Adams said.

“Proactive self-initiated activities such as traffic stops, contacting suspicious persons, conducting foot patrols, heavily patrolling neighborhoods and shopping centers prevent crime,” he explained.

Adams doesn’t think of his patrol car as just a symbol to prevent crime. He sees it as a sign of help, because he believes that is an officer’s first duty, to help their community.

Former Police Chief and current Ward 8 City Councilman Tommy Dawson agrees, and said the purpose of an officer is to serve the public and make sure people are safe.

“It’s a very rewarding career,” Dawson said. “You get to the help the citizens that you care about and the community that you care about.”

The Auburn community cares for its officers too. Children routinely write cards and families drop off food at the police station as a show of gratitude to the officers.

“That’s one of the great things about working for Auburn,” Adams said. “You can tell the community is here for us. We see a lot of outreach when stuff does go bad. They’re here for us.”

That much was clear in recent months, after an officer was shot during a traffic stop in February.

The Auburn community rallied behind the officer and the department by putting on fundraisers and sending get-well cards.

Many of those cards are still prominently displayed at the police station.

“You can see sometimes where you influence them,” Adams said. “That’s all we’re trying to do is show them that, ‘Hey we’re here for y’all.’ That’s what we’re here for.”

CITY COUNCIL

Council grants tax abatements to manufacturers

By CORY BLACKMON Community Reporter

CONTRIBUTED BY AUBURN TIGERS WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL TEAM

The National Wheelchair Basketball Association 2019 Toyota National Adult Division Wheelchair Basketball Tournament champions.

Wheelchair basketball team national champs

By EVAN MEALINS Community Writer

While many of the Auburn faithful were keeping up with the men’s basketball team at the Final Four, another team from Auburn was making history of its own.

The Auburn wheelchair basketball team took home the national championship trophy for the National Wheelchair Basketball Association 2019 Toyota National Adult Division III Wheelchair Basketball Tournament on April 7.

The Tigers are a community team, not to be confused with Auburn University’s wheelchair basketball team, which competes in the NWBA’s college division.

The six-seeded Tigers ground through the 16-team bracket, grabbing a first-round win against the Turnstone Bandits from Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The team also had two overtime victories against the Fayetteville Flyers from North Carolina and the Columbus Wheelchair Basketball Club from Ohio before reaching the championship match- up against the Ability 360 Suns

from Phoenix, Arizona.

“I told some of my teammates during this tournament, ‘I don’t know that we’re the best team in the D3 division, but I do think that we’re the hardest to beat because we just don’t quit,’” said head coach and player Woody Thornton.

That never-quit attitude would prove to be the difference-maker in the championship game, as well.

After one half of play in historic Broadway Armory Park in Chicago, the Tigers found themselves down by 12 points. They did not quit, and a second-half rally tied the score at 54 with just seconds to play.

With seven seconds left and the championship on the line, tournament MVP Robert Foley sunk the winning three, giving Foley 33 points in the game and the Tigers their first national championship.

“It’s really unreal,” Thornton said.

“Getting invited to the tournament and then just going in there and being able to win the whole thing — it’s mind boggling to me.”

Thornton has been a part of wheelchair basketball in Auburn since it began

in 2010 and has loved every minute of it.

He said there weren’t any adaptive sports at Auburn University when he attended in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“The fellowship that you make with the other players is unique, not just on your own team, but when you go to a tournament,” Thornton said. “You know, you get a lot of people talking to each other with the disabilities. I think people relate to each other well.”

The wheelchair basketball program has grown over the years. In 2017, a strictly collegiate team was created just for students. The Division III team was added for students and adults not eligible or experienced enough for collegiate play.

The 2019 Division III and national championship team consists of players from throughout Alabama and even some Florida residents.

The team is sponsored by Thornton’s organization, the Christian Amputee Support Team.

The Tigers play their home games in the Beard-Eaves Coliseum and compete in regular season tournaments across the Southeast.

In a bid to encourage further investment by companies in Auburn, the Auburn City Council approved tax abatements for GE Aviation, an aerospace manufacturing company, and additional abatements for Briggs & Straton, an engine manufacturer.

Tax abatements are legislative tools that allow companies to pay less in municipal taxes for a given amount of time.

The abatements were approved at the April 16 City Council meeting.

Earlier this year, GE Aviation announced it would invest $50 million in its Auburn plant in order to expand additive manufacturing, otherwise known as 3D-printing, at the plant. The expansion will add about 60 new jobs.

“We’re very excited for this new investment in our additive manufacturing operation here in Auburn,” GE Aviation’s Auburn plant leader Ricardo Acevedo said at the time.

“This is an expansion of a new engine line,” said Jim Buston, Auburn City Manager. “They are making parts for a different engine right now and they would add one in Auburn, so there would be two engine parts they would make.”

The tax abatements, which cut the amount of taxes the companies pay to the city, will last for 15 years, with the last 5 years being only municipal property taxes abated. GE Aviation anticipates the next two years will provide a capital investment of approximately $50 million.

Briggs & Straton will also receive an increase in tax abatement that the Council approved in October.

The increase is to better reflect the impact the new distribution center will have on the community, since the facility is larger than anticipated, according to the city.

In the first phase of the project, 25 jobs were created at the Briggs & Straton facility. Another 57 new employees are anticipated over the next two years.

The Briggs & Straton tax abatements were raised by about $8 million. The package waives non-educational property taxes and sales-and-use taxes for the next 15 years.

Councilmember Tommy Dawson and Mayor Ron Anders both praised city staff on the work they have done in securing GE Aviation and Briggs & Straton’s positions in Auburn.

The councilmembers praised the work the city staff are doing to help the companies grow and give back to the community.

“It is great news, and I would like to commend the city staff years ago for getting GE in here,” Dawson said. “It was really good for Auburn, and it looks like it’ll be even better for Auburn.”

The Auburn Plainsman

THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2019

PAGE 7

EDUCATION

CAMERON BRASHER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Study rooms of the Lee County Youth Development Center on Tuesday, April 16, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.

A culture of hope at the Chanticleer School

By EVAN MEALINS Community Writer

The Chanticleer Learning Center is an accredited educational institution on the campus of the Lee County Youth Development Center, a residential facility for youth in foster care.

There are approximately 83 students at Chanticleer, ranging from fifth grade to post-graduates, all of whom are residents of LCYDC. Also under the administration of the Chanticleer Learning Center is the Chanticleer Day School, an alternative school for students of Lee County who are not residents of LCYDC. “We don’t have all of the extra resources that they would in a public school,” said Ku’Wonna Ingram, administrator of the Chanticleer Learning Center. “You know, if they have somebody with some disruptive behaviors, they just have to pick up the phone. We’re the phone.”

Most residential students at the learning center don’t have anywhere else to go. For students at the day school, it is often their last chance for education before expulsion.

But rather than seeing Chanticleer as a dead end, Ingram sees hope for these students through their education as the way to reduce recidivism and open new doors.

The school is equipped with all the things other schools have, like smart boards, computers, tablets and a library where students can do research, study or read for fun. Students attend art and physical education classes, learn college readiness and employment skills and can serve on the Junior Advisory Board,

which is the voice of the student body. They take field trips and have opportunities to volunteer and go to church off campus.

To Ingram, everything done at the learning center is working towards the same goal: graduation. Getting students to reach graduation can be a challenge, however, because of a variety of factors.

“A lot of our kids endure so much trauma,” Ingram said.

“Sometimes they get the short end of the stick, and they have a lot of issues with trust, and loss, and grief.”

Working with students who have these experiences creates a different learning environment, and teachers there face challenges as well as opportunities that those in public schools do not.

Students at Chanticleer sometimes have gaps in learning compared to their public school peers, but small class sizes allow the teachers to target students’ specific learning styles to get them back up to speed and on the right track.

“I think as far as an educator, the look is the same. Passion is different,” said Krista Collins, a former teacher at both Chanticleer Learning Center and Auburn High. “You have to be passionate about what you do here, because every day is different.”

Collins currently serves as the operations manager of special ed services. She says she left the public school system after 10 years to teach at Chanticleer because of a desire to help others, and the way to do that is to be available wholeheartedly to her students.

Ingram recounted a story of when Collins called her at 9 p.m., explaining that a student was acting out because that student

was living on the street.

That student was then moved from the day school to the residential program at LCYDC, and since then, the student has excelled and even received awards from the county, Ingram said.

But many stories like this one do not end the same way; students’ hardships outside the classroom can often go unnoticed, and they may never get the help they need, Ingram explained.

Hearing of students who don’t know where their next meal is coming from, and who are often working all night to provide for their families, is common at Chanticleer.

“They can’t focus on school for trying to figure out how they’re going to feed their families,” Ingram said.

But people can no longer ignore students’ backgrounds and experiences, Ingram said.

She said that for staff, the goal is to help put students’ pasts into a place where they can use them as motivation, propelling them instead of keeping them back.

Every day at Chanticleer is a different experience for the teachers, therapists, administration and other staff working there.

“I just want people to know that we love children,” Ingram said. “Anything that we can do as an institution to make their lives better, stimulated and enriching, that’s why we’re here.

That’s our mission.”

Volunteers from Auburn University and the community can help tutor or serve the students and residents in another way.

For more information, visit Lee County Youth Development Center’s website at lcydc.org.

LIBRARY

Public library to build outdoor classroom in fall

By TIM NAIL Community Writer

While students enjoy time away from the classroom over the summer, the Auburn Public Library is looking to revamp its entryway.

In coordination with the city’s Public Works Department, the library has unveiled a proposal for an outdoor classroom project to occupy the area between its parking lots and McKinley Avenue.

“Through the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Master Plan, the green space where the outdoor classroom will be constructed was identified as an underutilized space that could be made more finished and more complete,” said Chris Warren, the library’s director.

The new facility’s principal feature will be a performance area, which the library intends to use to provide more opportunities for its programming.

ADA-accessible seating will surround the area to allow for all library visitors to attend events and socialize with others.

The library hopes to host story time pro-

grams, lectures and demonstrations that might be better suited in an open-air setting in the new outdoor classroom. A small garden will help with outdoor education.

“When it’s not in use, we hope that patrons will see the outdoor classroom as a destination where they can read or eat their lunch or play with their kids,” Warren said.

Warren and Dan Ballard, the project’s manager and designer from the Public Works Department, will be presenting the concept at the upcoming meeting of the Auburn Public Library Board on April 23.

No estimate was given for the cost of construction given that the project is out for competitive bid and won’t be awarded building funds until after the board meeting.

The library aims to have the outdoor classroom finished at the start of September, followed by a dedication and official opening within the following weeks. “[It will be] providing us with an additional space for programs and events while also functioning as a pocket, passive park when it’s not otherwise in use,” Warren said.

CONTRIBUTED BY AUBURN PUBLIC LIBRARY

Renderings of the new outdoor classroom at Auburn Public Library.

VETERANS

How Auburn honors its veterans throughout the year

By CORY BLACKMON Community Reporter

The City of Auburn is proud to call itself home to a long list of distinguished military veterans and works to honor them in many different ways.

Sam Nichols, a chairman of the Veterans Committee in Auburn, is one of many people who work to ensure that people remember and honor those who have served our community and country.

“I think it’s very important for the community, for the civilian community, to recognize veterans,” Nichols said. “And to also recognize there are people who put their lives on the line to protect us, I think it’s vitally important.”

The Auburn Veterans Committee works to plan and host different events that honor veterans, support them and raise funds for scholarships to go toward help-

ing veterans. Funds are also raised to establish and keep up monuments dedicated to different distinguished veterans.

“A couple years ago, we started remembering deceased veterans in our ‘Auburn Heroes Remembered’ on the Auburn website,” Nichols said. “We also administer three scholarships every year, a couple at Auburn and one at Southern Union.”

The committee works to put on a Memorial Day breakfast every year, and also lets citizens get involved in honoring their own veterans at the Auburn Veteran Memorial Monument.

“The Auburn Veteran Memorial Monument is kind of a standing tribute from the City of Auburn to veterans,” Nichols said. “You can pay a hundred bucks and any veteran you wish to recognize, you can have their name emblazoned on a brick and added to the monument.”

Nichols said viewers can visit the monument’s website online to check out the monument from a satellite and see the placement of the specialized bricks live.

The committee works to find different servicemen and women every year and put together a detailed description of their service.

“For the last five or six years, the City of Auburn has produced wonderful videos of our distinguished veterans,” Nichols said. “They go through their careers, and they’re really well produced.”

Honoring veterans isn’t a task carried out solely by adult. Auburn High School has a program that gets students involved with talking to veterans and hearing their stories.

Blake Busbin, an Auburn high school teacher, started the AHS Veteran Project in 2014 as a way to connect today’s students to veterans. The program allows students

to interview and hear the stories of veterans who participate in the program.

“In creating it, we wanted to build on the traditional guest speaker model to make an experience that was more meaningful for both the student and veteran,” Busbin said.

According to Busbin, the program was created with three goals in mind. One is to provide students the opportunity to learn about the nation’s military history and realities of war through the voices of the veterans themselves, thus creating a more meaningful learning experience.

Another is to recognize and honor the contributions of local veterans through the recording of the oral histories and providing copies to the public via a donation to the Library of Congress Veterans History Project.

The last is to develop a positive

relationship with the community through service learning as the students learn how to create and publish history for a general audience.

Interviews conducted by students are recorded and sent to the Library of Congress Veterans History Project, which collects the stories of different veterans from all over the country.

“For the students, interviewing veterans serves as a favorite experience for their junior year,” Busbin said. “Not just for the learning but also the relationship developed with the veteran.”

Busbin also said the experience is good for the veterans who participate and interact with the students.

“There is a great appreciation from the veterans for having an attentive audience who genuinely cares about their story,” Busbin said.

sports

8

THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2019

THEPLAINSMAN.COM

SPORTS

TODD VAN EMST / AUBURN ATHLETICS

MADISON OGLETREE / PHOTO EDITOR

FOOTBALL

JOSHUA FISHER / PHOTOGRAPHER

CAMERON BRASHER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

NOW WHAT?

Tigers face summer of questions after eye-opening A-Day

By ZACH TANTILLO Sports Reporter

A-Day is complete, and now fans will have to wait over four months for their next taste of Auburn football.

With the long gap between the next time Auburn will step on the field and now, it is the perfect time of the year for speculation, dissection and more importantly, overreaction to Auburn’s A-Day. MATTHEW HILL’S TIME TO SHINE After redshirting his first season on The Plains, Matthew Hill got his chance to show his abilities in front of the Auburn crowd at this year’s A-Day and he was more than impressive.

“Hill is a guy that we had high expectations for when we recruited him,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “That was real good to see him make some plays in front of the crowd. He has had a very solid spring. He’s a guy that has a chance to make big plays. It was a great catch he made over his shoulder on that first one and, of course, we threw a little tunnel to the field on that last one and you see he has a little bit of acceleration. He’s got a chance to be really good player for us.”

Hill led Auburn in receptions, targets, receiving yards and tied the lead for touchdowns with two on the day.

Auburn’s receiving unit has a big hole missing with the departure of all-time receptions leader Ryan Davis. Who better to replace Davis than Hill, who showed his ability to get separation from the defense and have a high-percentage catch rate?

“I think I’m more like an R-Dave, the kind of role that he had — just kind of get the ball in space, make somebody miss,” Hill said. “Not just do whatever with the ball but do what you can and don’t try to do too much. Just make a play.”

Hill even sees the comparison in skill sets between

he and Davis. A big reason for that is the fact that Davis served almost as a mentor for Hill during his redshirt season.

“I’ve learned a lot. Someone in my shoes, I would say I’m blessed to be behind somebody like R-Dave,” Hill said.

“You learn a lot, like — leadership, coming out of your breaks. Anything you think of, he’ll sit down and talk with you and get you better, get your mind right in any situation. He’ll pray for you. I’m blessed to have a role model.”

SETH WILLIAMS MIGHT BE EVEN BETTER Auburn’s Offensive MVP of A-Day did not disappoint and showed that he could be one of the most dangerous receivers not only in the conference, but the country.

Williams only needed one half to earn the award, where he caught four passes on four targets for 103 yards and two touchdowns. Williams is the go-to guy for Auburn when the team needs a receiver to go up a get the catch on a 5050 ball – including a few during A-Day. “Especially this league, you have to because you’re going to get some 1-on-1 opportunities,” Malzahn said about Williams’ ability to catch the ball in traffic. “A lot of times they’re going to roll and extra safety down and they’re going to win. You’ve got to have somebody that can win on the outside. It was good to see Seth make some of those plays.”

With Darius Slayton and Davis gone, Auburn is in search of receiving production, and Williams showed that he is willing to take that next step to avoid the “sophomore slump” and become an All-SEC talent Auburn needs.

“I really heard about that sophomore slump,” Williams said. “After the freshman season, they were like, ‘Yeah, now you can’t have that sophomore slump.’ So that’s when I first heard about it. I was like, ‘Yeah, I can’t do that.’ So, I’m trying to push through that. I don’t want to have a sophomore slump. Spring, I’m just trying to get better with the small things. Through the summer, I’m just go-

ing to work with the small things and try to get better and get ready for the fall.”

JOEY GATEWOOD = ‘BABY CAM NEWTON?’ The quarterback battle at Auburn has been the most talked about storyline of Auburn’s offseason. Joey Gatewood, a 6-foot-5, 233-pound quarterback, has garnered comparisons to the former Heisman winner from before he even took a snap for the Tigers.

Those expectations and comparisons add a lot of pressure to a player and put their performances under a microscope. At last season’s A-Day, Gatewood was no where near the Newton comparisons, completing only four of his 14 attempts for zero yards.

But this spring, Gatewood has gotten praise for his improved confidence and ability.

“He’s a different quarterback than he was at this time last year,” Malzahn said. “He does have more confidence.

He has really been focused and really desperate to win the job. So, he’s had a very good spring.”

Despite not being able to display his ability to use his legs and athleticism at A-Day, Gatewood was head-andshoulders above where he was last season. He completed 7-of-10 passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns.

After the game, both Malzahn and players stressed that Gatewood’s performance was not close to what he can do once the quarterbacks can go live — even bringing back those Newton comparisons.

“Baby Cam Newton. I’m telling you. He’s another Cam Newton back there,” Williams said. “Once he gets live, he turns into a whole ’nother person.”

Gatewood would like it to be known that he does not like the comparisons to the former Heisman Trophy winner, but it is safe to say that it will be hard to shake the comparisons between the two with more performances like at A-Day.

» See NOW WHAT?, 10

FOOTBALL

‘Much more to come’ from Matthew Hill

By JAKE WEESE Sports Writer

Last season Auburn saw the emergence of first-year wide receivers Seth Williams and Anthony Schwartz, who combined for 1,102 all-purpose yards and 12 total touchdowns on the ground and through the air.

This year, fellow class of 2018 recruit — wideout Matthew Hill — may have his chance to introduce himself to the Auburn Family this fall. Hill had himself a day on Saturday during A-Day, finishing with five receptions, 128 yards and two touchdowns.

Hill saw snaps with both sides during the

scrimmage and was highly efficient for both teams. Hill had three receptions, 76 yards and a touchdown for the blue team and two receptions, 51 yards and a touchdown for the orange squad.

He did not see much playing time last fall and was redshirted after falling beneath the four-game threshold. So for Hill, Saturday’s A-Day performance was a culmination of the hard work during the offseason and a preview of what could be in the fall.

“Since I got redshirted my first season here, it just gave me an opportunity to get better on the field and in the classroom, anyways,” Hill said. “That’s why I feel like I did

a good job today. All the talent and the work that built up, I was able to show y’all what I’ve been working on since high school, really.”

The receiving corps at Auburn will skew younger this season with star wideouts Ryan Davis and Darius Slayton leaving for the NFL Draft.

“It meant a lot to me, because all my work is now showing off,” Hill said. “All spring, I’ve been showing the coaches why I should’ve played last year. It was also like a confidence thing. I just had to sit down and just think about building confidence with the offense and just learn it. Now that I’ve learned it and

am confident, there’s much more to come.”

Even though the wide receiver room may be greener this season than it has been in the past, players like Williams, who took home the Offensive A-Day MVP, can see the potential in Hill.

“Like, all the receivers, Matthew — he’s going to get a whole bunch of playing time this year because R-Davis left,” Williams said. “So he’s going to step into that spot, he’s going to keep doing it. We always knew that Matt could do that. Now it’s time for him to show it on the big stage. It’s time for him to show it. He’s got his chance to show it, so he’s going to do it.”

The Auburn Plainsman

THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2019 MEN’S BASKETBALL

PAGE 9

SOFTBALL

Entire senior class drafted

By JAKE WEESE Sports Writer

Auburn softball made program history on Monday night as each member of its senior class was selected during the 2019 National Pro Fastpitch Draft.

Kendall Veach started the evening off when the Beijing Eagles took her as the seventh-overall pick in the second round. Veach is now the highest overall NPF draftee in program history.

By the end of the night the Eagles drafted three more Tigers. Casey McCrackin was picked up in the third round, Morgan Podany in the fourth round and Bree Fornis in the fifth round.

The Cleveland Comets selected Makayla Martin as the 23rd overall pick in the fifth round.

Before the five were selected, Auburn only had six total players selected in the NPF draft in school history. Morgan Estell was the the latest and highest draftee when she was taken with the 12th-overall pick by the Akron Racers in 2015.

Veach has a career-high 18 home runs through 43 games this season. The 18 home runs are three short of tying Auburn’s single-season record of 21 set by Kasey Cooper in

2016. In addition, her 37 career home runs are seventh-most by an Auburn player in their career.

McCrackin is currently tied with Taylon Snow for the team lead in batting average at .370. Her 14 doubles this season also lead the team and are five more than the next closest player. Her 13 stolen bases are second best on the team behind Alyssa Rivera with 14.

The 13 stolen bases are tied for 10th most in a single season at Auburn.

Podany, who has a fielding average of .980 through 43 games, hit a game-ending RBI single in a win over No. 16 South Carolina. In her 298 career at-bats, Podany has never grounded into a double play.

Fornis’ total bases reached has doubled this season in only 67 at-bats, and her 167 career games played are fourth-most among active Auburn players. Fornis, like Podany, has never grounded into a double play during her fouryear playing career.

Martin was named preseason All-SEC and is Auburn’s career ERA leader with a 1.60 ERA, 0.01 lower than former pitcher Kaylee Carlson.

Martin’s 61 career wins ranks as third alltime in school history, and her 350 career strikeouts are seventh most. She has thrown 16 shutouts, the fourth-most in program history, in 32 career starts in the circle.

MADISON OGLETREE / PHOTO EDITOR

Austin Wiley (50) during an open practice on Friday, April 5, 2019, in Minneapolis, Minn.

Wiley undergoes surgery

By NATHAN KING Sports Editor

Auburn junior Austin Wiley is recovering from surgery on his broken thumb, according to a Facebook post from his mother, Vickie Orr Wiley, on Monday.

Vickie Orr Wiley said the injury occurred in the Tigers’ Round of 32 victory over Kansas in Salt Lake City.

“My Big Guy is in recovery from his thumb surgery!” Vickie Orr Wiley wrote on Facebook. “The injury actually occurred during the Kansas game when a Kansas player hit his hand in an attempt to strip the ball from him.

Of course we thought it was just a jammed thumb and taped it up for the remaining three games of the season. It wasn’t until returning from the Final Four did we find out it was broken. Thanks for all the prayers and text messages to check on Austin.”

The surgery was performed at the Hughston Surgical Center in Columbus, Georgia — just under an hour from Auburn’s main campus.

A 6-foot-11 center from Hoover, Alabama, Austin Wiley missed all of Auburn’s 2017-18 season as Auburn elected to sit him amid eligibility concerns in relation to the Chuck Person FBI scandal. He appeared in 29 of Auburn’s 40 games last season after a lower left leg injury persisted midseason.

Off the bench, Austin Wiley played his best basketball of the season in the SEC and NCAA tournaments for the Tigers, including six and seven points against Kansas in the Round of 32 and Kentucky in the Elite Eight, respectively, en route to Auburn’s first Final Four appearance in program history.

He’s still yet to announce his plans for the 2019 NBA draft process.

FILE PHOTO

Kendall Veach (24) returns from the plate during Auburn softball vs. Arkansas on Saturday, April 21, 2018, in Auburn, Ala.

FOOTBALL

Britt leading new-look LBs

By JAKE WEESE Sports Writer

The primary focus on Auburn football this spring has been on who would win the starting quarterback job.

On the other side of the ball, though, Auburn has had spots to fill with key losses like Deshaun Davis and Dontavius Russell.

K.J. Britt is one such player who looks to rise to the occasion this fall, taking over Davis’ role as the defacto leader of the linebackers.

Newly appointed defensive leaders like Britt are making sure to get everyone ready for fall and hopes to replicate the defense from last season, which allowed 19.15 points a game and finished 38th in total defense in the country.

Britt, who refers to himself as an “old man” when he’s out on the field, isn’t the only defensive player returning, but he does see himself as a leader on the defense.

“I’ve been a leader my whole life,” Britt said, “and I try not to lead by word of mouth but by example, it’s just something that I do, I can’t even explain it, it’s just some-

thing that I think I was naturally born with, I really believe that.”

Britt finished with a lone tackle during A-Day, but he has been slowly filling in the “Deshaun Davis type” role that coaches expected to see from him when Davis left.

“I think overall, they’ve had a very good spring and Britt has been leading that group and has really taken over for Deshaun Davis,” Malzahn said. “It’s his moment and he’s been waiting for this moment. He is really physical and has really improved.”

Britt was also impressed by the play of his teammates, like freshman linebacker Owen Pappoe, who had three tackles on the day for the blue side.

“Owen is big, strong, fast, smart and he has that coach mentality,” Britt said. “Not a guy who talks a lot, just do what he’s gotta do and play ball. Y’all see he can run, big, fast; he’s a freak.

Britt said Pappoe, who is expected to contribute in the linebacking corps this season that loses three starters from last year, has some of the most impressive speed on the defense, but it’s not blind speed.

Every play from the 18-yearold is calculated “He’s learning the defense,” Britt said of Pappoe. “He’s learning it well, so that’s a good thing that stands out about him, too.”

While most of the discussion following A-Day will be on the offensive side of things going into the fall, the starting defense did its job at A-Day, only allowing 10 points and 211 yards of offense.

Young guys like Pappoe have Britt excited about this year’s defense, which returns seven starters in Derrick Brown, Nick Coe, Marlon Davidson, Jeremiah Dinson, Javaris Davis, Noah Igbinoghene and Daniel Thomas are a massive help for the young guys and the defense as a whole.

“Everyone is listening, trying to get on the same page, trying to get a chemistry. I believe that’s something special,” Britt said. “I’ve never been a part of a defense where everyone just click on being on the same page, and we’re really gritty too, not going to try and take any stuff. I’ve enjoyed playing with them.”

Mind your Health

Are you feeling stressed, anxious or overwhelmed?

Do you just need someone to talk to?

Mind your mental health by visiting auburn.edu/scps to see what Student Counseling & Psychological Services can do for you.

From Auburn Student Affairs @AuburnStudents CAMERON BRASHER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

K.J. Britt (33) poses during A-Day on Saturday, April 13, 2019 in Auburn, Ala.

StudentAffairs.auburn.edu

The Auburn Plainsman

THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2019

NOW WHAT? » From 8

“A running back, or Cam Newton,” Hill said.

“I’m not going to sit here and lie to you — he doesn’t like being compared to Cam Newton, but that’s just the only person you can compare him to.”

QB BATTLE IS A TWO-HORSE RACE A-Day offered the first glimpse of all four of the quarterbacks that have been involved in the on-going quarterback battle this spring.

All four played well and with efficiency, leaving the idea that the race is still wide open.

Alongside Gatewood’s production that was mentioned earlier, true freshman Bo Nix, Malik Willis and Cord Sandberg showed some positive things.

Nix and Gatewood were the two quarterbacks taking first-team reps. Nix was the arguably the best passer on the day, throwing 11of-16 for 155 yards and two touchdowns in the first half with the first-team offense – including an 11-yard scrambling touchdown pass to Eli Stove. Nix did throw one pass for the Blue team in the second half that was intercepted.

“Both of them are straight ballers,” Hill said.

“Both came in ready to play. Joey, I’ve been with him since I came in, so I’ve seen him develop. I knew what I was kind of expecting out of both of them. I’m proud of the way both of them played.”

Willis was the first to throw a touchdown out of the quarterbacks with a 41-yard, overthe-shoulder touchdown pass to Hill. He finished the day completing 9-of-10 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown.

Sandberg did not get as many chances to throw the ball down the field, but he still com-

pleted 8-of-9 passes for 54 yards.

Despite Willis having an impressive showing without having ability to use his legs, there is something to be said about the fact that Nix and Gatewood have separated themselves as the two first-team quarterbacks, but Malzahn is keeping tight lipped about the future of the situation.

“That was just, you know. Coach Dillingham, every day, he has an order,” Malzahn said.

“They’re competing every day and there’s been different orders every day. It just happened to be that coming into this game. We’ve got a lot of good information from 15 practices now, three scrimmages, so it was really good. We’ll assess everything. We’ll have a good week this coming up week to assess all positions and really step back and kind of get good plan about offensively, who we’re going to be next year.”

DERRICK BROWN COULD IMPROVE STOCK Once someone is already been a projected top-10 pick in many mock drafts, it is hard to move up but easy to fall.

Not for Derrick Brown.

After a career season where he was sixth on the team in tackles (48), second on the team in sacks (4.5) and third on the team in tackles for loss (10.5), it was suspected that he would declare for the NFL Draft.

He instead chose to come back to Auburn for another season to lead a defensive line that could be a top-5 unit in the country.

“This is college football. If you’re going to perform, you’ve got to be able to perform,” Brown said. “I don’t think it puts any more pressure on us. If the offense is struggling, the defense is going to have their back. And if we’re struggling, the offense has our back. It’s just one of those things you’ve got to put into

PAGE 10

the perspective of ‘to each his own’ and to have your brother’s back.”

Brown picked up right where he left off last season in Auburn’s A-Day where he picked up an Orange team-high four tackles, including another team high with two sacks.

TIGERS MAY NOT NEED A 1,000YARD RUSHER Last season, Auburn snapped a nine-year streak of having a 1,000-yard rusher, and this year does not seem to be a year the Tigers recapture the past success – but for different reasons.

One of the main reasons for last year’s failure was the emergence of a go-to running back that could carry the ball 20-25 times a game every week.

Fast forward to this 2019 team and instead of one person emerging as a candidate, Auburn has a handful of running backs that will share time in the backfield that will hinder its ability to have the one guy that can carry the load.

Freshman D.J. Williams has emerged as an unexpected weapon this spring and led the team in rushing yards on A-Day with 10 carries for 56 yards.

“D.J. had a very good spring,” Malzahn said.

“That one run he made had the wow factor.

He broke a couple of good tackles against good tacklers and had some acceleration and almost spun out of there.”

The returning veterans, JaTarvious Whitlow and Kam Martin, did not see many reps in the scrimmage but Whitlow was second on the team in rush yardage with seven carries for 44 yards. Martin added 20 yards on only three carries. “[Whitlow] has a year of experience,” Malzahn said. “He’s a lot more comfortable and

JOSHUA FISHER / PHOTOGRAPHER

Joey Gatewood (1) throws the ball during A-Day 2019, on Saturday, April 13, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.

knows kind of what’s going on a lot better.

That’s to be expected. Kam Martin’s the same way. Those are the two experienced guys. And they should be, you know, thinking ahead and everything that goes with that.”

Harold Joiner, who split time as a receiver, had 21 yards on six carries and added three catches for 28 yards. His versatility has been a talking point this spring after redshirting in 2018, emerging as someone who could see a big uptick in playing time.

“He’s versatile,” Malzahn said. “We’ve talked about that. He’s like a receiver, but also when you give him the ball, you see he has acceleration, he’s got burst. He’s a really big guy too. He’s a guy we really feel like we can move around next year and try to get some matchups we like. I really like his versatility and been very impressed with his toughness. He’s really had a good, physical spring. The fact that he’s kind of playing two positions, being young, I think that says a lot about him too. It was good to see him. He protected the football when he carried it.”

All of this was without track star Shaun Shivers, who was third on the team in rushing yards and carries in 2018.

Anthony Schwartz is also still in track season and did not play in A-Day but his and Stove’s ability to run the ball on jet sweeps is another factor that will take away from the chance of having a 1,000-yard rusher.

“We feel really confident that we can run the ball, especially with having a senior line and a lot of experience at running back,” Auburn offensive lineman Jack Driscoll said. “And we’re bringing in some guys. Obviously, we don’t have Shaun Shivers here right now, but he’s just another weapon that we have at the running back position that really makes us more deep and able to keep guys more fresh and not have to rely on one person too much.”

MADISON OGLETREE / PHOTO EDITOR

JaTarvious Whitlow (28) runs the ball during A-Day on Saturday, April 13, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2019

THEPLAINSMAN.COM

LIFESTYLE

RESOURCES

University gives support for expecting students

ENTERTAINMENT

By CARRIE JOHNSON Lifestyle Writer

Many previous and current students at Auburn University have experienced the potential challenges that commonly occur as results of unplanned pregnancies.

Oftentimes, these students might find themselves wondering what steps to take and what options are available to them after finding out that they are expecting a baby.

BabySteps and Auburn Marriage and Family Center are two of many highly cost-effective, local resources available for pregnant students.

Sarah Hirschfeldt, the only full-time employee at the non-profit organization BabySteps, said she would advise a student who just found out she is pregnant to simply breathe and realize she is not alone in the pregnancy.

“There’s a lot of pressures from the world, our families, ourselves,” Hirschfeldt said. “A common thought is that you cannot have your education and your baby when the reality is that yes, it is hard, but you can absolutely have both.”

Hirschfeldt said the organization believes that we, as humans, are capable of thriving in the midst of really hard circumstances.

“We want to give power to students so that they can say, ‘This is not what I planned, but we are going to see this as an opportunity and let it be beautiful,’” Hirschfeldt said.

BabySteps works to empower these students who are ages 18 to 25 by providing them with multiple means of assistance and care, such as free housing and childcare for students who are pregnant and for students who have children up to the age of one.

For mothers who are considering or have decided to put their babies up for adoption, BabySteps invites them to live at the facility and utilize any resources BabySteps can offer them during their pregnancies, as well.

According to Hirschfeldt, BabySteps provides childcare to mothers who are away at class or work through volunteers from the community who undergo background checks and childcare training.

Help from childcare volunteers is one of several ways BabySteps utilizes community resources to operate successfully.

“Every week, we have what’s called a family dinner where someone from the community will cook a meal and drop it off, and we invite student moms that we know to join,” Hirschfeldt said. “Community is a huge thing. At BabySteps, we want to make it so that someone can walk into a room and maybe for the first time not feel alone.”

If BabySteps is unable to provide certain resources for a mother or expecting mother in need, BabySteps connects the mother to another resource or service nearby in the community.

For example, for mothers who do not live with BabySteps, BabySteps connects them to Tiger Sitter Services. Or if a mother is not being thrown a baby shower, for example, BabySteps will connect the student mothers to people in the community who are willing to organize a way for that mother to receive the baby supplies she needs.

“Also, Women’s Hope offers parenting classes, so there is no reason for us to make something up when there’s an existing organization that does something very well, so we send them there,” Hirschfeldt said.

Hirschfeldt said she hopes to empower future mothers by registering them for financial classes.

“Let’s say a mom comes in, we simply give her free rent, and she leaves having no other tools for life. If that happens, then I don’t think we’ve done a very good job,” Hirschfeldt said. “BabySteps isn’t supposed to be a way these moms can escape the trials of life, but more so a place where they can be em-

» See MOTHERHOOD, 12

CAMERON BASHER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Comic Books at Almost Anything on Tuesday, April 16, 2019 in Opelika, AL.

Store keeps comics alive

By MADELINE MUSCAT Lifestyle Writer

Fifty years ago, children across America could be found delving deep into the fictional world of their favorite superheroes through comics. The same can not be said of children today.

John Mullins, owner of Collector’s Corner, a local comic book store in Auburn, believes the comic book industry is dying.

He said this is for many reasons, one of the big ones being that issues are collected and sold in book format as one story, or as “trade paperbacks,” rather than in periodical format, which deters a market of possible new readers.

Comic book corporations push their writers to produce a story to a specific length, rather than telling a higher quality story that might be shorter.

“A lot of people are changing from buying the monthly published comics to waiting until they put six issues in one [volume],” Mullins said.

These avid comic book readers are willing to make the investment in the trade paperback because they know they’ll enjoy it.

In contrast, people who are interested in reading comic books for the first time are dissuaded, as they don’t want to make a large investment, but periodical comics are not a complete storyline.

Mullins said the comic industry has changed because of the influx of comics about anti-heroes.

“When I was growing up, I was inspired by the high stan-

dards of heroism,” Mullins said. “The Bible and comic books — that’s where I got my sense of morals.”

Mullins first got into comic books when he was about 5 years old, using them to learn how to read. He said the pictures in the comic books helped him to know what the words meant, and since then, has loved the industry, making it his career for the past 21 years.

“I owe a lot to my mother who loved to read,” Mullins said.

“Part of the problem with education today is that parents don’t instill that love of reading into children at an early age.”

Mullins said he was able to learn a lot from novels and comic books.

“My earliest friends were books,” Mullins said. “In books I’ve been able to travel the world, travel through time, travel through space without ever having to leave home.”

Mullins’ desire to share the love of reading started when he was young, too.

“In 1965, my older brother had a female friend who was in the children’s hospital with polio,” Mullins said. “I remembered how much I enjoyed to read books when I was in the hospital having my tonsils taken out, so I had my mother pack up all my comics and I donated every one of them.”

While he doesn’t regret donating his comic book collection, Mullins said some of the individual issues could now be worth up to $16,000 each.

For Mullins, however, it’s not about how much money there is to be made.

“Comics are escapisms,” Mullins said. “The world in [comics] was more real and vivid than my real world.”

SPOTLIGHT

Artist aims to bring life in people’s homes

By ABIGAIL MURPHY Lifestyle Writer

Lauren Woods, local artist, is a stay-athome mom who has found a business in art and, through painting, aims to bring life into people’s homes.

Woods lived in Auburn with her husband, Casey Woods, and has since moved to Birmingham, Alabama. She said her art is a side business as well as a creative outlet.

“I would always just paint for friends and didn’t ever think about doing it professionally, but the fact that it’s been able to do that has been a really big blessing,” Woods said.

Her love for art started when she would paint with her grandmother.

“Growing up, she always painted, and so when I would go spend time with her at her house, we would do different kinds of painting together,” Woods said. “She taught me watercolor and acrylic. We would even paint

ceramic Santas around Christmas time.”

Today, she does commission work for paintings in people’s homes. Woods said she enjoys being able to see the space the artwork will be in and infuses the inspiration of the room, her style and the client’s ideas together.

“It’s also fun to create or use that as a challenge when you know what that space is and make something special that is specific to

» See PAINTER, 12

BUSINESS

Keo’s absorbs La Palma for different kind of Thai restaurant

By STEPHANIE TUNNELL Lifestyle Writer

Keo’s Restaurant and Bar is not the typical Thai restaurant in Auburn — as its serves Mexican food.

Keo Souphanthong is the man behind the family operated restaurant off Opelika Road. Born in Laos, Souphanthong moved to Thailand at age 5 and moved to Mobile, Alabama, at age 10.

The restaurant business was not what Souphanthong originally saw for his future. He worked for a number of different companies before agreeing to open the restaurant with his brother-in-law.

Souphanthong came to Opelika and began working in 1989.

For the past five years, Souphanthong said he was pestered by his brother-in-law to open a restaurant with him but always thought it wasn’t his cup of tea.

Recognizing his brother-in-law’s talent as a chef and experience in the restaurant field, Souphanthong’s hesitation subsided as the two embarked on their unusual restaurant venture.

Opening a restaurant allows for more freedom and new innovation, Souphanthong said.

Embracing new innovation, Souphanthong and his brother-inlaw absorbed the existing restaurant in the space, La Palma, in August 2018, to open a new establishment. Their restaurant offers a new

Thai menu including family recipes, in addition to the Mexican menu as before.

The Thai options include a variety of appetizers including crab rangoons, calamari, baby octopus and bacon wrapped pineapple shrimp.

Fried rice options, noodle bowls, stir-fried options and soups are among some of the entrees offered.

For newcomers, Souphanthong recommends they try the pad thai or drunken noodles.

“You could try a new dish each week for a year,” Souphanthong said joking about the many options available due to the restaurant’s dual menu.

Souphanthong said Keo’s is a good option for families or large groups as

the diverse menu gives guests a variety to choose from.

Souphanthong had not originally planned to name the restaurant after himself but struggled to find a name that didn’t favor either menu.

“No one agreed on anything, so we decided to let our costumers decide,” Souphanthong said.

Souphanthong asked his most frequent costumers to whom most replied “Keo’s.”

Whenever they craved some of his delicious cuisine, they would inevitably say, “Let’s go to Keo’s,” he said.

Despite not originally wanting to put his identity up there, Souphanthong said he eventually agreed, hoping the name will help go along with his message of community.

“Our customers — ­ we know their names, and they know us,” Souphanthong said. “They say this place makes (them) feel like home, they keep coming back, and they bring their friends.”

Souphanthong said he himself is a man of the community and has volunteered as a soccer coach for Opelika Middle School since 1995.

Souphanthong said he values relationships with others and enjoys what he does.

Keo’s is open for both lunch and dinner and serving both Mexican and Thai at all times of the day. Their new hours are from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The restaurant is closed on Sundays.

The Auburn Plainsman

THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2019

PAINTER

grate that into art.

The football paintings are about capturing a moment and capturing a memory from a game, Woods said.

She said she is appreciative to those who enjoy her paintings and those who give her the opportunity to create and sell her artwork.

“To me, it’s just special to have anyone appreciate your art,” Woods said. “I think putting stuff out there, you kind of feel vulnerable sometimes.”

Today, Woods is one of the artists in J&M’s bookstore downtown, and more of her artwork can be viewed on her Instagram or website under Lauren Thompson Woods art. tion of the room, her style and the client’s ideas together.

“It’s also fun to create or use that as a challenge when you know what that space is and make something special that is specific to their actual home,” she said.

Sometimes, she will paint just for herself and her own enjoyment, Woods said. She likes to experiment with new ideas to keep her mind fresh to see what she might like to add to her other pieces in the future.

However, she does have a general style, she said. She likes using soft colors and a lot of texture in her artwork. She said the texture and layering of paint add dimension to the piece.

“When you have different colors and different mediums in your art you can kind of,

» From 1 their actual home,” she said.

Sometimes, she will paint just for herself and her own enjoyment, Woods said. She likes to experiment with new ideas to keep her mind fresh to see what she might like to add to her other pieces in the future.

However, she does have a general style, she said. She likes using soft colors and a lot of texture in her artwork. She said the texture and layering of paint add dimension to the piece.

“When you have different colors and different mediums in your art, you can kind of have them come out at different times of the day, or different lighting will portray different things that give a lot of character to the painting,” Woods said.

She also does paintings that feature Auburn football. Since her husband is a coach, he helps her break down a play to then transform into a painting.

“That idea is really special to me because it incorporates both my husband and I working together on something and our love for that,” Woods said.

She said originally, she was painting it for her own home, but other coaches liked the artwork idea. It grew from there.

She said a lot of her and her family’s time is spent with football, and she wanted to inte-

MOTHERHOOD » From 1 powered to face the trials and have support through the trials.”

BabySteps recognizes that many more student mothers could use their help, Hirschfeldt said, but they have not met those mothers yet because they are either dropping out of school, ending their pregnancies or staying quiet and hidden.

“It’s really all about marketing at this point and getting the word out there so much so that when you find out you’re pregnant, BabySteps is one of the options you know you have,” she said.

According to Hirschfeldt, the fathers involved in these pregnancies do not live at the BabySteps facility, but BabySteps aims to build healthy families and relationships by first cultivating the relationship between mother and baby and then by encouraging healthy family growth and dynamics.

Another resource available to local student parents that seeks to improve mental health and family dynamics is the Auburn Marriage and Family Center.

According to Scott Ketring, incoming director of the Auburn Marriage and Family Center program, the Marriage and Family Center offers therapeutic services for relationships.

Ketring said often, students who are pregnant or have children have an added burden of managing obligations with academic requirements, and these students need support in balancing those relationships and work or school requirements.

“First, I would connect her to resources within the community and help her identify personal strengths that contribute to her resilience,” Ketring said. “Most students don’t know about supports through churches, non-profits and government agencies to help pregnant mothers and new mothers.”

Ketring said he would also educate

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PAGE 12

have them come out at different times of the day or different lighting will portray different things that give a lot of character to the painting,” Woods said.

She also does paintings that feature Auburn football. Since her husband is a coach, he helps her break down a play to then transform into a painting.

“That idea is really special to me because it incorporates both my husband and I working together on something and our love for that,” Woods said.

She said, originally, she was painting it for her own home, but other coaches liked the artwork idea. It grew from there.

She said a lot of her and her family’s time is spent with football and she wanted to integrate that into art.

The football paintings are about capturing a moment and capturing a memory from a game, Woods said.

She said she is appreciative to those who enjoy her paintings and those who give her the opportunity to create and sell her artwork.

“To me, it’s just special to have anyone appreciate your art,” Woods said. “I think putting stuff out there you kind of feel vulnerable sometimes.”

Today, Woods is one of the artists in J&M’s bookstore downtown, and more of her artwork can be viewed on her Instagram or website under Lauren Thompson Woods art.

the new mother on the truths that married students and parents with children often experience increases in academic performance because they budget time and money more efficiently and learn to be organized in maintaining multiple responsibilities.

Before making a decision to drop out of school, Ketring recommends that students should consider their support networks, government grants and aid opportunities, loan programs and part-time job opportunities that are in place to help students so that the Marriage and Family Center can help them establish life plans and look at potential options at each stage of those plans.

“The goal is to help the person experience more flexibility in their life situation over time and have enough successes to trust their abilities to succeed,” Ketring said. “If the student needs to take a break from school, there are ways to put a plan in place to prepare for a return to school or adjust the academic plan.”

CONTRIBUTED BY LAUREN WOODS

Lauren Woods photographed working on one of her pieces.

Ketring advises new or expecting student parents to facilitate open communication with potential support systems and maintain intentional self-care and work hard to balance responsibilities along with therapy, which can be helpful for building a set of practical skills, such as time management and maintaining physical and emotional energy to handle this new life event.

“Couples therapy facilitates support and a team attitude in combating negative thinking, fears or emotional reactivity,” Ketring said. “Pregnancy can be a time of joy and excitement or fear an anxiety, so we want to make sure that clients are aware of obstacles like postpartum depression, problems maintaining healthy sexual relationship with the newborn and the need for improved communication with the stress of a new family members.”

For students and couples who are parents or soon-to-be parents, Ketring recommends relationship therapy, cognitive behavioral couples ther-

TIGERMARKET

apy, emotionally focused therapy, solutions focused therapy or structural therapy, all of which seek to provide a supportive environment for growth and success.

The Auburn University Marriage and Family Therapy Center employs a sliding fee scale with an intake fee of $20 for the first session and $10 per subsequent session for college students, active duty military personnel and disabled veterans. Otherwise, the fee is $50 for each session, with a slide fee based on income and family size.

Therapists at the Marriage and Family center expressed that they enjoy serving all people in the community and are happy to work with people of differing faiths, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, sexualities and national origins.

Some therapists speak Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and the African languages of Chichewa and Otjiherero, and many have also lived internationally and appreciate culture and diversity.

JOSHUA FISHER / PHOTOGRAPHER

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

prior to publication.

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