The Auburn Plainsman 07.02.15 issue

News

sports

Page 3 Chicago second graders win competition with Auburn presentation

Page 5 Players sign highest beam placed on top of video board

intrigue

Page 6 Graduate cast as Hammond Creation lab genetist in Jurrasic World

index News Opinion Sports Intrigue

1 4 5 6

The Auburn Plainsman A Spirit That Is Not Afraid Thursday, July 2, 2015 Vol. 123, Issue 7, 6 Pages

First copy is free. Additional copies 50 cents

campus

national

LEGALIZED

Lee County to issue same-sex marriage licenses Emily Esleck Editor-in-Chief

The United States Supreme Court made history Friday, June 26, legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states. This decision sparked reactions across the nation both within and surrounding the LGBT community.

Lee County Probate Judge Bill English decided to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples Monday, June 29, however, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore issued an order stating people involved in the U.S. Supreme Court case have 25 days to file for a re-hearing and invited people involved with Alabama’s same-sex marriage case to submit motions regarding the effect of

Beloved professor dies unexpectedly Emiily Esleck Editor-in-Chief

» See legalized, 2

Contributed by Chad Peacock

Tim Zindorf and Chad Peacock will be married Aug. 8.

Raye May / Managing Editor

Top: Lotus DiArmani performs in drag at Balcony Bar. Right: Imberli DiArmani poses during a photoshoot.

history

Contributed by cameron wesson

John Cottier works in an excavation site.

Professional archaeologist and professor of anthropology, John Cottier, 75, more commonly known as Doc, died unexpectedly Monday, June 29, from a heart attack.

Cottier graduated from Auburn and was also the faculty mentor for the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.

Cottier’s father was a professor at Auburn and also served as the Sigma Phi Epsilon mentor.

Allie Smith, sociology lab employee, said she went to lunch at Subway Sunday, June 28, with Cottier and another student.

“We were walking in the hallway, we were almost to the lab, and he collapsed,” Smith said. “We had a wonderful woman hear what happened and try to perform CPR on him and police, ambulance, everybody was here within 15-20 minutes, so they had him. It was an extensive battle at the hospital, but we lost him, so that’s pretty much how everybody found out.”

Cottier was taken to East Alabama Medical Center, according to Smith.

She also said they knew he had some health issues and an illness, but his death was sudden.

Smith graduated in 2013 but began working with students in the lab analyzing artifacts in 2011.

She said Cottier suggested she work for the University, where she acts as a supervisor and also works on private firm work with the government.

“He’s another father to me,”

Smith said. “I’ve had two flat tires and broken windshields, and he’s helped me make sure that I get those fixed, and he’d buy my lunch, you know, whatever, I mean that’s just how it was, that’s how he was with a lot of his students. We celebrate birthdays together. He’s just a piece of my family more than anything.”

Cameron Wesson, former student and colleague, said he first met Cottier in his class, Introduction to Archaeology, and said he thinks he took every class Cottier taught after that. He is currently a professional archaeologist, and professor and associate dean at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.

“I think immediately we have to mourn his passing, and in the longer term, we’ll turn toward honoring his research and his memory and the effect that he had on not just the discipline of archaeology, but on all the students and all the lives that he touched while he was teaching at Auburn,” Wesson said.

Wesson said he believes he is an archaeologist because of Cottier’s effect on him.

“It’s because of his support that I’ve been able to achieve all of my professional dreams,” Wesson said.

Wesson also said Cottier had “an encyclopedic knowledge of everything historical and archaeological,” and he lectured straight from memory, using storytelling as a teaching method.

“He was absolutely the best lecturer that I’ve ever had,

» See professor, 2

Confederate controversy

Conflict surrounds battle flag being removed from state memorial Emily Esleck Editor-in-Chief

Gov. Robert Bentley made the decision to remove the Confederate battle flag from Capitol grounds Wednesday, June 24. The battle flag was flying on the Confederate Memorial, along with three other Civil War-era flags including the Stars and Bars flag and the Second and Third National Confederate flag. Those flags were also removed.

Kenneth Noe, alumni Draughon professor of Southern history, said he thought for 20 years the Confederate flag should be removed.

“State symbols are supposed to be unifying and that one’s divisive,” Noe said. “I think individuals have a right to fly it. I think it’s appropriate at places like battlefields or cemeteries, but I just don’t think the state should be in the business of flying it.”

Noe said he was surprised at how quickly people reacted last week.

“I think there must’ve been a lot of sentiment out there I didn’t know about to bring it down,” Noe said.

According to Noe, versions of the Confederate flag were used in the Civil War by Confederate troops and the flag wasn’t commonly seen in the South again until the late 1940s when Strom Thurmond and segregationists broke away from the Democratic party and ran against Harry Truman.

Noe said they made the flag a symbol of segregation and opposition to federal government. He said Ole Miss started flying the flag at this time.

When George Wallace became governor in 1963, one of the first things he did was put the confederate flag on the capitol building.

The flag was removed from the Capitol and moved to the Confederate Memorial in 1993 byJim Folsom.

» See flag, 2

Dakota Sumpter / Photo Editor

A Confederate flag stands next to a grave of a Confederate soldier at Pine Hill cemetery in Auburn.

Page 2

The Auburn Plainsman

Legalized

DUI reports

» From Page 1

The following were arrested and charged with driving under the influence by the Auburn Police Division from June 23-29: June 26 - James David Cohee, 56 South College Street, 12:40 a.m.

- Dylan Blake Gaither, 22 Wright Street, 2:58 a.m.

June 27 - John Henry Knight, 65 Mary Brooks Drive, 9:30 p.m.

June 28 - Kendrick Bernard Gamble, 22 South College Street, 12:31 p.m.

- Gerald James Berwick II, 34 East Magnolia Avenue, 11:43 p.m.

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

–Reports provided by the Auburn Department of Public Safety

professor » From Page 1

spellbinding,” Wesson said. “He would tell the most amazing narratives, and the one thing that I could say, that I’ve said to a couple of people today, is he was the closest thing to a real Indiana Jones that there ever will be. He lived an extraordinary life, just absolutely unusual in every way and was unafraid of anything. He was the most fearless person that I’ve ever met.”

Annie Blankenship, Ph.D. candidate at the University of Tennessee, graduated from Auburn in 2001 and came back to work as an instructor and to work on her dissertation at the Ebert-Canebrake excavation site Smith and Cottier worked on for more than 10 years.

Blankenship said she first met Cottier her freshman year in her first archaeology class, where they worked on Fort Mitchell, an ongoing excavation site at the time.

“The thing about Doc is he wasn’t just a professor, he wasn’t just a teacher, he is a friend, he is a mentor, he is a father figure and he is one of those people that will give you the shirt off your back,” Blankenship said. “He pushes you for excellence.”

According to Smith, Cottier always wanted to highlight his students’ accomplishments.

“He’s also your biggest critic,” Smith said. “He knows that students, he always thinks that the student can achieve what they need to achieve, and he pushes them to do it.”

Since Smith was young she bit her nails, and she said Cottier kept telling her to stop, so she finally did last year.

“He wouldn’t shut up about it, he’d tell me to get my hands out of my mouth, like my parents did for years,” Smith said.

Blankenship said it helped Smith break the habit.

“He’s like a dad, you know, people don’t do that if they don’t care,” Blankenship said.

Wesson wrote articles with Cottier and worked with him for 20 years. He said they had plans to write books together.

“I’ll keep following the research that we were doing and I’ll keep drawing inspiration from him, try and complete all of the work we had planned,” Wesson said.

One of the most important things about Cottier for Blankenship was, he loved teaching, archaeology, his students and Auburn.

Blankenship said Cottier was proud of his students and would always know what they were doing.

One week ago, Blankenship said Cottier started a Facebook page called War Damn Archaeology, and he wanted to emphasize in its about section that it doesn’t matter if you’re in archaeology or not, he still wanted to know.

“It does not matter if you continued in archaeology, or if you were wildly successful in any other endeavors, but we know in our heart of hearts that Auburn Archaeology prepared you for success in life,” Cottier said on the Facebook page.

Visitation will be Sunday, July 5, at the Frederick-Dean Funeral Home in Opelika from 5-7 p.m. There will be a graveside service held Monday, July 6, at Pine Hill Cemetery at 10 a.m.

“He lived the kind of life that books are written about,” Wesson said. “It’s just amazing to have been his friend and to have been his student and to have known him as well as I did. I’m tremendously honored to have been part of his story at Auburn.”

the Supreme Court’s decision until July 6.

“In no way does the order instruct probate judges of this State as to whether or not they should comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling,” Moore said in the statement.

The court’s decision affects Tim Zindorf and Chad Peacock, who met May 2011 and have been together four for years.

They plan to marry Aug. 8 at the Fountainview Mansion in Auburn.

“Right now it’s still confusing, one day it’s you can, the next day you can’t, yesterday we heard you can and today it seems like you can’t, so we’re not sure,” Zindorf said. “We haven’t done it yet.”

Brandon Blankenship, Peacock’s best man, called Zindorf to inform him of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage.

“I started crying, I cried twice ... I do not cry,” Zindorf said. “I was, like, extremely happy, but then of course, the [courthouse] closed and they’re not doing it in Lee County ... the only thing I think that really upsets me about it is because I was in the Army, and I fought for all this freedom and that stuff, freedoms that I don’t even get, so that was more like why I was happy about it.”

Zindorf said during his four years in the Army he met Cornelius Benson, who introduced him to performing as a drag queen.

“We went out, and it was a big hit,” Zindorf said. “And then the owner asked us to perform.”

Zindorf’s stage name is Imberli DiArmani, and she has been performing for five years.

Thursday, July 2, 2015

“I mean everyone so far is like, has been excited that this is our first gay wedding,” Zindorf said. “The people that are doing our cake ... we’re all excited about doing a gay wedding.”

Zindorf said they plan to get their marriage license in Lee County.

“I’ll raise hell,” Zindorf said.

English’s decision hasn’t come lightly as he said he sought the advice of Attorney Kendrick Webb to make the decision whether to follow the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling or the state’s.

“We get hit with [the ruling] on Friday, I’m not going to knee-jerk and act without understanding and reading it,” English said. “And my attorney asked for some time to read it, which I think is a reasonable request.”

Lee County is under a federal court order from Mobile to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

The federal court issued an injunction Monday, Feb. 9, ordering the state not to comply with Alabama law, which states same-sex marriage is illegal.

“We are currently under two different court orders,” English said. “I’ve read the Supreme Court ruling, but I need my lawyer to tell me how it interacts with the two cases.”

Jamie Miller, Zindorf and Peacock’s friend who also performs in drag as Lotus DiArmani, explained the conflict between federal and state courts.

“The federal law overrides that of the state and so, if the Supreme Court says, ‘Issue the license,’ and the states say, ‘Well we’re not going to,’ so the Supreme Court will have the right to say, ‘OK, you’re not issuing licenses, we’ll come in and we’ll do it for you,’” Miller said.

English said he will uphold his duties,

no matter what his opinion is.

“We’re going to comply with the law,” English said. “My oath of office is to uphold the Constitution, not just what I agree with or disagree with.”

Some counties in Alabama such as Pike County decided not to issue any marriage licenses at all.

“To be completely honest, it doesn’t bother me,” Peacock said. “I’m totally with that, just because now everyone can see what it’s like to not be able to marry the person they love, so we’re not looking for more rights, we’re asking for the same rights. If gay people can’t marry, then straight people can’t get married, but it shouldn’t be yes to you and no to you.

No for everybody or yes for everybody.”

Peacock said Zindorf will be taking Peacock as his last name.

“I hate the question people ask, ‘Who’s the man, who’s the woman?’” Zindorf said. “That’s the most ridiculous question someone can ask.”

Zindorf said they are both husbands.

“If I heard one more time someone ask me if Tim’s going to wear a dress, I’m going to flip out,” Peacock said.

Peacock and Zindorf both said their friends act as family and their support in the entire process.

Zindorf’s dad and stepmother will not be attending the wedding.

“Those are the type of people, I want to be like, you know, ‘I love you and you’re my dad or whatever, but I’m going to do this without you,’” Zindorf said.

Peacock and Zindorf plan to go to Lee County to obtain a marriage license.

Their wedding will be cheetah print themed.

Maria McIlwain contributed to this report.

WORD ON THE STREET How do Auburn students feel about the Supreme Court ruling to legalize gay marriage?

Troy Ferguson Sophomore, chemical engineering

“I guess being a heterosexual male, it doesn’t necessarily apply [to me,] but it’s really great that other people are allowed to pursue whatever dream they have.”

Jose Garcia Senior, chemical engineering

“Well I disagree with it mainly because of my Christian beliefs, and just because I don’t really think that’s how it should be.”

Jay West

Melissa Ensley

Senior, biomedical sciences

second degree, architecture

“I think that anyone should have a right to be married, wether it be gay, straight, animal, I guess, we’re all animals. But, I mean, love is love. If they want to get married and be as miserable as the rest of us, hey, let them do it.”

“I’m not real sure.

As a Christian, I kind of am against it, but at the same time, I was a political science major my first year, so I’m a little more open to people doing what they want.”

Photos by Dakota Sumpter, photo editor Compiled by Maria McIlwain, news editor

flag

» From Page 1 “We’ve forgotten that I think in 2015, but in 1950s and 60s people knew exactly why the flag was appearing again,” Noe said.

Coach Bruce Pearl was asked about his views on the Confederate flag at the SEC Men’s Basketball Sumer Teleconference on Monday, June 29.

“The Confederate flag means a lot in a very positive way to a lot of folks in the South,” Pearl said. “It identifies the South in many, many ways that are historical, and in some circles very positive.

But in other circles, it is not a positive symbol in our country. As a result, it flying in public areas that represent all the people, not just a certain element, can be a real challenge.”

Pearl said society should take the feelings of all groups into account.

“When something is offensive to somebody, I think it’s important that we recognize that, and in public places, be sensitive to that and take the flag down,” Pearl said. “I think it’s good that in this country we have this debate and discuss it.”

Pearl said the focus should be on our national flag.

“So much is being made

of the Confederate flag right now, and I get that,” Pearl said, “but with July 4 coming up, let’s raise our flag.

Let’s honor our flag and what it stands for, the freedoms that our country enjoys. It bothers me when people desecrate our flag and don’t honor it. It bothers me tremendously.”

Some people argue the flag has always been tainted because it’s associated with slavery, while other commentators argue that the flag was tainted recently when the White South used it as a segregationist symbol, according to Noe. “Well, I mean it, depends on who you ask,” Noe said.

“African-Americans always saw that flag as a symbol of slavery and second-class status. Whites saw it, North and South, saw it largely as an artifact of war.”

Noe said the argument became complicated in the last 70 years.

“I’m not sure why Governor Bentley did that,” Noe said. “My guess is that he just wanted to take down any flag that was a Confederate flag because there are people that are starting to argue about things beyond the in particular flag.”

Monuments are now involved in the argument, as Noe said there is a petition going around against the Civ-

il War monument in Birmingham.

In Richmond, Virginia there are monuments that have been vandalized, according to Noe. “Frankly I don’t expect much to come of it,” Noe said. “[The monuments] don’t have the power that the flag does.”

Noe said Auburn used to fly the Stars and Bars at Pine Hill cemetery in Auburn by Confederate soldiers’graves, but hasn’t seen in it a while.

A real issue arose less than 10 years ago when a council member went to Pine Hill Cemetery and removed stick Confederate flags from Confederate graves, which became a national issue for a week.

Noe said people came to the City Council meeting to protest, and eventually the councilman backed down.

“The flags have been left alone in the cemetery since,” Noe said. “They go up before the Confederate Memorial Day and come down right after. I’m not aware of any complaints.”

Jay Hinton, Montgomery lawyer, is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Robert E. Lee Camp No. 16 in Opelika, because his greatgreat-great grandfather was killed in Savannah, Georgia in 1864.

“I have direct ancestors that

have fought for the South in the war for independence,” Hinton said. “So I became a member to the organization to help remember that.”

Hinton said he was against the removal of the battle flag.

According to Hinton, the battle flag that flew under the state flag, was taken down not by legal force, but because of all the controversy surrounding it.

He also said since the 70s there have been three or four incidents where the constitutionality of flying the flag on Capitol grounds has been called into question.

“We’ve already taken it down one time,” Hinton said.

“We had it taken off the Capitol dome and moved it to a very revered spot in a very appropriate presentation with three other flags ... disappointed and unhappy with the fact the governor would trade honor for the Confederate dead for political expediency of trying to hush the complainers.”

Hinton said it was “silly to equate the two” when it comes to using the Charleston shooting as a reason to take down the Confederate flag.

“The flag never got up and shot anybody, the flag never called anybody a n*****, the flag never discriminated against anybody,” Hinton said.

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Page 3

The Auburn Plainsman

Construction

Community

From Chicago, with love

Second-graders win school competition with Auburn-themed class presentation Maria McIlwain news editor

dakota sumpter / photo editor

The Glenn Avenue Kroger renovations were delayed by weather.

Glenn Avenue Kroger

renovations will be finished May 2016 Rachael Taylor writer

Auburn students and citizens will soon enjoy a larger Kroger, but until then, they will have to deal with the construction.

The Kroger on Glenn Avenue has been under construction since February, and will not be finished until May 2016, according to Bradley Whitman in store management at the Glenn Avenue Kroger.

The store is still open during renovation.

“The Kroger has needed to expand for quite some time,” said Forrest Cotten, director of city planning.

Cotten said the store will be increasing from 48,000 square feet to more than 74,000 square feet.

Some other changes to the store will include the addition of a Starbucks, a cheese shop and a larger produce section, according to Whitman.

He also said weather has put the construction behind schedule.

Auburn students have a lot to say about the construction.

“I’m excited for the construction to end so that I can start shopping at that Kroger,” said Elena Wisniewski, sophomore in psychology.

While some students have mixed reactions about the construction itself, many students are excited about the outcome of it.

“I think it is making the store hard to shop in but I think it’s going to be 10 times better when it’s finished,” said Chandler Cofield, senior in communication disorders.

David Dorton, director of public affairs for the City of Auburn, said the new Kroger will provide more opportunities for Auburn residents.

It’s always a positive for the community when a shopping center can renovate and expand,” Dorton said in an email. “Right now the Corner Village as well as the old Kmart shopping centers are getting a facelift and new and/or improved stores. Many residents have expressed an interest in having more retail opportunities, so we’re proud these projects are happening and that we could facilitate them in some way.”

The store is normally open 24 hours a day, but has been closed from midnight to 6 a.m. for the construction.

According to Cotten, the stores that had been located next to Kroger have already been relocated to a finished building by Glenn Avenue.

The Glenn Avenue Kroger location has been one of Kroger’s best performing stores, according to Cotten.

Kroger will include a Starbucks, larger produce section and cheese shop.

Small children singing the fight song is not uncommon to most Auburn fans.

The singing children being from Chicago garners some attention, however.

Quinlan Matthew’s secondgrade class and Vanessa Goodar’s special education class teamed up to give a presentation about Auburn that won Schmid Elementary School’s college week competition.

During the presentation, the children said the Auburn Creed perfectly, recited facts and sang the fight song twice, while wearing homemade orange and blue shirts, surrounded by Auburn-themed decorations.

Matthew said her husband, David Matthew, who graduated from Auburn in 2010, helped pick Auburn for the competition and decorate the classroom.

“He said ‘OK now it’s time for you all to do Auburn,’” Matthew said.

Matthew said the students, who are known as scholars, learned many of the facts during the last month of school, which she said is their college and career unit in social studies.

The children picked an Auburn topic to present and did their own research, according to Matthew. She said they put the information on a flash card and eventually memorized it.

“We would spend 10-15 minutes while we were packing up practicing,” Matthew said.

Matthew said the project was “really fun.”

“This is my favorite project that we do all year,” Matthew said.

Matthew said the school does not give a prize for the competition, however, the children were still excited to win.

“All of their hard work paid off, it’s really a joy,” Matthew said.

After the scholars won the competition, Matthew’s grandmother-in-law, Patricia Corbitt, emailed the video to Gretchen VanValkenburg, vice president of alumni affairs.

“I was personally touched by it,” VanValkenburg said. “I thought it was very inspiring that a school all the way in Chicago would actually take the time to learn about Auburn.”

Shannon Bryant-Hankes, communications and marketing specialist in alumni affairs, received permission to post the link to the Auburn Alumni Association Facebook page.

contributed by quinlan matthew

A group of second graders pose wearing their homemade Auburn shirts and tiger hats.

When this video went out, it just lit up,” Bryant-Hankes said.

The post went viral, according to VanValkenburg, who said there had been approximately 250,000 shares between posts from different Auburn organizations’ Facebook pages.

VanValkenburg said the response on social media made her proud to be associated with Auburn.

“They really want to do something to thank the students and embrace them into the Auburn Family,” VanValkenburg said.

Bryant-Hankes said this video can be impactful to many people.

“I was just going, ‘This is something that is going to change everyone’s day when they see it,’” Bryant-Hankes said, “because it was so powerful, and it was so uplifting.”

The teachers also had conversations with people on the Facebook post, which Bryant-Hankes said is significant.

“You have all this going on, it makes the post much deeper than just a single post,” Bryant-Hankes said. “All of a sudden, you have made this much more personal than just a video that’s sitting out there.”

Bryant-Hankes said the most impressive part to her was that the students had memorized all the facts.

VanValkenburg said a University-wide

committee is being established to provide school supplies to the class. She said a package has already been sent with items such as shakers and pencils. She said some families had also reached out.

“One of the alumni families on Facebook wanted them to have real Auburn T-shirts, and so they went and purchased T-shirts and sent those T-shirts to them,” VanValkenburg said.

Bryant-Hankes said the main benefit to the University is how people have come together.

“You can go down the other road and say, ‘Well it’s benefitted the University because all of a sudden, everyone’s talking about Auburn University,’ but I think it’s much deeper than that,” Bryant-Hankes said.

Bryant-Hankes said she saw a welcoming response on Facebook to the students.

“I think people were so touched by it that it was this immediate, ‘We welcome you into the family,’” Bryant-Hankes said. “‘You’re one of us, and we’re so excited about you.’”

Bryant-Hankes said the part that touched everyone was the genuine emotion that came from the children.

“It was real,” Bryant-Hankes said.

Matthew said the children do not know about the massive social media response.

“I know they’ll be over-the-top excited

The entire group of students pose with Matthew’s husband, David Matthew, a 2010 Auburn graduate.

Opelika Road has economic, aesthetic facelift Maria McIlwain news editor

Opelika Road is starting to look different.

Decorative brick crosswalks, medians and streetlights are starting to appear.

Phase I of the Renew Opelika Road project is going well, according to Kevin Cowper, assistant city manager for the City of Auburn. According to Cowper, Renew Opelika Road covers the area from Gay Street to city limits.

Cowper said Phase I takes place between Gay and Ross Streets and is designed to beautify and improve the functionality of the area. He said the area of Opelika Road between downtown and the Auburn Mall has fallen into disrepair, and the purpose of the project is to revitalize the area.

“It’s a critical commercial corridor, but over the years, it has seen some decline,” Cowper said. “The infrastructure is old and a lot of the stores that were once there have closed, and there’s now a lot of vacant and abandoned buildings and underutilized property. And we want that corridor to be a vital, vibrant area that looks nice and contributes to the economy of the city.”

David Dorton, director of public affairs for the City of Auburn, said a lot of planning went into the project, and it is an important commercial area in Auburn. “[Renew Opelika Road is] really a very long-term thing about how we can re-develop the area,” Dorton said.

Cowper said the Opelika Road area was the city’s first

commercial area, and needed to be updated.

Cowper said much of the work for Phase I has gone toward fixing the area’s infrastructure, adding crosswalks and medians that improve the aesthetic and pedestrian access, as well as improved lighting.

Cowper also said there have been zoning changes that allow a faster approval process to attract new businesses to the area.

He said new tenants, such as Mugshots, have already come in.

“All in all, we’ve made it easier to re-develop the property in that corridor,” Cowper said.

There have not been any major setbacks, according to Cowper, however, the first project is approximately one month behind because of weather delays.

He said they try to time projects so they will be going on when there are less people in town, .

Cowper said building the crosswalks was time-consuming because they had to build them in sections so traffic could still flow through the area.

Dorton said they have not had many complaints about the construction.

“We’ve heard from a few folks who were stuck in traffic,” Dorton said.

Dorton said they have tried to keep the information about potential delays and construction updated through press releases and social media.

Cowper said construction workers will return in approximately one month to put down permanent striping on the road, and again later in the fall for landscaping in the medians and

Dakota sumpter / photo editor

Construction for Renew Opelika Road has caused some traffic delays.

along the street.

Work has started on the next part of Renew Opelika Road at the corner of Opelika Road and University Drive.

Cowper said they are adding dual left turn lanes and sidewalks, as well as piping the open ditch near the mall entrance.

“The intersection will look similar to the College and Shug Jordan intersection when it’s

finished,” Cowper said.

Cowper said the goal of the project is to improve the opportunities along Opelika Road.

“If you’re a student and you live in the downtown area and you want to go from downtown to the mall, we want you to drive down that corridor, we want you to stop there and eat at a restaurant, and have a nice experience driving in that area,” Cowper said.

Opinion

4

Thursday, July 2, 2015

ThePlainsman.com

Opinon

our view

Are states’ rights human rights?

The LGBT community and supporters have been struggling with marriage equality for years. Last Friday, June 26, this issue was finally settled. On that day, the United States Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage a Constitutional right in all 50 states.

Lee County probate judge stated “We get hit with [the ruling] on Friday.” As citizens of a democratic nation, we also feel as we were “hit” with the highly controversial ruling.

In addition to same-sex marriage being such a controversial issue, many of us view the legalization is right in the sense we are a free democracy, and everyone deserves the right to decide what they would like to do with their own personal beliefs, religion taken into consideration.

On the other hand, some of us think it is a human rights issue, religion aside.

However, regardless of these personal opinions and beliefs, we agree the states should have had the right to make this decision.

The Supreme Court is not representative of the whole population.

Our nation is a republic, a democracy, a nation in which we govern ourselves.

We, the citizens, are supposed to have the power. So why did individual states not have the opportunity to vote on this issue?

In the United States, we have a system of checks and balances which divides our government into three separate branches: the executive branch, the legislative branch and the judicial branch.

The reason this system was set up was to ensure neither the states, nor the federal government could become too powerful.

However, in the past, many states, including Alabama, have voted down samesex marriage in not one, but several different elections.

Considering the way the process took place, we believe it sets a dangerous precedent, possibly even threatening states’ rights in the future.

Responses to “Letter to the Editor: We must better serve low-income families” Griff Shelley “Agreed. We champion being the “Auburn family” and fancy ourselves as one of the top institutes in the country, but we don’t do a great job of letting some potentially great minds into the family.”

Jeremy Leff

Gurden Smith / Contributing Designer

One example this concern might be relevant is regarding anti-discrimination laws.

Now that same-sex marriage has been legalized in all 50 states, pushing for this type of legislation will likely be the focus of many LGBT advocates, especially considering not even half of states currently have such laws.

In general, anti-discrimination laws may not prove to be as controversial as legalizing same-sex marriage.

However, some may oppose these antidiscrimination laws for religious or other personal beliefs.

Regardless, this would give rise to new debates, some states or regions where the majority would not have voted in favor of same-sex marriage to begin with.

In addition, how would separation of church and state play into this?

In conclusion, disregarding any personal beliefs we may hold independently, we do not think same-sex marriage legislation was passed in the right way.

We feel the states should have been allowed the right to vote on same-sex marriage laws within their state.

As citizens living in a democratic nation,

Response to “Former Auburn player passes Friday”

Should the states have had the right to decide whether or not they agreed with same-sex marriage?

Amy Wadsworth Register

Yes, the states should have made this decison.

online Editor

My father taught me it is the job of every U.S. citizen to vote, and that is a belief I carried with me when I decided to vote here at Auburn. In 2012, the first election I could vote in, I assumed everyone was excited about participating in our democracy on a national level.

I came to realize, however, many people do not think it is important to vote, especially in Alabama, a state in which the majority of the population consistently votes for the Republican Party.

According to the U.S. census, only 61.8 percent of U.S. citizens voted in the 2012 presidential election.

An excuse I’ve heard for not

Responses to “Gov. Bentley releases statement on legalization of same-sex marriage”

I am strongly against gay marriage either way.

Chas Duren

Vote online at ThePlainsman.com we should have been given the right to decide for ourselves.

Lastly, we believe it is important to be kind and make sure not to persecute others simply because they hold different beliefs or opinions.

Again, this is a highly controversial issue and respect for others is crucial, regardless of whether you are in favor of same-sex marriage legalization.

overall impact in which way our electoral representatives vote, but every person’s vote still counts toward the popular vote. The popular vote, though it doesn’t determine the outcome of the election, still carries a lot of weight.

If the people of the United States start consistently voting for a different candidate than the one chosen by the Electoral College, it will indicate a flaw in the system and would increase talks about whether the Electoral College is a necessity.

As U.S. citizens, we are fortunate to have a government we have a say in and its purpose is to serve our country’s best interests.

To be apathetic to one of the most important aspects of it is a shame.

As college students, we sometimes place ourselves in a bubble and forget how important our vote is in the future of our country.

Who we vote for will stand for the ideals we think are important and will become responsible for the changes we want to see as we enter the real world.

Voting is important because it gives us a say in our own futures.

No matter if the candidate you support wins or loses, we cannot praise or condemn the status of our country unless we have done everything possible to make sure our voices and opinions are heard.

Take the time to form your own opinions about the candidates and register to vote.

If voter turnout keeps dropping because everyone thinks his or her vote isn’t important, we could end up with someone incompetent running our country.

Elizabeth Tiller is the online editor for The Plainsman. She can be reached at online@ThePlainsman.com.

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

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

Letters must be submitted before 4:30 p.m. on Monday for publication.

Letters must include the author’s name, address and phone number for verification, though the name of the author may be withheld upon request. Submission may be edited for grammar and/or length. Please submit no more than 400 words.

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.

Anslie Brant “human rights trump state rights, so please sit down Bentley & Moore” Alex Carter “I’m confused. How does gay marriage affect straight people at all? oh wait, it doesn’t....”

John David “Constitutional rulings affect all US citizens.”

Response to “Second graders say War Eagle from Chicago” Roderick D. Hills “Awesome!! Change one class at a time!!”

Response to “Gov. Bentley releases statement on legalization of same-sex marriage” Aaron Lake “Bentley doesn’t get religion doesn’t play a policy-forming role in our government. The Constitution trumps the Bible.”

255 Heisman Drive, Suite 1111, AU Student Center Auburn, AL 36849

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Maria McIlwain

“The idea that marriage is a “human right” is laughable, at best, and offensive at worst to those around the world who are actually having their human rights violated on a daily basis.”

The Auburn Plainsman

The Editorial Board Emily Esleck

“Another person dies while not wearing a seat belt.

Heartbreaking and possibly preventable.”

No, this issue is too controversial to leave up to the states.

Voting is a privilege we should respect voting while in college is it’s hard or time-consuming, but that is not the case. For incoming freshmen and those that have never voted in college before, it is a straightforward process.

If you aren’t from Auburn then you request for an absentee ballot. You will be sent a ballot, you follow the steps to fill it out and send it back to your county election office. The absentee ballot and all the information can be found on alabamavotes.gov.

Even if it does take time out of your day, voting is a privilege we need to respect. People in other countries would love to have the freedom to choose their own leader.

Another reason people don’t vote is, because they think their vote doesn’t count.

It’s true Alabama will probably not be a blue state anytime in the foreseeable future, and a vote for Hillary Clinton will not make an

“Disagree. Money has never stopped anyone from going to Auburn. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Ask the countless students who are currently working and paying their own tuition.”

question of the week:

her view

Elizabeth Tiller

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Sports

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Thursday, July 2, 2015

ThePlainsman.com

Sports

football

Leaving their mark on progress Senior football team members sign beam to add to video board construction

Lauren Christopher Sports editor

The enhanced video board Auburn fans have been anxiously waiting for is starting to take shape, with the majority of the steel beams being covered with screen paneling.

The audio boxes are also close to being completed, which stand on top of the steel shell of the video component.

Since the video board’s record-breaking size is projected to shine more light on Auburn’s football program, the construction team decided to pay it forward, allowing the seniors on the football team to sign the final beam.

Kelby Sandoval, beam erection director and general foreman in training, said leaving an autograph on the beam is something special.

“I think it’ll be a big thing,” Sandoval said. “You know, your older, your senior players. I know there’s been a lot of comments saying ‘Bring us a championship’ and if we’re part of that, that’s awesome. It would mean a lot to know we did this, and it would be a memorabilia for you guys as well as us to know that this could be somebody’s lucky charm.”

According to Sandoval, leaving signatures on part of the construction project is a tradition among ironworkers.

“That’s kind of been a tradition for the erection portion of construction,” Sandoval said. “It’s an old tradition that ironworkers use for top-notch buildings. As far as getting everyone involved, it’s kind of a big deal.”

Wendy Peacock, construction manager for Auburn, said the idea was inspired by the softball team after they signed the eagle addition when their new video board was built at Jane B. Moore Field.

“I think after we [had the softball team sign] the eagle, then that was on everybody’s mind,” Peacock said. “Hey, why don’t we get the seniors to sign this and have their mark in history on the board.’”

The signed beam connects the left and right audio towers above the video board, which are painted black, contrasting from the light gray steel of the video portion of the structure.

Gregory Forthofer, design lead manager, said the audio towers are painted black for a reason.

“The reason we painted it black, as opposed to

the light gray, is because there’s going to be a mesh in front of it to let the sound out,” Forthofer said.

“So you’re going to be able to see through it a little bit, and you’ll be able to see the lighter color a lot easier.”

As far as the project has been going, Forthofer said it’s been smooth sailing.

“Nothing out of the norm from typical construction projects,” Forthofer said. “Everything’s been safe, it’s on schedule, it’s on budget. So for a construction project, especially something like this, it’s the best you can hope for.”

As if the video board isn’t enough to enhance the field by itself, Forthofer and his team has been making improvements throughout the stadium.

For example, the ribbon boards that used to stop at the ends of the press box now stretch the length of the field on both sides.

Also, the bleachers in the student section have been stripped to allow for re-sealing of deck coating.

“You can see the different colors, it’s lighter, it’s newer-looking,” Forthofer said. “We’re basically on a five-year plan that spells out usually the areas that need to be deck coated to prevent water from when it rains, to [leaking on] everything underneath.”

The athletics department recently released a statement concerning the possible reconstruction of the north end zone.

“The athletics department is in the conceptual phase for potential renovations to Jordan-Hare Stadium, with a primary focus on the north end zone,” the statement said. “The department is exploring multiple options, with the timeline for the overall project remaining flexible.”

Forthofer said the improvements his team has been working on are sure to bring extra attention to Auburn this fall.

“I think [having] the largest college scoreboard in the nation is a pretty nice feather to have in your hat,” Forthofer said. “Just the excitement of it, between Coach Muschamp coming to continue his success, Coach Malzahn, along with this, I think the first game is going to get a lot of buzz.”

The construction team is aiming to conclude the project by Aug. 28, two weeks before the first game of the season against Louisville, when the Tigers face the Cardinals at the Georgia Dome. in Atlanta.

david topper / senior photographer

Bleachers are removed from the lower deck at Jordan-Hare Stadium for renovations.

A crane positions the second half of the audio box atop of Jordan-Hare Stadium’s new video board.

With all of the away games this season, and limited opportunities to buy tickers for a reasonable price, the Auburn Family Twitter page suggested the idea of showing away games on the big screen, so fans can get more use out of it.

Although no plans have been formally discussed,

Forthofer said he likes the idea.

“It’s a great idea,” Forthofer said. “I haven’t heard anything, but I’ll tell you, the athletic department does a great job of listening to fans and listening to students as to what they want, so that’s not a bad idea.”

wade rackley / auburn athletics

Seniors sign the beam to be placed in video board construction Thursday, June 25.

Construction workers bolt in the signed beam of the new audio/visual board Friday, June 26.

This Week in Auburn Sports softball

After leading the Auburn softball team to its best season in program history and its first appearance ever in the Women’s College World Series, the coaching staff was recognized by the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association as the Southeast Region Coaching Staff of the Year.

Head coach Clint Myers along with his assistants; Scott Woodard, Corey Myers and Casey Myers finished up guiding the team to a 56-11 record, including its first SEC Tournament championship and appearance in the WCWS. The 56 wins is a program record for victories in a season and is only one of a slew of school records broken in just two seasons under Myers.

As for the head coach himself, the 56 wins are his third-highest total in a season in his 10 seasons of coaching softball at the Division I level.

The regional honor marks the first such honor for Myers and his Auburn staff.

While at Arizona State, Myers and his assistants were given the NFCA Coaching Staff of the Year award twice after winning the National Championship in 2008 and 2011.

As a team, Auburn set new offensive records in batting average (.339), runs (526), hits (606), home runs (99), RBI (474), walks (356), on-base percentage (.460) and slugging (.572) in 2015, all while leading the tough SEC in those same categories.

Individual players Emily Carosone, Kasey Cooper and Tiffany Howard were awarded NFCA All-American honors last month, marking the second straight year Auburn has had three All-American honorees.

All three players led the team in hitting and it was the second straight year to be named AllAmerican for Carosone and Cooper.

Howard will enjoy her first All-American honor as she heads into her senior season in 2016.

In just two seasons under Clint Myers and his staff, Auburn has produced six All-American seasons, which is more than the number of Auburn All-Americans (five) in all seasons combined before 2014.

Auburn softball is now in the midst of its offseason, but will start preparing for the 2016 season later this year with fall practice.

football

Football picked up a commitment from four-

star offensive lineman Brodarious Hamm on Monday night, June 22.

Hamm is the No. 32 offensive tackle in the 247Sports composite rankings.

The 6-foot-5-inch, 320 pound Griffin, Georgia, native projects as a tackle or guard in college, and has indicated he has no preference on his position.

Hamm committed to Tennessee over Auburn and Georgia in April, but he decommitted Thursday, June 18.

Hamm is the 11th commitment and the first offensive lineman in the Tigers’ 2016 class.

basketball

Beginning Monday, June 29, each SEC school will choose what is played on the SEC Network for 24 consecutive hours. Programming may include recorded games, films, ESPN original content or school-produced content.

An aide was chosen to represent each school and lend a hand in choosing what will be played.

Men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl was chosen to represent Auburn.

Pearl selected 10 unforgettable sports mem-

contributed by 247 sports

Brodarious Hamm is the first offensive lineman to commit to the Tigers’ 2016 recruitment class.

ories and two ESPN films centered on Auburn royalty for the day. His 24-hour Auburn takeover will take place Wednesday, July 1.

A full schedule update of Pearl’s picks will be avalibale before that time.

Compiled by Emily Shoffit, Evan McCullers and Staff Reports

Intrigue

6

Thursday, July 2, 2015

ThePlainsman.com

Intrigue

Entertainment

Contributed by Daniel Bradley

Daniel Bradley (right),Auburn alum, played a lab technician for the Hammond Creation Lab in the 2015 summer blockbuster “Jurassic World.”

Auburn alum extra in ‘Jurassic World’ Sommer Henry Writer

Within the first five minutes of the movie “Jurassic World,” one sees Daniel Bradley, a 2000 Auburn graduate. Although Bradley does not have a speaking role, he has an important part all the same.

“I played one of the Hammond Creation Lab geneticists,” Bradley said.

Bradley said he started out last summer going to Central Casting to be considered for roles.

Initially he was cast to be a visitor in the park, and after he filmed that scene, he received a personal phone call requesting him as one of the geneticists.

“The director picked me and a few others

specifically by picture picking us,” Bradley said.

Bradley said the whole experience was fantastic.

“When we were filming the lab scene, it took about three days to shoot,” Bradley said. “In that time I got to come in contact with lead actor Chris Pratt and all of the other lead actors and actresses. I also had a great conversation with the screenwriter about the original ‘Jurassic Park’ and how great it was. It was all so surreal.”

However, Bradley is not the only one who would call the experience surreal.

Harrison Wool, another lab geneticist from “Jurassic World” and friend of Bradley, said “Jurassic World” was unforgettable.

“Being in ‘Jurassic World’ was a moment in my life that I will never forget,” Wool said. “It is still surreal to me, and it is still increasing in the box office.”

Wool also said another great thing about working on this movie was making new friends.

“Meeting new cast members such as Daniel Bradley [was great], because it created a friendship that has grown exponentially since,” Wool said.

Saguna Mayweather, who also played a genetic scientist from the creation lab and friend of Bradley, agreed with how great the friendships are.

“Those of us that worked in the lab clicked instantly and have all kept in touch for the past year,” Mayweather said.

Mayweather also said the atmosphere was memorable. “[The atmosphere was] extremely authentic and absolutely amazing,” Mayweather said.

“You can tell how serious the movie-making is.

We had to turn our phones in every day to have our cameras covered with sensor stickers.”

Mayweather said he hopes to act with his friends in another movie.

“I also have high hopes that my fellow lab -mates and I get to reprise our roles since none of us were eaten by a dinosaur in this one, because we keep hearing that a sequel might be in the works,” Mayweather said.

Maybe this won’t be the last thing we see from Bradley, who said his next goal is to land a speaking role, even if it’s small.

lifestyle

The Introverted Alpha builds male confidence

Sommer Henry Writer

Sarah Jones, 2007 Auburn graduate, started a business last summer called The Introverted Alpha.

“The whole point of this is to help smart, introverted men attract women naturally,” Jones said. “It is to help them build genuine confidence in themselves.”

Jones said her business helps men realize their potential.

“These guys are already so great, they just don’t know that,” Jones said. “As soon as they start to realize that, their confidence just shines through and women notice, and from that point on, the rest is history.”

Jones, who majored in art at Auburn, said she uses all of those skills

in her branding for the company designs and work on the site.

Barry Fleming, associate professor of art and drawing, said he finds peoples’ careers after majoring in art interesting.

“It is always interesting to see how people incorporate their art degrees into other businesses,” Fleming said.

Fleming also said Jones was a great student.

“She had an incredible positive energy, and she was genuinely interested in the other person she was talking to,” Fleming said. “It is a unique ability to not only care about people but to also be confident as you engage in them, and she does that. She is really comfortable with helping people.”

Jones confirmed what Fleming said about her.

“What makes me happy in life is helping others be happier,” Jones said. “That is what excites me.”

She also said in her business there are no lost causes when it comes to helping men.

“Some guys are extra shy and may make slower progress, but there is always some kind of progress,” Jones said.

Jones said her favorite part about her business is all of it.

“Getting to use all of my skills and passions in one thing with amazing people and an amazing team is the best part,” Jones said. “I love the whole thing. I feel so fulfilled.”

Contributed by Sarah Jones

Sarah Jones,Auburn graduate, created The Introverted Alpha dating help website.

entertainment

10 students’ favorite alcoholic drinks 4. “Shock Top” Edward Conwell

Senior, chemical engineering

1. “Whiskey sour”

Caroline Barr

May 2015 English graduate 2. “Red wine”

Hannah Marsh

Senior chemical engineering 3. “Any beer” Tyler Kroeschell

Senior, mechanical engineering

5. “Vegas bomb” Eddie Clark

Senior, marketing 6. “Bourbon and water” Stephen Copper

Junior, political science

8. “Jager bomb”

William Snoddy

Senior, electrical engineering 9. “Rum and Coke” Sarah Barr

Junior, architecture 10. “Gin and tonic” Drew Gonzalez

Senior, mechanical engineering

7. “Budweiser” Sammy Slack

Senior, sociology

Compiled by Raye May, managing editor Photos by David Topper, senior photographer