The Auburn Plainsman 09.17.15 issue

Why Auburn can’t afford to slip up Sports 8

Meg McGuffin speaks after Miss America Intrigue 12

The Auburn Plainsman A Spirit That Is Not Afraid Thursday, September 17 2015 Vol. 123, Issue 5, 12 Pages

State

First copy is free. Additional copies 50 cents per issue.

campus Emily Enfinger / photo editor

Transit changes en route

Routes improve while union negotiations continue Andria Moore Campus Reporter

Every day from 7 a.m.-6 p.m., Tiger Transit buses carry thousands of Auburn University students to and from classes on 19 different transit routes.

The staff at First Transit and Transit Services of Auburn University consistently monitors routes and adjusts accordingly.

This year, Rex Huffman, the manager of Transit Services, said the staff has made even greater improvements.

“We started in the summer, working on streamlining and enhancing to provide better service,” Huffman said.

One of the biggest areas of concern for the Transit team was the area of South Donahue and College.

The route was so crammed at all hours that Huffman said they were forced to divide and create a new route.

“We thought adding another bus would solve the problem, but it didn’t,” Huffman said. “Given the demand, splitting the route actually provides better service to those areas.”

South College was split into two routes: South Donahue and Southern Edge.

Legislature scrambles to pass state budget Chip Brownlee

Community Writer

For months, it has seemed an end to the fight over Alabama’s mounting budget crisis would never reveal itself.

On Tuesday, Sept. 8, the Alabama legislature returned to begin a special session convened by Gov. Robert Bentley (R). The emergency special session is intended to solve the state’s deficit in its general fund budget. A shortfall of over $200 million is looming over the 2016 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

Republican lawmakers in the Alabama House of Repre-

sentatives pushed through several bills last week in an attempt to repair the broken budget. The bills proposed would alleviate the deficit by raising state taxes and borrowing from Alabama’s Education Trust Fund, which provides appropriations for all state public schools and universities. Even with the new measures to increase revenue, the house budget plan would not balance the shortfall.

The Legislature approved the revenue bills in a late-night session Tuesday, Sept. 15.

» See Taxes 2

Jim little / editor-in-chief

» See Transit 2

Tiger Transit workers voted to unionized on April 10, 2015.

sports

Auburn Formula One SAE’s first attempt at an electric vehicle The Product Lifestyle

Jordan Hays

Managing Editor

Auburn University’s first electric Formula One car was a Frankenstein monster.

“We definitely tried to inject this with lightning and bring it alive,” said Drew Cookston, senior in electrical engineering and member of Auburn Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Electric team.

Auburn’s Formula SAE Electric team was formed in 2014.

Run entirely by students, the team was tasked with designing and building an electric Formula One car for competition. It failed, and now, the electric team is merging with Auburn Formula SAE Combustion team.

“Yes, it was a failure, but it was a failure that had to happen,” said Jonathan Ashworth, president of Auburn Formula SAE Combustion team and senior in mechanical and electrical engineering.

Ashworth and Kyle Kubik, chief chassis engineer for Auburn Formula SAE and senior in mechanical engineering,

Jim Little / Editor-in-chief

Auburn University Formula SAE’s failed electric car sits on a table in the team’s workshop.

said they weren’t surprised the Electric team’s first year performance.

The combustion team has more than 15 years of experi-

ence at its disposal when developing cars, according to Ashworth. When something goes wrong, the team is able to look back at previous models for

guidance.

The electric team was starting from scratch.

“A lot of combustion guys weren’t surprised at all because

we know how hard it is to design and build a race car, much less when you have no experience and no structure to fall back on,” Ashworth said.

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Ashworth said he treats Formula SAE like a company. The team has its own deadlines, procedures and does its own fundraising and sponsorship acquisition.

“The University expects us to go out there and get the next level of sponsorship ourselves, which is great because it drives us to have to get those skills and contacts that have made a big difference in pushing our program in the way it needs to go,” Ashworth said.

Formula SAE designs and builds a Formula One car each year. This includes making its own carbon-fiber composites, welding, engine work and machining parts. All in all, the team manufactures 90 percent of its Formula car in house, according to Ashworth.

After being a manufacturing team, Formula SAE becomes a race team. Each member of the team has an opportunity to drive the car they helped build, including the marketing team.

“It’s so powerful and so

» See formula 2

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The Auburn Plainsman

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Campus

DUI reports The following were arrested and charged with driving under the influence by the Auburn Police Division from Sept. 8-14:

Claire Tully

Sept. 10 - Simone Simpson Pool, 50 North College Street at 11:43 p.m.

Campus Writer

- Jerry Buchanon II East Glenn Avenue Sept. 11 - Raqual Latel Stinson, 28 Wright Street at 2:11 a.m.

Sept. 12 - Harris Leavitt Pride, 19 West Drake Avenue at North College Street at 12:26 a.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

formula » From 1

light, you can just throw it around like you’ve never felt in a car before,” Ashworth said. “You can feel the power in your butt ... It’ll go zero to 60 in 2.8 seconds, which is faster than any Ferrari you can buy.”

Sitting in their shop located in the basement of Wiggins Hall is AU 2013, one of the most successful cars in the team’s history, according to Ashworth. It came in second place overall at SAE International’s Lincoln, Nebraska competition and twelfth overall at the Michigan competition.

The team’s most recent car is on its way back from Hockenheim, Germany, where it competed in Formula Student Germany at Hockenheimring, a Formula One track that hosts the German Grand Prix.

“You get to be a part of the entire product lifestyle of something,” Ashworth said. “You get to start from scratch and move through every single step. When you go into the industry, you’re not going to get to be a part of that.”

Failure is Great

​SGA discusses changes to class registration

The electric team, according to Cookston, started as a “small team of rookies with no automotive experience” who did not understand the scope of the project.

The electric team underestimated the time commitment when they took on the project, according to Cookston. The team did not get around to testing and collecting data on their engine, and the overall vehicle concept did not exist. To top it off, the team was not communicating effectively.

“The steering guy didn’t talk to the suspension guy,

At the third SGA senate meeting of the semester on September 14, the senators discussed changes that they plan to make to the class registration process for students.

According to Peyton Hanson, SGA academic affairs committee senator, one of the new features that is being proposed is an accompanying course outline.

The course outline will include a list of textbooks, any necessary software, required assignments, attendance policies and other materials required for the class, according to Hanson.

Hanson said he recognizes these proposed changes will affect both students and faculty.

“We’re going to ease into it because we know it will be a change for profes-

sors,” Hanson said.

Following this proposal, SGA Hey Day representatives took the floor to ask for volunteers for the event.

Jacob Tofani, director of Hey Day, and Layton Dyess, assistant director of Hey Day, asked senators to hand out name tags to students in their designated colleges and urged them to make connections with the student body.

India Way, SGA budget and finance committee chair, broke down the process of preparing the budget.

“I want to clarify any misconceptions you guys may have about budget and financing,” Way said.

Way explained to the senate what money is spent, what money is saved, how to make a financial request to her committee and how rollover works.

At the end of the meeting, Brad Smith,

SGA advisor, asked senators to share their game-day experience and asked if the senators had suggestions for gameday improvement.

“If you guys could please continue to be our eyes and ears in the student section, that’d be great,” Smith said.

In other SGA news: • Trey Fields was approved to be SGA student affairs committee chair.

• Reid Brooks, former student athlete, was appointed Samuel Ginn College of Engineering senator.

• According to Olivia Tofani, SGA chief of staff, Walker Byrd and Ben Baker will give a state of the student body address on September 29.

• Walker Byrd, SGA president, and Brad Smith attended the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City to support Auburn University alumna Meg McGuffin.

who didn’t talk to the frame guy,” Ashworth said. “If they had all just sat down and talked about how everything was going to work together as a whole, this wouldn’t be a problem. When they had to put it all together, you had to come up with this Frankenstein monster to make it work because it wasn’t thought out to begin with.”

Ashworth said he hopes merging the electric and combustion team will solve the problems the electric team faced.

Merging will give the electric team the experience and resources they need to complete the electric vehicle by its next deadline.

“We shared a shop with them, but we weren’t as involved as we probably should have been,” Ashworth said. “I know a lot of them worked really, really hard, but in the end, they just didn’t have the experience and the organizational standards that we do and that we fall back on because we’ve been around for 15 years.”

Moving forward, the team will have one chassis design and two groups building a combustion and electric powertrain, respectively.

“I think the whole team has bought into the idea of merging into one team in name and spirit,” Ashworth said. “I think we’re really excited for this upcoming year and seeing what our new guys can do.”

Formula SAE is now pushing to complete the electric vehicle from last year. The vehicle will serve as a test bench for the team to further improve the design of future electric vehicles and learn about electric powertrains and electric cars.

“If we never finish this, it doesn’t do us any good,” jim little / editor-in-chief Ashworth said. “A failure is great if you learn from it, but if you can’t learn from it, it’s just a failure.”

Auburn University Formula SAE’s 2013 car was designed and built completely by students.

taxes » From 1

“

Jim little / editor-in-chief

Tiger Transit split the Donahue and College Street routes to ease congestion and cut five minutes on travel time.

transit » From 1

“The next thing we took a look at was shifting routes,” Huffman said. “We cut some time off by shifting East University and College loop to the Heisman side to streamline students getting on and off.”

Huffman said transitions like this one save students an extra five minutes off of the total time it takes for a full loop.

Beyond these improvements, other additions were made such as the new V-com stop and an increase in the amount of buses that drive the West Campus route.

Administrative Associate for Transit Services Christi Story said Huffman is the one who reviews the data before every improvement, and it is her job to manage the updates for the website.

“With the addition of some new routes, we had a couple of updates for the website,” Story said. “We had updates for the printable PDF, route sheets and alphabetization.”

One of the most imperative aspects of the Transit Services at Auburn is its involvement with the International Students Initiative. Each year, students travel from assorted countries to attend Auburn but have a difficult time finding transportation from the airport.

“We asked ourselves how we can enhance their quality of life here,” Huffman said.

Story said they have been working to make airport transportation as efficient as possible.

“We can’t allow drivers to leave the buses, so we require full time professional staff and get them to the buses in a timely manner,” Story said. “Our aim was to provide a better service to those that desperately needed it.”

Along with airport transportation, the Transit also has a Tiger Town, Wal-Mart and Asian Super market shuttle that allows those who may not have a car to obtain necessities.

“This year we modified that route to allow people to call in from the different stops to get to campus,” Huffman said. “Our goal is to get above 300 people every Friday.”

Huffman said updates to the Tiger Transit technology have also been made this year.

“The Transit Rider app allows you to set an alarm for the bus you want, and the app will alert you when it’s five minutes away,” Huffman said. “If you allow it to use your location it can also locate the closest transit stop for your route from wherever you are.”

Last year, First Transit, the contractor that works alongside Transit Services for the University, received talk of a desire to unionize from some of their employees.

“We aren’t allowed to say anything about it now,” said First Transit Manager Clarence Cobb. “We are still in the pro-

We’ve been working on this for three years. It isn’t looking good right now, but we are hoping to finalize negotiations next week.”

-CassandraYoung

Tiger Transit Driver

cess of negotiations.”

Cobb said he enjoys working alongside the University and it’s his job as a contractor to do whatever’s necessary to make things more effective.

“I like working with the University to make sure we provide dependable, reliable and safe transit to and from class,” Cobb said.

Although the negotiations have been prolonged, Transit Driver Cassandra Young said she and the other employees will not give up.

“We’ve been working on this for three years,” Young said. “It isn’t looking too good right now, but we are hoping to finalize negotiations next week.”

For Story, she too enjoys making sure students safely get to and from where they need to go.

“If we didn’t love what we do, we wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing,” Story said.

Without the new taxes and budget reforms, millions of dollars in cuts would severely affect state programs. The constitution of the state of Alabama mandates a balanced budget, and without it the state government may be forced to shut down or implement austerity measures.

In an attempt to ease the shortfall, the senate approved a bill late Monday evening, Sept. 14, that would borrow $100 million from the Education Trust Fund to help cover the deficit. $100 million was double the amount approved by the house late last week.

The senate’s plan was then returned to the house and reduced to $80 million.

Auburn University received more than $250 million in appropriated funds from the ETF last year. It is possible habitual borrowing from the education fund could affect its solvency in the future.

“We’re already behind when it comes to education,” said Calvin Wilburn, president of Auburn College Democrats.

“Just the idea of taking money from education is a sign you shouldn’t be in leadership. Education is the moral priority.”

It took the house several attempts to pass a budget with any tax increases, but a bill was finally pushed through that would raise the cigarette tax from 42.5 cents to 67.5 cents. The cigarette tax increase is estimated to provide approximately $66 million in new tax revenue; however, most of the taxes that have been proposed are regressive, meaning they have a greater affect on low-income families.

“Alabama already has one of the lowest rates of expenditure and one of the most regressive tax systems in the nation,” said William Franko, assistant professor in political science. “I think that kind of shows you where their priori-

ties are.”

Additional tax increases were passed by the house last week, including a $13 increase to the price of automobile title fees, a $400 provider tax on nursing home beds, a .5 percent increase to car rental taxes and a provider tax of 15 cents per prescription for pharmacies. The house plan would provide approximately $105 million to prop up the $200 million shortfall.

The votes in the house were divided, with many Democrats and Republicans opposing the tax increases for several different reasons. Some Republican members opposed based on libertarian principles, but many are bound by pledges to not raise taxes.

Although the new revenue measures have passed, the senate was still in session debating the General Fund Budget as of deadline Wednesday night.

“Virtually all of the Republican majority in the legislature has signed a ‘no new taxes’ pledge, which means they can’t raise taxes on anything without being attacked for violating the pledge,” said James Seroka, professor in the department of political science.

“So, their attitude is that education isn’t hurting as bad as the general fund; therefore, we should borrow money – or they call it borrowing. The reality is that it will never be paid back.”

Wesley Stone, the president of Auburn’s chapter of Young Americans for Liberty, said misappropriation of taxpayers’ money is equivalent to robbery.

“There are major budgeting issues across the board,” Stone said. “Libertarians aren’t huge fans of taxation, but when taxes are funneled through the right channels, we don’t have a problem with them. Budget reform, in this case, we have a unique problem with. We don’t want to get behind a budget that is wasting money.”

Campus Thursday, September 17, 2015

3 ThePlainsman.com

Campus

Fitness

Rec Center working out new classes A ndria M oore Campus Reporter

Auburn University’s Recreation and Wellness Center is ranked one of the best in the country, according to Men’s Health Network.

The center is offering new programs this semester, including group fitness classes, personal trainers and an original invention: deskercise.

“One of our goals in these new programs has been to promote health over sickness,” said group fitness coordinator Christina Coleman.

Coleman said William Jackson, director of recreation programs, has always held a vision of promoting movement at any location.

He said he wants people who are stressed or busy to feel like they still have time to exercise.

“It’s shown that even small amounts of exercise will increase productivity and brain power,” Coleman said.

This was the driving force behind the idea of deskercise.

Deskercise is a resource available on the Recreation and Wellness Center website that features weekly videos of 3-5 minute workouts.

“The videos are a blend of different exercises that you can do at home or at your desk without having to change clothes,” Coleman said. “We currently have five weeks up, and people can mix them up, but just take a minute to do those four exercises twice.”

Laure Butcher, coordinator for personal training, said this year they delved into improving the personal trainer program, focusing more on what students wanted out of the program.

“We wanted to offer different types of personal training, but also keep them at a minimal cost so that students could afford it,” Butcher said.

Along with the typical personal trainer, the Recreation Center also offers small group training and semi-private training, according to Butcher.

Semi-private training was created for students who don’t want to train alone, but also

don’t want a large group, Butcher said.

“After you meet with your trainer for your assessment and you tell them what you are looking for and what you want to work on, then you work out your schedule with them,” Butcher said.

The small group training sessions are different because they are made for four to eight people and occur twice a week, according to Butcher.

“Right now we have small group sessions every Monday and Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. for five weeks,” Butcher said. “You and some friends can come and sign up to exercise together.”

Butcher said all of the personal trainers are certified and the classes range in price from $12-18.

The personal trainers can be personalized for certain events such as Greek Sing.

“We had a lot of feedback from the student body last year about students wanting to be better prepared for Greek Sing,” said Susannah Taylor, coordinator of fitness at the Recreation and Wellness Center.

Greek fit classes are currently offered free of charge at the Recreation Center every Monday and Thursday at 8 p.m.

Students will be able to work on conditioning, coordination and any number of specified movements such as burpees or synchronization.

“The way it’s set up is so that Monday is more of a conditioning class and Thursday is more of a performance style,” Taylor said.“Another new thing is that we now have trainers on the floor everyday from 4-7 p.m.,” Butcher said. “We wanted people who work out to be able to have someone there to spot them or offer guidance when they need it.”

Butcher said small group training features an a la carte option, allowing students to sign up for a class that they can design themselves.

There is a minimum of four people per class.

“You can sign up on our website and we offer suggestions for what you may be looking for like strength training, or maybe you’re training for a 5K,” Butcher said.

Taylor is also in charge of Destination Rec-

file photo

The Recreation and Wellness Center offers group fitness classes to students.

reation, a new program launched this fall to help freshmen adjust to all of the new facilities offered at the Recreation Center.

“The program is six weeks long, and we meet twice a week,” Taylor said. “Each week we highlight a different program, and it really helps open their eyes to all of the different options they have here to be physically healthy.”

The class is oriented at helping them meet new people, according to Taylor.

“The feedback has blown me away already with freshmen saying that’s what they look forward to each week,” Taylor said.

Butcher said many of the Recreation and Wellness Center’s programs were designed with the mental health initiative in mind.

“Coming up, October 5-9 will be our exercise initiative: mental health, that we have teamed up with different departments,” Butcher said. “Every department is sponsoring a different event, and we are just trying to get people talking and thinking about the relation between mental and physical health.”

All of the fitness classes and personal training information can be found on the homepage of the Recreation Center’s website.

Campus 4

Thursday, September 17, 2015

The Auburn Plainsman

safety

calendar

Dates to Remember Thursday, Sept. 17 • Common Book Author Keynote: Darin Strauss at 7 p.m. in the Foy Hall Auditorium

Friday, Sept. 18 • Football, Fans and Feathers Raptor Educational Program at 4 p.m. in the Edgar B. Carter Educational Amphitheater

Tuesday, Sept. 22 Dakota Sumpter / senior photographer

University promotes fire safety education Firefighters work to control the fire at 160 Ross on Monday, Aug. 3.

Claire Tully Campus Writer

Fire Safety Month comes to campuses nationwide every September. In light of recent events, Auburn is making greater efforts to educate students about fire safety both on and off campus.

Last month, there was a fire at 160 North Ross.

The same week, there was another fire at the Village West apartments.

Nobody was injured, and both were contained in a timely manner. However, occurrences such as this bring to light the need for students to educate themselves on fire safety, according to Jonathan Haney, Auburn fire safety specialist for risk management and safety.

“Most college students haven’t really had fire safety education probably since elementary school, so it’s not something that’s in the forefront of their mind,” Haney said.

Auburn is no stranger to incidents like these.

Auburn University’s landmark, Samford Hall, was the result of a destructive fire.

On June 24, 1887, Old Main, the original building at that site, was destroyed as the result of a fire. The year following, Samford Hall was constructed in its place using some of the salvaged bricks from Old Main, according to Auburn’s “History of Samford Hall.”

On Sept. 21, 1996, CBS Sports reported a fire broke out on Auburn’s campus as a result of tailgating.

The Sports Arena, known as the Barn, caught fire as the result of the embers of an LSU fan’s grill, and the smoke could be seen from inside Jordan-Hare Stadium during the football game.

“The first sign of trouble were gasps from the stands on east side,” the article said. “Soon flames were leaping above the upper deck.”

“Luckily, to this point we haven’t had a fire on campus that resulted in the loss of life, so we’re lucky that that hasn’t happened, but we would like to keep it that way,” Haney said.

With the help of The Center for Campus Fire Safety, Auburn is hoping to raise awareness on fire safety.

Haney uses the everyday example of simply turning the stove on to cook something and forgetting about it.

Haney has offered short statements such as “look when you cook” and “stand by your pan” to serve as easy reminders in our everyday lives.

Haney said he believes that is why it’s so important to educate ourselves and make fire safety our own personal responsibility.

“I always say the best way to survive a fire is to prevent one,” Haney said.

The National Fire Protection Association and The Center for Campus Fire Safety are holding a contest to see who can best make an informative video on fire safety.

Submissions are due Sept. 25.

Prizes range from a pizza party to a free iPad.

• Distinguished Graduate Faculty Lecture at 4 p.m. in Thach Hall, Room 112

Wednesday, Sept. 23 • Pathway to Success: The Hispanic Journey at 6 p.m. in Student Center, Room 2222

Photo of the week

Ellen Jackson / photographer

A New Schmid Elementary School student plays with a horse at Auburn’s Vet School.

Fall International Visiting Scholars Breakfast Thursday, September 24 9:30 to 11 a.m.

Foy Hall Lobby

Guest presentation “Auburn: a Destination for International Investment” with Arndt Siepmann, director of industrial development for the City of Auburn

Visiting international scholars and post-docs are invited to join us for free breakfast and networking!

Support provided by the Office of the Vice President for Research and the Graduate School.

Opinion

5

Thursday, September 17, 2015

ThePlainsman.com

Opinion

our view SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE PLAINS

Responses to “Meg McGuffin in top 15 of the 2016 Miss America Competition” Sheri Speer Parker “Unfortunately her answer to her question Killed her! Hate that. Sure wanted her to win!”

Jenice Myers Adcock “4th runner-up. The Southern girls ruled last night.”

Reality will eventually stump Trump Gurden Smith / illustrator

Donald Trump can be described as a real estate developer, TV personality, television producer, film producer, author, actor, businessman, economist, investor and now, 2016 presidential candidate.

In fact, out of the other Republican nominees, Trump has been consistently leading the race.

Why does Trump as president seem so attractive to U.S. citizens?

Meg McGuffin, recent graduate of Auburn University, former Miss Auburn University and Miss Alabama 2015, was asked this same question Sunday night at the 2016 Miss America Pageant.

“I think Donald Trump is an entertainer, and I think he says what’s on a lot of peoples’ minds, but I think that the Republican Party should be absolutely terrified of all the attention that he is taking from incredible candidates ...”

McGuffin said.

We couldn’t agree more with her response.

Yes, many people are tired of the nation’s current political state, but he is simply appealing to what people want to hear through his ridiculous claims.

Furthermore, many of these claims that resonate within people are policies that would be impossible to implement.

For example, concerning his opinion on immigration, Trump made reference that if he were president, he would make Mexico build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, which Mexico would be responsible for financially.

On his campaign website, there is no information regarding how he would go about doing so.

While this seems like an easy solution to a difficult and controversial issue, he offers no plausible immigration policy here.

We are not necessarily for or against Donald Trump’s political affiliations or beliefs, but we

do believe that his campaign lacks depth.

We also believe current Trump supporters should take into consideration if Trump were to win the Republican Party nomination, he would likely not win the election against the Democratic candidate because not enough people voting in the general election would take him seriously.

However, in the unlikely event Trump were to win the general election and become president of the United States, because much of what he stands for seems impulsive and extreme, he would likely have difficulty getting his policies passed by Congress.

As with any election, voters should be aware of and informed about all candidates and what they stand for individually.

We think this is the most effective way to know, understand and recognize realistic solutions and policies, and in that process, weed out unfit candidates.

her view

The importance of cleaning up after yourself Hannah Fuqua intrigue writer

Auburn — the Loveliest Village on the Plains, right?

We have beautiful sunsets, a thriving cultural downtown and a pedestrian-friendly surrounding area.

But whether I’m walking my dogs near my house a mile away from campus, or wandering Magnolia on gameday with an optimistic, PBR-induced grin, it puts a damper on my mood when I see litter on the ground.

My mind starts reeling. I think about the chances of that piece of litter ending up in the ocean and suffocating some poor endangered species.

I think about the money spent on first making that piece of disposable nothingness and then the billions we spend per year cleaning up that nothingness.

I think about how I should stop

what I’m doing, leave my friends and go on a nationwide campaign to clean up the streets and bag every piece of litter.

But I don’t.

I mean, sometimes I pick up a bottle, stray napkin or plastic bag, and I feel good about it.

But nine times out of 10, I leave it. I pride myself on trying to be an environmentally-conscious, involved individual, but something so simple as throwing away some trash I pass multiple times a day evades me.

But why?

One reason is I feel people will look at me like I’m crazy and say, “Look at that hippie picking up trash. She thinks she’s going to save the world or something by picking up one can?”

Hopefully people do not feel that way and it’s just my paranoia.

I would like to believe it would be an inspiring act, people would see a normal citizen cleaning up the city, not because she is being paid, but because this is her world as it is everyone else’s.

And if you love something, you

take care of it.

I completely understand the reasons someone may litter.

Perhaps you’ve just finished stuffing down your oh-sodelicious double cheeseburger and you just can’t dirty up the inside of your temple that is your car.

Or maybe you’ve been having a dandy night and you want to impress that girl by skull-crushing a can and throwing it into traffic.

She’s going to love that, by the way.

Or perhaps it doesn’t even cross your mind anymore when you put that cigarette butt out on the ground when there’s a perfectly good receptacle 3 feet away.

All of these situations can happen to anyone.

But I would like to make a vow to my fellow citizens because I have broken my own rules before, too.

I vow not to litter. I vow to be aware of the cleanliness of my city and my world.

I vow to throw away my own trash and make a strong effort to also pick up any other trash I see

on a daily basis.

Most importantly, I vow to simply incorporate this in my everyday psyche and make it a priority.

And Auburn, I hope you do too.

To further my point here are some litter-related facts: • 9 billion tons of litter end up in the ocean every year, according to litteritcostsyou.org.

• From this, 100,000 marine animals die per year, according to oceancrusaders.org.

• Around 80 percent of litter will end up in the ocean, according to nrdc.org.

• $11.5 billion is spent per year in litter clean up, according to litteritcostsyou.org.

• In Auburn in 2013, more than 3,000 bags of litter were collected, according to auburnalabama.org.

• It will not harm you or others to throw away trash properly or to pick up others’ litter.

Jordan Hays Managing Editor Caitlyn Miller Copy Elizabeth Tiller Online

Corey Williams campus Maria McIlwain community Sam Butler Sports

Response to “Auburn flirts with disaster, escapes Jacksonville State 27-20 in OT” Tiger Pawala “Glad AU got the win, but a...U were LUCKY....”

Responses to “Column: Response to band no longer playing reverse Rammer Jammer” Alex Lerdo de Tejada “Favorite non game part of the whole game day experience”

Responses to “WHAT DO YOU THINK? Donald Trump has been doing consistently well in the polls. What do you think makes him so appealing as a presidential candidate to so many people?”

SueAnne Griffith “His previous fame and wealth have given him a unique position as a candidate that allows him to get away with hateful comments that in no way contribute to our country’s politics. He uses sensationalism and name calling, rather than thoughtful dialogue with concise solutions, to attract voters and media attention. ” Griff Shelley “He shoots from the hip.”

Response to “WHAT DO YOU THINK? Donald Trump has been doing consistently well in the polls. What do you think makes him so appealing as president?”

Dean Schechinger “He’s the Harry Truman of our time. He says what’s on his mind and what he says aloud voters are thinking to themselves.”

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Community Thursday, September 17, 2015

6 ThePlainsman.com

Community

service

emily enfinger / photo editor

Beth Prior did her Gold Award project on Parkerson Mill Creek, which runs through Auburn’s campus.

Auburn student’s project flows through campus

Gold Award project examines erosion and litter along Parkerson Mill Creek Anne Dawson

community reporter

Beth Prior, freshman in civil engineering, became a Girl Scout when she was in kindergarten, following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother.

Before Beth was born, her mother Judy Prior led a Girl Scout troop. She took a break when she had kids, and once Beth was in kindergarten, she began to lead another troop of Beth and her friends.

Judy said it was important to her that Beth be involved with Girl Scouts because it had so positively impacted her own life.

Beth said she was immediately drawn to the outdoors — setting up tents, cooking food and making fires.

As she grew up, Beth said her love of the outdoors turned into a love of environmental science.

As Beth approached her final years at Auburn High School, she started working on the Girl Scouts Gold Award, the highest achievement a Girl Scout can receive.

Beth said she had heard about Parkerson Mill Creek in the newspaper and reflected on her love of the environment.

At first, Beth wanted to do a project to bring several churches together with tables and discuss their beliefs, but she said she did not hear back from many of the churches.

Realizing she needed to begin her project soon, she said she then set up a meeting with the

Water Resources Center, where they paired her with Eve Brantley, extension specialist and associate professor in crop soil and environmental sciences.

Brantley said her program, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, was a perfect fit for Beth because the work she wanted to accomplish would help with the ongoing project of the program to raise awareness of Parkerson Mill Creek.

Together, they came up with the idea to work on Parkerson Mill Creek.

Beth said the portion of the creek she and Brantley focused on was the part that went through campus, starting at Lem Morrison and continuing to the rugby fields.

“You could walk through the creek right now and pick up as many cigarets, bottles and Styrofoam cups as you want,” Brantley said.

After taking pictures of 22 erosion sites and performing an overall stream assessment, Beth said she put the images to Google Earth and wrote a report about the erosion she found.

She said she then presented her report to Auburn Facilities Management to show them the issues of erosion, litter and bacteria.

To help raise awareness in the community, Beth said she set up tables at A-Day, CityFest and the Kappa Color Run to show citizens the effects they can have on the environment.

Beth said she then wrote a proposal, had the Gold Award Council critique her project and then after her two years and, according to Judy, over 100 hours of work was done, she presented a final

ellen jackson / photographer

Beth raised awareness about erosion and litter at the creek.

report and power point to the council.

Beth said she benefited from this project because it gave her a look into her potential career path.

“This showed me what I could be dealing with in the future,” Prior said.

Beth said she learned how to take better care of

the environment, and she looks forward to continuing similar work in the future.

According to Brantley, Beth’s work did not stop when she finished her project. Brantley said Beth has paved the way for more and more students to become aware of the water resources the campus provides.

Construction

Students’ opinions on housing Anne Dawson

community reporter

As the City Council continues to meet to determine the future of downtown Auburn, students speak their minds on the matter of the possible new urbanism in Auburn.

Stone Ray, freshman in architecture, has lived in the new 160 North Ross Street apartment complex for a month.

According to Ray, he could not ask for a better living situation.

Ray said the selling point for him was the location of the building in relation to campus.

While he walks most places, Ray said he would prefer to be right in the heart of downtown, making transportation easier.

By setting the building height requirements downtown to 75 feet, and allowing for student housing in the urban core, Ray said the city of Auburn would be applying the principal of new urbanism, or a walkable community, to the city.

Alison Sunderhaft, senior in chemical engineering, said it is extremely difficult to find housing within walking distance of campus.

Because of this, she said housing downtown would be a big hit to students.

Sunderhaft also said a few more stories would not completely take away Auburns village-type feel, it would only add a more modern and convenient twist to the core.

Ray said 75-foot buildings would not bother him, but he does understand the concern of blocking the view of Samford Hall from the northern approach.

“It’s great to look at Samford Hall, but I’m distracted by overhead power lines and a rundown gas station,” Ray said. “That building will have a roof that could be utilized, and the view from up there could be better than the view from your windshield as you cross over the train tracks.”

Ray said a 75-foot building would not

dakota sumpter / senior photographer

The Parker will have housing and retail spaces.

compete with Samford Hall, a156-foot tall building.

Some citizens have concerns with the potential new buildings downtown because they believe it will cause Auburn to lose its “small town” feel, Ray said.

“I agree that 75-foot buildings are not for that small town feel, but to me Auburn is not a small town anymore,” Ray said.

Ray said it is not fair to say Auburn should operate like a small town anymore like it did in the 1800s, because the population has drastically increased since then.

“Our small town is growing,” Sunderhaft said.

Ray dreams of an Auburn where more students and businesses are located downtown, which would promote walking and eliminate driving.

He also believes this will keep Auburn vibrant and social.

“I like to pass my fellow students and talk to them, rather than passing them in my car and honking my horn,” Ray said.

Fisher Conanan, freshman in mechanical engineering, said it was time for Auburn to grow downtown as the population of the city grows.

Conanan, who moved to Auburn in 2003 from San Francisco, said he is a fan of a more urban city-like style for Auburn.

Conanan said student housing already exists, and having more downtown would just be housing in a different location.

According to Conanan, growth will promote new businesses and more diversity for the city as a whole by attracting new residents and visitors.

BUY ONE GET ONE FREE with student or faculty ID. exp. 9/30/15

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Community 7

The Auburn Plainsman

business

local government

City Council approves

Downtown Master Plan Anne Dawson

community reporter

dakota sumpter / senior photographer

Luke Crenshaw, junior in undeclared science and math, tees off during a round of footgolf.

Local golf course brings new sport to the Plains Alex Wilkerson community writer

When Lyndy Lindsey, owner of The Greens at Auburn, first experienced footgolf in Kansas, he knew it would be a welcome addition on one of his properties.

Footgolf, which first originated in California, is a special mix of soccer and golf. Like golf, the goal of the game is to get a ball across the fairway. Unlike golf, which uses a small golf ball and different clubs to move the ball toward the hole, footgolf only requires a soccer ball.

Blake Moon, community director at The Greens, said Lindsey decided to bring footgolf to the property because footgolf would be a new addition to the area.

“There are a lot of golf courses here, and we knew that none of them have a footgolf course, and we knew that if we made one it would help us compete with other courses,” Moon said.

Ray Grimes, superintendent at The Greens, was tasked with incorporating the footgolf course into The Greens’ already expansive golf course. Grimes said he was inspired by other footgolf courses in places such as Foley, but knew their course had to be different.

“We tried to make it more golf-like to introduce people to golf,” Grimes said.

To make it more like actual golf, Grimes attempted to make the course less flat than other footgolf courses by incorporating more terrain at each hole. Designing the course was more difficult when it became apparent lakes found on the course would have to be avoided.

“With regular golf, if you knock a ball into a lake you just grab another ball,” Moon said.

“In footgolf, you only have one soccer ball and it floats, and with the wind blowing it can take a long time to fish it out.”

The course was finished over the summer, and it features 18 holes.

Anna Pearson, freshman in business, said she felt the new sport might be a good opportunity to bond with family.

“I played soccer all throughout high school, and my father has been a fan of golf since I was very young,” Pearson said. “Footgolf might be a good way for him and I to bond when he comes to Auburn to visit.”

The price for 18 holes of footgolf is $14 for adults and $8 for children under 16. Soccer balls can be rented for $4.

Few seats were empty in the City Council chambers as the council met to discuss and vote on the Downtown Master Plan.

Before the vote took place, Mayor Bill Ham Jr. said the City Council would request to ask the Planning Commission to define and regulate student housing as a separate and distinct residential land use, establish an appropriate maximum building height, propose specific student housing in consideration of economic liability, location, infrastructure, capacity and maximum unit bedroom densities and come up with a plan to revitalize older student housing properties.

The council then voted to adopt the Downtown Master Plan.

Ward 5 Councilwoman Lynda Tremaine raised the issue of potential traffic if student housing is brought downtown.

To address some of the concerns, City Manager Charles M. Duggan Jr. said a traffic study is being conducted at the corner of Ross Street and Glenn Avenue.

Duggan said the study most likely will not affect the Downtown Master Plan, but will allow for engineers to predict how much traffic will be generated.

“Like across the street (at 160 North Ross Street), they see how many trips they think each unit is going to generate,” Duggan said.

According to Duggan, the study will also help see if roadway developments, such as new turn lanes, will need to be made in the future.

Citizens had a chance to speak up during citizens’ communications.

Auburn citizen Linda Dean said she believed a traffic study was a necessity before any other plans were made for downtown.

Dean said she does not believe less parking means less traffic and would like proof of the effects.

“People don’t just appear in their parking places like they’re transmitted there … you have to use arteries to go back and forth,” Dean said.

Stone Ray, freshman in architecture, disagreed with Dean.

Ray said a traffic study would not need to be required in regard to the future construction because building in new-urbanism style will ensure more students and residents are walking instead of driving.

Ray also said if the plan passed, the city would become more valuable.

“A place that is planned is so much more valuable than a place that is not,” Ray said.

ellen jackson / photographer

Linda Dean, Auburn resident, speaks at the City Council meeting Sept. 15.

Sports

8

Thursday, September 17, 2015

SCOREBOARD Soccer (7-1, 0-1)

ThePlainsman.com

Sports

SOCCER

Started from the bottom, now she’s here

File Photo

Last Week at Missouri (L, 2-1) vs. South Alabama (W, 2-1) THIS WEEK Sept. 20 at Tennessee (2 p.m.)

UPCOMING Sept. 25 vs. LSU (7 p.m.)

Volleyball (7-2)

Contributed by Auburn Athletics

Sarah Le Beau has performed admirably since winning the starting goalkeeper job, posting six shutouts in eight games.

Freshman goalkeeper is beginning to set her own legacy at Auburn File Photo

LAST WEEK vs. Arkansas-Little Rock (W, 3-1) vs. Memphis (W, 3-0) vs. Tennessee Tech (W, 3-0 ) Tournament at the University of Memphis THIS WEEK Sept. 18 vs. Penn State (5 p.m.)

Sept. 19 vs. USF (10 a.m.)

Sept. 19 vs. St. John’s (5 p.m.)

Tournament in Tampa, Florida

Cross-Country

Emily Shoffit Sports Reporter

Women's soccer head coach Karen Hoppa and staff brought in a hefty crop of 11 freshmen to add to the roster this year, totaling 12.

The freshman class holds two goalkeepers, one of them being redshirt freshman Sarah Le Beau, who spent 2014 redshirting and successfully took over the starting keeper position in 2015.

The Crystal Lake, Illinois, native was recruited for the soccer program and decided to make Auburn her home after falling in love with campus and the home-away-from-home feel of the Plains.

"Everything here is beautiful, and it just feels like home," Le Beau said. "When I first met the team, they had chemistry. They were all getting along, having fun with each other. Obviously, when you come to schools, you want to see that."

Her first year at Auburn was strictly focused on practicing to prepare for the 2015 season and reaching full potential.

“

She’s still scraping the surface potential-wise. There’s a lot of room for her to improve, and this just being the first year.”

—Ben Madsen Assistant Coach

Assistant coach Ben Madsen worked with Le Beau throughout 2014 on reaching a solid point of consistency.

"Last year in practice we were always like, 'You need to be consistent and things will start to go your way,' and she's found that consistency this fall," Madsen said. "She's still scraping the surface potential wise. There's a lot of room for her to improve, and this just being the first year."

Le Beau has already earned an SEC Defensive Player of the Week award this season.

She's recorded 24 saves in 715 minutes of play time and a 7-1 record.

"A lot of last year helped to get me to where I am,” Le Beau said. “I redshirted last year, and just having that one year of practice and getting used to how the team does things really helped to get me where I am now."

When revisiting others he coached during his career, Madsen said Le Beau's "got it all."

In terms of tenacity and skill, "she checks the box in each of them,” according to Madsen.

“The good part about this being her first year too is that we've made it easy for her, too,” Madsen said. “The fact that (the defense) limited what she's had to do has made it easy for all of us. It's been an easier transition for her in that sense."

Hoppa is confident in her goalkeeper and the potential that she holds. It may only be the first year in action for the young redshirt freshman, but with her "quick hands and fearless aggression," the keeper is "the perfect addition to continue our storied tradition of great goalkeepers."

OPINION

auburn athletics

LAST WEEK Furman Classic vs. Furman Sept. 1 (M-2nd/W-1st) Meet in Greenville, South Carolina

Men’s golf

Auburn athletics

LAST WEEK Carpet Capital Collegiate 1st overall Tournament at The Farm in Dalton, Georgia

With early struggles, Auburn can’t afford to slip up Sam Butler sports Editor

Two weeks ago, the perception surrounding Auburn's football team was nearly 180 degrees from where it is now. The Tigers were looking at a bounceback season, an SEC Championship and a berth in the College Football Playoff. At the SEC Media Days in July, Auburn was tabbed as the favorite to win the conference.

Now? Auburn looks like it’ll be lucky to make the Belk Bowl, let alone the Cotton Bowl.

Auburn started off uneasy, but confident. A win against a decent Louisville team, albeit one that could've gotten away if the game were 10 minutes longer, provided a solid test to get the season rolling. There were some concerns, namely Jeremy Johnson's three interceptions, but it got shrugged off as an anomaly.

Then Jacksonville State happened.

Auburn came into that game as a 41.5-point favorite and probably should've lost. The Gamecocks had

their way with Auburn's defense all day: JSU quarterback Eli Jenkins finished 26-43 with 277 yards and a touchdown; he also gashed the Tigers on the ground for 37 yards.

The defense gave up 438 total yards. Now, that's easier to stomach when it's coming against, say, Texas A&M, but not against an FCS school.

What might even be more alarming, though, are Johnson's struggles. He again had trouble throwing the ball, getting picked off two more times to bring his season total to five interceptions. For the second game in a row, he was staring receivers down, predetermining who he would throw the ball to before the snap.

There are some positives to take away, however.

Johnson displayed the poise and moxie he showed in his previous appearances, leading a surgical drive to tie the game up with 39 seconds left on a beautifully thrown pass to Melvin Ray in the corner of the end zone.

When he's being forced to use his instincts and not overthink the throws, Johnson is as good as they come. He's just got to figure out a way to play like that the whole game.

There's good news on the defensive

Dakota Sumpter / senior Photographer

The Auburn defense spent a lot of time watching JSU pull in catches Saturday.

side as well.

Two of Auburn's most important players missed the JSU game, and a third was ejected midway through the second quarter. Carl Lawson hasn't played since the first half of the Louisville game, and it's clear Auburn's defense is a completely different animal when he's on the field. He's apparently day-to-day, as is safety Tray Matthews, who was also held out of the JSU game. If he, Lawson and Blake Countess return, Auburn's defense can be as dominant as it was when it was shutting out Louisville.

* Auburns Best Kept Secret * 334-821-5367

M-F 10-7 , Saturday 9-6, Sunday 1-5

Even though the sky seems like it's falling, there's still time to turn it around. Auburn, after all, is still undefeated, and has yet to begin conference play.

But this Saturday's game against LSU is as big a game as they come, and if there was ever a time to get everything right, it's on the road in Death Valley. Auburn isn't out of the running by any stretch, but one slipup, and everything could go down in flames.

Sam can be reached at sports@theplainsman.com.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Emily Shoffit Sports Reporter (7-2)

Nathan Deal Sports Writer (5-0)

Sam Butler Sports Editor (6-3)

Sports 9

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Football

Coaches provide updates on injured players ahead of LSU Evan McCullers

Assistant Sports Editor

Auburn and LSU have played plenty of physical games over the course of their rivalry, but several Auburn players are injured even before going to Death Valley for their first SEC game of the season.

In his weekly meeting with the media on Sunday, defensive coordinator Will Muschamp addressed the status of several injured Auburn defenders.

Buck Carl Lawson (hip) and safety Tray Matthews (shoulder), both of whom were injured in Auburn’s 31-24 win against Louis-

ville to open the season, should be ready to play in Saturday’s game against LSU, according to Muschamp.

Strongside linebacker Justin Garrett, who strained his quad in last week’s win over Jacksonville State, is also expected to play.

“Game time decisions on all those guys,” Muschamp said.

“All those guys took part in parts of practice last week. We’re expecting all of them to be able to go this week.”

When asked at his press conference on Tuesday, coach Gus Malzahn refused to give specific details about the players’ injuries.

“Everybody’s day-to-day,” Malzahn said. “At this point I’m not ready to say anything regarding any of them.”

The prognosis for Nickel Joshua Holsey was confirmed, however, and it wasn’t positive.

Holsey sustained a torn ACL in his left knee in the win over Jacksonville State, the same injury he suffered in 2013. Holsey will miss the remainder of the season.

“It’s tough on him,” Malzahn said. “He’s one of our team leaders, too. I know a lot of his teammates are hurting for him.”

With several veterans at less than full strength, Auburn relied

on young players to make plays in its win over Jacksonville State.

If the injured players are unable to play in Baton Rouge on Saturday, freshman talent such as Byron Cowart, Tim Irvin, Carlton Davis, Jeremiah Dinson and Jeff Holland will once again be expected to play significant snaps in the Tigers’ first conference game.

“You have to be prepared when the team calls on you,” Malzahn said. “We are counting on some young guys. The positive with that is you have a chance to grow and get better. We just need some young guys to step up and grow up pretty quick.”

File Photo

Carl Lawson is one of several injured Tigers who are day-to-day ahead of LSU.

Sports 10

Thursday, September 17, 2015

The Auburn Plainsman

Dakota Sumpter / Senior Photographer

Alexa Filley (21), here setting a ball against Syracuse, was instrumental in Auburn’s sweep in Memphis.

Contributed by Auburn Athletics

Taylor Troutman (17) races down the field against South Alabama.

This Week in Auburn Sports Soccer Sept. 11

A six-game win streak came to an end Friday night in Columbia when Auburn fell to the Missouri Tigers 2-1 at the start of SEC play. Despite the loss, Auburn's 6-1-0 record is still one of the best in program history, the last start of this caliber being in 2002.

Missouri ended Auburn’s 500-plus minute shutout streak with a goal in the first half and struck again in the 60th minute to make the lead 2-0.

Junior Brooke Ramsier scored on a penalty kick in the second half to cut the lead in half.

Missouri controlled the ball offensively and tested the Auburn defense, winning with a shot advantage of 26-12 and forcing keeper Sarah Le Beau to make a total of eight saves.

Sept. 13

Auburn soccer returned home Sunday, Sept.

13, after a devastating loss in Missouri to pause conference play and take on the University of South Alabama Jaguars.

The Tigers defeated the Jaguars 2-1 to go undefeated in non-conference play for the first time in program history.

Auburn learned a lot from its Friday night loss to Mizzou, according to head coach Karen Hoppa. “It doesn’t bring us down, we learn from it and get better, and that was the goal,” Hoppa said.

“I thought the girls had a great response to that today.”

The Tiger defense, led by senior Kala Faulkner, allowed the Jaguars 13 shots and one goal, with three saves by goalkeeper Sarah Le Beau.

Hannah Godfrey gave South Alabama the lead in the first half with a shot that Auburn forward Taylor Troutman attempted to deflect but ended up knocking into the goal.

It was the first goal scored at the Auburn Soccer Complex by an opposing team this season.

Troutman was quick to redeem herself by matching the Jaguars with a goal of her own just two minutes after.

Not a minute later, Ramsier scored with an assist from Troutman and Ellie Leek, giving Auburn the 2-1 lead.

Ramsier said the focus heading into all-SEC play next week is “being able to respond to adversity.” Friday was the first time the Tigers had allowed a goal this season, and the team didn’t respond well, resulting in a loss.

The Tigers will resume SEC play Sunday, Sept. 20, against the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville, Tennessee. It is the first of a 10-match all-SEC stand for Auburn.

Volleyball Sept. 11-12

The Auburn volleyball team was busy this

weekend as the Tigers played three games on Friday and Saturday at the Memphis Invitational.

The team won its first match 3-1 against Arkansas Little Rock. Courtney Crable was the star of the game, accounting for 17 kills, 15 of them coming in the final two sets.

The Tigers then took on Memphis later that day, where they dominated the host, three games to none.

Auburn picked up its second sweep of the season against a tough Memphis team in front of a menacing Memphis crowd. Breanna Barksdale was the star of the game, recording a career-high of 14 kills, while Crable continued her success from the first match by scoring nine kills in the second game.

One of the biggest factors in the second match was Auburn’s success in the service game, where the team notched seven aces.

Defensively, Auburn’s Alexa Filley and Jesse Earl came up big with 19 combined digs. Filley also made an impact offensively by accounting for 36 digs. She managed to pick up her 1,500th career assist during the first set.

Auburn picked up its third sweep of the season in a strong showing versus Tennessee Tech on Saturday, Sept. 12. Brenna McIlroy was the star of the day, leading the statistics both offensively and defensively.

McIlroy and Emily Klitzle each had 13 kills

for the Tigers potent offense, and McIlroy was joined by Earl with 12 digs a piece.

Men’s Golf Sept. 11-12

Auburn won the Carpet Capital Collegiate at the Farm Golf Club in Dalton, Georgia, on Sunday, beating second-place Clemson by nine strokes.

Four golfers placed in the top 15, and Auburn played Saturday and Sunday’s rounds at a combined 1-under par to seal the tournament.

The sixth-ranked Tigers captured their 18th team title under Clinard by defeating six other ranked teams at the event, including fellow SEC teams LSU, South Carolina, Alabama and Florida.

Auburn was led by freshman Jacob Solomon, who shot 2-over and finished 10th in his collegiate debut.

He was followed by senior Michael Johnson at No. 11 and juniors Will Long and Matt Gilchrest at No. 12 and No. 14, respectively.

Auburn will play next at the Primland Resort in Dan, Virginia, at the Primland Collegiate Invitational Sept. 28-29.

Compiled by Emily Shoffit and Bailey Rogers

Men’s Tennis

Men’s tennis aiming to improve upon less-than-stellar 2014 season

• 8” Cheese or Pepperoni Pizza and a Pepsi

Emily Shoffit

• Baked Spaghetti and Howie Bread

Auburn men's tennis is preparing to revamp for the start of the 2015-16 season. After finishing last season at 1513 overall, the Tigers are ready to begin their season with two top returners Marko Krickovic and Maxime Hinnisdaels.

"We'll look for big things from them this year to continue on what they started last year," said head coach Eric Shore.

This fall, Auburn will participate in the Duke Invitational, Georgia Tech Tournament, the ITA All-American Tournament, Mercer Tournament, the USTA/ITA Southern Regional, SEC Fall Tournament, the Disney Clay

Court Championships and finally the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships before coming home to Auburn Nov. 14 for the Auburn Alumni Event.

The Tigers have set their eyes on making Sweet 16 this year, along with finishing the season dominantly.

"That's our goal. We need to finish the last half of the season a lot stronger than we did last year," said Shore. "We got off to a good start and then we faded, so we need to somehow figure out a way to not have that happen again."

Auburn will get a break following the alumni event for two months before resuming play. The Citadel will face the Tigers at home Jan. 15, beginning Auburn's vigorous schedule.

"It's a tough schedule, with some

tough non-conference matches with Georgia Tech, Clemson, and we're back at the Blue Gray Tournament so it's difficult."

The men's main focus and key to Sweet 16 and the Top 25 is dominance in the SEC. The Tigers finished 2-10 in conference play last season.

"The SEC schedule is very tough, but everything is geared toward that. If you take care of business there and you get enough wins in conference, then you're obviously going to be a top 25 and have an opportunity to host, which is what we would like, to be in that position," said Shore.

Auburn begins fall play this Friday, Sept. 18 at the Duke Invitational in Durham, North Carolina.

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Sophomore Petar Tomic returns a volley in 2014 against the Citadel, one of the teams making up Auburn’s vigorous schedule in 2015.

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Intrigue Thursday, September 17, 2015

11 ThePlainsman.com

featured app

Intrigue

alumni

all in with emojis

The app imports emojis, stickers and GIFs into a phone’s messaging keyboard.

Spread spirit with new software designed by athletics Emily Esleck Intrigue Editor

Auburn fans across the country are expressing their spirit in a new fashion this football season.

According to Jon Sirico, assistant athletics director of marketing and sales in Auburn athletics, there were more than 45,000 downloads of the newest Auburn app, Auburn Emoji, the first week it was launched.

Auburn Emoji is a keyboard app that is available for iPhone and Android smartphones.

It was launched Friday, Sept. 4, and Sirico said 385,000 images were used in the first week.

After Auburn Emojis is downloaded and installed on a smartphone, the app imports emojis, stickers and GIFs into the phone’s messaging platforms.

The app was created by a third party called Snaps, according to Sirico, and the artwork was created by athletics.

Morgan Smith, senior in graphic design, has worked as a graphic designer in the marketing department of Auburn athletics since January.

She said Sirico came to graphic design and told them he needed 18 emojis, which would fill a page on the messaging board.

“It was kind of his baby to begin with,” Smith said. “He got the ball rolling on it.”

Smith said the designers were going to split up the emojis and collaborate at first, but then she said she would do the whole

project.

“It was really important to me for all of them to really look consistent,” Smith said.

“Once I started just started rolling with them, more and more ideas came.”

Smith said there were only supposed to be 18 emojis at first, but she ended up making 48, which she designed in one week.

“The process happened fast, really,” Smith said. “Once I got kind of got a consistent look to a couple of them, I was able to just knock out the rest of them ... They turned out really nice I think.”

The app is easy to use, according to Sirico.

“One of the things we talked about is the way we want to help people communicate the way they want to communicate,” Sirico said. “There’s a lot of data that shows how people communicate, emojis, text and shorter forms of communication are the things that people do these days, and so, we feel like this is really kind of like a perfect way to help those folks, the millennial generation that wants to communicate.”

Sirico said they have been thinking about how to use emojis for a while, and the Atlanta Hawks were one of the first teams to have a custom keyboard.

“In the industry, we saw something that worked and we thought, ‘We could do that,’” Sirico said, “and our fans are early to adopt in technology and we knew this would be a big hit.”

Smith said she designed all of the emo-

jis, but she said stickers primarily started with cutouts of photos, such as coach Gus Malzahn’s head.

She said she created game day buttons for each game, starting with the Jacksonville State game, which appear in the stickers section of the keyboard.

She also said they just updated the app with vintage Auburn logos stickers.

The GIFs were created by the social media department of athletics, according to Smith.

Sirico said when collecting data for the app, they found 800 billion messages were sent a day globally through messaging applications, and it will triple to 100 trillion by 2019.

He also said Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Canada and Germany, along with 11 other countries, have downloaded Auburn Emojis.

“We wanted to make sure that we are providing our fans an opportunity to embrace our brand in their communication,” Sirico said. “We definitely think it’s going to continue to grow in terms how people communicate and utilize in this kind of technology ... continue to roll out new creative ideas that are going to want people to continue to use it.”

Kasey Langley, recent graduate in media studies, said she and her friends communicate mostly through Auburn emojis now.

“It’s definitely a way to keep those memories alive, even in something as little as a press of a button,” Langley said.

alumni

Auburn graduate writes successful young adult novel Marissa Luckie Intrigue Writer

Rachel Hawkins has many titles which include Auburn alumna and New York Times best-selling author.

Rachel, a graduate in English, has written two young adult book series, the “Hex Hall” series and the “Rebel Belle” trilogy, the third installment of which will be released April 12, 2016, according to Rachel’s Tumblr.

The third book in the “Rebel Belle” triology, “Lady Renegades,” is available to preorder on Tumblr. contributed by rachel hawkins “Demonglass,” the second book in the “Lady Renegades,” the third book in the “Rebel Belle” trilogy, will be released April 12, 2016.

“Hex Hall” series, was No. 5 on the NYT best-seller list under the Children’s Chapter that will find its way into a book,” John where the realism ends, as the book’s main character, Harper, is endowed with super said.

Books category in 2011.

With her unreleased middle-grade series powers after killing her history teacher.

Rachel also has a third book series set to “‘Rebel Belle’ is the story [of] a Southbe released in 2016, which will be middle- set in Scotland and her first series, “Hex grade. The title for this series has not been Hall,” set in England, “Rebel Belle” hits ern debutante who gets super powers and has to defend a boy who can see the future,” closer to home. released.

In fact, Rachel recently posted a picture Rachel said.

Rachel describes the new series as “a suShe said she liked flipping expectations pernatural adventure set in the highlands of on Tumblr of the Lee County Flea Market, by giving the female characwhich inspired a set piece in Scotland.” ter superhuman powers.

Rachel said she completed part of the re- the “Lady Renegades,” the fi“I always wanted to write search for these books while in Scotland on nal book of the “Rebel Belle” a book about a very girly, a trip with her husband, John Hawkins, pro- trilogy. feminine girl who was very Rachel said part of her fessor in geology. tough, but still maintained The couple met at Auburn through Ra- motivation to write a book being very girly,” Rachel chel’s roommate who was in the Auburn set in the South was to porsaid. “I like the idea of a girl tray it more realistically from University Marching Band with John. having to protect a boy. I “Last summer … we were both over a Southern point of view, thought that was a nice inin Scotland researching projects,” Rachel since Rachel is a native of version of tropes, where said. “He was looking for places to take Dauphin Island. hawkins she is very much the “I feel like a lot of times kids to look at rocks, and I was researchknight, and he is kind of in books we see a version ing this book.”

John, who said he has always been sup- of the South that doesn’t actually exist,” the delicate flower.”

“Rebel Belle” can be found at Books-aportive of Rachel’s writing career, said he Rachel said. “We see a lot of people living enjoys acting as a sounding board for Ra- in giant mansions, and it’s all a little cute- Million as the Books-a-Million Teen Book sy and that’s fine. I’ve got certainly a little Club pick. chel’s projects.

Rachel’s writing can also be found in “It is interesting because we will just be bit of that in my books, too, but I wanted to driving, and we might see a weird thing on write a book that reflected the South more The Auburn Plainsman, where she wrote one article in 1998, and the Auburn Circle, the side of the road, and we will just start as I saw it.”

However, her portrayal of the South is where at least one story was published. talking about it and laughing about it and

Contributed by chelsea mineur

McGuffin walks during the evening wear portion.

McGuffin fourth runner-up in 2016 Miss America Marissa Luckie Intrigue Writer

The one thing Meg McGuffin was worried about was becoming a viral video on YouTube during her onstage question in the 2016 Miss America Competition on Sunday, Sept. 13.

“That was the one thing I didn’t want before my question was to become a YouTube sensation, and I’ve done that,” McGuffin said.

McGuffin, Auburn graduate student, represented Alabama in the competition ending the night placing fourth runner-up after competing in swimsuit, evening gown, talent and on-stage question.

Out of the 52 women who entered the competition, only 15 were selected to compete on live television Sunday night.

McGuffin’s answer to the question about her thoughts on presidential candidate Donald Trump elicited a strong response from people.

Some of these responses include hateful messages on social media.

However, McGuffin said she has chosen to see the humor in it and does not regret answering her question as she did.

“I’ve always been very convicted in the way that I feel, even when I’m not competing in pageants,” McGuffin said. “I think the beautiful thing about our country is that we are all entitled to our own opinion, and we all have the freedom of speech to be able to voice that opinion … It’s funny to me how some people go about voicing how they disagree with what I had to say.”

McGuffin said the anxiety she had while waiting to see if she had been selected for the top 15 was her least favorite part of the night.

“It’s those feelings of uncertainty as to whether or not your friends and family are going to get to watch you on TV,” McGuffin said, “whether or not the people who made the trip to Atlantic City and spent a lot of money on plane tickets are going to be able to watch you compete.”

Despite the public eye being fixated on her interview question, what McGuffin said she is focused on going forward is serving the state of Alabama.

“I think, if anything, this trip really lit a fire under my butt to get really involved and to be the epitome of what this program is about, which is service and scholarship,” McGuffin said. “I look forward to doing that with my work through Healthy is the New Skinny and through my work with schools in the state and universities.”

Although McGuffin said she thoroughly enjoyed her time preparing for and competing in the 2016 Miss America Competition, she said it is nice to have an end to all the uncertainty.

“While you are there you have this mindset of uncertainty as to whether or not you’re going to go home or whether or not you are going to jump in a plane and be in a new city every two days,” McGuffin said. “When they called me as fourth runner-up and I understood that it’s not my calling to be Miss America, it’s my calling to come back to Alabama and to serve this state and see my family and friends I was very relieved.”

However, McGuffin said she enjoyed her time competing as a Miss America contestant.

“It was absolutely incredible,” McGuffin said. “I just smile thinking about the past two weeks because it truly was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and an incredible experience that I would do over again in a heartbeat.”

At the end of the day, McGuffin said she is happy with how the night went, even if she didn’t win.

“The fact that I got to be one of the 52 women competing for Miss America 2016 is just enough,” McGuffin said.

“Just to be there was enough.

I didn’t have to make top 15. I didn’t have to get fourth runner-up. Just being there and being amongst those girls was enough. Fourth runner-up was just the cherry on top.”

Intrigue 12

lifestyle

The Auburn Plainsman

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Canines on the Plains

David Topper / Photographer

Trainers hold their Labrador puppies in the Coliseum.

One of the trainers holds Violet, a puppy in training.

University programs train puppies to detect bombs and help with research Hannah fuqua intrigue writer

Auburn University is home to a wide array of projects that bring animals and humans together, such as the union between humans and working detection dogs.

EcoDogs, a program utilizing trained dogs at Auburn, was created in 2009 by Todd Steury, professor in forestry and wildlife sciences studying carnivore ecology, and Craig Angle, associate director of veterinary sports medicine program in the department of canine performance sciences.

Steury said he believes these dogs can help researchers obtain information in a more efficient manner than humans could.

Steury also said he worked with Terry Fischer, chief canine instructor in the department of canine performance services, who started his career in the military working with bomb detection dogs and had his own training and breeding program in Zimbabwe.

Steury proposed his original question to Fischer’s research team.

“Can you train dogs to find skunk poop?”

Steury said. “(Fischer’s team) looked at me

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Scat, or animal feces, especially from less abundant animals such as most predators in Alabama, can yield an abundance of information for researchers.

Through the DNA contained in scat, knowledge can be gained about diet, gender, population size and inbreeding of a species.

Fischer and Bart Rogers, another canine instructor, handle the dogs in the late stage training.

Auburn has a Labrador retriever breeding program that strives to create “the Auburn dog,” which is used to train EcoDogs.

“The Auburn dog is the ultimate detection machine,” Fischer said.

These dogs spend most of their life at Auburn working to become a VaporWake dog.

Auburn patented the VaporWake training program, which prepares dogs to detect improvised explosive devices and begins with 6-week-old puppies.

Students can help with the exercising and development of puppies through cardiorespiratory fitness: physical activity through puppy play, or PHED 1200, a class offered in the School of Kinesiology.

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After the puppy development stage, the dogs will be sent to a prison training program until they are 10 months old.

Fischer said this is a beneficial time for both the dogs and the inmates.

“They’ve never felt unconditional love like they have with the dog,” Fischer said.

When they return from the prison program, the dogs are evaluated, and if they pass they will continue their training.

Fischer said the success rate is about 70 percent and rising.

The whole breeding process is done scientifically.

Pam Haney, Auburn graduate in kinesiology, works with researchers from the Hudson-Alpha Institute in Huntsville to analyze dogs’ DNA taken from blood samples during different stages of development.

“We believe that superior detection dogs are going to have a different genetic makeup than a sub-superior dog,” Haney said.

EcoDogs has also employed canines to help with the control of African rock and Burmese pythons in Florida

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Currently, dogs are being trained to help the United States Fish and Wildlife Services control illegal fishing on the coast.

Working English cocker spaniels will be employed instead of Auburn’s Labradors because their smaller size allows them to go places on vessels where humans and larger dogs cannot.

The relationship between working dogs and humans is an ever-expanding field. Dogs have helped diffuse bombs and detect cancer, and recently it has been discovered dogs can identify and distinguish between different viruses.

As Auburn’s dog training motto states: “Man’s best friend, man’s best defense.”

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