WHICH COMMERCIALS WERE SUPER? | PAGE 3
ADDERALL ABUSE IS REAL | PAGE 2
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Volume 97 | Issue 11 | Free in single copy | February 7, 2014
Josh Turner concert later this month Students, faculty prepare Country star Josh Turner is scheduled to perform as the headlining act for the Spring 2014 S.O.L.O. concert Ticket dispersal to begin Feb. 18. By KELSEY TACK & SARAH TOWNSEND Beat Reporters Award-winning country artist Josh Turner will perform in the Hooper Eblen Center for the spring S.O.L.O. concert on Feb. 27. Brent Cobb and Eric Paslay will open the show at 7 p.m. Paslay is known for his number one hit “Friday Night.” This is the first year the country concert will host two opening acts. Ticket pickup will begin on Feb. 18 in the lobby of the RUC and will continue until the tickets are gone. Tickets are available on a first come, first service basis to full time students. SGA President Clay Stubblefield said, “This is our second country concert, and when Dierks Bentley was here, it was packed. I expect this one to be as big, if not bigger.” Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the first 750 people in line will get to stand on the floor. Junior Dameh Minor said, “I will definitely be waiting in line to get the best seats! I’m a huge Josh Turner fan.” Turner was chosen by student votes but some students said they are displeased with the selection. Most complaints were due to
ing acts. SGA senator Kyle Bieze explained why country was the chosen genre twice in a two year period. It’s basically set up in a way each semester is a new category, like country, rock, comedy—that’s why Aziz was here,” Bieze said.
‘‘
This is our second country concert, and when Dierks Bentley was here, it was packed. I expect this one to be as big, if not bigger. —Clay Stubblefield, SGA President
,,
Countrymusichalloffame.org TURN THE LIGHTS DOWN LOW- Country artist Josh Turner (above) will headline the Spring 2014 S.O.L.O. Concert in the Hooper Eblen Center on Feb. 27. This is the second time a country artist has performed in the S.O.L.O. Concert Series.
the country genre repeating. Sophomore Zach Graham said, “I am not a big fan of his music, and I would really like if the S.O.L.O. concert options offered more variety. We’ve had two country
artists, Aziz, and The Fray since I’ve been here.” “I haven’t heard of them but I probably won’t go so that people who actually want to go can get in,” Austin Hulslander said of the open-
There is another category marked “other” which “is there to give smaller categories a chance” but is ultimately decided by a majority vote. SGA Vice President Emily McDonald said that, as stated in Article XIV in the SGA Constitution, categories are on rotation and this semester falls into the “other” category and “was determined by a student vote in the fall of 2013.” This fall’s S.O.L.O. concert will be chosen from the alternative genre. For additional information about the rotation and S.O.L.O. fund, see the SGA Constitution at tntech.edu/sga/constitution.
Residents of Tech Village doubt N. Willow safety By SHANE FOLEY Beat Reporter There is growing concern among Tech Village students regarding the state of traffic on North Willow Avenue. Some residents said they have begun to feel unsafe crossing four lanes of traffic to reach the laundry facility in the apartment complex. Angela Anderson is a Tech student living in Tech Village. “The crosswalk in front of the laundry facility is very insecure,” Anderson said. “It’s pretty bad having to cross the road with heavy laundry when cars don’t slow down most of the time.” There is an unmarked crosswalk on North Willow Avenue, and Tennessee state law mandates that vehicles must yield to pedestrians on unmarked crosswalks. Some students have asked for better indication that there are crosswalks on the street. North Willow is part of Highway 136, and any changes to it are under control of the City of Cookeville Public Works department. Despite this, Chief of Tech Police Gay Shepherd said Tech does have a say in what happens with the road.
By CINDY SCHUEMAN & JESSICA WILSON Beat Reporters
The Office of Minority Affairs and the Black Cultural Center will celebrate Black History Month with several events hosted throughout February. The Black History Month events will kick off with the Gospel Extravaganza Feb. 9. The musical event will begin at 2 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the RUC. Trinity Owens Baptist Church of Cookeville and TTU’s Omnicron Phi Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity will sponsor the event. On Feb. 11 at noon, there will be a feature documentary called “Hidden Colors.” “Hidden Colors 2” will be shown the next week on Feb. 18. Both films will be shown in the Leona Lusk Officer BCC in room 258 in the RUC. This documentary discusses some of the reasons the contributions of African and aboriginal people have been left out of the pages of history. The critically acclaimed 2011 follow-up documentary is about the untold history of the African and aboriginal descent. The final event is Feb. 24th at 7:30 p.m. in the Tech Pride Room of the RUC. Robert Avery will discuss his experiences as a teenager during the Civil Rights Movement listening to the dreams of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “I hope a lot of people come to the events,” said
Corrine Johnson, administrative associate in the Office of Minority Affairs. “I want people to recognize those who went through these events before us and honor them and their sacrifices.” Johnson said all but one of the events are open to the public and free of charge. The IMPACT Honors Banquet is a city-wide dinner that honors individuals who have impacted the community in a positive way. It will require a ticket for entry, and the cost is $25 a person or $40 a couple. The banquet will be held at the Leslie Town Centre at 5 p.m. on Feb. 23. The 2014 honorees are Shaquawana Wester, Rev. Earl Dirkson the Avery and late Issac Bohannon. Dr. Elizabeth Ojo, assistant director of Minority Affairs, said these broader cultural experiences help her in the multicultural work she does with students. “I see it as a time to encourage diversity and the opportunity to share the good of all races and it’s not a time just for the black, but it’s a time to educate the public that there is strength in diversity,” Ojo said. “It’s a time to raise the conscious awareness of the contributions that the black race has made in the construction and maintenance of what is known today as America.” For a more detailed list of events and information, visit www.tntech.edu/ bcc/calendar or contact the Office of Minority Affairs 931-372-3392.
Black History Month 2014 Schedule Sunday Feb. 9-
2 p.m.
Gospel Extravaganza
RUC Multipurpose Room
Tuesday Feb. 11- 12 p.m.
“Hidden Colors”
Leona Lusk Officer BCC
Tuesday Feb. 18- 12 p.m.
“Hidden Colors 2”
Leona Lusk Officer BCC
Sunday Feb. 23- 5:30 p.m.
IMPACT Honors Banquet
Monday Feb. 24- 7:30 p.m. Robert Avery- Guest Speaker
Leslie Town Centere RUC Tech Pride Room
More information can be found online at www.tntech.edu/bcc
Ty Kernea | Herald-Citizen NORTH WILLOW DANGER- A crash at the 400 block of North Willow Avenue held up traffic on
the highway around 8:20 Wednesday morning. The driver of the Honda was transported to Cookeville Regional Medical Center with injuries that were not considered life threatening. “Tech has a voice with what happens with the road just like we do with Dixie Avenue,” said Shepherd. “It is, however, ultimately up to the city.” Some students have reported crossing the street halfway between the four lanes, and being ignored by cars even as they stood in the road. “The only way to safely cross Willow Avenue is to go
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out of your way a great deal, or wait for a break in traffic,” said former Tech Village resident Joshua Nichols. Greg Brown, head of the Cookeville Department of Public Works, said the department has acknowledged the unsafe crosswalk. “We have received a complaint about the crosswalks on North Willow and are currently in discussion with the state about getting
official signage and making the crosswalks handicap accessible,” Brown said. “We will either decide to make it official, or remove the unofficial crosswalk altogether, whichever seems to be the safest.” Until a formal decision has been made, students are recommended to use the official crosswalk at the intersection of North Willow Avenue and Circle Drive.
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SAE to move into newly built 5th street house within the month By JORDAN BLAIR Beat Reporter Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity will be moving into its new house on West 5th Street within the next month. “It’s been a long time coming,” said Taylor Shull, a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. “Everyone is ready to see the finished project.” Sigma Alpha Epsilon broke ground during Homecoming of 2012. Some members said the process has taken longer than they anticipated, but said it should be completed by the end of February.
The house will consist of eight bedrooms, two kitchens, six bathrooms, a study room, a chapter room, and a living room. With a few of the bedrooms being shared, 14 brothers will be living at the fraternity house. Funding for the house has come from alumni, campaigning, and dues. “Sigma Alpha Epsilon has been talking about getting a new house since the 80s,” said Vice President Ryan Gibbons. “You really have to give a huge thanks to the guys who stepped up and actually took the initiative to put the campaign in motion.”
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Page 2 | February 7, 2014
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Pray for the people SARAH DINGWALL Opinion Editor Prayer is an act of faith. If people stop praying for something, evil is bound to come and disrupt everything people believe to the very core. Sunday, Feb. 2 brought my church family to its knees when news came of a shooting and possible hostage situation at a church in our community. I honestly never thought or believed it would happen to this community, but it did and I wonder what I could have done that could have helped prevent it. The immediate reaction for most people would be to create new legislation to promote stricter gun control in Tennessee. NO! This isn’t going to solve the problem. The man, who shot his sister-in-law and then killed himself, probably had the gun a long time before he even had the thought in his mind. In all honesty, we will never know. We can’t continue blaming guns. It’s time to stop hiding behind psychology and the thought that he was probably men-
tally unstable. No, let us call it what it really is evil. No person wants to kill someone else. Something comes on him or her and they don’t know what they are doing. It’s why many killers end up killing themselves. They seem to wake up from a nightmare, realize it was real, freak out and know they can’t live with what they did. This is the nature of murder and suicide. Harsher gun control policies aren’t going to make the issue go away. Evil is in this world and we live in it. That doesn’t mean we have to live with it. Prayer is the only thing that comes to mind that can prevent more incidents like this. I have to pray more for the protection of the churches in this community. Pray for the people who attend, even if I can just cover everyone in one very simple, generic prayer. If I apply my faith that God will hear me, at least I will be doing something. But, as a whole, the community at large needs to begin to pray. Pray everyday with children as
they go to school. How many bomb threats have there been in the last two years at Cookeville High School? Too many threats have been made to not be praying over the children’s safety when they are at school. The shooting at the Double Springs Community Church shook us all. The immediate thought in my head was “Oh God how could this happen? Here, in Cookeville?” Not “we need stricter legislation on gun control.” The answer is simple, we are in denial, stuck in the belief that nothing bad can happen here and so we stopped praying for safety in our community. Pray for the members of the Double Springs Community Church. This terrible thing happened in their church, their home. It is scary to think that it can happen to you, but it can. They are banding together to comfort each other and lift each other up. We can be praying for them, too. Prayer is a powerful tool and I highly recommend it. Pray for your safety and for the safety of the people around you. God will send His angels to guard and protect us, if we only ask.
Is it drug abuse or a way to academic success? JACQUELINE ATKIELSKI Guest Contributer
Is it drug abuse or the way to academic success? Some depend on coffee and soda to get through college classes. Others just use their own willpower. Then there are students who ‘pop pills’ like Adderall or Vyvanse to get ahead of their classmates. Is the selfmedicating drug abuse, or is it the way to success? Now that more and more people are being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the medicine is easily accessible. Nationally, over twenty percent of college students have tried the “good grade pills”, as The New York Times stated in two different articles about the medication. A campus physician declined an interview due to the legality of the situation, and said that Tech does not prescribe the drug. “Which one did I give you, the orange pill or the blue pill?” Maggy Handler, 22, and Kaleb Benson, 21, tried to remember which of her
Adderall prescriptions she gave him to help him with a project last semester. “I had pushed the assignment to the last minute and it was forty percent of my grade.” Benson described his first time popping the pill as “a sugar rush, but times 1,000.” He admitted that the experience was his first and only time doing so. “I stayed awake for a day and a half afterwards. It was horrible.” “I’ve been prescribed Adderall since I was in the 3rd grade, when I was diagnosed with ADHD,” said Handler. “I can’t go to class without taking it. When I’m off my meds, it’s like I’m a third grader is trying to learn college concepts.” Handler says that close friends and classmates come to her for the “good grade pills”. She said that these pills are just the new way to stay ahead in college, just like soda and coffee. “Street value of the meds I’m on is about three to five dollars a pill, while during finals week the price jumps to eight to ten dollars a pill.” Blake Rutherford, 21, claims that using Vyvanse is better because it doesn’t
have the same “punchy” effect as Adderall. He used his “good grade pills” to catch up on writing assignments. “You feel like you’re king of the world after taking one 30 mil extended release. I ended up taking three to four of those a day for four months and it stunted my creativity when I was sober.” “Using Vyvanse didn’t help my habit to procrastinate until the night before an assignment was due.” He also said that students who use these kinds of pills usually made poor time management decisions. Rutherford stopped using the medication altogether, although his mild ADD still bothers him. “It turned into drug abuse when I continued to take the pills once the semester was over. I’m sure we’re going to look back at this and wonder how crazy we were to use chemicals like this just to stay ahead of our classmates.”
http://www.dietpillcomparison.net
Altars of American Idols: Celebrity distraction from real issues LYDIE-CLAIRE BROWN
Assistant Opinion Editor I’ve always been a huge myself included, seems to Tolkien nerd. From 8-years- be torn over whether or not old, when my mother hand- Woody Allen is a child moed me a copy of The Hobbit, lester, and how that affects I was lost in Middle Earth. the reception of his art. The problem, though, I have all the books, I have all the movies (The Two is that we’re not content to Towers is the best, and I’ll simply observe the happenfight you if you disagree!), ings of Hollywood. We feel compelled to and my Tumblr is full of pass judgment on the acTolkien nonsense. I remember being about tions to our friends, our 12, and hearing Elijah Wood coworkers, classmates, and say his Nine Companions Facebook acquaintances. People tattoo “hurt argue over like a mothCelebrities are er-----.” I was idolized or cruci- w h e t h e r Hoffman’s crestfallen at was the idea of fied depending on death or Frodo using their behavior and “stupid” “romantically profanity. how it relates to tragic.” (If you’ve our perception of There are heard any of my stand- “good behavior.” so many articles about up comedy, you’ll know I’ve grown out Woody Allen I couldn’t print them all off before of that.) Currently, Hollywood depleting my $25 printing has me feeling just as emo- stipend. Let me set some things tional and connected to straight for you: in 1992, certain celebrities, and just as judgmental of their be- Allen was accused of mohavior. I cried over Phillip lesting then 7-year-old Seymour Hoffman on Dylan Farrow, the daughSunday, just as I did over ter he had adopted with Mia Farrow. He was never Amy Winehouse. In the wake of his the formally charged with moGolden Globes, everyone, lesting her because the
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http://guineveregetssober.com Philip Seymor Hoffman’s death on Feb. 2, 2014, has sent the media into a frenzy over his history as an addict, rarely speaking about the growth of heroin use in the United States.
evidence of sexual misconduct was inconsistent. The state psychiatrists sided with Allen, the judge with Farrow, and the prosecutor chose to let the case die. Allen would go on to marry Soon-Yi Previn and adopt two daughters with her. In her open letter to the New York Times, Dylan Farrow says that she was “silenced” by the all the praise Allen received for his films: essentially, Hollywood’s
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acceptance of Allen diminishes her experience as a survivor of sexual assault. Immediately, any and all opinion forums are filled with Did-he-didn’t-he debates that quickly become nasty. He’s innocent: Dylan was coached by Mia Farrow. Of course he’s guilty: while in his fifties he married Soon-Yi Previn, the 19-yearold adopted daughter of Mia Farrow and André Previn; ergo, he’s a pervert.
Switch to Hoffman. He was found dead in his apartment on February 2nd, Super Bowl Sunday, from an apparent heroin overdose. The authorities noticed that there were close to 50 envelopes of heroin inside the apartment, most labeled with the brand Ace of Spades. Heroin is no longer the drug of the 80s and 90s, its destruction inspiring great novels like Trainspotting or the events of Orange is the New Black. Rather, as the War on Drugs systematically targets and eliminates prescription pain pill abuse, heroin sneaks back in to fill the empty spaces – both in the drug market and the dark parts of empty people. Hoffman reportedly spent much of the past 23 years in a cycle of addiction, rehab, relapse. And of course, the media circus adds a new act. How “tragic” was Hoffman’s death? Was it, instead as Jared Padalecki said, “stupid and senseless?” Clearly he was never very serious if a man with easy access to addiction help couldn’t kick the habit, or his access to help was matched only by his access to heroin. All of this distracts us from the fact that a man – not an actor, but a human
being – is dead. Instead of talking about whether or not Woody Allen molested his daughter, we should be working to create a safe space for sexual assault survivors to tell their stories and receive emotional support. Instead of romanticizing the relationship of art and dysfunction through our latest tragic case, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, we should be revisiting our strategy in the War on Drugs. Celebrities are idolized or crucified depending on their behavior and how it relates to our perception of “good behavior.” We use them as scapegoats for our own failings as a society, distracting up from the lack of adequate resources for survivors of assault or addiction. It just seems to me that, as a nation and global culture, we are far more concerned with the style of issues rather than the substance. Don’t believe me? Then why were there over 200,000 signatures on a White House petition to deport Justin Bieber and only 570 to investigate the toxic spill that poisoned West Virginia’s water supply? Maybe Jesco White should draw our attention to that problem.
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Page 3 | February 7, 2014
‘That Awkward Moment’ is disappointing By HANNAH BENJAMIN Entertainment Critic Every new re l a t i o n s h i p reaches a confusing point where you have to decide if you are going to move forward or move on from the current fling. ‘That Awkward Moment’, starring Zac Efron, Miles Teller, and Michael B. Jordan, offers a sleazy bro twist on the classic rom-com formula. Recently separated from his wife, Mikey (Jordan) and his friends Jason (Efron) and Daniel (Teller) console each other the best way that guy friends in movies know how: girls and booze! The three make a pact to stay single and struggle to keep their promise to each other when all three of the guys find a special someone worth ending their deal. The star-studded cast and hilarious promos filled audiences with high hopes, but, ultimately, ‘That Awkward Moment’ was most of the jokes falling flat. The film tries too hard to be one of the guys and avoid chick flick status, but with less penis jokes, it could easily compete with movies like ‘27 Dresses’ or ‘13 Going on 30.’ The characters are mostly unlikeable and border on sociopathic behavior, a crass attempt at relating with our “selfish” generation. It’s tough to see lovable Zac Efron play such
Kimmy’s top Super Bowl commercials By KIMMY MANNING Entertainment Critic
Courtesy of Beaufort Online
‘That Awkward Moment’ opened at the weekend box office with over $8.7 million. It earned over $10.6 million globally.
a jerk, but after numerous close ups on his sensitive blue-green eyes, it does get a little easier. The film pays so much attention to classic male and female stereotypes that the audience might forget that it’s the year 2014 and men might actually have complicated feelings. Most scenes were choppy and didn’t seem to have a flow or purpose. The resolutions to the relationship conflicts were hokey and unsatisfying,
wrapping up in the last minute with anti-climatic gestures of true love after the men had learned the error of their ways. ‘That Awkward Moment’ is overall pretty disappointing, but has some good comical bits and lots of shirtless Zefron to make the vulgarity and the portrayal of male simplicity kind of worth it. ‘That Awkward Moment’ is rated R for sexual content and language throughout.
Maybe we all assumed too much, but the Super Bowl has always been a stage for advertisers to make me roll on the floor, work up some tears, or want to purchase that insurance policy I don’t need. Where is the whimsy that made watching the commercials so worth it in the past? For every 30-second commercial, $4 million is spent to make an imprint on the audience, and I’m starting to wonder where that money went. Large corporations and businesses see it as, “Something like a ritual financial sacrifice, a pyre of money set on fire to please the Buzz Gods for no particular reason,” as said by The Atlantic. Sure, the commercial poking fun at the game while paralleling it to the woes of prom was funny, or the precious dog chasing after the Clydesdale, but after that things got stale. I began to see repeats of the past, and in fact, some of the people in them were. A good amount of commercials had a similar
Courtesy of In Touch Weekly
“Puppy Love” is the follow up to last year’s extremely popular “Brotherhood” commercial by Budweiser.
idea of including throwbacks. According to Entertainment Weekly, “Nostalgia and feelgood themes were major hits across the board,” from the get-go last Sunday. We witnessed Full House stars, The Muppets and a shelling of 80s icons, including Hulk Hogan and the California Raisins. Despite my indifferent and cold feelings, rankings have been made by yours truly as to which commercials everyone collectively enjoyed, and I am here to share them with you. 1. Budweiser’s “Puppy Love” 2. Turbo-Tax’s “Prom” 3. Doritos’ “Time Machine” 4. RadioShack’s “Phone
Call” 5. Doritos’ “Cowboy Kid” 6. Cheerios’ “Gracie” 7. Chevy’s “Bull” 8. T-Mobile’s “No-Contract” 9. Squarespace’s “A Better Web Awaits” 10. Oikos Greek Yogurt’s “The Spill” As America begins to form its opinions, and social media puts in it’s two cents, we may see a difference from the list. As an outsider though, I foresee little talk when it comes to how commercials “blew us away” this year. As far as I’m concerned, I did not find myself crying over a commercial or rolling on the floor, and I certainly wasn’t persuaded to buy something I didn’t need.
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Stellar cast, awesome writing make ‘The Good Wife’ must see tv By JAKE THREET Entertainment Editor O f t e n each year, I go through a phase of catching up on currently airing TV shows that I may not have been interested in when they first came on the air, but after seeing a promo for an upcoming episode or catching five minutes here or there of one I think “Hmm, maybe this is a show I would like.” So is the case with the last TV show I caught up on, ‘The Good Wife’. I have always been a fan of Julianna Margulies ever since her days on ER. She and that whole show have a special place in my heart, but that’s another story. Back in late October, I happened to catch the promo for the episode, “Hitting the Fan,” for its current fifth season and I was very caught up with it. I literally watched it 10 times on YouTube to satisfy my intrigue. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I had to catch up on this show. Not over Christmas break, but immediately. Long story short, four and a half seasons and 99 episodes later, I was caught up with ‘The Good Wife’ in time for the airing of its 100th episode. It is possibly the best choice I have made concerning new TV shows to binge watch. Now, I’m not going to go into detail about all the happenings and plot twists of the four seasons. That would be a novel in itself, but the basis of the series is that Alicia Florrick (Margulies) was the wife of a former state’s attorney for Cook County. He was imprisoned after being caught up in a sex and corruption scandal. Alicia had to come to terms with the public embarrassment, and
Courtesy of Celebrity-Bug
The fifth season episode, “Hitting the Fan,” has been widely praised as the best hour of drama on television this year. go back to work to support herself and her two children. After years of being a stayat-home mom and wife, she returned to work as a litigator at the law firm Stern, Lockhart & Gardner. She then had to prove herself in the courtroom. That was just the beginning concept of the series and many events, scandalous affairs, court room battles, relationships,
and deceptions that have happened over the course of these last 102 episodes. Once you start, it is like a thrilling roller coaster ride of which you do not want to get off. The best part of ‘The Good Wife’ is that it felt like a brand new show at beginning of current season, and, halfway through the season, it still does. It has raised the bar for shows being able to reinvent themselves and stay
fresh for audiences. It’s not often that a show can reinvent itself to become something so magnificent that audiences and critics are calling it the best drama on television for the first time, five years after its initial season. I do not want to discredit those first four seasons in the slightest because they were each exceptional, especially the first season. This fifth season, however, came out guns blazing and full steam ahead and has yet to let up. Audiences and critics go back and forth on what is the best drama on television, airing on both cable and network, and now that ‘Breaking Bad’ is off the air I firmly believe that ‘The Good Wife’ is solidly in the number one spot. This is coming from someone who loves shows like ‘Downton Abbey’, ‘Scandal, and ‘Sons of Anarchy.’ Those shows are awesome in their own way, but this fifth season of ‘The Good Wife’ is something extraordinary. Margulies is surrounded by an outstanding supporting cast who, each week, rise to the occasion to make awesome television. Starring along with her are Josh Charles, Archie Panjabi, Matt Czuchry, Christine Baranski, Alan Cumming, and Chris
North. The chemistry between each and every one of the cast members flows so organically that when they hit you hard with emotions, you feel it as a viewer. Even the guest stars are perfect and, let me tell you, when you have great guest stars that only fuels the excellence of a show. ‘The Good Wife’ has showed it has the talent, the writing, and
the perfect mixture of, well, everything. There is nowhere to go but up. Currently on mid-season hiatus until March 9th, now is the perfect time to sit down and catch up on ‘The Good Wife,’ because it’s only going to get better from here. ‘The Good Wife’ airs Sundays at 9/8 central on CBS.
SPORTS Page 4 | February 7, 2014
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BASEBALL
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Golden Eagles set to Taming the Tigers defend regular season OVC championship By SHEA HAILE
Assistant Sports Editor
By ALLISON BOSHEARS Beat Reporter
The Tech baseball team is finally approaching Opening Day for the 2014 season. Last year, Tech had an impressive Ohio Valley Conference run, going 24-6. The Golden Eagles also won 40 games and broke a few records in route to an OVC Regular Season Championship. They did not however, make it past the OVC tournament. In last year’s conference tournament, the Golden Eagles defeated Southeast Missouri in the first round. The team then lost back-to-back games to Austin Peay and Eastern Kentucky, ending its 2013 season. Tech opens spring play on Feb. 14 against South Alabama. South Alabama won over 40 games last season and will be a threatening matchup for the Golden Eagles opening game. TTU Athletic Director Mark Wilson said he is optimistic about the team’s potential this season. “The baseball team won the 2013 Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship and this season has the potential to be one of the greatest baseball seasons in the history of Golden Eagle baseball,” said Wilson. “We know that respect is earned on the field and we look forward to big crowds for every game in Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex.” The Golden Eagles are ranked 36th in the nation going into their 2014 season. Tech will play big baseball names such as Vanderbilt, the defending OVC Tournament Champions Austin Peay, Kentucky and Tennessee. In-state rival, Tennessee will travel to Cookeville for the April 8th game. The Volunteers will be the first SEC team to play in Putnam County since 2008. “I can’t wait to play them,” said junior pitcher David Hess. “We beat them at their field my freshman year and, after not playing them last year, I think the team is very excited to show that we are more than capable of playing with teams more well known than us.” Freshmen Anthony El Chibani said his plans for the upcoming season are bigger than just beating the Volunteers. “Omaha,” said Chibani. “Omaha, Nebraska is where the College World Series is played and that is our ultimate goal.” Tech will start the season with the away series at South Alabama Feb. 14-16, then face Middle Tennessee on Feb. 18 before returning home for the season’s home opener against NYIT Feb 21. Admission to all of Tech’s home games in Bush Stadium is free of charge.
TTU Photo Services/Dean Carolthers
The 2014 Golden Eagles team returns some very familiar faces and welcomes many new ones as the Golden Eagles look to repeat as OVC regular season champions and hopeful travel to Omaha in June.
After starting the month with a home loss to Belmont Feb. 1, the Golden Eagle women’s basketball team was back in action at the Hooper Eblen Center Monday night against in-state rival Tennessee State. The Lady Tigers began the game sharp, leading the Golden Eagles by as much as seven early in the first half. Tech managed to tie the contest 10-10, but could not take the lead until the 4:18 mark of the half, when senior forward Candace Parson’s layup put Tech up one. The Golden Eagles held the lead until just under two minutes left in the half. A Jemilah Leonard layup with 1:21 left in the half gave TSU the lead, 3635, but before the halftime
horn another lead change occurred. Senior guard Diamond Henderson made two free throws late and the Golden Eagles took the 3937 lead into break. Senior forward Molly Heady opened the second half with a 3-pointer. Tech would hold the lead most of the second half even stretching it to 12 with 5:43 left in the game, but two Lady Tiger 3-pointers cut in. The aggressive TSU team refused to go away. They clawed their way back into the game and found themselves down by only three points with 27 seconds. Parson would then knock down a pair of free throws and take the lead back to five On the following TSU possession, Imani Davis’ layup brought it back to a 3-point game. Freshman guard Hannah Goolsby hit
The Tech Quidditch Club is currently preparing for its second regional tournament as a sanctioned club of the University. The regionals tournament is one of six that are held within the United States alone. Each tournament controls a certain number of bids to send winning teams to the International Quidditch Association’s World Cup which is held once a year for teams around the globe. The South’s regional tournament will be held February 15th and 16th in Rock Hill, S.C., and will control bids for seven teams to attend the world cup on April 5 in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Tech Quidditch Club has had much success since its formation in winter of 2011. Last year, TTU’s Golden Hippogriffs took second place in the South’s regional tournament and moved on to the IQA world cup in Orlando, where
James Dillon
The Golden Eagles will be back in action Feb. 8 when they visit the Jacksonville State.
Another double header for Golden Eagles By SAM OMACHONU Beat Reporter
Tech Golden Eagle basketball teams continue their conference schedule Saturday night against Ohio Valley foes Jacksonville State. The teams will head on the road for the doubleheader in Jacksonville, Ala. beginning at 11 a.m. Both teams head into Saturday afternoon’s matchups coming off home victories. The women’s team played and defeated Jacksonville State earlier in the season, while the men face off for the first time. Points in the paint helped lead the Lady Golden Eagles to victory against the Gamecocks on December 28th. Tech outscored the Gamecocks 40-16 in the paint, with junior center Candace Parson leading the way with 15 points on the night. The guards will look again to get the ball to their post players Saturday night, as the
team tries to capture its 12th straight win over JSU. “The gameplan is to feed the post,” said junior Guard Diamond Henderson. “We have that advantage over them. We must keep their leading scorer below her average, outrebound them.” The Lady Golden Eagles come into this game with a record of 9-14 overall and 6-4 in the OVC. After a big win last Saturday night against division leading Belmont, the men’s team will try and carry the momentum into Saturday morning’s matchup. The two teams split their season series last year, w i t h T e c h winning the last matchup at home by 14 points. The
Golden Hippogriffs head to regionals Beat Reporter
Senior center Candace Parson drives the lane during Monday night’s 79-75 win against the Lady Tigers of TSU. Parson finished with a career high 20 points.
BASKETBALL
QUIDDITCH
By BEN CRAVEN
the first of two free throws but would ond. miss the second. dy The Lady d Tigers’ had one final scratch at the lead after a steal by ut Davis, but her layup was k. A reoff the mark. ech’s Cat bound by Tech’s Taylor with less than 10 seconds left sealed the deal and thee Golden Eagles h a 79-75 victory. escaped with Parson and Henderson den Eagles scorled the Golden erson finished ing. Henderson with 25 points. Parson scored a career high 20 points. Heady dy was perfect d the arc going from beyond 3-3. Graduate student Kayla Brewer finished with a career best seven blocked shots.
they placed 32nd out of 80 teams. Senior captain Kellie Davis said the team’s growth rate is high. “We’ve grown tremendously,” said Davis. “We started with six people our first practice and we’ve got about 60 playing members right now.” Davis said that not all 60 members of the club could attend events such as Davis tournaments at other universities, so rosters must be drawn up before departing for each event. One member of the club, sophomore Cyril Foght, is a newer player who comes to practices as well as home games and tournaments, but has not been able to attend any of the events away from campus. Foght said he understands the
club’s goal is to include many students. “It’s a ton of fun, and we have a much different community than most other sports,” said Foght. “Its goal is to be a lot more inclusive of other people. We don’t really discriminate, as happens behind the scenes in a lot of sports.” As the club prepares for its regional tournament in a few weeks, players said they remain confident that they will continue in their footsteps to prominence in the IQA. “I’m feeling pretty good,” said senior chaser and seeker Michael Ferowich. “We have a pretty solid team. Last year, we got second at Regionals. We’re hoping to get first this year, but there are some good teams we will have to beat to do that. I think we can do a lot better than we did last year.”
team is currently 3-8 on the road this season and will be trying to turn their luck around with four remaining games away from Cookeville. The men enter the matchup with an overall record of 11-13 and an OVC record Racquet Master of 4-5. Fitness Center The game will be televised TTU Students: Workout 24/7 regionally on No Contract Comcast Sports 1R 6LJQ 8S )HH South at 11 a.m. Closed r e v e N EST. No Lines Waiting on Equipment For more in4 Weight Rooms formation on all of TTU Tech athletics, e North il M 1 visit TTUSports. com. 2019 North Willow Ave 931-526-1646