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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA
anguard V THE
MONDAY NOV 7 2016 VOL 59 ISS 12
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Dear World Photoshoot Student share their story at the Dear World event. Page 2
Opinion: Free speech & hate
PSA from USA Audiology students Learn how to protect your hearing and know how loud is too loud. Page 4
NEWS
Joel Goode, opinion editor, talks about his views on hate speech. Page 6
NEWS
Alabamaians vote “yes” to all 14 statewide amendments By Jaccob Hearn | Editor-in-Chief
The general election where last week and although the presidency was the most important thing on the ballot, Alabamians voted on other issues and amendments that will affect us more directly. Ron Shelby was re-elected as senator, a position he has held since 1987. There were also 14 statewide amendments on the ballot, all of Students and facutly can see students working on their project at the glass blowing studio outside of the Visual Arts Building. Photo by Jake Cannon. which were approved by voters. Although all are important in their own right, the amendments Rene Culler denied tenure after six years of work with program presented here may be more interesting to USA students. By Thomas Adent | Reporter Statewide Amendment 2 was a landslide approval by voters with student has stated seeing Culler “go Expert glass blower Rene Culler program when it was started in nearly 75,000 more voting yes. off ” on other students for doing was recently denied tenure after six 2010. The amendment prevents money something incorrectly. years with South Alabama’s glass Unfortunately, Culler has generated for state parks from According to many of her experienced some tension among blowing program. students, however, she only gets on being taken and used elsewhere. Culler, a Fulbright Senior the other faculty since she arrived. This will protect places like Gulf to students firmly when there is a According to some students, Research scholar and extremely less than professional behavior concern for safety or when she has State Park, which is a major tourist decorated artist, was personally to repeatedly tell students the same attraction, from continued budget (directed towards both students selected by the late President cuts which has resulted in closures and other faculty) is what led to thing. Moulton to be the head of the of parks across the state. South Alabama glass blowing the denial of Culler’s tenure. One See page 3 See page 3
Renowned head of galss blowing department loses tenure
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Dear World encouraged South Alabama students to share their story with the world. Students would write a message on their body and then were photographed to share their message. Pictured is freshman Madison Aldrich. The event was hosted by Jaguar Productions and SGA. Photo by Jake Cannon.
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NEWS
Continued from Page 1
Originally, Culler was denied the opportunity to teach any classes for the spring, leading to strong student pushback (including a petition signed by 184 students) to allow Culler to continue to teach classes. She is now scheduled to teach glass blowing classes and art appreciation classes for the spring semester. South Alabama’s policy states that no reason needs to be given for her denial of tenure. Culler has subsequently filed a grievance to have her application of tenure reviewed by an unbiased party. Tenure is typically reviewed and voted on by all the tenured professors in the department of the applying professor. Prior to teaching, Culler worked professionally in her own personally built studio in Cleveland, Ohio. Culler sold this studio and both her and her husband left their work behind to come to South Alabama. President Moulton’s vision for the glass blowing program was that it would be available for anyone to blow glass, including both
Continued from Page 1 Impeachments to many state officers now require a two-thirds vote by Alabama senators due to Statewide Amendment 6. The amendment also removed the state superintendent of education from the list of officials that can be impeached. The ramifications of this is yet to be seen however, and there’s no telling how this
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Managing Editor | Alanna Whitaker acw905@jagmail.southalabama.edu Monday, Nov. 7, 2016
students and those in the Mobile community. Culler hopes that this vision can still be fully realized, and has stated that she has more ideas of programs and classes to supplement the glass blowing program. Since President Moulton’s departure, students have noted a tangible difference in the attitude towards the glass blowing program. Some students are worried that the administration wants to eventually shut down the program in favor of funding going towards other projects such as the on campus stadium. Even within the glass blowing program, students complain that facilities manager Matthew Patterson neglects to take care of damaged equipment necessary for the classes to operate. Despite any accusations and the denial of tenure, Culler’s students are tremendously appreciative of her. Some even cite Culler as the sole reason for still studying at the university because of her empathy towards students and her expert teaching style. Unlike other professors, Culler encourages her students to come to the studio outside of class to practice their
skills and learn from watching Culler shape the glass for her own projects. One student said, “If you took art from Rene’s class and compared them to other classes, there would be tangible differences. Rene just [has] a systematic way of teaching that makes a difference. She just really desires to teach these students, and always explains the
‘why’ of the techniques.” Culler has more to lose than just her teaching position. If removed from the department, she will have no place to be able to make her art for the numerous shows and events that she participates in. Glass blowing programs at universities are few and far between, and South Alabama has one of the only studios in the south east.
will impact the Governor Robert Bentley’s scandal. Workers in Alabama now have more protections from being fired or denied employment based off of union involvement thanks to Amendment 8. This will ensure employers cannot discriminate against workers who join or who are members of a union. It also keeps employers from requiring workers to join unions.
Finally, students from Baldwin County might see new toll roads and bridges in the future due to Amendment 12. This amendment give Baldwin County more control of their existing toll roads as well as the power to create new ones. The only local amendment on the ballot was to decide to continue the county’s Pay As You Go construction program. This program will continue as it was
approved by voters. The program finances millions of dollars of local infrastructure improvements annually. The Pay As You Go program does not raise taxes and generates interest for the county from the accounts that hold the bond proceeds. For a full list of all the amendments go to http:// onyourballot.vote411.org/build.do
Matthew Patterson, glass blowing instructor at USA works on his latest project at glass blowing studio. Photo by Jake Cannon.
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Life Editor | Megan McDowell meganbreanne@gmail.com Monday, Nov. 7, 2016
PSA: noise-induced hearing loss By Taylor Abby, Kathryn Buchanan, Jessica Caldwell, Emily Chastain, Katie West | Contributing Writers
Noise. It’s something we are all exposed to daily and often think little of. As college students, we spend our time bouncing between environments with a lot of noise when we go out around town, and environments with very little noise while studying or writing a paper. With such variation in the level of noise in our lives, have you thought about its effects? Is the noise you are being exposed to damaging your hearing? These are questions that we, as future audiologists, have explored. An audiologist is a professional who is responsible for the identification of impairments and dysfunction of the auditory, balance and other related systems. So, how loud is too loud? We try to educate our patients on this very issue daily. We want to preserve any remaining hearing that our patients have to ensure the best quality of life. There is mounting evidence that younger people are presenting with more hearing loss sooner than previous generations. This is due, in part, to the increase in usage of personal listening devices. In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that nearly 1.1 billion young people are at-risk for developing hearing loss due to personal listening device use. Dr. Cherukuri, an ear, nose and throat physician from Munster, Indiana, estimates about 30% more of today’s teens have hearing loss than those in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Our audiology student organization,
The University of South Alabama Student Academy of Audiology (SAA), utilizes “Jackie,” a mannequin with a sound level meter in her ear canal that demonstrates how loud personal listening devices can be in decibels (dB). A decibel is a unit of measurement for sound intensity. The SAA surveyed 30 USA students about their typical PLD listening levels. The typical listening levels ranged from 40 dB to as loud as 100 dB. The permissible exposure time if you are listening to 100 dB is 15 minutes. The WHO stated that most personal listening device users listen at volumes ranging from 75 dB to 105 dB, very similar to the ranges we recorded from USA students. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in accordance with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) have created recommendations for limiting the amount of noise exposure an individual is exposed to. With every 3 dBA increase in volume, the allowable exposure time is cut in half. Meaning, the more you turn the volume up, the less time is needed to cause hearing loss. One of the most popular pastimes for college students is attending music concerts. Whether it’s rock, pop, electronic, jazz, or another genre, we all have our favorite. Opperman, et al. (2006) report that on average, sound levels at pop and rock concerts range from 95-107 dBA, with maximum levels reaching close to 126 dBA. We recently measured sound levels of two rock bands at the TenSixtyFive music festival in October. The sound levels we measured during both of the bands either met or exceeded the levels observed by Opperman, and certainly exceeded the safe listening levels
LIFE
recommended by NIOSH. Despite these reported dangerous levels, concert-goers often are not wearing hearing protection. The louder the music gets, the amount of time you can safely be exposed decreases, and your risk of developing noise-induced hearing loss increases. With all of this information in mind, our final concern is how to protect your hearing. Here are some helpful tips: First, use hearing protection devices. There are many different types of hearing protection devices (HPDs) which provide the ability to choose the best HPD for the type of noise you are in. There are disposable ear plugs which are very inexpensive, disposable, comfortable and convenient. There are also custom earplugs which can be made specifically for your ears. Custom ear plugs are made by the audiologist taking an impression of your ear. The custom earplugs are good for those who have trouble with the comfort or fit of disposable earplugs. For those who are frequently around music or are musicians there are musicians earplugs which have the ability to attenuate the damaging noises, but also preserve the sound quality of the music. The louder the noise you’re around and longer you are around it, the more risk you are at for noise induced hearing loss; hearing protection devices as well as periodic breaks from noise can help to reduce this
risk. Furthermore, it’s important to turn down the music you are listening to. If you cannot hear outside noise while wearing your headphones then you are likely listening to your music at dangerous levels. Most smart devices have the option to turn a warning on or decrease the volume limits in order to alert you when the listening volumes have reached dangerous levels. To do this, go to “Settings” and select “Volume Limit” under music and set it at around 60% of the full volume. In doing this, you are following the recommended 60/60 rule: never listen to you volume past 60% volume and don’t exceed listening for longer than 60 minutes per day. If you are in a noisy environment, don’t turn up the volume to tune out the noise, this will only increase your chances of causing permanent hearing damage! Another suggestion is to use the over the ear or muff-type of headphones. This style of headphone is more effective in reducing background noise than the ear-bud style headphones, therefore you are less likely to increase the volume to dangerous levels in order to drown out background noise.
SPORTS
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Sports Editor | Shawna Mason smmtheii@gmail.com Monday, Nov. 7, 2016
USA Men’s and Women’s basketball have thier season openers By Marissa Mason | Sports Editor
The University of South Alabama men’s basketball team won in their season opener against the University of Nevada. Don MuepoKelly set a new career high in scoring with 18 points, while tying his personal bests with 10 rebounds and four blocks. “Don was a complete statsheet stuffer tonight,� head coach Matthew Graves noted. “If he plays with that much energy and aggressiveness going to the rim, he’s going to have an outstanding senior year. When he doesn’t shy away from contact, he’s able to finish around the rim and get us extra possessions. Eight offensive rebounds is absolutely phenomenal.� Senior Jaguars made big strides during the game. Nick Stover came off the bench to record 12 points in the first half and a career-best of six assists. Ken Williams was the fifth member of USA’s double-digit club, pouring in 14 with five assists. Georgi Boyanov scored all 11 of his points in the final 11:27 of the match and added six rebounds and two steals. “That’s what seniors do,� Graves
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said. “You need your seniors to step up in big moments.� Adding to the seniors’ skill this season are guards Herb McGee and John Pettway and forward Kevin Morris, who played during the exhibition match, but have yet to make their official debut on the court. The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team lost in their Veterans’ Day season opener against the University of Florida. The Florida Gators led the South Alabama Jaguars in all four quarters, ending the game 85-33. USA had four assists to 32 turnovers compared to Florida’s 23 assists and 21 turnovers during the game, leaving UF to make score after score. “They really bothered us and we never got over the hump,� head coach Terry Fowler said. “We have to learn from this one and be ready to move forward because it’s a quick recovery time.� USA’s only senior guard Colby Davis earned two free throws and tied with four defensive boards to tie for the team lead. Four freshman joined the Jaguars
Junior guard Marquita Daniels maintains possession of the ball as she looks toward her teammates for an opening. Photo courtesy of USA Athletic Department.
this season. The newcomers include guards Shaforia Kines, Camryn London and Savannah Jones as well as forward Kennedi Centers, all of which made their collegiate debuts off the bench during the season opener. Kines hit a jumper in the
fourth quarter, London had a steal and Centers had a rebound. For more information about USA athletics, check www.usajaguars. com. Tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1872.
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OPINION
Opinion Editor | Joel Goode jdg908@jagmail.southalabama.edu Monday, Nov. 7, 2016
Free speech should not be a platform for hate By Joel Goode | Opinion Editor
Throughout much of the nowpassed election cycle, a particularly ugly aspect of American culture came to the surface: bigotry. As expected, the people who defended it the most were those confronted by it the least. Bigotry runs deep in the roots of American civilization. The Spanish displaced and massacred natives who were viewed as savages, while later colonialists and plantation owners enslaved Africans for nearly 300 years. The industrial revolution ran on the depiction of the working class as having no human worth outside of the labour they could provide. Equal voting rights for women in the U.S. are less than a century old, not having come about until 1920. Whether in the form of racism, sexism, or classism, bigotry has been the primary tool for maintaining the well-to-do white male hegemony featured in the majority of executive
positions in government and industry. Donald Trump exhibited unabashed bigotry, telling the American electorate that all those awful thoughts in their heads which “politically correct social justice warriors” had fought so hard to suppress were actually perfectly ok. The media focused so heavily on the outrageousness of Trump’s persona that we lost focus on the actual victims of his rhetoric. The conflation of hate speech with the First Amendment has done a great deal of damage in terms of diminishing minority rights. Harassment incidents throughout the election cycle were widespread, but following Tuesday’s election results the reports became overwhelming. According to Democracy Now, at Southern Lehigh High School in Pennsylvania, students of color reported being called “cotton pickers” and passing classmates in the hall who raised the “heil Hitler” salute. Meanwhile, a video was recorded at Royal Oak Middle School in Michigan
showing white students chanting “build a wall, build a wall.” A teacher claimed that a 10-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a boy who said that “if a president can do it, I can, too.” As reported by the Verge, LGBTQ suicide hotlines received a record-high number of calls following Trump’s victory. Trump did not succeed purely by the good will of bigots. The working class has long experienced economic anxiety, and chances are Trump’s election reflects the desire of those threatened by poverty to see a leader in office who comes from outside the establishment. But it is undeniable that xenophobia and sexism were huge components of his campaign, and that racists and sexists were undoubtedly galvanized by what they saw as long-awaited validation. If you’re a straight white male who is upset by the results of the election, chances are you have heard or will
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hear the sentiment “What do you care? Your life is going to stay the same.” Godwin’s law states that the longer a conversation goes on, the higher the probability becomes of either Hitler or Nazism being evoked. However, sometimes Hitler and Nazism become so relevant to the ongoing conversation that their absence becomes a lumbering elephant in the room. How many Germans reasoned their lives would “stay the same” before the Jewish Holocaust? Of course, the lives of the Germans radically changed, but for a time they felt safe insulated within their own white supremacist security. I do not mean to compare Trump to Hitler, or his supporters to Nazis, or to suggest conservative Christian white people want to see gays and minorities wiped from the face of the earth. What we must all keep in mind, however, is how near-sighted and selfish it is to rationalize “my life will not change” in the face of untold numbers of victims.
DISTRACTIONS US President Word Search
JAdams JQAdams Arthur Buchanan GHWBush GWBush Carter Cleveland Clinton Coolidge
Eisenhower Fillmore Ford Garfield Grant Harding BHarrison WHHarrison
Hayes Hoover Jackson Jefferson AJohnson LBJohnson Kennedy
Lincon Madison McKinley Monroe Nixon Obama Pierce Polk Reagan
TRooevelt FDRoosevelt Taft Taylor Truman Tyler van Buren Washington Wilson
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Adult coloring corner: Election 2016