2018-02-08 The Auburn Plainsman

              up-to-date election coverage online at W)t Auburn Matnsman
A SPIRIT THAT IS NOT AFRAID • NEWS SINCE 1893 VOL. 125 •'ISSUE 19 • FIRST COPY FREE THEN 50(J:
— " -— ' • — -
9
ADAM BRASHER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Patrick Starr (left) and Dane Block (right) celebrate after moving on to the SGA election runoff. Results were announced Tuesday on the back steps of Cater Hall. IT'S A RUNOFF
DANE BLOCK, PATRICKSTARRADVANCETO RUNOFF FORSGA PRESIDENT
The Plainsman will carry up-to-date election
coverage online Thursday at ThePlainsman.com
Runoff results are expected Thursday night
By CHIP BROWNLEE
Editor-in-chief
editor@theplainsman.com During freshman biology lab classes in the fall
of 2015, they were partners, but on Thurs­day,
the two will be facing off in a hotly
contested runoff election that will decide
Auburn's next SGA president.
Dane Block, junior in finance, and Pat­rick
Starr, junior in poultry science pre-vet, received the most
votes in the 2018 SGA election on Tuesady.
"It's been an incredible week and to extend that for two
days, it's even better," Block said. "To have so many students
to turn out and vote is the most important thing. We have
two extra days to share our vision and our platform."
» See RUNOFF, 2
IN NUMBERS
Election rules require that one candidate receive at least
40 percent of the vote. Since no candidate received 40
percent in the first election, Dane Block and Patrick
Starr move to a runoff.
BLOCK
STARR
BRI THOMAS
14.94%
MIKE O'KEY
9.65%
PORTER KENNEDY
6.87%
Students choose new
loyalty, credit-hour
based ticket system
By ELIZABETH HURLEY
Campus Reporter
campus@theplainsman.com
Auburn student ticketing has been reformed again with
the results of the post-season ticket referendum held Feb. 6.
All postseason tickets will now be distributed using a credit-hour
and loyalty-based priority system.
The credit-hour and loyalty-based priority system came
away from the election with 47.51 percent of the vote, or
4282 votes.
"SGA is extremely excited to work with the football and
athletic complex with this new program," said SGA Director
of Election Niki Ozburn.
» See REFERENDUM, 2
Kathryn Kennedy voted Miss Auburn
By LILY JACKSON
Managing Editor
managing.editor@theplainsman.com
Surrounded by all members of her
family, friends and now constituents,
Kathryn Kennedy, junior In biomed­ical
sciences, celebrated a Miss Au­burn
win.
Her message of embodying the
Creed in every way possible res­onated
with the student body and
gave her the role of Miss Auburn late
Tuesday night.
"I am still in shock a little bit, and
it's all settling in, but honestly, I feel
so blessed and humbled," Kennedy
said. "1 am thankful for the student
body and that they chose me."
Like the other candidates, Kenne­dy
ran on a line of the Creed that res­onated
with her:
"1 believe in the human touch,
which cultivates sympathy with my
fellow men and mutual helpfulness
and brings happiness for all."
Running with the slogan, "Kath­ryn
Kennedy Can," she stressed the
student body's responsibility to live
by the Creed and focus on making
Auburn home for many more stu­dents
in the future.
"I was kind of nervous going in
and didn't know how campaign­ing
would go, but it was honestly
so much fun," Kennedy said. "It was
very tiring and exhausting but defi­nitely
worth it. The people 1 got to
work with made it so worth it.*
Kennedy said the most memora­ble
part of the process was seeing all
of the people she loves campaigning
for her and dedicating hours to her
aspirations.
She said she is thoroughly looking
forward to representing the Univer­sity
and working with the the War
Eagle Girls and Plainsmen as an hon-
» See MISS AUBURN, 2
UP-TO-DATE
ELECTION
COVERAGE
ONLINE SCAN ME!
VICE PRESIDENT
Schyler Burney
Junior Schyler Burney, who
ran unopposed, will be the
next SGA vice president
TREASURER
Dixon Simmons
Junior Dixon Simmons,
who ran unopposed, will be
the next SGA treasurer
MINOR CANDIDATES
Senate, schools council
A complete list of all those
elected to minor SGA
offices is available online
lllllllllllllllllllHllllllinilHIIIIUIMIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIllllUIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIII.IUIIilllllllltlUiUlljllllllllllllllltllllllllMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIJIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIItltllllllllllllllllllllllllMllllllllllllllillllllllHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIillllllllllllllllllllll
@TheAU Plainsman fj @TheAubumPlainsman @TheAubumPlainsman
news
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8,2018 THEPLAINSMAN.COM NEWS
RUNOFF
» From 1
Even though they're now cam­paign
rivals, during their first se­mester
of college, they helped each
other through labs every week,
Starr said.
"I love Dane Block," Starr said.
"It's honestly so strange. But he sat
next to me, and we worked every
week together."
The race moves to a runoff
scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 8,
after no candidate received more
than 40 percent of the vote from
the T uesday election.
Block finished first with 3,504
votes at 36.57 percent, and Stan-finished
second with 3,063 votes
at 31.97 percent — less than 500
votes separating the two. Accord­ing
to SGA election law, the two
candidates with the most votes
move to a runoff.
Block said he felt honored to be
in the runoff with Starr.
"He's an incredible leader,"
Block said. "I couldn't be more
blessed to be with him for a few
extra days."
The pair will relish in their suc­cess
tonight but will begin cam­paigning
early Wednesday with
only one full day to make their
case and win over new voters.
Starr, who ran on his platform
"Go Far with Patrick Starr," said
he was encouraged that the stu­dent
body believed enough in him
to send him to the runoff.
"I encourage the students to
think about over the next two days
exactly what they want the vision
for the University to be, who they
want on their side, standing up for
what they believe in, who would
advocate best for them and who
has the most heart," Starr said.
Starr and Block were first ap­pointed
to SGA during the same
year — both of them serving in
cabinet positions, with Starr as­sisting
in the first ever Creed
Week and Block working on the
organization block seating pro­gram.
This year, Block served as a
College of Business senator and
Starr worked as assistant vice
president of programs in SGA
cabinet
The other three candidates for
president — junior Bri Thom­as,
senior Mike O'Key and junior
Porter Kennedy — received few­er
votes than Block and Starr and
were eliminated from the runoff.
Thomas finished with 1,432
votes at 14.94 percent, O'Key with
925 votes at 9.65 percent and Ken­nedy
with 658 votes at 6.87 per­cent.
In total, 10,359 students vot­ed
in this year's election at a turn­out
rate of 37.05 percent of eligi­ble
student voters.
Block ran on his campaign plat­form
"Build With Block," promis­ing
to focus on safety, access and
affordability, unity, dining and
transportation.
"I sat in the debate last night,
looked around and realized I was
with some incredible leaders,"
Block said of the other candidates.
"It's so great to work with them
and see their heart through their
work."
Starr chose his platform name
with his priorities in mind, choos­ing
Go Far as an acronym for the
game day experience, an open-door
policy, Family Fridays, Au­burn
city relations and research
and development.
"I want people to remember my
passion, my drive and my sinceri­ty
and that I'm a real person," Stan-said.
Starr said he has the "highest re­spect"
for the others who ran for
SGA president this year.
"I text the other candidates to­night
that this week we've learned
a lot, that each candidate brought
something different to the ta­ble,"
Starr said." Whoever is stu­dent
body president is going to act
on the other concerns that were
brought up during this election."
Block said he wants to embrace
his role as a servant and advocate
for students.
"I just want them to know that
I love Auburn," Block said. "I'm
not doing this because I love SGA,
but I'm doing it because I love the
students and the University as a
whole. The success I want to see
for Auburn is the passion and
drive behind this."
Burney takes vice president
By ALEX HOSEY
Lifestyle Editor
Schyler Burney, junior in economics, was
elected as the new vice president for Auburn
University's Student Government Associa­tion,
elections officials announced at callouts
on Tuesday night.
Burney, who was formerly a student senator
representing the students of the College of Lib­eral
Arts, ran for the position of SGA vice pres­ident
unopposed this year.
Burney said that her first goal as SGA's new
vice president will be to help educate the newly
elected senators on their roles and how best to
listen to and represent the student body.
"After tonight, not only am I in office, but we
have 30 or 40 senators, and so one of my main
goals this year is to successfully train them to
take on the role that they've been elected to do,"
Burney said. "[We'll] hit the ground running
with getting that training kind of organized and
set up and ready for them to get into office and
get them equipped to understand what Senate
is, what their new role is and kind of how par­liamentary
procedure works and how they're
going to work to represent their students' voic­es."
Burney said that the first obstacle between
her and her goal of strengthening the level of
communication between the Senate and the
student body will be getting some of the new
senators prepared for their roles.
"Some people may not have been to a Senate
meeting and know what they're run like, what
they look like or fully understand what their
role is," Burney said. "I think kind of stepping
over that hurdle for sure will be one of the big­gest
challenges in the next couple of weeks."
With the announcement of a runoff elec­tion
that will decide
the next SGA pres­ident,
Burney said
she is confident in
her ability to work
effectively with the
new president no
matter who it will
be.
"Everbody that's
running [for SGA
president] I have
worked with in BURNEY
some capacity for the most part," Burney said.
"I believe this weekend we start exec interviews
for the rest of our executive cabinet, and so
[I'm] looking forward to working with whoev­er
it is, and I know they're going to be great in
the role that they're taking on, and I'm excited
that I'm going to be working with them."
9
m OP
n t
m f <r M
Br t
4
tm' $m»: • Sis
I Kr -• . ;• , • . . . \ ,I! • '
h** *' •
v. > A ADAM BRASHER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The War Eagle Girls and Plainsmen sing to Kathryn Kennedy after she is elected Miss Auburn on Tuesday night, Feb. 6,2018, in Auburn, Ala.
MISS AUBURN
» From 1
orary War Eagle Girl.
Kennedy's family drove down from Birming­ham
to Callouts, and she plans on spending her
celebration time with them and her friends. She is
looking forward to settling down for a nap before
the transition begins.
A bittersweet current Miss Auburn Ashley
Moates expressed her excitement for Kennedy and
said she was looking forward to getting down to
business with the new official University hostess.
"Kathryn Kennedy is going to be a wonderful
ambassador and hostess for the University, and I
am so, so proud of her," Moates said.
Moates said she was pleased with all of the cam­paigns
and felt that Auburn couldn't vote wrong
because all of the candidates would have been
wonderful for the job.
Moates said the women had a challenge thrown
at them with the campaign changes and all of them
took the changes with grace.
28.09%
27.21%
18.39%
13.46%
12.85%
Dixon Simmons elected SGA treasurer
By ALEX HOSEY
Lifestyle Editor
Moments after the announcement
of Miss Auburn 2018, Dixon Sim­mons
heard his name called on the
steps of Cater Lawn officially nam­ing
him the new SGA treasurer as
he welcomed a banage of hugs and
cheers from friends and family mem­bers.
Simmons, junior in account­ing,
who ran unopposed, previously
served as budget and finance chair in
SGA and will continue to help make
SGA financially sound in his new
role.
"First we have to get our exec team
together - that will be this week­end,"
Simmons said. "I am really ex­cited
about that, excited to work with
Schyler and whoever wins the runoff
between Dane and Patrick. Honestly,
I am just so honored to have this op­portunity
to serve the student body
in this capacity. I am so excited, it's
going to be an awesome year ahead."
Simmons said that his biggest goal
as treasurer will be to try to make
SGA more transparent with all of
Auburn's student body both finan­cially
and generally.
"I think as SGA we can do a lot
better job of just reaching out to stu­dents
and being a student and not just
being in our SGA bubble," Simmons
said. "I think well just do a lot bet­ter
job of really engaging and being
the student voice because that's what
our mission is, and that's why I ran
for this position, and that's what we
want to do."
After the Elections Council an­nounced
that the role of SGA's new
president will be decided in a run­off
election between Dane Block and
Patrick Stan, Simmons said that, re­gardless
of who is chosen, he will still
look forward to working with them.
"I am good friends with Dane and
Patrick, I think they are both incred­ible
candidates, either of them would
do a good job," Simmons said. "I'm
interested to see what will happen.
Honestly, either way Auburn is go­ing
to be in good hands."
REFERENDUM
» From 1
Starting in the 2018 season, all postseason
tickets will be distributed based first on the num­ber
of penalty points and then the number of Au­burn
credit hours.
Students with the least number of penalty
points and the highest number of Auburn cred­it
hours will now take top priority in ticket dis­tribution.
Penalty points were implemented in the 2017
football season. Students receive penalty points
per season based on their attendance at football
games they have a ticket for.
In the recently implemented credit-hour and
loyalty-based priority system, tickets will be dis­tributed
to students in order of decreasing credit
hour. This means students with the most credit
hours will be given the opportunity to purchase
a ticket first.
If a certain credit hour level is reached and
there are more students at that level than avail­able
tickets, then those students will be entered
in a random lottery.
"I think that is really fair for the student body
from freshman all the way up to seniors and ob­viously
students who voted for it thought that as
well, it got almost 50 percent of the vote out of
four choices," SGA Vice President Justin Smith
said. "We're excited; next steps are to bring that
result to the Athletic Department, and well work
with them and see what we can do going forward
and see what that looks like in the future."
Ozburn and Executive Director of Elections
Catherine Milling read the results of the stu­dent
ticketing referendum along with the elec­tion
winners' names to the crowd gathered at the
back steps of Cater Hall.
The referendum included foiir options for
postseason student ticket distribution, a random
lottery system, credit hour priority system, loyal­ty-
based priority system and credit-hour and loy­alty-
based priority system.
A lottery system would have provided stu­dents
the opportunity to enter the lottery and
then would have been chosen at random to re­ceive
the option to purchase a ticket to a post­season
game.
A credit-hour priority system would have pro­vided
students with the highest number of Au­burn
credit hours the ability to purchase a post­season
ticket.
A loyalty-based priority system would have
provided priority ticket distribution to students
that have the least number of penalty points for
that football season.
"I think that's probably the best option, that's
what I voted for at least," said Austin Cain, se­nior
in finance. "Just because I think that it's bet­ter
to give credit on who has been in college the
longest, who has the most credit hours and then
who is the most loyal, who's been to the most
games in the past. I think it's most fair."
The system that is voted on will be used for
distributing postseason student tickets beginning
with the 2018 season. This new system replaced
a random lottery system that has been in place
until now.
"I voted for that, the loyalty and credit based,"
said Jeffrey Saunders, junior in finance. "Just be­cause
it did seem most fair. The people that just
put in the most time throughout the years going
to the football games. I feel like as a senior you
kind of deserve them. An opportunity to see your
last football season or even as a junior, your sec­ond
to last football postseason."
The new system will be used to distribute stu­dent
tickets for all postseason games, which in­clude
SEC Championships, bowl games and Na­tional
Championships.
1 A i
to
••••• HHHHHII 1 mm • •
THEPLAINSMAN.COM OPINION
opinion
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8,2018
OUR VIEW
SGA STILL HAS WORK TO DO
3
By EDITORIAL BOARD
Spring 2018
Soon, a new SGA will take the reigns over our student body.
Jacqueline Keck, our outgoing president, and the rest of
2017's student government has done a great job improving the
transparency and outreach of SGA and fighting for different
initiatives.
However, no one president can achieve everything.
Alarming issues remain present at Auburn, and we believe
our new SGA needs to concern themselves with addressing di­versity
at the University, along with the dining and the dorms
system.
Foremost is diversity. Though a public school in a state that's
population is 26 percent black, only 6.6 percent of Auburn's
population is black, and only 3.2 percent is Hispanic.
Auburn's student body should reflect Alabama.
More diversity not only brings opportunities to students rer
gardless of their background but also brings more perspectives
to campus.
It's important students spend their college years interacting
with people who don't look like them, who may not think like
them, and who bring different experiences with them to cam­pus.
Auburn is not absent orgjuiizations that make students from
different backgrounds feel welcome.
The Black Student Union works to represent the interests of
black students at Auburn, and the Latino Student Association
serves Auburn by educating the campus about the values of La­tino
heritage. The Muslim Students' Association and Auburn
Hillel provide a space for those of minority faiths and shares
their traditions with Auburn's.
SGA needs to push Auburn University to increase diversity
by reaching out to minority communities and initiating schol­arships
based on diversity. These are effective ways to change
the landscape of the Auburn student body.
Dining at Auburn also needs reform.
SGA should push to have more options available to those
with dietary restrictions. Our campus could benefit from hav­ing
healthier and vegetarian options available. They should be
conscious of those who follow halal or kosher diets.
The dining dollars system also bears revisiting.
For freshman living on campus, $995 is rarely enough to last
throughout a semester without eating Chick-Fil-A for every
meal. That's not to say that students should pay more — in fact,
quite the opposite. There should be more inexpensive options
available.
And for those living off campus, paying a mandatory $300
for on-campus food you're not reliant on can come to be a bur­densome
cost.
Reforms are needed to make dining dollars a more efficient
system, and that should be a focus of SGA.
Lastly, die dilapidated shape of Auburn's dorms needs to
be addressed. Conditions living in newer dorms such as the
Village or in South Donahue can be less than ideal, with bug
infestations and mold growth being reported, but the older
dorms are eveh worse. The Hill needs major renovations and
it wouldn't hurt to touch up The Quad, either.
GARRETT JOHNSON / CARTOONIST
A new SGA takes over the reigns of Auburn.
All that aside, there is not enough on-campus housing for
those who may want to live in dorms.
SGA should spend the year focusing on improving on-cam­pus
living conditions. They should reach out to maintenance to
find ways to provide safer and more comfortable dorms — we
definitely pay enough for them.
We congratulate and wish good luck to the new SGA of­ficials
taking office this week. We also call on them to spend
2018 addressing issues of diversity, dining, and dorms on Au­burn's
campus.
Changes in these areas will strengthen the campus commu­nity.
VIA WIKIPEDIA
We could learn front Washington'sfinal address
By COLE DAVIS
Contributing Columnist
He was "first in war, first in peace,
and first in the hearts of his coun­trymen."
George Washington, the
planter from Virginia and hero of
the War for Independence, is the
Cincinnatus of the American imag­ination.
Like the Roman, Washing­ton
served his country when he was
called to do so, and he returned to
his home after having given up a re­markable
amount of power. Wash­ington's
life offers modern Ameri­cans
lessons on virtue, humility and
servant leadership.
Valuable lessons regarding Amer­ican
politics can be found in his fare­well
address.There is no doubt that
many of us had to read Washington's
farewell address at one point or an­other
during middle or high school.
Nonetheless, I think that revisiting it
today would not be out of turn.
In the address itself, I would like
to present just two major warnings
that are given for the sake of brevi­ty.
The first is a plea to be cautious
about entangling ourselves, as a na­tion,
in foreign affairs. If we are ag­gressive
abroad, there is no doubt we
may grow to be despotic at home.
Trump is often labelled as some­one
who supports "isolationism."
This is nothing short of an alarmist
accusation, however.
Removing the US from foreign
entanglements like the Trans Pacif­ic
Partnership is something that is
desperately needed after the Bush
and Obama years. Remaking the rest
of the world in our image is no lon­ger
something to which we should be
devoted. When Trump exclaimed in
2016 that "we will no longer surren­der
this country or its people to the
false song of globalism" or when he
said in a speech "the nation-state re­mains
the true foundation for hap­piness
and harmony. I am skeptical
of international unions that tie us
up and bring America down" he was
speaking right out of Washington's
playbook.
The second is a warning concern­ing
the divisiveness of "factions" or
political parties. During Washing­ton's
tenure, the nation was utterly
divided between Jefferson's Republi­cans
and Hamilton's Federalists. This
condition would eventually lead to
civil war, and Washington knew that
factionalism could ultimately result
in something as awful as that. This
is an important message for us today,
when unity is strongly needed.
Trump's calls for unity and his of­fer
to compromise on immigration
signifies his willingness to work with
both parties. It sometimes seems that
many Democrats wouldn't mind see­ing
the country/economy fail if it
means seeing him fail. Make no mis­take,
getting over polarization and
factionalism will involve both par­ties
but that does not mean it cannot
be done if the state of our union is ac­tually
solid.
Early Americans had the honest
fear that any executive put in charge
of the nation as a whole would be­come
a despot, thus turning the pres­idency
into a sort of "elected king."
After all, they had just spent eight
years fighting a bloody war against
a strong executive. Washington, be­ing
the Cincinnatus-like statesman
that he was, appeased these fears by
leaving office after only two terms.
Lord Acton once said that "power
corrupts", and quite honestly this is
true. However, in giving up power
Washington ultimately let virtue be
his guide.
Conservatives have to keep this
in mind, and not let their desire for
Trump to accomplish his goals over­ride
the principles of limited govern­ment.
On the upside, it does seem
like his populist appeal will give con­servatives
hope as it relates to restor­ing
power back to the states and the
people.
From 1776 to 2018 our country
has made a gradual shift from union
to empire where the executive yields
an extreme amount of power. Cin­cinnatus
has become Caesar in many
ways. While it is true that some hope
may be placed in our current presi­dent
(who still has at least three years
to reverse the tide of governmental
bloating), we must realize that the
presidency should not be aspect of
government we are most concerned
about. Instead, we should be con­cerned
with the just execution of fed­eralism
and the protections of checks
and balances so that it really wouldn't
matter as much if a president you
love or hate is in power.
The views expressed in columns do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of
the Auburn Plainsman
HER VIEW
PASSIO
PAYDA
By CHRISTIE SHIOVITZ
Contributing Columnist
For most people, choosing a
college major is a stressful pro­cess.
There are so many options
that it becomes overwhelm­ing.
You could start out think­ing
you want to be a doctor and
end up in journalism. Or may­be,
you truly have a passion for
something, but it isn't a "main
stream" career. What are you
supposed to do then? Do you
major in what you love or in
what will give you more job
security after graduation? We
have all heard both sides of the
argument; some say you need
to find a job in what you love
so that work is never dreadful,
but others recommend to major
in something that will make the
big bucks later on. Is there really
a right or wrong?
Take me, for example. I had
a career in ballet before I even
went to college. My entire life
revolved around becoming the
next prima ballerina. Ballet was
truly my passion, but there was
always a part of me that won­dered
if I should let it go in
hopes of a more financially sta­ble
future.
The time finally came when I
decided it was time to retire the
pink tights and tutus and trade
them in for football jerseys and
textbooks. 1 didn't really know
what I wanted to do for the rest
of my life and finding that new
passion was still in the process.
I started out as a double ma­jor
in food science and nutri­tion,
but after one too many sci­ence
classes I did a complete 180
and transferred to the business
school.
Making this switch took a
lot of time and self-reflection.
I kept thinking maybe I should
stick with my double major be­cause
of the praise STEM ma­jors
get, both in and out of col­lege.
I was always told ballet could
only be a hobby and that mak­ing
a career out of it was near­ly
impossible. Sometimes I can't
help but wonder if I did the right
thing. Now here I am, prepar­ing
for a world full of business
suits and meetings, instead of
my aforementioned lab coat and
goggles.
Ultimately, don't settle for
something that will make you
unhappy and in 40 years have
you wishing you had stuck to
your plan to nail down your
dream job. Finish out your ma­jor
in theater, I can't wait to see
your opening night on Broad­way.
At least keep your passion
alive in some way. Whether it
be joining a club and making a
hobby out of it or teaching it to
others, do not let it go. If the op­portunity
isn't already there,
make your own.
Whatever major you choose
doesn't mean you can't de­cide
later to do something else.
Conan O'Brien majored in Eng­lish
and history, but that didn't
hinder him.
This all goes to say, work as
hard as you can in whatever ma­jor
you choose. But don't stop
there; paint something new ev­ery
week, learn how to play gui­tar,
write a journal. Do anything
you can to keep the fire ignited
on your passions. It will keep life
a lot more interesting.
The views expressed in col­umns
do not necessarily re­flect
the opinion of The A ubum
Plainsman
OPINION PAGE POLICIES THE EDITORIAL BOARD
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The Auburn Plainsman welcomes letters from
students, as well as faculty, administrators,
alumni and those not affiliated with the Uni­versity.
Letters must be submitted before 4:30 p.m.
on Monday for publication.
Letters must include the author's name, ad­dress
and phone number for verification,
though the name of the author may be with­held
upon request. Submission may be edit­ed
for grammar and/or length. Please submit
no more than 400 words.
COLUMNS AND EDITORIALS
The opinions of The Auburn Plainsman
staff are restricted to these pages.
This editorial is the majority opinion of the
Editorial Board and is the official opinion of
the newspaper.
The opinions expressed in columns and let­ters
represent the views and opinions of their
individual authors.
These opinions do not necessarily reflect the
Auburn University student body, faculty, ad­ministration
or Board of Trustees.
A
CHIPBROWNLEE
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
LILY JACKSON
MANAGING EDITOR
JESSICA BALLARD
STANDARDS EDITOR
ANNE DAWSON
ONLINE EDITOR
LOREN KIMMEL
CAMPUS EDITOR
SAM WILLOUGHBY
COMMUNITY EDITOR
WILL SAHLIE
SPORTS EDITOR
NATHAN KING
ASSISTANT SPORTS
O
u
Newsroom: news@theplainsman.com
Sports: sports@theplainsman.com
Opinion: opinion@theplainsman.com
Editor: editor@theplainsman.com
Advertising: admanager@theplainsman.com
ALEXHOSEY
LIFESTYLE EDITOR
JEREMY NEWMAN
•OPINION EDITOR
INGRID SCHNADER
PHOTO EDITOR
GANNON PADGETT
VIDEO EDITOR
334-844-9108
344-844-9101
L_ *
HIS VIEW
cam I ic
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY8,2018 THEPLAINSMAN.COM CAMPUS
& FLEA MALL
The Pizza Club was officially disbanded in fall 2017 during its
fourth year as an official club.
Gurden Smith, who was the first and last president of the Piz­za
Club, said he decided to end the club because many of the mem­bers
were graduating.
Clubs are an effective way to bring students together through
a common cause, and for the Pizza Club, that common cause was
pizza.
"The idea was essentially kind of a comedic tone to a social club,
the idea is that we get together and eat something that everyone
likes" Smith said. "[We] try to build campus friendships through
that."
Smith is a senior studying graphic design. Smith and a few
friends founded the Pizza Club during their freshman year after he
first heard the idea from a podcast.
"[The podcast] just threw out the words "pizza club," and I
thought that that was such an interesting concept to take something
so informal and make it formal," Smith said.
The club became official in its second semester and was up to 80
members by the end of that quarter.
"In was a club where you could meet anybody, like you didn't
have to be a specific major or specific age or anything like that,"
Mary Butgereit said. "It was just, 'If you like pizza, come eat piz­za
with us,' and so we met a lot of cool people that way that I don't
think I would have crossed paths with otherwise."
Butgereit is a senior majoring in professional and public writing
and was a secretary for the Pizza Club.
"Honesdy, I think my favorite part was the disbelief most people
had that it existed," Butgereit said.
The dub met every two weeks. A survey would be held each time
to see when and where the club would go for pizza.
"I remember freshman year, people are aggressively friendly be­cause
they are desperately trying to cling onto people they can know
before everyone stops being friendly and has made their friends,"
Smith said. "What I appreciated about Pizza Club is that we were
trying to essentially stop that and bring back the ability to make
friends any time of year because there wasn't any sort'of barrier to
entry in terms of you have to play certain sport, you have to have a
certain interest, it was just pizza and like there's very few people I
know who don't like pizza."
Smith and Butgereit both said that one of their favorite memo­ries
was going to pizza places and asking for club discounts.
"That was a bit of a terrifying experience," Smith said. "If some­one
walked into your business and said they are from Pizza Club,
would you really take them seriously?"
Despite Smith's doubts, the club was successful in securing dis­counts
with multiple pizza places including Mellow Mushroom and
Pieology.
"We were all really nervous, and then they were like, "You guys
have a club that legitimately just tries to get people to buy our food?
Yes, well gladly give you a discount,"' Butgereit said.
Members of the club were given official cards that provided dis­counts
at local pizza joints. They also made a shirt with "Pizza Club,
yes it's real" written on the back. The club even had a cartoon skat­er
dude as an official mascot.
"It's a lot of fun to say that you're in Pizza Club," Smith said.
Butgereit said that one of her favorite memories is a time when
the club met at Pieology.
"We found out that there was an upstairs room that, like now
you have to rent it, but back then if you just had a big group they
would just put you up there," she said. "So we had the whole second
floor to ourselves, and we had like two huge tables, and it was basi­cally
like a huge party almost. It was a lot of fun."
Smith said that one difficulty the club had was finding dedicated
officers to replace those who are graduating.
"The unfortunate nature of Pizza Club is while it's a very fun club,
and people love the idea of it - it's not necessarily a club of prestige,"
Smith said. "People don't think, 'Hey, I'd like to dedicate five hours
of work a week to this club about pizza, and so we have a very hard
time getting officers to kind of jump on board with that."
Smith said that one reason he choose to disband the Pizza Club is
because many of the officers are graduating this year. The club had
around 250 members registered when it disbanded.
Butgereit said that the Office of Student Involvement has offered
to help the club find a new president.
"Starting this club took a lot of work out of us, and me personal­ly;
my heart's tied to this club," Smith said. "If I were just to hand this
off to anyone, and they take it off in a direction that could easily be
detrimental to the name, I would not necessarily find that to be the
best fate for Pizza dub."
Tobacco Baskets
334-745-3221 • angelsantiqueandfleamall.com
_ 900 columbus pkwy • opelika 36801
(J Open Everyday 10-7 • Sun 1-5
DAI SUGANO / BAY AREA NEWS GROUP / TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
Vaping, e-cigarettes are included in the University's smoking policy
By HANNAH LESTER
Campus Writer
Auburn University has been a smoke-free campus since
2013, but most students are unaware that this includes vaping
— and "Juuling," for that matter.
Joanna Thomas, coordinator of alcohol and drug prevention
and intervention services with health promotion and wellness,
said that Auburn has included vaping under its policy since the
start, unlike other campuses.
Thomas said that although many students do not see a prob­lem
with vaping, it can be considered dangerous like smoking.
"There are no FDA approved vaping devices or substanc­es,"
Thomas said. "So actually, there is no one saying and mak­ing
sure that what you are doing is safe. That's why some vap­ing
devices explode, some of them have been hot glue gunned
together."
Vaping juices can have nicotine in them, even if stated not
to, Thomas said.
"That also means there isn't a lot of research out there... or
even done because it's relatively new so there is no one saying
that it is actually safe," Thomas said.
Because vaping can be considered dangerous, the University
included vaping in its smoke-free policy.
"So from my understanding, it was included because they
thought it could be a potential problem, I think, and they want­ed
to kind of be proactive about it," Thomas said.
Auburn has programs set in place to aid students who wish
to quit smoking, or vaping. In addition, there will be a new sur­vey
released soon detailing how many students smoke, Thom­as
said.
"It's really clear that a lot of students vape, but they also use
a juul," Thomas said. "And some people don't consider juuling
to be vaping, even though it's the same, so we are really trying
to get together enough -information so that we can start doing
campaigns and things like that.... I think that vaping in itself is
just a few years old really."
Auburn's main program to help students quit smoking is
called Pack it Up, through the Harrison School of Pharmacy.
"It was originally /or employees, but students are also able
use it, and they can go and meet the pharmacist, and they'll go
through one-on-one counseling for cessation, and then they
will work with a person and their doctor or whatever if they
want to do some medication or a plan," Thomas said.
Those who attended the program have been successful,
Thomas said.
Auburn has websites listed for students and employees who
need additional help or do not wish to come into the pharmacy.
Thomas, with Wellness and Health Promotion, is looking to
create a vaping kit to educate students on the dangers of smok­ing
and vaping.
The no-smoke policy is not thoroughly enforced on cam­pus,
Thomas said. Enforcement is reliant on student awareness
of the policy.
Auburn's no-smoke policy included removing ash trays from
campus and placing into effect a no smoking and vaping policy
on premises. Smoking in a sealed, private car is allowed.
The policy states that those who do not comply will be asked
to throw away their cigarette or other device and repeat of­fenders
will be dealt with under normal disciplinary practices.
IFC president shares spring plans
By MEGAN FERINGA
Campus Writer
The 2018 Interfraternity Council President Gavin McGetti-gan
said the year's agenda will focus on breeding collaboration
and respectful, meaningful relationships throughout Greek
system to greater benefit the Auburn community.
McGettigan, junior in business analytics, took office.as this
year's IFC president on Nov. 26 and has begun working hard
to serve the IFC organization and the 27 fraternities it over­sees.
However, McGettigan said IFC serves more than just its
sphere of influence.
"We're there to promote the highest standard of integrity
from fraternity members, whether that's personal, social, civ­ic,
academic or in leadership," McGettigan said. "The biggest
misconception is that we're the bad guys, that we want to take
away social events and the fun. But in reality, we're fraternity
men too, and we have a responsibility to protect and educate
the chapters. We are not out to prosecute fraternities, we are
there to protect them."
This year, McGettigan is working hard to ensure fraternity
chapters perform to their highest potential and provide ample
support for their members to grow as Auburn men and serve as
useful members of society. He hopes this effort can rid the or­ganizations
of the stigma that comes with fraternal association.
"I want people to realize that being an Auburn fraternity
man isn't simply drinking and partying," McGettigan said. "It's
someone who learns how to be a gentleman and cares about
treating other people right. I think it's a common sentiment
among fraternity guys that they want to help Auburn be the
best it can be."
In the last year alone, Auburn IFC, with the help from mem­bers
of the 27 fraternities on campus, raised $4,300 for the Tu-berville
Foundation in support of Auburn veterans from a
bowling event. IFC's annual Spring Skeet Shoot, which also
garners participation from most fraternities across campus,
made a hefty donation to the Make-A-Wish foundation in
memory of an Auburn worker's son. The council hosts lun­cheons
for the fire and police departments throughout the year
at different fraternities as well.
"Those are the things that a lot of people don't see," McGet­tigan
said. "Our guys do so much and want to do it all. It's a
unique leadership opportunity to work with men of similar
minds that want to be a part of something bigger than them­selves."
McGettigan believes Auburn has one of the best Interfra­ternity
Councils in the country, giving credit to the court pro­cesses,
which brought some of the largest changes for the up­coming
year.
"I think the strength of our IFC Court has made guys aware
that a negative new member process does not breed brother­hood
or good members," he said. "If anything, it's resentment.
The fraternity men at Auburn are starting to understand that.
They recognize the freshman are going through a lot, why add
unnecessary stress and anxiety? We want to build them up and
be what we, as fraternity men, stand for."
The number of court cases brought to IFC this last year in­creased
substantially, but McGettigan found that some fraterni­ties
brought forward faced similar low-level charges.
"The thing that really was interesting was that we just
» See GREEK, 5
t. ' ' '•
ORGANIZATION
Pizza Club
disbands after
four years
By PAUL BROCK
Campus Writer
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8,2018 Auburn $lains(man PAGE 5
ir
Students enjoy LARPing, medieval combat
Live-action roleplaying has become a regular sight
at the City of Auburn's Kiesel Park
By PAUL BROCK
Campus Writer
Kiesel Park is typically a quiet place where dog owners can
be found walking their pets. Saturday afternoons, however, the
sound of padded swords can be heard ringing through the park.
These padded swords belong to the members of Auburn's Am-tgard
chapter.
Amtgard is an international Live Action Roleplaying society
that is built around medieval combat.
"There's large events that we go to, I was at a place called East-mond
Castle in Aiken, South Carolina, over winter break, and
they had a day event where it's just you show up in the morning,
fight and do various events throughout the day, and they'll some­times
do crafting competitions," said Robert Anderson, member
of the club and business administration student
All fighters are given nicknames they are referred to as while
playing Amtgard, and often these nicknames are given to the
fighter by others. Anderson was given the name Screach.
"I got the nickname cause I was making noises with my first
few practices, and one of the veterans at Dag said, 'Man this new
kid is screeching at me,' and it stuck," Anderson said.
A lot of the equipment and clothing that Amtgard fighters
use is homemade, and so crafting is an important skill for mem­bers.
"We also sometimes do what are called craft days, which
we're just making items to use as part of the LARPing," said
Dakota Shamblin, junior in horticulture, "LARPing has defi­nitely
pushed my sewing skills."
"It looks really, really complicated, but it's pretty much when
you get hit in a limb, you lose a limb," Anderson said. "Two limbs
out is dead, hit in the torso you're dead, and there's other stuff on
top of that."
In addition, fighters can choose to play as specific classes such
as assassin or archer, which gives them special abilities to call out
during a fight. The Amtgard rulebook is over 70 pages long and
provides details on what kind of equipment is allowed, how to
organize each group and more.
"There are plenty of groups in Al-abama,"
Shamblin said. "We will
soon be a part of a kingdom called
'Winter's Edge' which ranges
from about Tennessee down
to South Georgia, and that's
about 17 other parks,
which is what you
refer to sin­gular
groups
such as us." 'A
Fighters can choose to use a variety of weapons like axes and
longswords, and they can even use ranged weapons such as
light bows with foam-tipped arrowheads.
"There's some videos online, and they'll teach you the basics
of combat," Shamblin said. "They don't really beat actual prac­tice."
Their armor not only gives fighters an intimidating appear­ance,
but it also provides serious protection. Often fighters
will wear heavily padded gloves to protect their knuckles from
bruising.
"There is an injury risk; I got a bruised rib once, and that was
from a really mean spear, but the injury risk isn't as great as one
might think," said Amtgard member Sumner Umphress. "You
might get a bruised rib, a broken rib, or a broken ankle but it's
not that serious, and -even those broken bones are pretty un­common."
Some fighters grew up playing LARP games while others
were introduced to the genre through Amtgard, and they have
a variety of reasons for enjoying the game.
"It was just like 12 years ago, there were some people hitting
each other with some foam padded sticks, and I was like, 'Hey
can I try?' And after the first time, I feel in love with it," Dan­iel
Smith said. "Honestly, [my favorite part] is that I get to hit
people legally."
Smith graduated from Auburn in 2012 with a masters degree
in microbiology.
Member's meet every Saturday in Kiesel park at 1 p.m. to
practice for the larger meets that they attend monthly.
"We're all very focused on lifting each other and ourselves
up," Shamblin said. "I've personally really enjoyed that, just hav­ing
some sort of a sense of community."
GREEK
» From 4
weren't communicating well enough what was
wrong. We saw three or four cases from differ­ent
fraternities all for the same, simple mistakes.
They might not have even realized they were do­ing
anything wrong. It was unfortunate, but it also
needed to happen. It was a wake-up call for us."
McGettigan said many of the rules enacted
this year by the IFC court existed previously; IFC
merely created a better way of educating frater­nities
about them and enforcing them to protect
the fraternities themselves as well as the people at­tending
their social events.
"I want to educate the fraternities so presidents
know, 'What we were doing is wrong. Let's' be
proactive and stop it,' rather than it coming to a
point where someone's safety is in question and
IFC has to step in," McGettigan said.
McGettigan believes creating a more candid di­alogue
abou' issues faced by fraternities as well as
pushing for more respectful relations among the
fraternity leadership can solve the problem.
"I want the Council of Presidents to feel more
comfortable with each other, even if it means sim­ply
knowing everyone's names. We need to work
together for the common good. We need to be
more willing to share and talk about problems.
There're things to be learned from everyone's vul­nerability."
Presidents from each fraternity compose the
Council of Presidents, the legislative body of IFC,
which votes on rules and regulations. McGettigan
plans on hosting a president's retreat in the spring
for the newly elected officials to facilitate coopera­tion
and brotherhood.
McGettigan has also strived to foster stronger
relationships with the other Greek life systems,
NHPC and Panhellenic, to build support for aca­demic,
service and leadership success across cam­pus.
"One thing I've noticed is that we call ourselves
a 'Greek Community,' but we don't utilize one an­other's
knowledge or experiences like we should,"
he said. "We need to communicate, be vulnerable
and feel comfortable enough to reach out to oth­er's
presidents and ask for help. That's one of my
biggest efforts - to try to better the community as­pect."
McGettigan particularly plans to push for more
cooperation regarding Greek philanthropic ef­forts
with an "inter-council" support within Greek
life. He hopes the dialogue between IFC, NPHC
and Panhellenic will foster positive relations with­in
the organizations themselves and, more impor­tantly,
across Auburn's campus and the local com­munity
to create a larger impact
"Greek life means giving back and relendessly
serving the community," McGettigan said "We all
have the same goal. What better way to do it than
collaborating and pushing forward together."
McGettigan wants to work on bringing back
something similar to "Greek Week" and create a
week-long philanthropic effort with participation
from all Greek organizations.
"I think it'd be a really great way to showcase
a different aspect of Greek life's presence in Au­burn,
and it is a way to give back to the communi­ty
as much as we can," McGettigan said. "We can
have an incredible impact, especially if we work
together."
McGettigan offered a preview of his goals at
Greek Summit, a retreat he organized for all the
presidents of the Greek organizations.
McGettigan said that at the event, most of the
executive members were "on board" with a more
inclusive community. Now he's hoping he can see
that same support from the general members.
"I would love to see a Greek Philanthropy
Week become a reality," he said. "The goal is to
form relationships. If I can see the relationships
improve over the course of the year, I will be ex­tremely
happy."
THIS IS AUBURN
gram
auburn.edu/studyabroad/core
May15-June15,2018
COURSES OFFERED
COMM 1000/1007 - Public Speaking
SCMH 1010/1017 - Concepts of Science
PHIL 1020/1027 - Introduction to Ethics
POL11050/1057 - Global Politics and Issues
ARCH 2600/2607 - The Art of Architecture, Place, and Culture
community 6
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2018
POLITICS
THEPLAINSMAN.COM COMMUNITY
GOVERNMENT
OLIVIA WILKES / COMMUNITY WRITER
Charlotte Mattox and Todd White at the CDBG public hearing meeting at on Feb. 5,2018.
Grants bring benefits to
low-income Auburn citizens
By OLIVIA WILKES
Community Writer
For many people below the poverty line, cer­tain
expenses thought of as small for most can be
a huge chunk of change. Twenty-two percent of
Lee County residents live in poverty, according to
U.S. Census Data.
The City of Auburn's Community Develop­ment
Division held two public hearings for the
Community Development Block Grant, a pro­gram
providing funds for services for low-to-moderate-
income individuals, on Monday.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development allocates funding to Auburn annu­ally
for the CDBG.
"CDBG funds only benefit programs and activ­ities
that go to benefit that individual that is low to
moderate income," said Todd White, director of
community development for the City of Auburn,
at the meeting Monday night
Examples of these services include emergency
housing repair offered through the Presbyterian
Community Ministry, youth programs available
with the Boys and Girls dub and the Food Bank's
Brown Bag program.
"Say, if you need a door replaced, and it is a
housing rehab or housing repair," White said.
"You would go to Presbyterian Community Min­istry,
and you would walk in there and apply, and
they would repair your door for like $500, and
then we reimburse them."
The first public hearing was held at the Frank
Brown Recreation Center and the second at the
Auburn Center for Developing Industries.
Charlotte Mattox, the family self-sufficiency
and social services coordinator with the Auburn
Housing Authority, spoke at the meeting Mon­day
night about the impact CDBG funding has for
the housing authority's residents. She referenced
one resident who could only get to work because
of the transportation that the housing authority
offers.
"She is not physically able to get a driver's li­PLANNING
cense, but she is physically able to hold down a
job," Mattox said. "So if we didn't have that trans­portation,
she couldn't have a job. It makes a big
difference."
Mattox said they also provide enrichment af­ter-
school programs, laptop fees for middle school
children and fees for graduating high school se­niors.
"All that adds up, and someone that has a job,
sometimes it's hard to afford it," she said. "Imagine
somebody that doesn't have a job.... So this gives
the kids an opportunity that they have when they
normally wouldn't"
White said that many low-to-moderate-in-come
individuals are cost burdened or severely
cost burdened, meaning they spend 30 to 40 per­cent,
respectively, of their gross annual income on
housing-related expenses.
"What we're trying to provide them, or what
HUD would like for us to provide, is some quality
of life or some measurable quality of life, not just
giveaways, but opportunities that they have some
measurable quality of life," White said.
The hearings allow the public to learn about
the program and offer citizens the opportunity to
see if their organization qualifies for funding un­der
the grant.
"This public hearing and the one I had this
morning are specifically so that people like Char­lotte
or individuals that have never gotten this
funding before, people that don't know anything
about it, can come in and say, 'I have this pro­gram,"
said White. "They have an opportunity to
publicly describe it, talk about it, get my feedback."
Typically, few people come to the public hear­ings,
White said, as the type of assistance they
need can be handled over the phone, through
email or on their application.
White said that the CDBG strives to create in­centives
for new and startup programs such as
nonprofits.
The city is currently reviewing CDBG applica­tions
and will decide where to allocate funds and
come up with a budget between now and April 1.
City Council comes under
fire at Tuesday meeting
By KAILEY BETH SMITH
Community Reporter •
Auburn's City Council approved an urban
tree canopy evaluation from the Alabama For­estry
Commission and almost $2.1 million for
new developments and the purchases of new
vehicles for city departments at their regular
meeting on Tuesday, but that wasn't the main
topic of discussion for most of the Feb. 6 meet­ing.
The City Council came out in defense of it­self
after receiving a firestorm of criticism from
several unsatisfied citizens. Members of the
community expressed their distaste for the re­cent
development discussions by the council,
some of which were held behind closed doors.
The central issue was height ordinances.
In the opinions of many long-time Auburn
residents, the height ordinances protect the
charm of the downtown area.
The current height limit for the College
Edge Overlay District is 65 feet, but there is
much discussion about bringing the item back
up for discussion to raise it to 75 feet. Some
council members are in fierce opposition to
the move, some in strong support and others
are indifferent to the issue.
Bob Parsons, fire inspector for the city of
Opelika, spoke out on behalf of Auburn resi­dents
over concerns of transparency within the
council.
"It seems to be a procedural convenience to
further some particular agenda — what that
is, I don't know," Parsons said to The Plains­man
about a long-term height ordinance bat­tle
among the council, which will be discussed
at the city's Planning Commission meeting
Thursday night.
A Nov. 21 meeting included a presenta­tion
to the community members from the
City Council concerning development plans.
Several citizens and council members assert­ed
that Ward 8 Councilman Tommy Dawson
said something about the height ordinance at
the end of the meeting, but it was inaudible to
most of the room.
"I don't want to hide things," Dawson said at
the beginning of the meeting.
Auburn resident Bill Caskey approached the
council about the proposed height ordinance.
"I think the City Council has been too ac­commodating
to the developers," Caskey said.
"The residents don't want to ruin the aesthetics
of downtown Auburn."
The ordinance covers properties along Col­lege
Street and Magnolia Avenue and includes
all lots and buildings on College Street between
Thatch and Mitcham avenues and those on
Magnolia Avenue from Wright to Gay streets.
There has been much debate over the height
of the Whatley building, a project that the
council released information about in ear­ly
November 2017. The building, conceptual­ized
by Auburn alumnus Steve Fleming, would
need to be 75 feet in he'ight, according to the
plans.
Fleming said that he wished for the build­ing
to look like it had been in the area for more
than 50 years to preserve the charm of the
downtown area. In November, he expressed
his desire to begin construction in the spring
and to finish within a year.
Mayor Bill Ham said that he believed the
council's process to be "crystal clear" and said
that the concerns brought forward by commu­nity
members were mainly misunderstandings,
rather than under-the-table deals as insinuated
by those who spoke at the meeting.
Ward 3 Council woman Beth Witten ex­pressed
her disappointment at the way the is­sue
was both presented and handled at the No­vember
meeting.
When asked about the transparency of the
council, Witten told The Plainsman that it was
not the issue that concerned her, but it was the
process.
In sentiments echoed by Ward 5 Coun-cilwoman
Lynda Tremaine, Witten said the
council had moved too quickly on the height
ordinance, not allowing the citizens or the
council to fully understand what was being said
before the November meeting adjourned.
She. said Dawson was not wrong in his ac­tions,
but that everyone misunderstood what
was being brought before the council.
"At the time, it wasn't right or wrong, it just
wasn't clear," Witten said. "It was at the end of
the meeting, and not on our agenda to discuss,
so I did not add to the discussion because I did
not understand.
"We, as a council, need to make sure that we
communicate clearly how things are brought
before this body. If we can have a clear and
concise process, then the rest is much easier to
discuss and debate and go forward with."
Witten encouraged community members to
get involved at the next few meetings.
"There is ample opportunity between now
and when this [item] comes to us on March
20 for there to be significant public input," she
said. "That is the positive of all this."
The item will appear on the agenda for Plan­ning
Commission's Thursday night meeting,
along with an item relating to the Northwest
Auburn Neighborhood Plan, which will be
held at 5 p.m. at 141 North Ross St. The meet­ing
will be open to the public.
Ward 2 Councilman Ron Anders encour­aged
the community to make their thoughts
on the ordinance known, suggesting they con­tact
the council in the coming days.
"I want to assure the citizens that your op­portunity
to speak - and speak often - is there,"
he said. "Nothing has been taken away from
you. And we fully expect to hear from you."
Mallory Hagan officially announces run for Congress
The Opelika native and Miss America 2013 could face 16-year incumbent Rogers in November
By SAM WILLOUGHBY
Community Editor
Standing in her family's Opelika dance studio and
surrounded by three generations ofher family, Mal­lory
Hagan officially announced her bid as a Demo­crat
for U.S. Congress Tuesday morning.
"Over the last 16 years, this congressional district
has been in a situation where many of its constitu­ents
do not feel heard, do not feel that their repre­sentative
is listening, do not feel that they get a re­sponse
when they reach out to their representative,"
Hagan said on Tuesday.
Rep. Mike Rogers, Republican from Saks, was
first elected in 2002, succeeding Bob Riley as the
representative for Alabama's 3rd Congressional
District, which includes Lee County.
Hagan has generated buzz around a run since an
online crowdfunding page for her campaign went
live last week.
Hagan, originally from Opelika, was recently
launched back into the national spotlight after vul­gar
e-mails from Miss America CEO, Sam Haskell,
were leaked. Hagan was one of the women attacked
in the emails, with some describing her as "fat and
gross." Haskell stepped down after the emails were
made public.
The former Miss America hit back, saying the
emails exposed the sexist culture of the organiza­tion.
"It does not matter what organization or profes­sion
you are in, that type of language being used in
interoffice communication is just not OK," she pre­viously
told The Plainsman.
The 29-year-old said she's been in the political
arena for much ofher life. During her time in pag­eants,
from as early as 13 years old, she became an
advocate for causes like arts education in schools,
the body positivitv movement and child abuse
awareness.
SAM WILLOUGHBY/COMMUNITY EDITOR
Former Miss America winner, Mallory Hagan, announces her run for Congress as her family surrounds her on Feb. 6,2018, in Opelika. Ala.
"As Miss America, and in the years leading up
to that, I honed the opportunity and the skills to
go out into the community and help people under­stand
the problems that we were facing and then
converse with them, listen to them and figure out
how we can all work together to solve those prob­lems,"
she said
Hagan has lobbied Congress on behalf of the Na­tional
Children's Alliance and said they were able to
secure funding for the organization's advocacy cen­ters
across the country in 2014.
The 2013 Miss America winner cited a lack of
gender and age diversity as another reason for her
run. There are 84 women in the House of Repre­sentatives,
only four of who are under the age of 40.
"This has just become our status quo," Hagan
said. "We've been told that this is just how things
work and we have to play the game if we want to
see things change, or we don't play the game at all
because we don't know how we're supposed to see
things change. And I just simply don't accept that"
"I look forward to working with the people of
this state, of this district and of our country to make
the world we live in a better place, and I hope that in
joining 390 other women who are running across
the country that we can make the new norm, and
we can get rid of what has been the status quo."
Hagan has already raised close to $15,000 for her
campaign through the crowd-funding website, and
with no other Democrat in the district having an­nounced
a candidacy, she may have an easy path to
November's general ballot
"Any kind of new undertaking is nerve-wrack­ing,
and as far as being a parent - that never stops,"
said Phil Hagan, Mallory's father. "But if there's any­thing
that I'm sure she's ready for - it's this."
We Love Our Customers"
Thank you to these outstanding businesses for
supporting Huburtt $lainsiman
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8,2018 ®l)t 9utiurn painsman PAGE 7 r
HEALTH CULTURE
Scale Back
Alabama 2018
hits The Plains
By MARY GRACE LONG
Community Writer
According to The Telegraph,
on average, the most common
New Year's Resolutions are to
exercise more, to lose weight
and to eat healthier. For Ala­bama
residents, there is an easy
and fun way to stick to those
commitments while being held
accountable and competing for
a substantial prize.
Scale Back Alabama is the
state's largest weight-loss and
exercise program. This program
encourages participants to pair
up and pursue healthy living in
order to lose 10 pounds in 10
weeks.
"The program was designed
to address the state's challenge
with obesity," said Kathe Briggs,
a state committee member and
a coordinator for weigh-ins at
East Alabama Medical Center.
Alabama has an obesity rate
of 35.7 percent and is third in the
nation in terms of adult obesity,
according to Pam Starks, a Scale
Back Alabama state committee
member.
This year Scale Back Ala­bama
has almost 500 volun­teer
coordinators, according to
Starks. The program is entering
its 12th year, and over the years
this program has seen 1.35 mil­lion
pounds lost, according to
the City of Auburn.
Each year local businesses and
industries are encouraged to
promote this program in their
respective communities, and Lee
County has participated since
the program's inception in 2007.
"Lee County has been in­volved
since the beginning, of­fering
public and private weigh-in/
out sites," said Alison Hall, a
representative of the program
who works to help spread the
campaign through social me­dia
and the program's local part­ners.
This year we have eight pub­lic
sites, including three offered
by Auburn Parks and Recre­ation:
Dean Road Recreation
Center, Frank Brown Recre­ation
Center and the Harris Se­nior
Center."
Hall said that she would per­sonally
love to see Lee Coun­ty
break 5,000 pounds lost as a
county for the 2018 campaign
year.
According to the Scale Back
Alabama website, weigh-in
week was Jan. 22-28, and the
weight-out week is April 2-8.
There are several weigh-in/out
sites located throughout Lee
County.
Registration is free and of­fered
to anyone 18 years old and
older who work or live in Ala­bama.
Participants register in teams
of two and as of the end of Jan­uary,
13,362 participants have
registered, Sparks said. Teams
who lose at least 10 pounds over
the 10-week period are eligible
for a state-wide drawing during
weigh-out week.
The prizes are as follows:
$ 1,000 per member of the first
three teams drawn, $500 per
member of the next three teams
drawn and S250 per member of
the last three teams drawn. In
addition, 40 participants will be
drawn to receive $100.
ADAM BRASHER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Artist and Out of the Box award recipient Stacey Rathert delivers a lecture on her journey in art at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine
Art in Auburn, Ala., on Thursday, Feb. 1,2018.
Out of the Box: Artist Talks kicks off
with first-place winner Stacey Rathert
By JESSICA JERNIGAN
Community Writer
There's no place like home for Stac­ey
Rathert, Kansas native and the first
place winner of the outdoor sculpture
exhibition, Out of the Box.
Rathert was first to present the evo­lution
of her work as an artist at the
Jule Collins Smith Museum. The mu­seum
hosted her and those in atten­dance
Thursday night in the auditori­um
where she gave a power point pre­sentation
of her story.
Out of the Box is a biennial compe­tition
that began in 2013 in celebra­tions
of the museum's 10-year anni­versary.
This year's exhibition was ju­ried
by nationally recognized artist,
Jean Shin.
Rathert is currently an instructor
at the University of Mississippi in the
sculpture and fine arts department.
Her creations are rooted in her expe­riences
of growing up on a farm in her
small town and her ability to tell per­sonal
narratives through her work.
"I consider myself a storyteller,"
Rathert said as she began her talk.
"Like most storytellers, 1 like to start
at the beginning."
Rathert's first place piece, "You Are
Here," is an open invitation to inter­action.
Inspired by her students' plans
for a weekend picnic, the movement
of the piece flows like that of an un­furling
picnic blanket made of artifi­cial
turf.
Before her creation of her award-winning
artwork, she was a hope­ful
artist living in Kansas manipulat­ing
and creating pieces out of steel and
cast iron.
As a child, she would climb the
windmill she has in her backyard and
admire the view that stretched on for
miles.
"These open views and this land­scape
taught me a lot of important les­sons:
resilience, how to work on the
land and utilize the land and the im­portance
of community," she said.
The most pivotal moment of het
early artistic mind was working with
her father. She started in 4-H camp,
a youth-development organization -
learning the basics of sewing, pres­ervation,
rocketry and showing baby
cattle.
Rathert wanted to go beyond 4-H
to bond with her dad, she said. At
around 11 years old, she learned how
to weld and iron pour. She didn't real­ize
that assembling fans and working
with metals would influence her art­work
later.
She works with an array of mate­rials,
but cast iron was one that in­trigued
her from the start. She en­joys
every part of the process, she said,
from the sense of community and
teamwork that goes into it to the work
and sweat it takes to stretch the mate­rial
into a piece she is proud of.
Rathert said she is constantly think­ing
of new ideas and pieces and is al­ways
in the process of creating some­thing
new.
uimr 8 AUBURN UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF STUDENT AFFAIRS
Ro b k r tTrhnt Jones
Go i f^j Tr a i l ANSEL'S .>
ANTIQUE ^
A N D F L E A M A L L rj.y.
®ijje gfotmrn plainsman
&n Auburn tradition itme 1893
L
s p o r t s - — ~ 8
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8,2018 THEPLAINSMAN.COM SPORTS
MEN'S BASKETBALL
ADAM BRASHER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Bryce Brown (2) celebrates as he walks off the floor following a 25-point performance during Auburn Basketball vs. Vanderbilt at Auburn Arena in Auburn. Ala. on Saturday, Feb. 3,2018. EIGHT BALL
Top 10 Auburn basketball blazes through SEC schedule
By WILL SAHLIE
Sports Editor
Two weeks ago on JoxFM in Birmingham, Auburn head
coach Bruce Pearl said his team would have been unde­feated
at this point in the season and the national media
would be talking about the Tigers as a Final Four team
if Austin Wiley was eligible this season.
Even without Wiley, the national spotlight is squarely on Au­burn
now.
For the first time since February 2000, Auburn is ranked in
the top 10, entering this week's poll at No. 8.
The Tigers, who are 21-2 overall and 9-1 in the SEC, jumped
into the top 10 in this week's poll after knocking off Ole Miss
and Vanderbilt last week. After seeing its 14-game win streak
end at Alabama on Jan. 17, the Tigers have rattled off five con­secutive
victories to position itself atop the SEC.
Auburn has a two-game lead over No. 15 Tennessee in the
e are just going to take
it one hole at a time
SEC heading into the new week. Auburn defeated the Volun­teers
94-84 in Knoxville in its SEC opener on Jan. 2.
The Tigers lead Kentucky, Alabama and Florida by three
games in the conference standings.
"They are playing really well," Vanderbilt head coach Bryce
Drew said about Auburn. "They may be the hottest team in the
country right now."
Auburn was the beneficiary of chaos throughout college bas­ketball
over the weekend, as Duke, Kansas and Arizona all fell
on Saturday. The Tigers jumped all three of the traditional pow­erhouse
schools in this week's poll.
As the Tigers continue to pile up wins, national experts con­tinue
to move Auburn up in their NCAA Tournament projec­tions.
In his latest NCAA Tournament projection, ESPN's Joe Lu-nardi
placed Auburn as a No. 2 seed in the South Region. CBS's
Jerry Palm also placed the Tigers as a No. 2 seed in his projec­tions.
Auburn will host Texas A&M on Wednesday and travel to
Athens on Saturday to take on Georgia. The Tigers will look to
complete the season sweep of the Bulldogs after defeating them
79-65 on Jan. 20:
"There are a lot of hazards on this back nine now," Pearl said
about the upcoming stretch run in the SEC. "There is a lot of
water and a lot of sand, and there are some really good teams on
this back nine. We are just going to take it one hole at a time. We
really don't have a bogey yet, but these holes are getting tough­er."
Tip-off inside Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday is set for 2:30
p.m. CST.
UIRV*
Limited time only!
$ Footlong
Faves
Spicy Italian Black Forest Ham Meatball Marinara
Or try the Cold Cut Combo or Veggie Delite*
Subs shown with customized recipe. Additional charge
for Extras. Plus applicable tax. No additional discounts or
coupons may be applied.
Subway® is a Registered Trademark of Subway IP Inc. ©2017 Subway IP Inc.
i
f/G£RS
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8,2018 f;fje Auburn plainsman PAGE 9
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Harper leads Tigers as 'quarterback*
By TYLER ROUSH
Sports Reporter
Bruce Pearl has found his quarterback.
In Auburn's 93-81 win over Vander-bilt
Saturday night, Jared Harper tallied a
career-high 14 assists to go along with 14
points, three steals and two rebounds.
Harper's 14 assists are the most by any
SEC player this season, and his double-double
in points and assists is the first by
an Auburn player since Kareem Canty in
2015.
He finished one shy of Eddie Johnson's
school record of 15.
"I think [getting assists] was the easy
part," he said. "The harder part is making
the shots."
Pearl praised his point guard for his
quarterback-style abilities.
"You look at [Harper] running the team
because his team is playing well," Pearl said.
"He did a great job of play calling and mix­ing
things up."
Hidden behind the success of both Bryce
Brown and Mustapha Heron, who com­bined
for 48 points on 16-of-24 shooting,
Harper quietly danced his way to a career
night.
Following a summer that included
workouts with Portland Trail Blazers' all-star
Damian Lillard, Harper's goal was to
average five assists.
Five days into February, Harper has
nearly doubled his previous season's av­erage
(3.0) and is now third in the SEC
with an average of 5.8 per game. He has 11
games this season with at least seven.
In addition, the former four-star recruit
has increased his 3-point field goal per­centage
from 34.4 percent to 40.9 percent.
His accuracy at the free-throw line is much
of the same, moving from 70.5 percent to
81.4 percent.
• "I feel like he is the best point guard,"
Auburn's leading scorer Bryce Brown said.
"He can get his teammates involved. He can
score the ball. I feel like he does everything
a point guard is supposed to do. I want him
to continue to get better and do what he's
been doing for us."
Pearl said that Harper has improved on
defense as well.
"The thing I love about Jared, while he is
impacting the game and clearly having fun
getting guys the ball, he is still not taking
possessions off on the defensive end," Pearl
said. "He has done better.
"Jared is twice the defender he was a
year ago - twice the defender. He's not
taking possessions off, he's impacting the
game and then the other thing he's doing is
he's recognizing that he's got a really good
team.
"It's his job to get the ball to people, and
so he's not looking to score as much as he
is to play-make and defend, and those two
things have translated into a lot of win­ning."
While compiling more assists this sea­son
through 23 games than all 32 games
the previous season, Harper continues to
grow by spacing the floor and continually
finding the open man.
And with more assists, everyone else
will grow, too.
"I think we've got a team that everybody
heated up," Heron said on the win against
Vanderbilt. "It doesn't really matter who it
is. With [Harper] having 14 assists, it was ADAM BRASHER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
just that type of night" Jared Harper (1) shoots a free throw vs. Vanderbilt.
GYMNASTICS
Tigers record season-high
197.0 in loss to No. 5 Florida
SOFTBALL
JOSHUA FISHER / PHOTOGRAPHER
Courtney Shea (93) swings vs. Central Alabama Community College on Oct. 29,2017 in Auburn, Ala.
We are just so ready for it'
Auburn soft ball preps ahead of Opening Day
ByZACHARYPIKE
Sports Writer
The Mickey Dean era is set to officially
begin Thursday as Auburn hosts Marshall
as part of the Plainsman Invite tournament.
Head coach Mickey Dean arrives from
James Madison as he looks to continue to
build upon the success the Auburn Tigers
have experienced over the past few years.
Dean said he is ready to his first game as
coach for the Tigers.
"It feels great," Dean said. "As a coach,
it doesn't matter where you are or what
you're doing, you never feel like you are
quite ready. As long as we are playing with
a great deal of effort and a great deal of en­ergy
we will be just fine."
As Opening Day draws closer, the Tigers
are getting ready to go.
"Excitement and energy," Dean said. "I
don't want us to be anxious but I want us
to understand the urgency by being ready."
Infielder Casey McCrackin echoed
Dean's statements and said the team is
ready to face off against another team.
"A lot of excitement, we've been waiting
for this for a while now. Being able to final­ly
start now, we are just so ready for it," said
McCrackin.
Marshall, who the Tigers open with on
Thursday, brings a difficult challenge to
start the year.
"They have a lot returning, I know that,"
Dean said. "They will be a little inexperi­enced
in the circle but head coach Jenni­fer
Steele is very good working with pitch­ers
and is a good game caller. If she finds a
weakness in a batter she will get to it quick­ly.
So, we have to be able to make adjust­ments
and be able to make those adjust­ments
quickly."
Auburn's lineup will look a little.differ­ent
this year than last with mixture of old
and new faces throughout the lineup.
"We are going to start our best nine,"
Dean said. "I don't worry about all that
other stuff. When we get opportunities to
put kids in that might not be in the start­ing
lineup then we will take advantage of
that. Their opportunity to win their posi­tion
and win playing time is during prac­tice.
So, we are going to start our best nine
that gives us the best chance to win each
game."
"We just need to do our job and commu­nicate
a lot to make sure everyone is in the
right position," senior catcher Courtney
Shea said. "Hit the ball hard and play solid
defense, not really a secret recipe behind it,
just do your job."
Auburn will open the season against
Marshall Thursday at 5 p.m. CT at Jane B.
Moore Field. The Tigers will play seven
games over the weekend as the 2018 cam­paign
gets underway.
By SPORTS STAFF
The No. 17 Auburn gymnastics team put
together its best performance of the season
so far, scoring a 197.0 Friday night in Auburn
Arena. The No. 5 Florida Gators edged the Ti­gers
with a 197.4 to take the team win.
"That was a lot of fun and it was nice to ac­tually
watch the team settle down and do what
we asked them to do," head coach Jeff Graba
said. "Basically, the mission tonight was to go
all four events and try to stay in our mentali­ty.
This group is really good when they're hav­ing
fun. I know we left a little bit on the ta­ble
so we can still improve, but a really good
night overall."
Auburn (2-5,1-3 SEC) set team-best scores
in three of the four events, while 12 individ­ual
scores recorded were either season or ca­reer
bests.
The Tigers kicked off the meet with a sea­son-
high 49.350 on vault and had five student-athletes
reach new heights. Sophomore Gra­de
Day highlighted the rotation with a ca­reer-
high 9.925, while freshman Jada Glenn
anchored the event with a career score of 9.9.
Freshman Drew Watson and junior Taylor
Krippner each tied their career highs, having a
9.875 and 9.85, respectively. Sophomore Katie
Becker led off the meet with a season-best 9.8.
Auburn moved on to bars and put togeth­er
a 49.150 in the event. Junior Samantha Ce-rio
continued her steady streak for the Tigers,
scoring another 9.9 in the anchor slot to tie her
season high. Day reached another career mark
for the squad, earning 9.925. Sophomore Ken­dal
Moss chipped in a 9.85, while Krippner
added a 9.75 and Watson a 9.725
Rotation three sent the Tigers to beam
where AU reached a season-best, 49.225. Red-shirt
junior Abby Milliet continued her solid
ways on the apparatus, leading the team with
a 9.9. Redshirt sophomore Emma Slappey tied
her career best with a 9.875, while freshman
Allie Riddle tied her career score of 9.85 in the
leadoff spot. Freshman Meredith Sylvia and
Krippner added a 9.8 apiece.
Auburn's 49.275 on floor was its final sea­son
high score of the night for the team. Day
once again led the charge, tying a career high
with a 9.9. Milliet anchored with a 9.875, while
Slappey chipped in a season-best 9.85. Watson
earned a career-high 9.825, while freshman
Ashley Smith led the event off with a 9.825.
The Tigers take to the road for a full week­end,
going against a pair of opponents away
from the Plains. Auburn first visits Arkansas
for an SEC Meet, Feb. 9, in Fayetteville before
facing Texas Woman's University Sunday,
Feb. 11, in Denton, Texas.
INGRIE) SCHNADER / PHOTO EDITOR
Kendal Moss performs on the bars on Friday, Feb. 2,2018, in Auburn, Ala.
FOOTBALL
Malzahn to earn $7 million
ft;
FILE PHOTO
Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn during warm-ups. Auburn vs Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.
By BENNETT PAGE
Sports Writer
The details of Gus Malzahn's contract
extension with Auburn were released on
Tuesday, paying Malzahn an average of $7
million through 2024.
The contract was signed by Malzahn, for­mer
athletics director Jay Jacobs and Uni­versity
President Steven Leath on Jan. 26.
Malzahn's new contract runs through
the 2024 football season and pays S49 mil­lion
total. Malzahn will earn S6.7 million
in the 2018 season, a number that will in­crease
by $100,000 each season. In the final
year of the contract, Malzahn will earn $7.3
million.
If Auburn chooses to terminate the con­tract
at any point, it will owe Malzahn 75
percent of the remaining compensation.
Therefore, his buyout is currently $36.75
million and will decrease each season.
If Malzahn chooses to leave Auburn, he
will owe a coach's buyout to Auburn. That
payment currently sits at $7 million and
will decrease by $2 million per year in 2020,
2021 and 2022.
He will owe the University $1 million if
he decides to leave after 2022.
The terms of the contract include Mal­zahn's
requirement to notify Auburn ath­letic
director Allen Greene before engaging
in any negotiations with other programs for
employment.
Malzahn's 2018 salary of $6.7 million will
make him the fifth-highest paid coach in
college football. Malzahn made $4,725 mil­lion
in 2017 under his previous contract.
n THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8,2018 auburn PainSman PAGE 10
MEN'S GOLF I BASEBALL
Auburn places
5th in opening
tournament
By STAFF REPORT
Freshman Brandon Mancheno tied for ninth at the Amer
Ari Invitational, carding a 2 under 70 on Saturday at the King's
Crossings Course at the Waikoloa Beach Resort to finish at
9-under 70-67-70—207. No. 8 Auburn had the second-lowest
round of the day to climb three spots and finished in a tie for
fifth at 22-under 286-279-277-842.
No. 2 Oklahoma State won the event with a 47-under 280-
267-270-817.
Mancheno, a product of Jacksonville, Florida, picked up
right where he left off from the fall, placing in the top-10 for
the fourth time in his first five collegiate events. He tallied sev­en
birdies in the final round on.Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 9 on the front
nine and Nos. 14,17 and 18 on the back. Mancheno finished the
weekend with 16 birdies and an eagle.
Fellow freshman Wells Padgett climbed 34 spots to tie for
29th at 4-under 75-71-66—212 and sophomore Jovan Rebula
finished a shot behind at 3-under 71-71 -71—213 to t-32nd. Ju­niors
Jacob Solomon (2-under 74-70-70—214) and Trace Crowe
(1-under 71-73-71—215) tied for 37th and 41st, respectively.
In the trio of individuals, senior Ben Schlottman climbed 14
spots to t-64th at 3-over 77-71-71—219, junior Graysen Huff
finished t-81st at 74-75-75—224 and freshman Andrew Kozan
t-91st with a 76-73-77—226.
No. 14 Texas Tech finished runner-up at 30-under 278—834
followed by No. 19 Southern California (279—837), No. 16 Tex­as
(279—841), Auburn, No. 3 Georgia Tech (286—842), TCU
(279—842), Oregon (284—846), Arizona State (280—848) and
No. 10 Stanford (282-852).
Colorado (282—853) finished 11th followed by San Jose State
(296—867), UC Davis (296—867), Osaka Gakuin University
(287—869), Oregon State (287—876), Pacific (307—900), host-
Hawaii-Hilo (314—907) and Hawaii (302—921).
Southern California's Justin Suh won medalist honors at
13-under 69-66-68-203.
Up next for the Tigers is a trip to Houston, Texas, for the All-
American held at the Golf Course of Houston Feb. 16-18.
FILE PHOTO
Dylan Ingram (27) and Conor Davis (24) welcome home Josh Anthony (3) after hitting his first career home run vs. Arkansas.
ByWILLSCHUETTE
Sports Writer
Josh Anthony is set to be one of Au­burn's
senior leaders for the upcoming
2018 baseball season, but less than eight
months before he took control of the hot
corner at Plainsman Park, the Tigers'
starting third baseman told the coach­ing
staff he would never play a game for
Auburn.
The junior college product was draft­ed
by the Atlanta Braves in the 16th
round of the 2016 MLB Draft and was
torn between coming to the school he
had grown up loving or chasing his
dream of playing professional baseball.
"I knew that regardless of what hap­pened,
I would be in the best possible
place I could be in life," Anthony said.
At one point, Anthony decided to
accept his offer from the Braves, but
he was soon back on a path to Auburn
when the team could no longer honor
the original signing bonus they had of­fered
him.
"I didn't really understand the benefits
I would have coming to Auburn until I
got here," Anthony said. "When the Au­burn
Family embraced me the way they
did, I feel like coming here was the ulti­mate
decision. It was the best decision I
could possibly have made."
Before joining the Tigers for their
2017 campaign, Anthony put up video
game numbers in two seasons at West­ern
Oklahoma State junior college. He
finished his sophomore season with a
.444 batting average, 25 home runs, 84
RBI and 49 steals.
The Columbus, Georgia, native grew
up under an hour away from The Plains,
but he went unnoticed by most and re­ceived
no Division I offers out of Hard-away
High School.
"I chose to go to Western Oklahoma
State because I just didn't know who I
was as a person at the time," Anthony
said. "I wanted to get away so I could find
myself. That doesn't work out for every­body,
but that just so happened to work
out for me. The success I had in Oklaho­ma
blessed me with the opportunity to
come back home and play in my back­yard,
so to speak."
Auburn head coach Butch Thompson
and his staff were expecting Anthony to
be a solid addition to their lineup after
dominating junior college pitching, but
his role in the field was unclear upon ar­rival.
After spending time at multiple po­sitions
at Western Oklahoma State, in­cluding
catcher, Anthony said Auburn
was not fully aware of the ability he had
with his glove at third base.
"I feel like it Was overlooked a little
bit because in junior college I bounced
around from position to position," An­thony
said. "Auburn didn't really know
I could play third base. When I came in
and was at third base, they were like 'oh,
he can play third base'. Yes, I can."
Anthony made a collection of great
defensive plays and only recorded nine
errors while starting at third base in 62
of the Tigers' 63 games a season ago.
As a newcomer, Anthony was able
to assume the part of an everyday third
baseman in the SEC immediately, but
the adjustment he had to make at the
plate against much stiffer competition
than he had been accustomed to did not
come quite as easily.
However, in a home series against Ar­kansas
in late April, it all came togeth­er
for him. He broke out, going 9-for-12
and hitting his first home run of the sea­son
to help him earn SEC Player of the
Week honors.
"I knew the game was going to speed
up," Anthony said. "Everybody here was
going to be a lot bigger, stronger, faster.
I knew that, but I didn't know what to
expect. I was kind of trying to figure out
things as the season went on, and some
things worked more than others. The
biggest thing for me going into that Ar­kansas
series was the amount of work I
put it prior to that series. Really getting
a feel for my swing, and that translated
during that series."
Anthony finished the 2017 season
with adequate numbers, batting .266
and finishing second on the team in both
RBI (39) and doubles (14), but unlike the
year before, he was not selected in the
MLB Draft.
"I didn't expect to get drafted, and I
didn't expect not to come back to school
either," Anthony said. "Baseball has a
funny way of working itself out, so I
tend to not worry about that stuff. What
I've been doing for the past two years
is building my relationship with God.
I play through him, and whatever hap­pens
is part of his plan. Whatever hap­pens,
I'm at peace with."
For Anthony, the 2018 season will not
be about proving anything or achieving
any statistical goals, it will be about get­ting
a chance to play his final season of
collegiate baseball at the highest level
without any regrets.
"I just want to leave everything on the
line," Anthony said. "Go out there and
do your thing, Josh. That's it."
Auburn will open its 2018 season on
Friday, Feb. 16 against Longwood.
FOOTBALL
STUDENT AFFAIRS
SPOTLIGHT
The Veterans Resource Center
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••mm
Seven Tigers earn
spot in NFL Combine
By NATHAN KING
Assistant Sports Editor
Beginning March 2, the
Auburn Tigers will be well-represented
inside Lucas-Oil
Stadium in Indianapolis.
Seven former Tigers have
been invited to the 2018
NFL Draft Scouting Com­bine.
The combine, which
spans from March 2 to
March 5 at the Indianapo­lis
Colts' stadium, serves as a
glorified skills challenge for
players looking to impress
NFL Scouts.
Three Auburn seniors
headline the group, includ­ing
offensive guard Braden
Smith, kicker Daniel Carl­son
and safety Stephen Rob­erts.
Auburn boasts four ju­niors
in running backs Ker-ryon
Johnson and Kamryn
Pettway, cornerback Carlton
Davis and edge rusher Jeff
Holland.
Senior safety Tray Mat­thews,
who led Auburn in
tackles in 2016 and was sec­ond
on the team in 2017, did
not receive an invite.
Linebacker Tre' Williams
was also snubbed from the
list despite an eye-opening
Senior Bowl week.
Auburn has the eighth-most
invites in college foot­ball,
and the fourth-most
in the SEC behind Alabama
(14), Georgia (10) and LSU
(10).
The NFL Draft will begin
on Apr. 26.
Anthony grateful for opportunity to come to AU
FILE PHOTO
Stephen Roberts (14) returns a punt in the second half. Auburn vs Ole M iss on Saturday, Oct. 7..
•A 4
The AU Veterans Resource Center (AUVRC) assists
student veterans in making the transition from
military to civilian life at Auburn. The Resource
Center also provides support and guidance for
military dependents.
Resources can be found online at
www.auburn.edu/veterans
or at 334-844-8167
| aubum.edu/StudentAffairs
O fecebook.com/AuburnStudents
| QAuburnStudents
I ©AuburnStudents
lifestyle
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8,2018
ART COLUMN
r
THEPLAINSMAN.COM
11
i
LIFESTYLE
'Pride and Pestilence' brings landscapes to life
By EMMA RYGIEL
Lifestyle Writer
Photographer by instinct, Jeff Whetstone
combined his interest of zoology and anthro­pology
with photography for an interesting
display of images and film.
Bringing his talent to The Plains, Whet­stone's
exhibit "Pride and Pestilence" opened
Feb. 1 in the Biggin Gallery.
Through this collection, he worked to
challenge the viewer's perception of the con­nection
between man and nature, as well as
suggest their influence on social constructs.
Whetstone earned his MFA from the Yale
School of Photography in 2001 and is now
a professor of visual arts at Princeton Uni­versity.
The collection "Pride and Pestilence" high­lights
the timelessness of landscape and cul­ture's
connection.
Sparked by his initial education as a zool­ogy
major during his undergraduate years,
Whetstone was intrigued by the instincts of
animals and the beauty of nature.
He focused on how humans, as animals,
are shaped and molded by the land we walk
on.
"Every time I look at a landscape 1 see a
system of niches, and when I look at a man,
I see an animal driven by animal instincts,"
Whetstone said.
Whetstone was inspired by artist Pieter
Bruegal when developing his voice as a pho­tographer,
particularly his ability to create an
image that seamlessly narrates a scene.
He mastered the balance of providing just
enough of the scene to get a gist of what is
occurring in the photo, while still leaving a
certain amount of ambiguity for the imagi­nation
of the viewer to take flight.
Working with this idea, Whetstone uti­lized
the vantage point of an omniscient nar­rator
by placing himself far enough back to
capture a large part of the scene but close
enough to document what is occurring.
This is a technique he has mastered
through his 30-year career.
Influenced by his Southern upbringing in
Tennessee, Whetstone was intrigued by the
traditional American sportsman in this col­lection.
He worked with their connection to
the environment through hunting and chal­lenged
the idea of masculinity that surrounds
the stereotype.
Whetstone began with the connection of a
hunter to the landscape through camouflage.
He was inspired by how this uniform
takes an image of nature - viewed as beau­tiful
when in landscape form but shifting to­ward
lethal once it's on the body.
From this, Whetstone's cultural connec­tion
of man and the landscape was formed.
"The Earth determines our culture,"
Whetstone said. "I found that the perfor­mance
of masculinity in the wilderness was
like dress-up."
Through these images he focused on this
cultural connection and centered it around
the concept of the "demise of man and the
rise of the matriarchy," said Whetstone.
Connecting the dots between landscape
and the modern-day topic of gender illus­trates
how Whetstone can form multi-facet-ed
conversations from one image.
In this collection, Whetstone also experi­mented
with the culture that continues to be
documented through landscape via cave art.
Exploring the cave system in Alabama,
Georgia and Tennessee, Whetstone wanted
PRIDE AND PESTILENC
Jeff Whetstone
EMMA RYGIEL/ LIFESTYLE WRITER
Auburn student views "Pride and Pestilence" by Jeff Whetstone on Thursday, Feb. 1.2018, in Auburn, Ala.
to highlight the connection with the land­scape
through the documentation of memo­ries,
self-expression and our animal-like ten­dency
to explore the present through cave
art.
"Caves mark an undeniable chapter in his­tory,"
said Whetstone. "They gave an oppor­tunity
of taking a modern view of landscape."
Enchanted by Earth's creation and the hu­man
race's interaction, Whetstone illustrates
another example of how man, landscape and
culture are intertwined.
"Caves elicit expression and the voice of
explorers, Civil War heroes, scientists and
more," said Whetstone.
In touch with his craft and a remark­able
storyteller at that, Whetstone's exhibit
stretches the mind of the viewer and creates
a lasting conversation.
His work may be seen until March 2 in
Biggin Hall.
MUSIC
Bands to look for at Sloss Music Festival
VIA GINNARD ARCHIBALD
RECREATION
Outdoor spots offer places to escape for the day
By EMMA RYGIEL
LIFESTYLE WRITER
Auburn is a fairly small town, so it is com­mon
for the average college student to want to
get some fresh air for the day. Auburn is locat­ed
near a few spectacular sights that everyone
should see.
Providence Canyon State Park
Providence Canyon State Park is an hour-and-
20-minute drive from Auburn.
With 16 canyons total that stretch over
1,103 acres, it is known as the "mini Grand
Canyon."
The canyons, a result of poor farming prac­tices
during the 1800s, are forged from sand­stone
and show a wide array of colorful soil
that includes red, white, purple, pink and or­ange.
There are 10 miles of trails to hike, all begin­ning
and ending at the visitor's center. One of
the most popular trails, the Canyon Loop Trail,
covers nine of the canyons and takes about two
hours to complete the five-mile hike.
Smith Mountain Fire Tower
The Smith Mountain Fire Tower is 37 min­utes
from Auburn and gives panoramic views
of Lake Martin. It was originally built in 1939
but was restored in 2012 when it was opened
to the public.
There is a short, 1/2-mile hike to the tow­er
followed by a climb to the top of the 80-foot
tower. It is an amazing spot to view the sunset
or sunrise any time of the year.
Cheaha State Park
Cheaha State Park is an hour and 33 min­utes
from Auburn. At the foothills of the Ap­palachian
Mountains, the park is home to the
highest point in Alabama, measuring 2,407 feet
above sea level.
The state park is surrounded by the Tallade-ga
National Forest, which is comprised of 11
state parks.
The park offers several hiking-only trails,
but the most popular is the Bald Rock Board­walk
Trail, which is only 1 /4 of a mile in length
and has a scenic overlook that stretches half­way
to Birmingham.
Chewacla State Park
Not even five miles from Auburn sits
Chewacla State Park. There is a short but semi-challenging
hike through woods to the water­fall.
The waterfall was man made in the 1930s
to dam up the lake. Aside from the short hikes,
Chewacla is known more for its outstanding
bike trails. They also offer rentals for canoes
and paddle boats.
Chattahoochee River
The Chattahoochee River, located in Co­lumbus,
Georgia, is only 44 minutes from Au­burn.
The whitewater rafting is located on the
river was nominated one of the Top 12 Man-
Made Adventures in the World by USA To­day.
The river contains rapids ranging up to a
class five. There are two versions of the trip:
classic and challenge.
The challenge version occurs when they re­lease
water from the dam. They also offer to re­lax
flatwater tubing, paddle boarding and kay­aking.
By MOLLY STEWARD
Lifestyle Writer
The Sloss Music and Arts Festival has be­come
Birmingham's premier music festi­val
after three successful years in the Mag­ic
City.
After much anticipation, the 2018 lineup
has finally been announced. The Birming­ham
event is set for July 14-15 at Sloss Fur­naces.
Sloss Fest was created in 2015 by Red
Mountain Entertainment, a longtime con­cert
promoter in Birmingham, and two part­ners:
AC Entertainment (behind the Bonar-oo
and Forecastle festivals) and Venue Man­agement.
"How could this lineup not excite some­one?"
asked Patrick Droney, a musician play­ing
at Sloss Fest. "I'm thrilled to be coming
to Birmingham to perform my new music
for new faces. We are putting together a spe­cial
show for you guys."
Sloss Fest features four stages of music;
the Steam Stage, Blast Stage, Shed Stage and
Seasick Records Stage.
The lineup is now at 44 performers. The
big headliners are Chris Stapleton, Arcade
Fire, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit and Griz.
Daily lineups and the weekend performance
schedule will be revealed later.
Sloss Fest is known to bring a range of
genres into one rocking weekend.
"The festival atmosphere is so special be­cause
most of the attendees are generally just
music lovers," Droney said. "Fans of differ­ent
genres coming together for a few days of
community united by music - such a won­derful
thing. Being able to let loose with that
knowledge on a big festival stage to me is
freedom."
You just kind of immerse yourself into the
whole music scene and be a part of that fes­tival
culture," said John Davidson, a member
of the Brummies. "It is a carefree fun atmo­sphere
to be in."
The Brummies recently finished touring
the Northwest.
The band has played at Bonaroo, Stage­coach,
Shaky Boots, Firefly and Hangout -
they are not new to the festival scene, but
they also have a huge fan base in Europe.
They are originally from Birmingham.
For them, this is like a homecoming.
"Every year that we see Sloss Fest go by
we are just like, 'Man, that's home, and we
would love to be a part of it,'" Davidson said.
"It feels good to finally get an opportunity to
play in front of our hometown in a big festi­val
like that, its special for us."
They currently reside in Nashville.
The Brummies plan to release a new sin­gle
in February followed by a record in April.
Davidson and band member, Trevor Da­vis,
are also big Auburn fans.
Davidson went to a couple football games
this past year and commented on Auburn's
recent basketball success.
"We also want to achieve the necessary
amount of fame to where we can get sideline
Auburn tickets," Davidson joked.
Both Droney and The Brummies are go­ing
to put on an awesome show to make
Sloss Fest 2018 one to remember, they said.
It is apparent that both cannot wait to
share their passion for music with the Mag­ic
City in July.
"I've always felt that the transaction be­tween
artist and crowd is a sacred one,"
Droney said. "When I am on stage play­ing
for faces standing right in front of me,
I know it's something unique and special
we are sharing in a fleeting moment. I love
sharing that space with the crowd and look
forward to doing just that at Sloss this sum­mer."
"Any room where people want to listen to
the music is a room we are happy to be in,"
Davidson said.
Tickets are on sale now for Sloss Fest
2018, hosted at the Historic Sloss Furnaces.
Sloss is currently the only 20th century blast
furnace in the United States being preserved
as a historic industrial site.
Sloss also helped the city get the nickname
"Magic City." The city was named after Bir­mingham,
England - the center of the coun­try's
iron industry.
The new Alabama city boomed, becoming
the Magic City.
)t Auburn $latnsman PAGE 12
HOSPITALITY
The Crenshaw
House provides
Auburn hospitality
LOGAN ELLISON/ PHOTOGRAPHER
The bed and breakfast on College Street on Sunday, Feb. 4,2018 in Auburn, Ala..
By COURTNEY SCHELL
Lifestyle Writer
Built in 1890 by Auburn University math
professor Boiling Hall Crenshaw, the Crenshaw
Guest House was originally a one-room bunga­low
for his family. It has since been transformed
over the years to become alternative lodging for
any Auburn visitors.
Crenshaw first built this home for residency
for him and his family and soon after built a sec­ond
story suite to house students.
The Crenshaw family shared their home with
University students for many years.
The home has been passed down to several
owners throughout the years, each owner mak­ing
it their own.
In November 2013, the current owners, Ste­phen
and Sarah Jenkins, purchased the home
and have created a well-known bed and break­fast
in the heart of Auburn.
The house stands tall and sticks out with its
bright-blue color and Victorian style.
To the right of the home is a pebble-filled
driveway that leads to the back toward the back­yard
and smaller cottages, each having their own
name.
"We lived in the Dallas area," Sarah Jenkins
said. "When our oldest daughter came down
here, we stayed here. When we left in August
after we dropped her off, my husband was talk­ing
to the owner and said, 'Hey, if you are ever
thinking about selling, let us know,' and the
owner said, 'Well I am letting you know.""
The family prayed about it all the way back
home, hoping to find an answer.
"We said, 'Okay Lord, if that's what you want,
open doors and if not, close them,' and He just
opened door after door," Sarah Jenkins said.
"We sold our house, packed up, moved to Au­burn
and have been renovating and working on
it ever since."
The Crenshaw Guest House now consists of
seven different rooms, all varying in size and
style.
There are three rooms in the original house
and four cottages in the back yard.
Each room or suite includes antiques with
history as well as new renovations, creating a
truly authentic atmosphere in its interior design.
"I always say that God provides, and He does
because when we start redoing a room and we
need things, things just show up," Sarah Jenkins
said. "He's good about that."
In the centen of the home stands the kitchen
where the Jenkins serve their guests breakfast
every morning.
Breakfast is buffet style, changes each day
and consists of food like scrambled eggs, cheese
grits, bacon, pancakes, toast, jelly and jam, fruit
and yogurt.
During the day, there are always complimen­tary
cookies and coffee for the guests.
"The accommodation of the early time we
needed to eat and the graciousness of the hosts
was simply outstanding," said Wendy Carla
Griffin, a prior guest. "The fresh cookies and full
refrigerator were a bonus too."
COLUMN
In Defense of UGGs: Is the furry boot coming back in style?
By EMMA RYGIEL
Lifestyle Writer
Yes, you read it right, it may be time to
dig out your classic UGG boots from 2010
because their comeback has just begun. Per­haps
the most worn shoe of a millennial's
childhood is, believe it or not, coming back
into the fashion eye.
"In fashion, one day you're in and the next
you're out," said fashion icon Tim Gunn.
These wise words could not be more fit­ting
for the UGG boot. There is a love-hate
relationship with the shoe, but what is loved
is the consistency and comfort of the prod­uct.
However, the turn away is that the clas­sic
style isn't always versatile.
A guilty pleasure when it fluctuates out of
style and proudly worn daily when it is in
style, UGGs have proven to be the trend we
just can't shake. Here are three reasons you
should bring back the boots this winter.
Celebrity Spottings
Thanks to the media's eyes on the streets,
there have been many celebs caught in the
comfort of a pair of UGGs this season, with
some showing us you can even dress them
up beyond your pair of leggings and a sweat­shirt.
Jennifer Lopez was caught walking
around the block in a pair of black classic
UGGs worn with a plaid tea-length skirt, a
white blouse and a puffy coat.
Rihanna was also spotted with the same
pair but styled down with PUMA track
pants and a coat. Therefore, not only is the
shoe back in style, but the other colors be­yond
the original are as well.
Lastly, Kendall Jenner was spotted mixing
it up with the chestnut classic UGGs worn
with a pair of black jeans and an army green
bomber jacket.
Serving as trendsetters, these fashionable
celebrities should convince you to get back
on the UGG bandwagon.
UGGs Appearance in Mens-wear
Paris Fashion Week
Glen Marten, the creative director for the
designer brand Y/Project, reinvented the
trend on the autumn/winter 2018 mens-wear
runway show in Paris. Although his
version is a bit out there for every day wear,
the trend was still brought up and will trick­le
down to the mass consumer level. Styled
with T-shirts and jeans, Marten's collection
has inspired the resurgence of the chunky
UGG boot this winter, and thus the world of
high-end fashion is in support of the trend.
No need to fear not being fashion forward.
Comfort
For this sole reason, why did we stop
wearing them in the first place?
All in all, UGGs are one of the most com­fortable
pairs of shoes, and although they
are sometimes criticized for not being fash­ion
forward, that idea has been thrown out
the window this season. Thanks to J. Lo, Ri­hanna,
Kendall Jenner and Paris fashion,
shoppers have been given the green light to
bring back the best basic boot without com­promising
the ability to be fashionable at the
same time.
To Place an Ad,
Call 334-844-9101
or E-mail
admanager@theplainsman.com Tigermarket Print Deadline
Noon three business days
prior to publication
Spring Break
BAHAMAS SPRING
BREAK $189 for
5-Days. All prices
include: Round-trip
luxury party cruise.
Accommodations
on the island at your
choice of ten resorts.
Appalachia Travel.
www.BahamaSun.com
800-867-5018
For Rent
Work with
landowner on various
landscaping projects,
1-3 times a week,
hours reasonably
flexible.
334-663-1865.
Get the lastest news
on Auburn!
Fihebook.com/
IheVlainsman
*
7"huitter.com/
IheAUPltrinsnwi
To advertise
email admanager@theplainsman.com
For more information
9 7 6
9 7 • 5
1 4 2
8 •3 9 5
4 8
1 9
5 8 4
3 6
2 5
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS
1 Color changers
5 Allowing for the
uncertainty of the
future
10 Fairytale bear
14 Set
15 Greenland coin
16 Holiday lead-ins
17 Aerialists'
insurance
19 Days in Durango
20 Side by side?
21 Medical priority
system
23 Visually
transfixed
26 Porsche Boxster,
eg.
29 Mauritania
neighbor
30 Make a big stink
31 Immobile
32 Lining fabric
34 Zebra hunter
36 Breakfast order
... and a hint to
the last words of
17-, 26-, 51-and
58-Across
41 Loaves that may
be seeded
42 Printing goofs
44 Narrow groove
48 Take to heart
50 "Yikes!"
51 Like some pizza
ovens
53 Decorative
draperies
54 Brand name for
the sleep aid
Zolpidem
55 Culture starter?
57 Tropical tuber
58 Conflict in
Tennyson's The
Charge of the
Light Brigade"
64 Tiny bit
65 Broadcaster
66 Sticking point
67 Many Christmas
presents
68 Involuntary
muscle
contraction
69 Jet black
DOWN
1 Wedding
reception VIPs
2 Vote for
3 Cookie baker in
the Hollow Tree
4 More
disreputable
5 Terrier breed
from Scotland
6 Richly decorated
7 Rival
8 Colony crawler
9 Stops working for
a while
10 Highway divider
11 Pilot
12,Scanty
13 State strongly
18 Little Italian
number
22 "Stand By Me"
director
23 Bowling alley
initials
24 Some square
dancers
25 Baldwin brother
27 "Maybe"
28 1930s migrant to
California
30 Beverage
company
Cointreau
33 Coffee server
35 Binged (on)
37 Paint brand sold
at Home Depot
38 Got big enough
for
39 "Bom This Way"
Lady
40 Antlered animal
43 Program
interruptions
44 Try to hit, as a
. fly
45 Minestrone
ingredient
46 Drink named for
a Scottish hero
47 Make a scene
and act up
49 One of a '50s
singing quartet
52 Ancient empire
builders
53 Madrid Mrs.
56 Start of an idea
59 Fabric flaw
60 Vo La Tengo
guitarist Kaplan
61 Break the tape
62 Whichever
63 King of ancient
Rome
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
E S s » s A V E R S A R A L
M E I o M E L E T
'
P A C E
B A N G u P T I M E o R C S
R E B A R S D A I M L E R •
Y E A R B E N G A L C u B
O L D D E A R L O O 1 E
E N D O R s E 1 N N
B I N G E W A T C H I N G
P E R S N E E R E R
U B O A T A U R O R A S
B O N G O D R U M N A S H • P R E C O O L S H i N T O
S P U N • B U N G E E C O R D
H E L D « L E A N E R • F A D
A R E A E N S U R E F l!. Y
02/08/18
1 2 3
4 s
6 7 8
' • 11 12 13
14 1 ,s "
17 18 1 "
• 20 I21 22
23 24 25 1 26 27 28
29 _
•» 31
32 33 _
1 14
35 • 36 37 38 39 40
• • I41
*
43
44 45 46 47 • 48
* • 50
51
*
_
• "
54 • 55 56
57
"
59 60 61 62 63
64 . • 66
67 68 1 69
By Susan Gelfand
©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
02/08/18
J
4 I
blished by ©)t ^UbUftl
ByPAUL
BROCK
Campus Writer
» See HISTORY 2
Today. most people simply think of Valentine's Day
as a tradition that has been around for as long as they
can remember. Valentine's Day is an ancient holiday
that can be traced as far back as Roman times and did not
involve candy and sweet cards.
The Roman holiday of Lupercalia was celebrated on Feb. 15 in honor of
the Roman god of agriculture and fertility, Faunus. This holiday was cel­ebrated
differently from how it is celebrated today. The festival involved
sacrificing animals and then "softly" slapping women and crops with the
bloody hide.
According to legend, all young women of Rome would put
their names in a big urn. The single young men would then
take turns drawing names, and they would be paired
with the woman they drew for a year. Often,
the men would eventually mar-
MRU;--
HISTORY
» From 1
ry the woman they were paired with.
The holiday continued until the fifth century, when
it was outlawed by Pope Gelasius 1 and replaced with
Valentine's Day on Feb. 14. Little is known about St.
Valentine of Terni, and in fact, there are 11 other sancti­fied
Valentine's with two living in the same era.
According to lore, Valentine of Terni was beat­en,
stoned and beheaded around 269 A.D. for marry­ing
Christian couples. Because of his association with
marriage, Valentine of Terni became the patron saint
of love and still has his name attached to the modern
holiday.
The emphasis on love and passion we see splashed
through shopping malls began here.
The holiday continued to evolve over millennia.
During the middle ages in France and England, Feb­ruary
was believed to be the beginning of the mating
season for birds, further reinforcing Valentine's asso­ciation
with love. The oldest valentine, in the sense of
the physical love note or letter, historians know of was
a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans,
to his wife during his imprisonment. How romantic.
Valentine's has been celebrated in the United States
since its founding. In the 1840s, Esther Howland be­gan
selling the first mass-produced Valentine's cards
which came with lace, ribbon and vibrant photos.
Now over a century and a half later, around a bil­lion
cards are sold each year in the States alone. Over
$18 billion were made off the holiday last year. Love
is expensive.
Since Valentine's grip tightened on America, the
love has spread to other sides of the planet.
Every year, Valentine's is celebrated across the
world with many nations adding their own unique tra­dition
to the holiday.
In South Korea, the women are responsible for
bringing chocolate and flowers to the men.
In the Philippines, couples will gather together and
have mass weddings in large public areas or renew
their vows as part of a large group.
In South Africa, women pin the names of love in­terests
on their sleeves to let the men know who's in­terest
they have caught. Talk about wearing your
heart on your sleeve.
Valentine's Day is no longer the holiday
it was, but it has become a tradition en­joyed
by people across the world.
While its origins are still de­bated,
the holiday celebrat­ed
today will, without
doubt, be around for a
long time to come
as love is an idea
that appeals
to all.
Keep flipping for more •••
54 years of marriage
experience
Day in the life: florist
edition
Is Valentine's
worth the
hype?
i xS>
VA
V
4 $ &
By SAMANTHA STRUNK
Campus Writer
%
Cv
S?
s
£
The staggering commercialization surrounding holiday
culture often manifests itself in a form that is great for the
sweet tooth and terrible for the dental bills: candy. Christmas
is marked by candy canes. For Easter, it's Peeps. Halloween
brings candy com and Valentine's Day features Sweethearts.
With a catchy compliment and a satisfying crunch, the
conversation heart has charmed its way into the decorated
shoeboxes of elementary-age children everywhere. Howev­er,
Sweethearts can serve in a place beyond the playground;
the arena in which they were destined to flourish is the dat­ing
world.
Many people working toward, or even currently in, rela­tionships
find themselves scared of saying the wrong thing to
their significant other. Luckily, during the season of romance.
Sweethearts can do all the talking.
Boasting messages like "YOU ROCK" and "WICKED
COOL" conversation candy hearts alleviate the stress of try­ing
to find the right words. Unlike lofty, stilted declarations of
affection, Sweethearts' messages are simply stated and easi­ly
digested.
A few messages like "BE MINE" and "LOVE ME," may
come across as forceful or too direct, but these can be gone in a
bite leaving more relaxed memos like "U R HOT' and "CRA­ZY
4 YOU" behind them. Sometimes, though, the more direct
messages are what is desired; the wide spectrum of sayings
gives consumers choice in their sentiments while making sure
those feelings are articulated eloquently.
The obvious choice for your Valentine's conversation is to
substitute hearts for verbal communication; nothing bad can
come of it. To quote a heart, happy Valentine's Day, "SWEET
STUFF."
r
By KAILEY BETH SMITH
Community Reporter
Ah, February. The month when the
weather warms up, classes pick up and
the seasons of Valentine's and Easter
quickly approach.
Wallets may still be recovering from
the Christmas season, but cheap, heart­felt
gifts exist. Some of these "do it your­self'
gifts involve a little more effort than
others, but they are simple crafts that
loved ones are sure to enjoy.
Photos and memories
Original photos hold many memories
for people, and with today's technology,
they are easily accessible to all. If you
have photos of you and your sweetheart,
or you and your friends, consider print­ing
these off at a local kiosk at places
like Walmart or CVS and framing them.
Cheap frames can be found at Walmart
for $2-3 each. If you choose to frame
them, then on the outside of the frame
print the date, occasion or memory that
is pictured within.
If being photogenic isn't your strong
suit, consider a simple print or hand de­sign
on cardstock. One of my favorite
ideas is to frame a section of a map from
a place you've been together - maps of
any state can be found at local rest areas
or online to print, and then script a mem­ory
from that trip or the name of the loca­tion
over the map.
Mugs
If there's a coffee or tea lover in your
life, hand-decorated sharpie mugs are an
easy and classic DIY project to warm
their hearts and their hands. You will
need an oil-based paint sharpie and a
coffee mug, usually $1-2, depending on
how plain it is and where you get it from.
Walmart or Target tend to be the easiest
options. Draw your design on the out­side
of the mug, let it dry and then bake
in it the oven for 30 minutes at 350 de­grees
Fahrenheit. These mugs can be re­used
and are durable enough to toss in
the dishwasher, though hand washing is
preferred.
Cookies
Everyone loves cookies. If you're
looking for a quick gift to hand off be­tween
classes, bake the cookies the night
before and stack them up in a Mason jar
- less than $3 for a sleeve at Walmart.
Tie some loose hemp string or a cute bow
around the metal top or glass middle of
the jar, add a nametag and a cute note -
now you have a simple and baked-with-love
Valentine's day gift.
Movie date
If you're looking for a quick and easy
date idea and you're not keen on making
reservations for Hamilton's or Acre, opt
instead for a movie night in. Before you
get excited about just browsing Netflix
together, put a little thought into it first.
Choose the movie, pick up a bag of pop­corn
and the person's favorite candy. You
can even go for an inexpensive bottle of
wine to make the night seem a little more
special.
Plants
If you don't have the time to spend to­gether
on Valentine's Day, succulents are
great little additions to any area. If your
sweetheart's apartment needs a little
green, but you don't have much green to
spend, consider purchasing them one of
these small and easy-to-care-for friends.
Blooming Colors at College and South
Donahue has a plethora of succulents to
choose from in their greenhouse, often
less than $5. While you're there, pick up
a small pot for the plant and decorate it
with an original design or write a sweet
message on the outside of the pot.
Sometimes it can be difficult to decide
on the right gift for the men in your life,
so below are a few ideas that can keep
them happy without handing them some
food that will disappear in a matter of
minutes.
Wallets
if your guy carries a wallet, but it's
rather plain, consider using metal stamps
to imprint his name, initials or favorite
quote in it. This may take a little stealth
on your part, but it can easily be done. If
he needs a new one, grab an inexpensive
but durable one from TJ Maxx or Target
and give him a new gift with a little per­sonalization.
Books
Finally, if you have an active read­er
in your life, consider the genres they
like to immerse themselves in, and go
pick up a book that's recommended in
the same genre. Wrap the book in brown
paper, and provide a vague but intrigu­ing
description on the outside. These are
called blind-dates with a book, and you
can pick up several books from the lo­cal
Goodwill or Mission Thrift to please
your sweetheart and to keep them enter­tained
throughout the month of Febru­ary.
Pair this with one of the DIY sharp­ie
mugs and a few packets of their favor­ite
tea, and you have a book-lovers box
for under $10.
his thoughts
Skeisfuntobeonmndondl
enjoy talking to her
Jt'stikeevery
every Joy he lets ;
Paula, Nick and 54 ye
She had met the front-row student in
their freshman British Literature class
at Purdue University. The teacher made
them memorize the beginning of Geotferv
Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales," a string
of words the couple still knows by heart.
Paula was called on, and when the words
of Chaucer flowed out of her mouth, laced
together with a thick Southern drawl, Nick
turned to face her.
"He laughed, so 1 married him," Paula
said.
She had been looking for the first man
who was smarter than her, while simulta­neously
being someone she couldn't push
around. They began spending time togeth­er,
and those characteristics came to the
surface in Nick.
She was dating a PIKE brother when
she met Nick. Paula and her popular boy­friend
would give Nick rides every once in
a while, and she started noticing differenc­es
between the men.
"After a while, 1 noticed that |NickJ lis­tened
to me. and the PIKE only gave me
beach towels and stuff." Paula said. "I just
switched my affection."
For Nick. Paula was all he had ever had
in the way of true romance. She was es­pecially
bright, beautiful and full of ener­gy.
Their worlds were different, but it only
drew them closer to each other.
Paula was raised in a Deep South town
where she was seen its an "honorary son."
She was active in sports and known for
throwing a couple hips in field hockey.
Nick went to a top-tier high school in the
North, his uncle sang for the Metropoli­tan
Opera and he was chock full of cultural
knowledge that intrigued Paula.
He had a lot riding on this first relation­ship.
When faced with a bank of frigid In­diana
snow, he scooped up his lady and at­tempted
to cross the mound. He wanted to
be a hero — Sir Walter Raleigh-esque.
"I tripped in the snow, and we both laid
there in the snow, laughing when our En­glish
professor came by," Nick said as Pau­la
cuts him off with a fact check.
"It was our philosophy professor," Paula
said with a hand on his.
By LILY JACKSON
Managing Editor
Paula Backshieder's father walker her down the aisle toward the man
that would be her husband. With an unpleasant face and a snarl in his
voice, her father looked at her and said, "You don't have to do this."
The sassy sophomore in college just kept walking.
and 54 years
ights
fun tobe around and I
n joy talking taker
her thoughts
It 's like every moment of
every day he lets me by myself
The professor looked down and rolled his eyes at the
pair, lying there in the snow.
In a year they were married, and they kept moving
forward. They continued on into their 20s, figuring out
what that meant for the both of them. Paula wanted to
be a good wife that knew how to dust, but she felt un­prepared.
Nick attended a "progressive high school" where all
boys took a home economics course. He was horrified
as he watched her wash glasses, dipping a dirty frying
skillet in the same sink.
You never wash your nice glasses in the same sink as
a dirty dish, his mother had always taught him.
She was struggling with learning how to dust and
clean dishes, and she barely had time to spend with
him. She laughed, gasped and said, "Then he got the
idea that probably helped us have the marriage we do."
They thought of the worst chore in their mind —
what they hated doing more than anything. They gave
it to the other person. He got the dusting. She got hedge
trimming.
"We were happy." Paula said.
With the homemaking figured out, they moved to
New Haven, Connecticut, for education at Yale They
lived in an experimental housing project next to an Af-rican-
American pastor whose wife bilked yeast rolls,
a Jewish couple and other Yale students just down the
way.
With race riots raging only a few blocks away and
the Black Panthers demonstrating on the Yale Com­mons,
there was no shortage of culture and expression
for their newborn, Andrea, to absorb. Nick sang An­drea
to sleep nightly, and Paula rose with the sun to
greet her.
School finished as they obtained doctoral degrees.
The two began working, hopping from job to job. Nick
followed his wife as she found her way through Roch­ester
University. Rollins College and. finally. Auburn
University.
They were long-distance for a time, and Paula said
it just didn't work for them. Nick got antsy and began
picking up hobbies like mini-golf and painting to fill
the time.
"We were going to have a coin flip," Paula said.
"Whoever won or lost was going to quit his or her job."
He got the job. They were together again.
They moved onto a couple acres of land w ith for­ests
that hugged their home. Their tradition of "mom­my
and daddy time." continued, and they met in the
kitchen while dinner was being prepared and had the
kind of conversation through which they had fallen in
love years before.
In recent years, Nick has appreciated her company
as he recovers from a fall. Her company is sincere, and
she is fun. he said. Paula appreciates him for letting her
be true to herself.
"It's like every moment of every day he lets me be
myself," Paula said. "He's there for me, and I'll come
in and he asks, 'How was your day?' It's so rare for
people on either side of a marriage, male or female, to
let the other one be themselves and do things they re­ally
want to do."
Paula said they are working toward a marriage wor­thy
of the Guinness Book of World Records. Nick
smiled and looked at his wife.
"We will see how the rest of this goes then."
PHOTOS BY ADAM BRASHER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Is Valentine s worth all the noise? You told us.
Abby Parker, senior in journalism and Spanish, said she and her
boyfriend are saving a pretty penny by eating in on Valentine's. Ac­cording
to the study, couples spend an average of $170.53 on an
evening out. Parker's plan to stay in isn't seeming like a bad idea
for her wallet.
"I kind of think it's just another random holiday," Parker said. "I
don't necessarily think it is that big of a deal."
They won't be buying gifts but instead focusing on spending
quality time and sharing love with their friends. According to statis­tics,
Parker and her loved one are a part of the 10 percent who won't
be giving gifts to their significant other.
Luke McEwen, junior in finance, is not staying in on Valentine's
Day but spending the night with the Auburn Basketball team for
the Kentucky game. He said the holiday is a fun tradition, but he
doesn't see the point in celebrating while he is single.
Being single on Valentine's isn't always a bad thing for men, as
they spend almost twice as much as women.
"1 think it is a good time to show the person you are dating or
engaged or married to how much you -io care fcr them," McEw­en
said.
He feels that Valentine's should not be the only day one shares
love with others, rather a day for a more special display of that love.
SCHOOL IS EXPENSIVE.
GOLF SHOULDN'T BE.
»- — -t
Play championship golf at a discount with a valid
student ID at Grand National. Take a break from
studying and swing away your stress with 18
holes of golf with a cart for just $42, or walk a
round for $23. Enjoy the Spring in Auburn and lower
your handicap this semester; not your GPA.
»- - - — — — ---«
» TO BOOK A TEE TIME, CALL 334.749.9042 «
ROBERT TKJENIJONES
& ilfWI TRAII.
THE ROBERT TRENT JONES GOLF TRAIL AT GRAND NATIONAL
3000 Robert Trent Jones Trail - Opelika, Alabama 36801
334.749.9042 K3 facebook.com/rtjgrandnational
Flowers for all:
How florists handle the hustle of holidays
By JACK