2013-02-07 The Auburn Plainsman

              The Auburn Plainsman
A Spirit That Is Not Afraid
Thursday, February 7, 2013 ThePlainsman.com Vol. 119, Issue 31, 16 Pages
INTRIGUE / B5
CAMPUS / A2
COMMUNITY / A5
OUR VIEW / A7
SPORTS / B1
Lance Davis
Sports Writer
The University announced Fri-day,
plans to remove the beloved poi-soned
oak trees at Toomer’s Corner.
Despite repeated efforts to save the
trees, the possibility of their survival
has been in question since the poi-soning
was discovered in January of
2011.
A date has not been set for the
trees’ removal.
According to the press release, the
University and the city of Auburn will
host a “Celebrate the Tradition” block
party featuring live music at Toomer’s
Corner after the A-Day football game
Saturday, April 20.
The block party will provide fans
with one last opportunity to roll and
photograph the trees before they are
removed.
“While I will be very sad to see the
trees go and to see the end of an era of
one of our greatest traditions, I think
that A-Day serves as a great opportu-nity
for us to celebrate the history as-sociated
with the oaks at Toomer’s
Corner one last time before we move
into the next stage of this tradition,”
SGA President Owen Parrish said.
The University will also announce
its future landscaping plans for
Toomer’s Corner at A-Day.
More than 10,000 people voted in
an online survey conducted by Au-burn
University and landscape archi-tecture
firms Nelson Byrd Woltz and
jB+a for various plans to redevelop
the famous corner .
“The architects are combining
their expertise and experience with
the terrific input from the Auburn
Family to come up with a future plan
that we will all be proud of,” said Dan
King, assistant vice president of facil-ities
management.
The survey featured four possible
landscaping schemes for the Toom-er’s
Oaks area and the area extending
into Samford Park.
Auburn will decide what to do with
the area after it analyzes the data. It
is possible that one specific scheme
is chosen, but it is also possible that
multiple features from different
schemes are combined into one.
“They don’t really know yet, be-cause
they’re really interested in see-ing
what 10,000 people thought,” said
Debbie Shaw, vice president of alum-ni
affairs.
National
Signing Day
Who have the Tigers
signed in coach Gus
Malzahan’s 2013
recruiting class?
Funy in
flanel
Improv troupe gives
its first performance
of the year tonight,
Feb, 7, at 8 p.m. in
Haley 2370
Brewing on
The Plains
A graduate program in
brewing sciences was
approved by the board
of trustees. Will you
brew the next best
lager?
Downtown
fire safety
How safe are the bars
downtown in times of
emergency?
» See Roots A2
Losing our roots
University announces
final rolling of
Toomer’s Oaks, future
landscaping plans
to be announced
A-Day, April 20
Austin Lankford
Campus Writer
Although the fate of the Toomer’s
Corner oaks has now been decided,
the people of Auburn will keep them
alive in spirit through stories and
memories.
The trees are scheduled to be re-moved
after the A-Day game in April,
giving students and fans one more
chance to roll the infamous oaks.
The trees’ uprooting hits hardest the
people who have made special mem-ories
on the corner throughout the
years.
“I remember bringing my kids to
Auburn and them begging me if they
could roll Toomer’s after the game,”
said Kay Ellen Willoughby, a 1983
Auburn graduate.
Kailey Miller
Campus Writer
It has been officially announced
that the Toomer’s Trees will be re-moved
in the upcoming months.
Students and faculty members have
mixed feelings about this Auburn
tradition changing.
“I think its sad to see a big part of
the university’s heritage torn down,
but I also think that the university
and the city are going to work togeth-er
to do whatever it takes to keep tra-dition
alive and I’m glad to see that,”
said Travis Herrmann, senior in jour-nalism.
Auburn provided a survey for
those concerned with Toomer’s Cor-ner
to help decide what should re-place
the Toomer’s Trees.
“They can’t stay the way that they
are now, they’re just a scar on the
face of the campus and it’s the sad-dest
thing I’ve seen since I came
here,” said Michael Fuhlhage, assis-tant
professor in the department of
communication and journalism. “I
haven’t been around long enough to
feel like those specific trees are the
ones that have to be there or else the
tradition fails; as long as there are
trees for people to paper, the tradi-tion
lives on.”
Although the final plan for Toom-er’s
Corner has not yet been revealed,
there is a plan for a new tradition to
live on at Toomer’s Corner as long as
Auburn fans are dedicated to carry it
on with their spirit.
“I have a young child who I want-ed
to raise in that tradition and now
we’re going to have to make due with
whatever they accommodate the
university with, but I think it’ll be
positive moving forward,” Herrmann
said.
Katherine McCahey /Asistant Photo Editor
The Toomer’s Oaks were allegedly poisoined by Harvey Updyke Jr. after the 2010 Iron
Bowl.
Danielle Lowe / Photographer
The University made numerous attempts to treat the Toomer’s Oaks by injecting a sug-ar
substance into the roots in order to encourage photosynthesis.
The Giving tree
Did the University make
the right decision in
deciding to
remove the Toomer’s
Oaks?
» See memories A2 » See renovations A2
Alumni recall memories of
Toomers through the ages
Students want tradition to
stay with oaks renovations
Courtesy of Facilities Management
Toomer’s Corner in 1890.
Campus A2 The Auburn Plainsman Thursday, February 7, 2013
Jan. 30 – West Magnolia Avenue
Auto breaking and entering between
9:10 p.m.–9:30 p.m.
Jan. 30 – Opelika Road
Third-degree criminal mischief report
between 8:54 p.m.–8:59 p.m.
Jan. 30-31 – North Donahue Drive
Second-degree auto breaking and
entering between 5 p.m. Jan.
30–1:30 p.m. Jan. 31
Jan. 31 – Street not provided
Third-degree theft of clothes be-tween
3:29 p.m.–3:39 p.m.
Jan. 31 – North Dean Road
Third-degree theft of a laptop be-tween
2 p.m.–2:20 p.m.
Jan. 31 – South Dean Road
Third-degree theft of a cell phone
and U.S. currency between 11 a.m.–
noon
Jan. 31 – Yeager Lane
Third-degree burglary of two laptops
between 5 p.m.–7:45 p.m.
Jan. 31- Feb. 1 – Street not provided
Third-degree theft of an iPhone
between 8:45 p.m. Jan. 31–4:30
p.m. Feb. 1.
Feb. 1 – Street not provided
Third-degree criminal trespass report
between 4:45 p.m.–4:55 p.m.
Feb. 3-4 – Jordan Street
Third-degree burglary of a DVD player
and space heater between 10 p.m.
Feb. 3–6 a.m. Feb. 4.
Feb. 4 – Gentry Drive
Criminal trespass report between
9:30 p.m.–10 p.m.
Feb. 5 – Stephanie Court
Auto breaking and entering between
12:01 a.m.–1:40 a.m.
— Reports provided by Auburn
Department of Public Safety
Crime Reports for Jan. 30 – feb. 5, 2013 DUI Arrests in the City of Auburn
Jan. 30 – Feb. 5, 2013
■ Donald Gillenwaters, 52, Lanett
Thursday, Jan. 31, 12:13 a.m. at South College
Street and Reese Avenue
■ Christopher Taylor, 22, Waverly
Thursday, Jan. 31, 3:30 a.m. on Pride Avenue
■ Willard Faulkner Jr., 25, Auburn
Saturday, Feb. 2, 11:58 p.m. at North Gay Street and
Halal Court
■ Cely Thompson, 19, Auburn
Sunday, Feb. 3, 12:22 a.m. at Bragg Avenue and
Sanders Street
■ Daniel Hughes, 20, Miami, Fla.
Sunday, Feb. 3, 1:17 a.m. on West Samford Avenue
■ Brianna Smith, 19, Hogansville, Ga.
Sunday, Feb. 3, 3:04 a.m. on South College Street
■ Tanner Graham, 20, Nashville, Tenn.
Sunday, Feb. 3, 2:56 a.m. at Dekalb Street and
Opelika Road
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The Auburn Plainsman
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Auburn, AL 36849
Editor - Robert E. Lee
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Roots
» From A1
“If one was significantly
the favorite, then I’d say they
may pick that one. You kind
of just have to wait and see.”
Auburn intends to create
structures at the intersection
of College Street and Magno-lia
Avenue that can be rolled
once the trees are gone.
Fans will be encouraged
to roll these structures after
football wins and other oc-casions.
“We want people to be up-beat
about the future of this
area,” Shaw said. “Rolling
the corner is a uniquely Au-burn
tradition, and whether
we roll trees or other struc-tures,
the camaraderie and
sense of togetherness is part
of what makes Auburn a spe-cial
place.”
Shaw and Susan Smith, di-rector
of trademark licens-ing,
are working to come up
with products made from the
wood of the trees to be sold
to the public. The profit will
go toward scholarships.
“We know we want to of-fer
a lot of different price
points,” Shaw said. “Some
items may be more expen-sive,
but then some are go-ing
to be very reasonable for
anybody.”
Shaw and Smith haven’t
decided on what type of
products will be offered,
but they have some ideas.
“It’ll probably range
from a framed picture
that’s got a piece of the
wood in it with a special
plaque,” Shaw said. “We
may have paperweights
out of the wood. We may
have bowls. We’re just
looking at a lot of differ-ent
products.”
Auburn is installing
high-resolution cameras
in various locations sur-rounding
the Toomer’s
Oaks. The cameras will be
up by the end of the week.
“Some very special
high-resolution cameras
are being placed in areas
that will film around the
tree,” Shaw said. “You’ve
probably seen those old
grainy films. Well, no lon-ger.
These cameras are
much higher resolution.”
Vandalism was a cause
for concern for the uni-versity
in deciding when
to announce the trees’
imminent removal.
“We talked a lot about
that because there were
a lot of reasons we didn’t
want to announce it this
early,” Shaw said.
“We do have some con-cerns
that some people
might try to vandalize
the tree.”
Courtesy of Facilities Manag ement
One of the four options for landscaping Toomer’s Corner. The University has not announced a timeframe on the renovations, but the last rolling
of the oaks is scheduled for April 20.
Courtesy of Facilities Manag ement
A survey conducted by the University showed more than 10,00 individuals voting on what to do after the Toomer’s oaks are removed. The most
popular option voted on was replacing the trees with an artificial structure.
“I can remember them try-ing
to get toilet paper on the
highest branch.”
Willoughby said during
the 2010 undefeated season
that seeing the oaks was one
of the best parts of the game
day experience.
“We even loved driving
by them the next day after a
game and they were still cov-ered,”
Willoughby said. “It’s
really sad that they won’t be
there anymore.”
Bobby Adams graduated
from Auburn in 2003 and was
also a cheerleader.
“I remember being called
out when I made cheerlead-ing
next to the trees,” Adams
said. “That was one of my
best memories of the corner.”
Adams is still an avid Au-burn
fan and has two daugh-ters
who he has brought to
watch football games.
“I know that they will build
memories other places on
campus, but it’s sad they won’t
be able to experience that,” Ad-ams
said.
The experiences and memo-ries
made under the Toomer’s
oaks go back for generations in
some families.
Patrick Bush, a 2001 gradu-ate,
was preceded by his moth-er
and grandfather at Auburn.
“The first time I rolled the
trees at Toomer’s Corner was
after an LSU game as a kid,”
Bush said. “I didn’t realize how
special that landmark was un-til
later.”
Bush said his mother was
present at what is believed to
be the first rolling of the oaks
in 1972 after the Iron Bowl.
Bush plans on attending the
final rolling in April with his
family.
Chip Scivicque, also an Au-burn
graduate, is on staff with
Campus Crusade.
“I remember rolling the
Toomer’s oaks when I was a
student 40 years ago and since
my office is a few hundred
feet away from Toomer’s Cor-ner,
I’ve enjoyed the beauty
of those oaks every day,” Sciv-icque
said.
Scivicque said even more
than the beauty and celebra-tion,
he sees a sense of belong-ing
in the trees because dur-ing
the victory celebrations
around them, people are rev-eling
in the fact that they are
part of the Auburn family.
“And that goes deeper than
a win or even a national cham-pionship,”
Scivicque said.
Many wonder, since the
trees will soon be gone, what
new traditions the people of
Auburn will come up with.
“I am confident that Au-burn
will reinvent that tradi-tion
and it will be a great one,”
Bush said.
Willoughby said she doesn’t
know what the tradition will
be, but hopes that it still takes
place on the trees’ corner.
“It’s no doubt sad they are
coming down, but I know Au-burn
is bigger than any one or
two trees,” Adams said. “But if
there is ever a place to grow
bigger and better trees, it’s Au-burn.”
“I think there has been
enough pain for all of the
alumni and all the people
coming that they look for-ward
to a solution.”
Nina Brewer-Davis, in-structor
in the department
of philosophy, said that it is
sad but necessary to remove
the trees. She isn’t the only
one who thinks this way.
“They have no choice, I
think that’s what has to be
done because the trees did
not survive the poisoning so
this opens up a new chap-ter
in Toomer’s Corner,” said
Jessica Armstrong, instruc-tor
in the department of
communication and jour-nalism.
“Although it’s sad to
see the trees go, it’s exciting
to see what might be there
in the future.”
Ben Hohenstatt, junior
in journalism, said that if
the trees are going to be re-moved,
they might as well
get it out of the way. “I think
it’s kind of sad because it
marks an end to something,
but at the same time if they
are going to replace them
with something, then it all
kind of balances out,” Ho-henstatt
said.
Brewer-Davis hopes that
there is some sort of re-sponse
to the mean spirit-edness
that is the reason for
the trees removal, but oth-ers
are just disappointed
to see the original trees re-moved.
memories
» From A1
Renovations
» From A1
Thursday, February 7, 2013 The Auburn Plainsman Campus A3
Kailey Miller
Campus Reporter
Junior high is an experience
that can be easier for some
teenagers than others.
Young Women Leaders Pro-gram
started in Auburn in the
spring of 2010.
YWLP is a program that in-volves
female undergradu-ate
students mentoring teen-age
girls from different junior
high schools throughout the
community.
It was originally started at
The University of Virginia.
Christiana Brown, graduate
facilitator for the program, de-scribed
YWLP as a multi-level
mentoring program.
Dr. Donna Sollie, YWLP
program director, mentors
Brown who in return mentors
the undergraduates, or big sis-ters.
The big sisters mentor the
teenage girls who are known
as the little sisters.
“I help keep track of every-thing
that’s going on in their
relationships,” Brown said.
The big sisters are paired
with their little sisters for nine
months, or two semesters.
The advisors communicate
with counselors that work
with girls from local junior
high schools.
The counselors recommend
which girls they think would
be right for the program.
They are looking for girls
that have some risk issues
that YWLP can work with to
have better outcomes, said
Carol Roberson, adviser.
“We aren’t trying to do ther-apy
with people, but a lot of
girls, if they have somebody
special in their lives, it will
make a lot of difference,” Rob-erson
said.
There is one group meet-ing
per week with all of the big
and little sisters.
The graduate facilitators
put together a curriculum for
them to follow that targets dif-ferent
leadership skills.
Each week includes a dif-ferent
discussion about top-ics
involving leadership, bul-lying,
gossiping and other is-sues
that surface in junior
high, Brown said.
“We may have role plays on
how to stop bullying or role
playing how to talk to your
teachers about things that are
going on with your friends,”
Brown said. “We’ll just have
fun games that get the teenag-ers
really involved and really
absorbing the message.”
In addition to the weekly
group meetings, the big sisters
spend at least an hour each
week with their little sister.
“One pair just took a self-defense
class and common
things are baking cookies,
making food together, see-ing
movies, just hanging out
and watching TV,” said Alys-sa
McElwain, graduate stu-dent
program facilitator with
YWLP.
YWLP has approximately
17 big sisters in the program
right now, but they are hoping
to recruit more.
Brown, Roberson and
McElwain all see YWLP as a
success at Auburn,.
One challenging aspect of
the program is scheduling,
Brown said. Finding times
where both the big and little
sister have free time can be
difficult.
YWLP has had positive
feedback from the undergrads
and the junior high girls.
“We felt like there was a
real need in the community
for these girls who are at risk
and (we) wanted to do some-thing
to try to help them get
through their really difficult
junior high years,” Roberson
said.
For more information and
updates visit ThePlainsman.
com.
Contributed
Comstock works along researchers to develop her art in Antartica.
Sydney Conrad
Wri t er
Allyson Comstock, art pro-fessor
at Auburn University for
25 years, was granted the op-portunity
to embark on a two-month
excursion to Antarcti-ca
in October.
The National Science Foun-dation
(NFS) awarded Com-stock
the Antarctic Artists and
Writers Program, covering all
cost of transportation, food
and other ground accommo-dations.
“I think one of the reasons I
was selected is that I am using
the microscopic views,” Com-stock
said. “In my application
I talked about how that’s im-agery
and scientific knowl-edge
that very few people have
access to.”
While there, Comstock will
be working in collaboration
with a team of scientists led
by Dr. James McClintock, who
received his Ph.D. in Biology
from the University of South
Florida in 1984. During the
past 25 years of research, Dr.
McClintock and his team, spe-cifically
Dr. Chuck Amsler and
Dr. Robert Angus, have been
working together in study-ing
the prospective impacts
of ocean acidification and in-creasing
seawater tempera-ture
on Antarctic marine algae
and invertebrates, the findings
of which Comstock strives to
put in a new light.
“As an artist I’ll learn a lot
about the research that’s be-ing
done there, and one of my
goals as an artist is to present
that research to an audience
in a different means then a sci-entist,”
Comstock said. “One of
the goals of the NSF program
is to bring to light the research
being done there through a dif-ferent
format.”
Over the two-month peri-od
of her excursion, Comstock
will be studying microscop-ic
views of core samples from
the ice, from which she will
to draw a series of art pieces
in the triptych format, which
consists of three drawings per
piece.
“The central panel is more
of an artistic invention; I’m us-ing
a view of the landscape, a
smaller view, and then I’m lay-ering
in the broad view and the
microscopic view,” Comstock
said. “So, it becomes more of
a composite of the macro and
the micro. That’s the title of my
project; it’s ‘Antarctica: Micro,
Macro and In Between’.”
Her artwork will not be
completed until about a year
after the excursion.
With the help of the resouc-es
available, Comstock is hop-ing
to return with many pho-tographs
that will help her be
able to compose drawings.
“I’ll be gone all of fall se-mester,
and it’s because my
colleagues and department
chair are willing to rework
course assignments so that
I can be on leave,” Comstock
said.
For more visit theplains-man.
com
‘Always with a smile
and a kind word’
Jordan Dale
Wri t er
Elsie C. Reynolds was known for her exempla-ry
character, her love and loyalty to her friends
and family and her ready smile.
Reynolds, a treasured member of the Auburn
University journalism department for 30 years,
passed away at her home in Auburn Jan. 28,
2013. Reynolds was 71.
Reynolds, a resident of Auburn for the past
36 years, retired from her administrative assis-tant
in 2005.
“Let me make something perfectly clear: the
world is run by administrative assistants,” said
Dr. Margaret Fitch-Hauser, department chair of
public relations. “The rest of us are expendable.”
Reynolds worked as a part-time secretary for
both the religion and journalism departments
before becoming secretary of the journalism de-partment
in 1981.
“She was always more than a secretary,” said
Jerry Brown, head of the journalism department
from 1992-1999. “She was a secretary, reception-ist,
chief budget officer, personnel director and
more.”
Brown said he nicknamed Reynolds “Radar
O’Reynolds” because of her efficiency and her
ability to anticipate what was needed.
“Elsie was such a dependable, efficient per-son
at the office,” said Ed Williams, professor of
communication and journalism. “Whenever I
asked her about something, it had already been
done. She was a step ahead of me.”
Reynolds not only streamlined processes
within an office environment, but was able to
garner trust from students with a variety of con-cerns.
“Elsie was the first listening ear,” said Dr. John
Carvalho, associate professor of journalism.
“She had not only a courtesy, but a warmth that
I think would make any student feel welcome.”
Carvalho served as director of the journalism
department from 2004-2009.
“She made my job easier,” Carvalho said. “It
takes a special person to do what she did, and I
think her character filled it well.”
Reynolds worked to facilitate the merger that
occurred between the departments of journal-ism
and communication.
“For many of us, Elsie was the continuity be-tween
the journalism department, between the
chairs and the way we did things,” Fitch-Hauser
said. “She was the glue that held the journalism
department together.”
Faculty members were moved as they re-called
their memories of Reynolds.
“Elsie was the constant,” Fitch-Hauser said.
“She was always there, always with a smile and
a kind word.”
“She was an incredible woman,” said William
White, instructor of journalism, “Everyone in
the department loved her dearly.”
Reynolds was a pivotal player in the process
to receive full accreditation of the journalism
department.
“That was sort of the heyday for Elsie when
we got that national notice,” Brown said. “She
was instrumental in making all the arrange-ments
that were involved, taking care of the ac-creditation
team, filing the reports and making
certain everything was on deadline. “
“She kept everything organized, which was
an underrated job,” Carvalho said. “For us, that
meant state and federal laws, accrediting agen-cies,
and all the other things that went into the
department.”
Beyond her work ethic, Reynolds was re-nowned
for her character and personality.
“She knew everyone by name and their
hometowns,” Fitch-Hauser said. “May her fam-ily
know the peace she always seemed to exude.”
“I’ll never forget her gentle laugh,” Carvalho
said. “When a student would tell us something
horrifying, she would have a momentary look of
surprise and laugh softly.”
Reynolds was an active member of Parkway
Baptist Church and served as church clerk, as
well as other capacities, over the years.
“I don’t think saints ever advertise them-selves
as future saints, but I think if there is such
a thing Elsie Reynolds is one,” Brown said. “She
showed it in every aspect of her life.”
Reynolds was also praised for her uncommon
loyalty to the journalism department, electing
to remain administrative assistant for the dura-tion
of her time at the university.
“I get the greatest satisfaction in my job when
I am challenged,” Reynolds said in the July 1996
issue of AU Report, “Also, I delight in working on
campus during fall quarter when excitement is
in the air, there are students to meet, friends to
welcome back and endless things to do.”
Reynolds’ funeral was held Thursday, Jan. 31
at Jeffcoat-Trant Chapel in Opelika. More than
150 were in attendance.
“She loved people, and people naturally loved
her back,” Williams said. “That was just her na-ture:
to love other people.”
Contributed by Ed Williams
Elsie Reynolds, daughter Erin Reynolds Peacock and granddaughter Addison at the 2000 Auburn Plains-man
open house.
Student big sisters help
Auburn, Opelika teens
Art professor recieves
grant to study in Antartica
Board of Trustees approves certificate in brewing sciences
Daniel Cannaday
writer
While sitting in class, many
students have pictured them-selves
sitting on a breezy, san-dy
beach with a cold beer in
one hand that hisses crisply as
they unscrew its top. Though
beaches are difficult to come
by in Auburn, students who
enjoy a refreshing brew might
soon have the chance to cre-ate
their own concoction for
a grade.
On Friday, Feb. 1, the Board
of Trustees approved a plan
to move forward with a new
brewing sciences program
that will educate graduate stu-dents
on both the business and
production of the craft beer in-dustry.
The board unanimous-ly
passed the motion proposed
by Martin O’Neil, head of the
Nutrition Department.
One reason the Board ac-cepted
the new program so
readily, according to O’Neil, is
the enormous economic up-side
and apparent lack of neg-atives.
“This program stands to
benefit the economy not only
locally, but on a national scale
as well. There’s really no down-side,”
O’Neil said. “The tourism
industry is on the rise here,
and this kind of training will
put graduates in a great place
to obtain jobs in that sphere.”
Though in its early stages,
O’Neil hopes the curriculum
will help students by training
them in this rapidly growing
trade.
The graduate certificate
program will consist of 18
hours and six classes that cov-er
everything from the busi-ness
of brewing to manufac-turing
yeast cultures to the ac-tual
process of brewing beer.
Classes will cost graduate stu-dents
$750–$1000 an hour
and provide students with the
training needed to be compet-itive
with graduates of pro-grams
such as University of
California—Davis’s under-graduate
brewing sciences de-gree.
The program is wildly popu-lar
among students at the uni-versity
and employers, who
have snapped up graduates,
some of whom have gone on
to hold high-level positions at
several breweries. Graduates
have also had success start-ing
their own craft beer com-panies.
Students who obtain a mas-ter’s
in brewing sciences at
UC—Davis become certified
as a “Master Brewer,” the high-est
title bestowed in the world
of beer crafting. The same will
be true of Auburn’s program
according to O’Neil, with the
courses focusing, in large part,
on training students to pass
the Institute of Brewing and
Distillation Examination.
O’Neil believes starting this
program will alleviate that in-convenience,
create jobs and
most importantly, give Au-burn
students the edge in an
extremely competitive job
market.
Though approved, the pro-gram
still has a long journey
before it becomes part of the
curriculum here, so the possi-bility
of an Auburn micro-brew
is, for now, a distant dream.
Though perhaps a prema-ture
thought, one day students
might enjoy the chaos of Pan-ama
City Beach during Spring
Break with a home-brewed
“Tipsy Tiger” in hand.
Former Journalism staff member
Elsie Reynolds passes away Jan. 28
Campus A4 The Auburn Plainsman Thursday, February 7, 2013
Thursday is
Burger Night
Burgers $5.99
where friends meet friends
1151 Opelika Road
Auburn, AL 36830
334-821-3118
www.niffersplace.com
For more information:
Marcy Smith at mks0021@auburn.edu
Brantley Peddy at bep0008@auburn.edu
www.auburnkd.com/philanthropy
Saturday, February 9th
8 a.m.
...
20th Annual
Shamrock
5K Run
Wishes come true with WishmakersAU
Becky Hardy
Campus Editor
WishmakersAU fundraises to grant wishes
closer to home.
WishmakersAU raises money for the Make-A-Wish
Foundation, which grants wishes for chil-dren
with life-threatening medical conditions,
in Alabama.
Olivia Yocum, president of WishmakersAU,
brought the club to campus starting fall of 2012.
“My sister, Nora Banks, works for Make-A-Wish
for the state of Alabama as a development
manager and so she wanted it to come to Au-burn,”
Yocum said. “It was a really long process.
We worked on it for about a year before it got
(to Auburn).”
Since the club works directly through the
Make-A-Wish Foundation, they have to follow
the foundation’s rules, which means they are
not allowed to ask a ‘Wish Kid’ to come to any
event, unless they volunteer.
“We’re not allowed to go through [Make-A-Wish]
and be like ‘Hey can you come speak.’
They have to actually volunteer to come to an
event,” Yocum said.
Although they have yet to have a ‘Wish Kid’
volunteer to come to one of their events, the or-ganization
has still had success at their fund-raisers.
This past fall semester, the WishmakersAU
held a Rake-A-Thon.
“We put out an ad in papers and stuff, as well
as, handed out fliers and got people to volun-teer
their homes to rake their lawns,” said Da-vid
Sanderlin, events coordinator for Wishmak-ersAU.
“There’s a suggested amount of money
that they can donate per hour that you’re there.”
Families were suggested to donate at least
$30 an hour for raking.
“People usually went pretty above,” Sanderlin
said. “People were very generous in the Opelika
and Auburn area.”
The event lasted a couple weekends long and
the club was able to raise approximately $2,000.
WishmakersAU’s event for the spring semes-ter
will be a 5K Saturday, March 30. Registration
is $20 and comes with a T-shirt.
“You can go on our Facebook page and there
is a link to our website, or you can go to Wish-makersAU.
com,” Yocum said.
Next year the club hopes to put on a benefit
concert and art auction.
“One of the girls that’s in (the club), her mom
owns a frame shop, so we wanted to put on an
art show fundraiser,” Yocum said.
The organization’s goal is to grant at least
one wish this year, which costs approximately
$10,000.
“I think if we can do the 5K right, I think we
can grant a wish,” Yocum said. “We want to
make this a long term thing, not with just us ev-ery
year. When we graduate we want it to still be
here and still be big.”
Since this is only the second semester that
the organization has been around, it only has
approximately 15 members.
“With more people we could have bigger
events and then we can expand and have more
man power,” said Will Gosdin, coordinator for fi-nancial
committee for WishmakersAU.
Small time commitment is all that is needed
to join.
“There are very few other ways to spend your
time better,” Sanderlin said. “It’s a really good or-ganization
and we don’t demand a lot of time.
It’s really just for these events. It’s just a couple
hours, like last semester for people to come rake
for one or two hours out of their semester.”
The club stresses their flexibility with sched-ules.
“Coming from an outsider just starting an
organization, I didn’t want to bombard people
with fliers on the concourse and shoving it in
their faces,” Yocum said. “I didn’t want to bom-bard
people with fliers on the concourse and
shoving it in their faces. I don’t want it to be too
demanding. We all have our stuff that is going
on. We just want to make it fun, but it’s also for
a good cause.”
Although the organization is not allowed to
ask ‘Wish Kids’ to come to events, the members
have met people from all over the nation that
have been affected by the foundation in some
way.
“You can’t really say that your money went to
this specific kid, but before this even started I
met a guy and he was a year younger than me,”
Yocum said. “He was flying in and out of Hous-ton,
Texas, to get transplants and he had cancer.
It hit him within the year and he died over the
summer. It hit me last summer. I only met him
once, but it was a life-changing thing.”
Sanderlin had a similar experience when
meeting a student at Auburn who used to be a
‘Wish Kid.’
“One of the first weeks we asked people to
join last semester, we asked someone ‘Hey
would you be interested in getting involved with
this?’” Sanderlin said. “He didn’t tell us right off
the bat, but after two minutes of talking with
us he said ‘I was up to receive a liver from the
Make-A-Wish foundation when I was a kid.” He
said by the time (the wish) had gotten to him,
he had already received the transplant, so he
passed (the wish) on to another person.”
The organization enables its members to
meet people they would not have met other-wise.
“It was cool to meet someone whose life had
been affected and who was familiar with the
organization,” Sanderlin said. “It was very cool.”
Contributed by olivia yocum
Olivia Yocum, sophomore in nutrition and dietetics, Julianna Cvetetic, sophomore in graphic design and Lexie Powers, sophomore in undeclared science and
math, rake Auburn and Opelika natives’ yards to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation last fall. They raised close to $2,000 at this event that lasted a
few weekends long.
Student awarded honorable mention
for strong, skillful leadership
Kailey Miller
Campus Reporter
In an out-of-character
move, The President William,
Jefferson, Clinton Hunger
Leadership award awarded
an honorable mention to Au-burn
University’s own shin-ing
star in the battle against
hunger.
Devin Yeomans, senior
in nutrition and dietetics,
was the sole recipient of the
honorable mention for The
President William Jefferson
Clinton Hunger Leadership
Award.
Yeomans was approached
by her mentors, Paul Har-ris,
associate director for
the honors college. and Kate
Thorton, director of hunger
and sustainability initiative
in the College of Human Sci-ences
as well as the Hunger
Solutions Institute, last se-mester.
“They suggested that I
would be a good candidate
for it and I thought it would
be a good opportunity to rep-resent
Auburn,” Yeomans
said. “I thought it would be
a good way to show off Au-burn
a little bit and all the
cool things that are going on
here.”
Auburn is the home of
Universities Fighting World
Hunger, The Committee of 19
and a new hunger solutions
institute.
The process of applying for
this award started with sub-mitting
a video.
Yoemans worked with a
videographer and the final
outcome portrayed Yeomans
as a mime.
“Hunger is a silent popu-lation
of people that are go-ing
hungry and therefore
don’t have a voice,” Yeomans
said. “So he got this idea and
turned me into a mime.”
Yeomans sent her video,
along with hundreds of other
students across America, to a
panel of judges, Harris said.
Her video made it to the
finals along with four other
students.
Yeomans then wrote three
1,000-word essays discussing
what she was doing as a lead-er
to fight hunger, what she
planned to do in the future to
battle the growing epidem-ic
and current efforts to end
hunger world-wide by gov-ernments
and non-profit or-ganizations.
Harris said Yeomans was
rewarded $250 in financial
support for her film from his
office for national prestigious
scholarships.
Harris helped Yeomans
during the application pro-cess
by guiding her through
the difficult and challenging
essay-writing portion of the
application.
“They were very detailed
and tough essays to write,”
Harris said. “I worked with
Devin to get her to think
about what she was all
about.”
When Yeomans received
the news of her honorable
mention, she was told that
honorable mentions are
usually not even given out.
“I was really excited and
of course it’s a huge honor to
win an award like that,” Yeo-mans
said.
Thornton taught Devin in
her class in the fall of 2011.
Thornton teaches a Hun-ger:
Causes, Consequences
and Responses course.
“When I first met (Yeo-mans)
she was pretty meek
and quiet and then it was
really awesome to see her
transformation over the
last couple of years, where
she’s gone from some-body
who was pretty tim-id
to somebody who can
stand up in front of a room
of hundreds of people and
very confidently speak well
about what she’s passionate
about,” Thornton said.
Yeomans plans on apply-ing
to the rural sociology pro-gram
for graduate school af-ter
completing her under-graduate
degree this year.
“I would describe her as a
person with a big heart who
is concerned with helping
out those most in need and
who is taking steps to make
the world a better place,”
Harris said.
Yeoman’s recognized for leadership in the fight against world hunger
Contributed
Yeomans was chosen out of
hundreds of students as a final-ist
and was the only one to re-ceive
an honorable mention.
“There are very few other
ways to spend you time
better. It’s a really good
organization and we
don’t demand a lot of
time. It’s just a couple
hours a semester.”
—David Sanderlin
events coordinator for wishmakersAU
WishmakersAU
fundraises for Make-A-Wish
Foundation for
the state of Alabama
“When I first met
her she was really
meek and quiet
and then it was
awesome to see
her transform over
the last couple
of years, where
she’s gone from
somebody who
can stand up in
front of a room
of hundreds of
people and very
confidently speak
well about what
she’s passionate
about .”
—Kate Thornton
director of hunger and
sustainability initiative in the
college of human sciences
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Women’s Resource Center hosts advice event
Kelsey Davis
Intrigue Writer
Langdon Hall was nearly
full 10 minutes before speak-er
Dr. Lori Hart began her talk
on “Everything You’ve Ever
Wanted to Know About the
Opposite Sex.”
The talk was hosted by The
Women’s Resource Center as
an event for the Women Of
Auburn Helping Women pro-gram.
The talk centered on the
psychological differences be-tween
men and women.
The goal on educating stu-dents
about theses differenc-es
was aimed toward helping
them learn how to more suc-cessfully
take on leadership
roles, both on campus and in
the work force.
The audience was com-prised
of nearly all women,
with three men present at the
event.
Dr. Hart acknowledged the
men at the beginning of the
presentation, and thanked
them for coming.
The talk, however, did not
completely reflect the female
audience as it examined as-pects
of behavior for both
genders.
Dr. Hart showed the con-trasts
between men and wom-en
by telling about how much
more women talk than men, a
woman’s ability to multitask
verses a man’s, the way the
two genders react to confron-tation
and much more.
“She told us about the psy-chological
differences be-tween
men and women and
how we can relate better. She
gave advice, but it was hilari-ous,”
said Jennifer Ladner, ju-nior
in nutrition and dietetics.
All though everything Hart
spoke about was academi-cally
backed, the room filled
with laughter at her comedic
approach to detailing the dif-ferences
between the genders
“Communication research
tells us women talk more
than men,” Hart said. “That’s
not a surprise. We don’t need
a study to tell us that. There is
research that suggests women
talk up to 20,000 words a day.
That’s just gross. The average
man? 7,000 words a day.”
After Dr. Hart’s talk con-cluded,
a panel of five suc-cessful
Auburn women was
opened to take questions
from the audience.
The panel was a favorite
part of the event to several au-dience
members.
“You could ask about any-thing,”
Ladner said. “Not just
about relationships, but any-thing
you wanted to know.”
Questions ranged from the
most challenging struggle the
women met coming out of
college, to what they would
have done differently during
their time in college, to what
it’s like juggling a family and
a career.
“I really liked when she
(Tracey West, panel member)
said, ‘Failure is a moment in
time, it’s not a person.’ That
resonated with me,” said Ga-brielle
Navia, senior in nutri-tion
science.
The advice on the varia-tions
between men and wom-en
was both helpful and hu-morous,
but the point of the
talk was to get the audience
thinking about what they are
striving toward in life.
“I just challenge you to stick
to the person that you want to
be,” Hart said.
Raye May/ Photo editor
Dr. Lori Hart, for Campusspeak Inc., spoke about sex and relation-ships
Thursday, Jan. 31, in Langdon Hall.
“She told us about
the psychological
differences
between men
and women and
how we can relate
better. She gave
advice, but it
was hilarious.”
—Jennifer Ladner
junior in nutrition and dietetic s
Finding joy in life after surviving breast cancer
Anna Claire Conrad
Writer
The 2013 Winter Career Panel, Expo and Lun-cheon
on Tuesday, Feb. 5, at The Hotel at Au-burn
University and Dixon Conference Center,
discussed non-profit and philanthropic work.
Joy Arnov Blondheim, co-founder of the Joy
to Life Foundation along with her husband
Dickie, provided the keynote speaker address
during Tuesday’s event.
“Joy and her husband have taken what was a
family heartbreak and turned it into something
that has had a positive affect on numerous Ala-bamians,”
said Sidney James Nahkjavan, Drum-mond
Throne Stukes executive director for the
Cary Center for the Advancement of philanthro-py
and Nonprofit Studies and Women’s Philan-thropy
Board. “Their dedication to service and
philanthropy and the impact they have made
and continue to make are all very inspirational.”
Joy to Life is a nonprofit organization based
in Montgomery that seeks to build awareness
and provide free mammograms along with oth-er
breast exams to women in Alabama who can-not
afford to do so on their own or with their
medical insurance.
“As a breast cancer survivor, our purpose was
just to give back in honor of my good health and
that we came through a very dark time,” Blond-heim
said. “We got started in a small way pro-viding
mammograms for women under 50 in
the tri-county area of Montgomery, and now
we are providing mammograms, other breast
screenings and great awareness throughout the
entire state of Alabama.”
Blondheim discussed what philanthropy
means to her and how young people can get in-volved
and start their own philanthropic en-deavors.
“With philanthropy, it’s not all about money.
It’s about doing something for somebody else
and volunteering,” Blondheim said. “I’m really
looking forward to this experience tomorrow
and having the opportunity to educate people
on Joy to Life and provide some insight.”
Blondheim’s presentation, “Finding the Joy in
Breast Cancer,” ignited the day’s events, which
featured three career panelists: Paul W. Kenne-dy,
president of the Walker Area Community
Foundation; Tasia Malakasis, the “Goat Cheese
Guru,” owner and president of Belle Chevre and
Julie C. Smith, vice president of external affairs
in the southeast region for Verizon Communica-tions.
Each panelist was a business or nonprofit
leader, and each discussed their careers in their
organizations and service as mentors for stu-dents
and members of the community.
The Women’s Philanthropy Board was estab-lished
in 2002, and since then it has been the in-spiration
for the development of a minor in phi-lanthropy
and nonprofit studies in the College
of Human Sciences.
New York Times’ best selling author Andy An-drews
was the keynote speaker at this event.
Dr. Lori Hart gives
advice directed
towards gender
behaviors
Copy Cat limits services
Austin Lankford
Camp us Writer
Copy Cat, the full service
copy center in the Student
Center, is shutting down part
of its services.
Bob Ritenbaugh III, assis-tant
vice president for auxil-iary
services, said Copy Cat is
closing its production opera-tion.
This service was used to
make brochures, posters and
fliers.
Ritenbaugh said they
couldn’t justify buying and
maintaining new equipment
due to the lack of business that
part of Copy Cat was getting.
“The individual depart-ments
on campus are doing
that on their own,” Ritenbaugh
said. “The decision was made
to go ahead and close because
the demand wasn’t there for its
services.”
Ritenbaugh did say that
Copy Cat will still stay open for
students to make copies like it
always has.
Hunter Wallace, senior in
public relations, often uses the
Copy Cat facility.
“I thought Copy Cat was
closing as a whole,” Wallace
said. “I’m glad to hear that stu-dents
will still be able to make
copies because that part is so
convenient.”
Thursday, February 7, 2013 The Auburn Plainsman Campus A5
With philanthropy, it’s
not all about doing
something for somebody
else and volunteering.”
—Joy arnoy Blondheim
Co-founder of the Joy to life foundation
“
A6
Thursday, February 7, 2013 ThePlainsman.com Opinions
Opinions
Mailing Address
Auburn Student Center
Suite 1111H
Auburn, AL 36849
Contact
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Email opinion@theplainsman.com
Policy
The opinions of The Auburn Plainsman staff are restrict-ed
to these pages. This editorial is the majority opinion
of the 12-member editorial board and are the official opin-ion
of the newspaper. The opinions expressed in columns
and letters represent the views and opinions of their indi-vidual
authors and do not necessarily reflect the Auburn
University student body, faculty, administration or Board
of Trustees.
Submissions
The Auburn Plainsman welcomes letters from students as
well as from faculty, administrators, alumni and those not
affiliated with the University. Letters must be submitted be-fore
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include the author’s name, address and phone number for
verification, though the name of the author may be with-held
upon request. Submission may be edited for gram-mar
and/or length.
The Editorial Board
Robert E. Lee
Editor-in-Chief
Nathan Simone
Managing Editor
Zeke Turrentine
Opinion s Editor
Bianca N. Seward
Copy Editor
Dustin Shrader
Online Editor
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Community Editor
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Campus Editor
John Burns
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Intrigue Editor
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Photo Editor
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Design Editor
On Friday, President Obama proposed a
“compromise” to last year’s Contraception
Mandate that would expand that mandate’s re-ligious
exemption to include religious-affiliated
organizations.
Previously, only those employers who met
a four-pronged test (including a requirement
that the organization primarily serve persons
who share its religious beliefs) were exempted
from the mandate, meaning that Catholic hos-pitals,
Baptist colleges, and church-affiliated
soup kitchens would be required to pay for, al-beit
indirectly, contraception and sterilization
services.
I applaud President Obama for recognizing
the burden last year’s mandate placed on the
free exercise of religion and for amending his re-ligious
exemption accordingly. However, he did
not go far enough.
The history and judicial interpretation of the
First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause dem-onstrate
that government must allow a citizen’s
conscience to guide his or her actions (both pro-scriptively
and prescriptively) until a compelling
government interest demands the infringement
of that right of religious free exercise, and even
then the burden on free exercise must be as least
restrictive as possible. (See the Supreme Court’s
decisions in Wisconsin v. Yoder and Sherbert v.
Verner as well as Justice O’Conner’s dissent in
Boerne v. Flores.)
Through the Religious Freedom Restoration
Act of 1993, Congress required the federal gov-ernment
to uphold this level of protection, and
thus it binds actions by the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services and President
Obama
Requiring citizens (via their business) to ei-ther
purchase contraception in violation of
their religious beliefs or pay a penalty burdens
the free exercise of religion. This burden is not
exclusive to certain occupations since the issue
is not vocation, but religion. Thus, a religious ex-emption
that does not include private employ-ers
(such as Hobby Lobby) does not eliminate
the mandate’s burden on free exercise.
Since a burden on religion clearly exists,
the question remains as to whether a compel-ling
government interest overbalances the bur-den.
It does not. A larger insurance pool hardly
seems to be a government “interest of the high-est
order,” and the mandate is not the least re-strictive
means since access to contraception
and sterilization could be provided through al-ternate
channels. Thus, the mandate still vio-lates
the Free Exercise Clause.
President Obama must recognize that reli-gion
holds a claim to the obedience of individ-uals
regardless of their occupation. While the
wisdom of the mandate in question is debat-able,
its effect on religion is not.
Obama already recognizes this fact (as evi-denced
by his religious exemption), but he does
not protect religious beliefs equally. Just as the
Continental Congress granted religious exemp-tions
from conscription, the White House must
expand his religious exemption to include all
persons with religious objections to contracep-tion
and sterilization. The burden on religion is
too great, and the government interest is too
small, to allow anything less.
Some will claim that women will have re-duced
access to healthcare if the exemption is
expanded. However, this will not affect access
to contraceptive and sterilization services, and
the mandate would remain in place for all those
without religious objection.
Eighty-nine percent of insurance plans al-ready
cover contraception and sterilization,
and Health and Human Service’s Title X Pro-gram
would provide access to those unable to
pay the estimated $15-$50 per month. Thus,
the straw-man argument that predicts reduced
health care access must be rejected along with
the burden on free exercise of religion.
President Obama must ignore fallacious ar-guments
that seek to sensationalize the effect of
widening the religious exemption. Instead, he
must maintain constitutional fidelity by allow-ing
individuals to follow their consciences with-out
government repercussions.
The Free Exercise Clause protects the right
of people to act upon their religious beliefs, and
an analysis of the contraception mandate (even
with the recently expanded exemption) finds it
in direct opposition to the First Amendment.
Caleb Wolanek
Junior
Political Science
One of the ultimate goals of every
child or teenager is to be a grown-up.
The pleasure of being in charge
of your life and of making your own
decisions seems like the perfect solu-tion
to everyone else telling you what
to do.
Truly becoming an adult, howev-er,
comes with a hidden, but impor-tant
price. The price of becoming an
adult is to recognize and accept the
responsibility and be accountable for
your choices and actions.
Unfortunately, the example most
often seen in modern society is to al-ways
shirk responsibility and find
others to blame for your circum-stances.
Katharine Hepburn long ago rec-ognized
this tendency in today’s so-ciety.
In her autobiography, Me: Sto-ries
of My Life, she laments, “We
are taught you must blame your fa-ther,
your sisters, your brothers,
the school, the teachers, but never
blame yourself. It’s never your fault.
But it’s always your fault, because if
you wanted to change, you’re the one
that’s got to change.”
Being accountable to others is a
normal thing in everyday life. Em-ployees
are held accountable by their
bosses, children are held accountable
by their parents, and students are
held accountable by their teachers.
Being accountable to yourself and
for your own actions, however, seems
to be lacking in much of today’s soci-ety.
Too often we make a mistake and
immediately begin to rationalize the
pending consequences by blaming
others or running back to our parents
to ask them to fix it for us.
Do not blame the policeman that
tickets you or blame the Professor
for a poor grade or blame your room-mate
for the messy kitchen.
Okay, that last one may actually be
your roommate’s fault.
A true responsible adult accepts
accountability and devises a plan to
correct or mitigate the consequences.
Asking for help is not a bad thing,
but it should not be the first thing
that happens right after you try to
blame others.
I want to know when people
stopped being accountable for their
own problems and when they started
blaming everyone else for their prob-lems.
I am guilty of it as much as any-one.
When something goes awry, my
kneejerk reaction is always to say it
isn’t my fault.
This epidemic of playing the blame
game when something doesn’t work
out isn’t only found in our generation.
Politics, for example is one great
example of people arguing and blam-ing
others for reasons something isn’t
working or laws aren’t being passed.
However, we need to start correct-ing
this trait in an effort to eradicate
it. If mommy or daddy still calls from
home to fix your mistakes at Auburn,
you need to grow up and pronto.
If you want to be treated like an adult, act like one
Once there was a tree...
Religious freedom under threat from Obamacare mandate
Sydney Callis
News@theplainsman.
com
Our View
Her View
Letters to the editor
Recently, some news articles and
editorials around the state have
painted a distorted or incomplete
picture about our business, our pric-es
and the way we are regulated.
Please allow us the opportunity
to provide you – and many Auburn
University students, faculty and staff
are Alabama Power customers – a
thoughtful response. But first, here
are some things you should know
about us:
For decades, the price we charge
for electricity has been – and re-mains
today – below the national
average.
We expect our base rates to re-main
flat in 2013, and we are work-ing
now, under the direction of the
Alabama Public Service Commis-sion
(PSC), to try to keep those rates
flat through 2014. In contrast, at
least eight utilities across the South-east
have requested rate increases
totaling hundreds of millions of dol-lars.
The reliability of our electric ser-vice
is among the best in the indus-try,
as well as our reputation for get-ting
your lights back on after ma-jor
storms or natural disasters. Re-liability
is important for all our cus-tomers,
but it’s also vital for the
global industries that have locat-ed
here and brought quality jobs to
our state. Those companies have cit-ed
high reliability and competitive
electricity prices as factors in choos-ing
Alabama for new manufacturing
facilities.
There are many reasons why
it’s difficult to compare one utili-ty’s
prices to another’s, or compare
what one utility charges its residen-tial,
commercial or industrial cus-tomers
versus another utility. Ev-erything
from the type of generat-ing
plants a utility uses, to the dis-tance
to fuel sources, to the popula-tion
density of its customer base, to
the weather can affect costs. The dif-ferences
in state tax structures and
the cost to comply with government
environmental mandates can also
play a role. Indeed, over the last de-cade
Alabama Power has had to in-vest
nearly $3 billion in our existing
plants to comply with new U.S. Envi-ronmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
regulations.
As for the regulatory process in
Alabama, some recent stories have
tried to sensationalize what’s known
as our “return on equity” (ROE). This
is essentially what we’re allowed to
earn on the portion of our business
financed through the issue of the
common stock of our parent com-pany,
Southern Company. Under
our state regulatory process, we’re
given – not guaranteed – the op-portunity
to earn between 13 per-cent
and 14.5 percent ROE. But eq-uity
( from stockholders) represents
less than half the money invested in
our company. As a matter of fact, Al-abama
Power uses less equity than
most utilities to fund our business. A
larger part of our capital comes from
lower-cost debt, which is borrowed
from financial institutions and oth-er
sources. When you look at our to-tal
return on all our invested capi-tal
– a much better measure of what
we truly earn – it is less than 8 per-cent,
which is comparable to utili-ties
in the Southeast and around the
country that are similar to Alabama
Power.
You may not realize, and perhaps
we haven’t explained it well, how
much scrutiny our business and our
operations receive as an investor-owned
utility. We are one of the most
regulated companies in the state,
and we have to justify our business
decisions to the PSC. Every month
the PSC staff reports in a public
meeting about our rates and our fuel
expenditures. But that’s just the be-ginning.
Day in and day out, our em-ployees
are preparing and providing
information for the PSC and its staff,
whenever they request it.
Recent news reports have been
misleading about whether the PSC
has ever re-examined the regulato-ry
process that we must answer to
every day. In fact, the PSC has made
more than 20 modifications or pol-icy
changes to that system since it
was put in place 30 years ago.
In addition to the PSC’s month-ly
public reporting about us, every
year we must present to the PSC,
in another public meeting, our es-timates
for future expenditures re-lated
to our base rates. Our staff is
questioned at the meeting about
our figures, and the public can par-ticipate
as well. This same process
takes place every year in connection
with our projected environmental
expenditures.
Beyond the PSC, Alabama Pow-er
has many more requirements to
report information to government
agencies and the public. We report
multiple times a year to the federal
Securities and Exchange Commis-sion
(SEC) about our finances, sales
and fuel mix, and about environ-mental
compliance, legal and oth-er
issues that may affect us in the fu-ture.
All these reports are available
online for public view. And we re-port
information regularly to a host
of state and federal agencies, includ-ing
EPA, the Federal Energy Regula-tory
Commission and the Alabama
Department of Environmental Man-agement.
For more than 107 years, our em-ployees
– your neighbors – have
worked hard every day to provide
you with reliable, affordable elec-tricity
and award-winning custom-er
service. We are committed to
you, our customers, and to the com-munities
we serve. And we want to
hear from you if you have any con-cerns
about us. For more informa-tion,
please visit www.alabamapow-er.
com or call us anytime at 1-800-
245-2244.
Nick Sellers
Vice President
Regulatory and Corporate Affairs
Alabama Power
Alabama Power serves customers first, not politicians
Rachel Suhs / Design Editor
Like so many of us, their roots
are firmly planted deep in the
corner of College and Magnolia.
Across from the Vault, Sky
and the drug store they’ve sat for
what seems like forever, remind-ing
rush hour drivers and mid-night
revelers of all their memo-ries
through the branch shaped
corridor that leads to school.
And soon, maybe before we
graduate a new class of seniors,
our trees will be removed from
that hallowed ground.
While we may eagerly await or
passively ignore the result of the
Harvey Updyke trial, we know
that the oaks received a lethal
dose of poison from someone
and they will not be around for
rolling past this spring.
If you were lucky enough to
come to Auburn as a child and
grow up with football games and
roll the giants that seemed like
elephant legs, you remember
a point, though probably fuzzy
and poorly defined, that the trees
assumed their real, normal size.
They were never really that
large and their current sickness
doesn’t help make their appear-ance
more impressive.
Now, walking by them, it’s al-most
as if you can hear them
quote Shel Silverstein’s Giving
Tree wheezing, “I am sorry… I
wish that I could give you some-thing,
but I have nothing left.”
But they do have something
left.
Memories like childhood
trips with old friends and fami-ly
members and of the 2010 na-tional
championship party will
always linger around the corner.
And the University has
planned a final celebration
around the trees centered
around A-Day weekend and is
putting into motion the process
of figuring out what exactly is
next for Auburn and the corner.
While we wait for what the re-placement
monuments will be,
let’s make sure we enjoy the eye
candy of the trees while they’re
still here and make it out to roll
them one last time into a beauti-ful
wintry, white oblivion.
A7
Thursday, February 7, 2013 ThePlainsman.com Community Community
Dancing in the moonlight for Hospice Advantage fundraiser
Trent Erwin
Writer
On Saturday, Feb. 16, the
community will be dancing
the night away at the second
annual Moonlight Masquer-ade
to raise money for the Hos-pice
Angel Foundation, a char-itable
foundation for Hospice
Advantage EAMC and Betha-ny
House.
“The Hospice Angel Foun-dation
helps our patients
when they’re having financial
difficulties,” said ShaKoya Har-vey,
volunteer coordinator for
Hospice Advantage. “If they’re
having some type of hardship,
our foundation can help assist
them with that.”
Hospice Advantage is an ad-vocate
for patients with life
limiting illness and the staff
provides end of life care for the
patients and families.
The Moonlight Masquerade
will feature a live band, danc-ing,
silent auction, heavy hors
d’oeuvres, balloon pop and
wine pull. Attendees can pur-chase
a balloon for $5 to par-ticipate
in the chance to win
gift cards, or they can pur-chase
a wine cork for $10 and
be eligible to win bottles rang-ing
from $10–$300.
All prizes and items avail-able
for the silent auction are
donations from local business-es
and will help raise addition-al
funds for the foundation.
“Our community is a huge
part of it,” Harvey said. “It’s
really warming and touch-ing
to see the community do-ing
things like that. It’s good
to know we have some honest
people.”
One hundred percent of
the proceeds go directly to the
foundation to help patients.
Eboni Austin, an intern for
Hospice Advantage EAMC
and Bethany House, said she is
most excited to see patients at
the event and see people come
together to support a good
cause.
Last year’s Moonlight Mas-querade
was interrupted by
bad weather, causing the pow-er
to go out and the staff to
scurry to make accommoda-tions.
Harvey said they pulled
out a piano and the band con-tinued
to sing while they lit
candles and used glow sticks
to light the room.
“What ended up happening
was a beautiful depiction of
what we strive to do each day
at Hospice Advantage,” said
Christine McIntosh, volunteer
coordinator for last year’s fun-draiser.
“Many times we walk
into situations where families
and patients feel like they are
sitting in the dark. We come in,
sit with them and shine some
light on their situation.”
Tickets are on sale for $100
per person, $700 for a table of
eight or $900 for a table of 10.
The event will be held at Rob-ert
Trent Jones Marriot Hotel
from 7–11 p.m.
“It helps bring the commu-nity
together by telling them
about Hospice, and kind of
gives a better understanding
of it,” said Lauren Barkley, pre-vious
volunteer and senior in
creative writing.
To receive more infor-mation
or to purchase tick-ets,
contact ShaKoya Harvey
at 334-826-1899. Tickets are
available until Friday, Feb. 8.
General Lane House is 160:
A home with hidden history
Abigail O’Brien
Community Writer
The white, pre-Civil War General Lane
House now sits quietly on 712 Sanders St.,
tucked near an elementary school and
away from its previous home.
That previous home was once the cor-ner
of College and Thach, located where
the Ralph Brown Draughon Library now
sits.
Ralph Draughon Jr., co-author of “Lost
Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period
Photographs,” remembers the days when
a wood picket fence surrounded the his-torical
home, whose land butted up all
the way until Comer Hall, he said.
“Tradition and institutional memo-ry
add a thrill of depth to the education-al
experience that I think is very impor-tant,”
Draughon said.
For Draughon, the house is important
to Auburn because of the people who oc-cupied
it and the memories within its
walls.
The house was at one time occupied
by Gen. James Henry Lane, a previous
professor at Auburn, the youngest Con-federate
general to be given that title and
an acquaintance to Stonewall Jackson,
who was actually Lane’s previous math
teacher during Lane’s time at Virginia
Military Institute, Draughon said.
Draughon told of one important mo-ment
in Lane’s career, the Battle at the
Bloody Angle, in which Lane and his men
held up their defense, although outnum-bered,
against Grant’s troops as they tried
to break through their lines.
After prolonged fighting, Lane and his
men were able to push Grant’s men back
and they turned to head back to camp.
“But General Lane and his men were
just exhausted,” Draughon said. “They
had been fighting for 24 hours and they
were just staggering and weak and
wounded.”
As they hobbled back, Lane and his
men saw a figure waiting for them on
horseback in the distance and realized it
was Gen. Robert E. Lee, Draughon said.
As they passed by Lee, “He took off
his hat in this sweeping gesture and then
he bowed to the men in gratitude for
their heroic defense…their heroic fight-they
saved the day at the Bloody Angle,”
Draughon said.
It is stories like this and others that
are hidden within the walls of those who
lived in and frequented the General Lane
house.
Now, the house has become a venue
for new memories in the community.
For over five decades the house has
been used as the clubhouse for the Wom-an’s
Club of Auburn.
Gina Fromhold, who was president
of the Auburn Woman’s Club from 1984-
1986, and has been a member for more
than 30 years did extensive research on
the house and its origins.
The building was designated for demo-lition
in the early 1960s, but later saved,
bought and given to the Woman’s Club as
a gift to be used for a hub for their com-munity,
Fromhold said.
It was then moved in sections over to
its current location, where it has since
been used for numerous meetings, so-cials
and other happenings of the Auburn
Woman’s Club Fromhold said.
The Woman’s Club of Auburn has
worked hard to keep the original anti-quated
look and feel of the historic home.
Inside, the walls are adorned with nu-merous
aged photographs of those who
used to live in the house. Thick red cur-tains
hang from the high windows, aged
antiques hug the walls and china from
the 1800s sits in a large glass cupboard,
on loan to the Woman’s Club from the
granddaughter of Elizabeth Ross Glenn.
For woman like Fromhold, the club
has become a center for community and
an opportunity to branch out.
She studied science in college and said
she was able to explore more artistic out-lets
through her involvement in the club.
“Auburn itself is a rich place for peo-ple
who want to spread their wings in the
arts,” Fromhold said.
The Woman’s Club is divided into six
departments: bridge, home & garden,
international affairs, literature & arts,
lunch bunch and the newest section,
business and professional women.
“There weren’t any social services,”
Fromhold said. “The city didn’t provide
anything, the country didn’t provide any-thing
and poor people had no place to
turn. And these women, they had can-ning
classes, they started the public li-brary…
so they were really community-minded.”
Jeanette Jones, current president of the
Auburn Woman’s Club said the club is
honored to call the General Lane House
their home and want to continue to fos-ter
its historic past by taking care of it.
“It’s just a connection to the past,”
Jones said. “And it’s a part of Auburn’s
history. So we’re very proud, in the best
sense of the word of pride.”
Like Fromhold, Jones is thankful for
those who pioneered ahead of them with
not only the establishment of the club-house,
but also the values that it pro-motes.
“I imagine, close to a hundred years
ago, women were hardly able to vote or
have any jobs of any kind and so to get to-gether
and talk about current events and
be a part of the community was very im-portant,”
Jones said. “We may not realize
it so much today, we modern women, but
I’m sure it must’ve been quite a remark-able
thing 93 years ago.”
Jones said the house has not only be-come
a meeting place for the 250+ mem-bers,
but a home of memories.
“It’s just like being in a home really,”
Jones said.
Jones said that for her and many of the
women, the home has become like a fam-ily
possession.
“It’s just like, if you go back to your par-ents’
home and your grandparents’ and
great grandparents’ pictures are on the
wall, it’s a family situation,” Jones said.
“We feel like we’re members of a family.”
Brazil nightclub fire
prompts new codes Abigail O’Brien / Community Writer
The General Lane House, former home to a Civil War general and an intergral part of the community, is celebrating its 160th birthday. Chandler Jones
Community Reporter
The lines that bend around
the block outside Auburn fa-vorites
like Sky Bar and 1716
are at first, discouraging, but
never threatening.
Unfortunately, for students
in Santa Marie, Brazil that
situation led to at least 233
deaths at “Kiss” a local night-club
for students, according to
media reports.
On Sunday, Jan. 27 chaos
erupted as the club’s pyrotech-nics
ignited a fire that released
toxic smoke which caused a
stampede of people traveling
toward a single exit only to be
blocked by bouncers.
Here in Auburn, thor-ough
measures are taken to-ward
safety regulations. It’s
all about permits and fire-pre-vention
systems.
Officials abide by an up-dated
international building
code to prevent situations like
these.
Occupancy levels are deter-mined
by a particular build-ing
size: 15 square-feet per
person in table and chair ar-eas
and seven square-feet for
standing areas. Requirements
for door width are half an inch
per person.
“We are currently using the
most current edition, the 2012
International Building Code,”
said Andy Meeks, building of-ficial
for the Auburn Codes
Enforcement Division. “Pri-or
to that we were using the
Standard Building Code, but
they’ve quit publishing it. Sev-eral
model code groups in
the country got together and
started publishing the Inter-national
Building Code.”
Wheeler Casey, gener-al
manager of En Fuego, said
building codes have certain
standards that should be met.
The CED performs frequent
occupancy load checks. Over-crowding
can lead to a first
warning, then a citation which
will require the facility opera-tor
to go to Municipal Court.
Casey says their crowd con-trol
policy is “one in, one out.”
In recent years a number of
overcrowding violations have
been issued and a number of
blocked exit violations, which
Meeks said is “pretty serious.”
The CED checks sprinkler
systems on a quarterly ba-sis
and alarm systems every
six months. The Fire Depart-ment
has annual pre-fire in-spections
for every building in
the city.
“We’ll look at the site and
situations at that time,” said
Lee Lamar, chief of the Au-burn
Fire Department. “If we
do have an alarm there, we’ll
look at the system and see
what condition it’s in.”
As soon as the sprinkler
system activates, the alarm
sounds and the Fire Depart-ment
is alerted, said Lamar.
He said that the automatic
sprinkler systems provide “a
great level of protection.”
According to Casey, regula-tions
are strictly enforced with
frequent fire marshal visits,
especially on game days.
“We have sprinkler systems
imposed,” Casey said. “We
have automatic fire systems
in place in the kitchen and exit
signs posted everywhere.”
According to Lamar, for py-rotechnic
use everything must
be licensed, regulated, rated
and tested. For pyrotechnics
to even be used there must be
approval by the Fire Depart-ment,
the Police Department
and the Fire Marshal’s office.
“A lot of bands for exam-ple,
now, at least in our area,
instead of using pyrotech-nics
they’re using the devices
which use CO2, extinguishers
and cryogenics for hazing and
smoke effects,” Lamar said.
“They’re a lot safer, they don’t
require a permitting process.
They really don’t pose any haz-ard
to anybody.”
According to Lamar, if ever
a fire-situation arises the Fire
Department would be pre-pared
with two-thirds of their
resources: three engine com-panies,
a ladder company and
a battalion chief.
“Our fire codes are our
first line of defense on these
things,” Lamar said. “By mak-ing
sure the buildings are de-signed
properly and provid-ed
with a high enough level of
protection and also making
sure the exits are right.”
“Several model
code groups in
the country got
together and
started publishing
the International
Building Code.”
—John Meeks
City of Auburn building of f icial
Raye May / Photo Editor
The International Building Code states that exits must be clearly
marked by an approved exit sign. Violations can result in hefty fines.
Abigail O’Brien / Community Writer
The Women’s Club of Auburn has worked to keep the decor close to the original, like in the
parlor room formally known as the Pearson Room. The home is located on Sanders Street.
“The Hospice
Angel Foundation
helps our patients
when they’re
having financial
difficulties.”
—ShaKoya Harvey
Volunteer Coordinator
for Hospice Advantage
Community A8 The Auburn Plainsman Thursday, February 7, 2013
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Look for next week’s special edition:
The Food Issue
The Auburn Plainsman
JCSM to open new art exhibition
Will Gaines
writer
The Jule Collins Smith Mu-seum
of Fine Art will present
an exhibition called “Preserv-ing
Tradition,” featuring a se-lection
of paintings, sculpture
and works on paper from the
museum’s permanent collec-tion.
These works of art are
being produced by artists that
revel in naturalistic represen-tation.
Finding new ways to show
other representations of the
world around us is a key fac-tor
in artistic development.
Another key element of art is
the appreciation of the artis-tic
styles from past genera-tions
that have led to these in-novations.
The point of the “Preserv-ing
Tradition” art exhibition
is to present and preserve the
art traditions that have pre-ceded
us, and then find ways
to enhance and extend them.
“At JCSM, we believe art
changes lives,” said Charlotte
Hendrix, print and digital me-dia
producer at JCSM. “The
museum’s most recent exhi-bitions
have focused on mod-ernism,
but this exhibition
moves into a different direc-tion
to compliment the paint-er’s
subjects, landscape, figure
and still life.”
While celebrating artistic
styles from past generations is
a main goal of JCSM, they also
want to exhibit types of art
people wouldn’t usually have
the chance to see and appre-ciate.
“The museum strives to
serve and grow our audience
by offering education pro-grams
and exhibitions,” Hen-drix
said. “Our audience in-cludes
students, both K-12
and college, university facul-ty
and community members.”
Brianna Hunter, fresh-man
in psychology, said she
believes studying these old-er
techniques from a modern
day perspective could be a fas-cinating
concept.
“I believe we can’t create
new artistic masterpieces
without knowledge and ap-preciation
of the concepts,
technique and general art
form of older artists,” Hunt-er
said.
With the preparation of
these works still ongoing,
JCSM focuses more on the ed-ucational
value of these art
works during preparation of
an exhibition.
“The museum does not dis-close
the financial value of
works; rather, it is the artis-tic
value that our curators and
educators consider when pre-paring
an exhibition or ac-quiring
a new work,” Hendrix
said.
With the opening of the ex-hibition
drawing closer, the
artists are working to finish
the installation of “Preserving
Tradition” in JCSM. The Cura-tor
of this exhibition , Dennis
Harper, and JCSM employees
have been working to com-plete
the exhibition.
The exhibition is free and
open to the public. Also, stu-dent
membership to the mu-seum
is free. The exhibition
will begin Saturday, Feb. 16
and end Saturday, June 8.
Raye May / Photo Editor
“Preserving Tradition” will open at JCSM Saturday, Feb. 16.
Senior Center hot topic at City Council
Chandler Jones
Community Reporter
Issues concerning senior
citizen complaints, a recy-cling
fund grant and over
$25,000 in approved spend-ing
dominated Tuesday’s City
Council meeting.
Alice Skutack represented
the senior citizen community
during Citizen’s Communica-tions
and expressed her frus-tration
at the lack of space for
seniors in the Frank Brown
Recreation Center.
According to Skutack, “not
an inch” of the senior center
has been designated for se-nior
citizen use.
“One of the major con-cerns
is that the senior citizen
center appears to be predom-inately
office space and space
for OLLI,” Skutack said.
Osher Lifelong Learning In-stitute
at Auburn University is
a senior learning program pro-cessed
through the university.
“Auburn’s very fortunate to
have a lot of great things like
this, but it appears the build-ing
was built and the discus-sions
were made with OLLI
and that the design was for
OLLI,” Skutack said. “Now
that’s great, but we have to
schedule senior functions
around when OLLI is not hav-ing
classes.”
Less than half of the 8000 sq.
ft. of the Recreation Center is
usable space for activity and
meeting rooms, Skutack said.
“A great deal of this has been
miscommunication which is
what I was trying to say here,”
Skutack said. “This was not
communicated and it has not
been in the newspaper. The
seniors just thought that they
didn’t get what they were sup-posed
to get.”
In other news, the Council
resolved to submit a recycling
fund grant and approved new
police cruisers.
A submission for a grant for
the East Alabama Recycling
Partnership was approved.
The Partnership is among
Auburn University, City of Au-burn,
City of Opelika and Lee
County created in 2009 to pro-mote
recycling.
“We’ve been very successful,
in fact Governor Riley came as
one of these projects to tour
our recycling center one year,“
Duggan said. “Right now we
certainly think we are doing
the best job we can. And a lot
of people are looking at us to
see how we are doing it.”
The Council also approved
spending $27,005.88 for five
Chevrolet Caprice Law En-forcement
Sedans equipped
with V-8 engines and
$27,177.08 for five equipped
with V-6 engines.
Sports B1
Thursday, February 7, 2013 ThePlainsman.com Sports
The drama filled saga worthy of its own reality television
show that is the recruitment of Reuben Foster has finally
come to an end.
The signature of the top inside linebacker on a letter of
intent to the University of Alabama officially ended his
recruiting process on National Signing Day.
People close to the situation believe that a wild mix of
events this past weekend played into his decision and led to
his Tide commitment Wednesday.
After originally committing to Alabama after his junior
season, Foster flipped to Auburn in July, de-committed
in December and finally signed with the Tide on National
Signing Day.
When he committed to Auburn everyone knew him for
his football talents and five-star status, but after talking with
The Plainsman it became apparent he was just a normal
high school kid.
A kid who was funny, couldn’t dance and hated cats.
Then he handled his recruitment with Auburn just the
same, like a child.
Foster’s immaturity flourished throughout his recruiting
from the start.
From the large Auburn tattoo on his arm to his
unexpected departure from his official visit and the cover-up,
Foster could potentially be a problem for any program.
The rumors surrounding his departure to Tuscaloosa
were allegedly because of an incident occurring at Auburn’s
Skybar with sophomore center Reese Dismukes.
Supposedly Dismukes and Foster engaged in a heated
argument that allegedly included Dismukes using racial
slurs toward Foster, which promptly resulted in his
departure from the visit and arrival in Tuscaloosa.
Multiple photos that night from Twitter confirmed Foster
in Tuscaloosa with fellow recruit Alvin Kamara.
Many people around Auburn believe this to be a commit-changing
event that directly resulted in Foster signing with
Alabama.
When asked by Opelika-Auburn News about the incident
Foster replied, “I can’t shed any light on that. No comment.”
Though the incident has not been confirmed, on Twitter
Foster has re-tweeted a comment about calling someone
names based on skin color and making Auburn look bad,
leading to the belief that the incident did indeed occur.
If the rumors are true this situation looks terrible on
Dismukes, a player who has had previous issues violating
team rules including a public intoxication arrest in August
that resulted in his suspension for the Clemson game.
Rumors have surfased of Dismuke’s possible transfer to
Ole Miss, but once again this entire situation is speculation
which arose from Foster’s visit last weekend.
In September of 2012, Foster told the Plainsman, “Auburn
fans, I’m not going anywhere, I’m staying, to do it for my
cousin, Ladarious Phillips, man. And to do what people
think nobody like me can do, just to prove them wrong.”
The confidence in his interview seemed to say he was a
lock for the Tigers, but after Gene Chizik’s dismissal and
recent events in his recruiting he will now be playing football
for Alabama.
The controversy surrounding Foster’s recruitment
was a drama-filled process revolving around the young
linebacker’s antics going all the way back to his transfer
to Auburn High, his connection to Trooper Taylor and the
decisions made by Foster in the recent weeks leading to his
signing.
The production that seems to follow Foster wherever he
ventures will be hard to leave behind, especially after the
recent events regarding the battle that took place for his
signature.
His career at Alabama may rely heavily on the
mentorshipof peers and cooperation with the Tide’s football
staff if he is to be a success at the collegiate level and possibly
NFL level football.
Ethan Brady
Sports Reporter
sports@theplainsman.com
Foster snubs
Tigers again
After comitting and decommitting to
Auburn, Foster was still considered
an Auburn man, until last Monday
National Signing Day: defensive additions
Considered the second best player
in the class, Lawson is the complete
package at defensive end. He has
good size, 6-foot-2, 251 pounds and
decent speed relative to his position.
An Alpharetta, Ga. native, Lawson
committed to the Tigers March 24,
2012.
After Gene Chizik and his staff left,
there was speculation that Lawson
was going to bail as well. After signing
his letter of intent, Lawson humbly
said he just wants to wear an Auburn
jersey.
Auburn landed a huge defensive
prospect on Wednesday after
defensive tackle Montravius Adams
from Dooly County, Ga. committed
and signed with Auburn live on
ESPNU.
Adams is the No. 25 overall
prospect in the country according to
Rivals.com.
He is a four-star No. 13 overall
prospect, according to ESPN.
He was named a 247Sports All-
American after helping Dooly County
to the Class A Georgia title. » See Defense B2
««««« ««««« ««««« ««««« «««««
Carl Lawson - DE Montravius Adams - DT Elijah Daniel - DE Ben Bradley - DT Mackenro Alexander - DB
Auburn fans woke up to a pleasant
surprise when defensive end Elijah
Daniel flipped his commitment from
Ole Miss to Auburn on Wednesday.
Daniel was the first player on
signing day to fax in his letter of
intent to the Auburn coaches.
Daniel is from Avon, Ind. and is a
four-star defensive end according to
both Rivals and ESPN.
He was first team All-State in
Indiana, and a PrepStar All-American
his senior year. He also played in the
Under Armour All-American Game.
Bradley is a massive defensive
tackle who weighs in at 310 pounds
and is 6-foot-3.
That’s all good news for an Auburn
defense that needs to plug up holes in
the interior run game.
Bradley will get help from Adams
in the run-stopping game, where the
defense struggled last year.
A player with his size and strength
can force running backs to the
outside where, with the additions of
Lawson and Daniel, the Tigers are
relatively deep.
Three-star safety Mackenro
Alexander chose to sign with Auburn
on Wednesday over Mississippi State
and Clemson.
Alexander was named the Naples
Daily News Defensive Player of
the Year after ending his senior
season with 154 tackles and five
interceptions.
Alexander played mostly outside
linebacker in high school, but is
expected to play safety at Auburn.
John Burns
Sports Edito r
Gus Malzahn had a massive
test ahead of him in December
when he had to hire a coaching
staff and recruit an acceptable
class of prospects.
In a mere two months,
Malzahn put together one
of the best coaching staffs in
college football and a top 10
recruiting class, according to
Rivals.com.
“I’m very excited about this
class,” Malzahn said. “We’ve
signed 23 so far in this class.
We really feel like we filled
our needs. I’d really like to
compliment our coaching
staff. They did a wonderful job
in a short period of time.”
For a team that gave up
almost 200 yards on the ground
every game last season the
additions of defensive linemen
Carl Lawson, Elijah Daniel,
Montravius Adams and Ben
Bradley are invaluable.
Lawson and Daniel are top
five defensive ends in the class,
and Adams is the 25th overall
recruit in his class.
Though all recruits will be
valuable to Auburn’s football
team, one was the glue that
brought the defensive class
together.
“I’m going to say this about
Carl Lawson,” Malzahn said.
“I really felt like he’s one of
the keys to this class. When
a lot of guys went south and
went other ways, he hung in
there with us. He provided the
stability on the defensive side
specifically to have the class
that we did. He loves Auburn.”
The head coach raved about
Adams as well.
“I think this is going to be
my eighth year to coach college
and I don’t think I’ve ever seen
a bigger athletic guy than him,”
Malzahn said. “I really think
the sky is the limit with him. “
Along with signing some of
the nation’s top defensive line
recruits, Malzahn brought in
linebackers Cameron Toney
and Kenny Flowers, and
defensive backs Mackenro
Alexander, Brandon King and
Khari Harding.
Having an adequate defense
was one of the main concerns
for Tiger fans when offensive-minded
Malzahn was hired,
but with the signings of these
recruits it seems Auburn’s
defense is headed in the right
direction.
It wouldn’t be a Malzahn-caliber
recruiting class if the
coach didn’t bring in his fair
share of offensive backs and
wide receivers.
He added three potential
dual threat quarterbacks to
the two that he already has on
campus.
Jeremy Johnson, who was th
state of Alabama’s Mr. Football,
Nick Marshall and Jason Smith
all have the potential to be
Auburn’s quarterback in the
future.
“We’re going to give all
three of those guys a shot at
quarterback,” Malzahn said.
“They’re all very talented
at that position. The dual
threat type guys that can do
a lot of different things, (and)
keep plays alive can be very
successful with what we do.”
Auburn added two quality
running backs in Peyton
Barber and Johnathan Ford.
“I think both of those guys
are true running backs,”
Malzahn said. “I think they’ve
got all the skills that it takes
to be a running back in this
league.”
The staff also added four
wide receivers in Earnest
Robinson, Tony Stevenson,
Dominic Walker and Marcus
Davis,
Stevens and Robinson are
both considered four-star wide
receivers by Rivals.com
On the offensive line,
Auburn picked up Devonte
Danzey and Deon Mix who
combine to weigh 610 pounds.
Overall, National Signing
Day was a success as Malzahn
and his staff succeeded
to fill some major gaps at
wide receiver, running back,
quarterback and defense. So,
he essentially filled gaps at
every position.
Now that Malzahn has the
pieces, he just has to get them
moving to get the program
back to successful seasons.
Courtesy of Todd Van Emst
The Auburn coaching staff reacts to watching Montravius Adams says he is signing with the Tigers Wednesday Feb. 6. Malzahn gets
top 10 class
With limited time to salvage a deteriorating recruiting
class, Gus Malzahn and his staff come through
with a Rivals.com top 10 recruiting class
Sports B2 The Auburn Plainsman Thursday, February 7, 2013
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Defense
» From B1
One of two inside linebacker
recruits, Toney is a welcomed
addition to the future Tiger de-fense.
Inside linebacker is the
most important position on
defense and the Tigers have
not had a run-stopper who can
cover the middle since Josh
Bynes in 2010.
This 6-foot-2, 225 pound
commit is known as an in-stinctive
run-stopper both
inside and outside the box,
which means he has the speed
to pursue an outside run,
an area Auburn desperately
needs to improve on.
Another well-sized recruit
at 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, King
committed to Auburn in the
beginning of January and was
the first of a string of junior
college recruits to join the Ti-gers.
King played safety last sea-son
at Highland Community
College, but it is thought that
he is well suited for an outside
linebacker position due to his
good size.
Whether he plays lineback-er
or safety, King’s skill sets are
needed to improve last year’s
poor defense.
The only true cornerback
in the Auburn recruiting class
thus far is listed at 5-foot-
10, weighs 170 pounds and is
named Kamryn Melton. He
has a vertical jump of 33 inch-es,
which partially makes up
for his smaller height.
Melton also runs a speedy
4.45 40-yard dash, according
to Rivals.com, which means
he has the speed to keep up
with many SEC-caliber wide
receivers.
«««««
Cameron Toney - LB
«««««
Kamryn Melton - CB
«««««
Brandon King - DB
«««««
«««««
Kenny Flowers - LB
Khari Harding - DB
Malzahn continued to scour
the junior college recruits and
came away with the commit-ment
of this gem of a lineback-er.
As a redshirt freshman,
Flowers tallied 95 tackles,
6.5 for a loss in 2012, and was
ranked the No. 2 JUCO in-side
linebacker, according to
247Sports following the sea-son.
At a press conference
Wednesday, Malzahn de-scribed
Harding as a “vicious
guy.”
Known for being a thumper
at the third level, Harding au-tomatically
adds to the hard-nosed
mentality Malzahn and
defensive coordinator Ellis
Johnson are trying to cultivate.
National Signing Day:
offensive additions
Tagged as a pocket pass-er,
this 6-foot-5, 215 pound
quarterback from Mont-gomery
can heave the ball,
but is also mobile for such
a big guy.
Of course when Auburn
fans think of a six and a half
foot, more than 200 pound
quarterback, one Cam
Newton comes to mind.
He’s no Newton. But he
is a viable option for the fu-ture
of the Auburn quarter-back
position once he gets
his skills polished.
«««««
JeremyJohnson- QB
Another large quarter-back
who can use his arms
and legs in and out of the
pocket joined the Tigers in
January.
Marshall played at Gar-den
City Community Col-lege
last season, and obvi-ously
dual-threat quarter-backs
like him are more
than welcomed in Gus Mal-zahn’s
spread offense.
Of course, there are now
five players who may be vy-ing
for the quarterback po-sition,
so because Marshall
is so athletic, he might be
pegged as a wide receiv-er
or a cornerback. Either
way, in Malzahn’s spread
offense and defensive coor-dinator
Ellis Johnson’s 4-2-
5 defense there is always
room for more receivers
and corner backs.
«««««
Nick Marshall - QB
Auburn filled a big need
when in-state running back
Jonathan Ford chose Auburn
over Tennessee in front of a
packed gym at his high school
on Wednesday.
Ford was previously com-mitted
to Vanderbilt, but two-weeks
ago decided to open
his recruitment back up after
Auburn extended a late offer
to the New Hope, Al running
back.
Ford is a four-star accord-ing
to Rivals and a three star
according to ESPN.
He was first team AHSAA
All-State selection by the Al-abama
Sports Writers Asso-ciation
and played in the Al-abama-
Mississippi All-Star
Classic in December.
«««««
Johnathan Ford - RB
Artis-Payne was rated
as the nation’s top junior
college running back, as he
rushed for 2,048 yards and 25
touchdowns last season.
He led the California
Community College Athletic
Association in rushing yards,
yards per game, yards per rush
and touchdowns
He enrolled at Auburn in
January, and is majoring in
philosophy.
Artis-Payne was the JC
AAthletic Bureau first team
All-America offensive player of
the year.
He was the conference
player of the week five times
last season.
Artis-Payne was one of the
first recruits to sign with the
new Malzahn regime.
His commitment triggered
a wave of new recruits that
joined Auburn.
«««««
CameronArtis-Payne- RB
Deon Mix was one of
the late additions to this
recruiting class, and he
weighs in at 315 pounds
and is 6-foot-4.
He is an offensive guard ,
and was picked for the first
team all state.
He is considered the No.
5 prospect in Mississippi
and the No. 15 offensive
lineman in the nation
according to Rivals.com.
He was named in
MaxPreps Missippi Fab
Five for recruiting
«««««
Deon Mix - OL
Barber rushed for more
than 1,700 yards and 22
touchdowns as a senior in
high school.
According to 247Sports,
he is the No.32 running
back, and the No.48 overall
prospect in Georgia.
Former NFL players
Marion and Dominique
barber are Peyton’s second
cousins.
«««««
Peyton Barber - RB
Easily one of the speediest
recruits Auburn has landed
this year, Smith brings 4.47 40-
yard dash speed to the Tigers.
Smith will either be a quar-terback
or a wide receiver, but
it is thought that he would
bring more to the table as a
wide receiver because of his
speed and shiftiness.
From Mobile, Ala., this
6-foot-1 athlete is a firm com-mitment
to the Tigers because
of how well he should fit into
Malzahn’s offensive scheme.
If Smith does become a
wide receiver it will add to
the number of different plays
and tricks the head coach can
throw into the book.
«««««
Jason Smith - QB
Robinson one of several
true wide receivers in this
season’s recruiting class and
ranks 39th at his position.
He is 6-foot-2, 200 pounds,
has a 30-inch vertical jump
and runs a 4.81 40-yard dash.
Wide receiver has been a
position Auburn has not had
much success with in the
previous two seasons and any
added depth is welcomed.
Other schools Robinson
considered include Alabama,
Arkansas, LSU and FSU.
Tony Stevens is a fast wide
receiver who can catch deep
passes.
He had 29 receptions for 516
yards and seven touchdowns.
in his senior season in
highschool.
The Orlando Sentinel
named him No. 5 in the Central
Florida Super 60.
Rivals.com considered
him the No. 11 receiver in the
nation, while ESPN ranked
him as one of their top 300
players.
«««««
«««««
EarnestRobinson- WR
Tony Stevens - WR
He’s the number 1 ranked
kicker in this class and is al-most
six and a half feet tall.
Carlson will help the special
teams during his time with the
team. His specialties are field
goals and kickoffs, and will be
next in line at place kicker.
«««««
Daniel Carlson - K
Courtesy of Mickey Walsh, Montgomery Advertiser
Now officially a Tiger, Jeremy Johnson will compete for the starting
quarterback job against four other quarterbacks.
Jessa Pease
Write r
The No. 21 Auburn men’s
tennis team defeated UAB
6–1 at their match Sunday
at George Ward Park in Bir-mingham.
The Tigers came back to
win after their only loss of the
season last Sunday against
No. 11 Mississippi State.
“I think we played fair-ly
well,” said Auburn Coach
Eric Shore. “Tough condi-tions:
it was very windy and
the courts were quicker
courts. So it was a little diffi-cult
to start, but we had gone
up there on Saturday and got
a hit in. So getting that hit
in and playing doubles first,
I thought we came out a lit-tle
slow, but we adjusted and
played well at the match as
the day progressed.”
Auburn won the dou-bles
point after some close
matches, according to Shore.
It came down to three dou-bles
matches. The Tigers won
one of the matches, but lost
two.
“We did a good job there,
but it was pretty close in dou-bles,”
Shore said. “I think in
singles we played a bit better
as the day progressed.”
Senior Andreas Mies won
in straight sets 6–2 and 6–4.
“He had a tough match
and he handled it well,” Shore
said. “He got better and he’s
getting better. He’s not where
he wants to be, but he’s get-ting
closer.”
Sophomore Lukas Ollert
continued to play well, and is
undefeated in singles match-es
this season.
“I played against a friend
of mine,” Ollert said. “I played
very good the first set I won
6–1. I was up 5–3 in the sec-ond.
I kind of struggled with
winning the match, I don’t
know why, and it got real-ly
close. I lost the second
set. Then the tie breaker… It
was a really close match and
it shouldn’t have been that
close.”
Senior Michael Wardell
also won for the Tigers in
straight sets 6–2 and 6–3.
Wardell said the men fought
very hard, and to their cred-it,
UAB came ready for the
match.
“We have a guy that played
here last year that played
there and he was ready,”
Wardell said. “One of our old
teammate’s brother plays
for them, so I feel like they
brought all they had and we
really had to play well to beat
them, and we did.”
Auburn is headed to Cal-ifornia
this weekend, to San
Diego State Saturday and
Fresno State on Sunday. Af-ter
that, the Tigers are fac-ing
Georgia Tech and Clem-son
at home, and they hope
to beat Mississippi State in a
rematch at home in a month.
“I know that we’ve got to
continue to improve and get
better because it’s going to
get tougher next weekend,”
Shore said. “We have Georgia
Tech and Clemson at home:
two ACC matches. Then we
start the SEC, so we’ve got
some work to do and we are
running out of time. It’s get-ting
closer to conference
time which is really make-or-break
you.”
Tigers win in Birmingham
A dual-threat quarterback
in high school, Malzahn
announced Wednesday that
Davis would be used as a slot
receiver during his time at
Auburn.
As a senior, Davis ran for 846
yards and eight touchdowns in
addition to throwing for 1,019
yards and 15 touchdowns.
Wide receiver was a
position of need for the Tigers,
and, with the departure of scat
back Onterio McCalebb, the
small, speedy Davis should be
a useful addition to the Tigers’
offense.
«««««
Marcus Davis - ATH
One of three prospects
from Hutchinson Community
College, Danzey was ranked
the No. 1 JUCO offensive
guard in the nation following
his 2012 redshirt freshman
season.
Auburn’s offensive line
is still young, but offensive
line coach J.B. Grimes has
plenty of depth to make the
offensive line one of the more
competitive position battles
heading into the 2013 season.
A high school teammate
of fellow Auburn signee Tony
Stevens, the Tigers hoped to
bolster their wide receiving
corps by snagging Walker, a
top 50 wide receiver.
Now that Walker has signed,
The Tigers are laden with
options on the outside.
At 6-feet-2-inches and
195 pounds, Walker has the
physical tools to be a fast,
powerful presence on the
outside.
«««««
Devonte Danzey - OL Dominic Walker - WR
Courtesy of Todd Van Emst
Auburn assistant coaches Rodney Garner, Melvin Smith, JB Grimes and Dameyune Craig celebrate on National Signing Day.
Thursday, February 7, 2013 The Auburn Plainsman Sports B3
Men’s Basketball: The men’s basketball team lost their fifth and sixth
straight games against Georgia and No. 17 Missouri, respectively. The Bulldogs defeated
Auburn 57-49 Jan. 30 and the Missouri Tigers stomped Auburn 91-77 Saturday, Feb. 2.
According to al.com’s Joel Erickson, after the Missouri loss coach Tony Barbee said, “I told
the guys I’m embarrassed to say I coach this team.”
Baseball: Coach John Pawlowski sent an email to all Auburn students urging them
to come support the baseball team. As basketball games have been popular events this
semester, Pawlowski said he hoped students would make baseball games equally popular.
Admission is free for students and opening day is Feb. 15 against Maine.
Men’s Tennis: The men’s tennis team improved to 5-1 with an away victory
against UAB Sunday, Feb. 3.
Women’s Basketball: The women’s basketball team also lost their fifth and
sixth straight games last week. The losses came against LSU last Thursday, Jan. 31, 59-55
in a game that came down to the last minutes, and a 59-51 defeat to South Carolina Sunday
Feb. 3.
Women’s Tennis: The women’s tennis team swept both Georgia Southern and
Alabama A&M 7-0 at the Yarbrough Tennis Center Sunday, Jan. 3 to improve to 3-1 for the
season.
Gymnastics: The women’s gymnastics squad snapped a three meet losing streak
by defeating Missouri 196.725-194.575. Auburn tied a record for largest away score in
school history. The score of 196.725 was also good for the fourth highest score recorded in
Auburn gymnastics history.
Equestrian: The No. 2 ranked Auburn women’s equestrian team are now 2-0 after
traveling to Fresno, Calif. The team defeated Fresno State and No. 6 Kansas State over the
weekend.
Track and Field: Auburn track and field traveled to Lincoln, Neb., for the 38th
annual Frank Sevigne Invitational and won three individual event titles and set two school
records. Top performers include Marcus Rowland, Harry Adams, Valentina Muzaric, Jessie
Johnson and Maya Pressley.
A week of Auburn sports
Courtesy of Todd Van Emst
Hasina Muhammad shoots over LSU’s Sheila Boykin Thursday, Jan.
31.
Eva Woghiren
Writer
The Auburn women’s tennis team
improved to 3-1 by defeating Georgia
Southern 7–0 and Alabama A&M 7–0
in a doubleheader Sunday, Feb. 3 at
Yarbrough Tennis Center.
The first to finish their doubles
match against Georgia Southern were
junior Jackie Kasler and sophomore
Emily Flickinger, who won 8–2.
Freshmen Pleun Burgmans and
Michala Kucharova followed up their
teammates’ victory with an 82 win
of their own, while sophomore Jen
Pfeifler and senior Paulina Schippers
also won their match 8–4.
“I feel great about my game,”
Pfeifler said. “Last year I had a little
bit of a shoulder injury and so this
year I think I have improved on my
ground stroke a lot. I’m going in with
much more confidence.”
The strong wind played a factor
in Sunday’s matches, but did not
hold the team back from dominating
equally in singles. Freshman Maria
Cardenas Conti won her match 6¬–
1, 6–0.
“With the wind it was really hard
to play,” Conti said. “In the beginning
I was just trying to play inside the
court, not taking many risks and it
worked out in the end, but overall I
think I adjusted very well.”
Coach Lauren Longbotham
Meisner also mentioned her concern
about the wind and how it affected
the game of her players, but believes
they fought through it to get the job
done.
Burgmans, Flickinger, Kasler and
Schippers saw more action, and
came out on top in their singles
matches. Freshman Ashley Kitchen
also participated in singles, winning
6–3, 6–0.
Later Sunday evening the team
took on Alabama A&M and came
out with a victory. Again Kucharova
and senior partner Plamena Kurteva
led the way with the first victory in
doubles, 8–0. Securing the last win of
the night was Kasler, 6–0, 6–1.
“I played all of the freshman to see
how they would do in their first home
opener,” Meisner said. “Burgmans
played really (well), but all of them did
well, so I’m happy.”
Because they have been indoors
for the past couple of weeks to get
ready for next week the team plans
on practicing more outside to adjust
to weather conditions. They also plan
to focus primarily on doubles.
Auburn has another doubleheader
Saturday, Feb. 9, when the Tigers
take on Georgia State at noon and
Samford at 6 p.m. at the Yarbrough
Tennis Center.
Women’s tennis team holds serve at home
Sports B4 The Auburn Plainsman Thursday, February 7, 2013
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Lance Davis
Sports Writer
Junior guard Chris Denson
has been spending a little
more time than he’d like in the
training room.
“The trainer calls me his
best friend,” Denson said. “I’m
in the training room all the
time.”
Denson suffered a stress
fracture in his left foot
sometime in late December.
The exact time of his injury is
unknown, but he was held to
just eight points versus Illinois
on Friday, Dec. 28.
Denson combined to go 0–
for–8 from the field with one
point in his first two games
back from injury.
“I probably shouldn’t have
played them these last two
games,” coach Tony Barbee
said of Denson and freshman
guard Jordan Price, who also
suffered a stress fracture in his
foot. “They’re saying they’re
ready, but as I watch them
on tape they weren’t ready
physically in just terms of
being in-game sharp, ready.”
In his third game back,
Denson scored a game-high 18
points on 6–of–9 shooting and
seemed to be on his way back
to full health.
Then he hurt his right ankle.
No worries, though. He just
used the same foot brace for
the stress fracture in his left
foot and switched it to his
right foot.
“(My) foot is getting better,”
Denson said. “I don’t know
what it is, but two days ago I
rolled my right ankle, so I got
my boot on my right ankle
now instead of my left one. It
didn’t really affect me against
Georgia. I’m fine.”
Denson is still not 100
percent, but he has been one of
the Tiger’s best players during
another underwhelming
season for the team.
“He’s played well. He’s
played as good as he’s played
since he’s been here,” Barbee
said. “It was unfortunate, the
injury that he had and the time
that it came at, ‘cause he was
playing as good as anybody on
the team. It was a big setback
for him and for us.”
On top of missing time with
an injury, Denson missed the
first seven games of the season
after being ruled academically
ineligible.
Even with being tossed
in and out of the lineup
throughout the season,
Denson is still producing at a
high level.
Denson is averaging a
career-best in scoring and
rebounds, tallying 11.7 points
and 3.1 boards per game.
He’s also getting to the foul
line often, averaging 5.8 free-throw
attempts per game.
Denson has drawn seven fouls
per 40 minutes, according to
Ken Pomeroy, sports analyst,
which would rank first in the
SEC if Denson had played
enough minutes to qualify.
Denson has improved his
passing and has a 1.1 assist-to-
turnover ratio to show for
it. While that may not seem
like much, consider he had a
negative turnover-to-assist
ratio last season, when he
averaged 1.1 assists and 1.4
turnovers per game.
Denson admits he’s not
going to light it up from three,
but he brings slashing ability
to the Auburn offense. He’s
quick, shifty and always seems
to be in the paint fighting for
the ball.
Despite being in and out of
the lineup all season, Denson
has been able to be productive
without establishing much of a
rhythm.
“It’s hard,” Denson said.
“I know my sophomore and
freshman year, they called me
the microwave guy, coming
off the bench and creating a
spark. But becoming a junior, I
started starting, and I like the
rhythm coming the game and
not waiting like I used to.
“Coming in, I like to start
the game instead of just
coming in like I used to and got
to catch up to how everybody
else is playing. I came back the
Georgia game and started. I
definitely like that better than
coming off the bench.”
Despite Denson’s solid play,
the team is struggling and
finds itself in a six-game losing
streak.
“It’s a lot of pressure. There’s
a lot of pressure on everybody,”
Denson said. “We need Noel
(Johnson) to step up his shots.
Allen Payne did his thing
(Wednesday versus Georgia).
Me and Frankie (Sullivan)
need to step up.”
The season is not over,
though, and Denson and the
Tigers still have plenty to play
for heading into the weekend
matchup at Kentucky.
“It’s still not over, Denson
said. “We put ourselves in a
bad situation, but we’re trying
to look at the positives instead
of the negatives right now.”
Courtesy of Todd Van Emst
Chris Denson shoots over Winthrop’s Reggie King and draws a foul
on Saturday, December 22, 2012
Denson gives Tigers an edge
Playing through two injuries, junior guard Chris Denson keeps the
Tigers competitive with career-bests in scoring and rebounding
Andrew Yawn
Sports Reporter
This time of year, most college football coaches are either
looking for recruits or looking for a job.
While watching his daughter and the rest of the Auburn High
School women’s basketball team crush Russell County 53-38 on
Friday, Feb. 1, former Auburn University wide receivers coach
Trooper Taylor said he was perfectly fine enjoying his free time.
Taylor’s daughter Starr, a freshman at AHS, dominated the
game and led her team with 20 points, six steals and two assists.
For regular fans of the AHS Lady Tigers, Starr’s consistent
production comes as no surprise.
As for Taylor, a coach used to life dominated by football, he is
relishing the opportunity to watch his daughter and spend time
with his family.
“It’s been great to have time off to be a father and be able to
watch her play,” Taylor said.
According to Taylor, he just might take the entire season off.
“Right now, I can sit back and take a year off and watch my son
(Blaise) play as a junior, and I can watch my daughter play which
I haven’t been able to do,” Taylor said. “And I can spend time with
my wife. And still get paid. That’s the beauty of it for a whole year
and a half.”
Taylor and the rest of Auburn’s football coaches were released
in early December following the termination of former head
coach Gene Chizik.
As part of his contract, Taylor is scheduled to continue to
receive monthly checks as if he was still on staff.
When asked again if he planned to spend the next year in the
stands rather then on the sideline, Taylor said he did.
However, Taylor said he hasn’t closed the door on a 2013
coaching job completely, and he and his family are waiting for
“whatever God has” for them.
“If something opens up that fits me, and it’s good for (Blaise)
and (Starr) and the family, then we’ll do it,” Taylor said. “But we’re
not doing anything until we know exactly what’s best for us... You
can’t call God, but when God calls you, you’ve got to take that
call.”
Courtesy of Todd Van Emst
Coach Trooper Taylor with the team after warm-ups. Auburn at
Mississippi on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012
Trooper to take
next season off
Andrew Yawn
Sports Reporter
Over the past four seasons,
2009-11 with Auburn and
2012 at Arkansas State,
Gus Malzahn’s offense has
averaged 2,953 rushing yards
a season.
Should those numbers
continue in 2013, Malzahn’s
first as coach of Auburn,
running back Mike Blakely
will not be a part of it.
Auburn associate athletic
director Kirk Sampson
announced Wednesday, Jan.
30, Blakely will not return to
Auburn next summer as a
player or student.
Last summer, former
running backs coach Curtis
Luper said Blakely came in
“with a better frame of mind
and better sense of urgency
than he did in the spring.”
“There are times when
Mike appears to have the
most talent of the bunch,”
Luper said of Blakely before
the season.
Blakely appeared to have
the physical tools necessary
to succeed at the collegiate
level.
After being highly
recruited out of Manatee
High School in Bradenton,
Fla., Blakely was ranked
the No. 6 running back in
the nation and scored 42
touchdowns combined in his
final two years at the school.
Blakely then committed to
Florida, before transferring
to Auburn’s spread offense
and red-shirting in 2011.
However, the problem
with Blakely seemed to be
his attitude.
Coaches continuously
said he needed to focus more
on his game, and Auburn
media relations were loathe
to allow him to speak with
the media.
In 2012, Blakely showed
improvement and led the
team in rushing with 11
carries for 42 yards in the
team’s loss at Mississippi
State. However, fumbling
problems kept him buried
beneath Tre Mason and
Onterio McCalebb, and
Blakely only had 11 carries
over the final seven games.
Blakely’s future remains
unknown, but a move
back to Florida—perhaps
the University of South
Florida—is expected for the
sophomore running back.
“We put ourselves
in a bad situation,
but we’re trying
to look at the
positives.”
—Chris Denson
Junior Aub u rn Guard
Blakely leaves
Courtesy of Todd Van Emst
Mike Blakely at a scrimmage Saturday Aug. 11, 2012.
Intrigue
Thursday, February 7, 2013 ThePlainsman.com Intrigue
B5
Anna Beth Jager
Intrigue Reporter
“Spotted a makeout sesh at
the bar?” @Tiger_Makeout, a
Twitter account that has ev-eryone
talking, is here to col-lect.
And by collect, it means
posting pictures people send
in of unsuspecting couples
making out in public. @Tiger_
Makeout has burst onto the
scene with no apologies, its
number of followers increas-ing
steadily. So now your mom,
little brother and grandma can
have the opportunity to see
you in a way they really never
wanted to before.
The anonymous account
started toward the begin-ning
of January and has since
spread like wildfire, gaining
nearly 5,000 followers since its
first tweet less than a month
ago. Similar accounts at Uni-versity
of Missouri and the
original ‘make out’ twitter at
Purdue have also gained a
hefty fan base, with numbers
ranging from 8,000-12,000 fol-lowers
since they first started.
Which begs the question:
who is the mastermind(s) be-hind
these accounts? Or more
importantly, behind Auburn’s?
Because aside from the few
additional comments such
as “get it” and “dayum” every
once and a while, the identity
of @Tiger_Makeout remains
a mystery. That didn’t stop us
from chatting with them, how-ever,
because along with the
identity, there are so many
other questions we’ve been cu-rious
about since the moment
the account made its first de-but.
Like, for instance, where
did this idea come from and
why decide to start it here?
It said, “A friend at anoth-er
SEC school was on their
school's make-out account
and it sounded like some-thing
Auburn would appreci-ate,”
@Tiger_Makouts said. “I
think that here in the South,
everyone likes to know every-one
else's business and Tiger
Makeout is a perfect outlet for
that in a college setting.”
So hey, if you had a little too
much to drink and can’t re-member
who you made out
with the night before, have
no fear. Just log onto Twitter
and you’ll figure it out rather
promptly since @Tiger_Make-out
never fails to flood time-lines
every weekend with new
pictures of horny strangers.
Which might embarrass
some people, right? The whole
idea of posting these pictures
seems incredibly invasive.
They are pictures that are all
too hilarious until you your-self
fall victim to them and
end up in thousands of strang-er’s
timelines making out with
a random. When I asked @Ti-ger_
Makeout how it felt about
this, it said, “To me, it's all in
good fun. I don't know the pho-tographer's
motives.”
There’s no discriminating
when it comes to this account,
as @Tiger_Makeout will post
any ‘make out’ picture that is
sent to them. If you noticed
they were offline for a bit, it’s
not for what you think. It said,
“I was briefly stuck in "Twitter
Jail”....twice. For following too
many people (I just wanted to
follow all my followers). I can't
help it that I'm popular.”
No, you certainly can’t.
Whether it’s positive or nega-tive
attention, there’s still an
overabundance headed in @
Tiger_Makeout’s way. Speak-ing
of negative attention, the
mastermind(s) behind @Ti-ger_
Makeout have heard quite
a few threats sent in by peo-ple
who weren’t pleased with
a picture posted of themselves.
“I've even been contacted
by someone's mother. I think
it is funny when people direct
their anger at me. It was prob-ably
their friend who sent it in.”
We asked for a little more
information about @Tiger_
Makeout’s identity, but the
creator(s) weren't interest-ed
in spilling any details, end-ing
the interview with a simple
“wouldn’t you like to know.”
You’re sassy, and we like it.
The mystery remains, and
as the popularity of the ac-count
grows, the likelihood of
being on it grows as well. So
next time you feel like some
PDA, make sure there aren’t
any camera phones around or
you may end up somewhere
in the Twitter world alongside
hundreds of your unsuspect-ing
peers.
Behind the scenes with Twitter account @Tiger_Makeout
Elizabeth Wieck
Intrigue Editor
Tucked away in the Student Center lies an
area where a loyal group of gamers play, lounge
and study. Gamers of all interests are welcome,
whether their forte be trading cards, video
games or computer games.
While there is a gamers’ club that meets on
Fridays at 7 p.m., the area does not cater only
to members.
“There are a lot of members, but also a lot that
come here to hang out casually,” said Alex Fleet,
freshman in computer science.
More than anything, it’s a place to hang out
and spend time, a second home of sorts.
“Several of us just come here and hang out
during the week. When we don’t have classes,
we’ll play some games together and kill some
time without sitting in our rooms doing noth-ing,”
said Trent Coleman, freshman in chemical
engineering.
Fleet said that most, if not all, of the students
who hang out in the gaming area play games on
their own time. It’s the camaraderie, however,
that keeps the tables and couches crowded and
the faces familiar.
“We come here to have our daily dose of com-munity,
so to speak,” Fleet said.
First and last name familiarity, though, is
something that comes with time.
“The funny thing is, we know each oth-er
by our gamer tag. Once you’ve been around
long enough, you start to know everyone’s real
names,” Coleman said.
Even with a full class load, Daniel Justice, ju-nior
in nursing, said he spends 30–40 hours per
week gaming in the Student Center.
But what about homework and studying?
Justice and Coleman said, despite the loud
noises and distractions, the gaming area can be
a great place to study, especially at night.
“Honestly, we can get stuff done. We don’t
have to be locked away with headphones like a
lot of people do,” Justice said. “We’re just used to
all the traffic. Also at night too, after 8 o’clock
this place is dead.”
“It’s really quiet in here at night. It’s actual-ly
one of the better places to study,” Coleman
said. “Then you can de-stress. If you’re studying
for two hours, you can be like ‘Hey, want to play
a game real quick?’, and go back to studying. It
keeps you calm and not yelling at homework.”
Accountability factors in as well.
“It makes it cool for homework, because there
are a lot of people who have gone through what
you (have),” Justice said.
There are a lot of computer-based and engi-neering
majors that hang out in the area, but
Justice said the area of study is otherwise all
across the board.
Fleet has plans to go into software develop-ment
in the future.
“It would be really cool, because I would be
participating in something that I actually enjoy
doing,” Fleet said. “There’s really no better joy,
because if you love what you do in terms of your
work, then you’ll never work a day in your life, or
so the saying goes.”
“Wasn’t it Mark Twain that said, ‘Make your
vacation your vocation?’” Justice said.
Indeed, it was.
Justice, Fleet and Coleman said the best part
of hanging out in the gaming area is freedom of
self-expression. Everyone does what they like
and it is accepted.
“You’re not being judged. We know that ev-eryone
here has their thing, you know what I
mean?” Justice said. “You’re not being judged,
you’re not judging, you’re just being who you
are. That’s the best part. You go into some cir-cles
and people are always talking about each
other behind their back. Here, it’s just like, you
do what you want.”
“In other circles, too, it’s like you have to put
up a façade almost. You present who you want
them to perceive you as,” Fleet said. “Where as
here, ‘Oh hey I’m this guy, this is who I am.’ And
you’re OK.”
Coleman, too, said he enjoys gaming and
hanging out with gaming friends as an alterna-tive
to “typical” college activities.
“I find this much better and a little bit cheap-er
than going out and drinking, wasting my time
doing all the regular college stuff,” Coleman said.
“I like this better because I’m with my friends.
I’m having a good time and some of the funniest
moments happen here. Sometimes you’ll walk
past and see people banging on the table.”
The recent absence of the famed Dance
Dance Revolution machines is quite a sore sub-ject
among the gamers that frequent the area.
According to Justice, the University made the
man who owned the machines move them out
of the Student Center because families on foot-ball
game days found them to be too noisy and
large.
“They wanted to create an environment for
the people who bought tickets to hang out and
eat food. I’m not a fan of it,” Justice said.
Justice said since he and the other gamers
hang out in the area every day, their opinion
should come before fall season ticket-holders.
The gaming area in the Student Center is a
unique place. It’s a community, a collection of
like-minded people, and a place to learn and
show your true self.
“I like seeing the same people, just hanging
out with friends. Some people go out and do
other things, but this is what we do,” Justice said.
Emily Brett / Frelance Graphic artist
Katherine McCahey / assistant photo editor
Students p