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A SPIRIT THAT IS NOT AFRAID • NEWS SINCE 1893
THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018
VOL. 125 • ISSUE 29 • FIRST COPY FREE THEN 50¢
Board approves projects
In the eye of an
epidemic
South College Street deck to add 400 parking spots By LOREN KIMMEL Campus Editor campus@theplainsman.com
An Auburn graduate’s struggle through opioid addiction
Auburn University’s Board of Trustees met Friday morning and approved a proposal to build a new parking deck on South College Street. The new deck will be constructed in the south parking lot of the Auburn University Hotel and Dixon Conference Center. The board’s Property and Facility Committee heard from Dan King, assistant vice president for facilities, about the plans for the project. The committee approved the plans before the full panel met to hear the proposal later in morning at the hotel. “An Auburn University parking structure in this location will significantly improve the parking situation in the northeast portion of
By EDUARDO MEDINA Community Writer community@theplainsman.com
T
he barista at Side Track Coffee tilts his flowing pot to a halt as he greets Michael with an easygoing smile on Saturday. They catch up on how they’re doing and talk about upcoming concerts, one of which Michael is seeing Sunday night in Atlanta. A leaf made from milk is splashed atop his espresso, and Michael thanks his friend, the owner of what Michael calls the best coffee shop in Opelika. The leaf ripples across the brim of his cup as he sits on a bench. Around 4:30 p.m., under a warm blue sky, Michael sips his coffee and brushes his thick black beard, pondering recent memories. It was not long ago when such afternoons were impossible, and friendly conversations like the one with the barista were nonexistent. These simple beauties in life were plundered by needles he inserted into his veins — plundered by injections of heroin. Michael’s story is similar to many Americans in recent years. In 2016, opioids killed more than 42,000 Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control, with 30 states seeing a statistically significant increase in heroin and prescription opioid overdose deaths from 2015. The current drug epidemic is the deadliest in American history, accounting for 2 percent of deaths in 2015, or roughly 1 in 50.
» See PARKING, 4
Student Activities Center improvements The Board of Trustees has approved a proposal — pushed in large part by Student Affairs and the Student Government Association — to renovate Auburn’s Student Activities Center. The plan, proposed by Associate Vice President for Facilities Dan King, will modify and renovate the existing building to create a facility with a more accommodating, mid-sized event space equipped for hosting events too big for the Student Center and too small for the Auburn Arena or Beard-Eaves Collesium. The project will create a flexible event
See EPIDEMIC, 2
» See STUDENT ACT, 4
SPORTS
Equestrian wins fifth Alum brings Yoda to life with CGI national title ALUMNI
By LILY JACKSON Managing Editor
By NATHAN KING
managing.editor@theplainsman.com
Assistant Sports Editor
Look into the eyes of Yoda, Iron Man and Davy Jones — see the way their lips curl, their smiles form and eyes roll. Jamy Wheless, Auburn alumus, gave them life. As the co-founder and president of Lightstream Animation Studios, Wheless has embarked on a journey of telling stories and his company is succeeding. Just recently, Lightstream Animation Studios was accepted into the Annecy International Animation Film Festival held in France for their production of the short film, “The Pig on the Hill.” “When Pig’s free-spirited and energetic new neighbor Duck plunges himself into Pig’s quiet, orderly life, Pig learns that having friends is what he has been missing all along.” Receiving an invitation to the Annecy Film Festival is one of the highest honors in animation. There are 3,000–4,000 applicants, and
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recognition and eventually a feature film based on the short film. Aside from his personal career, Wheless taught a semester-long course on animation
Auburn equestrian is bringing another championship home to The Plains. After defeating Baylor and TCU Thursday in the opening rounds of the NCEA Championships in Waco, Texas, Auburn doubled up No. 1 seed Georgia 10-5 for its fifth national championship in program history. The Tigers came out of the gates hooves blazing, racking up four points in equitation on the flat. Auburn’s Ashton Alexander (score of 177), Taylor St. Jacques (179), Hayley Iannotti (175) and Caitlin Boyle (181) were the catalysts for the team’s 4-0 lead after the opening frame. Iannotti was bested by Georgia’s Emma Mandarino in fences for the Bulldogs’ first point of the day, but Boyle, St. Jacques and
» See WHELESS, 4
» See EQUESTRIAN, 2
CONTRIBUTED BY JAMY WHELESS
Alumnus Jamy Wheless is working to share his experience with animation at Auburn.
they invite 200–300 filmmakers. Winners are Oscar qualifiers, as well. “If we should win an award, we would be on the Academy Award long list,” Wheless said. Wheless has been invited to a number of other festivals, and the hope is for more name
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THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018
EPIDEMIC » From 1
The history of opioid use in the United States is a long one. Doctors prescribed soldiers morphine during the Civil War in the 1800s, and in 1898, Bayer began selling heroin commercially in the country as a pain reliever until Congress outlawed it in 1924. In less than 120 years time, the drug and its relatives would begin to plague the lives of millions and the life of Auburn University graduate Michael. Michael, who requested his last name be kept confidential, traces his addiction back to age 11. He and his sixth-grade buddy snuck a bottle of Absolut Vodka into the friend’s house, where they gulped it down. “It was forbidden, and I was a mischievous little kid, so at first it was fun,” Michael said. Michael’s family growing up could be described as upper middle class. His parents are both attorneys, and he attended a private school in Montgomery. While it may seem like a picturesque American upbringing, Michael said the spiral continued in subtle quakes at 15 years old. While panicking about something he now forgets, he took a single Xanax pill that his mother had left in the cabinet to calm down, and it worked, so he did it again and again. Like many households in America, Michael’s family did not dispose of their pills after usage. Dr. Dave Brackett, coordinator of clinical services for the Harrison School of Pharmacy at Auburn, notes the tragedies that can come from this. “Its important people don’t keep these drugs for rainy days because one: the products will go bad, two: kids will be tempted to try them and three: they’re all cheap, so there’s no reason to keep these drugs around,” Brackett said. High-voltage lights beaming onto his team’s football field and cheering from friends comprised Michael’s Friday nights, but he really couldn’t care less about football, he said. Hanging out with his friends while drinking and taking Xanax was how he chose to have a little fun after the games. His first semester of college at the University of Alabama was lackluster, so in spring 2007, he transferred to Auburn, where plenty of his friends went. By then, Michael said he’d discovered how to get Xanax from doctors. “I’d go to the doctor and say, ‘Sometimes I can’t concentrate’ or any other buzzword I knew would get me a prescription,” Michael said. “I went with the full intention to get my fix.” The Xanax rid him of nerves and veiled his underlying anxiety. Still, the college student needed something stronger, something to achieve a new high. “Prescription pain medicine took off while I was at Auburn,” he said while gently placing his espresso beside him. “I started with Lortab, and then it quickly became OxyContin.” He purchased pills through friends that acquired the drug easily, and by his last semester at Auburn, Michael had become one of the 2 million Americans dependent on opioids.
“
Prescription pain medicine took ofwhile I was at Auburn. I started with Lortab, and then it quickly became OxyContin.”
Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes has prosecuted numerous cases involving prescription opioids. He contends the stigma that pills are safer or less dangerous than other drugs resonates with people who abuse painkillers. Educating people on the dangers is crucial in stopping this notion and, more importantly, hindering the epidemic, he said. Hughes has seen that the county is not a sanctuary from the opioid epidemic. “I would say most traffic stops here, there are pills involved,” Hughes said. The surge of opioid use is not an entirely new phenomenon, however, and its usage historically treads between miraculous and deadly.
EQUESTRIAN » From 1
Alexander picked up the slack with 177-168, 171-168 and 160-163 wins, respectively.In fences, Auburn grabbed an 8-5 lead, good for unofficial victory. In the horsemanship set, Auburn turned in a 2-1 advantage behind 148.5 outputs from both Kelsey Jung and Lauren Diaz. UGA took three of four rides in the final category of reining, but the singu-
THEPLAINSMAN.COM Opioids’ earliest reference in history, according to the National Academy of Science, comes from the ancient Sumerians referring to the opium poppy cultivated in Mesopotamia as a “joy plant,” and its usefulness has been well established since. In 1640, the father of English medicine, Thomas Sydenham, praised the pain reducer as “God’s own medicine.” Today, physicians still prescribe opioids because of their ability to reduce severe pain for patients in need, but according to a report from the Institute for Human Data Science, total prescriptions filled in online and retail pharmacies fell nationally by 8.9 percent in 2017, the steepest drop in 25 years. Physicians wrote 5.8 million opioid prescriptions for Alabamians in 2015 — a state in which the population is 4.8 million. The numbers reflect how opioid dependency is beginning to sprawl in the state as well. Michael needed to take OxyContin every day during his last semester at Auburn in 2011. No longer was it a weekend rendezvous but part of a daily regimen. He got up, brushed his teeth, made breakfast and took his pill. In his cap and gown and surrounded by his family, Michael at last saluted school goodbye with a degree in media studies. He got a job at a Montgomery television station as a photojournalist and moved back in with his mother. Toward the end of 2011, the drug Opana intruded Michael’s life.
“
He gave me a tiny little line of it, and I thought, ‘There’s no way this is going to do anything.’ And it did, it absolutely did.”
Opana is a drug much more powerful than OxyContin used to treat severe pain continuously and was taken off the market in 2017 because of its potential for abuse. But in 2011, it was very much on the market, and one of Michael’s friends had a pill on a night out. His friend told him to try it, but Michael, carrying his standard OxyContin, was unsure of the new pill’s potency. “He gave me a tiny little line of it, and I thought, ‘There’s no way this is going to do anything,’” Michael said. “And it did, it absolutely did.” In the morning, Michael was experiencing withdrawals. He was taking OxyContin every day and budgeting one potent Opana pill a week, and by now, his habit was outgrowing his paycheck. Michael said at this point, he was spending close to $400 a week to retain his high. Drugs were a necessity for sleep, or else he would suffer for hours in bed, and it was a necessity for waking, lest he ache in a sluggish state of mind and throb in every muscle. “By that time in 2012, I was fully aware I was an addict because that was my mission in life — to find drugs,” Michael said. While explaining the various substitutes and alternatives he pursued to quell his addiction, Michael paused and looked for a second at the sky. “You know, I don’t think I was ever suicidal then,” Michael said. “Mostly because my best friend committed suicide. It was my senior year of high school. It scarred me.” His friend’s initials are tattooed on Michael’s chest. “Really, I used that as a rationale to do drugs,” he said. “I thought, ‘If you went through this, and you lost your best friend to suicide and felt the way I did, you’d do drugs too.’” But that was a twisted rationalization because of its selfish outlook on death, he said. Michael was crying himself to sleep at night after work. It didn’t matter if he had drugs or didn’t, he was exhausted, so he cried. He cried until his streaming tears dried and all that remained was a bottomless ditch for him to sink into and wander in a haze. He cracked open the next pill, powder spreading across the table, and in order to escape that void, put his nose to the powder. At night he would repeat the process, and then the
NEWS
U.S. drug overdose deaths Among the more than 64,000 drug overdose deaths estimated in 2016, the sharpest increase occurred among deaths related to fentanyl and fentanyl analogs (synthetic opioids), more than 20,000 overdose deaths. Synthetic opioids, other than methadone Heroin
20,145
Natural and semi-synthetic opioids
15,466 14,427
Cocaine Methamphetamin Methadone
10,619 7,663 3,314
’99
’05
’10
’16
SOURCE: CDC GRAPHIC: TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
next morning and then again the next night — his mind lost and his senses twirling. By this point, lawmakers had realized the country had a problem and worked to cut down on the prescription abuse, but it was too late for many. Millions of Americans were hooked on painkillers, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and their addictions had to be quenched, no matter the guaranteed damage. Close to 500,000 of those Americans turned to heroin, and in spring 2013, so did the recent Auburn graduate and son from an upper-middle-class family. “It was all I cared about,” Michael said. “Even if I was disgusted with myself and disgusted with the heroin, it had such a hold on me that it didn’t matter. I needed it.” There was no rationing to his use, he said. At night, Michael would get hundreds of dollars from ATMs to pay his dealer.
“
It was all I cared about. Even if I was disgusted with myself and disgusted with heroin, it had such a hold on me that it didn’t matter. I needed it.”
His work as a photojournalist was getting in the way of his drug use. At one point, Michael snuck away from work to inject another dosage of the drug. He put in his two weeks notice, and it was at this point that any sense of normalcy vanished, and his parents became suspicious. The addiction was suffocating his life. “A normal person’s brain would say, ‘You’re dying,’ but my brain just kept on screaming, ‘You need to get high, and then we’ll deal with you dying,’” Michael said. His father managed to get him a job at his firm, and Michael hesitantly accepted. On Friday, Sept. 27, 2013, on his fifth day of work, Michael sat in his father’s office, injecting heroin. His father walked in and saw the jam-band loving boy he raised during his downward spiral. It marked the first time he’d ever seen his father cry. Michael convinced his parents to wait until Monday until sending him to rehab. That Sunday, he managed to sneak in one last shot of OxyContin while on the back deck at his mom’s house. He tried fervently to get high, but nothing happened. All the euphoria he once felt was gone; the only thing left was profound numbness, and he understood that the end was near, that the void was closing. “I don’t remember my first month in recovery honestly, my head was spinning,” Michael said. “After years of daily use, I was just hazy.”
But recovery was working. He dove into the recovery community in Opelika and met people that had similar stories. While his withdrawals were excruciating, he enjoyed the camaraderie, and he enjoyed the fruitful conversations about addiction with others who had gone through it. He got a job at an entertainment store and began working again in August 2014. “I learned how to go to work, develop friendships, become a part of my family again,” he said. “I had to relearn how to live life without the use of drugs and alcohol.” One morning he woke up and realized the thought of doing drugs and alcohol wasn’t there for the first time in years. It forced a realization upon him: recovery might actually work. He is now four years sober. Helping others battling addiction is his mission and obligation, he said. “I imagine the feeling I get when helping someone is the same feeling a Catholic gets from Confession — just this overwhelming sense that everything is going to be all right,” Michael said. According to Michael, an analogy that gets used often in the recovering community is if they’re stuck in a ditch and someone walks by and sees them, most people will throw a rope; a person addicted to drugs will jump in with you and say, “How are we getting out of this together?” In the U.S., many are still stuck in this ditch. Alabama had 767 deaths from opioid overdoses in 2016, the CDC tallied. Michael’s addiction was one of many, but his survival is anomalous. He was not swept or ruined by the surging storm that is the country’s opioid epidemic, but it undoubtedly hurt his loved ones. At the Opelika coffee shop, he rises from the stiff bench and stretches before returning the coffee mug back to his friend. It’s 6 p.m., and the sun hasn’t set yet. Walking across the concrete covered in yellow and red chalk, he resumes the musical conversation with the barista. Umphrey’s McGee is the band Michael’s seeing in Atlanta, a nod to his favorite genre of music. Michael plans on getting a master’s soon and becoming a therapist, specializing in addiction. That night, however, he said he will play with his dog, maybe catch dinner with a friend and simply enjoy life. “All I ask is if you have a problem, and you think there’s no way out, start reaching out because it will get better,” Michael said. “You will be okay.”
lar win from Alexa Rivard was all Auburn needed to secure the championship. The win avenges Auburn’s 2018 SEC Championship and last season’s national championship losses to the Bulldogs. The national championship is Auburn athletics’ 21st, with equestrian accounting for the last four (2018, 2016, 2013,2011). The last non-equestrian national title for the school was football in 2010.
CORRECTION The picture that accompanied last week’s editorial, “Auburn should stop penalizing interns,” depicted the office of the Career Center. The Career Center is not involved in Auburn’s policy of charging tuition for internship credits, and by using the image, we inappropriately associated the Career Center with that policy. We sincerely regret the error.
CONTRIBUTED BY ANTHONY HALL/AUBURN ATHLETICS
Auburn Equestrian competes at NCEA Equestrian National Championship Finals vs. UGA on Saturday, April 21, 2018 in Waco, Tex.
opinion
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THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018
THEPLAINSMAN.COM
OPINION
OUR VIEW
Student newsrooms are struggling, need your support By EDITORIAL BOARD Spring 2018
The Auburn Plainsman has been around longer than The Creed. Longer than the rolling of Toomer’s Oaks. Longer than the Eagle’s Flight. And — depending on who you ask — longer than “War Eagle.” That’s why we, at The Plainsman, are participating in Support Student Journalism Day. This campaign, created at the Independent Florida Alligator, the University of Florida student newspaper, is intended to raise awareness of the benefits of student media and the importance of supporting it. You can use the hashtag #SaveStudentNewsrooms to share your support, your thoughts, your experiences or even your complaints. For alumni of The Plainsman, we invite you to share how The Plainsman affected your life. And, if able, you can support our work by making a donation online at aub.ie/theplainsmandonate Our newspaper has been published, in some form or another, since 1893, making it one of the oldest continuous institutions on Auburn’s campus. In our 125th year, our paper is largely digital-first. Thankfully, forethought and our financial position has enabled us to continue publishing a print product that remains well-received on campus. The Plainsman has continued its tradition of excellence, too, earning our 20th National Pacemaker, the highest honor in collegiate journalism, last year. At the same time, we were inducted into the Associated Collegiate Press Hall of Fame. While we have had our fair share of successes, we haven’t been without struggles. Like any small newspaper, The Plainsman has struggled to adapt our revenue streams to the postGreat Recession era of the internet and digital news. At the end of the spring 2017 semester, we faced a large deficit and have been operating under deficits for years. Over the course of a decade, we nearly obliterated a once-massive contingency fund that had built up over the golden years of the newspaper industry.
It was depleted to the point last year that our deficit would have been too much to keep going. The Plainsman could have shut down. Or we could have been forced to accept University funding. We wanted neither. Shutting down would have meant ending a 125-year tradition, and taking University funding would put us in a compromising position when it comes to editorial control. If you think neither is possible, look back to 1999, when former Plainman editor Lee Davidson was censured and had her job threatened by the University Communications Board for running a series of investigative reports, editorials and a largely blank front page. Her work in 1998 called for the resignation of powerful Auburn Trustee Bobby Lowder. And before that, in the 1960s, former President Ralph Brown Draughon, the precursor to the University Communications Board and Dean of Students Jim Foy routinely censored our publication, suspended writers and disqualified a potential Plainsman editor candidate as retaliation for what the powers at be considered to be opinions that were too liberal for Auburn. Those opinions were in favor of integration. Fortunately, we have faced neither censure nor censorship in recent years. The University has been a great partner to The Plainsman in many aspects, but we still fear that losing our financial independence could infringe upon our editorial independence. Thankfully, we haven’t. With hard work and sacrifices, we pulled ourselves out of the deficit by the start of the new fiscal year in October, making a marginal profit for the first time in years. We’re on track to do the same this year. We optimized our distribution, dropped student salaries and cut extra spending. We redesigned our print edition, launched a new website and put our feet to the pedal in advertising. Our staff is made up of students of all ages, majors and identities. We work long hours to make sure you are informed at all times about everything that’s important — on campus and off. Our staff balances part-time jobs, social lives, student involvement and classes with our work here — just like any other strug-
gling college students. The only difference is our job is for you and every reader who comes across our links online or picks up one of these old things we call newspapers. Unlike other student organizations, we don’t add to your student fees. We don’t take money sourced through taxpayer dollars or your tuition. Our only operational revenue comes from advertising, donations and your readership. We need you, and you have been there for us. We sincerely thank you for reading our newspaper, subscribing to our newsletter, following us online and advertising across all of our platforms. We’ve been lucky to have an Auburn Family that supports us. Other student newspapers haven’t been as lucky. Many have been forced over the years to stop printing or reaffiliate with their university. Some have been censored, others lost control of their editorial and business processes. Their newspapers changed forever — and not for the better. Even though we avoided a catastrophe last year, it would only take a small slip up or a dip in advertising revenue to put us back in a precarious situation. Losing our editorial control or losing The Plainsman altogether would change the face of Auburn’s campus forever. It would silence the oldest and most consistent voice for the free exchange of ideas and the most consistent advocate for progress in Auburn’s history. Over the years, The Plainsman has covered the most controversial issues on campus with integrity and by following our motto, “A Spirit that is Not Afraid,” a line taken from The Creed. Our only goal is to give you — the students and the public — the information you need to make an informed decision. More than that, The Plainsman is an outlet for students to express their opinions and foster discussion. We highlight your organizations, and we ensure students’ voices are heard. This newspaper is also a breeding ground and learning lab for future journalists. The only way we can continue to do any of that is if we remain financially and editorially independent.
LETTER
Prohibition didn’t work, will banning hard liquor from fraternity houses? By JACKSON FITE Auburn Senior
In 1920 the United States wrote the “noble experiment” of Prohibition into law. This ban of alcohol aimed to reduce crime and resolve social issues of the time. Proponents of Prohibition concluded that difficulty to access alcohol would reduce the amount consumed. This seems logical, and at first, it seemed successful. However, after an initial decline, consumption began to rise steadily. Underground production, speakeasies and organized crime sprung up across the country as acts of rebellion to this ban. One of the most notable consequences of Prohibition has been labeled the “Iron Law of Prohibition” by Richard Cowan. This law states that a direct correlation exists between intensity of law enforcement and potency of the prohibited substance of concern. Before Prohibition, Americans spent roughly the same amount of money on beer as they did hard liquor. However, during Prohibition, almost all alcohol production was of hard liquor, mainly due to the added difficulties of beer harboring and distribution in comparison to liquor. Furthermore, demand for alcohol also rose because Prohibition law augmented the attractiveness of alcohol consumption to young Amer-
icans by adding a façade of thrill and glamour to the action. According to a study of 30 major U.S. cities, the number of crimes rose 24 percent between 1920 and 1921. Arrests for drunkenness and disorderly conduct increased 41 percent, and arrest of drunken drivers increased 81 percent. Prohibition, while noble, did not exhibit its intended result. So, what makes us think that banning hard liquor from Auburn fraternity houses will be successful? As a former president of a fraternity, I have seen, first-hand, the dangers of misusing alcohol. It is without question that the substance can impair judgement and often is the root cause of many behavioral problems. However, adding the obstacle of a hard liquor ban from fraternity houses will not successfully function as a means of diminishing University or fraternity liability or even incidents resulting from alcohol misuse. I would argue that instead of hard liquor becoming obsolete like administrators and the Interfraternity Council are intending, students may be encouraged to consume more of it at a faster rate before attending social events at fraternity houses. Events before the official events are dubbed “Pre-Games,” where binge drinking is often a characteristic behavior. With knowledge of liquor absence at the actual fraternity event, a student may feel an inclination to take
that extra shot or swig from a liquor handle. This additional consumption could be what sends a student over the edge of intoxication and out of control. Evidence of this already exists preceding other university activities — binge drinking at tailgates before football games and prior to transportation for sorority functions, both of which are alcohol-free environments. The reality of excessive drinking by college students still exists today; it is a problem that should be addressed by the University for several prominent reasons. But rather than strict prohibition, a more promising approach is establishing measures that seek to promote safe and responsible drinking. Surface-level consideration of hard liquor dismissal from fraternity property might seem beneficial, and I acknowledge the University’s motives in this decision. Protection of Greek Life as a whole is something we need to continue cultivating, and diminishing liability for these organizations is a great way to further this. However, we are not comparing apples to apples with this new rule. The options are not validly: a) hard liquor is present at fraternity houses, or b) hard liquor is not present at fraternity houses. Instead, the choice is between: a) controlled distribution and consumption of liquor at fraternity houses through thirdparty, University-approved vendors, and b) un-
controlled, unacknowledged hard liquor consumption and binge drinking outside of fraternity houses, intensified by the absence of liquor at actual fraternity events. In short, where Auburn University and the Interfraternity Council believe they are gaining control through this liquor ban, they ironically might be losing it. Fraternities at Auburn have come a long way in terms of safety since my freshman year. Over the past year, IFC has encouraged and promoted University-approved, third-party vendors. From my experience, they provide a safer method to partake in controlled, responsible drinking. I would propose to continue the effort to eliminate hard liquor from being brought into fraternity events and utilize the services that thirdparty vendors provide. Why don’t we give that a chance before this radical approach is taken? The preservation of history exists to educate future generations on the successes and failures of their predecessors. Let Prohibition speak into our present circumstances, and through the American government’s retrogression of control, might we as Auburn University recognize a different route to a better Auburn.
The views expressed in columns and letters to the editor do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Auburn Plainsman.
LETTER
The Plainsman is a valuable, appreciated news outlet for students By CAROLINE SEEMAN Auburn Senior
I am a senior journalism student at Auburn. Although I have never been a staff member of The Plainsman, the student-run paper has done a great job informing me since I was a freshman. I think a lot of the paper’s success has to do with the fact that it is
produced and shared by students. Many of my friends still use Facebook as a way to share and read news. I see articles from The Plainsman shared on my feed almost every day. Specifically, the article about the new IFC alcohol policy has created an uproar in my social circle. Many people shared the unbiased and well-written article in your April 18 issue.
Students get upset about an issue the closer it relates to them, and many Auburn students are affected by this new policy. This is not the only issue that The Plainsman has covered that matters to students. The newspaper is also usually the first to inform students of upcoming events and changes within the community and campus. For instance,
the news organization broke the story about the Alpha Psi Rodeo policy changes. I think that the paper encourages students to speak with other students on a personal level about many topics. The Plainsman will continue its success because the students who run it know what Auburn students want to
OPINION PAGE POLICIES COLUMNS AND EDITORIALS
The Auburn Plainsman welcomes letters from students, as well as faculty, administrators, alumni and those not affiliated with the University.
The opinions of The Auburn Plainsman staff are restricted to these pages.
Letters must be submitted before 4:30 p.m. on Monday for publication. Letters must include the author’s name, address and phone number for verification, though the name of the author may be withheld upon request. Submission may be edited for grammar and/or length. Please submit no more than 500 words.
This editorial is the majority opinion of the Editorial Board and is the official opinion of the newspaper. The opinions expressed in columns and letters represent the views and opinions of their individual authors. These opinions do not necessarily reflect the Auburn University student body, faculty, administration or Board of Trustees.
The views expressed in columns and letters to the editor do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Auburn Plainsman.
THE EDITORIAL BOARD CHIP BROWNLEE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
LOREN KIMMEL CAMPUS EDITOR
ALEX HOSEY LIFESTYLE EDITOR
LILY JACKSON MANAGING EDITOR
SAM WILLOUGHBY COMMUNITY EDITOR
JEREMY NEWMAN OPINION EDITOR
JESSICA BALLARD STANDARDS EDITOR
WILL SAHLIE SPORTS EDITOR
INGRID SCHNADER PHOTO EDITOR
ANNE DAWSON ONLINE EDITOR
NATHAN KING ASSISTANT SPORTS
GANNON PADGETT VIDEO EDITOR
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THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018
THEPLAINSMAN.COM
CAMPUS
RESOURCES
Ombudsman shares how his role can help students
GREEK LIFE
By PAUL BROCK Campus Writer
INGRID SCHNADER / PHOTO EDITOR
Bria Randal smiles in front of Samford Hall on Friday, Jan. 26, 2018, in Auburn, Ala.
BRIA RANDAL
Auburn’s first African-American president of a Panhellenic sorority By SAMANTHA STRUNK Campus Writer
She didn’t intend on going through recruitment. In fact, Bria Randal, current Chi Omega president and the first African-American president of an Auburn Panhellenic sorority, did not sign up to go through recruitment until the day the form was due. She didn’t know much about it and was wary of just jumping into it. She was finally convinced to sign up only after she talked with her friend’s mom who discussed how much her older daughter had gotten from her Panhellenic experience. After hearing about the friendships and connections her friend’s older sister associated with Greek life, Randal decided to try it. Now, she’s thankful she made the decision she did. “I think that rush is hard for anybody, but it was a good way for me to step out of my shell right away so I wouldn’t get locked into it,” Randal said. Despite enjoying the process, Randal struggled at the beginning of her Panhellenic experience. She didn’t know many people, and it was hard for her to find a strong friend group. She decided to get as involved as possible in Chi Omega and see if that would help her find her people. It did. In getting involved, she found the people who cared about their organization. “They also, in turn, care about people,” Randal said. “So they really built me up and motivated me and told me I could do things I didn’t really think I could.” In addition to these friends, Randal attributed much of her success to older girls within Chi Omega who poured into her and motivated her to challenge and believe in herself. Randal said as a freshman, it took her being told she could do something before she stretched herself to do it. “I’m growing as a self-motivator, but at least in my younger years, I definitely had to hear it from other people,” Randal said. Now she is at a point where she knows both her capabilities and limits, and she challenges herself rather than needing an outside effort. She now uses that lesson to serve as the older girls who once helped her. “You just kind of have to make sure that you’re integrating the people that are coming in,” Randal said. “A lot of people took me in a vulnerable phase and kind of formed me into someone that can now continue to form younger women into something.”
WHELESS » From 1
and design last year at Auburn. The online class communicated through the video chat program Zoom. Wheless said the class learned the basics of animation, starting with how to make a ball bounce. Wheless is planning to circle back in the fall for his second course and has a breakdown for a four-semester-long curriculum for students who wish to continue learning animation. The first semester will include story development, an introduction to digital tools, animation principles and composition. The final semesters will include 3D animation, one of Wheless’ passions. “It’s a curriculum that I am passionate about because at the end of the day, it all comes down to putting together a visual story,” Wheless said. “A story is an important foundation, and that story is the character and the character development.” Wheless said everything comes
The guidance and investment of her mentors are eventually what led Randal to take on the role of president, and she strives to ensure the organization she leads focuses on bettering and empowering women. Randal believes that sororities should be geared toward giving young women confidence to do what they want, not tell them what to do. She said everyone needs a foundation when they come to college to inspire them to grow. “It’s not just Chi O but the women within it who made themselves my foundation and let me grow in whatever I wanted to be that makes it so special,” Randal said. Randal believes a foundation for women is particularly important because women are often told there are things they can’t or shouldn’t do. She believes where boys are risk takers, girls are often hesitant. Randal wants to ensure young women do not feel limited by anything. “Perfection used to be my main goal, but now it’s more so bravery,” Randal said. “To do anything and fail at anything.” Randal said she’ll risk anything knowing she has a foundation of strong women who are going to catch her in failure, and she wants to be that for others, as well. In this sense, Chi Omega is especially important to Randal because it is the vessel she uses to impact people. Every week, Randal includes an inspiring quote at the end of her email announcements. “Not the girly quotes, the motivating ones.” she added. She focuses on quotes that emphasize internal over external qualities. Randal said that it can be a “tough environment” for young women surrounded all hours of the day by other young women who are attractive and extraordinary. She employs simple tactics like using the word “brilliant” rather than “beautiful” to inspire betterment from within. “I want to make it less so about what we look like and more so who each individual person is,” Randal said. In regard to making sure Panhellenic is available to any young woman who wants to pursue it, no matter her racial, socioeconomic or regional background, Randal thinks the best ways for sororities to make all feel included is to minimize distractions and keep recruitment focused on the conversation. “I walked into a sorority in a room of girls that didn’t look like me and might not be like me but was able to find exactly who I needed to be,” Randal said. The conversations she had during recruitment are what made her feel welcome, not the decorations, she said. The conversations that have continued into her senior year are what have made Chi Omega her home.
into play when creating a story and using the tools to do so. Animating from the heart, understanding the forces around humans and visualizing what you must say are all elements of creating content one can hang their hat on. The students used the program MAYA for the curriculum. For many, MAYA was overwhelming in the beginning, but Wheless said they got the hang of it over time. “They came up around the curve fairly quickly,” Wheless said. “I totally get that because I am your typical 2D animator that went to 3D. It was a huge mountain for me to get over, but once I did, it was easy.” When Wheless graduated from Auburn, there were no computers on the campus for students. He graduated with a degree in illustration and thought he was going to stay in that realm. He taught himself everything he knows today. “What I am trying to teach and the business that we are in — the business of creating movies and creating
games — it’s a teamwork business,” Wheless said. “You are going to work in the highest artform where creative and technical are thrown together, but at the end of the day, you learn your discipline, and you have to work with other teams that know theirs.” Wheless compared this participation to an orchestra; one violin doesn’t make the final sound. He said this is one of the biggest lessons beginners must learn. As a CEO of a company, Wheless said he hopes to train students on the foundational aspects so they can go straight into a job or internship after receiving their degree. The field of commercials, films, games and virtual reality is growing at a rapid speed, Wheless said, and there will be a massive need for graduates with the skills he is teaching. “I always say, to be able to create content in animation is the highest artform one can do,” Wheless said. “I came from the pencil drawing to the painting, into the 3D. We live in a different world. It’s only going to get more visual.”
Auburn University has numerous offices and organizations ready and willing to help students with everything from interviews to papers. However, not many students are aware that there is a place they can go for a problem that almost everyone has to face: conflict. “[Auburn] is a great diverse organization, we have people from all walks of life, all sorts of different personalities, different goals, and people don’t always see eye to eye,” said Auburn’s Ombudsman C. Kevin Coonrod. Coonrod said his title of ombudsman is not the most explanatory title, and therefore students are often confused on how he can help them. “I’m here to help people work together well,” Coonrod said. Coonrod explained he often meets with students and faculty to offer advice on how to handle difficult situations.
» See OMBUDSMAN, 5
PARKING » From 1
the campus core,” King said. “It will yield a net increase of roughly 400 spaces over the existing surface parking in the south hotel lot.” The estimated $13.2 million, five-story parking deck will have 575 spaces — an addition of 395 spaces over the existing surface parking lot to the south of the hotel. King announced that during construction, the currently available 200 spaces where construction will take place will be unavailable during the time of construction.
STUDENT ACT » From 1
space managed by Student Affairs, King said. “We have a lot of student events that are having to go off campus and then they have to pay for transportation,” said Bobby Woodard, vice president for Student Affairs. “This gives us a way to go on campus that is a relatively cheap price overall and gives us an opportunity to increase our student events and the space for student events.” In addition to the event space, the renovations will include new athletic flooring in 19,600 square feet of the south portion of the building to be used by the provost’s office for physical education and kinesiology courses as well as the women’s volleyball team that uses the center as a practice facility. “An Auburn University parking structure in this location will significantly improve the parking situation in the northeast portion of the campus core,” King said. “It will yield a net increase of roughly 400 spaces over the existing surface parking in the south hotel lot.” The estimated $13.2 million, five-story parking deck will have 575 spaces — an addition of 395 spaces over the existing surface parking lot to the south of the hotel. King announced that during construction, the currently available 200 spaces where construction will take place will be unavailable during the time of construction.
CONTRIBUTED BY JAMY WHELESS
Alumnus Jamy Wheless’ company has been invited to the Annecy Film Festival in France for their work with “The Pig on the Hill.”
The Auburn Plainsman
THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018
PAGE 5
SPOTLIGHT
Student leaders of the year named
CONTRIBUTED BY JORDAN CARR
JORDAN CARR By STEPHEN LANZI Campus Writer
In most cases, a rising junior studying mechanical engineering would think they had their life all but figured out when they secured an internship with ExxonMobil. Jordan Carr found himself in this situation a few years ago, but he had no idea that by the end of his senior year, he would find himself pursuing a career in investment banking. After a friend invited him to a private information session with a representative of Goldman Sachs, Carr started to reconsider what he wanted to do. He went into the internship with the mindset that if he didn’t love engineering, he would pursue investment banking. Although he enjoyed the experience and people at Exxon, Carr realized engineering wasn’t for him. On his return to Auburn, he decided to keep the mechanical engineering major and pick up a minor in finance. “It was either I stick with someething that I liked, and yes, I’d probably be happy there, or do I risk it for something an Auburn kid hasn’t done in the past several years? And I’m engineering. I’m not the typical finance kid. And I have no idea if I even have a shot against these Penn and Harvard kids, but I really want to do this.” The story of Carr’s transition to a radically new career can’t be told without telling a story of his involvement on campus, which began with as being elected president of his fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta, his sophomore year. The presidents of fraternities are typically upperclassmen, so the experience taught Carr many lessons for future endeavors. “I grew up a lot during that and made a lot of mistakes, but I think that’s what you learn from,” Carr said with a chuckle. Carr’s long list of involvement throughout his time at Auburn also included serving as a treasurer for IFC, a director of ODK, member of SGA Elections Board and member of his fraternity’s judicial board. “That’s when I started with the coffee,” Carr said pointing to his large iced Americano. However, one of his prouder experiences at Auburn has been getting involved with Financial Management Association, a growing student organization meant to optimize finance students’ pursuit of their career. FMA is where Carr had the realization that finance was the career that he really wanted to pursue. He found mentors in FMA, which Carr said was key for him finding his feet. FMA started at Auburn nearly three years ago. According to Tracy Richard, faculty advisor of FMA, there were many talented students
interested in a career in finance, but there was no structure to help get them competitive in the work force. “Three and a half years ago, Auburn finance grads would never really place at the top firms,” Carr said. “Never. It was just out of the question. And it wasn’t because they couldn’t. It was because they didn’t have the resources, and they didn’t know what they had to do to get there. No one was going into investment banking or private equities, so how would they know about it?” This past year, he decided to give back to the organization that had given him so much, and he was elected president of FMA. He was ecstatic about being able to help form an organization that was still in its infancy. “That made it really fun — getting to apply what I feel like I’ve learned from other things and now getting to make such a substantial change, hopefully, on the organization,” Carr said. Through passion and hard work and with the aid of peers and advisors, Carr helped bring the organization to new heights, which recently won him the award for Male Student Leader of the Year at the 2018 Involvement Awards. Currently, FMA has about 75 of the top students pursuing a career in finance. It graduates about 20 students a year and plans to take in 2025 new students a year in the coming years so that resources aren’t spread too thin. The average starting salary for graduates of Auburn’s [Harbert College of Business] is $56,000, whereas FMA’s graduates have an average starting salary of $94,600. This has risen from $64,000 in FMA’s first year. In addition to creating a preparation program specifically for investment banking and instituting the inaugural Financial Leadership Summit, Carr was pleased with the work of this year’s executive board because it set the agenda as a structure that will breed success for years to come. Carr is, of course, proud of the work he and his team have done, but he said the buy in by the advisors of the organization is necessary for the success of an organization because of the continuity in the midst of transitions. He said all the advisors he has gotten to know at Auburn have been tremendously helpful. “At some universities, it seems like it’s a negative thing to be involved, but for me, I wouldn’t have had the entire student experience if I didn’t get involved, and I think involvement at Auburn has radically changed my experience at Auburn, but also what I want to do for the next for years of my life and has taught me more than the classroom,” Carr said. This past summer, Carr had an internship with an investment bank in Houston, which validated his interest in his newfound career goals.
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SYDNEY NICHOLAS By STEPHEN LANZI Campus Writer
Sydney Nicholas, a fourth-generation Auburn student, was hesitant to come to The Plains because she didn’t want to be seen as merely following in her family’s footsteps. However, among other reasons, student involvement allowed Nicholas to undoubtedly carve her own path. Nicholas recently had this path recognized as she was named Female Student Leader of the Year at the 2018 Involvement Awards for serving as the first president of Emerge this past year. After dropping a class in her first semester as a freshman, Nicholas began her long relationship with involvement. She wanted to fill her time with something that was just as meaningful as class, so she joined Dance Marathon. As her involvement increased, Nicholas simultaneously grew as a person. As her roles and responsibilities grew, she eventually became president of Dance Marathon as a junior. Nicholas said she loved her time as president of Dance Marathon, but she decided to step down to allow someone else to have the same great experience she had as president. At the time, she thought this would be the end of her leadership in student organizations, and she would support from afar. However, at the end of the semester, Lady Cox, assistant vice president for Student Affairs, approached Nicholas about a new student organization that the University was developing. Nicholas was never expecting Emerge to be an option for her, but she decided to pursue it because of the amazing goal behind the organization. “It was this idea that I learned so much with Dance Marathon, and I learned so much about Auburn leadership with other student leaders that I was like, ‘How cool would it be to set the foundation for all these other programs if we can equip people to be leaders,” Nicholas said. According to its website, Emerge is a leadership journey that attempts to solve problems on and off campus. The mission is to create leaders on campus and for years to come outside of school. [The organization] replaced Freshmen Leadership Program. Many of the lessons Nicholas learned
OMBUDSMAN » From 4
“I’m not there to tell them if they’re doing things wrong or right, I’m here to help them think things through and figure out how to do things,” Coonrod said. “I’m not a counselor, but I will do a lot of things that a counselor does because I will listen. I am an excellent sounding board. I can empathize very well with people who are going through a problem.” Coonrod not only works with people individually but as a licensed mediator, he often helps conflicting parties come to an agreement. “In mediation, you try to get people to come together and understand each other and gain respect for the perspectives that they have,” Coonrod said. “From there, you can start talking about some creative ways to resolve whatever the issue is. That’s what I love about mediation — it’s up to them to et creative, but I’m there to help them get started.” Coonrod said that everything said by
with Dance Marathon translated into what she has done with Emerge. However, serving as president of a new organization presented different challenges than being president of an already established organization. “It seems like a natural transition from being there and doing it to setting a curriculum for how we, as Auburn men and women, really think about leadership in the early days,” Nicholas said. One of the most special takeaways from the year is how the leaders of all the teams formed the identity of an organization. “We saw the strength of the Auburn Family,” Nicholas said. “In my memory it was like, ‘We are going to beta test a 1,000-person program that nobody has seen before.’ I learned a lot about what it means to be a part of Auburn’s campus. I think our students got to experience that too, in terms of being on the forefront of something that’s different than what any other university offers.” Nicholas said Emerge came about not because administration thought it would be a good idea but because administration heard feedback from students, which is representative of Nicholas’ approach to leadership. She said she has learned that the mark of a good leader is to be able to listen. The Emerge teams have seen their work come to fruition this year with 34 individual projects. However, Nicholas is excited to see how Emerge has given the skills to students who will become leaders of the future. Nicholas will be graduating next week with a degree in global studies. As most college graduates do, she will be continuing the search for a job but will be getting married to another Auburn graduate in the coming summer. She said she was thrilled with how Emerge has developed over the year. She is excited to see how her experiences with student involvement will play a role in her life and how other students will create their own path. “One day, who knows, the SGA president could have been in Emerge,” Nicholas said. “The next founder of an on-campus organization could have been in Emerge. I’m really hopeful for when I come back to Auburn in five years, I’m seeing students who I may have not met but participated in our program and having program alumni out in the world killing it —killing the game.”
clients stays confidential if it is not deemed threatening to the safety of others, and even though he works for the University, he will not inform administrators of violations a student may have committed unless they give him permission to do so. “I’m here without any authority to tell people what to do, so I don’t have a dog in the fight,” Coonrod said. “I’m an objective third party, and so here is just this resource without any agenda. This is a place where people can come and express themselves freely.” Coonrod said students are often intimidated about meeting a stranger in a suit about serious matters, and he said he tries to help them overcome this fear by getting to know them personally. “I can help them with anything they have that’s going on,” Coonrod said. “I’ve mediated roommates that aren’t getting along well, I have helped students prepare to have a very difficult conversation with their parents, I have worked with professors and students that aren’t seeing eye to eye.”
Coonrod said that he has worked with students who have academic dishonesty cases, and while he cannot represent or speak for them during such cases, Coonrod said he can offer students advice on how to handle their case. “Be respectful, gather all of the facts, prepare them in a cohesive succinct manner that is not threatening yet will appeal to the intelligence of the person that they are speaking to,” Coonrod said. “Go there with a willingness to listen because you might learn something. A lot of time there are disagreements, there’s confusion, there’s misunderstandings, and if you can clear those things up, sometimes the conflicts can end up evaporating.” Coonrod said there are simple steps that anyone can take in resolving a disagreement with someone else such as a roommate. “Take a deep breath and listen, really try to understand the person and see if you can see from their perspective why they are angry,” Coonrod said. “Maybe they’ve got a point that you’re not seeing.”
community THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018
6 THEPLAINSMAN.COM
COMMUNITY
FEATURE
‘The nose knows’
Police K-9 Mark out-sniffs the competition, crime By OLIVIA WILKES Community Writer
At a command from Auburn Police K-9 Officer Luis Coreano, narcotics detection dog Mark runs through the abandoned building from room to room, nose inhaling furiously. Entering the closet where a small pouch of powdered cocaine is hidden inside a boot for the training exercise, the nearly 8-year-old Belgian Malinois slows his pace and sniffs more carefully around the area. As his nose passes over the boot, Mark suddenly sits and snaps his head around to look at Coreano, alerting his handler to the narcotic’s presence. “Good boy,” Coreano praises his K-9 partner and tosses him a tennis ball. Mark and Coreano carry out narcotics searches like this regularly on the streets of Auburn. “Mark’s an animal,” Coreano said. “And I mean animal as in, yeah, he’s really high-drive. For being his age, I’ve had him for three and a half years, and he has not slowed down.” This past February, Mark and Coreano won the Top Narcotics Dog award at the 22nd annual K-9 Seminar hosted by the Dothan Police Department, beating out 43 other teams. The seminar featured all aspects of police work, including detection, tracking, narcotics, explosives and trailing, and teams from many Southeastern states competed. “They’ll put on different venues, whether it be detection, it could be warehouses, it could be cars, it could be open area searches,” Coreano said. “They’ll just come up with different scenarios that are realworld things that we would encounter or have encountered from experience on the street.” The seminar ended with a scramble in which aids were hidden all over a large warehouse, and the teams competed to find as many as possible in a short period of time. “It tests how good you can read your dog, how good the team works together,” Coreano said. Being so in tune with each other was a big part of Mark and Coreano’s success. “From the way he is, I can tell he’s on odor before he even sits,” Coreano said. “With Mark, I could look at him, his posturing. I could also audi-
bly hear his sniffing. … He’ll start sniffing, and then he’ll start inhaling real hard.” This is the second time Coreano and Mark have won the Dothan competition, the first time being in 2016. Coreano and Mark began their partnership in September 2014 when the Auburn Police Divison purchased the Malinois. Mark originally came from overseas as a young dog, as many law enforcement canines do, was trained at American K-9 in Anniston and then worked as a contract dog in Afghanistan for a time before coming to Auburn. “We were real lucky to get him,” Coreano said. The breed is used by law enforcement and military around the world. Navy SEALS utilized a Belgian Malinois in the operation in which Osama bin Laden was killed. Coreano has been with the police force since 2001. He became a K-9 officer 12 years ago and hasn’t looked back. “Honestly, this is one of the big reasons why I have not moved up, because I want a dog,” he said. “I’ll stay 25 years in patrol as long as I’m a handler.” Mark is almost always by Coreano’s side, whether at home or on the streets. Their day begins early. Coreano rises at 3:30 a.m., and lets Mark out of his kennel where he stays at Coreano’s house when he’s off duty. “First thing I do is I’ll let him out, give him a break,” Coreano said. “And he comes in, and he eats. I like to feed him at least an hour, hour and a half before a shift begins.” The routine is so down pat that Mark gets excited when he sees Coreano suiting up for work. “If I’m suited up, and I leave, he gets upset,” Coreano said. The two begin their shift at 5 a.m. Coreano tries to set up a training exercise for Mark at the beginning of the day. After that, they’ll do traffic enforcement or be available for narcotics work if needed. “It’s just something about having that canine partner with you all the time,” the handler said. “It’s awesome. … I have no doubt in my mind that if needed, Mark would come defend me.” Mark is trained to find narcotics through a stimulus, response and reward training method. “The stimulus is the odor, the response is the
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OLIVIA WILKES / COMMUNITY WRITER
Auburn Police Officer Luis Coreano and K-9 Mark in front of their new police vehicle on April 16, 2018.
sit or the scratch and then the reward is the ball,” Coreano said. “In their training, they pair the odor, whatever the target odor is, with the reward, and for my dog and many of them, it’s as easy as a tennis ball.” While Mark wears a choke chain for discipline training, he sports a flat collar when he’s searching. Mark distinguishes between the two and knows that when he’s wearing the flat collar it’s time to search. “The reason for the flat collar is it doesn’t put any stress on his neck like a choke chain would, so if he’s pulling me because he’s on odor, he’s not being corrected,” Coreano said. “The chain’s not cinching on him. … So he knows he’s not being snatched from something, so it gives him all the drive to move forward.” When he’s at home, Mark is restricted to a large spacious kennel with his water bowl and no toys. Coreano takes him out every so often to exercise, play or do obedience training with him. “It simulates, ‘You come out of the car, now it’s playtime,’” Coreano said. “They learn to pair that stuff. So he’s at rest, comes out, he knows he’s going to work, he’s going to get rewarded, then time to calm down, put back inside and rest.” A police canine can’t have access to toys when-
ever he wants, Coreano said, as he’ll have no motivation to work for them. “A lot of people, they don’t understand that. Training Fifi at home is not the same as training a military working dog, is not the same as training a police working dog,” Coreano said. “They’re not given the freedoms that normal dogs are, so they’re not pets. And there’s a good reason for that — because it kills the drive.” Mark gets to play with his favorite reward, the tennis ball, strictly after a search. “We don’t come to work for nothing,” Coreano said. “It’s the same thing with the dog. He does his job, he expects to be paid. And then you pay him, and then he’s going to want to do that later on.” During search exercises, Coreano typically uses actual drugs as the aids, so Mark will be trained on authentic odors. He also trains Mark in different settings, such as a parking lot or warehouse. In addition, he hides the aides in a variety of locations and at different heights, such as in the bumper, grill and hood of a car, to train Mark for the myriad smuggling spots drug traffickers will use. “Just like the drug cartel, the traffickers, they come up with all different kinds of ways of smug-
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The Auburn Plainsman
THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018 SPOTLIGHT
PAGE 7
MARK » From 6
LILY JACKSON / MANAGING EDITOR
Members of The Cowboy Church greet each other on April 22, 2018, in Waverly, Ala.
Roped in
Lee County’s cowboy church and its mission of acceptance By LILY JACKSON Managing Editor
The Cowboy Church of Lee County — plain and simple — is a church for cowboys. Sitting just off Highway 280, its congregation leisurely makes its way from the dirt and gravel parking lot, through the double doors to a bar with donuts and coffee. Leather Bibles in-hand, smiling men tip their hats in greeting. Each grabs one of the black folding chairs facing the unfinished pine stage and wait for the worship to begin. One of those men is Bo Smith, the student pastor. Smith towers over most of the congregation, tall and full of passion for his church. His father, the first member of the church, hadn’t always believed. Smith prayed for his father to be saved, and one day, his father came to him with a proposition of sorts. “If a cowboy church ever comes around here, I might actually go to it,” he said. Smith prayed for a cowboy church, and three years later, Gary, the founding pastor of the church showed up on the Smith’s farm looking for a place to stay while he founded the church. The church started right there on the Smith’s family farm. Smith has been to many other churches, working with youth and fostering relationships around the community but has found a home at The Cowboy Church. For many members, The Cowboy Church is the only place of worship they’d consider stepping a boot in. Smith said there is no unrealistic expectations saddling the men and women who step foot in the barn-like worship center. They can come with their trailers still hooked to their trucks and no one will bat an eye. “It’s acceptable,” Smith said. “It’s normal for this group of people.” The stage mocks the front of an old pine home — something out of a Lincoln Logs catalog — with a rigid tin awning, a faded emerald green chair and three or four strategically placed Stetsons. The centerpiece of the stage is the dark shadow of a cowboy, peeking through what would be the front door. The pastor, Jim Strickland, opens up with announcements of the Boston-Butt sale and the Ladies’ Bible Study. Requesting another round of applause for the worship team, Strickland leads the congregation to crack their Bibles and jump into the scripture. The worship team unplugs — a young man on bass and the lead on acoustic guitar. “I may do an Alabama song or Randy Travis or George Jones or something like that — something people can walk in and relate to,” said David Slocum, worship leader. “The music is different. The atmosphere is different.” In his creme-colored cowboy hat and boots, Slocum led the singing of “How Great Thou Art,” as the teen to his left picked at the bass’ strings. Slocum said the church has come a long way
from first meeting out in a barn. Once they began to grow, they constructed the start of what they now worship in. With help from those able and willing in the congregation, the church found a sliver of land for the church services and are currently working toward an arena addition down the hill. Stickland said the arena will be a place for activity and events. At the end of the service, two young men in faded jeans, boots and hats practice their roping to the side of the stage. The target is a multi-colored, wooden mock up of a cow. Cain Mitchell, 19, has grown up in cowboy church. He said his uniformed friends joke about whether they ride their horses to church on Sunday morning. To Mitchell, it’s a place where he can be who he is without the expectations. Before moving to Opelika, Mitchell’s family started a Cowboy Church in north Alabama. The atmosphere is exactly what he has always wanted, he said. Mitchell is a team roper, but he said anyone can come to the church and feel welcomed. “We don’t have Cowboy Church so we can all dress up cowboy. It’s for the people that go to church and aren’t exactly accepted for who they are,” Mitchell said. “We accept them here. We love them here.” Ed Allen has felt the love and support. Gathered up around a hay bale, Allen said they found a home when The Cowboy Church was founded. Seven years ago this April, the Allens were hit by a storm that took out their entire neighborhood. They had overwhelming support from The Cowboy Church and others, as over 250 people cameto their need and assisted in the clean-up process. “I was in awe and amazement of how the good Lord worked through these people,” Allen said. “I saw the friendship, the camaraderie and the willingness to help and serve. I felt like it was the place to be a part of.” Just to the left of the stage sits an off-kilter cart and directly across is the aluminum stock tank where baptisms take place. A ring of barbed wire hangs directly above it and the preacher stands smack-dab in the middle of the stage behind a lectern adorned with a horseshoe cross. Strickland’s sermon jumps from Hebrews to Exodus, as he moves back and forth in the pulpit. Pages rustle as those listening flip to find the verses he’s referencing. His handlebar mustache dances as his voice carries to the very back of the hall where the first member of the church, Smith’s father, sits in a cozy armchair. Strickland is new to the Lee County church. He was raised in the cowboy culture, and his passion rests in tearing down boundaries that keep people from worship. “The heart of [The Cowboy Church] is a very simple, non-judgemental approach to trying to reach a culture of people with the gospel of Christ,” Strickland said. “We let people know that no matter who you are or where you are or what you have been into, just come on.”
gling,” said Coreano. “And when the dog defeats that — because you can’t defeat his nose — when the dogs finds it, it’s just like, yes! Can’t fool the dog. The nose knows.” For Mark, searching for drugs is like a game. He is extremely high energy, loves to play and be petted and typically wants to “blow out the door” of the patrol car, Coreano said. When he’s not sniffing for narcotics, Mark’s eyes are glued to Coreano. “He is so affectionate,” Coreano said of Mark. “He loves the attention.” Coreano is not only a handler, but a certified trainer as well, and he has trained both young dogs and new canine officers. Coreano developed a greater understanding of training and said he learned a lot through teaching other people. “When I became a trainer, I realized how jacked up I was,” Coreano said with a laugh. “It’s like, ah, that’s why this is happening. I’m causing the problem.” Coreano has seen handlers get frustrated when they can’t control their dog. Coreano said understanding a dog’s nature, setting the dog up for success and maintaining a ritual and routine that the dog is used to are important when training. “It’s not a rifle where you pick it up, and you point, and you shoot,” Coreano once told a student of his. “It’s an animal, so you’ve got to understand that.” For Coreano, it’s gratifying to see officers he trained do well. “It’s especially been rewarding to see the students that I trained and the dogs become successful,” he said. “These guys are sending me texts and sending me pictures of the stuff they’re doing. … That’s rewarding to me.” Coreano said there’s definitely a bond within the K-9 team, and there comes a moment when handler and dog start clicking. It’s clear that Mark and Coreano have achieved that moment. As Mark mouths his well-earned tennis ball after successfully sniffing out the cocaine aide, Coreano said again he would be a K-9 officer his whole career and not worry about getting promoted. “I’ve done the SWAT thing, I was a sniper, a motorcycle officer, I’ve worked undercover narcotics, but being a dog handler, it’s fantastic,” he said. “I just want to supervise one person — or one being — and that’s him.”
OLIVIA WILKES / COMMUNITY WRITER
K-9 Mark in the back seat of the team’s police vehicle outfitted with a special crate for him to ride in on April 16, 2018.
ONLINE THEPLAINSMAN.COM FOR MORE OF MARK THE K-9 AND OFFICER COREANO, INCLUDING A VIDEO OF THEIR DRUG SEARCH TRAINING
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Members of the Cowboy Church greet each other on April 22, 2018, in Waverly, Ala.
sports
8
THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018
THEPLAINSMAN.COM
SPORTS
BASKETBALL
Upgrades coming to Auburn Arena The University Board of Trustees approved a $3 million renovation to the eight-year home of the Tigers By NATHAN KING Assistant Sports Editor
ADAM BRASHER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Auburn student section during Auburn Basketball vs. Vanderbilt on Feb. 3, 2018.
Auburn Arena, Auburn basketball’s home court, will be receiving a $3 million renovation, approved by the University’s Board of Trustees on Apr. 20. The plans focus primarily on locker room enhancement, intending to add a new locker room entrance, locker room, lounge and team space for men’s basketball. The women’s team is set to receive a new locker room entrance. Both squads will be beneficiaries of 6,700 square feet of general arena enhancements. A combination of gifts and Athletic Department funds are set to cover the budget of the project, which is expected to be completed by October 2019 after starting in April 2019. “The Auburn Family is a passionate group demonstrated by its generous philanthropy in support of
these capital projects,” Auburn Athletic Director Allen Greene said in a statement. “I applaud President [Steven] Leath and the Board of Trustees for their unwavering commitment to invest in the holistic experience of our student-athletes. The linchpin to sustained success is the constant improvement of our physical footprint, including facility upgrades and new construction. “Broadly speaking, our student-athletes deserve to train in world-class facilities, and our fans expect a ‘best-in-class’ game-day experience. “As we raise the bar within our conference and beyond, our journey to create and execute a facilities master plan that excites the Auburn fan base is unequivocally in motion.” A combination of gifts and Athletic Department funds are set to cover the budget of the project, which is expected to be completed by October 2019 after starting in April 2019.
BASEBALL
INGRID SCHNADER / PHOTO EDITOR
Steven Williams (41) celebrates his home run with his teammates at Auburn baseball vs. Samford on Tuesday, April 24, 2018, in Auburn, Ala.
Win streak runs to six as Tigers down Samford By ZACHARY PIKE Sports Writer
Auburn’s offense has been putting up some big numbers over the past six games. No. 22 Auburn defeated Samford 7-2 Tuesday night at Plainsman Park. The Tigers improved to 30-12 on the season and have won seven of their last eight games. The Tigers offense was led by freshman outfielder Steven Williams. Williams was honored Monday by the conference as SEC Co-Freshman of the Week for the first time in his young career. Williams stayed locked in as he put together another huge night at the plate, going 4 for 4 with a two-run home run, a double and two singles. He now has 10 hits in his last 14 plate appearances with two home runs and 10 RBI.
“I’m just seeing the ball really well right now,” Williams said. “It looks like a beach ball, I just think I have my timing down now.” Williams stayed locked in as he put together another huge night at the plate, going 4 for 4 with a two-run home run, a double and two singles. He now has 10 hits in his last 14 plate appearances with two home runs and 10 RBI. “(Williams) picked up right where he left off,” said Auburn head coach Butch Thompson. “I thought every at-bat was professional and solid. I’ve never seen him get too high or too low. He just has a high level of maturity at such a young age. He has exceeded my expectations.” Freshman pitcher Jack Owen was strong on the mound for the Tigers, pitching a career-high 5.1 innings and giving up two runs on six hits with five strikeouts. Owen started the first game against Samford earlier this season and had much better results this time out.
“Jack Owen gets the opportunity to go back out there and pitch,” Thompson said. “He’s a growing, developing pitcher and I was looking for him to put it all together. We extended him tonight and it was the longest outing of his career.” Elliot Anderson relieved Owen in the fifth and pitched 3.2 innings, earning his first career save for the Tigers. Anderson did not allow a run, while giving up three hits and striking out four. “That’s the second week in a row that Elliot Anderson has pitched tremendously for us,” Thompson said. Auburn will look to continue its recent hot streak offensively in Gainsville, Florida, on Thursday to take on No. 1 Florida for a three-game series. Two of the nation’s best pitchers will go head-to-head Thursday night as Casey Mize and Brady Singer will battle on the mound. Thursday’s game is set for 6 p.m. CST and will be televised by ESPNU.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Bruce Pearl, Auburn moving towards new contract By TYLER ROUSH Sports Reporter
Auburn is looking to keep Bruce Pearl on The Plains. Pearl and athletic director Allen Greene have been moving forward with “ongoing” contract negotiations, Auburn Undercover’s Brandon Marcello reported Tuesday evening. Currently, Pearl is the seventh-highest paid coach in the SEC. “Bruce is our coach and our responsibility is to support him, his staff and his student-athletes,” Greene said. “We want to experience what we experienced last year on a consistent basis. I think in order to do that we have to have consistency in the head coaching position.” As Auburn’s fourth-year head coach, Pearl guided his team to the school’s first regular season-championship since 1999, its third overall, and its second-most wins with 26. “[Pearl] and I talk all the time about the future of the men’s basketball program and
our responsibility is to be able to support them, to make sure that what we experienced this past year, we experience again,” Greene said. With a contract that is set to expire in 2020, Pearl’s future at the University has been speculated since associate head coach Chuck Person’s arrest on federal bribery and fraud charges. Person, who is a former player at the school, is accused of giving money to Danjel Purifoy and Austin Wiley in order to push them toward NBA agents. For most of the season, Pearl maintained his refusal to discuss the program until the end of the season. In March, where Pearl’s squad reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, both university president Steven Leath and Greene voiced their support of the head coach. “Again, there are so many things that go on behind the scenes that he knows I’m here to support him and I think that really, really helps with his ability to go out and recruit and help build this program on a national level,” Greene said.
JOSHUA FISHER / PHOTOGRAPHER
Bruce Pearl smiles during a post-game interview on Sat, Jan. 27,2018.
THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018
The Auburn Plainsman
PAGE 9
FOOTBALL
Martin would be starting RB if Auburn ‘played today’ By NATHAN KING Assistant Sports Editor
Gus Malzahn’s signature flywheel of tailbacks has produced a leader at the end of spring football season. Rising junior Kam Martin would be position coach Tim Horton’s running back of choice if Auburn’s season started today, Horton said on Apr. 19 before the Jackson County Auburn Club meeting in Scottsboro, Alabama. Martin was the team’s No. 3 back in 2017 behind former Tigers Kerryon Johnson and Kamryn Pettway. The Texan saw action in 11 of Auburn’s 14 games, rushing for 453 yards and three total touchdowns, including a 136yard performance in a season-opening victory over Georgia Southern. “(Martin) would be the first one to go out on the field,” Horton told SEC Country’s Justin Ferguson. “Obviously, we don’t play today, and so is he going to start against Washington? That kind of remains to be seen. But Kam would be firstteam if we played today.” The former four-star athlete was recruited as a speedster who was expected to make plays running side-to-side. Despite his 5-foot-10, 182-pound stature, Martin’s 6.7 yards per carry average through two seasons displayed to Horton that he is capable of being a back that can run through the
tackles as well. And although Horton said the running back has “probably gained 20 to 25 pounds since arriving on campus,” the coach remains skeptical of Martin’s ability to play every down. “The one thing that I do know about the running backs that we’ve had in the past is they’ve all been 210 pounds, 215 pounds,” Horton said. “Well, Kam Martin is 195 … As the coach, you’ve got to play your best guy, and so hopefully this will be a year we can keep people healthy and play two or three or four guys. I sure hope so.” Johnson’s departure will be the biggest void to fill for offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey’s offense, as the 2017 AP SEC Offensive Player of the Year accounted for nearly 46 percent of the Tigers’ rushing output last season. Martin is joined by just one true backup tailback from last season: fellow junior Malik Miller, who ran for 135 yards in Auburn’s 10-4 campaign. Sophomore Devan Barrett will be back but might not be exclusive to the backfield, as Malzahn utilized the Tampa, Florida, product as a wideout-running back hybrid in Auburn’s ADay spring game. At A-Day, Martin didn’t see the field due to a hamstring injury, leaving Miller as the assumed No. 1 back. He carried the ball three times for one yard. “About the eighth or ninth play of the scrimmage, Malik
Miller dings his knee,” Horton said. “But again, that’s just another situation and another case of you better have depth because you can go from five to three in a hurry.” Martin’s injury opened the door for increased carries from redshirt freshman JaTarvious Whitlow and true freshman Asa Martin, along with junior walk-on C.J. Tolbert. The trio made the most of the spotlight. “Boobee” Whitlow ran for 98 yards on 14 carries, and Asa Martin racked up 66 yards on 17 attempts. Tolbert went on to win Offensive MVP for the scrimmage behind a 137-yard, two-touchdown performance. When Miller returns, Horton will have a five-deep group, all of whom have flashed potential in their brief appearances. The unit will be rounded this summer when four-stars Shaun Shivers and Harold Joiner arrive. Horton has a few months to sort out the redshirts and logistics of that seven-deep rotation. But if he had to lace them up today, he would have a plan. “If we had to play today, it would probably be situational football,” Horton said. “There’s one guy that’s probably a better pass protector, there’s one guy who is probably a better runner, there’s one guy who might be a better pass receiver out of the backfield. It would be very situational in the sense that whatever the down and the distance and the situation dictates.”
FILE PHOTO
Kam Martin (9) runs the ball in the second half during Auburn vs. ULM on Saturday, Nov. 18 in Auburn, Ala.
The Auburn Plainsman
THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018
PAGE 10
FACILITIES
Trustees approve upgrades for baseball, softball By NATHAN KING Assistant Sports Editor
Diamond sports on The Plains is set to receive some elaborate upgrades soon. The Auburn Board of Trustees Property and Facilities Committee approved final project plans on Apr. 23 for both Jane B. Moore Field and Plainsman Park. The projects were approved later in the morning by the University’s Board of Trustees. The facilities for softball and baseball were both approved as 10,000-square-foot, indoor buildings beyond the outfield along the first base lines of the ballparks. Both projects hold a $4 million budget and a completion date aimed for fall 2019. The budget is to be funded by a combination of gifts and Athletic Department funds. The softball complex plans include an indoor infield, along with retractable nets to create batting tunnels when the infield is not in use. Amenities for the Plainsman Park upgrade include indoor batting tunnels and player evaluation spaces. Both plans contain restrooms for athletes and coaches.
“The indoor facility is going to have a huge impact,” Auburn softball head coach Mickey Dean said in a statement. “It gives us the ability to work on things when it’s cold, when it’s raining. It’s also a place student-athletes can go if they want to work on their own.” Auburn softball played its first full season and dedicated the ballpark to the Jane B. Moore name in 2003. Since then, the Tigers have captured a pair of SEC titles and have been selected to 12 NCAA Regionals, three Super Regionals and two College World Series. The complex has a current capacity of 2,316. Plainsman Park has been the home field of Tiger baseball for the past 67 years and has a current capacity of 4,096. In 1998, renovations transformed the ballpark into an MLB-like venue, adding the brick backstop of Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs), the dark green chairback seats of Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles) and the Green Monster of Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox). Prior to the 2003 season, Plainsman Park was named the nation’s best college venue by Baseball America. Last year, a 24’0” x 62’4” video board was added, one of the largest in the nation.
“We’ve been blessed in the first two years with the field renovation, the lights, scoreboard and seats,” baseball head coach Butch Thompson said in a statement. “This is our next big step, and it’s a step in the direction of player development. It will improve our workspace, especially in inclement weather, allowing us to hit inside. “It’s a player development investment that will benefit every player in our program.” In 2013 and 2014, former Auburn All-American Tim Hudson donated $1 million to the University to upgrade the complex’s clubhouse, locker room, equipment room and athletic training room. The donation also added new coach’s offices, meeting rooms and an alumni room. Auburn renamed the stadium Samford Stadium-Hitchcock Field at Plainsman Park in May 2003 after longtime Auburn Trustee W. James “Jimmy” Samford, Jr. The Tigers boast six conference titles, 20 NCAA Tournament appearances and four College World Series seasons in their 85year history.
BASEBALL
How sweep it is: Tigers throttle Tide in historic fashion By NATHAN KING Assistant Sports Editor
Freshmen Tanner Burns and Cody Greenhill controlled the Tide from the mound and the Tiger bats totaled 44 runs over the weekend as Auburn baseball completed a doubleheader series sweep Saturday, winning two games 5-0 and 20-5, taking the series in Tuscaloosa for the first time since 2004 and sweeping Alabama on the road for the first time since 1976. After failing to pick up offensive steam in recent SEC play, Auburn held a 19-hit clinic in Game 3, scoring the most points on the Crimson Tide in the history of the series and the most in a series in program history. The Tigers arrived in Tuscaloosa batting .199 in conference play and will leave it at .236. “All three games, that was about as complete as we’ve been and as business-like as I’ve seen our guys on the road,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “We made a big deal about being 1-5 on the road. Pitching wise, our at-bats, even as things were getting out of
hand, we stayed locked in. It was a very complete weekend for us. Hopefully, we can keep competing hard and stay focused.” In Game 2 – the first game of the doubleheader – Burns (3-4) struck out seven, allowing just four hits. His reliever, Greenhill, struck out four in only two innings of Auburn’s first shutout of the Tide since 1990 and the first in Tuscaloosa since 1980. Steven Williams and Brett Wright provided just enough offense for the Tigers, turning in two hits and two RBI each. Wright’s forced walk pushed Luke Jarvis across for the game’s first run in the third inning after Jarvis singled for the game’s first hit. Auburn fought off a two-out jam two innings later, starting with Will Holland’s single and wild-pitch move to second. Williams then knocked in an RBI single to score the leadoff batter. An error by Alabama’s Joe Breaux pushed the lead to 3-0, as the centerfielder slipped trying to haul in a pop-fly from Wright, scoring Williams all the way from first. A forced walk
from freshman Eduoard Julien in the seventh and an insurance single from Williams in the ninth topped off the scoreboard at 5-0. Thompson said earlier in the week that he was planning on pulling sophomore Davis Daniel from the Sunday starting role on the mound, but he neglected to name a replacement. Senior lefty Andrew Mitchell apparently fit the bill, as the New Orleans product started Game 3 against the Tide, pitching 4.1 innings with two hits, two runs, four walks and six strikeouts before being relieved by Calvin Coker. Coker was quickly yanked in favor of Daniel after allowing a trio of quick hits from the Tide, who cut Auburn’s deficit to 8-4 in the fifth. Daniel (3-3) closed out the series with two hits, one run and three Ks. “Man, that was good,” Thompson said of his closer. “He was just trying to get better this weekend, and I thought he did.” In the third inning, Auburn opened up Game 3 scoring with a Josh Anthony two-RBI double, followed by a sacrifice fly from Wil-
liams. Anthony homered, Jarvis doubled and Williams singled in the next inning to widen the lead to 8-0. Auburn went for the jugular in an 11-run, statement eighth inning. Julien led off with an RBI single, followed by a two-RBI single from Conor Davis. Three straight forced walks from Jarvis, Holland and Williams set the table for Wright, who brought in two more runs with a single to right center. Julien came back to garnish the bloodbath with a three-run homer, his ninth of 2018. His hit notched 44 runs in the series for Auburn, four more than Alabama has tallied at home in SEC play all season. Auburn’s 15-run win broke the record for largest margin of victory in the series’ history, which was tied in Game 1 with the team’s 14run gap. The Tigers will head to Gainesville, Florida, for a three-game series with the No. 1 Gators. Florida ace Brady Singer and top MLB prospect Casey Mize are set to duel in Game 1 at 6 p.m. CST Thursday.
ADAM BRASHER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Edouard Julien (10) celebrates a home run with Luke Jarvis (9) during Auburn baseball vs. Missouri at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala. on Friday, March 30, 2018.
BASEBALL
Williams named SEC Freshman of the Week By WILL SAHLIE Sports Editor
After helping lead Auburn to its first sweep of Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 1976, Steven Williams was honored by the SEC on Monday as he was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week. South Carolina’s Logan Chapman was recognized by the conference along with Williams. In Auburn’s perfect week versus UAB and Alabama, Williams racked up a .462 batting average, while reaching base at least twice in each game. He also tallied eight runs scored in the four games. In Tuscaloosa, the Albany, Georgia, native went 6-for-10 in the three games and reached base 12 times. He scored seven of Auburn’s 44 runs in the series and racked up eight RBI in the three-game set. Williams, who is hitting .331 in his freshman season on The Plains, has driven in two or more runs in a game a team-best 13 times this season. He is tied for first in the SEC with teammate Edouard Julien in RBI among freshmen. Williams, who leads the Tigers with 51 hits this season, has started in 41 of Auburn’s 42 games this season. He is second on the team with eight home runs and tied for first in RBI with 40. Auburn will begin a series at No. 1 Florida on Thursday.
lifestyle
11
THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018
THEPLAINSMAN.COM
LIFESTYLE
SPOTLIGHT
CAMERON BRASHER / PHOTOGRAPHER
Occupying what used to be an abandoned grocery store in downtown Opelika, CyberZone Arcade and Laser Tag serves as a hub for anyone wanting to scratch that arcade itch.
CyberZone keeps the fun of arcade gaming alive By PRICE EVERETT Lifestyle Writer
Neon lights, music, sound effects and laughter are what greet people entering CyberZone. Occupying what used to be an abandoned grocery store in downtown Opelika, CyberZone Arcade and Laser Tag serves as a hub for anyone wanting to scratch that arcade itch. CyberZone features all the most modern arcade games, from Doodle Jump, The Walking Dead and Giant Tetris to standards like ski-ball, air hockey and arcade basketball. They even have a separate room, which has classic arcade games like Street Fighter II, Galega and Rampage. Open in Opelika since June 2013, CyberZone is a corporation of arcades that originally started in Tennessee in 2005. “We moved to the area in 2009 and basically looked for a few years for a location,” Director Simon Bak said. “We weren’t sure whether we were going to go with Auburn or Opelika, it being a dual city. We finally found this location. It used to be a grocery store, and it had the square footage we needed.” “I was a Disney cast member for eight years, and I went to college in Orlando at UCF,” Bak said when asked about what prompted him and his partners to start an arcade business. “Working at Disney, I got to be an Imagineers intern working on Space Mountain. Space Mountain used to have a giant arcade, Starcade Arcade,
and people would go crazy in there. I mean you’re in Walt Disney World, but you’re playing Daytona USA. I realized that these small square footage machines are quite magical, it immerses you in an environment.” His love for arcades dates to his own childhood. “I grew up in the ‘80s, and arcades were a dime a dozen when I was younger. It all comes from there.” “We try and make sure that any time there’s a new title coming out, we go for it. We’re one of the largest arcades in the area, probably in the state.” Most gaming today is done at home on either a personal computer or a home console, but Bak thinks there is something different about the arcade experience. “You kind of lean into the cabinet, and you’re kind of enclosed in this area,” Bak said. “It doesn’t feel the same on the computer. It’s something about the sound and everything around you. The games are more immersive.” Bak also mentioned how in today’s world, players want something more quickly. “Redemption style games [are] a big deal, where you win tickets to get prizes,” Bak said. “People are looking for a quick swipe the card, hit a button and something happens. A lot of these games are designed for very quick, spontaneous rewards.” The classic game section, or Retrocade, is tucked off into the right area of the building and sees a lot of traffic from classic game enthu-
siasts and parents wanting to revel in the nostalgia of games like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. This section is often curated to maximize the value of trends. Thanks to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s new film adaptation of Rampage and other nostalgia-heavy titles like Ready Player One hitting theaters this year, there’s been a large upswing in interest in these classic titles, according to Bak. “You see 7-year-olds playing Rampage, and you think, ‘Man, that’s a game from 1983,’” Bak said. “I think this new era of retro type of nostalgia is coming back. We’re hitting the nostalgia buttons on people. It can be fuller than the main room on weekends. It’s all still 25 cents.” The other main service provided by CyberZone is laser tag. Featuring two teams all equipped with laser rifles, the games can be set up in a variety of ways that mirrors many modern first-person shooters like Call of Duty and Halo. “It’s 6,200 square feet of actual play area, which is huge for laser tag,” Bak said. “Most laser tags are half that size. It’s always been a major component for us.” While the entire package itself seems fitting for both parents and children, Bak said it’s also a great destination for college students. “We didn’t know this was going to happen, but we became a date destination,” Bak said. “We don’t sell alcohol, so we get a lot of college students who want to get away from the bar scene. A lot are really interested in retro tech who will just hang out in the Retrocade.”
MUSIC
STUDENT AFFAIRS
S P OT L I G H T
ADAM BRASHER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Maja Dunes performs at the Avondale Bar and Tap Room in Auburn, Ala. on Friday, Jan. 13, 2018.
Do you have extra food or home goods you don’t know what to do with after checking out for the summer? Donate your items to Check-Out for Charity! Register for an appointment April 16-27 with one of our community partners and we’ll pick it up for you! Drop off starts April 30. Look for the tents! For more information please visit aub.ie/CoFCdonations or call 334-844-4477.
AU B R N
CARES
STUDENT AFFAIRS
Avondale supporting local music through live shows By ALEX HOSEY Lifestyle Editor
Avondale has hosted live bands since the summer of 2015 when the owner, Hardy Gilbert, booked The Whitey Herzogs, a group of Gilbert’s old friends, to play in the second story cocktail bar. In the three years since then, Avondale has become known as the place in Auburn that supports local musicians and features original music. Despite that reputation, social manager Holly Daniel said that Avondale doesn’t consider itself to be a music venue. “We’re not really built for it. We don’t have a stage, and the acoustics are insanely loud,” Daniel said. “With that being said, there is a particular genre of music we like, that is led by Hardy’s tastes. So we will let the right people in at the right time.” If this last year’s showings have been any indication, the owner’s tastes include local indie rock artists either from Auburn or from somewhere in Alabama. Recent bands to pass through the bar include Lady Legs, Cherry Motel, Dogwood Lung and Maja Dunes, to name a few. “All of the bands that come through originated in Alabama, and we have a love and
appreciation for the hard work these original acts put into their craft,” Daniel said. “By allowing certain bands to play in our space, we believe we’re keeping a certain genre and vibe alive. And just like with any event for most places, hosting shows definitely brings in more people than normally would be there.” Though Daniel didn’t go into the specifics of profit margins on the nights bands play, judging by the crowd that these bands generate, the relationship between the bands and the bar is a good one. The community turnout on these nights can be seen clogging up the backdoor alleyway and the throngs gathered at the cocktail bar waiting to get a drink. Upcoming shows at Avondale include the return of the band that started it all. The Whitey Herzogs, now under the name AM Gold, are booked to play at the upstairs bar on Saturday, April 28. As far as the general future of music at Avondale goes, Daniel said they plan to keep it somewhat exclusive. “You have to have the right sound and the right vibe,” Daniel said. “But we will always maintain a positive relationship with these musicians because we care about the work they’re doing.”
The Auburn Plainsman
THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018
PAGE 12
EVENT
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Aubie walks the runway at The Fashion Event at Auburn Arena in Auburn, Ala. on Friday, April 20, 2018.
Fashion show celebrates students on the runway By JACK WEST Lifestyle Writer
While most students associate the Auburn Arena with basketball or gymnastics, last Friday night the things being “sported” in the arena were evening wear, clutches and all of the next big trends. On April 20, the Auburn department of consumer and design sciences held The Fashion Event. According to Karla Teel, an associate professor and coordinator in CADS, this annual event celebrates fashion looks which have been, “designed, created and styled by Auburn students.” Students from all across CADS participated in the event, which included a silent auction, interior design projects and merchandising vignettes in addition to the main runway show. The theme for the fashion show this year was “mod.” For those unfamiliar with the fashion world, “mod” was a British design style that was prominent in the ‘60s and features elements like hair bumps, plaid and bright colors. Before the runway show even started, the front rows were packed with VIPs. The most famous among those at the front were companies like Dillard’s, MAC and The Mint Julep Boutique. The lesser-known VIPs included proud parents and grandparents getting to watch their senior students’ final project at Auburn. The show opened with causal evening wear designs, which were then followed by the iconic mod looks before the senior capstone projects finally closed the night.
The capstone projects included graduating seniors working together to create multiple outfits that combines styles from two or more fashion companies. These styles and companies ranged from Bestowal, a proposed Calvin Klein wedding line, to Mana Mara Hoffman, a line intended for socially conscious men. Following the capstone presentations, three of the senior projects were awarded by a representative of the International Management Group as either Most Sellable, Most Creative or Best of Show. The winning projects in those categories were, respectively, Betsy Bash, Gucci Street and Valentino Birchbox. To add to the excitement, none of the seniors knew they were even competing for these awards. “We didn’t even know there was going to be that competition,” said Davis Byrd, one of the designers on the Valentino Birchbox line. “When they came back to interview us we thought they were just writing a story or something.” Jacob Garcia, one of the designers on the Gucci Street line, said that being selected for an award gave recognition for the hard work they we put in. As easy as it could’ve been for the audience to get swept up in the flashy dresses and awards, Teel said that, ultimately, the event was all about the creators. “Tonight was all about the students and their creative works,” she said. “We hope to continue to inspire our students and to work hard for them.” Amid the chic apparel and adventurous design shown that night, all in all, the mod fashion show was a display of the hard work put in by many talented Auburn students.
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